Don't Judge a Book by it's Cover

Maybe you have driven by what some would label a "dive" and curiosity caught hold of you to the point that against your better judgment you stopped to check it out. If this is the case, I applaud you.

In a recent trip to the Hill Country of Texas my beautiful bride and I were on a search for an evening experience. Having completed an afternoon of wine tasting, I pulled out the crackberry and performed a google search for "steak fredericksburg texas". One resulting eatery was closed that Sunday evening, so we searched again and came up with a placed called "Hill Top Cafe". A quick call to verify they were open and we were on our way uncertain what to expect. A short drive up Hwy 87 we came to the crossroad of FM648 to an old fillin station. It's the only building for several miles and definitely the only neon lit. To be honest, the placed looked like the definition of a dive and we were a bit anxious as we entered the establishment. The greeting by the staff was friendly and the other patrons didn't look deathly ill. So we sat and were directed to a chalkboard above our table that listed the specials. What caught my wife's eye was crab meat covered flat steak.

The decor was eclectic to say the least, and I swear I saw the final destination of an early 1970's kitchen table my folks had when I was a kid. Even the chairs adjoining this particular table were metal and vinyl. The ceiling was covered with old concert posters from blues and swing acts that I've only seen on the Texas Country Reporter.

Surprising to us, the food was more than we could have dreamed of. The steaks were prepared to perfection and the portions were rightly sized. The fact their desert list was paired back to only pecan pie because they were out of bread pudding, should have told us that this was a popular place. It was only after we left did we realize that this eatery in the middle of nowhere was infamous, featured in Texas Monthly, Southern Living, and Country Home.

So let me add my own recommendation. The Hill Top Cafe is a must see, eat, and enjoy. Come in for the food and leave filled and enriched by the conversation, decor, and Texas hospitality at its best. Who ever said, don't judge a book by it's cover, could have been talking about this cafe on the hill.

Progress

I was visiting with a friend this weekend who chastised me for not keeping up with this blog. He's right that one a post a month is pretty bad, but as I've always said coming up with compelling content is a difficult process. Excuses aside, here's one dedicated to him.

This weekend the wife and I took a relaxing trip to the Hill Country of Texas. On our agenda was a visit to a winery that we'd visited some eight years ago. Our first visit to this winery was actually only the second time we'd ever visited a winery. The property had vineyards in front of a stone building that looked like a two story house. As we entered the facility we were warmly greeted by a middle age woman standing behind a bar. We were among a group of friends, and the group received a quick introduction to the winery and the process used to great the selection of wines that were created there. After we'd finished our first tasting, an older gentleman appeared from the back room and eagerly greeted our group. He was dressed in a khaki jump suit that you'd expect out of a grandfather figure. We learned he was the owner, winemaker, and patriarch of this estate. As my wife commented upon our departure, the older gentleman reminded her of what her grandfather would be like if he'd owned a winery.

We especially enjoyed the Fume Blanc wine from this establishment and about a year later I made a short detour upon a drive to San Antonio to pick up a bottle of Fume Blanc for my beautiful bride. Since then we'd not visited the winery until this past weekend.

So fast forward seven years. This weekend we eagerly waited to visit this vineyard that provided such fond memories. As we prepared we'd been online to see that the vineyard hosted a bed and breakfast, which we seriously considered staying at while in the area. On a brief visit to the Austin for a wine tasting event we picked of book by Wes Marshall on the Texas Wine Trail. The book offers a page on some 80 wineries in the state providing a brief history, wine picks, and general details of the experience the author had at each winery. We read the passage on the winery we had fond memories of and the encounter with the original owner as very similar to ours. Then we learned the gentleman passed away four years ago, and a San Antonio business man had purchased the winery.

As we turned into the winery we quickly learned many changes were in store for us. The original building that we'd visited was no longer the tasting room. A new large bell tower marked a new entrance with a windy road that cut through the vineyard. There was a whole complex that marked the tasting room with an adjoining event center. The tasting room hosted three bars and a large gift shop area. Our favorite selection was no longer offered, and the number of wine selections had increased by at least two fold.

Honestly the new face of the winery felt a bit commercial compared to our initial visit. My bride commented, if we hadn't know the original owner/winemarker had passed, we'd been impressed with how far he'd come. However, knowing that the winery had changed hands and such changes had taken affect made us feel that some of the charm of this little winery had been lost. I guess that's progress.

Taking Center Stage

This is a video clip of my two oldest as they participated in a variety show put on by my alma mater. Each year this variety show featuring students also has one song where they have children as extras. For weeks prior, the children practiced their steps and hand motions twice a week. This evening was the "dress rehearsal", and they'll perform in three shows spanning the next two days.

Vacation Days

One of the benefits for working for my current employer is that I get a ton of vacation days. Because if my tenure, I currently garner 120 hours of vacation a week. Three whole weeks, pretty nice. I also have the luxury of carrying over 80 hours of vacation from one year to the next. The first couple of years I quickly accumulated the 80 hours to carry from one year to the next. So now I'm faced with having to consume those 120 hours of vacation, otherwise I will loose them. Over the last couple of years this has posed a problem.

For me to take a vacation day, my preference would be to leave town. Here in lies the rub. Typically out-of-town trips the family takes are usually during the summer months, when schools aren't in session. Summer time is also the busiest time of year for my vocation, so to take three weeks off is unlikely. When I first started with my current employer, I typically could use up vacation during the week between Christmas and New Years. Several years ago my employer chose to eliminate this week in an effort to reduce overhead costs (lighting, heating, etc) and provided this week as holiday leave. This year my employer chose to do a similar thing with the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, again another day I typically take as vacation. So now I have less days in which to account against my vacation days.

I'm sure many do not feel the predicament I am in. My own brother-in-law is one who doesn't have the same number of available vacation days, and so was very stingy with his allotment since he had a new baby due this year. To compound my vacation day situation, I have like five months worth of six days. So when my bride had our kids, I simply counted these as "family sick" days and it didn't impact my vacation allowance.

My bride often tells me that I should just take a couple days off and go fishing or something. Given the fact we have one car and the cost of gasoline is averaging $3 a gallon, even this advice is falling on deaf ears. Of course her response is that she could simply provide me with enough "honey-dos" to consume my available vacation distribution. Again, not something I'd like to do on a day off.

I am thankful I have the availability to use vacation and the liberty to take it when I want, but finding the right fit of purpose and timing is what complicates the equation for me. I hate to loose these days, but I also would hate to waste the wonderful opportunity of a day way from the job. Maybe I'm thinking about it too much, and just need to take a day of vacation to put it all into proper perspective.

Black Friday

For several years, my family has enjoyed a rich shopping tradition the day after Thanksgiving. As we watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, we'd comb through the newspaper advertisement, and make our Christmas wish list. Then my mother, her sister, and my uncle (who loves to sniff out a great deal); would develop their strategic plan to capture as many of the wish list items at ridiculous low prices. This typically would involve rising before the sun on Friday, and waiting in line to enter stores at 5am, 6am, or 7am. Once I greeted my own bride to this strike team, the baton was passed to the next generation. List are made divided by stores and opening times, and assignments are handed out. Cell phones and SMS messaging has enabled enhanced communications in the event an item isn't available at one location, the other squad of shoppers can be notified in time to pickup an item at the secondary target. You may think the tactical analogy is taking this event too far, but I assure you it accurately depicts this family ritual.

In recent years the Internet has fueled this ritual. With websites such as bfads.net, the family no longer has to wait for the Thursday paper to determine what items can be captured on Black Friday. Beginning in late October, once a week I've found myself searching for leaks of what to expect in the full color advertisements destined to be delivered to us on Thanksgiving. With this bit of advance intel, we can be completed by 11am and ready to spend the remaining hours on Black Friday vegging out on the couch watching college football and congratulating ourselves on the amount of money we saved with our early morning exercises.

However this new bit of information, also robs us of the jubilation that can be found as we pour through the print ads in hopes that the kids toys or dad's electronics maybe available at lower than low prices. We still check the print ads, know full well that our intel may have been compromised or a legal order may have prevented our source from acquiring the goods for a certain big box retailer.

Last year one of my wife's friends, who got a kick out of this family ritual, got the last laugh when she bunked the whole system by taking the advertisements to her local big box retailer that offered price matching. At 11am, armed with the print ads, she simply waltzed into the price matching retailer, and collected the goods she desired at the advertised price of the other outfits. In one fell swoop she dismantled the tactical approach by using the published rules of engagement. She systematically refuted the whole system, and probably saved more because she didn't expend the extra gas running from retailer A at 5am, then retailer B at 6am, as well as not having to purchase the Cinnamon Dolce Latte to ensure she was prepared for the tactical exercise. Although she may have found a more efficient method, did she have the same euphoria of the hunt?

Making Your Mark

This evening I took my lovely bride to a college theater production. It's been sometime since we ventured to a theater arts production. We once had season tickets, an outgrowth of my bride's experience in college as a theater major. Kids helped to refocus our finances in other areas, and season tickets were some of the collateral damage. As we took our seats, we looked up to see an old professor of mine with his wife. Now this specific professor is famously known around campus for his effort to know each of his students by name. For 15 weeks each semester he crawls the aisles of his four classes to greet each student by name.

As we conversed prior to the opening curtain, I offered that I used to be one of his students. At this point the professor seemed a bit embarrassed that he didn't remember me. The reality is that I've been out of college for eleven years, following the completion of my master's degree. I also only had one graduate course with this professor, so I didn't really expect him to recall my name.

On the drive home, my wife and I commented on how embarrassed the older professor appeared to be. I added that I didn't really think he'd remember, because I never went out of my way to be memorable. Then I recalled a conversation with one of my old bosses, which he declared that I needed to toot my own horn from time to time. In many ways the evening's encounter highlighted the fact that in certain circumstances I tend to blend into the crowd. This defense mechanism could be construed as a weakness. There are times when being a face in the crowd is acceptable, but at other times there exist a need to be noticed. The difficulty as I see it is determine when to do either.

Birthdays aren't ordinary days

It has been my experience that at some point in my adult years, birthdays loose their significance. Whether this is by design because we don't relish the thought of growing older or it's a factor of inconvenience given the breath of busyness that we are involved with, birthdays just don't seem to be as big a deal as they were when we were kids.

Or at least that was what I thought. Thankfully my children haven't surrendered to this notion. Last week I celebrated a birthday. The night before my six year old approached me with the information that tomorrow would be my birthday. I responded that this was true, but that it would be just an ordinary day. Apparently this was a challenge for my children, and one that I am thankful they took on. The morning of my birthday, my wife rolled over at 7am to wake me up, but cautioned that I was to remain in bed because my children had something special for me. Fifteen minutes later, I was greeted with a tray of waffles, coffee, and blackberrys. It was most unexpected, first that my children were up that early and secondly because I'm not normally a breakfast eater. So with tray in hand, all three of my children accompanied by my bride climbed into bed to observe me partake into this birthday breakfast. As they watched wide eyed, I consumed the entire breakfast.

For lunch, I was called home again to a special birthday luncheon with the family. My wife pulled out all the stops preparing a special entree, and for desert the children had assisted in making some yummy cup cakes. Not to be out done, there were candles on most of the cup cakes. I had a hint that something was up when my eight year old made the comment that she hoped I could blow out the candles. So you guessed it, after the traditional birthday song, I attempted to blow out the candles only to have them re-ignite. All three of my children were beside themselves with laughter, although I think the two year old was just mimicking his older sisters.

That evening we had a church event, but my children continued to tell everyone they saw that it was my birthday. Several people inquired my age, at which I responded, "I younger than I look, but older than I feel." Such a vague response didn't pacify some and my children were glad to provide the requested information.

To say the least the day was not ordinary by any stretch of the imagination. All thanks you my children who firmly believe that birthdays are special. Honestly I agree with them, but too often the demands of job, chores, and a litany of other items seem to usurp the priority of celebrating my own birthday. To my kids I am thankful that they saw fit to provide me with a reality check.