Another adventure in Denver cuisine.

Tonight I got the worst craving for some sushi.  Like really really bad.  And the stuff they try and pawn off as sushi at King Soopers was not going to cut it this time.

I went to a sushi place just a couple of blocks from where I live.  I popped in here once before, but got a little sticker shock and barely ate anything.  This time I was prepared for how much good sushi was going to run me.  I got the White Tuna Shashimi, a spicy tuna roll (2 really), and some edemame (beans...yummy!)

Oh, I also tried to get some hot saki.  What I got was a beer called "Asahi."  Crap.  Good, but crap.  I love sitting at the bar and looking at all the colorful ingredients and wondering what they are.  There are a lot of different kinds of fish eggs (I got some flying fish fish eggs!)  There is the block of something egg yellow, but couldn't possibly be egg.  Tons of very fresh looking things.  I watched them make a spider roll (soft shell crab) and watched as they put the little guys claw hanging out of the last roll.  Very creative, and made me wanna puke.

But the nice thing was this.  I sat there long enough that they just started giving me stuff.  "Here, would you like to try house special?"  "Don't mind if I do."  It was pretty much every fish and sea creature they had behind the bar rolled up into one big fat roll.  It was...ummm...well I ate it. 

All in all, excellent and almost worht the $30 I threw down.  Have a good weekend kids and see you all Sunday night.

A recipe comparison

Back in the day I used to have a little site called Cooking for Losers.  The site was great, and even posted one of my recipies.  But then one day, the recipes stopped.  Well it looks like it is moving again so I bring you how something can be made to sound difficult, and how it can be made to sound easy.  In the end...both pretty much the same.  Trust me. 

Hard way to eat pig...
BBQ Pork Chardonnay

1 (10 1/2 pound) wild pig, cleaned 6 to 10 garlic cloves, sliced 6 to 10 sprigs fresh rosemary 1 cup olive oil, to rub 1 cup Italian seasoning 1 bottle sweet Chardonnay wine Spray bottle Salt and pepper .
Score the meat with a sharp knife about 1-inch deep. Push a slice of garlic and a sprig of rosemary into the sliced areas. Rub the entire roast with olive oil to coat. Shake on the Italian seasoning covering the entire roast.
On a hot charcoal or wood BBQ, place the meat on a rotisserie or on the grill. A dry, oak, wood base is the best. Put your sweet Chardonnay in the spray bottle and spray the meat every 10 minutes as it cooks. Char the outside of the roast, and the inside will cook.
Turn the meat every 20 minutes if not on a rotisserie. Cook the 10 1/2 pound roast for 2 1/2 hours.

EASY WAY
crockpot bbq pork
1. your creepy uncle dug a rust-orange crockpot circa 1973 out of your grandfather's garage and gave it to you. make your husband (substitute boyfriend, manfriend or self) clean it for you. 2. take a big chunk of pork roast and cut it up. put it in the crockpot. 3. pour an entire bottle of bbq sauce over it. i don't care what kind, but you might. 4. cook on low for 8 hours. 5. spoon the porkout and shred it up with two forks. 6. consume over toasted white bread.
 
See, and in the end you are both eating yummy pork.  Sometimes I like it when people take the no nonsense, easy way.  Cuz frankly, I have made the crockpot way and it was fantastic.

Blogger stupid.

Yeah, either that or myself.  I wrote up this cool post showing off all the cool things that blogger can do now.  Change colors and fonts and all other sorts of nifty little things that I could never do before.

And what did it all amount to?  My site crashed and burned.  Hard.  Been working on it most of the night to revive it.  But no frets, it made it back alive...eventually.  No more playing with things I don't understand.  Even if it is built so Joe Blow can use it.

I have come to the conclusion that with all my friends getting married, others having babies, and still others just becoming all grown up, it is time for me to be the immature one.  One day my mail-order bride will come from Russia and I will have to settle down, but for now I need to be the guy whom the friend's say "Did you hear what Nick did?"  as they sit down to their family meal. 

Well guess what Nick did?  Ummm, crap nothing.  But something is totally gonna happen!  You just wait.

So you want some funny!?!?!?

Well too freakin' bad!  What, you think I can just put on a show day in day out of every minute of my life???  You think that I can just sit down at this computer and just come up with "Bitch made me waffles." on a regular basis?

Well think again.  Blogging does not mean that just on the spur of the moment I can have things like "I love scotch, scotch scotch scotch." come bursting forth from my menial task head.  Oh no, you have to work at it.  You have to try hard to bring the funny.  Sure anyone can spew out "I have a face like a elephant's behind." and feel good about themselves.  But it takes talent to come up with notions like "The depressing thing about tennis is that no matter how good I get, I'll never be as good as a wall."

So stop with the pressure.  It may take weeks to say something as funny as "I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me."  So stick with me on this one.  The funny is coming...but first, I gotta go to work.

The Weekend

Yup, did the Casper trip yet again.  Corinne is all married off now.  Yet another one of my hot friend's bites the dust.  HA!  Anyway, it was another nice weekend.  I ate fajitas at Abra's (awesome) and played putt-putt and the new place in Casper.  VERY nice...but nowhere do they give you room to chip the ball onto the green!

Work should be okay this week.  My deadline got pushed back yet again...so no worries there.  Just a lot of pipe crap and crap pipe.

Have good'ns and I will do my damndest to write something funny tomorrow!!!


 

Hey yo!

Well I am back on the blogging scene.  Sorry, totally tired last night and nothing to talk about anyway.  Tonight I hooked up with Spencer and Jenny, and they took me out to dinner at Magiano's...a very good italian restaurant.  I am pretty sure it is a chain though, so not as special as it could be.   The wine was very good though and it was one of the few times that I had bleu cheese and liked it.  Very creamy and just happy, without the wrotten cheese feel that I normally get from it.

Work has been going well.  My boss busted a contractor today trying to get a freebie out of the owner.  It is stuff like that that really is the purpose of us being engineers...to not let the contractor screw over the owner.  Anyway, it was pretty exciting to bust him on it...the contractor sunk his head low and walked away from it. 

I just found out Pat is pregnant, well the wife anyway...I think.  Big congrats on that.  Sorry the phone died!  Wow, I suppose after all these weddings that have been going on that is the next thing to start happening.

Wow, that's weirder than the weddings.  Speaking of which, off to Casper for another one this weekend...so have a good weekend peeps!

Weird Movie Thing.

Why is it that when I watch a movie...and this is most every movie...I sympathize with the main character so well that I myself end up feeling like they do for the rest of the evening.

Case in point.  Tonight I watched The Secret Window, a thriller about a man driven mad by his wife cheating on him.  I watch the movie.  The man goes insane.  I finish the movie, and I sit there thinking what a terrible person I am for doing what he did.  What the hell!?!  Frankly my dear, I think I'm losing it.

Anyway, ok flick.  Worth renting or getting on Netflix.  I find myself already yearning for the weekend.  I suppose the days at work are going by quickly, so I will keep the complaining to a minimum. 

Take care yo.

WAIT!

You are at the right site, I just felt like changing the template again. 
 
Blogger has been coming out with some real stellar templates that just look super keen, so I figured I would play with it some.
 
Nothing new and cool to report...but enjoy the new site, check out the profile (which is pretty much just my pic right now) and click all the links.  All Nick approved.

Super Duper!

Another really great, and very interesting weekend.  I ended up hooking up with my friend Nate in Ft. Collins.  He was waiting for a friend of his to get off work, and I was feeling bad for dogging him so I went up.  Then some stuff happened, one thing lead to another, and I never made it back to Denver that night as was planned.
 
The next morning I gathered my things...ummm, my cell phone...and left for Laramie...in the same clothes.  I go there pretty early so I had time to nap a little (and watch Bob Ross make a painting with that gigantic fro).  Then we went to Altitudes.  It's fine but it never really has done much for me.  Then off to camping. 
 
We didn't go to Happy Jack this time.  We decided (I did) that we should try the Snowies instead.  It was actually great.  We found a nice secluded spot with a couple of firepits already made and started gathering wood.  After almost killing a friend of mine with a tree I had stood up on end then dropped, we started the most amazing fire.  Putting a whole stump in a fire will make it big!!!  Anyway, we had dogs and just stayed up and laughed the goodtimes away. 
 
Today I drove back to Denver after hanging in Laramie a bit.  Same clothes I put on Friday morning for work...and 3 days worth of great weekend smell on them as well.

A tough decision.

Now to start off, I am in no way saying this is one of those life changing decisions.  One of those that keeps you up at night.  Not like "Should I move to Denver or not."
 
No, this is more like, I made plans with a friend weeks ago to get together in Denver.  No big plans with it, just time to hang out in the big city and have a good time.  My friend lives in Laramie, and I am hoping we will get to hang out quite a bit before he graduates.  Anyway he called me up Tuesday to confirm.
 
Wednesday I get a call from "my group."  The group I have been friends with since back in the day.  The group that loses contact for a year at a time, then comes back together like we went to the bars last night.  They want to go camping...but up in Casper.  Sick of driving to Casper I politely decline.  I have plans anyway.  But then they decide to move it to Laramie.  Understand 3 of these people are not going to be here at all for at least a good 9 months when the summer is out...and some it may be years before I see them again.  But how to tell somone that you would rather hangout with your other friends?  Especially when the plans have been solid for weeks.
 
You find a way to do both.  Denver Friday, camping Saturday.  And the goodtimes keep on rollin'
 
 

ummm...wow...hey there

So I checked out my stats for my little, boring, nonsense site this evening...and apparently there are more people out there who read this than I thought. Hi to whomever reads from New York most days, and I mustn't forget you out there in Huntington Beach, CA...or San Jose for that matter. And the one in Albuquerque has been here since the first post. Morning bro!

Howdy to all you cool readers in Laramie, and I personally know most of the Casper ones. I really have no idea who is reading up in Wheatland, but you too deserve a special shoutout. And I would give my left leg to know who read the blog from Bosler Wyoming. Yeah, Bosler.

Maybe it is the guy who hid in the school out there with his son for months...or perhaps the bar that always has broken down trucks out front. Heck, my hope is that whoever lives in that little white house with cars in front that look like they could actually move.

It's funny, you get in a zone where you think that you are the only one reading it. Guess I should try to start writing something interesting before you all run off!

Just Chillin'

I have had the worst time focusing at work this week. I know what I need to be doing, I have work, but getting on the ball has been tough for some reason. I am starting to think it is just the summer mentality. I am not really, nor have I ever been, a big outdoors person, but there is something about when it heats up outside that my mind is still programmed to relax.

I think that I need the cold of winter to numb my head enough to close out all those thoughts of doing something cool. Frankly I need a really crappy weekend to make work seem a little less crappy...by comparison anyway.

Lately I have been nothing but spoiled almost every single weekend. I have done something awesome. This weekend for instance my friend Nate is coming down and we are gonna have a good time, maybe go to warped tour. The following, back to Casper for a good friend of mine's wedding. Following, a camping trip with my best friends.

And then now, at least I think...labor day weekend I am off to Pennsylvania with Meg to go to a wedding. Hell, I've never even been to the east.

Poor poor Nick.

Oh...and one more thing

Happy birthday to the rockinest boy stuck in Casper for the summer. You are a cool one Keith and I will definitley be stealing the Silpat back from you!

That was quick!

I got the new Tiger Woods golf game. I rodered it Friday and it showed up in the mail today! Sweet! Positive feedback for that dude.

Work was very frustrating. I have found that even though I like my new team that I am on, my new boss (understand there are like 7 levels of boss) can be very unhelpful. Smart guy, just not one to jump in and point out things to me. Oh well, maybe it is just a lack of brown nosing on my part.

Another primo weekend.

Seriously, I need to slow down on the whole awesome weekend thing, or work is just going to start looking more and more drab every single week.

Friday I went and got some stuff for the apartment. A new plant and some other decorating things. Then I dealt with the whole AIG thing (grrrrr!).

But Saturday Keith and Meg came up and we went to the Natural History Museum here in Denver. The planetarium there was wicked, and the Bugs IMAX was pretty cool as well. I just love that place anyway.

After that we went to PF Changs (my favorite) and then got dressed for Dave and Busters. D&B is an awesome place! I don't know the last time I played so many arcade games...and for $10, no guilt!

Sunday was off to Cherry Creek to look at a bunch of stuff I can't afford, but would love to own. Then they took off and I went to see Anchorman. Will Ferrel is a God!

Hope you guys had good ones too!

Un-f@#king-believable

So I got paid today. YAY! I decided this afternoon that I should probably go pay for my car bill and my car insurance since they are both due in a few days. No big whup. I get online, pay my car bill and push send. No probs.

I recently changed my insurance to living in Colorado...you know, since I live there now. I hop onto my exact same service that I had in California only to find the amount I owed was $2828! My premium in Cali was $770 for 6 months!!! I called them up and they told me that since I moved out of California the 20% discount for good driving was gone. Also apparently I am more likely to get in a traffic accident out here. Apparently 4 F-ING TIMES MORE LIKELY! "Cancel it...cancel it now." "I am sure we can find something..." "No, cancel it NOW!"

AIG...go to hell.

Most exciting day ever.

What a crock of shit. Two 12 hour days in a row just does not sit well with Mr. Nick. I know, I am probably preaching to a crowd who has been there before...but that it sucks royally. I mean, it is one thing when you are working on a job and it has to be sent out the next day and there is just a lot to do you haven't gotten to yet. It is another when it is someone elses screw-up that makes it happen. so yeah...shit!

Wendy's Chicken Nuggets - Oh how I adore thee. With your tender white meet and flavorful batter fried till golden brown. (I would go on, but it gets a bit personal.)

My boss called the outside consultants (the ones to make the working place better and more efficient) the "Bobs" today. See, even they know.

hmmm, how to finish? ummm, GO POKES...or something.

I gotta stop with this sushi thing!

Man, the stuff is just everywhere and I cannot stop myself from getting in on the rawfish action. lol.

I started playing my new guitar today. Did you know those things give you blisters on the end of your fingers? Who knew that playing a guitar could be hazardous to my soft supple hands???

I find myself staring at that human clock for like 20 minutes at a time at work. I think I should get a camera and do something creative too...but then again that would probably mean leaving the apartment.

Far too scary.

A new link.

Hey, I will be happy to tell everyone about my weekend very soon, though I think most of you who read this were probably there.

I just want everyone to know that I have retired the Mad Pony link. I loved the girls and they put up really cool posts...oh and they weren't that bad on the eyes either. But they have stopped posting so now I bring you.........

.......Human clock!!! This thing is simply amazing. Some guy has a picture of every minute of the day of people or animals or just objects showing the time. I can watch it forever. So be sure to check it out right below Meg's Blog and Alex the girl. Tres' chic!

The weekend begins early!

So I decided to go ahead and take tomorrow off. I mean, it isn't very often that I can get a 4 day weekend while only burning 4 hours of vacation, so I figured why not.

Tonight I will head up to Laramie and watch Spiderman with some friends...WOOHOO! Then on Frriday morning sometime I want to make it back to Casper to hopefully hook up with some other friends of mine there. I will be up early all weekend though because wWimbledon finals are going on. If history says anything, its that I will get up to watch it and fall asleep through most ot the match.

Hopefully a barbecue, fireworks...blah blah blah.

Interesting though, this is the first weekend from Sacramento that I truly remember what I did. I sat around playing Nintendo with Ken all day and we made steaks. Wow, what a couple of winners we were.

In any case, I hope everyone has a nice 4th and that I get to see many of you while I am home. See you soon!