New Year's Tapas

Happy New Year!

Finally

This is an encouraging ray of hope... maybe the US will follow suit. (from boingboing)

Signs

We walked by the Peninsula Open Space Trust offices on High St this morning and saw this parking sign... Hop Along Now

Yesterday we were at the post office, where Rosie had to wait outside... No Pets Allowed

Tour of Doodie

Tour of Doodie
Originally uploaded by grwster

Dog poop pickup companies have the best names... must start blogging them when I see them.

Skidboot

This is a great story...

Merry Christmas

We just finished Christmas dinner here in Redding -- we cooked a small turkey on the BBQ this year and it turned out great!

There's a lot of conflicting information on the web on how long it takes to cook a turkey on a BBQ, so here's our experience:

The turkey was 8 pounds, was "all white meat" (which meant that the legs had been removed), and was cooked without stuffing or being trussed. The BBQ was gas (not charcoal) and the turkey was placed inside (with the cover closed) in a cast iron skillet and covered with a foil tent. The burners were set to a medium position. A meat thermometer was used to measure the internal temperature.

After two hours, or about 15 minutes per pound, the internal temperature reached 190F. At about 2:15 we turned off the heat and let the turkey rest for another 30 minutes. The meat was moist and delicious.

Pecan Trees

I was researching the water needs of Pecan trees, with the idea of planting one here in California for Rosie, when I found this fascinating article.

A mature Pecan tree requires 55 acre-inches of water over the April-October growing season, which works out to 100 gallons of water per day (during the growing season)!

Another interesting fact is how the depth (and composition) of the soil plays into the equation "a tree growing in a soil 7 feet deep has the potential of 9,000 gallons of available water per tree compared to a 7-inch-deep soil, which has the potential of only 800 gallons of available water per tree".

They're well suited to Austin, where it rains throughout the year, but I don't think we'll be planting one here.

Reindeer Truck

Seen on the way to Redding yesterday (full photo on flickr).

Cider Experiment

Inspired by one our brewing friends in Austin, we're making some hard
cider with an American Ale yeast (unlike Champagne yeast, it leaves a nice amount of residual sugar).

Podcasts

We've made a habit of loading up on podcasts for long drives -- it's a great way to pass the time. Here are links to some of the podcasts we listened to on the trip back to California:

• Car Talk
  
• Wait Wait Don't Tell Me
  
• Science Friday
  
• Basic Brewing Radio
  
• Piano Puzzler
  

Back in California

We made it back to California on Wednesday and have been busy running errands and settling in... brrr the house here is cold. I think we need to look into improving the attic insulation.

To celebrate being back we had folks over last night for some holiday tapas, a taste of Beth's dissertation ale, and tapping the keg of beer that we brewed when we were here over the summer. It also turned out to be Thane's birthday so we had cake!

I was happy to be able to revive our keg of homebrew since our CO2 tank ran empty while I was carbonating it and I wasn't sure what state it was in. We got the tank refilled yesterday at Carbonic Services in San Jose (actually, we got a small loaner tank while our tank is pressure tested and re-certified) and all seems fine, except that the regulator is now acting funny... I suspect it might have gotten some backwash when the pressure dropped in the tank so I probably need to clean it out.

Tehachapi Pass

Tehachapi Pass is covered with windmills...

We drove through some fog on the way down into Bakersfield, but all is
clear now along I-5.

California 58

We made it past Needles to Barstow CA last night. Heading towards
Mojave and then Bakersfield and I-5 this morning...

Tucson

Taking a break at the dog park in Tucson.

I-10 through New Mexico

We stopped in Deming NM last night and are aiming for Needles CA
tonight.

On The Road

Taking a break in Fredricksburg, about 2 hours in to our 12 hour day...

A Day in Austin

Here are some photos from our last day in Austin before we head to California for Christmas (more on Flickr):

Morning coffee at Quacks -- we started the day with our customary morning walk, eating pecans and chasing squirrels along the way.

Brunch at Opal Divines -- taking a break from packing and running errands, we had lunch on the patio at Opal's (Mmm migas).

Going through the car wash -- on the way to the storage unit to get the roof racks we went through the car wash (Rosie looks concerned)

First Week / Last Week

HMNS
Originally uploaded by grwster

We celebrated Beth's first post-doctoral week with a visit to the Houston Museum of Natural Science to see the Lucy (australopitecus afarensis) exhibit. It was fantastic. In addition the 40% complete skeleton of Lucy, and the explanation from Beth on how you can tell that she was an upright walker, there was also a fascinating exhibit on the culture of Ethiopia -- birthplace of coffee and Rastafarians -- I had no idea.

We stayed in a nice hotel in the museum district and hit up the contemporary fine art collections while we were there, in particular a Damien Hirst installation.

The rest of the week has been a blur of seeing people and packing up for the drive home, as it is also our last week in Austin. The car is packed and we start the drive to California in the morning!

Hooded

Beth's Commencement

Live from the Erwin Center...

[Update]



Here's video of Beth's hooding.

Champagne Toast

First of many planned for this weekend...

Dr Beth's Signature Tonic

We labeled our blackstar homebrew for Beth's graduation party.

That's the signature page from her dissertation on the label. The bottom two lines read "committee approved / blackstar brewed"

Hyde Park

Hyde Park, Austin TX
Originally uploaded by grwster

Here's the story of Hyde Park (Austin, TX) as posted in our local park:

In 1891, this neighborhood was among the fist planned subdivisions in the city and the first development involving a design for street cars.

Hyde Park was the vision of Monroe M. Shipe, who with the Missouri-Kansas and Texas Lang Company, established a 36-block are patterned after the exclusive London neighborhood.

Distinctive elementes in this district are the home and studio of German sculptress Elisabet Ney, residence of Swiss woodcarver Peret Mansbendel, the Moonlight Tower at 41st Street and Speedway, and the Avenue B Grocery Store, a vivid reminder of a now rare propery within a residential neighborhood.

Hyde Park's "long distance" from downtown (20 blocks) made it "The Pride of Austin" with amenities such as a park pavillion, green space, 2 lakes, and a electric streetcar that ran to downtown.

Growth, economics, permissive zoning, and other factors combined with development pressures and eroded much of the historic fabric. Through education, awareness of the benefits of historic preservation, proximity to shopping and access to the University and downtown, the area began a resurgence in restoration and rehabilitation.

Bungalows and Victorian style homes remain in this tree-lined neighborhood along with other styles and materials of differing scales which together demonstrate the enviable desirability of historic preservation here and elesewhere.

They don't mention that part of Monroe's vision was an exclusively white community.

Beth's Bunker

Beth in her bunker in PCL.

Elf Yourself

Dr Dawson

Beth's Defense

There was a big turnout, but everyone sat in back. After the talk, and
some Q&A they kicked us out...

Big Bug

Big Bug
Originally uploaded by grwster

We just made a trip into Beth's office to print out her signature page -- she defends tomorrow!

This giant dead bug, which she assures me is real, was on the shelf above her office mate's desk. Yikes!

Squirrel Hunter

We went to visit Beth on campus this afternoon. Maybe it's the bumper crop of pecans this year, but there's a serious squirrel infestation going on. Rosie was on alert the whole way. Here she has one in her sights...