I’ve quit very few things in my life, so it’s only after significant personal reflection that my 5 year relationship with the Cedar Rapids Jaycees has officially come to an end.
In the past I’ve blogged good things about my work there. I’ve written about how proud I was of the building project I lead. Unfortunately that pride has been replaced with the feeling of failure.
After completing the building I stepped into a role of managing the kitchen. I had no experience with such things, but put my heart and soul into it. I put hundreds of hours and dollars believing that my efforts would make some sort of difference in the world. I stocked the kitchen and developed a simple menu that anyone could prepare. Most people didn’t understand the amount of time that went into the job. Even fewer people offered to actually help.
I organized movie nights, dinners, and charitable breakfasts hoping to energize the group. I took time off work to do things like prepare a fall dinner, secretly hoping that maybe this time just one person would say thank you.
The thank you came in the form of criticism. Members who had never walked in my shoes, or in this case spent an afternoon in cleaning gloves, attacked me for asking them to wash their hands when handling raw meat, or wearing a hat to keep hair out of food. They treated me with indignation when I asked them to put their dishes away or mop the floor after they dripped oil everywhere.
I started taking more time out of my life so I could clean up after the same people who criticized everything from my food purchases, my choice in vendors, my decision to not purchase a pizza oven, and the menu I developed.
I brought my frustrations to the board of directors hoping they’d at least respect the time I was putting in and help things change. Maybe one person there would even say thank you for all my time. No such luck. The majority of the board sat their silent, apparently thinking the people who treated me so poorly had some innate right to do so. Not a person there asked what they could do to help. What they didn’t say said everything: you’re on your own because we don’t care that your volunteer work has you stressed.
Over my five years and thousands of volunteer hours for some reason I thought people might listen to what I had to say. I made suggestions to the current board of directors on how to help refocus the chapter on making a difference instead of using the building I spent so much time on as a private drinking club. I had hoped that they'd take my suggestion about doing events that had a purpose instead of just running a sports bar for old drunks seriously. Their president responded to my lengthy suggestion with a one sentence e-mail, basically saying “we decided to ignore you, and it’s not worth our time to explain why.”
While my decision to move on with my life seems so clear here, it wasn’t easy for me. But, at least now I can focus more energy on some of the things I sacrificed to be able to give to the Jaycees. I’ll finish my master’s this spring. I’m hoping to finish my pilot’s license after that. I might even spend more time with friends and family. I'm sure I'll still volunteer, though I'll spend my time where I'm appreciated.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Monday, December 26, 2011
Award Winning Swamp Dip
For years our family tradition has included a smorgasbord after the Christmas Eve church service. Each kid could make requests and then magically they’d appear on the table.
This year my sister suggested we change the format to have a “dip-off”. Everyone could enter one dip, which would be judged on taste, presentation, and originality. I knew the competition would be fierce so some standard cheese dip of guacamole just wouldn’t do. I knew I’d have to improvise.
The competition ended up being a chocolate cake dip, buffalo chicken dip, cowboy caviar, loaded baked potato dip, nacho dip, and cocktail sauce. I came up with my very own swamp dip recipe, inspired by my travels to N’awlins. I served it in a cast iron skillet for a rustic feal and relied on the festive green onion and red crawfish tails for presentation points.
I’m proud to say that this recipe bested the cake dip by 2 points to be grand champion of the inaugural family dip-off.
Note, the next morning I ate this on top of some eggs. I feel like this was made as a topping for eggs. When I finally get tired of corporate America and open my food stand this may be a breakfast special.
This year my sister suggested we change the format to have a “dip-off”. Everyone could enter one dip, which would be judged on taste, presentation, and originality. I knew the competition would be fierce so some standard cheese dip of guacamole just wouldn’t do. I knew I’d have to improvise.
The competition ended up being a chocolate cake dip, buffalo chicken dip, cowboy caviar, loaded baked potato dip, nacho dip, and cocktail sauce. I came up with my very own swamp dip recipe, inspired by my travels to N’awlins. I served it in a cast iron skillet for a rustic feal and relied on the festive green onion and red crawfish tails for presentation points.
I’m proud to say that this recipe bested the cake dip by 2 points to be grand champion of the inaugural family dip-off.
Note, the next morning I ate this on top of some eggs. I feel like this was made as a topping for eggs. When I finally get tired of corporate America and open my food stand this may be a breakfast special.
Swamp Dip
1lb Alligator meat, diced
2T Old Bay blackened seasoning
1T Olive Oil
1lb andouille sausage, diced
1.5 cups butter, diced
1 bunch green onion
20oz crawfish tails – peeled and precooked
4T flour
1 can condensed milk
2.5 lbs cheese (I used a mixture of smoked cheddar and white cheddar)
1. Heat olive oil in largest cast iron skillet you can find. Meanwhile mix alligator meat with blackened seasoning. When oil is hot sauté gator meat until done and set aside. Brown andouille in same pan and set aside.
2. Add butter to skillet. When butter is hot add green onion and crawfish tails. Cook on medium until crawfish is heated through, about 5 minutes. Add flour and stir to coat crawfish in flour. Cook another minute and then add condensed milk.
3. When condensed milk is simmering turn heat to low and slowly add cheese, stirring until melted. Add alligator and andouille back in and serve hot.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
iRespects
Even as someone who doesn’t own a single Apple product I’m saddened by the passing of Steve Jobs. Before today I hadn’t really put much thought into the impact that this one person has had on our world. I’m of course impressed that he was able take Apple from an idea in his parent’s garage to the world’s most valuable company within 35 years. As a geek I’m of course impressed by how much Apple has mastered engineering, the organized bringing of technological change by being the interface between science and society.
The impact of this one person didn’t really click for me until I saw the Amazon.com and Google.com homepage. Both pages had a tribute to Steve Jobs linking directly back to Apple.com. Google is obviously Apple’s biggest competitor in the smart phone business, yet the ONLY external link on Google’s landing page is to Apple.com (just a day after the iPhone 4S release no less). Wow, what a huge showing of respect. Same with Amazon. Amazon has been waging war against Apple with their versions of the music store, cloud, tablet computer, and app store. Yet, they link Apple into their homepage?
Apple didn’t invent the computer. Apple didn’t invent the smart phone, or the tablet, or the mp3 player. Apple did, however, bring these technologies to the masses in a way few other companies could. Steve Jobs brought these changes. I don’t own an Apple product, but I can’t help but respect and admire how one person was able to change the world for the better. Rest in peace.
Friday, August 12, 2011
RAGBRAI Final
I didn’t sleep well before day 7. I was excited for the last day. I was excited thinking that I was going to conquer the whole state. Also, the tent was on very uneven ground so I kept sliding into the corner.
I awoke in Coralville around 5:30am sorer than ever before. That wasn’t going to stop me; I was 65 miles away from the east side of Iowa. I was 65 miles away from completing the most challenging physical endeavor I had ever undertaken. I was 65 miles away from making the prior days all worthwhile.
Despite being sore I was excited. For the first time I was completely certain that I could do it. Instead of being worried about how my body would hold up I was just hoping that my bike wouldn’t break.
On prior days I learned that the legs would loosen up after the first few miles. On day 7 they really didn’t. My breakfast of pancakes didn’t seem to give me the boost I was used to from prior days. My knees started hurting. At least I wasn’t going to give up.
Some Christian Church in Durant was raising money with a spaghetti lunch. The spaghetti helped.
After the last pass through town I really started to celebrate in my head. We only had 15 miles left. At this point I’d walk those last miles if I had to. The adrenaline made these miles easier than most.
Arrival into Davenport was awesome. The feeling is hard to describe. I felt like I had just run up the stairs of the Philly Art Museum. It was awesome. To make things more awesome many of the fine folks of Davenport had taken to their lawn to cheer me on. They’d cheer and clap as bikes went by. I’d fist pump back which would increase the cheering. What an incredible feeling.
I wasn’t alone feeling that way. I could see the excitement on the faces of many fellow riders. We did it. I did it.
The final miles took us to the dip site where I reunited with Team Fist Pump to dip our front bike wheels into the Mississippi River. I haven’t been that excited for quite a while. The week was physically and mentally trying. I did something I didn’t ever think I could. I covered 446 miles and climbed 20,371 feet of hills in 7 days.
Each day something new started hurting: my quads, elbows, hips, hands, and knees. At the dip site my face started hurting from smiling so much. What an incredible way to finish the adventure.
I awoke in Coralville around 5:30am sorer than ever before. That wasn’t going to stop me; I was 65 miles away from the east side of Iowa. I was 65 miles away from completing the most challenging physical endeavor I had ever undertaken. I was 65 miles away from making the prior days all worthwhile.
Despite being sore I was excited. For the first time I was completely certain that I could do it. Instead of being worried about how my body would hold up I was just hoping that my bike wouldn’t break.
On prior days I learned that the legs would loosen up after the first few miles. On day 7 they really didn’t. My breakfast of pancakes didn’t seem to give me the boost I was used to from prior days. My knees started hurting. At least I wasn’t going to give up.
Some Christian Church in Durant was raising money with a spaghetti lunch. The spaghetti helped.
After the last pass through town I really started to celebrate in my head. We only had 15 miles left. At this point I’d walk those last miles if I had to. The adrenaline made these miles easier than most.
Arrival into Davenport was awesome. The feeling is hard to describe. I felt like I had just run up the stairs of the Philly Art Museum. It was awesome. To make things more awesome many of the fine folks of Davenport had taken to their lawn to cheer me on. They’d cheer and clap as bikes went by. I’d fist pump back which would increase the cheering. What an incredible feeling.
I wasn’t alone feeling that way. I could see the excitement on the faces of many fellow riders. We did it. I did it.
The final miles took us to the dip site where I reunited with Team Fist Pump to dip our front bike wheels into the Mississippi River. I haven’t been that excited for quite a while. The week was physically and mentally trying. I did something I didn’t ever think I could. I covered 446 miles and climbed 20,371 feet of hills in 7 days.
Each day something new started hurting: my quads, elbows, hips, hands, and knees. At the dip site my face started hurting from smiling so much. What an incredible way to finish the adventure.
RAGBRAI Part 6
Day 5 started early. Day 5 was still short, but had a good amount of hills. It was the last day with over 3,000 feet of climb. I woke up nervous. Would the legs hold out for another day of 3,000 feet of climb? The prior day only had 1,100 and it was hard! My legs hurt but I told myself that I’d be fine if they didn’t get worse. I set out knowing I had my phone should I need a ride to Grinnell.
The day went well. It started with biscuits and gravy in Mitchellville. I do love biscuits and gravy.
Colfax had a ridiculously unfair hill on the way out of town. We got sprinkled on a few times which felt amazing and kept the temperature reasonable. It was hilly but at this point the muscles weren’t getting worse. Hills that would have been a struggle earlier in the week became no big deal. Was I getting stronger? Or was I just numb?
By the time we relaxed in Rock Creek State Park we only had 6.1 miles left. I then learned a valuable lesson: don’t listen to the locals when they tell you how many hills are left. I was told there were three more hills once outside of the park. It turns out there were about 10. Either way we rolled into Grinnell alive. We stayed in the lawn of a host family. A shower after the day of biking was amazing. Dinner was at Pagliai's Pizza followed by bed. Day 5 was done.
I only had 2 more days to go. Who knows, I might just be able to bike the whole thing. I told myself if I could make it to Coralville, the longest day, I might actually be able to finish the whole week. At this point I couldn’t quit; I had 5 days done and only 2 left.
Day 6 started early because it was the longest day, 75.9 miles. Again, I was nervous. That was a lot of miles to cover. I remembered how hard the slightly shorter and less hilly ride to Boone was days earlier. Eek.
I’d be leaving out details to not mention that the morning nervousness was complemented a good amount of excitement. This ride would take me through towns that were just a quick ride from my house. By the end of the day I would have biked from the Missouri River all the way to Eastern Iowa. I’d only have one day left. I would have biked farther than ever before.
Day 6 at least had a lot of stops. I took advantage of all of them, except maybe West Amana which I apparently rode past without noticing. Lunch was at St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Marengo. The church ladies did a rockstar job for us. I had a loose meat sandwich and a super awesome frozen fruit cup. Too bad they ran out of pie by the time I got there. To compensate I had some key lime pie in Homestead.
The last chunk from Oxford to Coralville was the longest and hilliest of the day. Not fair having such a hard chunk at the end! It was tough but I couldn’t give up that close to the end of a day so close to the end of the week. Just keep biking I told myself.
I made it into Coralville. The town did a nice job of preparing for RAGBRAI. They had a tailgate theme with grills decked out in university colors. I noticed a grill in cyclone colors with Cy on a rotisserie. Way to stay classy UI.
By the time I rolled into the Coralville campsite I was super excited. I had finished the last hard day! I only had one day left! Sure my body hurt like nothing before. My quads, calves, hips and elbows hurt. Walking was painful. I had lost feeling in my pinky finger on my right hand, likely from a pinched nerve. I hurt, but I beat 6 days of RAGBRAI. I was going to conquer the whole state! I was excited! One day left!
The day went well. It started with biscuits and gravy in Mitchellville. I do love biscuits and gravy.
Colfax had a ridiculously unfair hill on the way out of town. We got sprinkled on a few times which felt amazing and kept the temperature reasonable. It was hilly but at this point the muscles weren’t getting worse. Hills that would have been a struggle earlier in the week became no big deal. Was I getting stronger? Or was I just numb?
By the time we relaxed in Rock Creek State Park we only had 6.1 miles left. I then learned a valuable lesson: don’t listen to the locals when they tell you how many hills are left. I was told there were three more hills once outside of the park. It turns out there were about 10. Either way we rolled into Grinnell alive. We stayed in the lawn of a host family. A shower after the day of biking was amazing. Dinner was at Pagliai's Pizza followed by bed. Day 5 was done.
I only had 2 more days to go. Who knows, I might just be able to bike the whole thing. I told myself if I could make it to Coralville, the longest day, I might actually be able to finish the whole week. At this point I couldn’t quit; I had 5 days done and only 2 left.
Day 6 started early because it was the longest day, 75.9 miles. Again, I was nervous. That was a lot of miles to cover. I remembered how hard the slightly shorter and less hilly ride to Boone was days earlier. Eek.
I’d be leaving out details to not mention that the morning nervousness was complemented a good amount of excitement. This ride would take me through towns that were just a quick ride from my house. By the end of the day I would have biked from the Missouri River all the way to Eastern Iowa. I’d only have one day left. I would have biked farther than ever before.
Day 6 at least had a lot of stops. I took advantage of all of them, except maybe West Amana which I apparently rode past without noticing. Lunch was at St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Marengo. The church ladies did a rockstar job for us. I had a loose meat sandwich and a super awesome frozen fruit cup. Too bad they ran out of pie by the time I got there. To compensate I had some key lime pie in Homestead.
The last chunk from Oxford to Coralville was the longest and hilliest of the day. Not fair having such a hard chunk at the end! It was tough but I couldn’t give up that close to the end of a day so close to the end of the week. Just keep biking I told myself.
I made it into Coralville. The town did a nice job of preparing for RAGBRAI. They had a tailgate theme with grills decked out in university colors. I noticed a grill in cyclone colors with Cy on a rotisserie. Way to stay classy UI.
By the time I rolled into the Coralville campsite I was super excited. I had finished the last hard day! I only had one day left! Sure my body hurt like nothing before. My quads, calves, hips and elbows hurt. Walking was painful. I had lost feeling in my pinky finger on my right hand, likely from a pinched nerve. I hurt, but I beat 6 days of RAGBRAI. I was going to conquer the whole state! I was excited! One day left!
Thursday, August 11, 2011
RAGBRAI Part 5
Day 4 was supposed to be easy. It was short (55mi) and flattest day of all RAGBRAI. It was supposed to be a recharge day mid-week. I woke up looking forward to an easy day with an early arrival into Altoona.
Come to find out after 3 continuous days of riding nothing is easy. The day was hot with a slight head wind. If I recall correctly the heat index was around 110 degrees.
Come to find out after 3 continuous days of riding nothing is easy. The day was hot with a slight head wind. If I recall correctly the heat index was around 110 degrees.
Early in the day my bike developed an awesome automatic transmission feature. About every quarter mile it should change gears. While annoying it didn’t slow me down too much. A bike repair guy in Slater fixed me up in a few minutes.
I definitely wasn’t the fastest member of TFP. I’m sure by day 4 the teammates were getting tired of waiting for me in the pass though towns. Next year I might train a bit more.
Either way the short day was welcomed. We rolled into Altoona with tons of daylight left. The welcome was incredible. We stayed with a teammates Aunt/Uncle. Lounging on their deck was amazing. Their shower was even better. There was an amazing dinner complete with tasty peanut butter cup cookies. Sleeping in AC felt amazing.
My body ached more than before. Walking down stairs took a huge amount of work and was slow going. Nevertheless I was excited to have finished over half of RAGBRAI! Four months prior I didn’t even own a bike. Who woulda thought I’d make it that far? At that point I thought I might actually finish the whole week. Wouldn’t that be crazy? Day 4 was over.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
RAGBRAI Part 4
Day three started in Carroll at day break. When crawled out of my sleeping bag I think every joint in my body cracked. My legs still ached. Moving my elbow took effort. I was excited for the day though. The Carroll to Boone route took me on roads I had driven dozens of times before. I was familiar with the countryside and was ready to conquer it on my bike. The ride was the longest yet, 70 miles, but only had 1700 feet of climb.
It took about 5 miles of biking to get the body loosened up again. I felt a lot more confident about finishing day 3 than I did the prior days. The first few towns flowed together. Breakfast was a sausage and egg croissant at the fire station in Lidderdale. I did a little happy dance when I saw a Greene County roads vehicle at an intersection. Holy crap! I biked from the Missouri River to my home county!
We stopped in Churdan for lunch. I was all excited about supporting some Greene County cause. Too bad the local groups had already run out of food. I settled with a breaded tenderloin the size of my head from one of the traveling RAGBRAI vendors.
After relaxing in the Churdan park we set out to leave. Much to my surprise I had my first mechanical failure, a flat tire. My training included a couple flat tires so no big deal. We pressed on to Paton and then Pilot Mound.
While the day was flat, everyone on the ride was aware of the huge hill outside Pilot Mound. I decided I needed energy so I enjoyed a taco in a bag at the Pilot Mound community center.
Going down the monster hill was scary. I hit the brakes frequently and still got to almost 40mph. Eeek! Getting up the hill was even scarier. By the time we hit the hill I had already biked over 60 miles for the day. My legs were shot. In addition to the quad and elbow pain my hips were hurting. I walked my bike up most of the hill. Even walking it hurt.
From the hill to Boone was slow going. Seventy miles in a day is a long ride. It felt amazing getting into Boone. Three days done! I started to wonder if I could actually do all of RAGBRAI. Maybe, almost half done!
It took about 5 miles of biking to get the body loosened up again. I felt a lot more confident about finishing day 3 than I did the prior days. The first few towns flowed together. Breakfast was a sausage and egg croissant at the fire station in Lidderdale. I did a little happy dance when I saw a Greene County roads vehicle at an intersection. Holy crap! I biked from the Missouri River to my home county!
We stopped in Churdan for lunch. I was all excited about supporting some Greene County cause. Too bad the local groups had already run out of food. I settled with a breaded tenderloin the size of my head from one of the traveling RAGBRAI vendors.
After relaxing in the Churdan park we set out to leave. Much to my surprise I had my first mechanical failure, a flat tire. My training included a couple flat tires so no big deal. We pressed on to Paton and then Pilot Mound.
While the day was flat, everyone on the ride was aware of the huge hill outside Pilot Mound. I decided I needed energy so I enjoyed a taco in a bag at the Pilot Mound community center.
Going down the monster hill was scary. I hit the brakes frequently and still got to almost 40mph. Eeek! Getting up the hill was even scarier. By the time we hit the hill I had already biked over 60 miles for the day. My legs were shot. In addition to the quad and elbow pain my hips were hurting. I walked my bike up most of the hill. Even walking it hurt.
From the hill to Boone was slow going. Seventy miles in a day is a long ride. It felt amazing getting into Boone. Three days done! I started to wonder if I could actually do all of RAGBRAI. Maybe, almost half done!
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