Adventures in Distraction

Colorful Sunrise

2012-01-07T15:10:00.001-06:00

Since we both rise around 4:30am during the week for work, we get to see the sunrise every day. Some are bright and glowing with promise. Some are ominous and loaded with a day you would rather have pass by. This particular morning came up with built in HDR. Glowing and shiny with so many colors.

Well, this is good news!

2012-01-05T10:54:00.001-06:00

A good article, in the New York Times, (thank you very much, NYTimes) about manufacturing in the US, and how well it's doing lately...
Helps my household...

Manufacturing in the US... Good news...

The Appetizer of the Year... Our Year...

2011-12-22T08:23:00.001-06:00

Every year, friends and family ask me for the recipe for our wonderful, amazing crab puffs appetizer... So, to make it easy on all of us, I thought I would just post it here, for whomever forgot, or wanted it, or, just found it...

So, here it is...

1 stick butter

1 jar Kraft Olde English cheese spread

1/2 tsp seasoned salt

1 1/2 tsp Miracle Whip

1/2 tsp garlic salt

1 can GOOD crab meat-not the cheap stuff...

6 english muffins- I prefer Thomas...

Soften butter and cheese in a medium to large bowl

Add seasonings and Miracle Whip

Rinse crab meat THOROUGHLY, in a strainer, til there is no 'fish scent'. Squeeze out moisture and pat dry with paper towel

Mix into other ingredients

Spread evenly on english muffins

Place on cookie sheet, and put in freezer for half an hour

Slice into sixths. At this point, you can either place in a gallon freezer bag and save, or...

Preheat broiler

Place on cookie sheet, and broil til golden brown... 5-10 minutes. Be careful, HOT! place on nice plate, and get out of the way!!! They will fly off ...

Enjoy!!!!

Signs of the Season

2011-12-21T07:09:00.001-06:00

A few images of what our small Midwest middle class holiday look like...

Nothing Says Merry Christmas, Like Scary Reindeer

2011-12-14T10:21:00.001-06:00

Digging around the old offices, we found some scary decorations, from the sixties...

A Once in a While Post

2011-12-02T12:07:00.001-06:00

It's been a while since I have posted. Been too busy with life, to blab about it...
In the last couple weeks, we've worked like crazy, celebrated Thanksgiving twice, flew to New York, saw a play, a parade, an aircraft carrier, and a million people... Nothing says big, like going to NYC.

Life is good....

Uh oh...

2011-11-02T08:57:00.002-05:00

I just was going through our older posts, back to 2005, and, some of the pix, mostly the older ones, are not showing. I apologize for that. I have no idea what happened, but, I'll see if I can fix that. Some were on Android, but I don't know if that is the problem now, or what...
Again, I apologize for the problem

A Year, Already

2011-10-24T11:12:00.001-05:00

So, it's been a year since our mom passed away. A lifetime, on several levels. I know we all miss her. I'm sure she is better off, & having the time of her 'life'.
It's interesting what 'sticks with you' and what is like dust, and blows away. Things that I wouldn't have thought ...

Lights of the evening

2011-08-16T10:44:00.001-05:00

Here is what our decorations looked like!

'The kite'

2011-08-16T09:51:00.001-05:00

'The kite' a video by magtimmag on Flickr.

A girl walked by with a kite. Behind me, there were musicians jamming. Kinda made for an 80's tv show opening...

Pagan Marshmallow Sacrifices

2011-03-20T17:08:00.001-05:00

See the full gallery on Posterous

We were lucky enough to get together with friends on Saturday night for a bonfire to celebrate the largest full moon in, what, twenty years. A wonderful dinner of grilled cheeseburgers, fixings, conversation with good friends, and, for dessert, the ever popular Midwest favorite- s'mores.
However, we made a minor miscalculation- we picked up the GIANT sized marshmallows. They do not fit in a normal s'more. They ooze and fall out and off the graham cracker. Sigh- failure. Luckily, there were normal marshmallows in quick range of purchasing. So, we did...
But, for fun, Maggie tossed one of the monstermallows into the fire, and, WOW, did they come alive! Expand. Sizzle. Move. Smoke. Whoa... And so, we would, on occasion toss another one in to appease the girl scout goddesses...
A fun night...

Moon

2011-03-18T05:41:00.001-05:00

As we left the house this morning, we were amazed by the size and
brightness of the March full moon. Huge and very bright

The Love of the Irish

2011-03-17T06:39:00.000-05:00

Watched this video this morning, thanks to the Irish Fireside, and it made me all teary... Hope you enjoy it too... and have a day filled with the blessings of the Emerald Isle

Spring is almost here

2011-03-16T15:13:00.001-05:00

With temps like this, we should be on our bikes! I think we may...

An Irish memory

2011-03-15T15:17:00.001-05:00

These young ladies performed in Galway, the day we were there. I
imagine that they are involved in celebration this week...

Thanks

2010-07-15T06:14:00.001-05:00

A thank you to my friend, San, for the tip on the new templates. Nice....

A Quick Mention

2010-04-14T12:07:00.000-05:00

Hi,
Wanted to mention that, as of 'as soon as possible', we are closing our website. We will, from now on, use this, and our other blog page, for links, updates, and, whatever blather we want to post....
Thanks, that is all... for now...

Moving over to...

2010-02-22T08:55:00.002-06:00

Hi
not sure if anyone even stops by here, but, starting now, for the most part, I will be posting @magtimmag.blogspot.com. If you are at all interested, and I don't know why you would be, you can go there, and read some of what we are doing...

what gives?

2010-02-04T13:27:00.000-06:00

for some reason, for the last month, ping.fm hasn't been doing it's job to forward content here. I apologize if you thought we fell off the face of the earth. we didn't.... I will fix that...

2009-12-20T12:40:00.001-06:00

The new bird food is a BIG hit!

2009-12-09T12:01:00.001-06:00

Guess we're not sitting outside @ lunch...

2009-12-09T11:55:00.001-06:00

Guess we're not sitting outside @ lunch...

2009-12-09T07:07:00.001-06:00

Whew, morning. No snowday. Up for 3 hours now, most of it snowblowing. Had a wall of snow/ice @ the end of the driveway, 3 ft. tall.

2009-11-29T20:10:00.001-06:00

@ the theatre seeing a Cirque de... Roadshow.

2009-11-26T19:58:00.001-06:00

Well... outside of a perfect meal, a good visit, and a nice day, it was a good day! Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T11:00:00.001-06:00

T. minus 1 hour. Turkey doing fine. Stuffing almost done. G.B. casserole browning. Time to pick clothes and get ready to carve!

2009-11-26T07:00:00.001-06:00

Ok... Dishes washed. Turkey in. Cookies baking. Pie in the oven. Coffee made. On track for a great Thanksgiving! Our best to you all!

2009-11-17T19:45:00.001-06:00

Gals next to us @ S•bux liked to push us outta our chairs... Oye

2009-11-14T10:02:00.001-06:00

Morning. Welcome to Saturday in the midwest. A couple errands, then, off to a jam, then a birthday party. Actual work tomorrow. Later...

2009-11-11T06:33:00.001-06:00

Morning/evening. A lovely start to Garbage Eve! A busy day, then workout, then, dinner, then, install pickup on Larrivee, then, Mythbusters!

2009-11-10T05:39:00.001-06:00

"Verizon is better than ATT". you keep hearing that, but, in the last week I have had 3 phone calls not make it, & voicemail 12 hrs later-

2009-11-07T15:03:00.001-06:00

Christmas already @ Target

2009-11-06T10:08:00.001-06:00

Morning all. Been busy today. not at work, but working. installed new cables and moved router for work, and now updating macbook w/ W.7

2009-11-05T05:56:00.001-06:00

Morning. Ack! had to scrape the frost off my windshield/screen for the 1st time this season. Time to face facts. summer is over...

2009-11-03T06:51:00.001-06:00

Good Tuesday/Wednesday, peeps. Frickin' cold here, but sunny. Mary arrives on Thursday, so work & fun ahead.

2009-11-02T06:17:00.001-06:00

Morning! Did you all remember to reset your clocks in the usa? hope so. jet lag for the whole country. Let's put our heads down & go!

2009-10-30T22:21:00.001-05:00

Been a busy day. Work, work out, dinner, geeking, carving the official pumpkins, so it's time for bed. See you in the morning!

2009-10-30T11:55:00.001-05:00

Havin' grinders for lunch. poorboy bun, w/ folded hamburger & ham, w/ pickles, mustard, onion, etc. Mmm, mm.

2009-10-30T06:01:00.001-05:00

Well, ok there, eh! time to start the Friday experience. Work will go quickly, then home to mac updates, & pumpkin carving. W00t!!

2009-10-29T16:11:00.001-05:00

I came home to pumpkin cupcakes!

2009-10-29T08:14:00.001-05:00

It never ends... Some a**h*le stole the pumpkin off the front porch... had yule lites cut. ornaments taken. No wonder we don't decorate-

2009-10-26T06:01:00.001-05:00

Happy Monday, or, Tuesday to Smarty San. Spent yesterday updating & attempting to transfer data on 2 pc's. Beats a root canal.

2009-10-25T19:44:00.001-05:00

hey. spent the day updating friends pc w/ 7. the phrase "imminent failure" pops up a lot on the old one. Hope we can save the data...

2009-10-24T05:07:00.001-05:00

wow, made it to work on time & awake. computer system was down @ McDonalds. 8 min. to get a cup o' joe. oye. 3hrs, 50 min, & I'm outta here

2009-10-23T07:43:00.001-05:00

snuck Chrome onto my work machine. want to see if it speeds this thing up...

2009-10-23T05:51:00.001-05:00

W00t! made it to Friday! Oh wait. gotta work on Sat. sigh. soup tonite. punkin' party tomorrow. Windows 7 w/ Bill on Sun. Go Go Go...

2009-10-22T05:53:00.001-05:00

Nope... not much new to report. Our company got it's biggest order in our history from a Russian co. We'll be busy for the next year.

2009-10-20T14:05:00.001-05:00

Look what pulled in today. We make the tooling that puts the holes in the armor plating-

2009-10-20T07:20:00.001-05:00

Won tix to see Arlo Guthrie & family @ the Barrymore in Madison tonite. W00t! They play Arlo's & a lot of Woody's music. should be fun!

2009-10-20T05:59:00.001-05:00

Trying desperately to come up w/ something witty, but, sigh, nothing. Hope everyone else is doing better in the wit dept. Wit lite today-

2009-10-19T06:12:00.001-05:00

Whoa... Monday morning all ready? Oye... Great weekend. New tunes to learn. Yardwork to do. Gotta get winter coats out for the pond fish-

2009-10-18T09:54:00.001-05:00

Up. Great day/jam yesterday. Had coffee... @ the gym, then it's up for grabs. Oh- pix & video up of jam-

2009-10-17T17:35:00.001-05:00

A great jam, thanks to Al & Mike! Now dinner @ Panera's, then... Who knows... It's Sat. Nite :-)

2009-10-17T17:26:00.001-05:00

A great jam, thanks to Al & Mike! Now dinner @ Panera's, then... Who knows... It's Sat. Nite :-)

2009-10-16T21:06:00.001-05:00

gonna shut down the internets here, and relax a bit. See you in the morning, my friends...

2009-10-16T14:59:00.001-05:00

Ok! a couple more minutes, then, I escape the confines of employment for the week. Stop @ usps, feed cats, work out, then... um, forgot-

2009-10-16T07:26:00.001-05:00

Soup is up & running

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2009-10-16T05:55:00.001-05:00

My lovely wife made lunch for her company (it's small) today. So, it's SOUP-ER Friday! Da da! Lucky them! 4 Dif soups, from scratch...Mmmmm

2009-10-14T16:35:00.001-05:00

Ok, enough delaying (not Tom), time to head to the gym & burn the pedals off the bike. Oh, don't forget Mythbusters/Ghosthunters tonite!

2009-10-14T05:46:00.001-05:00

Good nite. Good morning. I feel like this is the Truman Show this week. Morning all. A chilly start today. Hope we have/had a good day !!!

2009-10-13T20:21:00.001-05:00

Had enough. The day won. cashing in, & my friend, Mr. Smarty San is just wrapping up his too. it's a big world, & it's time for bed here.

2009-10-13T06:05:00.001-05:00

A frosty good morning to you all. The morning is frosty, not the greeting. Trying to be positive & 'gung ho', but would rather be home.

2009-10-12T06:09:00.001-05:00

Back on the internets after our yard sale weekend. hope everyone did ok w/out me being here. Saw a concert. caught a cold. life is good!

2009-10-10T09:36:00.001-05:00

Ok... So I had an obsession for a while with these...

2009-10-09T07:30:00.001-05:00

Morning all. So much for the yardsale today:-( , raining. Tomorrow... updating from touch @ work w/ M.

2009-10-09T05:17:00.001-05:00

Hallelujah! It took me 3 hours, but, I installed Windows7 on the Macbook, in Virtualbox!

2009-10-08T06:46:00.001-05:00

What is it? Red sky @ morn, sailors take warn... Or something...

2009-10-07T10:13:00.001-05:00

A reminder... Sara Watkins, formerly of Nickel Creek, will play in Rockford on Friday night! Don't miss her! www.sarawatkins.com

2009-10-06T11:51:00.001-05:00

In homage to Ken Burns, I dug my NPS jacket outta the basement. Got it @ Goodwill like 15 yrs ago.

2009-10-06T10:52:00.001-05:00

My lovely wife just brought us here @ work, warm apple cider donuts from the Curran's orchard. Mmmmm. It's the little things...

2009-10-06T07:19:00.001-05:00

" I would rather set it on fire, and dance around it, before I'd give it to you @ that price"... said @ our yardsale last year, by... me...

2009-10-06T06:06:00.001-05:00

Made it to work, after a slow start. Raining-again.
Yardsale Thursday/Friday, so a lot to do before. Where's my coffee?

2009-10-05T14:56:00.001-05:00

Work almost finished. A stop @ USPS, then to the arts coucil for some tix, then, home to soup & geeking. See ya later...

2009-10-05T13:20:00.001-05:00

Ok, finally, after 9 yrs, 5 w/ mac, I need to know- what's a good free windows backup app? I have a drive, but need an app. Thanks!

2009-10-05T05:41:00.001-05:00

Morning/afternoon/evening. Sounds like the Truman Show movie. Fightin' a cold. It's winning right how. Have to get in gear for today...

2009-10-04T17:05:00.001-05:00

oh, btw, in case anyone cares... I am using Skype IM now, so, if you want/need to chat, let's give it a try... you know the name...

2009-10-04T17:01:00.001-05:00

Wow, I have totally missed posting today. Saw Kari & Grant yesterday. Had a great gig last nite. House chores today. I.T. for work. Whew

2009-10-03T14:40:00.001-05:00

Waiting for Kari & Grant to take the stage...

2009-10-03T13:56:00.001-05:00

Leaving for the Coronado Theatre to see Kari and Grant. Here is a pic that Grant took of Kari on the stage. http://ping.fm/1SEfc

2009-10-03T06:47:00.001-05:00

Up. @ 'em, more or less. Off to work out, then I.T. fix it's @ work, then, off to see Kari & Grant this afternoon. and- we have a gig tonite

2009-10-02T17:25:00.001-05:00

Got rained out at the farmers market. Brrrrr. Gonna go out to dinner w/ friends now.

2009-10-02T05:47:00.001-05:00

IIIITTTTT'S.... friday... Not as big a deal as I thought. Cold, rainy, windy. Oh well. Let's do something fun! Like drink coffee... later-

2009-10-01T20:38:00.001-05:00

A busy day. M. made a roast w/ veggies, for dinner. We practiced for our last farmers market gig. Time for bed. Payday, tomorrow! nite

2009-10-01T06:56:00.001-05:00

The sky was on fire for a minute...

2009-10-01T05:47:00.001-05:00

Morning all. Nothing else of importance to report. Keep your eyes on the horizon for the weekend...

2009-09-30T19:16:00.001-05:00

WTF!!! G.M. shutting down Saturn line. Talks fell through. It's the only good line they had. Guess our next car is a Honda. We have 2 Vues-

2009-09-30T06:12:00.001-05:00

Happy Garbage Eve! A cool, autumnal day for the celebration. DSL install went well @ M.'s work. Finish up today w/ shortcuts, apps, etc.

2009-09-29T20:24:00.001-05:00

Call it a day... A busy day @ work. E.O.M. you know. Finish up the office pc tomorrow. Whatcha think? NOD32 or the McAffee that's there?

2009-09-29T19:21:00.001-05:00

Huzzah! Got Maggie's DSL going @ work. ATT gave us a modem/router combo. Uses WEP. Oye... It works though... Sucess...

2009-09-29T06:35:00.001-05:00

I'm a Mac... but I think these Windows 7 ads are a riot! The cute kid helps, too... http://ping.fm/AfmZc

2009-09-29T05:44:00.001-05:00

Morning. Tired & dizzy this morning. Hope the coffee & Kashi bar help. Would have rather stayed in bed. @ work now, so stop whining & do it!

2009-09-28T05:55:00.001-05:00

A sleepy Monday to all... Our Power was off for 2 hours this morning, from 2-4am, cuz of the wind. A chilly, dark day here...

2009-09-27T15:15:00.001-05:00

Howdy everyone! Went out to breakfast this morning, then finished M.'s pc. Mowed & sitting on the porch

2009-09-26T23:12:00.001-05:00

Home. Time for bed. We're tired. Work pc still updating after 6 hours... oye. This is why I have a Mac... Nite!

2009-09-26T17:08:00.001-05:00

Been updating Maggie's work machine w/ a new install of XP for the last 3 hours. Sigh...

2009-09-26T15:02:00.001-05:00

Hey! Got busy & forgot to say hello. Stuff done this morning, and reinstalling XP on the work pc. Ewwwww. Dinner on the grill tonight. Later

2009-09-25T13:23:00.001-05:00

My lovely wife is in happy land. Her place of employment is getting dsl next week! W00t!

2009-09-25T06:12:00.001-05:00

mora duit ar maidin! Google translate says that's good morning in Irish. Hope you have a good Fri/Sat! Dark & rainy here today. Sigh...

2009-09-24T05:22:00.001-05:00

Morning! Greetings to NZer's here. Calling for a rainy, cooler rest of the week, til Sunday. Then, maybe a bike ride. No yard sale this week

2009-09-23T14:56:00.001-05:00

Hey! Just remembered...! IT'S GARBAGE EVE!! W00t...