Into Everyone's Life Some Rain Must Fall

It's horrible outside today.

"Raining sideways" can hardly describe what's going on out there at this moment.

Not that it's been a bad day, mind you.

I got to take my best friend out for lunch.

That's a rare treat for a couple of reasons.

1. He works full time, but is presently and temporarily "on the bench".

2. We always fight over the check and he has more sneaky ways of taking care of it than I do.

3. Neither of us are big on eating lunch anymore. We both sort of "pick" through the day.

Still, we headed out into the wilds of South Jersey and grabbed a bite to eat.

Honestly, we just sort of "picked" at our lunches. Not that they weren't good. The restaurant is outstanding in my opinion. It's just how we roll these days.

Prior to lunch, we stopped by a local butcher shop and did some light shopping.

I can't tell you folks what a pleasure it is to shop like that. I'm not opposed to supermarkets. I just don't like what they charge for the privilege.

"Doc" picked up some pork chops and tomato-basil egg noodles.

I picked up some ground beef/pork for a meatloaf and a couple of ham hocks that redefine the phrase.

Ham hocks make any bean (or legume) better. Period.

Don't believe me?

Make a big pot of Lima beans, cook them with a ham hock, and serve them over rice.

That's one big plate of "happy" at dinner.

I don't have too much to say today.

Oh, one announcement.

I'm flying.......yes, FLYING.....into Memphis on the weekend of January 6. My birthday falls on that weekend. This year, I'm treating myself to a four day weekend. Two nights in a casino hotel room in Tunica, and a day and a half in Memphis (including a one off guest visit at Sunday FunDay!!!!!).

Please feel free to come visit/gamble with me on Friday or Saturday.

I'll post the reservations/flight times when I book everything in the next few days.

It's been too long since I last treated myself to something nice.

I've never minded doing stuff for other folks, it's one of my long suits. 2012 will start by me doing a nicety for me.

Sure, I could drive back and forth between Tunica, MS and Memphis, TN both days, but why bother? Even if I'm safe to drive, the other guy/gal might not be.

Besides, casinos get fun when the hardcore gamblers roll in.

People watching is not overrated.

Especially on a birthday weekend.

Until the next time, all y'all take care of yourselves.

Air Traffic Mike, ret.

It's A Little Chili Out.....

It was destined to be a quiet "Sunday FunDay".

It was warm enough, but the skies were oh so dreary.

Okay, so the title is in conflict with the story.......sort of.

Sue me and get another blogger.

But I digress. Again.

After three days of "Thanksgiving food", I made a command decision.

I also made a pot of chili.

Let's face it, chili is a great Sunday meal.

It takes one pot.

It is served in one bowl with one spoon.

It is portable, therefore eating in front of the television is no sweat.

Chili endears itself to really cool condiments.

After all, name one other meal where you can mix crushed crackers, minced onions, diced jalapenos, shredded cheddar cheese, and sour cream together in one bowl.

Chili is awesome.

It is also one of the most subjectively judged foods in America.

To a person, every cook I've met thinks their chili is the best.

In most cases, every one of them is right.

Okay, I like my chili better than anyone else's.

Having said that, I also like other chili's a great deal.

When I'm in Memphis, the Majestic Grille serves chili every Wednesday.

As if I needed ANOTHER reason to eat there.

IN my opinion there are six good reasons to visit and eat at the Majestic Grille.

In no particular order, those reasons are:

1. Everything on the menu. Simply put, it's the best restaurant in Downtown Memphis. Period.
2. The atmosphere. Casual, yet elegant. Come in wearing shorts or a tux. All are welcome.
3. Lisa, the best martini maker in the world. A true martini is high art. She's DaVinci in the field.
4. Patrick and Deni Reilly, chef/owners. They are the best.
5. Marla, Mark, the two Michaels, and the rest of the staff ('cept for one). Outstanding folks.
6. Lauren (the *'cept for one*). She's a goofball, but also a really cool gal. You'll love her.

No surprise then that I step out for their chili on Wednesdays.

Honestly, I could eat chili pretty much every day of the week.

Blues City Cafe and Huey's both serve up mean bowls of chili. I get the chili at Blues City Cafe with two grilled cheese sandwiches (Made on Texas Toast) pretty much every Sunday after "Sunday FunDay" with the gang. I get Huey's chili any time I need to get my "Tamale Fix" on.

Both are superior chili's.

But not to Majestic Grille's chili.

And certainly, not to mine.

Like I said, chili is among the most subjective of foods.

Think I'll indulge myself in some of mine for breakfast.

Breakfast. Gonna add some cheese, jalapenos, and break out the saltines.

Mostly because I can.

Same reason I wear my "Superman" house pants.

Another friend of mine calls them "Ball Scratching Pants".

Either way, they are comfortable morning wear.

Now then, back to my chili.

Until the next time, all y'all take care of yourselves.

Air Traffic Mike, ret.

So How Was Thanksgiving?

Ours was very quiet.

That's a blessing any time of year.

I looked in the refrigerator this morning.

Like most everybody else, the leftovers are daunting. Like most everybody else, we're tired of Thanksgiving food.

Not that it was a bad meal.

The turkey and my homemade cranberry relish both came out nice.

They started off looking something like this:

BTW, in my humble opinion, New Jersey raises some of the finest cranberries in the world.

Oh, and just because they sell it under the name, "Butterball", it doesn't mean that more butter won't make it better.

The finished products looked something like this:

The cranberry relish had two peeled and sectioned Clementines and a 1/2 cup of chopped pecans. Clementines are terrific because they are sweeter than oranges and give a nice balance to the cranberries' natural tartness.

There's nothing I can say about this year's turkey other than it is the best turkey I've roasted in the last ten years.

Having said that, I'm really looking forward to today's beef and bean chili.

The leftover turkey can see it's future in a soup pot tomorrow.

It was a good team effort this year. Christine baked a couple of pumpkin pies. Her youngest daughter made some "Vegan Friendly" dishes that were quite delicious.

On a scale of 1 to 10, I give it a 9.5. It would have been a 10, but Christine's Dad didn't feel up to coming over.

A missing loved one at the holidays will always lower the score a bit.

Maybe he'll come out for the Christmas country ham.

Let's hope.

Until the next time, all y'all take care of yourselves.

Air Traffic Mike, ret.

Why Planes Crash

An air traffic controller friend of mine once summed up pretty much every aviation accident in one sentence:

"They ran out of altitude, airspeed, and ideas all at the same time."

So how does something like this happen?

Flying around mountains can be pretty treacherous for obvious reasons.

You can't see them when clouds obscure them.

There's generally a lack of flat ground to make an emergency landing.

On a hot day the density altitude may be such that no matter what a pilot does, his airplane may not be able to clear the top of a mountain.

I also am reasonably sure that no mountain ever moved so an airplane wouldn't hit it.

From eyewitness reports visibility was not affected by clouds.

An eyewitness also stated the airplane didn't seem to be in any distress.

The pilot was not in contact with the FAA air traffic controllers. Had they been in distress, given their location, the pilot surely would have attempted to make contact.

Most small aircraft are not equipped with Cockpit Voice recorders or Flight Data recorders (the so called "Black Boxes"). They don't carry them because they are not required to. Recording equipment is rather heavy and very expensive. Without any of that data, the National Transportation Safety Board will have to guess as to what the probable cause was. I doubt they'll be able to obtain any post mortem tests on the pilot due to the violence of the crash and the post impact fire.

There's a phenomena in aviation called "Controlled Flight Into Terrain" (CFIT). Simply put, it's where the pilot loses his/her situational awareness and accidentally/unknowingly flies a perfectly good airplane into the ground. In this case, into the side of a mountain.

It's not limited to small airplanes, either. In February, 1990 a perfectly good Airbus Industries A-320 airliner crashed short of the runway at the Bangalore Airport killing 92 out of 146 passengers and crew.

Before that, in late December, 1972, an Eastern Airlines crew got distracted by a possible landing gear problem and crashed in the Everglades.

I've got a feeling that the pilot of the Rockwell AC69 probably just got a little distracted and didn't realize he was below a safe operating altitude. There are any number of things that could have distracted the poor soul.

Could have been a conversation.

Could have been something with one or all of the three children on board.

Heck, it could have been the relaxing nature of flying at night.

We'll never really know.

From the pictures of the accident scene, if it was a mechanical problem, we'll probably never know that either.

What we do know is that it wasn't the first time something like this has happened.

Sadly, it won't be the last.

Until the next time, all y'all take care of yourselves.

Air Traffic Mike, ret.

Giving As A Part Of Thanks

As in years past, I took part is some volunteer work this week.

Some years I spent serving food to those in need. If you ever think you've got it bad, go to a homeless shelter and help with Thanksgiving dinner sometime. The first time I did it made me drastically re-evaluate my spot in life.

This year was much more low impact than that.

Yesterday I helped a friend and his group assemble Thanksgiving food boxes for the elderly and needy. A wise man once pointed to me that, "People aren't just hungry two days a year.". That is very true. A turkey and the fixings for Thanksgiving (and Christmas) are not the panacea for all society's problems. However, the act of human kindness may offer up a glimmer of hope.

There is no price one can lay on "hope".

Each box came with a frozen turkey, box of stuffing, cranberry sauce, corn, green beans, turkey gravy, a bag of russet and sweet potatoes, a pound of butter, a dozen bake and eat dinner rolls, and a freshly baked pumpkin pie.

It took us about an hour to get everything assembled. That left plenty of time in case there were any last minute additions from the local Visiting Nurses.

As it turned out, we ended up getting a late last minute addition.

All we had to do after this was wait for the delivery folks.

In this case, it was a group of volunteers from the local high school headed up by an old teacher of mine.

It was really inspiring to watch these young people work together. With some guidance from their teacher, they had all 45 deliveries divided and their routes planned out.

Yesterday was a God awful, raw and rainy day. It would have been easy for some not to honor their commitment. They all showed and were excited to help.

It was really good to see.

With the meals the Visiting Nurses handed out the day before from their offices, more than 120 families were taken care of this week.

We'll do it all again come Christmas.

NOTE: If any of my Memphis friends care to make a donation, hit me up on email. I'll provide you the information to ensure the money gets into the right hands.  - ATM

After I got home I had to figure out dinner.

What's better on a raw, rainy day than a nice chicken dish?

Saute a bunch of garlic toes.

Take a 1.5l bottle of dry white wine and 32 ounces of chicken stock.

Brown six cubed boneless, skinless chicken breasts in olive oil. Add garlic. Add 8 ounces chicken stock and 8 ounces of wine. Add 1 teaspoon of dried thyme, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper.Want to make it spicy, add 1 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes. Cook until almost dry. Deglaze the pan using the 8 and 8 combo of liquids until the chicken stock is used up. Then, do it one more time using 8 ounces of wine only. The garlic toes will break down into a deep brown sauce.

Something like this.

Serve over rice or orzo and with a nice green salad or vegetable.

I think you folks will like this one.

Time to tear up the kitchen in preparation for tomorrow.

Have a happy Thanksgiving, one and all.

Until the next time, all y'all take care of yourselves.

Air Traffic Mike, ret.

The Family That Braises Together.....

Okay, so even for a pun that's a stretch.

After two days of spectacular Fall weather while on the road, yesterday chimed in with some seriously dreary Fall weather. Low, dark clouds with warm, humid air in Novemeber can mean one of two things. Rain, or thunderstorms with tornadoes.

Believe me, the worst Thanksgiving I ever went through weather wise was when I was living in Germantown, TN in 1994. It was kind of a day like yesterday, but with disastrous results for families nearby.

Fortunately, yesterday's weather eased into rain showers late in the day.

I'm not here to talk about the weather or what's slowly becoming ancient history.

I'm here to talk about food.

Good food.

Winter food.

"Make ya hungry" food.

Braised Pork In Tomatoes With Garlic, Onion, and Peppers

- 3 pounds pork loin cut into cubes
- 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
- 12 oz chicken stock
- 1 cup good quality dry white wine (dry vermouth or pinot grigio work well)
- 2 large yellow onions, halved and sliced
- 2 large (or 3 medium) bell peppers, seeded and sliced
- 8 toes peeled garlic chopped
- 1 tbspn Italian seaoning
- salt
- pepper

Sautee the onions and garlic until the onions are translucent in olive oil. Remove from pan and set aside.

Increase temperature to medium high. Add the sliced bell peppers and cook until they have browned around the edges a bit. Remove from pan and set aside.

Brown the pork in two or three batches.

Why two or three batches?

Well, you could do it in one big batch, but you'll get that viscous brown foam from not having enough pan space to burn off the liquid from the meat.

I know of no recipe that calls for meat being cooked so as to take advantage of "viscous brown foam".

Do it in two or three batches, capiche?

Add the onion/garlic back to the pan with the meat.

Add the wine and chicken stock. Make sure you scrape the bottom of the pan and get all the brown pieces of the bottom of the pan. Add the tomatoes and stir. Add Italian seasoning, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. Stir, reduce heat to medium low, and cover.

Simmer for one hour, covered.

After one hour, remove lid. Simmer for 30 minutes uncovered.

This allows the sauce to thicken. Like your sauce thin, you can always go with less time. Like it thick....well, you get it.

When it reaches your desired thickness, stir in the peppers. Heat for five to ten minutes. Adjust salt/pepper to taste. Serve over linguine, ziti, or rotini.

The beauty of this style cooking is that once it gets going, there's little else to do to it. Maybe an occasional stir or a dip of crusty bread.

This recipe is also versatile. You can substitute chicken breast, beef, veal, or Italian sausages.

It's also a nice way to pass a Sunday afternoon.

Today's plan? Pretty much up in the air. I'm still recovering from the road trip.

Looks like some "Beef Roast Therapy" is in order.

Until the next time, all y'all take care of yourselves.

Air Traffic Mike, ret.

Meanwhile, Back At The Ranch....

Hello, South Jersey.

How was my trip back, you ask?

Well, it was a bit more interesting than usual. The weather was perfect for the entire trip. That's always a plus. Another plus was getting off to an early start Friday morning.

I departed Memphis around 5:30 am.

Okay, so that's not very interesting.

However, shortly thereafter things changed.

As many of you know, back in the Year of Our Lord 2009 (December 2009 to be precise), I had a brief encounter with a member of St. Francis' flock on I-64 in Virginia.

The results were one very dead doe and $9,288.64 of improvements to the AirTrafficMobile.

I kept that in mind as I proceeded eastbound on I-40 Friday morning. It was prime time in the day for deer to be moving around.

At approximately 6:10 am I saw something moving out of the treeline ahead and to my right. The distance was about 100 yards. I became very concerned very quickly. 100 yards isn't much room when travelling at 75 miles per hour.

Sure enough, a very large doe was attempting to cross the Interstate.

I thought, "Crap. Here we go again."

She was already in the right lane. I was in the left. Seeing as how my last deer encounter didn't go so well, I decided to try something different this time.

I turned my headlights off, slowed down, and shifted over to the right lane. I figured if I didn't startle her too much she might just keep on moving.

Maybe I was right, maybe I was lucky. She didn't freeze. I assume the sound of my approaching vehicle was enough to encourage her to keep moving forward. I passed well behind her.

The last I saw of her, she was bounding over the wire safety rails of the westbound lanes.

There was traffic over there. I can not attest to a successful crossing.

However, it got me up on full alert for the rest of the trip.

There were plenty of reminders on the way to Bristol, VA.

I counted 11 deer carcass by the time I pulled into the hotel at Bristol. That's only the dead remains I could positively identify as deer. There were lots more dead critters scattered about the highway. Let's face it, by the time a creature has reached the "Welcome mat" stage of decay, it's nearly impossible to say what it really was. Fawns and large dogs are about the same size.

I also didn't include any "deer smears".

"Deer smears" are those long bloody streaks down the highway where a large truck or 18 wheeler traps the poor creature underneath. The result is a wide, bloody path lasting for days and a shortcut to the "Welcome mat" stage of decay.

There were quite a few of those as well, especially up on the Cumberland Plateau.

In spite of the carnage, I made really good time getting to Bristol. I was off the road by 3:15 pm.

I checked into the hotel. I noticed my room came with a small refrigerator and microwave. At that moment I decided that I didn't really feel like eating out or driving anymore. I walked across the street to a large grocery store, picked up a chef's salad, some freshly made chicken tenders from the deli, some sodas, and a bag of pretzels.

Since the best part of foraging is eating, I called it a day.

Sometimes, just a few hours of simplicity make the difference on road trips.

I was in bed early. After sleeping poorly for the preceding four to five days I was glad for it.

Yesterday I did something I rarely do.

I slept in.

Checkout time wasn't until noon anyway. I figured I'd wake up when I woke up. Yesterday, that meant the luxurious hour of 8:30 am.

I hit the road around 9:30 am.

As well as traffic was moving the day before, it was that horrible yesterday. I-81 in southwest Virginia is a very hilly road. It is also a major truck route. Factor in traffic for the upcoming holiday and it quickly got stupid. Seems like everybody had to be first. In all my travels I have never seen more aggressive driving. I thought one guy in a pickup truck was going to die pulling in between two semis on a downhill run.

That was all my head and heart could take. I pulled off and grabbed some lunch. I figured if I got out of that group of drivers my luck might improve.

It did.

Well, for a while.

Then I came up on the Christiansburg, VA exit.

That's the exit you take if you are headed to the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Most folks just call it Virginia Tech.

It's graduates mostly just call it "Tech".

I can't repeat what I called it yesterday.

All I'll say is this. Apparently Virginia Tech has no entry requirement in regards to having completed a Driver's Education course, nor do they seem to offer one remedially.

However, they do have a sizable enrollment and after all it IS a holiday week. Everybody who stayed Friday night to party was heading out by the time I reached there. This group was crazier than the last. I had no desire to mix it up with any of them. The right lane was just fine as far as I was concerned. It took about 8o miles of driving for the mess to sort out.

Yet, that wasn't the worst thing I saw all day.

You'll see in a second.

First, all the nominees for the 2012 Air Traffic Mike Bad Driving Award sponsored by 1-800-BAD-IDEA:

- North Carolina guy pulling in between two semis on a downhill run. Just because you came from the birthplace of NASCAR, it doesn't make you a stock car driver. You'd better thank the professional truck driver behind you for anticipating your stupidity and his use of both his air brakes and "jake" braking. It's the only reason you survived that move.

- Five black guys from New York in Toyota Camry. Trying to make a right exit from the left lane is never a good move. Especially when you make a Tennessee State Highway Patrol officer jam on his brakes to miss killing all of you. Hope you enjoyed your night in jail, boys.

- North Carolina checks in again with a U-Haul trailer in tow. Note to driver: Next time you rent a trailer that says, "Do not exceed 50 MPH" on the back heed the warning. You passed me doing around 70 mph. I passed you and all your wrecked shit about half an hour later doing about the same speed.

- Maryland girls driving a Nissan Quest Van with Virginia Tech stickers plastered all over it. Trying to back down an exit ramp in heavy traffic is a great idea. Withdraw from school IF you survived the attempt and enroll in a State approved Driver's Ed program. Without that degree, the one from Tech won't matter.

- New York's back in the house. This time it's young couple in Honda Pilot, covered with Virginia Tech stickers, and a no yield entry onto I-81 in front of the semi load of BMW's. You're driving a Honda. You can't afford eight brand new 3- and 5- series BMW's otherwise you'd be driving your Bentley home from an Ivy League school. You might want to team up with the Maryland girls from Tech and see if you can negotiate a "class" deal with a State approved Driver's Ed program.

Some compelling cases, aren't they?

By the time I had reached the I-695 beltway outside of Baltimore, I was pretty sure I had my "winner" all picked out.

Then, one more person stepped up to the plate.

I couldn't believe it.

So then, without further ado, here's this year's winner of the 2012 Air Traffic Mike Bad Driving Award sponsored by 1-800-BAD-IDEA:

- Young African American mom driving a "vintage" Toyota Tercel with baby in car seat. Texting in heavy traffic is already a bad idea, but doing so and ignoring the risk to your child is incomprehensible. I don't give a rip about your life, but I pray to God your baby got to where you were going, safely. You're possibly the most ignorant driver I've ever seen. Maybe God will turn your lights on, maybe he'll turn them out. If given a vote yesterday, I know which one I'd cast my lot for. You're apparently not smart enough to either travel or be a mother, let alone do both simultaneously. If I could have gotten your license plate numbers, I'd have called the Maryland State Police.

Congratulations, bitch.

Fortunately, I made it to South Jersey without further nominees and intact.

Maybe next time I'll rig a video camera and film the trip.

Today, some grocery shopping, maybe a stop by the farm to see Doc, and a low key Sunday.

Until the next time, all y'all take care of yourselves.

Air Traffic Mike, ret.

Like I Was Just Saying......

Okay, so I've been really quiet of late.

At least on the blog here.

I've still found some time to piss people off. That's why the Facebook app for my iPhone is so handy.

I have blogged from my iPhone from time to time. It wasn't the most fun I've ever had.

However, I really wanted to get my point across and it was the best technology I had at my disposal.

So what's new?

How have all y'all been?

For my part, this trip to Memphis has been one of the more interesting ones.

I didn't get to see everybody. Seriously, in order for me to see everybody, I'd have to be here for six months.

So then, it's back off to the East Coast.

It'll be good to get back home.

Maybe I can get my sleep schedule back on track.

C'mon, you know you can't get enough of them.

Until the next time, all y'all take care of yourselves.

Air Traffic Mike, ret.

I'm Still Here

Just painting a room over the last few days.

One coat up and drying, one to go.

Tomorrow I hit the highway and make a brief return to the Bluff City for a few weeks.

As always, Splitty the Maul will be riding shotgun.

Mauls dig road trips.

Look for more later.

Until the next time, all y'all take care of yourselves.

Air Traffic Mike, ret.