Mickey-Lu's

Last night I ate at a local Marinette, WI institution, Mickey-Lu Bar-B-Q. Walking into Mikey-Lu's is a trip to the past. The interior is classic 1950's-60's diner with booths and a counter with fixed stools. There's a jukebox loaded with 45's that cost 25 cents for 3 songs. For those not old enough to know, a jukebox is a record player containing 45 RPM vinyl records (one song on each side). There's a pie rack on the counter. The menu is posted on a board and is very simple. The atmosphere is friendly and controlled chaos.

Mickey-Lu's specialty is hamburgers. But not just any hamburger, they make hamburgers just like we do on the backyard BBQ grill. Behind the counter is the open grill, which is constantly fed with charcoal briquettes. The grill is filled with delicious hard rolls being warmed and made ready for the hamburger patties. The patties themselves are fresh ground and hand patted and grilled just -in-time for your order.

There is constant activity in the place. The wait staff is always tending to the needs of the customers, cleaning tables for the next group, and making the terrific milk shakes/malts (using real ice-cream). The grill is typically staffed by the owner, who keeps a line of buns and patties moving on and off the grill.

If you go to Mickey-Lu's, order a double hamburger or cheese burger, a milk shake/malt, and a bag of chips if you wish. The burgers come hot off the grill with everything (mustard, ketchup, raw onions, and a pat of butter), or however you like them. You will not be disappointed!

Being in Wisconsin

Coming to my hometown of Marinette, in Northeastern Wisconsin, always brings up mixed emotions. On one side there is sadness, almost a depressive feeling, at the state of my hometown. Many of the homes are in need of repair and maintenance, downtown is crumbling, and many of the local stores are long gone. On the other side, there are plenty of local restaurants that provide a unique local flavor. Here is a sampling of the foods and local places that make Marinette and Menominee MI, across the river in the UP, unique:

• Friday fish fries
• Cheese curds
• Mickey Lu’s flame grilled hamburgers
• Dodge Inn and Trade Winds II broasted chicken
• Brothers Three pizza
• Jozwiak’s pizza and Wabash hamburgers
• Upper Peninsula pasties
• The Serving Spoon
• Zinger Coffee

Another thing that I like is the slower speed of life. There are very few streets or roads that have a speed limit of more than 30 miles per hour. Getting around town takes no more than 5 minutes, even though Marinette (population of 11-12,000) and Menominee, MI (population of 12-13,000) is not a “small town” per se. It's a great place to travel by bicycle or scooter (when the weather is nicer), and I see many people doing just that in the summer.  People are generally friendly, smile and return smiles, and really want to help you, especially the local businesses. Finally, it is always great to be back in Packer Land and to be around other Packer fans!

So even though I have mixed feelings, there is an overall feeling of I’m home when I cross the border from Iowa into Wisconsin, and a feeling of loss when I leave the state again. To paraphrase a well known saying, you can take the boy out of Wisconsin, but you cannot take Wisconsin out of the boy.

Rodrigo y Gabriela

On the way to Wisconsin, I heard an interesting story on Weekend All Things Considered. The story was about the latest release from a musical duo called Rodrigo y Gabriela, 11:11. The album contains 11 songs as tributes to 11 different influences on the them, like Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, and Shakti. At the hotel later that night, I downloaded the album from my e-music account and listened to it the next day. Wow, just wow. They are remarkable and amazing merging flamenco, folk, and metal (they were both in a Mexican Metal band before going acoustic).

Check out the interview, available as audio and watch the "Tiny Desk Concert". These two are really amazing!

There's Always Something

Well, here I am in northern Wisconsin. I arrived safely and easily on Sunday, only to find that my mom's house did not have Internet or phone service. Not because of the cable company, who supplies the service, but because of my mom.

Funny story. Seems my mom, when she took the phone to the nursing home, which was connected to the cable modem, also took the modem's power cord. However, she somehow damaged the modem where the power brick connected to it. There were visible scratch marks and the power brick's connector would no longer stay plugged in. Needless to say, the modem would not power up, therefore no Internet or phone.

Now, this was an interesting problem, seeing as I need to be connected to the Internet to work with my company's network. Also, I communicate via, e-mail, IM, and phone, none of which were working Sunday night. So I needed to get to the cable company's office ASAP, but they don't open until 9:00 AM Monday (fortunately they were not closed for Columbus Day!). Fortunately, I had failed to check in some software I was working on Friday, so I was able to continue that work.

So, the cable repair guy came out to the house at 3:00 Monday afternoon and replaced the modem. I was finally up and running! I did spend my lunch at the local Applebee’s using their free WI-FI to check e-mail and verify that I did not have any meetings.

There’s always something…

Trip to Wisconsin

On Saturday, Oct 10th, I left Colorado Springs for Wisconsin, where I'll be taking care of some things for my mom. What I was not prepared for was the storm that dropped into Colorado on Friday night and Saturday morning.

Tough Day
Fortunately, I left at 7:00am. Unfortunately, I decided I'd go through Denver on I25 and catch I86 to Nebraska. Colorado Springs saw freezing drizzle and many accidents. South of where I got on I25 there was a 50 car pile up! In Monument, a road sign said that I25 was closed at Larkspur due to an accident. Not knowing when that was posted, I decided to push on. Sure enough, the highway was closed! I exited at Greenland Rd, a gravel road, and traveled to Colo 83 to head north again. Boy, I wish all the roads were like that gravel road. It was not slick at all (gravel has a tendency to do that, I guess). Colo 83 was slick and slow going, as was everything up to Castle Rock, where I got back on I25. Time: 8:00am.

I25 to and through Denver had open patches and very snowy patches. Some places the road was wide open and easy to travel at highway speeds. Others, the snow was falling heavy and the road covered and slippery. There were tons of cars on the sides of the road and rescue vehicles every where. I saw one car hit the highway divider on the southbound I25 side and knock a highway sign off the divider!

I86 out of Denver was the same. Some places snowing heavily, others clear and dry. Outside of Denver, everything was clear. Smooth sailing for awhile. At a bathroom break in Brush, I heard that the highway ahead was not as clear. Sure enough, more snow and snowpacked road. Funny thing was, the clear lane was the left lane! So, everyone was driving in the left lane (including semi-trailers), forcing people to pass on the right. This was a nerve-racking driving, to be sure. The road did its best to try and grab you and toss you around, even force you onto the shoulder.

The Rest of the Trip
Now the good part. At the Nebraska border, the road cleared up! The clouds lifted a bit and later even cleared. The rest of the trip was no problem with clear dry roads the rest of the way to Wisconsin. Yea!

More later...

First Post

Well, here I am filing my first blog post. Never thought I would be blogging, but there have been too many things rolling around in my head and I just need to get them out. Hopefully, this will provide the outlet I need.