Busy me

My name has appeared in the Pioneer Press more this past month than any other since I started here more than 2 1/2 years ago. Whew, what a month! I've previously posted links to several of the stories. Here are a few more...

School progres reports story and searchable database

Report on household income and I got a contributing line on another story the same day on health insurance rates

Story on payments pharmaceutical companies make to doctors, including a searchable database

Keep your eyes on Monday's paper. I'm expecting to have another story (Just a contributing line at the end) that includes a searchable database that I built. I'll post more on that Monday.

Memory Garden phase 2

I got a little farther in the creation of a memory garden at my cabin this weekend. Here's the latest picture. I added some black dirt and manure, then transplanted some of the lillies that had been crammed into a small garden in the same area previously. Next weekend I'm going to bring more hostas from my home garden and we're going to layer it with mulch. Then it'll probably have to sit the winter and we'll finish it in the spring.

Richistan

I just finished reading a new book called "Richistan: A Journey Through the American Wealth Boom and the Lives of the New Rich" by Robert Frank. It took me just four days to read (about 1-3 hours per day) and I loved every minute of it!


I am fascinated by the growing problem of income inequality in the US and this book drives home just how out of whack it's become. The author, a Wall Street Journal reporter, covers all facets of the lives of the ultra-wealthy (those with $10 million or more in assets) and shows how they live such different and removed lives from the rest of us that they've essentially created their own country, which he calls "Richistan." The author almost makes fun of this group, with his tone of voice, but it's also a very serious book in that he has laid out with exquisite detail just how far removed the ultra wealthy have become.

You can read more about it on the author's blog and hear a clip from an NPR report on
NPR's web site

Exercise and diet

I joined two web sites that help you track your exercise and diet goals. The first is called The Daily Plate. This one seems to be more complete. It allows you to track all your food and calculates the calories for you; plus you can add in your exercise for the day so it helps you determine if you're staying within your goals for calories in and calories out. Just what I need!

The second one is called Traineo and this seems more geared toward tracking your exercise. I bet it would be especially good for someone training for a marathon or something like that. Both sites have forums for partipants to discuss things and I think that might be helpful too.

Out to the ballgame

Last night I went to the Twins baseball game with my husband and his friend, Erick. We got free tickets at the last minute through my husband's company, so we decided to jump at the chance. We tried to get a fourth, but couldn't.

Unfortunately, the game was less than stellar. The Seattle Mariners pounded the Twins 9-4. Lots of home runs (by the other team, of course) and bad pitches (by our team). But it was still fun. The best part is just people-watching. And it seems like there's always something going on -- besides the game!

Memory garden delayed

On Saturday we finished the tilling and pulling out rocks just in time for the rain to start. We also need a lot more top soil than I had bought -- the ground is all sand. So we're looking for a place in the area where we can get black dirt in bulk. As a result, the project isn't finished and won't be for awhile. Ugh.

Otherwise the weekend has been dreary and cold. We haven't even taken the covers off the boats. Friday was the only partly nice day of the weekend -- it was sunny but cool. Saturday and Sunday were dark, dreary and rainy (not a lot of rain, though). We even turned the heat on!

Hopefully next weekend will be nice since we have a house full of friends coming.

Memory Garden construction Day 1

That's what it looked like at the end of Day 1 of Memory Garden construction at my cabin.
I dug up all the grass in that area and my husband helped me use a tiller to break up the soil. We found quite a few rocks and even chunks of an old asphalt driveway that used to be there before we remodeled the cabin back in 1984!
The staked out area is where I'm going to put a stone walkway, including the memory stepping stones that I made last week (see earlier post). The post is where we'll put a flagpole -- there used to be one there.
I was originally thinking about making the garden area bigger, but after digging out grass for hours on end, I decided to scale back. Wow, what an exhausting job!
Tomorrow we're going to add in manure and top soil, till it up some more and then start planting. I won't get all the plants in this weekend -- still have to get some. So it will be a gradual process over the next few weeks and possibly into next spring.

Beautiful sunset

Last night we had one of the most beautiful sunsets on Cyclone Lake that I've ever seen. We were out on the lake waterskiing at that time. The water was perfectly still -- just the way I like it -- until another ski boat came out too. Then it was all waves. oh well. The sunset was worth it. Look at the strange bubble clouds!

Stepping stones

Today I made stepping stones to go into a memory garden that my friend, Dani, and I are going to make at my cabin. Each stone is inscribed with a name -- my mother, my father, my grandmother and grandfather. All the people who have made this cabin what it is today. All of them have died, most of them prematurely, and it will be one of the many ways I try to carry on their memory.

My recent work

I've had several stories in the Pioneer Press this past week. Here are links (although they might not work after a week or two):

Suburbs the new melting pot

As bridge aged, its rating improved inexplicably

Over 100 state bridges rated worse than 35W

I also created a searchable database of Ramsey County jail bookings that went live on our web site last Monday. Here's the link.

A quiet week

My husband has been in Las Vegas all week with a buddy of his. We had airline tickets left over from our cancelled honeymoon that had to be used by Aug. 23. Unfortunately I couldn't get time off during the week and all of our weekends are booked with cabin-time with friends. So he and his friend, who is a teacher and has the summer off, headed to Sin City for a man-cation. They were especially thrilled to learn that a Star Trek convention started mid-way through their week (of course, they went). And they did the usual things like Hoover Dam, gambling and people-watching and the surprising (for guys, anyway) like Cirque du Soleil.

For me, it's been kind of nice to have the house (and the remote, and the bed) to myself for a little while. My own little vacation. My husband asked when he called last night if I missed him. Of course I missed him! But it was also nice to be without him. He said he wanted someone who "needed" him. And I replied: "It's better to have someone who wants you than someone who needs you." He thought for a minute and agreed that it would be better that way.

As for our cancelled honeymoon, you're probably wondering how we're going to make up for that? We've got it planned. An anniversay trip to Ludlow's Island Lodge (in Cook, Minn.) in mid-October and a beach vacation in January (don't know where yet). At Ludlow's, we're going to have our own 2-bedroom cabin and boat, plus massages and dinner served to us one night. The other nights we'll either make do in our kitchen or go out to eat. It should be peaceful and relaxing. And the beach vacation will be my treat for surviving the second half of 2007 with next-to-nothing for vacation. Can't wait.

In the meantime, we're off to the cabin tonight after I pick my husband up from the airport. These cabin weekends are almost like vacations too.

Bridge collapse

I left work about 6 p.m. yesterday and drove home as usual. I didn't think anything of the police car that went flying by me on I-694, heading toward Minneapolis. It was just a typical night for me. Then a short time later a fellow editor at the Pioneer Press called and said I needed to come back. A major bridge had collapsed.

The first thing I thought of was my husband. He had just left for a softball game and I sighed in relief as I realized he had gone in the opposite direction and wouldn't be anywhere near that bridge. He would be okay. Then my mind went into journalist mode. This is exactly the kind of situation where good journalists are at their best. Despite unrelenting stress, long hours and pressing deadlines, they somehow pull out some of their best work ever.

Nearly the entire newsroom staff of the Pioneer Press has contributed to our coverage of the bridge collapse and it's amazing to see teamwork in action. Everybody just pitches in and somehow it all comes together. Usually there's one or two good editors helping to steer and pull everything together, but mostly it's just everybody doing what they do best. And somehow it works.

Interesting that the Pioneer Press is being tested like on our first week after the most recent buyout. Our staff is about one-third what it was two years ago, so a large story like this is more of a challenge. But we seem to be pulling through.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Every once in awhile I'll post one of my favorite recipes. Since it's zucchini season, I thought this one would be appropriate. It sounds strange, but the zukes make this cake unbelieavably moist and delicious.


Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup oil
1 3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
4 tblspoons cocoa
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup walnuts, chopped
2 cups zucchini, chopped fine (unpeeled)
Chocolate chips (or white chocolate chips) and more walnuts

Directions:
Chop zucchini
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Grease and flour 9x13 inch pan and set aside.
Cream butter, oil and sugar. Beat in eggs, cocoa, buttermilk and vanilla. In separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add to other ingredients and mix well. Stir in 1 cup of chopped walnuts and all of the zucchini. Pour into prepared pan. Sprinkle with chocolate chips and walnuts.
Bake for 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.