The 4-Way of Death

August 28, 2015mikemjensen Motorcycles, Vanity Tags: 4 way stop, cars not stopping, rules of riding 2 Comments

Hey Kids,

On a road I ride daily from work, there is a particular 4-way stop.

It lies within a residential neighborhood, maybe even a little snooty for the likes of me. The direction in which I travel is level but the cross street climbs a very steep hill, not unlike the streets you see in San Francisco.

Participation is NOT Optional

Earlier this year before proceeding through after my stop, I paused. I don’t know why, I just did. If I would have been behind me I would’ve been yelling to me, “It says ‘Stop’, not ‘Stay’!”

Just as I began to increase the throttle and release the clutch, a full-size van barreled up over the hill, blew through the stop sign and continued up past me. The drivers were young kids who had no idea what they had just avoided.

Had I drove normal, I would have been T-bone in the intersection and badly injured if not killed. One car had pulled to a stop across from me and we had both jammed on our brakes to stop when we saw the van appear out of nowhere.

The lady driver’s eyes were shocked to full open and I made a gesture as if wiping the sweat from my forehead and let out a “whew”.

Today at the same 4-way, I started out into the Dead Man’s area just as a little Honda appeared from down the hill and without stopping turned left in front of me. The driver, a little old lady, stared at me all the way, never touched her brakes, and gave me a crusty as if I was in the wrong.

In this case, she traveled slow enough (hill + Honda + old lady driver) that I was able to veer out and brake to let her turn and travel in front of me.

I followed the lady for several miles before she turned another way. She never looked back as far as I saw and if she did, I doubt it would’ve been to apologize.

I was angry both times, but that does no good. Instead I hold reinforced some rules of riding motorcycles.

No one sees you and if they do, it won’t alter their direction or decisions.

Trust your instincts. If you think you should wait, wait. If you think you need to speed up, speed up. The brain is doing things of which we have no understanding. Trust it.

Always watch and know where your escapes routes are. The brain will use them faster than you think (see rule above).

Despite the risk and close calls, riding the bike is still better than being in a cage.

Day 186

Taste of History

August 27, 2015mikemjensen Fishing, Vanity Tags: A&W root beer, Fishing, grandpa, memories 2 Comments

Hey Kids,

I bought a gallon of A&W root beer today.

That’s not so unusual. I do it from time to time.

I’ve given up on all the regular sodas; Coke, Dr. Pepper, etc. Never Sprite, however, that stuff has been and always will be disgusting.

Anyway, I enjoy a frozen glass mug of draft root beer on occasion. The taste is soothing and as long as I don’t drink the entire gallon in one setting, it isn’t as bloating as the other sodas.

But A&W soothes on another front.

I used to fish with my grandpa. Many times it would be he and I in the boat. Sometimes my grandmother, sometimes an uncle or two, and even my brother at times. My grandparents had a cabin on the south shore and we spent many summer weekends there together. And for whatever reason, I always drank A&W root beer. From a can, but A&W only. When fishing.

Strawberry Reservoir

When I taste that distinctive flavor, it takes me back to that lake. Back to that boat, fishing more than catching. Strawberry Reservoir will always be our lake. My grandpa and I connected out there on the water. Those hours, days, weekends, mean something to me. I miss them.

I miss him.

Day 185

Spaghetti A La Mike

August 26, 2015August 26, 2015mikemjensen Cooking, Vanity Tags: Not really, spagehetti Leave a comment

Hey Kids,

I made spaghetti tonight.

That word Spaghetti means a lot of things to a lot of different people.

To me, when I made it tonight, it means this:

Brown one pound hamburger with one pound ground mild Italian sausage in a cast iron skillet on almost medium heat. Throw in tons of diced yellow onion.

In a big sauce pan set to low medium heat, pour two jars of spaghetti sauce of your choice. I’m sure homemade sauce is better, but I’m not there yet.

Add whatever of your onion you have left in the sauce. These pieces of onion should be left a little bigger than what you put in the browning meat.

Dice a ton of white mushrooms. Lots of them and dump them in the heating sauce.

Dice a green pepper. Add it to the sauce.

Once brown and onions translucent, drain the grease from the meat (don’t be anal here, just get most of it) and add it to the sauce.

Let the sauce simmer away for as long as you can stand it. Don’t heat it up too fast. Let the flavors party together for a while and get all chummy. I’m sure there’s a Too-Long time, but 30-60 minutes is a minimum. I’ve done it for about 2 hours before and no one died.

Heat salted water to boiling and dump in your pasta. I use elbow macaroni. Don’t really care what any one uses, it’s all the same for my pallet. I find 6 cups of dry pasta will do it, or two of the one pound bags. Cook until done. I’ll leave that for you to decide what that means.

Strain the pasta.

Mix the pasta and simmered-to-perfection sauce together.

Let the two get to know each other for a few minutes.

You now have enough Spaghetti for the next three weeks.

Serve with grated parmesan cheese and maybe some sour cream on top.

French, Garlic, or Cheese bread compliments the Spaghetti perfectly.

Got any variations? Do them.

Day 184

Petty

August 25, 2015mikemjensen Useless Observations, Vanity Tags: big picture, cops, little picture, motorcycle riding, motorcycles Leave a comment

Hey Kids,

I like big picture thinking.

Standing back and looking at the whole scenario, as opposed to reacting to each individual action, I believe, will net you more success.

Riding a motorcycle through a turn, it’s important to look where you want to go. If you watch the yellow line tracing the outside of the turn, that is exactly where you will go. Target fixation it is called.

Look down the road, not at it. Yet, keep your eyes on the alert for important details such as potholes, loose gravel, and stray varmints darting into your path. And sometimes, you can find stuff like that too. I have a weird collection of things I’ve picked up from the streets. However, that might have to wait for another blog.

I like having the Police around. They are a safety net to our society. That’s the big picture. They can also be the annoying yellow lines tracing the limits of our smooth riding. They issue speeding tickets, they enforce registration, and they can pull you over for loud pipes. In the big picture, it’s good they do that stuff. But it does foster a love/hate relationship.

This morning I saw a State Trooper waiting at a stop sign waiting for his chance to pull into the steady flow of commute traffic. Being on the bike, I maintain a larger following distance behind the car in front of me as compared to normal commute bumper-to-bumper. I thought for a second about slowing down a few clicks and give him the opportunity to slide in front of me. He’s an officer of the state and most likely it would be a good thing to let him be on his business as soon as possible.

Small picture thinking took over.

I sped up and made sure he couldn’t get into traffic. I made him wait even longer. Like we have to do when they pass with their lights on.

Petty? Sure. Feel good? Yes sir.

Sometimes you just have to take those little pleasures when they come. The big picture will still be there.

Day 183

Sourdough

August 24, 2015mikemjensen Useless Observations Tags: from scratch, Sourdough 2 Comments

Hey Kids,

San Francisco Sourdough, the super tangy bread that supposedly can only be made correctly in the sea soaked, humid air of the City, is a bread but it is not sourdough. Not exclusively, anyway. Sourdough is a process.

Instead of using traditional yeast, one uses a mixture of flour and water to culture bacteria that when added to more flour and water, allows the bread to rise. It has a distinct taste and is a little bit of a challenge to manage but some feel it’s how bread should be made.

It’s like cooking over a stove vs. cooking over the coals. Both techniques arrive at the same general conclusion, but each has its own characteristics. Like cooking over the coals, sourdough is more fraught with failure if not done right.

I enjoy the challenge and have learned to make delicious bread, yummy pancakes, and Holy Cow pizza crusts. Yes, all the staples of life.

Fresh Sourdough. Yum!

But one of the questions I’m asked on a regular basis is “Do you make the bread completely from scratch?”

Well it depends on your definition of scratch.

I do feed my starter on a regular basis. The bacteria needs to be kept alive in the refrigerator. Yes, alive. Like a pet creature.

I do mix the flour, salt, and water with the starter and create the bread dough from mixing the ingredients together.

I do not carry the water from the stream to the kitchen.

I do not grow the wheat and mill my own flour.

I do not evaporate sea water to make the salt.

I do not make a fire but do use an electric oven. And no, I didn’t construct the oven on my own.

I don’t churn the butter and I don’t toast the bread on a hot rock.

I’m not sure where one draws the line for “from scratch”, but I can tell you that when the house smells of fresh bread and the butter melts onto a warm slice of sourdough bread, it doesn’t matter.

And is well worth keeping and feeding the little creature in your refrigerator.

Day 182

A Long or Short History

August 23, 2015mikemjensen Useless Observations Tags: Drought, reno, star wars, Truckee River Leave a comment

Hey Kids,

I remember 1977.

Star Wars. That was really what that year was about. How many times did you go to see it? We were poor, and yet I saw the movie at the theatre maybe 4 or 5 times. When was the last time you watched a movie at the theatre 4 or 5 times? Me, never before and never since. And my 4 or 5 times was nothing to what many of my friends did.

1977 was also the middle of a serious drought in the west. We lived in Reno at the time and the Truckee River through downtown dwindled to more of a creek and series of puddle holes, from what I remember. When things finally got better, the question became whither it was the end of the drought or just a slight reprieve to possibly a longer drought, not yet realized.

And then in the early 1990’s, I left California in the middle of yet another drought. The reservoirs all drew down to then historic levels. One lake in particular drew down to expose the old dam before they built the much larger new dam. Again, the weather changed and the drought subsided.

Without going into a long history, this has been the pattern of the West my entire life. Yet during these times, we have figured out how to manage it. Our lakes fill. Our lakes empty. Too much rain one year. Too little the next.

I’m not a climate change expert and I really think it’s beyond my scope to understand it all. I like the Earth and without being a total alarmist, I do what I can to help. If help is even possible. For all I know what we see happening can be part of a larger picture that we cannot map in just 200 years of history. Hasn’t the earth froze over and thawed a couple of times that we know of? I don’t know, and I really, beyond recycling, using the AC less, trying to get the best fuel mileage, and etc.; I don’t see my part or opinion as very crucial.

Sizing up the exposed dam. That spillway is a long way up there. East Canyon Res., Utah

But while I’m here, I’m going to enjoy the Earth my time has allotted to me. I’ll fish the streams, I’ll hike the mountains, and like today, I’ll Kayak the lakes.

None of us had any idea that nearly 40 years later we would be awaiting the release of a new Star Wars movie and the West would be in yet another drought. 40 years again from now, I hope people are still wondering if the lake is half full or half empty; and I’ll be the old man in the middle yelling “Fish on!”

Day 181

Quantity by Costco

August 21, 2015August 22, 2015mikemjensen Life's Truths Tags: beef jerky, costco 8 Comments

Hey Kids,

A co-worker explained to me that his wife gets mad at him when he buys a bag of Beef Jerky at Costco and then proceeds to eat it until it’s all gone.

I reminded him that anytime you purchase a food product at Costco and then eat it all in one sitting, you have most assuredly broken Natural Law.

Day 179

Huckleberry Finn

August 20, 2015August 20, 2015mikemjensen Twain, Writing Tags: Huckleberry Finn, Life on the Mississippi, Mark Twain, Movie Remakes, Roughing It Leave a comment

Hey Kids,

I make no bones about it, I enjoy Mark Twain.

I haven’t read every piece he ever wrote, but I have a lifetime to get them all done, but suffice to say that those I have read, I enjoy.

I like the man Twain as well. Maybe a bit bitter towards the end and with good reason, his humor still resonates with me, his descriptions I love, and the way he wrote dialect- pure genius.

My favorite book of his is Life on the Mississippi. I know it’s not the popular choice, but it’s the one I can pick up again and again. Roughing It ranks pretty high up there with me too.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, however, is known to be his masterpiece. I would not ever try to dissuade anyone from that opinion. It is within the pages of Huckleberry Finn that I believe most will find and recognize that their humanity and ability to see the humanity in others rises above any feelings of race, prejudices, and environmental indoctrination one might have received.

Twain, I believe wanted to paint the picture of how it was, and at the same time how it could and should be. I believe it transcends just the question of race, but includes any point of difference we come across.

In an age of re-doing all the movies ever done, why doesn’t anyone look to make a movie from Twain’s Masterpiece? The Disney version was OK as a kid but I can tell you, I never learn the lesson that I think Twain intended.

In a time, at least in the USA when maybe we need a refresher course on looking beyond the tone of skin, of understanding another’s point-of-view, and of being tolerant of our own history; maybe Twain still has something to say.

After all I’ve said about remakes being of the devil, in this case I’d have to say:

“All right then, I’ll go to hell.”

Day 178

The End of My Kind?

August 19, 2015mikemjensen Vanity Tags: cottonwood hospital, extinction, murray utah Leave a comment

Hey Kids,

It just struck me today, I think I’m a dying breed.

You see I was born in Murray (pronounced Murry), Utah. In Cottonwood Hospital, that ain’t no more. Not just closed but gone. The building removed and a Business Park built over the site. My port of entry to this world is no more.

Then I thought, is there a new hospital in Murray?

Cottonwood Hospital being torn down.

There’s the new IHC Medical complex, the one that chased out the strip club. Is it in Murray or Midvale?

Panic ensued.

Are there to be no more native Murraians? Murrayites? Murraytonians?

I was on the motorcycle when this thought occurred. No Wi-Fi, no Google, no peace.

Where do the city lines lie? Where is the divide between the continuance of my kind or its time ensured extinction?

The wheels of the bike stopped at my destination, the helmet and glasses removed. The question to the Smartphone: What is the address of the IHC Medical Complex near Murray.

I was in a bad spot, barely any bars at all. The circle went round and round as the page loaded.

At last, Murray!

Hurray!

My kind will continue.

Whew!

Day 177

Mike M Jensen

Ask a man a question and he'll give you an answer; give him a blog and he may never shut up.

The 4-Way of Death

Taste of History

Spaghetti A La Mike

Petty

Sourdough

A Long or Short History

Quantity by Costco

Huckleberry Finn

The End of My Kind?