Some pictures
I haven't been able to really start fulfilling my whole Explore and Create thing, but I have done some. Thanks to the sun setting at about the time I get home from work I haven't been able to get out and take pictures, and my weekends so far have been pretty busy. I have managed to take some pictures and those are posted below.
For the explore side of things I have been getting out more and spending less time in my apartment at night after work. I started using foursquare to track my outings and I have hooked it into my Twitter account. Hopefully as time goes on I'll be getting out to more places than local bars...
Pictures:
Metro – Trials and Tribulations
Since mid October I have been taking Metro Rail to work almost every day thanks to a downtown Washington, DC client site. For the first two to three weeks I thought it was great; no traffic, no crazy drivers, no paying for gas or parking. But after a few weeks the honeymoon ended and reality set in. Wow, WMATA really needs to get their act together. Most recently, early this morning two more Metro employees were killed on the job which caused some fun delays on the Red Line, and for some reason the Orange Line was ungodly crowded as well. And this isn't a rare occurrence either, and I mean both the delays/overcrowding and killing people, Metro seriously needs to un-fuck itself before the NTSB shuts it down and convicts it of murder.
The #wmata hashtag on Twitter at rush hour is full of tweets about delays, packed trains, and unfriendly or unsafe metro employees (texting while operating a train?!). The best part is that Metro now wants to both cut service and charge more. Umm what? Cut service? The trains are already packed to the gills! What the hell do they think will happen if they cut service? As far as increasing the fare by $0.10, OK fine I can deal. I understand that WMATA needs money to get out of a bit of a deficit. But if Metro is going to charge me more they should make the service that I'm paying more for actually reliable..and oh yeah, make it stop KILLING people. Thanks.
My photographic adventure
I woke up yesterday and for the first time since starting work in July I thought to myself "Do I really want to do this for the rest of my life?" I then had the sudden urge to grab my camera and buy a plane ticket. The feeling and thought subsided throughout the day, must have just been because it is a Tuesday, but I began to think...where would I go on a photographic adventure if money didn't matter? Here are the places that I would go to just explore, travel, and take pictures. I know that all three are countries and it would take forever to see all that they have to offer, but that is part of the adventure.
1. Iceland
Photo From o palsson on Flickr
Every single picture that I have seen from Iceland has made me want to go there, the landscape and geography are amazing, words can not even begin to describe how beautiful Iceland can be. On any sort of photography trip Iceland should be near the top of the list.
2. Austria
Photo From annia316 on Flickr
Austria is the only place on this list that I have actually been to, granted it was only for a day, but what I saw of Austria made me want to see what else the country has to offer. Whenever I hear that somebody is going to Europe and they are visiting several countries I always tell them to make sure they at least drive through Austria, it is possibly one of the most beautiful countries in Europe.
3. New Zealand
Photo From wili_hybrid on Flickr
Ever since I watched the amazing landscapes featured in Lord of The Rings I have wanted to go to New Zealand and see it for myself. The landscape is diverse and awe inspiring, and it would certainly take many weeks to see everything. If I ever get the chance to go to New Zealand I would in a heartbeat, I don't care what else I have going on.
There are of course more than three places that I would want to go. For example I would love to go to Japan, go back to Yosemite and Glacier, visit Russia etc. But Iceland, Austria, and New Zealand top my list.
January 8th 2010, A historic day
Mark down January 8th 2010 down as a very historic day in the history of our great nation. Why? On Friday January 8th it only took me three hours to get from Washington DC to Royersford PA at rush hour. INSANITY! I was out of Baltimore within one hour of leaving downtown DC.
Why am I so excited about a drive that should take three hours actually taking three hours? Because it is the first time in six months that the drive from DC to PA has taken only three hours to complete, the shortest time before yesterday was 4.5 hours. The longest? Six hours...and that happened TWICE. If it ever takes six hours again I may end up taking Amtrak home and forcing somebody to pick me up in Philly, cause that is going to get old fast.
Mike Cooks – Penne Pasta with Diced Tomato Pepper Sauce
Wednesday night means that I'm cooking something easy, I'm tired from three days of work, and not looking forward to the next two. A quick stop at Harris Teeter and I had everything I needed for some easy, tasty pasta. I made this completely untested, and if you think it sucks I apologize.
Penne Pasta with Diced Tomato Pepper Sauce
Ingredients
Penne Pasta - 2 Cups
Yellow Bell Pepper - 1 Pepper
Jalapenos - 2 Peppers
White Onion - 1/2 large onion
Olive oil - 2 tbsp
Diced Tomatoes - 1 can
Preparation
Start boiling the water for the pasta while prepping the peppers and onion. Dice the onion (1/2 onion), cut the bell pepper into strips then half the strips. Also cut the jalapeno into small pieces, remove the seeds if you like it more mild. Also open the can of diced tomatoes and drain some (not all) of the liquid. By this point you can start to make your pasta.
Ready to meet the pasta
Heat up some olive oil in a pan and throw in the onion and peppers (both bell and jalapeno). Constantly stir until the peppers are getting soft (but still a little crunchy) and the onion is becoming clear. Evacuate them off the pan to a plate.
Throw the diced tomatoes onto the pan, including the remaining liquid. Allow some of the liquid to evaporate and the tomatoes to get hot. Add the pepper and onion mixture back to the pan and mix everything together. Add some garlic powder and pepper to taste.
Once the pasta is done drain the water from it and toss lightly in some olive oil. Put the pasta in a bowl (or on a plate) and top with the tomato mixture. Enjoy.
Tasty!
Wireless for sound
Problem: Only way to play music on speakers in living room is to move a laptop into the living room and plug it in, not ideal for parties/prone to spilling drunk people.
Solution: Apple Airport Express and Remote app for iPhone.
Result: WOHO! Music!
I'm now convinced that everybody needs an Airport Express, a quick setup and I had music playing in both my room and the living room from iTunes on my MacBook. I also set up my old iPhone 3G to act as a dedicated remote for the system, which truly brings the whole thing together. With the free Remote app from Apple you can even select what speakers to play to right from the phone, along with the ability to choose what library to play from. This makes it is easy to switch between my music and my roommates (provided we both have iTunes open).
An added benefit is that we no longer have a laptop sitting in the living room just waiting to have something spilled on it, or get thrown off the balcony by some drunken party goer. All we have to worry about is an iPhone, which can be safely stored in a pocket. There is also no need to leave what you are doing to change the song, adjust volume, or choose a different library. Just do it all from the phone, it is that easy.
This is one of the best examples of Apple's policy of "it just works", everything plays well together and I only had to set three options and I was good to go. Good luck getting all this working smoothly using just Windows (roommate's laptop is a PC with iTunes). Once the Airport Express was on the network the option to set it as a sound output instantly appeared in iTunes, and playing to both the computer speakers and the remote ones is just an extra click. Our music setup is now the envy of all our visitors, thanks Apple!
Twitter: @Crashmaster007
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