So...whats for dinner?

eric95us

Minus...no I didn't get deployed. The team I'm on was scheduled to be "first up" for October (there's a quarterly rotation schedule). When the August teams went to Houston, it was decided to augment their medical staff with folks from the October teams....Since the October teams were short medical folks, they were pulled from the rotation and used to fill any holes (people getting sick, family emergencies, etc.) that might occur.

All the medical folks have returned so the team is back at full strength. However, we remain on alert. There's another storm brewing in the Atlantic that is forecast to go over Puerto Rico. Hopefully the storm will die before it does anything besides be a spot on a map.

Special, my compliments to your daughter too. Hopefully my DD will be like her!

It's hard to see familiar places all torn up and all the people dealing with upended lives. It takes awhile to process it all. As I've said before, this is a case where it's good to not be needed. Your son would probably say the same thing about his job.

Cell sites...only the part between the tower and the cell phone is wireless. Everything else depends on wires (or fiber optic cables) to get the signal from the tower back to the main office and then out to wherever the call is going. Electricity issues can be handled by batteries and generators and my company has worked really hard to install generators everywhere that is allowable (some cities won't allow generators at the cell towers). The more difficult problem is the connection back to the main office. If that fails, "the lights are on, but no one is home". Many cell towers have two connections back to the main office even though only one is needed...but sometimes even that isn't enough.

So.....they have portable cell towers that have their own generators and satellite dishes so they don't depend on the fiber or copper cables to get the signal back to the main office. After a storm, they can be driven to where they are needed and get some cell service going again. They don't use them for normal use because there isn't enough satellite capacity in orbit to handle very many cell towers (two or three cell towers can fill up most of a satellite) but they come in handy for situations like this.

Yesterday, I moved all the furniture, vacuumed, mopped and dusted. Under the couches there was enough dog hair to build another dog. :-)

SpecialK

eric - no worries about whether your DD will be like mine, she only needs to look to her dad as an example to follow - and I am sure she will. Interesting about the cell towers - I am very thankful that whatever arrangement they made in the Keys allowed me to talk to my DD the whole time. She just got home about an hour ago, and I am mighty relieved to see her. She is putting her pictures and videos in order for my DH and I to watch in a minute. She is loving on her dog a lot too - she saw a lot of animals in as bad shape as the people - very upsetting to an animal lover like her.

eric95us

I:m being deployed..no idea as to where.

ChiSandy

Good luck and stay safe, Eric. That you will be helpful goes without saying.

SpecialK

eric - they need a lot of help in the Keys - have looked at DD's pix - OMG, there is almost nothing untouched in the lower Keys - pretty horrific, she went all the way to Duval St. If that is where you are going brace yourself. Keep safe.

eric95us

Thanks.

HappyHammer

SK- So glad your DD is home! 

Eric- thinking of you as you deploy.  Traveling mercies to you and your team.

Moonflwr912

Stay safe Eric!

Special, your daughter is as special as her Mom!

I've been sick for way to long. Haven't eaten a lot yet, but finaly had to make one of my box dinners before it went bad. 2 weeks is a long time to cook it. LOL. Glad I Always freeze the meat! This is crispy pork with broccilini and snow peas, and a scallion pancake. It was really good. Remember, I have some free if anyone wants to try them. Just pm me.

bedo

Special I'm glad that your family is OK.

There is too much to catch up on!

I met a bunch of women on my current assignment. We went to brunch and then a local festival.

There was a "Bloody Mary" bar. They give you the glass with ice and vodka and you make your own. You need lots of vegetables to stay healthy...

My brunch yesterday, (with avocado toast and two fried eggs) I drank one.

HappyHammer

Bedo- glad to hear from you....wow...I want that Bloody Mary.  You know, when things tank- a really good, dirty...dirty Bloody Mary or dirty, dirty Martini can make aaaaaaalllllllllll the differerence!

ChiSandy

Dinner was just odds & ends--avocado toast with heirloom tomato, basil & shallot; charcuterie (prosciutto, coppa, paté) and manchego cheese. About to finish the dandelion greens I made last week.

HappyHammer

Supper tonight was a grilled grass fed burger and salad...yummy.

M0mmyof3

Eric, my SIL and some members from her National Guard unit got sent to the Virgin Islands last week to help with the recovery efforts from Irma. My brother let me know this morning that with Maria coming that way those that were sent down were being evacuated

Lacey12

Eric, safe travels and work effort. I think you will be seeing the worst of the worst after Maria strikes these already devastated areas. My friend's son and family have chosen to stay on St.John to support the efforts to regain a bit of normalcy for their community. Their house was not terribly damaged, so they have been sheltering others, and working very hard with the Erics of the world. My friend would love to have them return to her home but so far they have been steadfast about being a part of the recovery process. I'm afraid that may be changing with Maria on the way. So sad....

Special, your daughter went through a lot. I can just imagine how relieved you felt seeing her walk in the door! Does she have a debriefing protocol after making a trip like that? I bet your family is totally up on such things.

Dinner tonight was grilled chicken breast, ratatouille, and a garden salad of an oak leaf lettuce that is delicious, but was chock full of pink aphids that I painstakingly removed. Wow! Next time if I see a few aphids crawling around a lettuce head from the farm that uses no spray, I'll pass!

Tomorrow evening, we plan to go to see The Moth in Hvd Sq., (in the forecasted pouring rain). We will probably go in early and have dinner at a restaurant near there.

Bedo, good to see your post. I have a lot of catching up to do and have no idea where you are, but I'm guessing you are a Nana by now. Congrats!

illimae

Yesterday was a grueling hour long set up in the table for radiation boost mapping, so I picked up some BBQ.

Tonight will be a pork loin chop with leftover pot roast veggies.

ChiSandy

If I can get someone to come with me to see Suzzy Roche at City Winery tonight, dinner will be wine & tapas. Otherwise, I think I'll defrost a piece of salmon and take it from there (probably w/steamed corn on the cob and broccolini). For brunch (I tend to sleep in, and after I've done all my e-mail and other stuff, don't eat for 1-1/2 hrs. after) I made a sort of Eggs Benedict: low-carb toast, tomato slices, coppa, 2 sunny-side up eggs (dry-fried in a well-seasoned cast iron skillet), topped with nuked Hollandaise (Christian Bernard--down to my last 3 packets) and a dusting of cayenne. Ate it before I could photograph it. Priorities, y'know.

eric95us

I'm still in the continental USA, parked in a hotel and taking care of last minute paperwork. They've asked us to be "non-specific" about things, so.....that's the "status report"

If you look at the http://nhc.noaa.gov website, it looks bad for the Caribbean.

And then the Mexico City Earthquake, plus the fires in the northwest USA...the response crews are busy.

eric95us

Where did everyone go?

M0mmyof3

Dinner is pancakes and bacon

ChiSandy

Still at home, waiting to take a voice lesson. Freaked out because the next-door neighbor's gutter installers encountered a wasps' nest on the outside of our house facing theirs across the gangway, and had to stop work when they began to swarm. Emergency pest control guys have been called. Bees & wasps scare me more than nearly anything else.

Max_otto

Sandy,

With several gardens and a large amount of flowers, it's a hangout for birds, bees and wasps. If they occasionally swarm, they won't bother you if you move away. I do a walk about around the house and knock out any nests with a hose or long pole a few times a year. We have a 16' story and a half gazebo which attracts carpenter bees. They like to drill holes which leaves little sawdust piles, we plug the holes and they drill somewhere else. We also have had red headed woodpeckers try to drill holes in a cedar panel of our house and they are quite loud. We discouraged them by repairing the holes with wood putty and restaining the panel. At least fortunately 95% of our hose is brick and free from drilling. We also replaced some of our cedar decks with azek PVC.

We are inundated with numerous chipmongs digging tunnels throughout our stonework.

The fight is on but I suspect we are losing, ah nature!,

On the sprializer,

I found the problem after two messy tries. My garden zucchinis are large with a soft center. They don't work well with the kitchen aid attachment, however, store zucchini works fine. Right now I've had my fill of zucchini and I have 4 more, what to do, we are leaving

Saturday for two weeks. Dinner tonight will be whatever is in the fridge, and yes more zucchini.

iPhones,

Wanted to order a iPhone 8 but will have to wait until the end of our trip, since we won't be here for delivery. I'm thinking of changing to a color, gold with a rose red case, because hubby picks up mine or I pickup his when they are identical.

Just ruminating, Kathy

ChiSandy

Kathy, the reason we're sorta freaking out about the wasps' nest is that when the next-door neighbors' gutter-installation crew began working across the narrow gangway from my house, "about 200 wasps began swarming," according to my neighbor. Our house (built 1908) is stucco & cedar shake over frame. And I am most likely allergic (even though the first wasp sting I got up in the Catskills at age 10 didn't set off anaphylaxis, my arm did swell so badly I had to spend all morning in the cold outdoor pool up to my neck): I have hay fever, mold & penicillin allergies--which together predispose to bee/wasp/hornet allergies. (And that's besides the fear of setting up a lymphedema flare and even cellulitis). So walking around with a pole, knocking the nest off, is not the wisest thing for me to do. That's why the pros are coming over, in full regalia with smokers and other stuff to paralyze the wasps long enough to put them into the appropriate safe disposal (and presumably euthanasia) container. We don't have all that many flowers either. The only stuff still blooming are some of my hostas and the Holy Basil spikes, and I've seen only honeybees on them.

illimae

Tonight I had the final portion of pot roast leftovers and made some Parmesan Zucchini sticks (brushed w/olive oil, seasoned w/salt & pepper and coated in an equal mix of fresh grated Parmesan, shredded Romano and breadcrumbs, all 1 tbsp each, baked at 400 for 15 minutes then 2 in the broiler)

SpecialK

DH is out of town, so didn't make dinner due to eating half a really big patty melt at lunch with a friend earlier, lol!

eric - hope you are keeping busy but staying safe

ChiSandy

Special, saw footage of relief and rescue teams flying out of McDill, and thought of you & your family. Blessings to you, yours (and Eric as well).

Dinner tonight was odds & ends, since I'm stuck indoors in the A/C because of the unexpected heat (90s) and the mold action alert and killed over an hour with Apple Tech Support trying to figure out why Time Machine is stuck on "Preparing Backup" for backing up my new MBPro to my 5-yr-old Time Capsule (which is also our router--and for which Apple has never rolled out a replacement). Three hours later, it's still in limbo. Fortunately, was able to back up & update my iPad & about-to-be-traded iPhone 6S and update them to iOS 11. Worked smoothly, and should make the transition to the 8 Plus tomorrow (assuming it arrives at the Apple Store by my appointment time) fairly painless.

Said odds & ends were the third night of the rotisserie chicken I bought Wed. night. (Last night's pre-temple dinner was chicken and insalata Caprese). I made linguine and sauteed it in pesto, another tomato (small this time), and shredded chicken. Dessert was two mochi balls—litchi and black sesame.

Max_otto

Illimae,

Zucchini looks very tasty, I'll try it tomorrow, hoping I can give away the rest before we leave on Sat. Tonight, we cut up a pineapple for an evening snack; so good and sweet.

Sandy,

200 wasps, wow, that's a rather large colony. They like to nest in openings under the eves and hopefully the pros will able to locate any other areas.

Miscellaneous thoughts,

I've been looking at charity navigator for ratings and transparency on organizations for disaster relief. I've have the hurricanes worked out but still looking for Mexico.

Chicago should have something, if anyone knows of a reliable organization, I'd appreciate a pm.

Thanks, kathy

eric95us

Hotel pizza at 12:30am

I've been helping put all sorts of stuff onto "cookie sheets" (463L pallets....special pallets that are then loaded onto transport aircraft).... My uniform was a bit sweaty. :-).

eric95us

MREs. That's what's for dinner. And lunch and breakfast.

Back to work.

SpecialK

eric - bummer on the MREs - just use that tiny Tabasco bottle on everything, lol! When my husband was flying I had a whole drawer full of those little Tabasco bottles. They had MREs at the stadium for him, but I brought a YETI cooler full of stuff from home - I cooked most of what was in the freezer and brought it with m, so he came over to our encampment when it was time to eat.

eric95us

The tiny Tabasco bottle is not quite enough...I brought my own large bottle. :-)

Cell service is still problematic, so I post when idle time and cell signal happen at the same time.