November KAF Update

Ok it is past time for another KAF update. G-Daddy is done with the “Hawaii Project” final close –out has been a bitch and I’m free. Here is the Kick Ass November summary.

11/1 – I left Hawaii for Troy Michigan to visit USNCB Force. Had a great time cept lil’Ricky chewed my glasses. Spent week visiting The Force with 2 of those days in Lansing visiting KC. Highlight was the Motown records museum. OMG The Force dives like crazy in motor city. Egads I washed my cell phone. OMG it is impossible to buy an unlocked cell phone anymore.

11/5-11/6 Hungout with old college friend in Lansing MI. It was great lol we hit a couple of bars downtown. Dude is from Wasilla so we had great fun talkin about Sarah and the state of American politics.

11/8 – Fly to ATL and pick up big sis’s car. Start road trip to Emerald City. Met The Adventure (TA) in Atlanta. The car condition was a questionable 1996 C220 with 256,000+ miles. Lol my brother was posed to meet me but that didn’t happen. I had to pay the 200 bucks to get it out of hawk from big sis’s mechanic….arrgh family. Car condition summary after the mechanic “looked it over”. One trash bag of garbage and misc items for donations, gas gauge doesn’t work, gas leak somewhere, turn signal not working, no licensed plate lights, coolant leak somewhere. The overall male opinion is “sis sell the car”. Neway the GREAT ROAD TRIP had started. Gas gauge solution, use the trip odometer and only drive 300 miles between fill ups. Get this TA had a plane ticket to AZ based on the condition of the car just in case.

11/9 – Start of the GREAT US ROADTRIP Atlanta to Seattle 3700 miles with a side bar to Sierra Vista, AZ. First, leg ALT to HSV and met some friends of TA there. Car did OK so we pushed it to Florence AL. Hmmm weird noise started like sirens couldn’t determine where it was coming from. The take the back roads off the plan and now we need to stay on the interstate total lack of confidence the car will make it.

11/11 – Tried to contain TA’s geocaching addiction but that didn’t happen. Hit Texarkana with a geocaching vengeance, found 4. Met an interesting local(?) that gave us the town summary. The old railroad depot was vacant so of course we had to check it out, alas there was nothing of interest. Did find a house worth painting. Was hoping the travel/any from work would revise the watercolor urge but had/has nothing. Texas is huge took three days to get across that place. Figured out the gas leak/smell, it happens whenever the gas tank is filled too fast. Saw my first wind farm, I want one. Visited friends of AT’s outside of Dallas, she knows ppl everywhere.

11/13 – Get to TA’s place in Sierra Vista on Saturday did laundry and “rested” B4 the second half of the trip. Rested means ripped up living room carpet, mounted flat screen TV on wall, fixed bath lavatory drain, installed wireless router. Man was that rejuvenating.

11/15 - Hit PHX for CO2 capture burner mtg. Been talking with this friend of mine about being a PM for several coal and oil fired power plant burner replacement projects, for like almost 5 years. Come to find out the “investor” is waiting for the Mexican Government to redeem some 1913 Govt. Bonds lol roflmao… OK it may turn out but, I’m a little less confident it will happen. As my friend would say we should know by tomorrow…

I was also to meet a man about a solar panel/farm idea of met. My idea - The solar panel COOP farm, a simple plan. Buy some land, let ppl buy shares in the COOP, share in this case means PV solar panels. It is like this, most ppl don’t want to put panel on their house. Typically, old houses aren’t designed to incorporate several 3’x7’ solar PV panel arrays on the roof. The utility company will only let residential owners use the roof-mounted equipment to offset the utility cost. Hell in Hawaii, the electric company is claiming that to many residential installations will destabilize the grid WFT?? The total “collective” can sell the power generated to the utility company at peak cost and all of the members can benefit (meaning a monthly check) from the sale of power. The PV farm COOP can support a battery storage/inverter station so the grid stabilization think isn’t a factor. lol yeah I’m looking to buy some desert land in AZ near a power transmission lines hopefully for real cheap. Well that is an entire BLOG entry in itself.

11/16 – Well the second half of the trip had to pick-up the speed. So headin north yuk worst hotel of the trip was come rundown casino outside of Las Vegas. Barstow smells and looks really rough, the passenger side turn signal flew out of the car and the lens cover separated and flew over the roof. Amazing enuff it didn’t break or get run over by a semi tractor-trailer. Had some shipping tape in the car and ghetto’d the bad boy right-up. The coolest things on the California portion; 20 mule train BORAX mine (would have asked for the tour but, I just taped the turn signal back on the car), viewing the freight train on the Tehachapi Pass Loop, looking towards Death Valley, the orchards, Corning for olives and virgin oil.

11/17 – Oregon, sis’s lil car on the mountain, it was tough. But it did OK until Portland, it was raining cats and large dogs, the check engine light comes on, the add coolant light comes on. Lost all confidence in the car…call all my friends and family in Seattle and put the warning out that if the car dies in route send help.

11/18 - Lesson learned is dat sis’s little car don’t like to be pushed. After a nights rest, can of oil, and more antifreeze it purred into Seattle just fine. Had enough time for TA to geocach at the old Olympia brewery birthplace of Oly Pop!. Saw Aunt, Uncle, cousins and old college friend. Spent the night at D&S’s place, smile I actually “jammed” with D on guitar and, me on my ukulele lmao. I guess I learned something in Hawaii.

11/19 – Whew! dropped the car off at the shipping place and caught the plane home. Landed in ANC, it was 8 degrees F. Segundo picked me up at the airport. WTF, who leaves Hawaii to go home to ANC in the middle of the winter?

11/26- Took Segundo to Juneau to visit Primo and his GF. Primo cooked dinner at his roommates hse (not GF but, an older woman with young daughter). Great food, he slow roasted the turkey, it was a good time. We geocached the day after it was a good time. Lesson learned quit drinking with children, Primo is an angry drunk. New worries as a parent, oh well it never ends.

Well woo hooo it is good to be home. I have tickets to the AIFF and my birthday is coming up. Lots of house stuff to do. Let the rumpus begin. Christ I need to figure out what is next, again that is another BLOG entry also.

KAF Update

Sorry for the lack of post all. Not that I haven't been having fun but project close-out has been a bitch. So I guess fun has been under achieved. However, I did go to the Big Island on Labor Day. A buddy of mine has taken it upon him self to document the health and location of Wiliwili trees on the island, freelance environmentalism. So we spent the afternoon hiking and locating these trees.

Mature tree, about 100 years old we figured??

Wiliwili tree seeds






Nice grove of trees.

The last groves of trees was a turkey roost, alas no turkey but we did find a turkey feather!
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You could see/feel the spirit of this old tree, its is dying, note orange color.
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Here is all of the pics from that day.

https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B6jvDj02rIx0MmY5NTc5M2ItMGU1MS00MWU2LTgyYjEtOWQ3OWVmNjEzZjg4&hl=en

Ginger Syrup - The Mixology Experiment

In an effort to be healthy I have been going to the local farmers market on Sundays for my fruit and veggies for the week. Well this one booth had these big ginger roots, I had to buy one. Great! So I asked myself, "Yo, what do u do with this big root-o-ginger?" Ahh yes, the answer was easy, make ginger syrup for ginger martinis. Note, how easy I stray from the "healthy lifestyle" pursuit.

Quick e-mail to M.I.

G-Daddy to MIHOTT
OK , I got this big chunk o'ginger. so what is ur recipe for ginger syrup. Can I make it with dark rum??

MIHOTT to G-Daddy
Equal parts water, sugar & Ginger (peeled & chopped). I usually do med to med high heat & stir a lot up front while the sugar is melting, then let it simmer until it's syrupy, about 30 min. That's it for the syrup.

For the martini, I experiment, usually 1/2 rum, 1/2 syrup or do thirds with triple sec.
Good luck!

Well for starters, no dude is gonna peel ginger root. Look at that thing, its alien. I just cut it small enough to go in my Black and Decker One-Touch chopper. Presto I got at least a pound of finely chopped ginger root. Now I happen to enjoy dark rum. So with that said I figure I'll go all dark and use dark brown sugar also. With those small deviation I proceed to make my own batch of ginger syrup.

OK so I melt the sugar in with the ginger and have this nice rich brown liquid...with all kinds on ginger peel pieces floating on the top. No worries, the house is equipped with a small strainer and I proceed to fish most of the chopped pieces of ginger skin out of my precious syrup. Simmer for 1/2 hr to 45 minutes. Hmmm, Doesn't look so bad.


I happen to have some blue sake bottles and some extra corks. So there, I have ginger syrup.

CONCLUSION: Let's say that for a first try I found all of the mistakes. Honestly who likes a brown martini? What was I drinking...I mean thinking? The dark rum was too strong, it clashed with the ginger. White rum next time.

Same with the brown sugar, white sugar next time. Oh yea, and if you don't want to peel then you need cheese cloth (hmm perhaps coffee filters will work). The strainer doesn't get all of the fines.

Good things. I got two containers of sweet chopped ginger root I have been cooking with. Ginger teriyaki tuna!!. The pineapple was great alone without any rum. The rum is great alone without any ginger. Mix the syrup with sparkling water for really good ginger ale.

Kick Ass Fun Update

So here is what I have found. I have the best Super Bowl Sundays if I don't watch that goofy football game. So for the last two Sundays in a row I have hit Ward's Rafters. What a funky place. The third story of this woman's house in Kaimuki...who would have known??

http://www.yelp.com/biz/wards-rafters-honolulu

On Superbowl Sunday was, "A Tribute to John Coltrane". Man that was hot.

Here is the play list for you jazz purest.

1st Set
Bessie's Blues
Good Bait - sweet
I Mean You
Lazy Bird - waltz
The River
A Love Supreme - dudes, tore it up way to close a set!!! Satomi was just awesome on piano

2nd Set

Giant Steps
Moment's Notice
Ohm(sp) Original composition I thought is sounded like the funky part of The River
Something about John Coltrane - Flute
Impressionsw/Neil on Sax also for duet/ Neil can blow also....sigh started thinking about work on this tune.

3rd Set

In Walked Bud
Mister Day
The Creator Has a Master Plan - a Pharoah Sanders tune

This Sunday was just as good. Valentines Day, Mom and Pop's anniversary, which leads to an entire separate blog post. In Summary, that was two Sundays in a row of kick ass fun!

Where was all the Fun and Happiness???

LOL.... back in April I posted some "short term goals" 30-60 days. Well with the year ending I figure I'll give a brief summary.

Lose weight...Yes I did. I even kept it off thru the holidays.

LEED AP... Yes I did. Now the good sustainable green building folks want me to select a speciality by 2011 so I'll have to get PDH's for that. Arrrgh

30+ engineering PDH's for my 2010 AK engineering license...Yes I did This was pretty cool.

Scuba Diving.....No, I didn't. Nothing, zippo, didn't even get wet. How lame is that? the most fun thing one that stupid list and I do nothing. yo G-daddy ur priorities are really f'd up. Sigh my pursuit of water colors was down also. I did only 7 post cards and 6 of those were Christmas cards of the same thing.

Years ago I had a TAB business with some college buddies. It wasn't a huge money maker but, every year we would have a big pizza super bowl party (hey, it was tax deductible). So at the party I would announce the word of the year. Remember Peewee's Play house? ok I digress. The phrase for 2010 is "Kick Ass Fun". I am going to focus on kick ass fun. This will be the one of the funnest years of my life.

Not saying 2009 wasn't fun. A few friends did come visit me on Oahu. I did get to the Big Island. Had a fun road trip from Denver to AZ thru New Mexico. However, more Kick Ass Fun in 2010 will be had by all.

Primo and Segundo on da island brah!

CHECK IT OUT!!!

Primo and Segundo were in HI for Christmas.

The highlight was a night at the Dragon Upstairs Lounge in Hono Downtown Chinatown. Another awesome Jazz show, the drummer was choke as they say in the 808


They also got to pound sweet rice to make moshi(sp) for the new year. I guess rice pounding is a Japaneses new years tradition. The neighbor does this every year and he invited the boyz and I over.

Moshed sweet rice...., yup I know that was takin grammatical liberties with conjugation.

The moshi production line.

Three of us at the bar, he he it reminded me of going out with Pops .

No Pain, No Gain or Make Lemonade w/o Sugar

YOW

A lot has happened since the last post.

Amazing, I passed my LEEDS AP test. Hey don’t ask I needed a 170 out of whatevah and I got bare minimum 170. Postponed it from 6/19 to 6/23 and passed the buggah! OK so I met the pass the LEED AP exam goal.

7/15/09 the house I’m renting was jacked. Bastards stole my laptop, back-up HD, Nokia N82 cell phone, both ukulele’s a KoAloha and my KPK, GPS (old as it was), check books and bank files. Bitches took my water color paints and pencils. Took a month to cancel checks, get new accounts (in Alaska), and file fraud alerts at all three credit agencies. The police file was closed in a day, so much for Hawaii 50 in the year 2009. Now I have chains on both gates…kinda silly for a house with jalousie windows and ¾” T&G walls. I mean a tweaked out Samoan could just go thru the wall.

So then I start having dizzy spells. Dr. puts me on the EKG machine and goes hmmm perhaps you need to see a cardiologist and take a baby aspirin daily. Of course then I feel my heart and carotid arteries start throbbing. The dizziness gets worse and so next week I see Doc again which is followed by an immediate head CT scan. Good news here, the small growth in my head is identified as my brain and no tumors or aneurysms are waiting to explode.

But in the back of my mind I think well maybe it is the HBP meds. So I’m now I’m mortified G-Daddy has heart disease. I stop drinking and coffee, and start popping aspirin daily. In addition, I was told to get a HBP machine so I can track my pressure at home. (Why would a doctor tell an engineer to collect and plot data points?) So I’m taking 20-30 readings a day just waiting for the big one to hit me. To be honest, Doc also said it could be stress and do some stretching, exercise, try yoga. So after living in fear for three weeks, I finally get to the cardio stress test. The cardiologist was hilarious, great stand-up. Long story short heart is healthy, changed HBP meds, and dizziness has somewhat subsided.

The point is add the; house break in, HBP meds dizziness side effect, the heart disease scare, plus work stress (next Blog entry) Woo Hoo!! I lost 8 lbs. So, I’m gonna claim an 80% on the lose weight goal.

No Diving
2 more CEU’s more to follow