Road Trip!

Well, we're back from our Spring Break road trip to Pennsylvania and what a great trip it was. We spent time with Liz's family, touring Philadelphia and then driving out to Pennsylvania Dutch country and Gettysburg. Here are some of the highlights.

This is Bryn Mar Presbyterian Church where Liz's aunt (also named Liz) goes.

Here's the Liberty Bell. They've cleverly positioned it so you can see Independence Hall, where it used to live, right behind it.

A smashing self portrait.

Declaration of Independence and Constitution born here, wow.

This beautiful glass mosaic is in the lobby of the Curtis Building, where Ladies Home Journal was published.
Gettysburg.

This is the view from Little Round Top where Union soldiers held off multiple attacks from the Confederate army until finally, running out of ammunition, they led a downhill bayonet charge towards what is known as Devil's Den to defend the hill. Off to the right is the plain where Pickett's Charge came. Cannon's were fired from Little Round Top to help deter that attack. Today there is a monument on the plain noting the "high-water" mark where the Confederate soldiers were stopped.

This is the oldest house in Gettysburg where there's a restaurant and basement tavern where we had nice meal after working up an appetite on the battlefields.
Here we are with Liz's Uncle Fred and Aunt Diana.

Liz and Aunt Liz, whom we stayed with in Newton Square, PA.

Tuna Takashimi

We're back from vacation (more to come on this) and last night we enjoyed a delicious homemade dinner with friends. This is probably one of the more difficult single dishes we've made and it's so pretty I just had to put up a picture.
The dish is a McCormick & Schmick's recipe and consists of pan-seared Ahi tuna with jerk seasoning on top of Asian slaw, on top of a fried wonton wrapper, on top of a bed of wasabi mashed potatoes (sounds weird but they're really good). The sauces on the plate are a chive oil and a soy reduction sauce and then there's a wasabi beurre blanc on top of the fish.

Spring Vacation

Sorry I've been incommunicado for a few days but we've been busy entertaining house guests. Liz's cousin Sandy and her husband Rob came from Phoenix (where it's been in the 80's and sunny) to visit us here Boston (where it is COLD and sometimes rainy--luckily there was no snow while they were here). We had a wonderful visit. It's always fun to have visitors because it gets you out of the house to do the touristy things you forget about that are so abundant in a city like this. We enjoyed great meals at Giacomo's in the North End and at Border Cafe in Harvard Square. Sandy and Rob walked most of the Freedom Trail one day and then Liz drove them over to the USS Constitution (pictured) later in the week as it's only open Thurs-Sun this time of year. We were sad to see them go and hope to be able to visit them in Phoenix some time soon.

Today, we start a vacation of our own, as Liz's Spring Break has just begun. We are heading down to Philadelphia, PA to visit some of her family and be tourists ourselves. We haven't really decided what else we'll try to see during our trip (perhaps New York, Baltimore or even DC). So, look for pictures here later this week.

Fresh Pond

It's hard bathing an 85 lb. dog with as much fur as Roxy, but when she decided to roll around in a dead animal she found while playing at Fresh Pond the other day we had to do it (and by we, I mean Liz as I wasn't home when this happened--thank goodness). Anyway, here are some pictures now that she's clean and fluffy.

Haveli

There are a lot of Indian restaurants in Cambridge. I think we've tried most of them and they're all really good but I think we might have a new favorite. Sorry Punjabi Dhaba but we've got a new go-to spot for Indian food.

Just a couple blocks down in Inman Square from Punjabi Dhaba, the famous "Indian Highway-Side Cafe", is Haveli (owned by the same restaurant group). The food at Haveli is every bit as good as Punjabi Dhaba, if not better (and that's really saying something), but the atmosphere is a hundred times better (no exageration), you don't have to eat off a metal cafeteria tray (we always get take out due to this and the limited seating), there's free parking in back and they take credit cards. Punjabi only accepts cash and the only ATM near there is Bank of America which now charges $3 if you don't have your account with them so I refuse to use it.

We ordered take-out from Haveli the other day and it was ready in 10 minutes and cost less than most of the other places in our area. It was so good we decided to go back with some friends for dinner last night. We made a reservation but didn't really need to, even on a Friday night. We had a fabulous dinner made up of chicken tikka masala, chicken vindaloo, aloo mattar (peas and potatoes), palak paneer (spinach and cheese), naan and poori. If you've never had poori you should really try it. It' sort of a giant puffed up bread that I recently learned is made by floating it on a pot of hot oil and the cook continuously splashes more oil on the top of it while it puffs up to the size of a football.

All of our dishes were amazing. They have a cheap wine list from which I ordered a glass of pinot noir but it was only mediocre. That was really my only complaint. We have some family coming in to town for a visit this week so that might be a good excuse to go back again--hey, Indian people eat it every day right?

Here are the other Indian restaurants we've tried and liked in Cambridge:

-Cafe of India, Harvard Square, a little more expensive but great atmosphere
-India Castle, right by our house, has a great lunch buffet 7 days a week for $7.95
-India Pavilion, Central Square, great combination of taste, service, price, decor.

Inn By the Sea

We recently took a trip, in celebration of our 4th anniversary, to Inn By The Sea at Cape Elizabeth, in Maine. It was a great weekend getaway at a fabulous hotel (that not just accepts, but welcomes, dogs!). Here are a few pictures.
You can see more pictures of the hotel at their website www.innbythesea.com.

Cheap Eats

A delicious and inexpensive meal from Thai Kitchen.

I wasn't sure what to expect at first about this little hole in the wall restaurant on Mass Ave near Davis Square and I was a little skeptical when I saw the menu listing both Thai and Chinese dishes, but on the recommendation from some friends we went ahead and gave the place a chance and I'm really glad we did.

I often try Pad Thai when I first go to a Thai restaurant as it's a good dish to compare against other restaurants (can you taste the cilantro and lime? Did they sprinkle on just right amount of crushed peanuts?). But this time I switched it up a little and even though I went with the intention of getting Thai food the urge struck me to order some General Gau's chicken. Liz ordered massaman curry, also one of my favorite Thai dishes, so I got to try both a Chinese and a Thai dish.

All of their lunch specials start with a small bowl of hot & sour soup and then come with crab rangoon and a heaping mound of steamed rice. They even include a small scoop of strawberry ice cream for dessert. And all for less than seven dollars! We both enjoyed our meals as they were cooked well, presented beautifully and tasted good.

The service was very quick and friendly. The decor was so-so with yellow walls, sparse artwork and a view into the cluttered, tiny kitchen. This was no fine dining experience but if you're looking for a tremdous value then this is is your place.

Living in the now

Sometimes you just need to kick back and relax. This dog isn't Roxy (I took this picture in Belize) but he's got the right idea.

You and your 401(k) are the problem (and the solution)

I received an email today regarding the article found here. It's about the problems with capitalism and democracy. Here is the response I wrote to the person who sent me the article (edited for the general public):

I agree with a number of things in this article such as capitalism creating its own opportunities for fraud (Bernard Madoff and Ken Lay at Enron) and greed (bailout money for executive bonuses) and that a free market economy without limits and without sufficient regulation leads to problems such as these and others mentioned by Parenti. However, there are a number of points in which I don't share his logic.

The two wealthiest individuals in our country are Bill Gates and Warren Buffett. Bill Gates made his fortune providing products to individual consumers and businesses alike while Buffett made his buying existing, but simple, businesses that he could easily understand (and nearly always keeps existing management and employees in place). Now that they've made these enormous amounts of money and possibly run out of things to invest in (as the author suggests is happening to the super rich) they have created The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation--a $40 billion organization dedicated to the idea that "all lives have equal value" and therefore endeavoring in charitable causes, research and investment projects that help humanity in all of its forms. If we didn't have a society, a market system and a form of government that inspired (some) people to reach for these levels of wealth there would be a fraction of the foundations (or they would exist as small non-profits instead) working to solve the issues we face around the world today. Foundations like these are not built on $25 and $100 donations from "regular" people. And while it's a little less directly related, I don't think we'd have as motivated a work force without the opportunity of living the American Dream. Seeing people who've "made it" is the only proof we have that it's possible.

I think it's easy for people to blame big business for our problems but it's also easy to forget about the ways in which they improve our lives (aside from the fact that they can sell goods cheaper and produce some goods that individuals or small businesses simply can't produce on their own--e.g. cars and airplanes). My wife is a student at Harvard University where they have a $30 billion endowment that provides for scholarships, and some of the highest level of academics in the world. I doubt that endowment was created without a lot of donations from individuals with inordinate amounts of wealth. During the course of her studies she has received funding for research from the Fund for Theological Education. FTE is funded by the Lilly Foundation which was funded by, yes, Eli Lilly & Co., the pharmaceutical company.

I have mixed feelings on the idea of laissez-faire. I suppose a good example for it is that if an individual consumer wants to reduce their expenses, they buy a fuel efficient car, which of course is good for the environment. Or, if they really want to save money, they take the bus. Unfortunately, as pointed out in this article positive results don't always come about from everyone looking out for themselves.

So, when someone like Parenti takes a couple of examples of failures from the corporate world and declares that our whole economic and/or governmental system is failing us I take it with a grain of salt. He's right the system isn't perfect and it needs some oversight, some transparency, some accountability but I don't think there's a better system out there. I'm not sure he does either, and maybe he's just saying we need to modify our existing system to address these issues, in which case I somewhat agree. But I think there is a more fundamental problem and neither business nor government can be blamed. I think the problem is our fault. I think that anyone who invests in the stock market, in their 401(k), in their
403(b), in any type of IRA and purchases mutual funds or stocks they are causing the problem. The number one reason someone buys stocks or funds is for the growth or dividends of the underlying companies. When investors (whether institutional or individual) buy stock based on quarterly earnings they are demanding that companies increase operating leverage quarter after quarter. It is simply unsustainable to continue to reduce costs (e.g. wages) and increase revenues (e.g. prices) on a continual basis, yet if businesses don't do this investors sell their stock looking for a "better" company and then the board of directors starts firing people and they hire new people who can "better serve the shareholders".

I think the answer is that we have to take socially responsible investing to a new level. It's not enough to simply steer clear of companies that sell cigarettes or drill in fragile ecosystems for oil. We have to invest in and support companies that aren't afraid to say they pay wages that are higher than the market rate because they value their employees, that their costs are higher because they use recycled materials and that they don't promise to increase earnings per share every single quarter because they are looking for long term sustainability and growth. I'm not sure yet how we as investors can collectively address all these points. So, for now we just have to support companies that we respect, and who incorporate some of these ideals into their business practices by buying their products and investing in their stock. But, it's hard to turn away from better investment returns when it's your retirement savings on the line.
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