Events of the past week

It's been a unexpectedly busy last week.

Wednesday: Had doctor's appointment (everything checks out fine). Colin hears that his uncle had passed away early that morning. We go to Deerfield as planned and see people there. Dinner with an ex-coworker of Colin's (from the first job he had) who has experience contracting; conversation helps Colin understand better what to do and expect while exploring the contracting option himself.

Thursday: At CLC from 10 to 10, worked 7 hours. Colin gets the car battery replaced. Becca arrives! Had to wait for security again to lock up. When guard asked, "Ready to escape, huh?" I merely say, "Yeah," when what I'm thinking is, "Um, I've been here 12 hours, I shouldn't have to wait extra for you, and my best friend who I haven't seen in a year is out in the car waiting, so duh!"

Friday: Lincoln Park Zoo! I woke up with a very stiff/sore back (no idea why) but took drugs and avoided crawling in any anthill modules (Becca graciously did that for me). We had gone there last year, but it's a nice and free one. Plus, a baby monkey had been born just a month previously and I was eager to see it. We also saw the barrel-loving anteater again, but he was sleeping this time. I caught a video of the lion roaring. Becca and I met back up with Colin at the Caribou in Gurnee - after a quick stop at Border's, of course. Dinner of spinach lasagna roll-ups and "Wall-E."

Becca in the anthill:

Video of lion roaring:

The best picture I could get of the baby monkey with the very protective mother (you can see his face right above her left hand):

Saturday: Milwaukee County Zoo! Bigger and more spread out than Lincoln Park Zoo. Parts were disappointing; some were simply closed and it was very hard to see the rhinos and elephants who were inside behind glass that reflected the bright snow. Some kids were right up against the glass screaming and roaring at the lions inches away from them. We got to see many animals being fed. It was very fun to watch 3 year old chimp Mahal play with his surrogate mom. There was also an aardvark who ran incessantly in circles, weaving between and under things in his exhibit. There was a tomato that looked like a frog - I mean, a frog that looked like a tomato. It was creatively named a "tomato frog." After the zoo we wandered Gurnee Mills mall and then made a stop at Joann Fabrics before getting home. Dinner was enchiladas and "Sherlock Holmes" which Becca hadn't seen before.

Mahal and his mom:

Tomato frog:

Kids with the lion ... fails to depict the full absurdity of the event:

Sunday: Becca hits the road, heading home. We clean and pack. Then Colin and I hit the road, heading south to Cinci. We arrive about 9 PM at the hotel.

Monday: Colin's uncle's memorial service. Gave his aunt some colored valentine's day cards (from here). Spent time with his family before heading back home. Fell into bed at midnight.

Today: Woke up. Lazed around. Did some research on great-grandpa who was in WWI. Watched a Covert Affairs episode with lunch. Had headache so took short nap. Still have headache.

There are more zoo pictures here!

Fellow CLC librarians blogging

As part of my job, I've been actually taking a course. It might not be an official course but I still spend some time reading through the Blackboard forums and completing the assignments. The purpose is to help get all the librarians at CLC familiar with the various social network options out there, which I think is a great idea (mainly so I can get used to Blackboard). We're just wrapping up the blogging section of the course where we looked at our library's blog and looked for other library blogs to compare and come up with suggestions on how to improve our library's blog. Then people shared links to their own blogs, many which are newly-minted. It was fun to see the different themes and setups and to read the posts. I thought I'd share a stack of them here:

http://crazyliblife.blogspot.com/ - funny title, enjoy the blog's voice
http://nationalforestthaticampedat.blogspot.com/p/shawnee-national-forest.html - obviously I want to hear more about these adventures
http://cakexxorxxdeath.blogspot.com/ - this wins the fanciest/coolest setup award
http://recipegrabber.blogspot.com/ - I might be biased but this looks very promising - and yummy
http://stuffifoundinadrawer.blogspot.com/ - quirky and fun
http://mybackyardvicki.blogspot.com/ - apparently this is going to ever have one post but it was fun to read although the writing could use some formatting
http://emilie-emsdaily.blogspot.com/ - looks like a promising another "me-ness" blog

This isn't a list of all of them, just the ones I have open in tabs at the moment. Blackboard is so hard to navigate that I groan at the thought of going through all the discussions again to grab all the other links. So if you're a CLC librarian and your link isn't found above, put a link to it in a comment? Any that I get I'll post in a later blog entry.

They are all open to suggestions and comments so let's spur them on!

I wrote a post for an hour yesterday about a tech exploration before I realized I wasn't done thinking it through. I'm still not quite done and I doubt I will be able to get it together in a post for at least another week, mainly because I have some things to check on at work Thursday first - and Becca will be here Thursday pm to Sunday! If I try to give a one sentence summary of what I'm talking about it will turn into a paragraph, I can promise you that ... so, instead I'll just say that it's a step beyond searching for instructions and using my slightly-more-than-basic linux skills because I can't find enough tips online to get it going. I really am trying something new it looks like. Hence the need to have a clear post about it.

I kept meaning to put up a link to the blizzard photo album (I'm still hoping to take pictures outside the house and by just posting a link to the picasa album will make the excuse "but I already put pictures up on my blog I don't want to put up more" moot). I just put captions on the second batch which were uploaded on the second snowday we had.

The snow hasn't really compressed into smaller piles like I thought it would. It'll be interesting to see if they attempt to make the huge mounds any smaller before nature does the job when seasons change. Also, there has been a little snow falling today.

Yesterday morning, Colin found our car had all the warning lights lit up in the garage. We're not sure how that happened, but it wouldn't start. He had plans (soccer game, lunch, and geek toy shopping with friends) downtown Chicago and he was carpooling because I had work yesterday afternoon. So I threw on some clothes and the person picking Colin up was nice enough to drop me off at work. Four hours early. Oh well - one of the perks for working in a library is that I like being there anyway. I was at the library for almost eight hours for four hours of work. Things were really slow yesterday at work, probably because everyone focused on finishing their shoveling and getting things back in order at home.

You ever have one of those days were it's all those little things that keep not working? On top of the car problems, yesterday was one of those days. Adding that to the fact that Colin sat in the parking lot waiting an extra fifteen minutes for me while I waited for security to come lock things up, I was definitely more impatient about having to wait than I normally would have been.

My internet is cutting in and out about every fifteen minutes if not more and has been doing so since I got home last night. I even shut down the computer overnight (which I rarely do and don't really feel guilty about because it uses very little power while it's sleeping). Also, it's horrible at telling me when I don't have internet; I don't find out until a page doesn't load. Usually Pidgin will show I'm still online, the little network connection notification in the menu bar will show great connection ... Something I guess I'll have to look into and try to fix today.

Naan recipe

I know I've talked about my ongoing experiments with naan and the tricks I've found, but I just realized I didn't have the recipe here. http://www.frugalupstate.com is a blog I like to read and for this week, I noticed the meal plan included an Indian dish with naan. The author mentions never making it before and I was curious if they planned to make the naan or get it pre-made. So I left my first comment there, asking that question. I was going to just point them to my blogpost that had the recipe when I couldn't find the post. Derr. So, here it is, in all its detailed glory!

Yield: 8 naan, enough for 3-4 people as a side
From start to finish including making the paneer masala and rice: 1.5 hours

1. In a small bowl, combine 2 TSP YEAST, 1 TSP SUGAR, and 1/2 CUP water. Stir to dissolve. Let sit for a few minutes or until it is frothy on top. I find frothy or not doesn't seem to make a difference.
2. While waiting, combine 1 CUP FLOUR with 1/2 TSP SALT in a larger bowl.
3. Stir in 1/4 CUP VEGETABLE OIL, 1/3 CUP PLAIN GREEK YOGURT, and 1 LARGE EGG into the yeast/sugar/water bowl.
4. Put wet mixture into bowl of flour/salt. Stir until well combined. Continue adding half a cup of flour at a time until you can no longer stir with spoon (1 to 1.5 cups later).
5. Dump ball of dough onto well floured counter top. Knead for about 3 minutes, adding flour as necessary to keep dough from sticking (I have a cup of flour on hand for this). Dough should be smooth and soft but not sticky.
6. Loosely cover dough and let rest double in size (about 45 minutes). Tip: It's best to leave it on counter semi-squashed flat instead of putting it back in a bowl.
7. After it rises, heat a large skillet over medium heat with a dollop of vegetable oil in it. (This is also a good time to start the rice if making some for the same meal. Paneer masala should be well started before you start hopping back and forth from dough balls to skillet, with just the need for a quick stir occasionally. Also paneer or its substitute goes in the very last for just a couple minutes, enough to be heated up.) Then, gently flatten and cut or tear the dough (doesn't seem to matter which) into 8 equal pieces. Shape each piece into a small ball by stretching the dough back under itself until the top is smooth and round. *Don't ignore this step!* I found out it makes a world of a difference between just lumping into round balls and stretching the dough back.
8. Take one ball and, using a rolling pin, roll it out. Tips: I usually put my hands on the pin itself instead of using the handles. Push down while slowly rolling one direction then the other. When it doesn't seem to want to get any thinner, push the pin diagonally from original position to stretch the width. It also doesn't hurt to hold it up and let gravity stretch it a bit. This all might seem like overkill but unless you want "naan cake" this is the best way to do it - gets you lots of bubbles (bubbles are good!) and is easy to rip chunks off with one hand for eating.
9. Put the rolled out dough in the skillet one at a time, letting bubbles develop and the underside get golden brown (dark brown or black spots are fine, perhaps even better). Flip and cook other side. Tip: The sooner you put it on the skillet after you roll it out the more bubbles you get.

Okay, I know this seems like a complicated recipe, but it's really not ... Especially when you have enough guidance (like the tips above in italics) and know what you're doing. For background information: Most Indians never make naan even once in their lifetime. Instead, one or two people in the large extended family will make them and there's a special kind of oven they use in India just for naan. So good for you for even trying!

For the last batch I've made I completely forgot the Greek yogurt. I was baffled as to why it was so dry and I could only knead in less than an extra cup of flour. I thought it had something to do with letting the liquid mixture sit for longer than I ever have, but it wasn't until a couple days later that I suddenly went "Oh! The yogurt!" The naan turned still thin, not quite as many bubbles, but much more greasy than usual. So next: experiment with varying amounts of Greek yogurt.

Godly Fire Bones and Hellish Snow Plows

THIS: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JamieTheVeryWorstMissionary/~3/VDsSe9C2lP4/fire-bones.html

First of all, the first half made me laugh. Secondly, I have enjoyed every entry that's come through my google reader the last few months (something I can say for very few blogs), but this one really struck a chord. I can totally relate to this woman.

Faith isn't something I normally blog about (or even talk about) but it is a part of the undercurrent of who I am, even when I'm not feeling particularly fond of, well, religion. In my mind, the time and effort someone spends within an organized religion or at a religious building has very little to do with correctly gauging their relationship with God (or the deity/deities of said religion). And right now (for quite a few years now), I have not felt the need to actively seek out and participate in a church family - beyond the church library volunteering session I go to every week.

However, at the same time I recognize the convenience of having a set time every week when you are in a religious setting and (at least for me) you start daydreaming about all things religious or at least send up a quick prayer. There's also the added bonus of being held accountable by other people when they say "Hey, where were you last week?" I do believe church/synagogue/etc can be a truly religious, powerful and positive place, but the reality is simple for why I haven't really sunk any roots in such a community: I have been on the move so much these past few years. That alone makes the task difficult, not to mention how hard it is finding one that works for you.

I suppose I'm not really going anywhere in this post, except to say I really enjoyed VWM's post and feel reassured that even a missionary has trouble keeping the fire alive.

Oh, and we have made it home safely from dinner. Definitely wintry out there, but the only real problem we ran into was in the subdivision we were visiting which is really bad at plowing. There was a truck with a plow sitting at the entrance with its lights on when we arrived and when we left. It had not moved. Getting out onto the road was challenging while the whole time the plow sat maybe 100 feet from the part where we kept going forward and reversing, trying to get out of some drifted snow. Bleah.

Winter settles in

It is snowing hard out and makes me crave hot chocolate ... I might make some even though we'll probably attempt to go to Colin's ex-coworker's for dinner in less than an hour. If that sounds like a repeat of what I said yesterday, that's because it is. It didn't quite work out last night (good dry run, got to pet a puppy) so we tentatively rescheduled for tonight. We're supposed to get "1 to 3 feet of snow" so we'll see how things look in half an hour or so. It isn't a very long drive at all.

When I mentioned to Becca last night we were going to get at least a foot, she reminded me that schools probably wouldn't even close way up north on at Mich Tech where she is. Which is probably true (and for Charlevoix) but when I head one to THREE feet of snow today I finally thought, "Okay, now it's getting real."

We went to the grocery store a couple hours before the blizzard warning was to take effect. Unfortunately, I didn't realize I was hungry before I got there so I was a bit dazed and there were carts hurrying everywhere (saw at least eight gallons of water in one cart). But we got enough to tide us over for a couple days. It has been snowing all day and the parking lot was much more like the winters both Colin and I are familiar with (although he said it had to be colder, but it can't get much colder and still be snowing).

The doctor moved my appointment for tomorrow morning to next week (which is something I don't think I ever heard of happening growing up, but I appreciate the call for safety - just because I could have driven in these conditions up north doesn't mean I or anyone else should here). On top of that, the college has been shut down since 2pm and will stay closed all of tomorrow. Doesn't change anything for me personally except for the amount of emails announcing the cancellation of individual campus events.

I repeat: Stay safe, warm, and dry! Or let me know how things are better/worse where you are and make me jealous/sorry.

Technology, Jobs, and Family. Life, really.

It's snowing out and it likely won't stop until the winter storm watch ends Wednesday night. Just in time for me to work Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. I've been wondering what to blog about, since I have still not finished putting up photos from our trip to Spain. I suspect this post will be a bit more hodge podge than normal.

My nose is runny but I've got a cup of constant comment. I'm also trying out the MusicLink which uses the T-coil technology in my hearing aids. Instead of earbuds (useless) or headphones (ouch) they're simply little hooks that go behind my ear alongside the hearing aids. So far, I like the sound and they are pretty nice except for one thing: the connection/volume changes with how the hooks are situated which can get pretty fussy. So I keep wiggling them around but it's hard to keep them planted in preferable positions.

I'm also playing around with TiddlyWiki and its customizations. I'm using it for my genealogical research. For that, it is fairly nice to have a nonlinear way to keep tabs on things and be able to search or quickly click on a link for some more information. Definitely still a learning process and I'll probably need to keep updating with my rules as I make them. It's not crucial to have things done just right since it's really easy to search for keywords but I'm going to have a mass of data on it in no time (it's pretty hefty already with the recent Norwegian genealogical research quest).

I've found a couple new things out - one is a few concrete hints to the different Norwegian roots and where they came from in Norway. The other is about my great-grandpa Wikan. I'd known he was in the first world war but I never saw any documents with evidence. I know I've googled the web looking for clues, mostly based on some conversation I vaguely remember having with my dad about how he fought in a forest in Europe and at the end it was as if it was clear cut because the fighting had been so heavy.

However, it wasn't until I did a search through military records on ancestry.com through the library edition that I found specific information on great-grandpa Ralph J. Wikan. There is no doubt he was a soldier in World War I, that he was in the thicket of it, and that he was just lucky to make it out alive. After copying down the information in the TiddlyWiki file and looking up more information on the movements of the AEF, 4th brigade, 2nd Marine division, 6th regiment (which required looking up how military units are organized - still don't quite get it and I think I might have put the order backwards here), I learned some pretty nifty things.

1) He was with the 6th regiment since its creation in Virginia. He had actually started training beforehand in California when he enlisted May 1917. I haven't found out for sure, but since I can't find a draft registration card for him, it's possible he volunteered as soon as the US joined the war. This obviously needs more research (mostly how many were actually drafted so early on).

2) He was promoted to corporal, sergeant, gunnery sergeant, then second lieutenant. The muster rolls don't seem to keep things completely accurate, although it's possible he kept switching between companies and switched back and forth between titles ... when he was promoted to gunnery sergeant he was then the second highest ranking officer in the 6th regiment. Seems like since he was a fairly prominent member I'd be able to find stuff on him online but there's very little beyond muster roll records.

3) He was given the Citation Star which was later named the Silver Star.

4) The forest has a name: Belleau Woods. He was in a number other battles, including at Verdun, Chateau-Thierry, and St. Mihiel. For nine months after the armistice (November 1918) he was in Germany and then he was done being a soldier.  In the 1920 Census, I found him living in his father's house with his stepmother and brother. By the time 1930 Census was taken, he had married and my grandma and great-aunt were born.

My great-aunt, who I had always really liked, passed away on January 20th. She had been having health problems for quite some time and in the last year or so Alzheimer's had quickly taken over her mind. I'll always be glad she did get to meet Colin while she was alive. In my heart, I had felt that she was already gone since her Alzheimer's had been so advanced, but it was still hard to hear that she was suffering from a lot of pain and in a come the last days of her life.

I haven't actually mentioned on my blog another big piece of news: The day I began my job, Colin lost his. It sounds like something that you'd only read in a book, but I swear it's true. The reasons are unclear, but the aftermath has been an exciting ride (mostly the ex-coworkers learning he didn't quit but was fired which leads to a WTF moment every time). We're doing fine and Colin keeps busy tinkering with numerous projects. There's a couple of opportunities for employment that is in the works, but things are much more up in the air than usual (even for me). For the time being, we're sticking around here, he's looking to work from home, and I'm enjoying my job.

Okay, so now you know I haven't fallen off the face of the Earth. I'm going to go get ready for dinner with one of Colin's ex-coworkers and his wife (who I haven't met before) who lives nearby. Stay safe, warm, and dry, everybody!