I thought I could just add a comment about my sandwiches this week, but why waste a good blog post. 😉

I’m in the mood for something different today, so today’s sandwich has no meat.  I picked up some Portabella  Mushrooms (the big ones), a sweet onion, tomatoes, and Munster cheese.   For bread I picked up some hard rolls.

To start I sautéd  the onion.  I then put these off to the side while cooking the mushrooms.  The mushroom was brushed on both sides with olive oil.  I started cooking with the gill side down for a couple of minutes.  I’m just heating through on this side.  I then flip the mushroom, fill with onions and top with a slice of munster cheese.  At this point I brush the roll with olive oil and brown the insides.   When done, slid the mushroom between the two slices of the roll.  Salt and or pepper can be added to the gill side of the mushroom before adding the onions.

A slice of tomato made a nice addition to the sandwich.

This goes very nicely with a spinach salad.

That started with some baby spinach, shredded carrots, diced onion, slivered almonds, thin sliced radishes and mandarin orange segments.  I’m cooking for one today, so I don’t have measurements for this.  I just made enough for me.   A ginger dressing completed the salad.

So what’s for dinner?

Now I want a sandwich.  I’m watching a show about sandwiches.  Roast beef of all kinds and now a ground beef sandwich that isn’t a burger.  It looks like a sloppy joe without the sauce.  Just cooked ground beef.  It looks good.   It is just amazing the number of ways you can make beef sandwiches.  On to Philly Beef Steaks and Hoagies.

I’m not sure how somebody got a job traveling around the country tasting various sandwiches.  Can I have that job.   Ok, maybe not.  Some of these sandwiches look just bad.

Now this got me thinking of my favorite sandwiches.  I’ve written about my comfort foods before, so I may have to give a list of just sandwiches.   I guess I’m thinking of things that you normally won’t find in restaurants.     I guess this week, I will try a few sandwiches and see what I like the best.

I will be in the company of two very lovely ladies this evening while I am entertained by the wonderful actors of the Williams County Community theater.

It was a wonderful evening that started with dinner at the local Mexican restaurant.  There was a time I could not say that in Williams County since there was more than one Mexican restaurant.  Now we just have one restaurant and a Taco Bell (which is not a Mexican Restaurant). Good food, good company, what more could you ask for.

Well, we went on to the theater and saw a wonderful show, that is what we could have asked for.  The Ohio part of my family was completed when my oldest daughter made it to the theater.

The show was “The Little Shop of Horrors”.  It should be known, that I loved the 1960 black and white movie.  I was not a fan of the 1986 musical version.  The play is what the 1986 movie is based on.  I was only looking to be impressed by the many people working on the show.  I did not think the show would impress me.  Happily, I was mistaken.  The show itself brought back many memories of the original 1960 show.  Of course, I still wonder why they had to add music, but that is me. 😉

The story was the one I remembered.  Mysterious, blood thirsty plant makes a small rundown flower shop a place to stop.  For me the sign of a good musical is that the music does not interfere with the story.   The three street urchins were a treat to watch and listen to.  If the rest of the show had been pedestrian, these three would have made the show.  They were that fun.  The actor playing Mister Mushnik was also very good in his role.   He had the worried shop keeper down to a ‘T’.   The actors playing Audrey and Seymour had very good chemistry and their acting and singing voices meshed well.  They were interesting and fun to watch.

Now on to Audrey II.  The voice and acting of the monstrous plant were two separate actors.  From what I saw, they must have put a lot of work into their performances.  Matching ‘mouth’ and plant movements to the words coming from offstage must have been a difficult timing situation.  I saw this performance two times this weekend, and I was impressed both times.  Again a plus to the show.

Now those who know the show and have seen it on stage before may have noticed I missed a character or two (5+???) .  One final actor played the remaining roles.   I was very impressed.  Many different characters from one actor.  He made each and every character different from the others.  Even though everyone in the audience could tell that this was the same actor, he impressed me with the talent he displayed on each character.  That and being able to sing while pretending to be under the influence of laughing gas… Wow!!

I wish I would have been able to see this show the first weekend.  I would have loved to give my opinion to others who were still wondering if they should see it.  From what I could tell, it almost sold out the last weekend.  A good turnout for a wonderful show.

I have a friend… At least for now. As a way to keep up with some of my daughters, I finally opened a facebook account. I opened this because someone else invited me. My oldest does not have a facebook account, so this won’t help with her, but I’m only going to open one social networking account. And since a number of people I know from work are on Facebook, it just makes more sense, if it makes any sense at all.

Really, I don’t know that I will put much up on Facebook. It links to my blog, and that is where my words flow.

Do I need to add more Friends?

On the way home from Ft Wayne this evening, I stopped at a place for a hot dog. I ordered a Chicago Style dog, not knowing exactly what I would get, but I was in the mood for something different. It was an OK hot dog, I think. It was covered with so much stuff, I was pushed to even taste the hot dog.

Ok, you Chicagoans (is that correct?), what is it with the BRIGHT GREEN sweet relish? Is this normal? I was curious as to what exactly was in that, but it tasted like a sweet pickle relish, so I just ignored the color. Anyway, I’m not sure how close this was to an authentic Chicago Dog, so here is what was on it. Diced onion, bright green relish, a kosher dill wedge, tomato wedges, mustard, hot dog, poppy seed roll and some celery salt (I think?? that is what it tasted like). Anyway I think the dog was a beef hot dog, but like I said, it was smothered.

The root beer at Dogs and Suds is really good. The medium size is served in an ice cold mug (just the way I like it). It was a less sweet, more bite root beer. Sort of like Barq’s and it may have been draft.

Good place to eat, just north of I-69 in Fort Wayne exit 111.

Since early this summer, the powers that be have been building an extension on the street where I work. The paving appeared to have been finished late last week. I thought that the road would be open early this week at this week. I’m looking forward to it, since it will cut off 2 miles from my daily trip to work. On top of that it will be one less light. I’m still waiting.

It could be that they are waiting to paint the lines on the road. This would be easier to do on a closed road. I can understand that. This week has not been the best for paint. Cool/cold and rainy most of the week. Maybe next week. I know it won’t be tomorrow, the road crews don’t seem to work on Fridays.

After quite some time, I’m getting back to this question. Since the holiday season is approaching and fall is one of my favorite times to get the scopes out… Here are my opinions on telescopes to buy.

If I’m on your list and money is no object here are the scopes I want. 😉
The Questar 3.5 inch anniversary model. This has a lot of sentimental value for me, and if money were no object I would own one.

Any really large reflector. This one is from Orion Telescopes.
A good sized goto Scope and an observatory to go with it.
Or maybe a dedicated Solar Scope???

OK, I understand you are not buying one for me, but if you are a first time telescope buyer, you may see those prices and just stop your shopping. Or you will go to Walmart and buy the telescopes they have during the Christmas shopping time with all the pretty pictures on them.

In shopping for a telescope, size matters. You want the biggest scope you can afford and move around. Magnification power however does not matter. I don’t care if the telescope at your local super store is 150 power or they say it will magnify 200 times. You’ll never use it. Most of the time, even with the best telescope, you can’t use it. So are you going to be able to with the $30 – $40 scope from the super store?

Even though my first suggestion would be binoculars, I won’t go there, you want a telescope…. I know this, because I was there once. I still don’t have my binoculars….

Second suggestion a 4 to 8 inch reflector on a Dobson mount. The mount is very simple. It moves Up and Down – Left and Right. Very stable and inexpensive. An 8 inch reflector would probably be more of an intermediate scope, but it may be the only telescope you ever need. (want is another matter). The 4 and 6 inch scopes are excellent for beginners.

3rd suggestion a 60 or 70 mm refractor on a good mount. These tend to be more expensive. The mount design makes the cheaper models almost unusable. But they do look like the telescope everybody expects to see. This may be important to you.

4th suggestion…. Stay away from computer controlled models for your first scope. You really don’t want to have to learn how to use the computer end of the telescope when you are just starting out. That just adds to the frustration.

So here are some actual telescopes that fit my suggestions. I’m using the Orion Telescope company site, because they have nice pictures, many different scopes, and a lot of other good information on their site. I don’t own an Orion Scope, and I’m not suggesting they are the only place to get telescopes. In fact, I will add links for other sites main pages.

Refractors (lenses)
80mm table top model Nice looking little scope with what looks like a very nice mount. A good solid table will be needed to use this. A used end table from a garage sale would work nicely. A solid picnic table (that nobody is sitting on) would work well too.
70mm refractor The mount looks nice, but the tripod looks a bit on the flimsy side. This may make an shaky mount. Weight can be hung from the center support to help stabilize it.

Reflectors(mirrors)
100mm tabletop scope This mount is the same as the first refractor I mentioned. Nice size, looks easy to move around.
4.5 inch tabletop scope Slightly larger mirror than the one above. I’ve actually used this scope once. It is an excellent first scope.
4.5 inch equatorial Same scope as above, but a different mount. Adds to the cost, but you don’t need the table.

Some Telescope web pages
Orion
Meade Telescopes
Celestron Telescopes
Optics Planet
Anacortes
Discovery Telescopes

I’m not sure how many people know this, but my feet tend to give me problems. Nothing really serious, but at the end of most days, my feet are always sore and tired. It doesn’t matter if I’m wearing dress shoes, casual shoes, running shoes, walking shoes, work boots or even no shoes, the end result is the same. Except for two days this week.

I have been looking for a pair of square toed harness boots. My brother had a pair that he wore until they completely wore out. He always said they were the most comfortable things he ever wore. I found a pair on Friday evening. They were a bit pricey for me, but I said what the heck. I needed some new shoes, and these could also be worn on stage. Two things for the price of one. Stage and shoes/boots for the winter months. Not the same brand my brother had, but they were a good pair of boots.

Anyway, I wore them all day Saturday (and into the early morning hours) and put them on again on Sunday. After 24+ hours of wear (and remember these are ‘new’ boots), my feet on both evenings felt fine. Good support all day without any binding. I don’t think my feet would have felt any better if I had stayed in bed all day…. That was totally unexpected.

And the strange thing about all this… My brother (even though he has been gone from this earth since 2003) was right again. At least this time he can’t rub it in….

I took my two youngest daughters to lunch today, and then scampered back home to allow my youngest to get her stuff together to head back to school. On the way to Fort Wayne, we stopped in Hicksville to see a play Jamiahsh was in. About 10 minutes into the play, I mentioned to my daughter that I was guessing Jamiahsh’s character would be the murder victim. Not just because he was annoying the ‘director’, but because, these shows are predictable. At least to some extent. I will admit that I didn’t get the ‘real’ murderer. A very fun performance.

Then off to Fort Wayne with a stop at a Walmart to get pictures developed and some scrap booking supplies. That took some time this evening. A rather late dinner and I got my daughter back to school some time after 8:00pm. Then the hour drive back home.

When I got here, I decided to relax and watch the end of Sunday Night Football. By the time I started watching, the game was just about over and it was only halfway through the 3rd period. At least during the game I did find out that most of the teams for the league championship series have been decided. Only the Phillies and Rockies need to complete their series. And they had a snow out…. I think some cities should have domed stadiums (or more exactly retractable domes) if they start competing in October/November. Sometimes it is just too cold for baseball.

I also heard that the Bears won, so we should see another Whatever post… 😉

Since I am a Tiger fan, I do tend to like the Tiger announcers, but since they did not make the playoffs 🙁 , I am listening to other announcers. So far, I’ve heard the Yankee announcers during the season. The lady they have (sorry I don’t recall her name) seems to really know her baseball. The Red Sox and Angels announcers are gung ho for their team (as expected) but seemed to do their homework on the other team. I feel this is very important. It bugs me when the announcer can’t pronounce the other team’s players.

I hope to hear the NL announcers before this round of the playoffs ends. But that will depend on my schedule and when I can get to a computer or radio that gets local stations.

I’m thinking the AL will come down to the Angels and the Yankees. I’ve been against the Yankees since I knew about baseball, so I really can’t root for them. (Sorry J…) I do think they will go to the World Series, my likes and dislikes won’t change that at all. They have a better set of pitchers and they can out hit any team on any night.

I’m not sure about the National League teams, since I didn’t pay as much attention to them. I would like the Dodgers to get to the Series, but I’m not sure which team has the best chance. Prior bias on my part hopes the Cardinals don’t get in (they beat Detroit in 2006). While it looks good for the Dodgers, I just just don’t know. As far as the Phillies and Diamondbacks, to me that is a coin toss.

Fearless prediction

Yankees, Dodgers in the Series. Yankees win it 6 games. Arrgh!!! I hate saying that….