Dining in the Buff (alo)

Lunch at the Pearl Street Brewery and Grill was good. I sampled their Trainwreck Amber Ale, which was quite nice with good roasted malt flavors and a clean, slightly metallic finish. It started to hint at a cream ale consistency, but stopped just short and ended up a little on the thin side. I'd give it 4 of 5 stars. The meal of choice was Beef on Weck. This seems to be the Buffalo city sandwich, sliced roast beef on a Kollenweck (or some such) roll, accompanied by a nice robust au jus and fresh ground horseradish. The Weck roll was nice and crusty with a smear of some kind of sea salt concoction on top. It was very good, a notch or two above any broth-dipped-beef style sandwich I've had. The towering pile of thick cut, skin-on seasoned "pub fries" gets high marks as well. The bill was a bit steep however, at 20 smackers for a sandwich plate and 2 pints, but probably not The atmosphere of the place is fantastic, all old brick, wood, brass and BELT DRIVEN CIELING FANS. No kidding. The building dates back to the late 1800s, but I don't know yet if the fans are authentic or just hella cool.

Sadly, I forgot my camera. But I'll take it next time.

Dinner was at the Lake Effect Diner. Built in 1952 and delivered to Maine, this authentic diner was transported to Buffalo and reopened instead of being scrapped. They now serve the local college crowd a mix of traditional favorites and fresh eats at very good prices. First, the building is unbelievable inside and out. It's the first vintage diner I've been in, and it was too cool for words. Second, the food was really good. I had the stuffed potato pancakes, a house specialty. I opted for the "traditional" version, so I got ham, bacon, grilled onions and peppers, 2 scrambled eggs and provolone cheese stuffed between two potato pancakes. For all my southern friends, potato pancakes are like a beutiful union of scattered hash browns and fluffy pancakes made in Waffle House heaven. It was a great diner meal, nailing down all the familiar comfort foods (except grits) without being gluttonous in proportion or too greasy. I think I've had greasier PB&J, come to think of it. Frighteningly, they also have the best unsweetened tea I've ever had. If I try the sweet tea, it might break my heart. The kicker? The bill was $10. Hell yeah.


So, now I'm about to sack out in my lovely concrete bunker overlooking the interstate. Tomorrow I'll be at the mill all day, so there'll be fewer updates. I may try to make it up to the Falls after work if the weather turns out nice. I'll take plenty of pics.

G'night kiddies.

Ahhh, Buffalo.

Well, here I am in Buffalo. The flight was a little bumpy, but pretty good over all. The first gate we docked at malfunctioned, so we had to wait 20 min on the plane and switch to another gate. Happily, my luggage made it. Then I found out that the company didn't precharge the car rental, so I'll have to get reimbursed for a week's worth of rented auto goodness. Good thing I have a little in savings. I also got stuck with a minivan instead of a midsize sedan. At least it's a late model Toyota Sienna, "The Cadillac of minivans," as Chili Palmer would say. The Hotel looks like it was really nice about 10 years ago, but it's a little past it's prime. Not bad, just a little outdated. Parking in the Hotel garage is $10/day and isn't comp'd. What the hell??!!

I'm on the 9th floor with a great view of the fountain out front, the I-190, Hwy 5 interchange, and - if you crane your neck to the right and squint - the Niagara river. The best thing I can see is the three storie veranda on the back of the Pearl Street Brewery and Grill. The weather is overcast, making the whole town seem kind of drab right now. Hopefully it will look better in the sunshine. Hopefully we'll get some sunshine.

Now I need to unpack and go find some lunch

Sunrise, Concourse B

In short order the new job has decided to send me packing. Calm down, it's just for training. I'm flying out this morning for beautiful Buffalo, New York. Ah Buffalo, home of...um...chicken wings. And it's close to Niagara falls. and...uh.....I hear it's beautiful this time of year....

I'll be learning how to run an asphalt emulsion mill in Tonawanda, NY this week. I hope. I'd love to come home with the knowledge to fire one up and run it, but since I've never actually SEEN one, that may be a bit optimistic. Of course, the folks that hired me have never seen one either, so at least I'm not at a disadvantage.

So, here I sit in Concourse B at Hartsfield watching the sunrise with a large cup of Seattles Best coffe that I swear you could sub for jetfuel. It's Good Stuff. The fun part is that my flight doesn't leave for another 2 hours. I guess they've really improved security and check in throughput when I wasn't looking.

The terminal is bustling with business people on their way out for another week on the road, and you can tell the real road warriors easily. They just look bored. The spiffed-up tie-wearers are probably headed out for that critical sales meeting, carrying the hopes of a desparate company in their matching black carry-on roller bags. The rumpled suit coat with no tie must be making the long hike back from the red eye, leaden with the knowledge that his deal didn't go well. Then there's the group of over-chipper grandparents. All shines and smiles, off to Chicago, New York, Vegas, or some other location they would have enjoyed more thirty years ago. Younger people seem to be stumbling through the lanes in pajamas, and I'll keep telling myself they just got off the late-night cheap flight so I don't stand on my there-goes-the-youth soapbox. The human tide continues to wash and recede in waves as the planes come and go.

Man, this is good coffee.


I'll try to keep a travel diary through the week, so check back often.

a look at the adventure

Well, here's a look at the mill site. The larger tanks in front are for finished product, the medium and small tanks are for raw materials. The red iron will be the building that houses the actual shear mill unit, a small lab, and my very small office. I'm working with the crews that are running lots and lots of iron pipe.

The work is hard right now. I'm on my feet climbing all over these tanks and concrete footings outside all day. But it's also rewarding. At the end of the day, I can see the results of my work on the site in front of me, and I can feel it in my arms and legs. Not a bad feeling at all.

A Season of Change

I started a new job today.

It went well over all. I met some people that are my people and I met some that are not. The work will be hard, but the opportunity is good. I'm a little overwhelmed, but I think that's to be expected after a first day - especially in a newly formed joint venture company. Opportunity does not come without a steep learning curve and that's okay.

It seems to be a season of change. I worked for Mike for seven years, longer than any other job I've ever had. I was committed to that job longer than anything else I've ever done voluntarily, except my marriage. It's a little bittersweet to be moving on, but the time is right. The new company has huge opportunities that could take me almost anywhere in the world. Literally. I think that the best thing about this new world is also the worst. Suddenly, the horizons are far, far away and the road is very wide indeed. Infinite choices feel a lot like working without a net.

More snowy pics

The view up the street



Mini Snow Man


Hey, did we mention we're INSIDE dogs??!!


We got about an inch of snow in the morning, then it melted off. We went to the store (for milk and bread, like good southerners) and had just come home when it started snowing again. We got another inch or so, but by nightfall, it had turned to rain and started to melt off. Despite the weatherman's dire predictions, the temps barely got down to freezing and the commute this morning was fine, although there was still plenty of snow in the grassy areas around Macon. By noon, it was all a memory except in the deepest shaded spots. Whatever did survive today will certainly make it till tomorrow since temps are going to get down to the mid twenties.

So, Saturday it was 76 degrees with sun, storms and a tornado warning, Sunday we got 2 inches of snow, Monday it will hit the mid twenties, and by next Saturday they're predicting sun and a high of 78. Gotta love this state.

Take that Don & Angie !

It DOES snow in Georgia!



It's snowing this morning, but it's not sticking. At least not yet. We've had enough rain that we're now under a flood warning until Wednesday, so the ground is really wet. I don't expect it to do more than give the grassy areas a blush of powder, but you never know. With lows predicted in the 20s tonight, it may make the morning commute a little slick.
After working a LOT of OT this week, including all day yesterday, I was already planning an easy day today, so a little frozen precip is just icing on the cake. We slept in, had a late breakfast and did the only sensible thing you can when it snows.




wait - remember what I said about not sticking? Scratch that.


Carrie's gonna hurt me when she sees this one.





So, we're going outside to play in the snow now. I'll post more pics tomorry.