A great book, answers to my questions and yo Adrian, we did it

Don’t know much about American Presidents

by Kenneth C. Davis is probably the most fun I have had listening to a book in five years.  It is a look back at founding of our constitution, the Magna Carta, the 14 presidents before George Washington and then a 1 through 44 recap of each presidency with a grade letter assigned to each.

This book is fascinating. I forced my kids to listen to parts.  It’s a 753-page book that if you know well you’ll get an A in high school social studies.  First, the United States Declaration of Independence was adopted in 1776 and the Constitution in 1789.  George Washington was not inaugurated until April 30, 1789. The United States had 14 presidents who ran the country through the first government, the Continental Congress, which started in 1774, each serving a one-year term.  This book provides so many interesting points: presidential duels (Aaron Burr killing Alexander Hamilton), Grover Cleveland age 49 marries Frances Folsom, age 21, at the White House (the only President to have been married in the White House), eight presidents who owned slaves and details about the original source of funding for the government prior to an income tax – a whiskey tax. And, the 3^rd president had one of the first distilleries. It began with Jefferson’s Reserve, The brand still exists and now produces several varieties of bourbon and rye. As Kenneth Davis also successfully did with Don’t Know Much About the Bible, he manages to provide much information without fanning the passions of individual religious or political views (almost – he’s too liberal). Kenneth C. Davis takes readers on a guided tour of American history.  He charts the history of the presidency itself grading the presidents from A+ to F. This book may change your understanding of the highest office in the land throughout more than two hundred years of history (yup, there were many corrupt, slandering back-stabbing politicians then too).

You have to love the new Ultra HD standard.   I recently upgraded my FIOS home Internet connection from 15mbs to 50 mb/s in an effort to support the Ultra HD 4K format.  Netflix requires a minimum of a 25 mb/s connection.  I remember at ePlus when we first got an Internet connection.  The office shared a shiny new T1, 1.54mb/s for the 25 users to share.

What is the total retail value of everything in a Target store?  I’m still working on this.  Stay tuned for the answer in my next post.

How to cook the perfect steak

.  I have pics and a video.  I simply love this method.  I planned on showing you raw to table a 2” ribeye and a 2” filet – perfectly seared and evenly cooked medium rate top to bottom.  In this specific case, Wegmans didn’t have any 2” cuts so I got a

1.5” filet and a 1.5” Porterhouse.  I didn’t adjust enough and the steaks came out medium.

Here’s the magic, season your meat with, “more salt than you think you need and more pepper than you think you need.”  I like to add a variety of additional spices including garlic powder,

onion powder, and blackened anything.  Preheat your oven to 275 and bake for 45 minutes.  I did 39 minutes for the 1.5” steaks and got medium.  Rest your meat 10 minutes (critical).  Sear 90 seconds on both sides at high heat (with ventilation), slice immediately and serve.  De-lish.

And the 3^rd topic is, Why do cats bury their poop?  The topic came up amongst by boys (amazing what we discuss) and I asked Gregory to google the question.  Reading a top response, he replied, “it’s because they are being submissive to the alpha male in their environment.” One of the wisest and most brilliant people I know told me, “That’s hog wash.” Theory two – related, cats will also hide their waste to avoid attracting unwanted attention from predators to themselves or their nest of kittens. Domesticated indoor cats harbor the same strong, self-protecting instincts. Even though there are no predators in your home, your cat may not be so sure, and will bury its waste just in case.

And the answer is, according to my research, covering their “business” is an instinct that kittens are born with, and begin this ritual just as soon as they are able. They do not learn it from watching their mothers, as mother cats never eliminate near the nest. Kittens just start burying their waste of their own accord and will even do it when they are orphaned.

Lastly, kudos to the Bryn Mawr Bashers, my 8.0 40+ Mixed doubles team.  We won the Philadelphia district championships last weekend and we advance to Sectionals in September for the opportunity to compete at Nationals.  The team captain is John Gassenheimer – super job, 10-0 regular season, 3-0 at Districts, I just jinxed us for Sectionals, didn’t I?