alivehere

Until very recently I would have considered myself somewhat of a kitchen knife snob.  I liked knives by Wusthof and Shun.  This is easy to say when you have gotten great knives as gift, but it is another thing when you have to buy your own.   When I was in the market and began to shop one brand of knife performed without the price.

And so for 1/8 of the price of the competition I thought it was worth a try. I bought the 10″ Forschner Fibrox Chef Knife.

Its a great knife that cuts as well, if not better, than the other brands and if I ever need a new one its only $18!!!

I’m no longer a kitchen knife snob, but I will not give up my pocket knife… Benchmade is the only way to go.

I’ve never claimed to know anything about marketing, but will occasionally notice when it works on me.  For example, Caribou has $1 medium coffees on Monday mornings.   This may not work on me if I had to get out of my car or pull off the road to go to a drive thru, but I work at a place that has a Caribou that I have to walk right by everyday.  Anyways, this is a pretty good deal. The problem is that it allows me to, almost every Monday; see how convenient it is to buy coffee rather than make it at.  I had no problem passing up Caribou until I broke down for the first time and bought coffee on a Monday morning. The main problem with this is that I find myself tempted, but resisting, the urge to spend a little more and get an Americano or buy on the other days of the week.  They give you a taste of “the good life” and know that you will be tempted to push your limits a little to buy a little more or a little more often in hopes that you don’t even notice what you are doing.

The other day I was playing with my daughter, driving a toy car on the ground, saying, “vroom, vroom”.   In the near future I may have many more options.  With the increase of electric and hybrid cars has come an increase number complaints of people getting hit or almost hit because they can’t hear the car coming.   Many major car manufactures are working on ways to pipe sound out of the cars to make people aware that they are coming.  They may even let us pick our car tones much like a ringtone on your cell phone… that could be fun. I would choose a the sound of the jumbo jet to be piped out of an electric Smart Car… funny.

You can read the whole New York Times article here.

I am standing in line right now with my wife waiting to get into ‘Where the wild things are.’ I used to read the book when I was a kid and now I get to see it not only in movie form, but in IMAX!! I like the things that make me feel like I’m a kid again! Maybe after the movie I’ll go home and play Legos!!

My wife is about to spend her first winter in Minnesota. I have been shopping for snow tires for her Mini Cooper. The first quote at tire store #1 was $418. The second quote at tire store #2 was $376. The third quote, back at tire store #1 one week later was $343! Tire store #2 is now matching that price. I plan on adding a few other stores to the mix.

As confusing as it is, I think I enjoy the game of negotiating as much as we will appreciate the tires.

I enjoy cars! I love to see, feel, and smell the features of high end luxury and exotic vehicles. Today I stumbled upon an article of a new Russian SUV with Very unique interior… Whale Penis leather.

Check it out…

http://www.gtspirit.com/2009/10/06/exclusive-dartz-monaco-red-diamond-edition/

So today I went to the pet store to return the 79 dog ‘pee pads’ that were left from the original 80 pack. I bought them thinking I was doing the dogs a favor by letting them roam the kitchen while I was at work.

A few days ago I was telling a ‘pro dog trainer’ about my issue with the dogs not using the pad, but using the floor next to the pad, he proceeded to inform me of the proper methods in properly training a dog. He also said one of the worst things I could do is ‘train’ a dog to go on a pad inside. I have been working with my dog for three days now. My dog hated its kennel, and already I am seeing improvements. A few minutes ago I set her kennel 2 feet off the ground so not only did she have to go into it but she had to jump up. This is exciting because three days ago I was putting half of her body in the kennel and tapping her with the training stick until she would go in…. it took a while. Tonight… I just said the word kennel and off she went.

This has been very fun. It is cheap entertainment and it is exciting to see my dog excel in her training process.

Soon we will begin the ‘here drills.’

Since my wife, daughter and mom were out of town this last weekend my dad and I thought it would be a great opportunity to go out to eat together. We didnt settle on a restaurant until we were in the car and driving, but picked a good one when we decided Barrio.  Barrio  is a great resturant that serves Mexican street foods and all levels of Tequila.   The food is served as small plates and so you can try all sorts of things.  I really like the atmosphere, its what I image a trendy New York restaurant would be like and makes you feel like you made a good choice before you even  sit down.  After trying 5 or 6 dishes we thought it would be a good to get a lesson in Tequila. We had a great waiter that taught us well.

“True” Tequila is made from 100% agave, distilled and bottled in Mexico and has three major categories:

• Blanco -  not aged at all, its distilled and bottled
• Reposado- Distilled and aged in oak barrels any where from 2 months to 1 year. This gives it an slight oaky flavor but stills allows you to taste the agave.
• Anjeo – Distill and aged over a year.  This gives the Tequila a slightly more oaky flavor.

Based on the waiters recommendation we tried Sauza Tres Generaciones Reposado.  The waiter said that it would be smooth, which I didn’t understand until I tried it.  It was very smooth and very good.  I love having the opportunity to learn new things from people that know and then trying out what learned to see if I can identity what I learned.   Sometimes you just have to ask for the education and you will get a good one.

We all want enjoy at least a little adventure. We want an escape from the daily grind, a getaway from the 9 to 5. It seems unobtainable, out of reach. It’s often not that far out of reach, you just need to commit to the adventure plan well and go for it. That is what we are about. Committing to what we love and following through to the end.