Mike's Answers to the quiz

TWO NICKNAMES I HAVE BEEN CALLED
1. Krank
2. Kranky

TWO THINGS I'D LIKE TO LEARN
1. French
2. how to fire lasers from my eyes

TWO FOODS I LOVE
1. red curry
2. fresh corn on the cob

TWO FOODS I HATE
1. ham loaf
A second food I hate has not yet been conceived by food scientists.

TWO FAVORITE BOOKS:
1. The Secret History
2. A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again

TWO THINGS THAT SCARE ME:
1. oceans
2. impending robot apocalypse

TWO OF MY SECRET TALENTS
1. I am an encyclopedia of useless trivial knowledge.
2. I play the drums very well

TWO THINGS I WISH I DID BETTER:
1. sing
2. bake

TWO PET PEEVES
1. wrinkled laundry
2. Internet Explorer

TWO THINGS IN THE ROOM WITH ME NOW
1. Pantone swatchbook
2. Plastic Spider-Man toy

TWO PEOPLE WHO HAVE TO TAKE THE TEST NEXT:
1. Wes
2. Austin

Justin's Quiz

TWO NICKNAMES I HAVE BEEN CALLED

1. Mama Richter (thanks to my cooking skills in college)

2. Big Country

TWO THINGS I'D LIKE TO LEARN

1. GOLF

2. How to do crossword puzzles better

TWO FOODS I LOVE

1. Steak

2. Country fried steak

TWO FOODS I HATE

1. Salt and vinegar chips

2. Weedy lettuce that Anne eats

TWO FAVORITE BOOKS:

1. Marley & Me

2. Freakonomics

TWO THINGS THAT SCARE ME:

1. Anne with my credit card

2. My receding hairline

TWO OF MY SECRET TALENTS

1. Parallel parking

2. Massaging

TWO THINGS I WISH I DID BETTER:

1. Remember people's names

2. Not procrastinate

TWO PET PEEVES

1. When people talk on their cell phone while they're waiting in line or in a waiting room

2. When people don't pick up after their dogs

TWO THINGS IN THE ROOM WITH ME NOW

1. Twinkie

2. Anne

TWO PEOPLE WHO HAVE TO TAKE THE TEST NEXT:

1. Alison

2. David

Jennas test

TWO NICKNAMES I HAVE BEEN CALLED

1. Monkey

2. Finey

TWO THINGS I'D LIKE TO LEARN

1. Chinese

2. To write a killer college essay (anybody want to help?)

TWO FOODS I LOVE

1. Sushi

2. Pizza

TWO FOODS I HATE

1. Anything creamy especially mayo

2. Dried fruit

TWO FAVORITE BOOKS:

1. The Kite Runner

2. Any junky book especially Gossip Girl

TWO THINGS THAT SCARE ME:

1. Airplane bathrooms

2. Mice/Rats 

TWO OF MY SECRET TALENTS

1. Beer pong

2. Listening 

TWO THINGS I WISH I DID BETTER:

1. Math 

2. Sing!!!

TWO PET PEEVES

1. When people don't help clean up board games

2. When someone says that they failed a test and then they get a 90%

TWO THINGS IN THE ROOM WITH ME NOW

1. Karen

2. Leftover cold pasta salad

TWO PEOPLE WHO HAVE TO TAKE THE TEST NEXT: 

1. Jerry

2. Barb 

whoooooooops uncle rick already took it! How about mike instead!
see I told you I need to pay attention better!

TWO NICKNAMES I HAVE BEEN CALLED

1. Cici
2. Squeak

TWO THINGS I'D LIKE TO LEARN
1. How to stop biting my nails
2. Yoga

TWO FOODS I LOVE
1. Sushi
2. Buttered noodles with parsley (me too mommy!!!)

TWO FOODS I HATE
1. AVOCADO
2. Brussel Sprouts
TWO FAVORITE BOOKS:
1. Any one of the Harry Potters
2. Pride and Prejudice

TWO THINGS THAT SCARE ME:
1. Moths
2. People that are mean

TWO OF MY SECRET TALENTS:
1. Painting
2. Cooking

TWO THINGS I WISH I DID BETTER:
1. Keeping in touch
2. Retain information, pay attention

TWO PET PEEVES
1. Trucks that drive around with only the cab
2. inconsiderate pedestrians

TWO THINGS IN THE ROOM WITH ME NOW
1. Jamie
2. Sawyer

TWO PEOPLE WHO HAVE TO TAKE THIS TEST NEXT
1. Uncle Rick
2. Mary

The Quiz

TWO NICKNAMES I HAVE BEEN CALLED

1.  Klug 

2. Julie

TWO THINGS I'D LIKE TO LEARN

1. Spanish

2. Gardening

TWO FOODS I LOVE

1. Soft serve ice cream

2. Buttered noodles with parsley 

TWO FOODS I HATE

1. Raisins

2. Mushy fruit

TWO FAVORITE BOOKS:

1. The Gospel According to the Son (Norman Mailer)

2. Anything Shel Silverstein

TWO THINGS THAT SCARE ME:

1. I am horribly claustrophobic 

2. Confrontation

TWO OF MY SECRET TALENTS:

1. I can be charming

2. Drinking games :)

TWO THINGS I WISH I DID BETTER:

1. Golf

2. Think quicker on my feet

TWO PET PEEVES

1. Intolerance (have to ditto my brother)

2. Waiting in the doctors office

TWO THINGS IN THE ROOM WITH MY NOW

1. Pictures of my children

2. Brett (he stinks, btw)

TWO PEOPLE WHO HAVE TO TAKE THIS TEST NEXT

1. Jenna

2. Justin 

 

Rick's Answers

TWO NICKNAMES I'VE BEEN CALLED
1. The Grinch
2. Ricky
TWO THINGS I'D LIKE TO LEARN
1. To speak any foreign language
2. To pole vault
TWO FOODS I LOVE
1. Home made roast beef hash
2. traditional English breakfast
TWO FOODS I HATE
1. Turkey tetrazini
2. can't think of anything else
TWO FAVORITE BOOKS
1. The World According to Garp
2. The Fatal Shore
TWO THINGS THAT SCARE ME
1. Heights
2. Speaking in public
TWO OF MY SECRET TALENTS
1. Public speaking
2. DIY
TWO THINGS I WISH I DID BETTER
1. DIY
2. Golf
TWO PET PEEVES
1. Intollerance
2. McDonalds
TWO THINGS IN THE ROOM WITH ME NOW
1. Wendy
2. Walter
TWO PEOPLE WHO HAVE TO TAKE THIS QUIZ NEXT
1. Wendy
2. Alison

Sad news from Dallas

Susan the cat
Originally uploaded by mikekrankota

Susan Grinter-Krankota passed away unexpectedly last week at age 10. Her sweet Buddha-nature backfired, as we're positive it never occured to her to run from the roaming dog that attacked her. Henry the bagel bravely rushed to the scene and scared the dog away, allowing us to rescue Susan and rush off to the emergency vet in the wee hours.

Unfortunately, her internal injuries were pretty bad, and we elected not to put her through long, complex surgeries with a questionable chance of full recovery. She had really excellent pain meds at the emergency clinic, so spent the day happy and content, sleeping on a big fluffy pillow as we went to our vet to figure everything out. Alison and I were both there to make the decision and snuggle up with her, and she died peacefully and happy, with those that loved her.

Susan was a tremendous cat: happy, lazy, kind to everything but large bugs, and always ready to hop up on your lap and fall asleep. She is very much missed by all, and remembered fondly as the best cat EVER.

JoAnne's Answers

TWO NICKNAMES I'VE BEEN CALLED

1. Jag

2. Goofy

TWO THINGS I'D LIKE TO LEARN

1. To dance

2. To speak French

TWO FOODS I LOVE

1. Steak

2. Mac & cheese

TWO FOODS I HATE

1. Duck

2. Oysters--fried

TWO FAVORITE BOOKS

1. Wuthering Heights

2. Little Women

TWO THINGS THAT SCARE ME

 1. Driving in traffic

 2. Speaking in public

TWO OF MY SECRET TALENTS

 1.  Needlepoint

 2.  Listening

TWO THINGS I WISH I DID BETTER

 1. Typing

 2. Gardening

TWO PET PEEVES

 1. Doing this test

 2. People who are loud & obnoxious

TWO THINGS IN THE ROOM WITH ME NOW

 1. Bailey

 2. Ralph

TWO PEOPLE WHO HAVE TO TAKE THIS QUIZ NEXT

 1. Karen

 2. Gracie

Ralph's Answers

TWO NICKNAMES I'VE BEEN CALLED

1. I have never had a nickname (unless you count Roaring Ralph) and always wish I did.

TWO THINGS I'D LIKE TO LEARN

1. Play the piano

2. Adobe Illustrator

(Unfortunately you know what they say about old dogs and new tricks)

TWO FOODS I LOVE

1. Baby back ribs

2. Duck

TWO FOODS I HATE

1. Sweet potatoes

2. Parsnips

TWO FAVORITE BOOKS

1. Tuesdays with Morry

2. Marley and Me

TWO THINGS THAT SCARE ME 

1. I am fearless

TWO OF MY SECRET TALENTS

1. If I have a talent, I don't allow it to remain secret

TWO THINGS I WISH I DID BETTER

1. Golf

2. Everything else I do extremely well

TWO PET PEEVES

1. Men wearing golf hats in restaurants — especially backwards

2. People who automatically raise their voice when talking on a cell phone

TWO THINGS IN THE ROOM WITH ME NOW

1. Bailey

2. My computer

TWO PEOPLE WHO HAVE TO TAKE THIS QUIZ NEXT

1. Wendy

2. Carol Taylor

TWO NICKNAMES I HAVE BEEN CALLED:

1) Stormin' Norman

2) Son

TWO THINGS I'D LIKE TO LEARN:

1) To play golf

2) sex

TWO FOOD I LOVE:

1) Corn on the cob

2)Devil Dogs

TWO FOOD I HATE:

1) Cheese

2) Chicken

TWO FAVORITE BOOKS:

1) My Sister's Keeper

2) Go up for Glory the story of Bill Russell

TWO THINGS THAT SCARE ME:

1) Snakes

2) My  computer

TWO OF MY SECRET TALENTS:

1) Making coffee for the wife

2) Picking out birthday cards

TWO THINGS I WISH I DID BETTER:

1) Sing

2) Be more patient

TWO PET PEEVES:

1) Cracking knuckles 

2) Waiting in line

TWO THINGS IN THE ROOM WITH ME NOW:

1) My two loves (Karen and Jenna)

2) Dylannnnnn!

TWO PEOPLE WHO HAVE TO TAKE THIS QUIZ NEXT:

1) Rick

2) Ralph

TWO THINGS

You think you know your family? Here's a chance to find out more about your fellow Gazette readers.

It's easy - just cut and paste the quiz below into a new post, and replace the answers that are there with your own. Here's the catch: in the last question, the person taking the quiz gets to pick who has to take the quiz next. But watch out...it just might be you! I'll start:

TWO NICKNAMES I HAVE BEEN CALLED:
1) Bananer
2) Pants

TWO THINGS I'D LIKE TO LEARN:
1) How to surf
2) How to knit (I've tried...but can't seem to get it right)

TWO FOODS I LOVE:
1) Sushi
2) Cheese

TWO FOODS I HATE:
1) Zucchini
2) Canned chicken soup

TWO FAVORITE BOOKS:
1) East of Eden
2) The Red Tent

TWO THINGS THAT SCARE ME:
1) Mice
2) Sleeping with the house unlocked

TWO OF MY SECRET TALENTS:
1) Cooking comfort food (chicken pot pie and chicken fried steak are specialties)
2) Fixing things around the house

TWO THINGS I WISH I DID BETTER:
1) Grill (I'm too impatient)
2) Throw a football

TWO PET PEEVES:
1) Picky eaters
2) Annoying ringtones

TWO THINGS IN THE ROOM WITH ME NOW:
1) Dylan
2) A Pig figurine

TWO PEOPLE WHO HAVE TO TAKE THIS QUIZ NEXT:
1) Norman
2) Grandma

Fish Taco Recipe - By Request (By Justin)

You asked, you got it. Here it is, by request, Justin's recipe for fish tacos. 

Fish Tacos (Serves 2)

-Approx. 1 lb. of a light, flaky fish (we've used Wiper, Crappie, Walleye, Tilapia, Orange Roughie)

-Approx. 2 Tbs vegetable oil

-2 limes

-Garlic powder

-Salt and pepper

-2 large tomatoes

-Approx. 1/3 C fresh cilantro, chopped

-1/4 red onion, finely chopped

-1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

-1 avocado, diced

-Sour cream

-Small tortillas (flour or corn)

1) Cut fish into bite-size chunks. Heat oil in saute pan over low to medium heat. Add fish and sprinkle with garlic powder, salt and pepper. 

2) Meanwhile, make pico de gallo (Anne's job): chop tomatoes and combine in bowl with cilantro, red onion, garlic powder to taste, and juice of 1 lime. Set aside. 

3) Cook fish for approximately 8 minutes until flaky. Add juice of the 2nd lime about half-way through cooking. Stir periodically. 

4) Serve fish in tortillas (preferably heated over gas top stove burner, otherwise in microwave),with  sour cream, heated black beans, diced avocados, pico de gallo, and (if you can handle it) Mexican hot sauce (preferably Chulula). 

And finally, don't forget: it tastes better if you catch the fish  yourself! Enjoy!

New (Sort of) Mac

I am now enjoying my first (and thus far awesome) Mac experience, thanks to Grandpa, who was kind enough to give me his old (although it doesn't seem old at all!) iMac G5. As for why he no longer needed his Mac, refer to his post of July 7, "New Toy." 

Anyway, I finally got it set up and running and it is great, so thanks, Grandpa! Izzy is looking forward to ichatting with Sawyer. 

An interesting side note that Gazette readers will surely appreciate: when I first ran the Mac it was set up with an admin profile of Ralph Grinter. You can set up as many user profiles as you want for your computer. Who was set up as the secondary user after Ralph Grinter? Joanne, perhaps? WRONG. It was Bailey, complete with his own dog buddy icon. Who knew he was such a talented dog?!?

Old Timers and Kids

Bailey has now officially been certified as a Therapy Dog by the American Kennel Club and Therapy Dogs International. This past Tuesday he visited the Belle Meade Health Center for both orientation and to visit a number of residents. They loved him. Today, he attended an orientation for Luther & Friends — Canine Assisted Reading Education program (C.A.R.E.) for kids having difficulties learning to read. It has been proven that reading to dogs is much less stressful than reading to a teacher or classmates and significant reading progress results. He will start those visits in September. Monday is his first solo visit to the Belle Meade Health Center. He will wear the pictured neck scarf when he goes to school.

Two Sports

While sitting in the parking lot at the Streets of Southepointe (the mall( R & J's car experienced a hit and run fender bender.  Nothing serious but it did require a trip to the body shop.  While there, they needed a loaner.  Once again, Lucy to the rescue!  For the third time in so many months, our little red wrangler has been there for those in need (a golf pro, a bartender, and now our illustrious editor!)  Ralph, of course, was the only one to complain about the bumpy ride.

Nice Bass (By Justin)

My favorite form of R&R is to take the boat out on the lake for a morning of fishing. Usually I go solo or with my stepdad, but every once and awhile I succeed in guilting Anne into getting up early and joining me. Granted, my 5 am departure time becomes more like 8 am and instead of worrying about a supply of lures and rods I make sure there is plenty of coffee and crossword puzzles, but I do enjoy these rare occasions!

Last Saturday was one of those rare occasions. We headed out to Shawnee Mission Park (home of the dog park) and found a prime spot. The first couple of hours yielded multiple nice fish for me, but Anne had only managed to hook a modest catfish. Although Anne was visibly frustrated, she did not give up her pole in favor of her crossword puzzle, which turned out to be a good decision. Minutes later, after a solid strike, Anne was in a battle with a "whale" of a hybrid bass. A 10-minute fight ended with me netting the 10-lb. monster. At that point, Anne called it a day. Her work was done. My work (of preparing fish tacos the next day) had begun.

Mike's New Portfolio Site

Check out Mike's gorgeous new portfolio site, showcasing some of his latest and greatest projects.
www.mikekrankota.com

Busy, Busy

I feel a bit guilty for not having contributed a posting for a while, but life has been hectic here in big "D". For the past three months I have assumed the position of "build coordinator" at the office. While it is not a technically challenging position, it does involve coordinating the work of over 20 developers, making code merge decisions, creating documentation, automating the build process, and managing the needs of QA people who need to test products before the monthly release to production. By the time I get home, I am not really anxious to get onto a computer -- I'd rather sit down with a Texas martini and watch the Cubs. Since last Saturday was the day of the major release for July, I went to the office to oversee part of the release.

Two weeks ago Wendy and I took Friday off and jumped in the TT convertible bound for Houston. We had dinner at Wes and Jenny's townhome with Jenny's parents and drank some fine wine that Wes had selected. Saturday we walked to the corner for a great Mexican breakfast before Jenny had to leave for her grandmother's funeral. On Saturday evening Wes grilled some steak and we had dinner with his neighbors and several friends. Again with some fine wine. I had hoped to have some pictures of Wes and Jenny's new digs but Wes has as yet to send them (hint, hint).

10 Best Caddy Replies

GOLFER: 'Think I'm going to drown myself in the lake.'
CADDY: 'Think you can keep your head down that long?'

GOLFER: 'I'd move heaven and earth to break 100 on this course.'
CADDY: 'Try heaven, you've already moved the earth.'

GOLFER: 'Do you think my game is improving?'
CADDY: 'Yes sir, you miss the ball much closer now.'

GOLFER: 'Do you think I can get there with a 5 iron?'
CADDY: 'Eventually.'

GOLFER: 'You've got to be the worst caddy in the world.'
CADDY: 'I don't think so sir. That would be too much of a coincidence.'

GOLFER: 'Please stop checking your watch all the time. It's too much of a distraction.'
CADDY: 'It's not a watch – it's a compass.'

GOLFER: 'How do you like my game?'
CADDY: 'Very good sir, but personally, I prefer golf.'

GOLFER: 'Do you think it's a sin to play on Sunday?'
CADDY: 'The way you play, sir, it's a sin on any day.'

GOLFER: 'This is the worst course I've ever played on.'
CADDY: 'This isn't the golf course. We left that an hour ago.'

#1 Best Caddy Comment –

GOLFER: 'That can't be my ball, it's too old.'
CADDY: 'It's been a long time since we teed off, sir.'

Father/Daughter Team

Dad and I played in the Fifth Annual Golf Tournament benefiting the Sandhills Coalition.  It was a captain's choice format and we definitely held our own, finishing 2 under par (is that right, Dad?).  Two other residents from BelleMeade rounded out the foursome.  During the banquet afterward, we got recognized as being the only father/daughter team participating.  Tow highlights - seeing and hearing from Peggy Kirk Bell, the 90 year old "Maven" of women's golf and owner of Pine Needles Country Club (host of last year's Women's Open), AND my surprise win of the fabulous (pictured) UNC Tarheels golfbag and Lynx driver!!  The story I told Norman is my "longest drive" on #15 won me the bag, but it was actually my winning raffle ticket, #253.  Funny thing, he never questioned the fact that I had the longest drive!  Let's take a poll on just how long it takes him to read this blog!

Birthday Girl

We celebrated JoAnne's 77th birthday yesterday (7/18) by having dinner at Elliott's with Karen and Norman. It was a wonderful evening. On Wednesday Karen and Norman hosted a birthday dinner at E. Indiana Avenue serving lamb chops. Uummm good! All in all, I have to say despite all the years, she still looks pretty good.

The Cabinet

Anne's post re Gracie's talents in the kitchen prompted my yearning for any one of my three girls to be here with me in my time of need.  I do a lot of personal business on my computer at home and my desk has become more and more cluttered with unorganized papers (as has the kitchen table, the top of the washing machine and my underwear drawer).  I decided I needed a filing cabinet.  I didn't want to put an ugly Staples-variety 2 drawer metal cabinet in my beautiful kitchen, so upon googling "decorative file cabinets"  I discovered the perfect piece - a red, antique finished console.  When I saw the huge box sitting on my front porch I was so excited!  I tore into it only to find a 50 page set of "building" instructions, 1000 screws, sliders braces, etc etc etc.  Where are my girls when I need them?!  Anyone who knows the Thompson girls, knows that their idea of a perfect, rainy Sunday afternoon is spent with such a project.  So here I sit, waiting for Rudy (our favorite albeit crazy, handyman).

Gracie Master Chef

Either Gracie is a culinary prodigy or just very good at bluffing. Since coming to Kansas City earlier this summer, she claims not to know how to boil water and yet she has amazed us time and time again with her skills in the kitchen. She can follow a recipe, yes, but even more impressive: she can improvise a recipe into something even more delicious using nothing more than the ingredients we have lying around the house plus her own ingenuity!

Case in point: Justin and I were out of town and Gracie whipped up the most incredible chicken salad I have ever tasted - with sour cream instead of mayo, capers instead of relish, plus a dash of white wine vinegar, chopped cucumbers, green onion, and a couple of other surprising ingredients I'm sure I'm forgetting.

For our 4th of July BBQ fiesta, Gracie reinvented one of mom's old standbys (pasta primavera) and made it her own with a whole new set of veggies, red pepper flakes, feta, and her own brand of vinaigrette. It was the hit of the party, with several people requesting the recipe.

Most recently, Gracie decided to bake regular old Tollhouse chocolate chip cookies, but found herself 1/4 C of butter short. No problem - she decided cream cheese would be a good substitute and - 10-12 minutes later, we had some of the most delectable, most perfectly-textured cookies I have ever tasted.

Needless to say, we are very impressed and very sad at the prospect of losing her at the end of the month!!

New Toy

Ralph is now the proud owner of a new iMac. It has an Intel Core 2 Duo processor that smokes along at 2.66 GHz, 4 GB of RAM and a 300 GB hard drive. Drool everybody. 

New Page Elements

Sharp gazette readers will notice a couple of changes to the sidebar of this website. We are now featuring our very first readership poll. Check it out on the top of the Lefthand sidebar. As soon as you enter your vote you will see the total results of all gazette voters. This poll is structured so that you can choose more than one option, but they don't all have to be like that. Do you have a question that you'd like the Gazette readership polled on? Let me know!

Also, at the bottom of the sidebar is a listing of Gazette readers' websites for all purposes. Do you have a website that you want to share? Let me know, and I'll post it up!

Long Hard Week

This past month I assumed the role of Build Coordinator at work. This involves managing all the code releases for about fifteen developers in preparation for monthly releases to the production environment. As the scheduled release date approaches the builds get more and more frequent as items are pushed through testing and staged for deployment. Finally, on the night of deployment into the production environment, I have to be on-site until about midnight. We deployed last Thursday.

On Saturday I slept in until noon and then went with Wendy to pick up a used Franklin Stove to install on our back screened in porch. Have you ever tried to move a Franklin Stove? Have you ever tried to lift one into and out of a van? Not too easy, especially for those of us over the age of 40 whose main job consists of sitting on a chair. On Sunday I continued in the new office downstairs installing tongue and groove cedar as wainscoting. This was not too strenuous but did involve a lot of squatting and standing. Today my legs are sore but the office is looking great and the back porch will be a great place this winter.

Flag Football Superstar

Those of you who know my husband probably know how much of a football fan he is - both as a spectator (a painful experience, of late, for Chiefs fans) and as a player. And I have to give him credit: he is just as dedicated, competitive, and passionate about his sport as he was in college...despite a hectic work schedule, demanding puppies (and wife), and the physical repercussions of his athletic history that have finally started to catch up with him!

Every spring/summer, companies across the metro area participate in the annual "Kansas City Corporate Challenge," a charity event that works kind of like a mini-Olympics for businesses headquartered in KC. Justin quickly became one of UMB's most enthusiastic volunteers, and, of course, captain and active member of the co-ed flag football team. (True Story: Back when I worked at UMB I thought it would be a nice gesture of wifely support to play on Justin's team. After signing up and coming to all the practices, I peeked over Justin's shoulder one day only to catch a glimpse of his final roster...without my name on it. Yes...he had cut me from the team.)

This year, Justin started preparing for his season in March - reading up on the new rules, crafting elaborate play cards, and organizing scrimmages to get his team whipped into shape. And, it paid off - UMB clinched the silver medal in what turned out to be a highly competitive division. It was the highest finish for a team sport in UMB's entire history and I am very proud - congratulations, Justin!