Roast Beef Ramen - McGinty's Wood Oven Pub

 

Song:  Evocacion (cover)

Original Composer:  Jose Luis Merlin

Performing Artist:  Ilona Guitar

A few nights ago...

I made 4 pounds of roast beef.

The first night...

Bandi and I ate 2 pounds of it.

As I had 2 pounds left...

on consecutive nights...

I made roast beef ramen.

I sliced up 1 pound of the roast beef and ate it using 2 packages of ramen...

and I liked it so much...

on the next night...

I ate it again.

I used two packages of ramen.

I first boiled 1 quart of water...

and then boiled the noodles and spice packets.

I then sliced up the remaining roast beef (about 1 pound)...

and then put the sliced and diced roast beef into the ramen until the noodles were done.

The whole amount of the ramen just fit into my large pho bowl.

When I cook roast beef...

I first coat it in olive oil...

salt and black pepper...

and I then bake it for an hour and 15 minutes at 380 F...

depending on the thickness and amount of the beef.

This ramen makes a full meal...

as with each bite...

you get at least one section of roast beef.

This ramen was just as good as the ramen I used to eat in Osaka, Japan...

only mine has far more meat in it.

My favorite type of ramen is Japanese.

Every once in a while...

I will eat Korean ramen...

but as it is usually a little too spicy for my taste...

I only do so when I feel like something extra spicy.

Japanese ramen is much more mild...

and so...

goes well with other ingredients...

such as roast beef or eggs.

I saved just a little bit for Bandi...

and...

she loved it.

This ramen was so good.

It is the perfect left over roast beef meal.

----------

Today...

I felt like trying a new restaurant.

The one I had tried was called...

McGinty's Wood Oven Pub

(Irish styled pub and food)...

located in the small town of Divide.

I arrived in the town of Divide...

just under half an hour from my home.

The Irish Pub was on the far side of the restaurant seating.

I sat near the wood burning oven.

They make pizzas here as well.

I may try theirs as they have some specialty pizzas the other one doesn't have.

I tried this delicious half pound burger.

As it was a specialty burger...

it had many unfamiliar ingredients...

but they were delicious.

As you can see...

this burger...

being half a pound in weight...

was thick...

as well as being large in diameter.

It was another very good burger.

This one had grilled mushrooms...

double Swiss Cheese...

some kind of garlic butter melted on the toasted bun...

some kind of baby greens...

as well as some other kinds of ingredients.

It was very juicy and delicious.

Feeling satisfied...

I then drove home.

Bandi is funny.

Whenever I drive at night...

as Bandi cannot see much out the side windows...

she will often put her head near mine as I am driving

so she can look out the front windshield.

-------------

I had to order some S hooks to hang the white board in the home gym.

Once they arrive...

I will hang up the white board...

and I will then write out my exercise program.

I cleaned the gym area up today...

and so...

my next project will be to get my trike up and running.

I so much want to go triking up and down my mountain.

Home Gym - Power Cage

 

Song:  To Glory

Group:  Two Steps From Hell

My Power Cage arrived...

along with an olympic bar and weights.

The bar is 7' long and made strong enough to load on up to 750 lbs.

(In other words...

more than strong enough to hold more than I will ever be able to lift).

My home workout room is in the first floor storage room

(I will still have enough room for storage in the room...

even after I complete the home gym).

There was a very surprising number of parts and nuts and bolts.

I gathered all the tools I would need for the assembly...

...and I unpacked everything and bagged up the trash as I went.

I had to rip up the boxes so they would fit into the trash bags as well.

And...

as always...

playing music just made the process far more enjoyable than it otherwise would have been.

I also bought a white board to write out my exercise program.

I will be mounting it onto the wall to the left (not in the photo).

I use the trashcans as extra dry food storage...

such as for beans, rice, and pasta.

Even though I already have hundreds of pounds of dry goods near the kitchen...

I love having plenty in ready storage.

Although the number of parts seemed overwhelming at first...

I did not mount all of the included accessories...

as they were for bodybuilders.

I won't be using this power cage for anything else but as a safety measure to ensure 

I won't get struck at the bottom of a rock bottom squat using heavy weights.

I will also be using it to do weighted dips and pull ups.

I had to stand on the cooler to secure the pull up bar.

The Power Cage came with cables and pulleys for weighted pull downs and rows...

however, I will just be doing weighted pull ups instead of weighted pull downs...

(I have a special belt to attach weights to my waist as I do pull ups and dips)

and I will be doing barbell rows instead of the weighted rows...

as I may use weights much heavier than the cable attachment will allow...

and as such...

I simply didn't attach them to the power cage.

The white board will be on the brown peg board to the left.

As you can see...

there is plenty of room for my storage containers...

and the power cage has weight holders so I may store the weights off of the floor...

as well as allowing easy access.

I had stored the weights on the power cage...

and you can see the dip handles in the front.

I can easily take the bar out of the cage...

as I will be doing clean and jerks outside of the cage.

The weights are olympic bumper plates...

rubber coated weights...

in case I drop them on the concrete floor.

I have another delivery of weights coming.

These will be of the lesser weight denominations to allow 

progressive overload.

I placed the heaviest weights on the bottommost holders

to ensure stability of the cage.

Later on...

I am thinking of putting an elliptical machine facing the window...

for winter aerobic training...

and I will place my iPod and speaker on the window sill.

Also...

fresh air will be refreshing during exercise...

and I may open the windows in the entertainment room and the door leading to it...

or I may open the garage doors and the garage access door...

to allow a cross breeze as well.

And...

it is completed.

All of the braces are easily movable to accommodate various height ranges.

This little speaker halo fills the whole room with great sounding music.

Working out to music really helps inspire me to workout harder.

Now...

my home gym has a great start.

And...

as the room is heated (with its own thermostat)...

winter workouts can be conducted without having to dress in sweats.

I will keep the trap bar in the garage for outdoor Farmer's Walks...

so long as the driveway is free of snow or ice.

And...

so long as the driveway and roads are free from snow or ice...

I will be using my recumbent trike for aerobic exercise.

After I clean up the gym area...

my next project will be fixing the electrical system on my trike.

But for today...

that is it.

Navajo Moon

 

Song:  Doll

Artist:  Helen Jane Long

I know it is hard to see

(It was much brighter in person)...

but as I was taking Bandi out to her forest bathroom 

just a short while ago...

I looked up and saw a large circle of light...

a halo around the moon

(extending almost from edge to edge in this photo).

The Navajo Indians had made the correlation between a halo around the moon...

and very cold weather to come within a few days.

It forms when cirrus clouds are spread so thinly...high up in the atmosphere...

that they are not readily apparent unless a bright light is shone through them...

as when a bright moon is visible.

Ice crystals refract the light and a halo appears.

Meteorologists have noticed a direct correlation between a Navajo Moon (my term for it)...

and exceptionally cold weather to follow within five days...

or as early as the next day.

Every time I take Bandi out to her forest bathroom at night...

after initially scanning the forest with my flashlight...

I will look up at the night sky.

This was the first time I had seen a Navajo Moon since being here.

The wind was blowing at about 20 miles an hour...

the air was crisp and clear...

and much more cold than usual.

But...

it was so nice.

I then took the above picture from my second floor deck.

I often just stargaze from one of my decks.

I love the feeling of the wind on my face...

even in winter...

as I look up into the starlit darkness above.

But...

as I am just a hobby point and shooter with my camera...

I lack the equipment for Astrophotography.

However...

I have a perfect place for it.

I am sheltered from all extraneous light sources at my home...

and coupled with my altitude of over 9,600 ft. in elevation...

the stars are a pleasure to view.

---------------

I finally received most of my packages for my home gym.

I am supposed to receive another package tomorrow.

Even though they were supposed to have arrived last Monday...

only today (Friday)...

did most of them arrive.

I do understand the delay though.

Even though we only had snow for one day...

deliveries had to be postponed for that day...

but as each truck is almost fully loaded...

they then must try to fit in a full truckload into the following days...

resulting in substantial delays.

When the Fedex van pulled up to the top of my driveway...

I had already parked my car near the top

and I asked the delivery driver to just load the boxes into the back of my car

so I could then just drive into my garage with the heavy boxes.

I will start assembling my home gym tomorrow.

Remember...

Toller Time...

it is always Toller Time here.

I only do what I wish to...

when I wish to... 

how I wish to...

and with however many breaks I wish to take.

Freedom and Serenity...

the motto of The House of Toller  :)

A Gusty Winter Wonderland

 

Tranquil Piano and Violin

Although I was supposed to get a delivery of the rest of my home gym equipment yesterday...

as it had snowed...

all deliveries to my area were postponed.

I am supposed to receive the delivery sometime today...

and so...

I am staying home to receive it.

I will again...

have to have them place the boxes at the top of the driveway...

as it is still slippery throughout the length of my driveways.

I will, again, just drive up and load them into my car...

and drive them down into my garage before unloading them.

------------

I woke up today to a sunny beautiful morning.

As I was sitting at my computer in the loft while overlooking the views...

I noticed some incredibly localized short bursts of wind

which had stirred up the very fine powder of snow on the trees.

I went down to the second floor great room and looked out the windows.

The snow was glittering as the fine powder periodically swirled in gusts of wind.

The camera couldn't pick up the silvery glitter of the ice crystals on top of the snow...

but it was beautiful.

At first...

the blowing snow powder looked like a mist rising from just certain areas of the mountain.

But as I returned to the loft...

I noticed that sometimes whole sections of the mountain would be affected by gusts of wind...

and sometimes it would only be in certain small areas.

I then went outside to try to capture some of the glittering snow.

It was so beautiful...

however, no matter how I had tried...

the glittering of the snow was not nearly so pronounced in my photos.

There were even several snow devils 

(momentary miniature upward swirling of snow powder)...

of which I had seen from inside the house...

but had missed with my camera.

I could see...

 as the fine ice crystals reflected the sunlight...

while going round and round in an upwards spiral...

that it seemed to be filled with silver glitter.

I went outside to try to wait for another one to photo-capture...

but to no avail.

As the temperature without the wind was about 10 degrees F (-12 C)...

but with the occasional gusts of wind blowing at up to 25 MPH

sending the perceived temperature (wind chill factor) to below 0 degrees F (-18 C)...

and with my hands quickly numbing out

(I can't wear gloves and take photos)...

I, again, went back inside.

After a short while...

the gusts died down...

and I took Bandi on a short walk down the street.

I looked up the street...

and all was clear of evidence of gusting winds.

And, yes...

as you can see by the snow on my sleeve...

almost as soon as I started walking on the upper driveway...

my feet had slipped out from underneath me and I fell onto my left side.

Although I was wearing my snow boots...

the combination of a fine powder of snow, on top of ice, had made it almost inevitable 

(although...had I worn my ice crampons...it would have prevented the fall).

But...

no big deal.

The snow was so incredibly soft...

it had cushioned my fall as if I had fallen onto a large pillow.

Bandi and I just went a little ways down the road when my camera low battery 

warning started flashing.

I had enough power to take a couple more photos.

After taking a photo of the opposing mountain range in the distance...

I turned around for home.

The wind still had a few isolated gusts...

nothing sustained...

but long enough to begin to numb out my hands...

and so...

I reached home and began my uploading of my photos for this article.

I love storms...

and I love the calm aftermath.

Colorado...

particularly in my portion of it...

often has sunny days after a day or two of snow.

This gives a wonderful fresh coating of snow...

in combination with the glittery look as the sun reflects off, and refracts 

through, the very fine ice crystals of the powdery snow.

It creates a fresh and wonderful winter wonderland to enjoy.

I have yet to experience a major snowstorm here...

and, according to some of my mountain neighbors...

it can close things down for up to a week.

I know I will have to keep on top of a heavy snowfall with my snowblower...

perhaps having to repeatedly snow blow my driveway throughout the blizzard...

but...

I already know it will be worth it.

I love this winter wonderland...

and later this month...

I will be attending a local ice festival...

and then near the middle of next month...

I will be going to an Ice Castle attraction in a nearby town.

These should prove to be magical.

---------------------

Perhaps...

it is not the camera which cannot capture what I see with my unaided eyes.

A quality camera should be able to capture more than what the unaided eyes of people can.

I am very nearsighted.

Actually...

I was so nearsighted that I was almost legally blind less than 10 years ago

(visual acuity...not light acuity).

As a person ages...

his eyes tend to get more far sighted...

and so...

my vision has improved over 20 points over the years

(from just over 20/220 to 20/200).

But, as a result...

what I see through my unaided eyes is far more beautiful than with glasses.

(I only wear glasses when I drive).

Although almost everything is out of focus

(unless it is within a meter or so)...

particularly objects which emit, reflect, or refract light

(with their slightly pulsating and glittering effect)...

including the stars at night...

and ice crystals...

they are so much more beautiful this way.

This is one of the prime reasons I only wear glasses when I have to.

It is also one of the reasons I don't wear a hearing aid

(I am partially deaf).

The world is so much more of a beautiful place without them.

I see the world in a more general way...

without the extraneous and bothersome details present with perfect vision...

and without the obnoxiously loud sounds of everything around us.

To be able to have a more muted world...

is to have more serenity.

I can still hear what I need to

(so long as there is not competing ambient noise...

when it then becomes difficult to understand speech)...

without having to hear the small bothersome and irritating sounds of everyday life...

which allows me to listen to the music of the mind

and to be in my own world, of which is filled with such peace and serenity...

just as this music inspires...

and where you feel the music, instead of merely hearing it.

I love my 'rose colored glasses' world.

I have seen the stars with and without glasses.

To be able to see each star pulsate and glitter in the night sky 

is far more preferable to seeing them as individual and

sharply focused points of lights which just boringly sit there amidst a void of darkness.

Without glasses...

the stars come alive.

They are larger and move about slightly...

and why I love to look at them.

As the stars seem to move about to the orchestra of the mind...

patterns from the random movements emerge...

and a beautiful light show is then mine.

I am the maestro...

and the stars begin to pulsate under my conduction.

When I look at icicles...

the light diffuses and the colors seem much more alive.

When I take photos of them...

I may then see them up close through the eyes of the camera

(or when I see them through glasses)...

and it is just not the same.

Why live in a world which is far less interesting...

and far less beautiful than what our minds create for us?

Yes...

I am most like...

Mr. Magoo :)  

However...

the difference is...

is that I not only know the difference between reality and fantasy...

I choose to live in my world with my nearsighted eyes wide open.

---------

Sorry for the roundabout manner of the above.

My point is that by choosing what we allow to alter our perception of any situation...

by how we look at things...

by how we react to things...

by what we prioritize in life...

and how we plan accordingly...

it directly affects our lives.

When you filter out the negatives in life...

you have only the positives left

(minus the void...which can be a positive or a negative).

And when you choose to live in serenity...

you begin to see the beauty all around you...

and you enjoy the great simple pleasures in life.

Deep happiness is our sacred duty to ourselves...

and to any of those with whom we come into contact.

Yes...

I still get momentarily frustrated at times...

but it is all kept in perspective.

It is for only the briefest of moments...

and it is a relatively minor instance.

I don't blow it out of proportion...

and I certainly do not harbor anger.

I will sometimes use the catharsis of profanity...

and then...

the incident is over.

I feel better...

I usually inwardly laugh at myself...

and I am then in my world of serenity again.

(and yes...

when I fell in the snow earlier today...

there was a profane one word expletive uttered...

but, then, like a toddler...

I got back up and tottered off smiling as if nothing had happened...

while simply looking forward to playtime once again  :)

When you allow your mind to become still

(made especially easy in serene settings in solitude)...

the subconscious fills your world with what your heart desires most.

The movie of the mind...

complete with a beautiful soundtrack from the orchestra of the mind playing...

 becomes the movie of the heart that tells you what you most desire in life.

The problem with many people is that they engage too much with our physical world...

and not enough with our inner world.

We simply must be right with ourselves if we are to be right with the world.

Yes...

there are times when we must do things we hate

(I have a difficult time holding my tongue in some instances)...

some things which drain of us of our energy...

but what we must never do is to betray ourselves in the long run...

that of following our true path of happiness.

We only have one shot at life...

and never again.

Once you can wrap your head around this one concept...

it becomes your first step on your path to deep happiness...

where you begin to correctly prioritize things in your life...

and actually do them.

--------------

In summary:

We have but three states of being:

The Negative

The Void

The Positive

By limiting the negative...

you have more of the void and the positive.

When you fill the void with the positive...

all you have left is the positive.

By engineering this in our inner world...

we automatically see the opportunities and alternate paths in the outer world

for us to make the positive changes necessary to make them a reality.

It is not merely wishful thinking...

but the putting of ourselves on a positive path of change...

 the carrying out of that path until fruition...

and of truly appreciating the grand beauty of life...

that makes the difference.

This way you become forgiving of your past...

grateful of your present...

and hopeful for your future.

This is the way to serenity.