bierkergaard

While here in Chicago, we have been riding public transportation to get around. Car is too much of a hassle and cabbies are too expensive. Over half of the family is carless so we hardly have the seats anyway. Last night, we headed to a highly-rated Italian restaurant a good amount of distance from the hotel. Thus, we needed to take the subway and then the bus to the destination. For $ 2.50 apiece, public transportation was the wise choice versus the $ 120 it would have taken to get us all there in cabs. The restaurant was awesome...truly, even with a trudge in the rain, where we made a wrong turn walking off the bus. Google Maps to the rescue once again. Most of my brothers have a good sense of direction. I don't. So, I have played back-up with Google Maps things go astray. Like a catcher in baseball and a wild pitch. After dinner, all twelve of us hopped back on the bus.We were the only whiteys. And some of us were uptighty. Not the best section of town.  One crazy black l...

  Starbucks is known for a good and strong cup of coffee. Before Starbucks descended upon the land like locusts--I know, it is not the most favorable analogy--most people drank diner-quality coffee. Crap like Maxwell House, raunchy to the last drop. It was probably better that is was made weak because it just had a bad taste. Halitosis in a cup. The lady that played the Wicked Witch of the West peddled Maxwell House back in the day. It was a fitting pairing. Starbucks may not be favored by all but even its critics must grant that it has raised the bar of quality--and had the net effect of creating an increase of even non-Starbucks coffee houses. It is not like cafes were across the land before Starbucks exploded like an espresso. Even coffee at hotels is better, as I am drinking a cup now as I write. Diner coffee still stinks. Until amazon.com can deliver a piping hot cup of atomic strength java to my door in minutes, the mermaid will continue to swim unabated. BTW, th...

Last night around midnight my heart was hurting. I do have some issues medically with my heart...a heart murmur that used to concern the school doctors who gave me physicals for sports or those mandatory examinations (cough, cough). The doctors would call my mom, she would explain that she was aware of it, and that I had been cleared by the family doctor to play sports. It does not seem to be a major problem from what I can tell besides occasional angina-like symptoms. Usually, the ache of the heart is more driven by emotional storms. Maybe watching the Pearl Jam documentary last night didn't help. That band, though quite talented, comes from a place of deep pathos. Deep, deep pathos. I am facing a good deal of uncertainty these days. The dominoes have not fallen yet so I am waiting. Uncertainty is usually what worries me. I am typically fairly balanced when I know what I am facing. I don't expect life to be easy and to go my way. I have learned that there is only so muc...

I have been having intermittent problems with internet service not working. So, I had to make that dreaded phone call to Comcast where they walk you through steps such as "Make sure that your modem is turned on." I am no techie but I am not a moron either. To Comcast's credit, the reps no longer seem to be taking the default posture that it is something on the customer end that is causing the problem. For several years, it was the case that Comcast assumed it was our equipment ( router, modem, etc)    and/or something we were doing.  While I was lining up the service appointment, the Comcast rep made the tantalizing offer to reduce our cable/internet bill to $49.99 a month (a $30 savings monthly) while adding a full package of premium channels. Right now we are bare-boned Basic and get most of our meat & sinew programming through Netflix. However, the offer really tempted me. Less cost, more content. But herein lies the problem. Most of the content is not so...

A few weeks ago, I went to a Subway and ordered the cold cut sub. The $5 deal. Maybe you have heard the commercial on the TV? It had one thin film of a greasy cold cut (nano-thin) piled high then with veggie condiments. Basically, a salad bar in a sub roll. It was fine but hardly the Paleo Diet. I needed more than cucumbers stacked like poker chips. The Pastrami sandwich above brought on the meat.  Where did I obtain such a meaty meal? Philly, Baltimore, New York City. Nah, Lancaster County, off of Fruitville Pike.  The Jewish Diaspora has officially reached Lancaster County. Sure, we have had Synagogues in town for a couple hundred of years but until there is a Jewish Deli, the religious life has not crossed into the Gentile world. Apparently there had been a Jewish Deli before back in the 1970's but is passed from the scene like the Lost Tribe of Israel.  Pastrami--like corned beef--traditionally would be cured by a lot of salt and not cooking, before the m...