A place for our thoughts

Author: Kevin (Page 4 of 5)

Spring in Utah?

Imagine my surprise when I got off the plane last night to rain and snow on the ground after a 75-degree weekend at home!  Imagine having to brush 4 inches of snow off of the car this morning when I left for work!  Now imagine that just last week I was inline skating at the park in shorts and a tee shirt!

Salt Lake City in SpringtimeStrange weather here yesterday and today.  Snow in the mountains, scattered flurries on the bench and scattered showers in the valley.  An odd mix of black and white clouds, partially obscuring both mountainside and sky, casting holstein-like patterns of shaddow and light into the valley.  Green grass poking through fresh white patches of snow.  Snow clinging to tree blossoms.  If only a photo would do it justice.  (If only I had taken the time to take a photo.)

It was a busy weekend.  I really missed seeing the family on Easter Sunday, but somehow my schedule seems to be in control of my life rather than the other way around!  I arrived home Friday evening and did manage to enjoy the hot tub for a little while.  French class and a going-away party for our friends Kevin and Will kept me away from the house most of the day on Saturday.  Sunday simply disappeared…  Next thing I know I’m back here.  But with working back home yesterday and travel last night, then working and having a flying club board meeting (via telephone) today…It’s already 9:30pm and I’m only now having a little free time.  So I thought I’d take a moment to make this post.

Some faith restored!

The other day I was looking for child-hood songs containing French words…but I forgot one important one:  Alouette!  Well, it’s easy enough to find, and it’s kind of funny.  I think we should sing it in class to learn body parts of a bird!  (He he).  If this brings back memories for you, check it out, including a sing-along!  Let me know if it makes you feel hungry 🙂

Ought to sleep well tonight!

The rain has finally stopped here in SLC, and the winds from the south have brough with them respectable temps!  Tonight I finally got out on my inline skates for the first time this season.  Actually, it’s been since the summer of ’04 that I actually last used them.

After leaving work “early” (6:00), I changed clothes and headed to Liberty Park.  I managed to eek out 10 1.25 mile laps in an hour and a quarter.  Not too bad I guess!  It surely felt good to get some cardio-vascular exercise!

p.s.  Stouffer’s Corner Bistro Chicken Carbonara is really good!

Musical memories from childhood…destroyed!

As you probably know, I’m taking my second level of beginner’s French at the local chapter of Alliance Française.  While I was on the plane to SLC last night, I decided to listen to the audio CD I just received with my class materials.  Earlier in the day, I had ripped it to my Rio portable audio player, so it was very convenient.  Much to my surprise, I was able to catch more of the dialog than I had expected.  I had been warned it was “fast”, and it was!

After listening to the whole thing, I decided to nap for the rest of the flight.  Somehow in that half-asleep state I managed to start thinking about childhood songs that i now realize were in French. Continue reading

Last Cooking Club?

Tonight we had cooking club at Kevin & Will’s.  Alan and Michele were guests rounding out the table of 8.  We had a leisurely paced meal consisting of frut and nuts, a taglietelle pasta course, and chicken saltimboca for the main course.  Red beets with leeks and a cauliflower dish rounded out the meal.  For dessert, we had a chocolate-almond cake.  Another excellent meal all around!  And good company.

Having just passed our 10th anniversary in January, we may have come to the last regular meeting of our cooking club.  Kevin & Will are about to embark on the next “phase” of their lives…by relocating to Austin, TX.  It’s an exciting opportunity for them, and we wish them the best of luck in their adventure.  There’s talk of a National version of the cooking club, with visits to the corners of the country…so maybe we’ll continue to meet, just a bit less often.  So hopefully we can make that happen!

Welcome to our new “blog-style” site!

Since I’m traveling so much, it’s hard to use traditional tools to keep a web site up to date.  So I went looking for a site setup that was better suited to personal web sites for the purpose of posting news and information for those who would like to read it.

Well, it turns out that it pretty much was a blog is.  For those that don’t know, it’s short for “web log”, or online journal.  One of the nicest things about it is that it will allow both Jeff and I (and maybe even you!) to put content on the site more easily.  We’ll see if more easily equates to more often!

Please feel free to read and comment on the posts!  We’ll try to put them into categories so it may make it easier to select specific ones.  And of course, let us know what you think!

Friends around the world…

Lots of posts for one night…but I’ve been remiss in posting my thoughts as they happen. Maybe for you, that’s a good thing because I would probably get way too deep into details that really don’t matter. But then again, that’s how my brain works. And if a blog is supposed to be a window into my brain…well that’s just a scary thought.

Today I used the Internet to get some help from my good friend Jed. We used MSN messenger including voice conversations so he could help me work on some web site enhancements for the flying club. Jed is 12 hours away..in Sri Lanka. It was almost like he was still in SLC! Of course, I also chat frequently with Chris and other friends in the good old US of A as well. But somehow that isn’t as exotic.

I also made a telephone call to my friend Stephen in Nice, France. I used my Broadvoice VOIP service and talked clear as day for 21 minutes for only $0.63. Amazing…63 cents for a 20 minute call to Europe! And again, great quality. The world is shrinking and as Martha would say, “It’s a good thing!”

SLC Redux

Since mid January, I’ve been working 50% in our Salt Lake City (from now on referred to as SLC) office. This means commuting out there every other week. As the Winter Olympics are underway in Torino, Italy, it’s hard to believe that it’s been four years since the 2002 SLC Olympics…and I was there then too!

At least for now I’m making the best of it. I’m commuting mid-week for win-win situation. Airfare is cheaper going from Tuesday to Tuesday than Monday to Friday. And during snow season, it allows me to be in SLC every other weekend, where I can take advantage of access to at least 7 ski resorts, rather than having to fly home from work and get right back on a plane to a ski vacation.

While the work is demanding, Jeff has been able to come out and we’ve done some snowboarding in Park City, Brighton and Solitude. We enjoyed snowy days at the Canyons Resort and Park City Mountain Resorts, and sunshine at Brighton and Solitude. Jeff has enjoyed getting out, and I think I’m finally reallygetting the feel (this is my third year) for the snowboard.

As the snowboard season wanes and the work deadlines evolve, my commute schedule will likely change. But for now, I’ll make the best of it.

Music from the Sky

So I’m commuting again to Salt Lake City (SLC) for work…and on one recent trip my Hertz rental car was equipped with a Sirius Satellite radio receiver. I was curious, so I turned it on and fumbled through the channels as I drove through the airport exit. What did I find? Sirius OutQ … gay talk radio! I couldn’t believe my ears! I had to check it out.

Sure enough, Sirius has a GLBT station mixed in with their other talk and music stations. By visiting Sirius.com, you can sign up to listen to their programming over the internet on your computer for a few days. So I did. I was hooked!

To do my due diligence at Best Buy, comparing Sirius to XM, I decided to stick with Sirius..mostly because of OutQ. I picked up a “plug and play” receiver and have been using it at home, in my car and in rental cars for a month now. It’s great.

Jeff’s not as excited about the talk radio stations, but he’s admitted that he likes the music selections (as do I). But the best part is that the programming covers the nation (and Canada). So drives from any point to any other don’t require finding new stations! My next trip to Wisconsin should be awesome. Come to think of it, I could probably plug it into the audio panel on one of the airplanes too…Sirius in the sky!

Technology is amazing…

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