Dean's Light Box

Photo a Day: Day 18

Both of my sisters are great cooks.  They also seem to have a knack for photographing their culinary adventures.  Strangely, I really seem to have a rough time photographing food so it is probably a good exercise for me.

Our Zucchini plants are producing, albeit a little late in the season.  Rather than the standard steamed zucchini, I took some inspiration from Lucy's grilled, stuffed zucchini and tried something a little different, at least for me.  These little guys were sauteed in butter, covered with grated cheese and a touch of oregano.  Yum.  Even DD, who is not a fan of squash, almost tried these.

Dublin to London Excursion

At work, several of our customers are preparing to move to the most recent release of our system.  That means that they are finally testing the reporting and data access aspects of the system.  By extension, that means I'm the guy on call.

I spent the second week of January in Florida assisting one of our customers there and then flew the next week back to visit my friends in Dublin.  The initial plan was to spend one week in Ireland but I knew there was a possibility of needing to stay a second week.

I thought of several reasons to not bring the camera.  I wanted to pack lightly so that I could carry my bags onboard and avoid the trouble with my first trip where I didn't get my checked bag until about a day before I left.  The most likely scenario included only one week.  Given that it is winter in the northern hemisphere, I knew that the sun would be down well before I left the office.

Fortunately, I ignored my reason and threw the camera into the laptop case.  That doesn't work very elegantly, to be sure, but I'm very glad with the decision in the end.

Of course our work was not completed after the first week.  They were pleased with our progress, but insisted that I stay another week.  I had reservations, knowing that DD had to shovel herself out of each storm.  I also knew I'd be back regardless and that we may as well get the job done now.  So, I talked it over with DD and opted to stay.

My ever gracious hosts insisted that I should visit the European city of my choosing over the weekend.  One of my colleagues planned to spend the weekend in London with his girlfriend and a few of her colleagues and they invited me to join.  I had considered renting a car and driving the Irish countryside but given my lack of driving-on-the-left-side-of-the-road skills and the offer, I opted for London.

I flew in to Gatwick and caught the train in to Victoria station and then took the tube to my hotel.  My colleague didn't arrive until afternoon on Saturday so I set out to see some of the sights around the city before he arrived.  I even had a shepherd's pie for lunch.

I stayed at Trafalgar square which was a good central place to start my explorations.  Taking multiple frames of each scene for HDR photos proved tough without a tripod.  This forced me to be a little creative in finding stable objects to fill the tripod's job--like walls, fences, and other such things.

This shot captures the feel of the square--thousands of tourists, characteristically overcast sky, beautiful architecture.

Westminster Abbey was not open for the regular tours as it was International Prayer Day.  Off of the catacombs in the back, however, there were some worthwhile sights.

The Tower of London was the city's original safe quarters for royalty built in approximately 1100 AD if memory serves correctly.  Over the years it was used for a wide variety of things, some more treacherous than others (beheading of queens, for example.)

The entry tower (added to the fortress many years later) at sunset.

On the way back to my hotel Saturday night I snapped this shot because I was astounded by the amount of light that the city produces.  I also liked the moving clouds and the warm light which contrasted with the cool, damp weather.

Another shot of the tower that gives a little more context.  The grassy area was a moat at one time.

The Tower Bridge from Tower of London.

The Tower Bridge shortly after sundown before a rather tasty Chinese dinner in Covent Garden (near the theatre district).

Brasil at One Megapixel

Last Monday I flew down to Sao Paulo to meet with one of my customers for a couple of weeks.  I had concerns when I caught the bug that so many people in Utah have about a six days before my flight.  Fortunately, a long ride at 32,000 feet did wonders for my sinuses.  I think the humidity here in Sao Paulo has helped, too.

Coming to Brasil, to be entirely honest, has been a great experience for me because on my first trip here in 2000, I became pretty ill.  And I don't me "ill" or "sic" in a good way.  This has been akin to getting back up into the saddle after falling off the horse.  I also had concerns about the potential muggings but I think the key is to follow the sage advice of experienced travelers and things have been quite fine.

One piece of advice was to avoid carrying a digital SLR openly as you can attract the wrong kind of attention, e.g., muggers.  So I left the Nikon at home and trusted instead in the handy little camera built into my mobile phone.  This little machine sports a solid one megapixel sensor and an unspecified amount of memory.  But despite those not-so-impressive specs, I've had some fun taking a few shots.

First is a shot out of the 9th floor window where I've been working.  The weather has been mostly cloudy with some good summer rain storms as you can see here.

Our hotel happens to be about five blocks from an enormous city park which we visited on Saturday and Sunday.  We stopped at a little convenience store en route for a some agua (but not the "con gas" kind.)  We also saw a few rather charming homes along the way.

 

The park was simply incredible for a number of reasons.  First, you suddenly felt like you weren't in one of the biggest cities in the world which is pretty impressive for a city that boasts a population of about 20 million in the metro area.

I haven't been in a place where I could capture a good photo of the city's skyline but I did find one over at wikipedia that allows me to post the photo if I promise to cite them (see here.)  This gives you a sense for the vastness of the city.

Secondly, the park itself is incredibly beautiful.  And the Sao Paulistos (is that the right thing to call the people of Sao Paulo?) really take advantage of their parks.  I'm pretty certain that at least 10% of Sao Paulo made a visit to the park today.

I believe that Sao Paulo is far enough south that it does not technically fall within the tropical zone* but it is definitely more humid than home.  The park even had several flowering and "jungle" looking trees that I had not seen before.

The food has been great as well.  Last night we visited a churrasceria.  If you like meat, lots and lots of red, red meat, a churrasceria is the place for you.  For some reason that I have not been able to nail down, we decided it would be a good idea to go for churrasco two nights in a row.  Tonight we're going vegetarian--to an indian place that hopefully offers beef-free dishes.

* I am no expert on climate and am willing to stand corrected on this statement.

PS--episode three of CJ3's podcast "Dingy Room in a Nowhere Town" is up at http://blog.caryjudd.com.  We conducted this interview via Skype between Idaho and Brazil.  Isn't technology pretty neat?

My First Turkey Roast

Thanksgiving was a quiet day at home for DD, EV, and I. The girls were both recovering from some sort of tenacious bug that refuses to let go. Fortunately they're both making progress toward better health.

On the bright side, I was promoted from sous to head chef this Thanksgiving. I have never taken primary responsibility for roasting a turkey but took some comfort in the fact that DD still played the role of executive chef from the couch quite effectively. Her mom found a great recipe, or might it be better called a technique, for roasting turkey from none other than Martha Stewart. The goal, of course, is to get completely cooked yet moist, tender meat. And not just moist dark meat--I'm talking about white meat that is downright juicy.

The secret? Cheesecloth and lots of basting--every thirty minutes with a butter/wine basting juice.

The final word: Martha's technique delivers again! The white meat was, indeed, tender and juicy. Mmmmm.

I'm sure glad that Martha's out of jail...

Quick Trip to Ireland: The Flight and First Impressions

Work took me to Dublin last week to meet with a client. Evidently some people in some parts of the EU do not consider Ireland part of Europe. But as for me, I have no qualms declaring this my first genuine trip to Europe.

I left Utah on Monday morning with my first stop in Newark, New Jersey. The flight to Newark was a little rough as I occupied a center seat in the coach cabin (no it was NOT an exit row) on one of Delta's aging Boeing 757s. I didn't consider this an unbearable sacrifice, however, especially in light of the fact that the company picked up all of the expenses. Newark greeted me with a pounding headache which a couple of aspirin, mercifully, controlled. I called the girls (they were still asleep when I left), got a bite to eat, and did my best to rest up for the seven hour flight.

The leg over the Atlantic was operated by Continental Airlines--my first trip with them. I was delighted to find that they do a fairly good job of caring for their customers. The plane was a newer Boeing 767 and the seats were configured such that even a 6'7" guy could sit reasonably comfortably. I probably could make it to Australia, a 14 hour flight as memory recalls, with accommodations such as this. In an effort to have a few winks en route, I bought one of those neck pillows you see at many of the shops in airports. I have always wondered whether those would really help me sleep, especially since my head generally sits well above the headrest on most airplanes. As it turns out, the pillow didn't do much to overcome the excitement and anticipation of the trip so I'm pretty sure I had a solid 30 to 60 minutes of sleep over the Atlantic.

The plane landed in Dublin at about 6:30 AM. I made it painlessly through customs and after finding that everyone else had claimed their bags from the carousel, it dawned on me that my one checked bag likely hadn't made it to Dublin with me. I suspect that Delta neglected to transfer the bag over to Continental in time. In any case, the friendly gentleman at the baggage counter helped me fill out a form and happily informed me that my bag should be on the next flight which was scheduled to arrive at 9:00 AM. He also noted that they would gladly deliver the bag to my hotel.

With the baggage situation squared away at the airport, I stepped outside and caught the shuttle to the hotel which was a mere 15 minutes from the airport and met up with the other three folks from work in the hotel's restaurant. We all had breakfast and one of them offered to stay at the hotel until I had time to check in and shower before heading over to the office with me. Fortunately, I had learned the tactic of keeping at least a single change of clothes with me in my carry-on luggage so the the missing bag did not pose too much of a problem aside from the fact that it had all of my toiletries. In the end, my bag arrived some time on Wednesday after I left for the office. Fortunately, several days worth of facial hair growth is fairly accepted in business settings in Ireland and the hotel sink did a fine job accommodating my efforts to wash my socks and undergarments. Oh, and because the weather was reasonably cool--somewhere in the 50s--going deoderant-less also didn't pose too many problems as far as I know. Ok, that may have been a little too much information.

I won't bore you with all of the work matters except to say that the people at the office, despite their reputation for being particularly hostile to people from my company, were quite accommodating and friendly. I didn't have a tremendous amount of time to get out and see the city and surrounding countryside but I did manage to tote the camera along for a few snaps.

The first two shots are from a town outside of Dublin called Malahide. The town sits by a small marina and includes several rather delicious pubs and restaurants. My mind has always pictured Ireland as overcast on most days and, sure enough, the weather did not disappoint. Allegedly, the fellows from U2 frequent a pub here in Malahide though I didn't happen to run into them on my short visit. Perhaps next time.

Another evening I ventured down to Temple Bar in Dublin with a couple of my co-workers and a couple of consultants from a German firm working on the project with us. Despite the name, Temple Bar is actually a shopping and eating district down-town rather than just a bar. This is where we encountered people out enjoying the evening including street musicians, locals, and a generous, though not overwhelming, spattering of tourists. Here is where I experienced my first genuine Irish meal of bangers and mash and death by chocolate for dessert. Dark pubs do not suit themselves to appealing pictures of the food that arrives at your table but please trust me when I note that this meal was truly delicious.

More to come next week...