Adventures and Answers

WAYBACK MACHINE:  Five years ago today, we were on the Causeway in Cape Canaveral, watching space shuttle Atlantis blast off for a resupply mission to the International Space Station. 

It was our first and last shuttle launch, as only three more missions flew after the one we saw.  So glad we got to see it when we did. It was a picture perfect launch, taking off right on time, lucky us. 

ADVENTURE TIME:  We're still working away on our May-ke a change campaign, which includes embracing new produce daily.

Yesterday, baby artichokes entered the picture. The sunglasses are for scale. 

Annabelle found me a (Martha Stewart-endorsed) recipe, and we cooked 'em up. 

It wasn't bad, but it turns out they are NOT our new favorite food. A lot of work for little reward, really. That, and I think our babies were a bit past prime. That probably didn't help.

Today's experiment was plantains. Truth be told, the kids have had these before, deep fried from a food truck. Those tostones were delicious, of course. But we'd never bought and prepared plantains ourselves, so we figured it counted as new-to-us.

I didn't fee like heating up a bunch of oil, so we found an oven baked alternative. 

They cooked up OK (except for a minor smoke alarm incident), but they looked so dry and starchy, so I whipped up a dipping paste of all natural peanut butter, honey and some no sugar apricot spread. That made things better!

MORE PRACTICE:  Our (pretty much last minute) effort to (kinda sorta) be ready for the state's mandatory annual standardized test continues. Today, the kids took the "ELA" test. I don't even know what "ELA" stands for - presumably something 'language arts.'

It wasn't the worst test I've ever seen, but it sure wasn't the best. The scoring is interesting (you miss any part of a multi-part question and the whole thing is worth ZERO),  and some of the 'right' answers were DEFINITELY up for debate, IMHO. 

Oh well. It was, in fact, good practice at test taking - figuring out what the author of the test is looking for, which, in some cases, is not what seems like the real world right answer. ... 

Here's a link to the test Annabelle (grade 4) took, if you're interested: http://sbac.portal.airast.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/G4-PracticeTest-ScoringGuide-ELA1.pdf

And here's what CJ endured: http://sbac.portal.airast.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/G6_PracticeTest_ScoringGuide_ELA.pdf

INQUIRING MINDS:  So, we went to the Mariners' game last night. Yes, again. (We're taking full advantage of those $1 Kids Club tickets, I tell you!)

It was our third game in four days, and we'd already seen them win twice this week. The third time wasn't a charm, but it was still lots of fun. And we were part of solving a 'mystery' at the ballpark.

We didn't go to our ticketed seats. Instead, we sat at a picnic table on a landing in right center.  We noticed that behind us, under the right center bleachers, definitely off the beaten path, there was some steel-frame construction going on.  We'd noticed it a couple of times before this week, and it seemed to be taking shape fast, but we had no idea what was being built. The obvious answers seemed like another beer stand, or a team merchandise stand, but it was in a low-traffic area, so that also seemed a little odd.

At one point, one of the Safeco 'teal coats' (seat attendants, traffic directors, etc.), came up and sat at the picnic table next to us.  We couldn't help but bother him during his break to ask him what was being built behind us.  He looked at it, pulled out his stadium guide, apparently flipping to the 'what's new at the park' part, and said he hadn't a clue, but that he was now very curious himself and that he'd find out.

The gentleman went back down to his work station (by the Dave Niehaus statue), and from our perch over it, you could see the thing escalate. He asked nearby coworkers, who apparently hadn't any idea.  Then reinforcements were called in. They didn't know either. He called up to us on the landing to let us know he was still working it. About a half hour later, a NON teal coat (this guy's coat was kind of cranberry) arrived on the scene, and there was a briefing. 

Then Cranberry Coat came up to the landing.  Christian was making a concession stand run, so it was just me and the kids. The man said to me, "So, are you with the National Enquirer? Inquiring minds want to know?"  

I told him we are just curious people and were wondering if another Coors Light stand was about to grace Safeco Field (ha ha).  The manager reported that, in fact, it was something quite different - a state of the art golf-related feature.

About that time another gentleman showed up to the landing to answer my question.  Turns out he is Safeco Field's head engineer(!).  He went into great detail about what would be there:  An immersive, high tech gold experience with a rounded screen and software that allows visitors to play the 18th hole at Augusta or you-name-it legendary courses.  The station will feature Nike merchandise, and people will even be able to be expertly fitted for clubs there. The feature is being fast-tracked, and is expected to open in early June, just ahead of the US Open tournament south of town. 

So there you have it.  

The best part of this story is that the Teal Coat who was on the landing with us and who was like a dog with a bone getting us the answer is 84 years old. He started working at Safeco last year, as an 83-year old rookie!  The manager told us he was voted MVP last year. How awesome is that?

Of course, we made it a point to stop and thank him for his efforts our way out. 

And Mr. Cranberry Coat (gosh, I wish I'd gotten his name) actually thanked us for asking, because now he and his team had that information. 

THAT, my friends, is good customer service.