Before I left for Asia I told my mom that I would like to get a waffle iron. Well, when I got back one had magically appeared in the kitchen. Somehow I think my mom had something to do with it. Anyway, she wanted me to try it out and I did - mixing up a batch of waffle mix from the Bisquick box. The directions for the cooker said to be careful not to overfill it. I guess waffles fluff when you cook them and if you put too much goo in there you could end up with a mess. SO I diligently put just a little mix in for starters. See the results below. It basically took about 4 tries before I produced one perfect square of a waffle. The upside is that the new iron makes a kickin' waffle. Crisp on the outside and soft in the middle. Not too shabby!
The first attempt at waffles...
Last weekend I headed up to Philly to visit my girlfriend Lucia and play a little softball with the team. Amazingly the US Air shuttle out of Columbia was on time, got in to Philly early, and even had a place to park! This compared to some times when there has been no crew, or bad weather, or nowhere to park leaving me sitting on the ramp staring at the gate and wishing I could get off the dern plane.
Loosh and I went out for Japanese on Friday night. I got to practice with my chopsticks again and didn't end up wearing any of my food. The restaurant we went to, the House of Jin, actually serves both Japanese and Chinese cuisine. I picked a rainbow sushi roll. This had rice, cucumber, avacado, and a variety of raw fish. The presentation was great and the food was delicious.
Saturday ended up with so-so weather. We walked up to the High Point Cafe for crepes in the morning. Let me tell you - if you live in Philly GO GET SOME CREPES! And if you don't live in Philly keep it in mind next time you visit. The crepes here are amazing. They come with a fabulous little salad of mixed greens. And the cappucinos and lattes are perfect with lots of foam and raw sugar to compliment. It's an awesome, awesome, awesome way to start the day.In the afternoon we had practice. It was so much fun to get out and play with the team again! I loved having some time pitching and I was so enthusiastic I ended up jamming up my shoulder while taking some plays at 2nd. Still, it was a great day. I am totally looking forward to playing again!
LOOSH -->
Saturday night Lucia and I headed to the Adobe Cafe in Manayunk for a little Tex-Mex. The food was not as good as I remembered the last time I was there. I got a crab stuffed burrito... maybe I should stick to fajitas or quesadillas.. Anyway, it didn't matter, the conversation was great and the margaritas were tasty and it was a great time.
Sunday was the rockin' Dirty Martini's Beef-n-Beer. My best friend (and vegetarian) Kate showed up with her also vegetarian girlfriend Chris. They stuck with salad and pasta and steered clear of the beef! Yeah, let's invite the vegetarians to the Beef-n-Beer!
The team did an awesome job organizing the event. We had t-shirts on sale, a great live band, good food, good beer, and a great turn-out. I don't know what we netted, but it will definitely help offset World Series expenses this season!
The B-n-B wrapped up around 6, but we hung out until about 9:30. Everyone seemed to be having a blast and it was great to spend some time out with the team.
Monday was pretty low-key. I cooked up 3 and 1/2 pancakes with the remains of Lucia's pancake mix then re-heated some muffins in the frying pan. It was actually a great breakfast and cool to spend some time being domestic. Later in the day we spent some time gardening before I took off for SC again.
The flight, again, amazingly, was on time departing and early getting in. On the way down it was clear enough so that I could pick out Baltimore-Washington International Airport, Reagan National in Washington, DC, the Capitol Building, the Mall, and when I got into Columbia we flew right over my house! Crazy!
Speaking of Washington.. (if your eyes glaze over when you read about our government you can skip this part) if you have been paying attention to politics and Washington lately you might have seen in the news that the Supreme Court heard arguments in the case of Hamdan vs. Rumsfeld. The gist of the case is to determine the legality of the military tribunals being used to try detainess being held at Guatanamo Bay. The Supremes have to start the case by weighing in on the Detainee Treatment Act, passed by Congress in December 2005, which prevents Guantanamo Bay detainees from getting a habeas corpus review in Federal Courts. SO this means Congress may have taken away the Supreme's right to even hear the Hamdan case. (This stuff blows me away and it should worry everyone.)
For those not up on latin legal terms the definition of a writ of habeas corpus is a writ ordering a prisoner to be brought before a judge. This allows the prisoner to have a hearing and present evidence and it is meant to protect against unlawful imprisonment. The DTA suspends this right for the Gitmo detainees.
For a great article on the hearing follow this link. It's worth the read.
http://www.slate.com/id/2138841/
To quote the summation of the article - the rationalization of the Bush administation is this - "The existing laws do not apply because this is a different kind of war. It's a different kind of war because the president says so. The president gets to say so because he is president."
Wow. OK, off my soapbox..
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