Food on the Tube

One of the joys of staying in hotels is finding out what the cable lineup is. Sometimes I am lucky and get dozens of channels; othertimes, only enough to count on both hands. On my current deployment to North Little Rock, I am blessed with such great channels as Animal Planet, Food Network, Discovery, and truTV.

My favorite is Food Network. Where else can I watch people making food all day long and dream of doing it? I would like to become a chef someday. I have aspirations of becoming a whiz at soups, breads, and salsas.

I like to consider myself a salsa afficianado. I have tasted my fare share throughout the years, and revel in learning more about them and discovering more types and ingredients. Some of my favorites:

Dueling Coyote Salsa: http://duelingcoyotessalsa.vpweb.com/
Julio's Corn Tortilla Chips (and salsa): http://www.julioschips.com/index.html
Pace Salsa (the new lineup, not the picante varieties): http://www.pacefoods.com/products.aspx

Gustav...update...finally!

Well, as we all know, Hurricane Gustav made landfall in Louisiana as a category 2 on September 1, 2008.

I worked at the State Operations Center in Baton Rouge, getting a chance every so often to step outside under the building's awning to feel the wind and see its effects on the area.

My hotel was without power for 3 days...some parts of Baton Rouge were without it for a week or more.

The work days were long, but the recovery work finally settled down and transitioned through its phases. I left Baton Rouge in late October, getting some time off before my next deployment.