Where was I?

Any guesses?

May we all be fat and happy

Peanut Butter-Hazelnut Brownies

1 cup unsalted butter
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 large eggs
1 cup flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Dash salt
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup nutella

1 Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease 9×13 glass baking dish.
2 Melt butter over low heat. When melted, remove from heat and add sugar and vanilla.
3 Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition.
4 Add flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Mix well.
5 Mix the peanut butter and nutella in a microwave safe bowl. Heat in microwave until it reaches a runny consistency. Stir the mixture into the batter and pour in baking dish.
6 Bake for 30 minutes. Allow to cool before cutting.

The gods have spoken…Nutella Brownies

So my temptress sister sent me a recipe for Peanut Butter-Hazelnut brownies. Now, for those who are savvy enough to realize that Hazelnut is just a fancy name for Nutella (or is it the other way around) and given my incessant infatuation with Nutella, nothing was going to stop me from making these bad boys.

Step 1: Get the ingredients. Now, for at least a little while longer, I’m a bachelor living the bachelor life. I don’t have half^H^H^H^Hany of the stuff required to make these puppies. So one trip to the grocery store and interrogation by the checkout ladies later, I’m back at my abode already kicking the oven to 350.

Step 2: Turn ingredients into that pure gooey goodness

Step 3: Time to dig in…soooo tasty…

H4CK3D

So this evening I settled down only to find out that my ebay account was mysteriously h4XX0r3d. Someone decided to list about 100 of “& 100%~AUTH NEW&^CHANEL&^SUNGLASSES &”. So I apologize if you weren’t able to score your new Chanel Sunglasses, but I ain’t got none.

To their credit, eBay was on top of it and thankfully was able to wipe my account clean of any transaction.

More number games

Today…Friday the 13th…10/13/2006…1+0+1+3+2+0+0+6 = 13…freaky eh?

Scary Statistics

So I’ve been doing some research about Charleston regarding bicycling around the area. Needless to say I’m a bit scared. When I first moved out here to Seattle and left my plush living of Schenectady, NY I was a bit peeved at the lack of good riding in these parts. I was used to doing 5 minutes in traffic and then hitting up the farm roads and scenic climbs…doing 3+ hours with barely a car in sight. If Seattle was a rude awaking…then Charleston is basically like not sleeping for 3 days and being stabbed prodded anytime your eyelids close.

Check out these statistics from 2004:

State	Population (in thousands)	Traffic Fatalities	Bike Fatalities	Percent of Total	Bike Fatalities per Million
U.S. Totals	42,636	293,655	725	1.7	2.47
Massachusetts	6,417	476	11	2.3	1.71
New York	19,227	1,493	40	2.7	2.08
South Carolina	4,198	1,046	22	2.1	5.24 (5th WORST in the nation)
Washington	6,420	563	7	1.2	1.13 (7th in the nation)

The really scary part is, the other 4 states that are worse off than South Carolina based on fatalities per million (D.C. 5.42, Florida 7.01, Hawaii 5.54, Nevada 6.0) 3 have lower populations so the numbers are kind of skewed…it could be worse…I could be living in Florida with ~17,400,000 people, ~3200 traffic fatalities, and 122 bike fatalities.

If you look close…

WF7J5128.jpg

Originally uploaded by Mike Hone.

…you can still see some air in my rear tire!

Cross-tastic

After a miserable showing at Parker I took some time off the bike and decided to give a go at the ‘cross thing. I have done a handful of cross races in the past…not nearly enough to justify the fancy cross bike I have, but whatever…

My first cross race of the season was not too long ago…it had a freakin’ huge run-up and could put you down for the count if you’re not careful. I managed to walk away the winner after I rolled across the finish line with the other guy I was with thinking we had one more lap to do. Not really a “throw my hands in the air” moment, but a win is a win right?

Then this past Saturday was the big night-time cross event at the local Velodrome…under the lights. If you remember last year there was…run for the hills…HAIL!!! This year, however, was much more tame and pleasant…that is until the side wall on one of my tires blows to smithereens with a couple laps to go. I had made it into the lead group but was promptly kicked out the back due to my mechanical….*BIGSIGH*

And then Sunday…bloody Sunday…I got a good line-up spot and was promptly beaten to a pulp by the sand and sharp turns to barely held on to 7th.

This cross thing is certainly beating me up. I have scrapes and bruises all over the place. It’s kinda like me and mountain biking…if I don’t walk away from a cross ride without a little blood, then I certainly didn’t go hard enough! Thankfully I’ve been keeping to my credo!

Happy times

WF7J4921.jpg

Originally uploaded by Mike Hone.

At least I was happy before the big tire blowout!