In-n-Out Burger

Had a doctor appointment today. I hadn't had a physical in a long time so the purpose of the appointment was to get the full check-out to see if there's anything wrong with my 33 year old body. Cholesterol checked out, blood pressure was fine, I was told I had better start taking vitamins though. Since I got the clean bill of health I thought the best way to celebrate was to check out the new In-n-Out Burger that opened a 1/2 mile north of my office.

Back at Michigan State I can remember my good friend Jon Wood extolling the virtues of In-n-Out Burger. Jon's from Southern California where the chain got it's start (as did McDonalds, Carl Jr. and several other defunct fast food chains). While everyone knows about the national saturation of McDonalds not very many people outside of California are familar with In-n-Out Burger. Wanting to see what the local hype was all about I decided to visit after work.

The In-n-Out in Reno has been open for about 2 weeks now. The first day it opened there was a line down the sidewalk outside the restaurant for about 50 yards. The city had set up orange cones to direct traffic off the main street towards the drive-thru and the parking lot. Whoa!! All this for fast food with a slight retro flair? I managed to use my big city driving skills to snake into the parking lot and wedge the Outback into an open spot designated for compact cars. The initial mission of simply getting into the parking lot was accomplished. The line outside the main entrance door had shortened up in the past 2 weeks. There were approximately a dozen hungry customer (most of them probably ex-Californians) waiting in line to christen the new burger joint. Once inside I was immediately impressed with the flurry of activity. At one point, peeking behind the counter, I counted at least 25 employees cooking fries and assembling burgers. In-n-Out looks like it does it the old fashion way with manpower instead of high tech grills and toasters. The menu was pretty simple. Three basic types of burgers, fries, drinks, and milkshakes. At least I wasn't hunting though twenty different value meals trying to decode what I would actually get for my $5. Since I was living it up after the good report from the doctor I ordered a Double-Double Cheeseburger, fries, and medium drink (geeze - better not tell the doc about the blog here!). I was given a receipt and waited 4-5 minutes for my dinner.

In-n-Out does some stuff that is fairly unique in the fast food industry; they take a natural approach. The fries are hand peeled and cut on site. The burgers are not frozen patties (read Fast Food Nation about the burger meat in most fast food chains if you want a scare). The buns use no preservatives to improve their shelf life. All and all the food is probably just like it was back in 1948 when In-n-Out started.

So based on my extensive fast food experience over the years you might wonder "what's the verdict"? For all the initial hassle, In-n-Out has some pretty good burgers and fries! What's actually funny is that I have heard several people mention that they don't like the fries at In-n-Out. This is probably due to the fact that the fries are real and not pre-cooked, pre-coated, flash frozen potatoes that count on various addititives to achieve their taste. The employees (who are paid much better then any other chain) all seemed friendly and smiling despite the non-stop business. With all that said I also felt the food was comparable with SuperDawg, Hub's, or Ronny's (and I mean those comparisons as a complement to In-n-Out).

Man! Eating at In-n-Out I'm slowly starting to feel like a local!? Wonder if Jon Wood will read and agree?

Summiting in snow!

Sunday was the first cold day in Reno (meaning I had to wear pants).

That morning I went to church then decided to go hiking. The peaks around Lake Tahoe have been calling my name for a while so I mapped out a section of the PCT near Donner Pass. Yep! It’s the same Donner Pass where in year 1846, members of the Donner Party resorted to cannibalism to make it through the winter. Of the 83 Donner pioneers only 45 survived the winter. The goal was to hike about 10 miles and summit Donner Peak (8019'), Mount Judah (8243'), and Anderson Peak (8683') before hoofing it back to the car.

I started out about 11:30am working up about a dozen switchbacks on the PCT before trailing off on a separate singletrack to bag Donner Peak. After an hour of hiking I started to notice the sky getting cloudy and the temperature dropping. Soon shimmering snowflakes began to wisp through the Douglas Fir. The snow was much different then back east. It consisted of dry, fine flakes; not like the clumping, packy snow of winter in Chicago. The temperature was still about 40F so I did not think much of the flurries. I soon hit a fork in the trail with one section leading off to Donner Peak while the other section headed west several miles towards Mount Judah. Since I didn’t really prepare for the cold (t-shirt, windbreaker, Nylon pants) I thought it best to take the shorter trail to summit Donner Peak and see what the rest of the Tahoe Basin looked like. After about a quarter mile I stepped out of the tall pines and made the final climb up the granite of Donner Peak. By now the snow had changed from small silver flakes to BB-sized frozen pellets of ice. On top of Donner I stopped to wolf down an apple and take in the scenery. Most of the Donner Lake region could be seen. To the east was Northstar Ski Resort and to the South was the ring of mountains that formed the rim of Lake Tahoe. In the valleys to the South and North the snow looked like it was coming down in like white sheets like rain. Hmm... This hiking was a little more then I expected!

While chomping away on the apple a couple of rock climbers appeared on the summit. They had the full gear with ropes, carabiners, etc. We immediately started talking about the 180 switch the weather had taken. One of the climbers mentioned that they were heading down because they didn't have tire chains in their car. This set off an immediate alarm for me. TIRE CHAINS?! I started thinking about all the "road closed" gates I had seen on the drive to Donner Pass. When the Sierra Nevadas get blizzard conditions salt and sand do next to nothing. The highways are simply shut down and you can't drive them. I started getting visions of spending the night in the car in my head!

Heeding the climber's sage advice I now began to gingerly work my way down the steep granite on the west slope of Donner Peak. Once back in the forest I noticed that the windblown snow had started to accumulate around the base of rocks and trees. It was definitely coming down harder and I followed suit and picked up my pace tromping down the damp trail. My hands were frozen red and the snow was filling up the creases in my windbreaker. Things were starting to get serious.

By the time I got back to the car there was probably a 1/2" of snow on the brim of my baseball hat. It was coming down so heavy that I could not see the peak of the mountain I just visited or for that matter, any of the surrounding peaks nearby. I hopped in the car and fired up the defroster. Time to drive down the tarmac switchbacks of Donner Pass. Luckily as I drove down the black pavement, warmed from earlier in the day, was doing a good job of melting the fresh snow. I feathered the breaks most of the way down and back to the highway.

My only regret is not having a camera to document the hike. I certainly have a new appreciation for alpine weather now!

The Reading List

Over the last couple of months I've been knocking off a lot of books (easy to do with out the temptation of prime time television). Here's a few that might be of interest to you:

The Millionaire Next Door - Wow! There's a lot more millionaires out there then I ever thought. What's good about this book is it delves into how these people live (what cars they drive, what neighborhoods they live in, their spending habits). After reading this I can tell you that probably most of us are not destine to be millionaires however, it does give some basic thoughts on how these people got to their financial status. The book reads a little like a textbook but is still very interesting.

Timeline - A forgotten Michael Crichton novel. Good if you are a Michael Crichton fan (I read Prey earlier this summer and it was pretty good). Basically a time travel thriller.

My American Century - I read a Studs Terkel book to give me a little bit of Chicago fix. This is a compilation of a bunch of interviews that Stud's done over the years. Kind of a brief history of the common man in America. Leaves you scratching your head a little after reading a book all about millionaires.

Fast Food Nation - Another good one. The author provides a complete history of our American obsession with fast food. He interviews meat packers, politicians, fast food execs, etc. The results are pretty scary for a guy like me who enjoys T-Bell! A good muck raking read. Time to go to Whole Foods!

Bobke: A Ride on the Wild Side of Cycling - Bob Roll was part of the first wave of Americans to go to Europe and race in European peloton. Bob talks about being a good ole' boy from Colorado and learning to adapt to Euro hotels, food, and the grueling lifestyle of a domestique. This is a great read if your a cyclist and probably entertaining even if you are not. Bob talks about the late '80's racing with Greg LeMond and the rise in popularity of mountain biking. He's the kind of guy that could tell storys all night at the bar; that's the feel of this book!

Flashing on the Sixties - The definitive photo album for readers of Tom Wolfe's Electric Koolaid Acid Test. Not really serious reading but cool picts and stories from the late '60's. Kind of makes me wonder if we're heading for similar social upheaval with Iraq, the election, etc...

For a final note, I got all these books from thrift stores or the library. The Amazon links are simply there if you want to do a little more follow-up. On the shelf right now are Global Brain by Howard Bloom, Subterraneans by Jack Kerouac, and Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey... Who knows, I might never get another television (although football is pretty tempting on the weekends).

Wild Horses

The deal fell through...

The people who signed the contract on our condo backed out several weeks ago so our place is back on the market. To further add insult to injury our contract was already at our lawyer being reviewed when they backed out. Now we have to pony up some money to cover our legal fees on the deal. Argh! If you happen to be reading this and know anyone looking to move into Lakeview then let Ting or myself know (although avoid showing them this blog!).

Ting and Zoe did come out for a good week and a half during the start of September. I never thought it would feel so good to see my family. While I have been leading quite the bachelor life lately hitting coffee shops, looking at tattoos and all; it was pretty exciting to know that Ting and Zoe were coming for a visit. I knew I’d have to spruce up the old apartment to prepare for their visit. Away went the Thermorest mattress and sleeping bag I had been using for the past month. In its place, a new Sealy mattress and box spring straight from the Mattress Land warehouse. The various bike tools and parts scattered around the living room were put away to prevent greasy little fingers. Finally, I made a quite trip to Albertsons to buy bananas, yogurt, and other Zoe-based food.

Zoe seemed to really love it out here. She exerted her strong independence at the apartment pool by gingerly dipping her toes in then standing on the first step, and eventually the second step.

“All by myself!” she screamed when I floated over to help her out.

Later in the week we took Zoe up to Tahoe and had her hike down to the waters edge by scrambling from boulder to boulder. There were a few small lizards sunning themselves on the rocks and Zoe immediately decided it would be a good idea to pet them.

“Where’d they go Daddy? They’re too fast!”

Ting and I just laughed as Zoe tried to pet the lizards only to find that they quickly scrambled into the cracks and crevices.

Anyways Ting and Zoe went back last Thursday and I’m back to my humble existence. This past weekend I rode the bike out through Palomino Valley north of Reno. Nevada has more wild horses then any state in the nation due to the huge wilderness areas within the state. It’s not uncommon for people living on the outskirts of town to have wild horses grazing in their back yard not unlike deer in the Midwest. As I pedaled along I passed the National Wild Horse and Burro Center. There were hundreds of horses galloping along within their fenced-off study area. I did 56 miles in the hot sun that day; riding through some beautiful desert land. While the ride was satisfying, it would be much more satisfying if I could come home to my wife and daughter.

Hopefully soon...

Drug Testacapade

My employer finally broke the news that I would need to take a drug test in order to be qualified for employment. This came about after already working for a month in my new position. I got the address and phone number for the local drug testing lab. They opened up at 7:30am so I told everyone I’d probably be to work by 8:00am... Mistake.

I got up on Tuesday morning and did my usually morning stuff including showering, brushing my teeth, getting dressed...and, regretfully...spending a little time in the bathroom... Mistake.

Off to the drug testing lab. Upon entrance I noticed a pretty cool cross-section of workingman culture. Fed Ex truck drivers, little old ladies, general laborer types; they were all there for the same reason, to pee in a cup. After filling out some paperwork I started browsing through the tattered magazines in the lobby. Luckily I was one of the first names called. The thought never crossed my mind that I would be there for the next 2 HOURS!

I was escorted to a bleak looking bathroom by a man who appeared to be a doctor (or at least wore some doctor's scrubs). He peeled of the lid on a 8 oz. plastic cup and asked that I "provide a sample" and not to flush (actually the toilet didn't even had a handle to flush if I chose to do so).

I closed the door and got down to work... and work... and work some more. Unfortunately my earlier morning routine precluded me from peeing in the cup! I strained and sweated but could produce no more then a couple of ounces for the urine vampires. After realizing that I had now been in the bathroom for a good five minutes I started to get a little anxious that my delay might appear suspicious. I slinked out of the bathroom and sheepishly gave the doctor-type man my sample.

He looked at my couple of ounces and cringed. Next, he popped the top on a disposable plastic test tube and began to fill it up, tapping the cup on the lip of the test tube to get the last drop.

Holding it up to the light trying to determine the pee meniscus, "It’s not enough" he said...

Oh, geeze... "Okay", I told the guy. "I’ll give it another shot (no pun intended)".

"I’m sorry Mr. Hammond. We can’t add to an existing sample. There’s coffee and a water cooler in the lobby."

It was now 8:30am and I'm sucking down alternating cups of Folgers and water like a man lost in the desert. I can feel my insides sloshing back and forth as I get up for each new cup. The steady stream of visitors has slackened and now myself and a leather clad biker guy are the only ones left in the waiting room. It's 9:00am and I'm feeling my oats... It’s time.

I lean over the desk and tell the doctor-type man that "I’m going to give it another shot (no pun intended)." Back into the bathroom with another plastic cup. Again I strain and work until I'm starting to sweat.

No flow from below.

I'm working so hard that... Well... I'm a little concerned that I might have to... umm... go #2. The minutes pass by and still the cup is dry. My stomach begins to feel upset and I realize as I work away that I now REALLY do need to go to a bathroom. One that flushes!

Once again I peer out the door and look for the doctor-type man.

"I'm sorry, but um... no luck... I actually have to go to the bathroom and that might get things flowing... Is... um... that possible?"

The man wearing scrubs rolls his eyes and shows me to another bathroom which appears to be the employee bathroom. I follow with my cup. I ask the guy, "Is this okay? Should I flush?" He gives me an exasperated look and tells me I can definitely flush.

Cup in hand I manage a good four ounces… It’s now 9:30am. I quietly grab my paperwork and start racing off to the office. So what should I tell my co-workers? He dropped the sample? The place was very busy? Hmmm…