Central High School - Road Show 2008 "CHS Dancers"

CHS Dancers Performance

Central High School - Road Show 2008 "CHS Pom Squad"

CHS Pom Squad Performance

Central High School - Road Show 2008 "Stairway To Heaven"

CHS Orchestra - "Stairway To Heaven"

Veggie Enchilada Recipe

Veggie Enchilada Recipe

These are good if you are looking for a meatless dish. Made some for friends recently and they asked for the recipe. I decided to post it here too. Enjoy!

1 can (10 oz) mild enchilada sauce (I like to use the green chili kind)

1 cup sour cream

1 tablespoonPure Olive Oil

1 medium onion, chopped (1/3 cup)

1 green pepper, chopped (1/3 cup)

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 package (8 oz) sliced fresh baby portabella mushrooms

1 box (9 oz) frozen spinach, thawed, squeezed to drain

1/3 cup chopped drained roasted red bell peppers (from 7.25-oz jar)

2 tablespoons taco seasoning mix (from 1.25-oz package)

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1 cup shredded pepper jack cheese

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

8 flour tortillas (Use the large size)

1/2 cup shredded pepper jack cheese to put on top

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 13x9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish with Non-Stick Cooking Spray.

2. In 1-quart saucepan, heat enchilada sauce and 1 cup of the sour cream over medium heat 2 to 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until warm. Spread 1/4 cup of the sauce mixture on bottom of baking dish. Set aside remaining sauce.

3. Meanwhile, in 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion, green pepper and garlic; cook 2 to 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onion is tender. Stir in mushrooms; cook 7 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms are tender.

4. Transfer vegetable mixture to food processor bowl with metal blade. Add spinach, roasted peppers, taco seasoning mix, the cumin and 1 cup pepper jack cheese and 2 cups of the mozzarella cheese. Cover; process with on-and-off pulses 3 to 6 times or until mushrooms are coarsely chopped.

5. Spoon 1/3 cup vegetable filling down center of each tortilla. Roll up tortillas; place seam sides down on sauce in baking dish. Pour remaining sauce evenly over tortillas; sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup pepper jack cheese. Spray sheet of foil with No-Stick Cooking Spray; cover baking dish tightly with foil, sprayed side down.

6. Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

Winter Tranquility

It's Saturday afternoon on December 29th, 2007. The temperature gauge says 24 degrees. I needed some exercise today but didn't really feel like dealing with the wind chills of a bike ride.

Since the sun was shinning and there wasn't much wind I decided to walk the Tranquility Trails and I took my camera. These pictures will be fun to look at in July after a ride with a 115 degree heat index.

Happy New Year

- Paul

Slippery Trails at Standing Bear

I left work yesterday with a good hour of daylight left. It had been almost 3 weeks since I've been able to ride. Took a quick trip over to Standing Bear. The trails didn't have any deep snow but still about 70% covered with some snow and slush. It was a successful test ride for the recent shifter maintenance on my backup bike (2000 Marin Palisades Trail). Something in the drive train is intermittently rough. I'm guessing it's the bottom bracket. I'll keep riding it this way though the winter unless it gets worse.

Have a Merry Christmas!
- Paul

Shimano Deore Rear Derailer Problem

I'm attempting to figure out why my right shifter - rear derailer will only shift on the four outer most cogs. I cannot shift to the four inner most cogs.
I bought a used Marin mountain bike this fall. It's equipped with Shimano Deore front and rear derailleurs. The rear derailleur (8 speed) only shifts between the highest four cogs. It works accurately and smoothly. However, the shift lever does not seem to connect the get to the lowest or inner most four cogs. I assume that it simply needs to be readjusted. It seems like this is something that would require a change to the limit stop screws. I'll try to dig into this over the weekend.
These are some web sites that I have found good reading so far.
This site had some good content.http://www.parktool.com/repair
This is a very good site to learn about Derailers.http://sheldonbrown.com/derailer-adjustment.html
Shimano Techdocs - This might be helpful.http://techdocs.shimano.com/techdocs/index.jsp

Cleaning Off Finish on Frets

Here is the neck from a Double Fat Strat I have been playing. This one I have re-assembled recently. I bought a Fender licensed Allparts 70's Strat neck a while back and I used this neck on the project you see here. As I started playing I noticed there is a large amount of finish on the frets. The finish was chipping off as I play (see circled places on the frets). Of course, this creates a real uncomfortable feel on bends. It's like hitting a speed bump. Also, I doubt you get the best sound possible with finish on the frets.





I taped up the frets with masking tape. Then I got a razor blade. Then I taped off the ends of the razor so as not to gouge anything else. This left a spot in the middle of the razor that is bare. I scraped off the finish from each fret. Don't worry, you won't wreck your frets. Just make sure you pull it across the fret, not push it. When I was finished I was careful when removing the tape. I removed it slowly, so as not to pull any of the finish off between the frets.

What an improvement. The finish on these frets was on thick.You can see from the photos that the chips of lacquer made a mess. It was worth the effort.