buffalo for thanksgiving

I spent the holiday in buffalo ny with my mamas folks. On the flight in we swung over niagara falls


I ate my fill of fried turkey and all the buffalo standards ie wings and beef on weck; roast beef on a kaiser roll brushed with butter and sprinkled with caraway seeds and salt and a generous dollop of horseradish (if you don't sneeze you haven't added enough).

Went out on the town acouple nights and must say that buffalo is an enjoyable but hard drinking city. I loved the old european-esque feeling of neighborhood bars and daily regulars. People slowly scuffling along all bundled up but friendly talkative barkeeps like at founding fathers where the proprietor asks american history questions before serving beers.


Went to my first bills game v Pittsburgh. The tailgaters and crowd put the panthers to shame. We got front row seats in the endzone. The game was great with overtime and a last second field goal. Steve johnson had a chance to win on a completely routine catch in our corner of the endzone, 20 yards from us!!!! But of course dropped the ball he later went on to blame god for his drop... Nice.

Funny pictures from buffalo

My least favorite cousin



Snow blower label

fall update and plea for landscaping help

gulf coast oil

i got a job working in the gulf representing NOAA monitoring submerged oil. i work with a crew with representatives from bp and the state fish and wildlife. i work 7 days a week and for 10-12hrs/day on a 45ft fishing trawler. we deploy sentinels with oil absorbing "pom poms," think middle school cheerleading, we lay a 10 ft chain on the bottom of the sea with two ropes on each side attached to a buoy (like a U). all along these sentinels are the "pom poms" which we allow to "soak" for a day and then retrieve them. after they are hauled on board we look at them under UV blacklight (flashbacks of my freshman dorm room) and look for a distinct orange glow that indicates the strain of bp oil.

frank (fla fish and wildlife), andy (BP), brandi (deckhand), ed (BP), mike (NOAA)

RIP zermatt

zermatt, my st bernard came with the cabin i bought in 2008. he had a tough life as he was one of 20+ dogs the previous owner kept at the house and had little human contact. he quickly became my sidekick and traveled with me wherever i went.
a few weeks ago he was being especially lethargic and when we got home he walked off into the woods and never came home.
he always misbehaved, was always stubborn and usually grumpy, but he was my best friend. i will miss him.