Friday Five

The Week

As I travel full time for work, one question that I struggle with is what constitutes “visiting” a state. My father’s definition was that simply leaving the airport counts, so a simple drive-through of the state would count. For me that’s a bit too simple as there are a couple of states (Indiana, New Mexico) that I’ve spent just a couple of hours in as we were driving through to other destinations.

This week I was in Cincinnati^[1]. Well, I was working in Cincinnati, but I was staying, and did most of my external activities, in Kentucky. So, do I get to count both Ohio and Kentucky, or just Kentucky? Either way, this was a new area of the country for me.

It was also a fantastic opportunity to see the Kentucky Harrisons. Yes, there are Harrisons in Kentucky – in particular, an aunt and uncle, a couple of cousins and a couple of other relatives by marriage or child birth^[2]. I was able to see my cousin Michelle and her daughter Riley on Tuesday night, and then the entire brood on Wednesday night.

It was also a great refresher of why I don’t live somewhere that has a real winter. On Monday night into Tuesday morning we got *ahem* pounded by 5 inches of snow which caused the campus of Xavier, which I was on, to close at 10:30a on Tuesday. That night brought another 2 inches, delaying start on Wednesday morning by 2 hours. I didn’t have to deal too much with the snow, but I was glad to leave it nevertheless.

The Restaurant

On Wednesday night Uncle Kevin took us all out to Montgomery Inn, which is a Cincinnati institution. The place has been around since 1951 and is famous for their ribs. The restaurant itself still has a 50’s feel to it, and features a large bar in the center and a rather large dining area sprawled across the entire building. As for the food, well, the place is famous for their ribs and they do a very good, but not great, job on them. I prefer my ribs with a bit more kick to them, and these were on the sweet side. Again – very good, but not great.

The Travel Note

I know the US Patent Office is willing to grant patents to almost anything lately, but really – a patent for a barf bag? What is there to patent? And how do you prove yours was original work?

The Five

Feeling unimaginative today, so thanks to the fine folks at friday5.org I have 5 questions to answer this week:

1. What is your favorite blanket like?
   This one is very simple – it’s the one on my bed.
2. What was the last thing you baked?
   A couple months ago I baked up the Good Eats brownies. They took longer to set up than the 45 minutes stated in the recipe, but they came out all ooey-gooey and delicious. Paired with some Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and they were a huge hit at the dinner party.
3. What television personality gets you most hot and bothered?
   It’s a toss up between Thirteen and Cameron on House.
4. When did you last burn yourself?
   About a month ago when I was making pork chops for Karin and I. Burned the ever loving snot out of my space bar thumb.
5. What are your feelings about hot sauce?
   While I enjoy heat at times in certain foods (Indian, BBQ), I’m generally not a hot sauce fan. It’s not so much the heat as it is the flavor. I just haven’t tasted a hot sauce that I’ve liked the flavor of.

^[1] That’s with one “T”
^[2] After cousin, I’m lost. I have no idea what a second cousin, or thrice removed or any of the other qualifiers mean. I’m sure some well-meaning person will now explain what all of it means, and I’ll thank them, and then forget it all about 30 seconds later.