Link

Rochester has an amazing street art initiative via walltherapy.com. I would love to see the same here, and this piece is one of my favorite local ones.

Do you drain the oil that forms on Sabra Roasted Pine Nut Humus?

Is there etiquette surrounding topping consumption when groups are sharing Sabra Roasted Pine Nut Humus?

Is it possible to sustain yourself eating nothing other than Sabra Roasted Pine Nut Humus with Tostitos multigrain scoops?

What if I added vodka and a mixer to that diet?

What is the appropriate bag to hummus ratio?

Why am I out of Sabra Roasted Pine Nut Humus?



Oh, I'm not...does this provide evidence that I have a problem?



Is there a shorthand version for Sabra Roasted Pine Nut Humus?

If there is, does that increase the chances of a support group for Sabra Roasted Pine Nut Humus addicts?

Why am I still talking about Sabra Roasted Pine Nut Humus?

Especially when I could be using this time to eat Sabra Roasted Pine Nut Humus?

Also, Mike and Alex in a picture of oddly horrible quality...no idea what I did to cause that

So after Paul's enthusiastic endorsement of Whole Foods prepared food section, and my witnessing of his salad creation that backed it up,I decided to use this week to up my veggie intake.

While Paul wants one in Buffalo, I find Wegman's to be far better. their prepared food definitely blows away Wegman's, and is comparably priced, but that pricing comparison disappears outside of that...and dramatically so. A simple muffin is half the size of one at the co-op, and yet it costs about 15% more. Plenty other examples exist.

Whole Foods absolutely mastered display. A part of me really appreciates this. In one of our discussions, Paul asked why I didn't eat vegetables more as a child, and part of it was due to poverty and how less attractive (and tasty) produce is when you have to buy it on the cheap. Unfortunately, WF prices out that population. That also leads me to question what is happening to all of the produce that isn't in pristine condition.

I also abhor how much pseudo science exists in WF, but this is more widely known.

I'll be trying to continue this trend with Wegman's salad bar, but I'm really going to miss these meals.

So, got to head out to Holiday Valley again. Day started amazing with about 6 inches of fresh snow. Later on it became a more challenging, as the ice underneath was exposed in some areas while the snow started to form piles. This made runs a balance between flopping over snowbanks and occasionally skidding across ice. Maybe it isn't feasible for technical reasons, but it seems like the slopes would be so much better if they groomed them midday. Had a strap break too...which the place charged me $21 to fix, about as much as a ripoff as the $4 apple juice.

Didn't stop it from being an amazing time from start to finish. Early on I decided to try and grab a vid:



For my first experimental attempt, it came out pretty awesome if I say so myself. Learned a bit from it, so next time I'm out I'll be getting some more, and of better quality. Unfortunately, Michelle's attempt to grab one of me turned into a movie of her ear...so you'll just have to assume my run looked amazing.

I'd use that centerpiece too

linky

I wouldn't expect too much from this project though. It isn't mentioned in the article, but they revealed that it is unlikely the project will get anywhere close to Wadsworth, with the focus starting at Main and going west until they run out of money, which they are certain will fairly quickly.

For the first time in at least 5 years, I was able to slide around a mountainside (ok, hillside). Michelle wound up driving us out there, and Tanya met us shortly after. Unfortunately, Tanya hurt herself pretty quickly and had to return to drinking at a cabin (not the worst alternative plan).

I couldn't believe how much I retained after such a long hiatus. I thought for sure I'd stumble the first time getting off the lift, but I didn't have an ounce of difficulty the entire day. Only fell twice while riding, and both were fairly minor. The conditions were pretty close to perfect.

After the first 8+ runs I realized that I could have been tracking my performance. Ran up to the car to get my phone, bought Ski Tracker, which is an awesome app:



I wish I had snagged a screenshot of the map, since it doesn't seem to save that after you end the session. :o( I also wish it pulled out lift/idle times, so I may look around for other apps next time I'm heading out there.



Bonuses of the day:

Phone interview for a position that I'm excited about (though not sure I did all that well...had just removed a way-to-tight ace bandage during the lunch break, and mind wasn't very focused)

And going on a bromantic trip to Florida.

Going to sleep well tonight

So, tomorrow they are meeting to discuss the Allen Street redevelopment:

Along with Elmwood, I think this is one of the areas that has the greatest potential for ROI, and I'm going to try and attend. My thoughts on it below (which involve Wadsworth as well, which is unfortunately not a part of this project and gives me cause for concern). Much of it is geared towards increasing friendliness towards non-vehicular transportation, which I think should be encouraged for a drinking hot-spot.

- Extend bike path from Symphony Circle to Medical campus. This should be obvious, but after the debacle of Main Street, and the existing comments that mention a bike/pedestrian path between Washington and Oak but nothing of Allen, I'm worried the ball will be dropped again.

- Convert the street to one of the following: 1-way single lane (heading east, starting at Symphony Circle), 2-way with parking removed, or pedestrian zone. Seems safe to assume that only the first would be seriously considered.

The first two greatly improve the flow of traffic. Converting to 1-way would help with how difficult it is to use the parking lots adjacent to this street, allowing them to change to diagonal layout with cars reversing out instead of making the 20-point turn to exit going forward.

In the case of a pedestrian zone, Wadsworth could be connected to Days Park.

- Any additional space from the above conversion should be used to expand the sidewalk which is difficult to traverse during busy hours. Brick Bar, Nietzsche, Bend, and Hardware don't help with their patio's, but I doubt anything will be done about this.

- Convert College Street to 1-way going North, Mariner to 1-way going South, Park to 1-way North, and Peart St to 1-way South. The bottleneck created by (presumably) the selfishness of locals to avoid through-traffic creates a nightmare on Allen, and a dangerous environment for non-vehicle traffic.

- Increase bike rack access, hopefully incorporating an artistic theme for the area.

- Depending on some of the above decisions, implementing cobblestone may be beneficial, with elimination of curbs to improve bike/pedestrian travel.

- Extension of curbs at intersections of Delaware and Elmwood, though the latter may be less feasible due to the alignment. I find myself wondering if the Delaware intersection could be converted to a Roundabout considering its size (I can't recall where it becomes a 1-lane street).

- With Food Trucks clearly taking a permanent place in our city, it would be nice if there was a spot set up tailored to this business that would also generate revenue through a reservation system, although the amount of use it would see may not be worth it considering the limited real estate.

- Encouraging, perhaps commissioning, additional street art murals on non-historic buildings