Hotel Roanoke

The Hotel Roanoke was built by the Norfolk and Western Railroad, opening on Christmas Day in 1882 in a little town called Big Lick. The N&W had chosen Big Lick as it's headquarters and the hotel was to serve as the centerpiece of the grand city they intended to build there.

Hotel Roanoke, 1882

For 107 years the Grand Old Lady of Roanoke reigned on her hilltop, gradually becoming surrounded by the city of Roanoke as she watched the Norfolk & Western grow into the Norfolk Southern. Over the years the hotel gained a couple of new wings and a grand lobby and dining facility in 1937-38. Finally in 1989, long after the era of luxurious passenger trains had ended, the Norfolk Southern closed the hotel and donated it to the Virginia Tech Real Estate Foundation.

Hotel Roanoke, 1910

 In 1995 the Hotel Roanoke and Conference Center was opened. The grand lobby, the Regency Room dining room, the Pine Room pub and the Palm Court are much as they were on the day the hotel was closed and the hotel still sits atop her hill, watching over the city that she helped to build.

Today the hotel is part of the Hilton's Curio Collection.

 Every year the hotel erects a Christmas tree in the lobby, the only year there was not a tree here was in 1982 when a birthday cake celebrating the hotels 100th birthday was displayed instead.

 The check in counter would be familiar to any of the hotels guests for the past 50 years or so. Great care was taken to ensure the history of the hotel was preserved when ownership passed from the Norfolk Southern Railway Corporation to Virginia Tech.

 The Palm Court was originally called the Oval Room because of its shape.

 The Pine Room was originally an officer's club, serving the Army and Navy aviators training at nearby Woodrum Field in Roanoke during WW2.

 Many of the hotels past accoutrements were on display, donated by the buyers who attended the great 17 day sale in 1989 when the hotel property was liquidated.

The fire in the fireplace is gas now instead of wood, but it still brings warmth to its corner in the main lobby. Below, this curved wall contains the Regency Room dining room and was once the outer wall of the hotel. The conference center was added for the hotels re-opening, enclosing the courtyard around the Regency Room.

 Mrs Hade's grandfather was an employee of the N&W in the 50's and was involved in the renovation of the hotel during that time period. It is speculated that if the timelines were synchronized it is quite possible that Hotel Roanoke is the conception point for her Uncle Jeff.

We visited the hotel this past weekend and had dinner in the Regency Room, we took some pictures for Grammy and enjoyed the annual Christmas tree display. This one, of course, is my favorite; the Coca Cola Christmas Train.

ICYMI

Bridget has written a couple of books.

They might make good Christmas presents.

Afterword: Sadly, her blog has become invitation only, and I wasn't on the invite list, so it has been taken off the blog roll.
 It will be missed, especially the recipes. Maybe one of her next books will be a cookbook.

Tis The Season

The Subaru is fixed and once again on the road. It has been running now for a couple of weeks, but time will tell how well the fix took this time.

Eldest Son will no longer be driving it, though, he finally scraped enough money together to get his car back on the road. One less yard ornament in front of the house.

Speaking of yard ornaments, the tree is up and decorated but I have not put anything up outside. I might not since we are once again going to be traveling for Christmas.

And speaking of Christmas, the lovely Ms Heyworth would like to wish you a Merry one.

(insert expletives here)

Subaru. Head gaskets. Again.

It started overheating last week, I thought it couldn't be head gaskets since we just put them in. We tried purging the air and a pressure test, found a few leaks and corrected them, but in the end the head gaskets are just blown again.

They have less than 5000 miles on them. I haven't even changed the oil since the last time they were changed.

I'm going with the turbo gaskets this time around, I am told they last longer. Instead of spending a lot of money and time on it this time I'm just going to yank the heads and put the gaskets on it. The heads were just planed and should be fine but I'll check them with a straightedge before putting them back on. That's what I did the time before last and they lasted 90,000 miles that time.

It likewise just got a new timing belt and timing belt kit (pulleys, water pump, etc), belts and hoses so all it should need is fluids and gaskets. Oh, and bolts, $65 for the set, one use and that's it (at times like this I really miss my smallblock Chevy, the finest V8 motor ever produced by anyone at any time in the history of ever, period, and if you don't believe that you are just wrong).

I swear if I have to put head gaskets on this thing again in the next year it's going on the block. The entire reason for getting newer cars was so I wouldn't have to do this all the time.

Either way, this is my very last Subaru.

ROTM

Yesterday was Love Your Red Hair Day.

What's not to love?

I Didn't

get to the range yesterday like I wanted to.

I didn't go to the dentist like I was supposed to do either.

Both have been rescheduled.

Speaking Of

I got an email over the transom today (or maybe yesterday, shows you how much I check my email...about as often as I write blog posts it seems) from a company called Wideners Reloading and Shooting Supply. I've never done business with them before (so the FTC can go bugger off) but they have an article about reloading powder that I found interesting, and maybe you will, too.

Here is the email in its entirety (with comments when I deem appropriate):

Anne from Widener’s over here - I can't believe the election is only 12 days away! As I saw on your blog that you have been preparing your readers for our 2016 Election of Trump v. Hillary with your latest share from Zero Hedge on how the elite have no idea that society is near the breaking point (Note: my link, HT: Guffaw in AZ) I also read that you hope to get back to the range as well. (Note: my link) Maybe we can help inspire your readers and you!

We just published a Guide to Smokeless Powder (Note: original link) for ammo reloaders. As you probably know, smokeless powder is one of the most important components of ammo and one of the most complicated. We decided to go through the basics of reloading powder to show the different characteristics and how your choice of powder can affect your shot.

With the election coming up we don’t know what will happen with the world of factory ammo. Because of that, we anticipate a lot of questions about reloading in the coming months.

Our hope is that the guide will help make reloading less intimidating for shooters. I think you’ll find the high resolution images to be a great resource for your readers who may be considering reloading - or may already do so. There is also a great video that demonstrates burn rate in a way that is really easy to understand.

We'd be honored if you'd take a look and feel free to use any of the images or videos for your site.

Thank you for your time,

Anne

I thought it was interesting, maybe you will, too.

Shame on Me

I need to get to the range more often, and now that I'm a member I really have no excuse not to.

Lately between hurricanes and doctors appointments I really haven't had the time, but that is not truly a good excuse. I really hate to go during the week because Mrs Hades can't come with me, and on the weekends we often do other things, but that's not really a good excuse, either. I'm certain that if I scheduled range time during one of our weekends she'd be glad to go, and if I went by myself on the weekdays she wouldn't mind.

Last weekend I worked and last week I had my Happy Birthday borescope inspection so those two days were pretty much shot in the...OK, bad joke. On the bright side, however, we did get down to Eagle 1 when the doc was finished with me, where the nice lady behind the counter showed a Glock 43 to Mrs Hades. Unfortunately they didn't have one to rent so we couldn't try it out, but the Mrs liked the feel of it in her hand well enough to suspect there may be one in her future.

This weekend is a postponed anniversary trip and next week I have a dentists appointment in the afternoon, which should not keep me away from the range in the morning at least. I'm going to try to get there then. It's a weekday so Mrs Hades won't be along for the trip, but I really do need to go.

And since hunting season is upon us now, I'll bring the rifles out to play a bit.

This post brought to you by the reminder that my range fees are due for the year, which also reminds me that it's been a while since I've been out there.

I Fear

that he is right.

I hope that he is wrong.

And seeing what comes of relying on hope does not give one warm fuzzy feelings regarding the future.

Either way I'm going to enjoy this weekend with Mrs Hades and deal with what comes when it comes.

HT: Guffaw in AZ

In Other News

W00T!!!

Life Goes On

Hurricane Matthew came to visit. He left us without power for not quite 24 hours which wasn't enough to melt the ice cubes in my freezer so all is well. Better for me than for some, but I was certainly thinking about a generator after hearing my neighbors. All I really need is something to run the water pump for the well, but being able to run the refrigerator/freezer would be good, too.

I have a camp stove and plenty of gas for it and I have a fireplace in case of cold weather and extended outages, but water is something I have to have brought in. Fortunately M insists on bottled water so we always have plenty on hand, and we were able to use the copious amounts of rainwater collected in buckets for flushing water.

The bottom line though is we got lucky. The temperatures have been moderate lately so it was neither too hot or too cold, even after the storm had passed, so neither heat nor AC was a critical necessity. That is definitely not always the case. We were OK for drinking water but if the power had been out much longer flushing water would have certainly been an issue.

I'm wondering how difficult it would be to have an old fashioned hand pump put in. One of the houses I rented once upon a time had a small one mounted on the kitchen counter beside the sink, which I thought was a great idea. I'm thinking something like that would have to be designed with the house, but one out in the yard may not be overly difficult.

I'm also going to need to get some more lamp oil and maybe one or two more hurricane lamps. The one we had never really got used but it would have been nice to have a few backups just in case the power stayed out longer than it did.

In other news, my work schedule changed on the first of the month. Once upon a time I worked what they call a red/blue or a 2-2-3 schedule. The way it works is thusly: working 12 hour days (or in my case, nights) in one weeks time, starting from Sunday, you will work Sunday, off Mon/Tues, work Wed/Thur and be off for Fri/Sat. The next week you will be off the days you worked on the previous week and work the days you were off. The nice thing about this schedule is you get a 3 day weekend every other weekend, but the down side is you have to keep your days plotted on a calendar for planning purposes.

For the past 8-9 years, however, I've been working a front/back schedule. The way that one works is I was on every Sunday, Monday and Tuesday and ever other Wednesday, so one week I would work 3 in a row and the next week I would work 4 in a row (I was on the front end; a different crew worked the back end consisting of Thursday, Friday and Saturday and the alternate Wednesdays). The nice thing about this schedule is that you always know what days you have off and you only have to keep track of one day for planning purposes, the down side is every weekend you will be working one of the two days (the weekend being Saturday and Sunday)

The back end crew (led by their senior tech) decided it sucked working all of the prime tail-chasing days of Friday and Saturday, so they took a vote to change it (isn't that cute, they took a vote!). Of course what they WANTED to do was change our alternating days from Wednesday to Saturday, so instead of working half of every weekend (remember the weekend is Saturday and Sunday, not Friday/Saturday) I would get to work all of every other weekend and half of the rest, while they would get every other weekend off altogether.

When I pointed out that M works M-F and so I would be giving up half the days in the month I had off with her in exchange for nothing I was told that was the point; I had had it too good for too long so it was my turn to suffer. I suggested that if they wanted fair, which is what they were claiming they wanted, a red/blue schedule would be the most fair way for everyone. You would have thought I invited them to a group self-immolation.

I'm sorry...no. I have enough seniority and have invested enough sweat equity that I don't have to take that particular orifice violation. So, back to red/blue we went, which caused the instigator of the whole schedule change fiasco to put in his resignation.

I see I forgot to mention that the instigator took the boss and the bosses boss to HR over it. At any other company the HR director would have declined to get involved, but at ours they sailed right in, prepared to do battle on the instigators part, until it was pointed out to them (by the legal department) that the rest of the group was working red/blue so the instigators claim of discrimination was ridiculous from the beginning (no he wasn't a minority, just an asshole).

At any rate, taking your boss (and your bosses boss) to HR does not usually lead to a long career with the company in question, so when the resignation was tendered it was immediately and gladly accepted.

So, with the weekend of the 7th, 8th and 9th suddenly free M and I decided to take a little trip to Myrtle Beach for our anniversary...which brings us back to the first part of this post.

Obviously we didn't go. The trip has been re-scheduled for the weekend of the 21st-23rd and hopefully the weather that we have had for the past week will continue through those dates.

Last year our honeymoon was partially spoiled by the remnants of Hurricane Joaquin meandering through the Appalachians when we were trying to drive the Blue Ridge Parkway, this year it was Matthew devastating the coast on the weekend we were supposed to be going to the beach.

I certainly hope this doesn't turn into a habit.

But this weekend I'll be working the entire weekend for the first time in a very long time, and then Monday...ah, Monday...

Did I mention I turned 50? Yay me.

Happy Anniversary

The lovely Mrs Hades and I were wed exactly one year ago today.

I've had a good year.

And to commemorate that event, this months ROTM spot will be taken over by the one that makes me smile.

I love you M. Happy Anniversary!

I Remember

I remember where I was.

I remember what I was doing.

I remember what happened.

I won't ever forget.

Another Month

Yesterday was the first Redhead Festival held on the East Coast in the USA, held in Dunbar WV. I don't know if they made it or not but they were hoping to set the world record for the largest number of gingers gathered in one spot.

In honor of that event the Redhead of the Month is not a person, but instead an event, represented by this photo taken by festival goer Matt Meadows.

And also, since it is September it must be Kilted to Kick Cancer month! Head on over to this link, pick your team and make your donation, then make an appointment to get your junk checked out. Mine is set for the middle of the month, and I've got a nifty new Sport Kilt in the Navy Edzell tartan that I'll be wearing for it.

Other than that...I got nothin'.

And furthermore...

So it looks like my schedule will be changing soon, which doesn't bode well for my involvement in the train club but should be good in other ways. I'll be working every other weekend, but now instead of working every Sunday I'll be getting all three days off every other weekend. Unfortunately the weekend that I will be working includes my anniversary weekend, but fortunately for me Mrs Hades is as understanding as she is lovely so we will be celebrating the weekend after.

Our plans are to drive the coast road, NC12, and see what there is to see all along the outer banks. Hopefully there won't be another hurricane (Note: Hurricane Matthew did, indeed, come to visit, damn his eye) to deal with as there was last year, but if there is one I hope that it will go to the mountains that weekend like it did last year instead of going to the coast.

The Mustang is having a brake squeak problem again, in the right rear. I found a sticking caliper pin, which I lubricated and unstuck, but the squeaking came back. I then installed slotted disks and new pads on all four corners, which solved the problem for a little while but it is back. I have obtained a new caliper mount and hopefully that will solve the problem, if not I do have a new caliper and brake hose. (Note: it ended up being the anti-rattle clip that had come out of position and was rubbing the rotor. New clip, problem solved.)

Last but not least I cooked up another batch of Chicken Marsala tonight, using a modified recipe, and it meets the full approval of Mrs Hades, who is a Chicken Marsala connoisseur. The modified recipe makes a lot of extra sauce, which Mrs Hades likes, and has a nice subtle taste which was appreciated across the board. It looks like this will go on the regular Refuge menu.

And without further ado, here it is:

Chicken Marsala

1/2 C flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp ground oregano
8-12 chicken breast filets (or 4-6 whole boneless breasts, pounded 1/4” thin)
4 T olive oil
8 T butter, divided
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 cups sliced mushrooms
1 med Vidalia onion, sliced thin (optional)
2 cups dry Marsala cooking wine
3 T chopped parsley (or 2 T dried parsley flakes)
1 tsp rosemary
Salt and pepper to taste
1 lb pasta of choice

Melt 4T butter in pan, add olive oil. Combine flour, salt, black pepper and oregano in a Ziploc bag. Pound the chicken pieces until they are 1/4” thick. Shake 3-4 chicken fillets at a time in the flour mixture and brown, approximately 3-4 minutes each side, over medium high heat. Remove to a separate container and cover to keep warm.

Add the mushrooms, garlic and onion if used. Saute over medium heat until brown. approximately 4-5 minutes. Deglaze the pan with the Marsala,add the parsley and rosemary. Stir well, return the chicken to the pan. Cover and simmer on medium low heat approximately 5 minutes.

Remove the chicken pieces once more and cover to keep warm. Swirl in the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter and season to taste with salt and pepper. Turn off the heat, stir until an emulsion is made.

Cook the pasta according to package directions. Dish the pasta out, add chicken to each serving and cover with sauce. Serve immediately.

Enjoy!

August

August marks yet another year of y'r humble correspondent circling the drain sun, for a half century now. Funny, I don't feel a year over 49.

In other news, I think I've just about gotten this Chicken Marsala recipe down pat:

1/2 C flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp ground oregano
6-8 chicken breast filets (or whole boneless breasts, pounded 1/4” thin)
4 T olive oil
8 T butter, divided
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 cups mushrooms
2 cups Marsala cooking wine
3 T chopped parsley (or 2 T dried parsley flakes)
1 tsp rosemary
Salt and pepper to taste
1 lb pasta of choice

 Combine flour, salt, black pepper and oregano. Dredge 2-3 chicken filets at a time in flour and brown in olive oil in skillet, 4 min each side, on medium high heat. Remove to platter.

Melt 4 tablespoons butter in skillet. Saute mushrooms and garlic over medium heat until browned, 5-8 minutes. Deglaze pan with Marsala and add parsley and rosemary. Swirl in the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Reduce heat. Return chicken to pan, stir well to coat all chicken pieces with sauce. Cover and simmer 8-10 minutes. Cook the pasta according to package directions as the chicken simmers. Serve over pasta.

This is perfect for date night, served with a nice Riesling wine.

And since it is my birthday, I'd like someone to sing Happy Birthday to me.

Oh yes. She would do nicely.

Guess What Happened

one year ago today.

4th of July

Happy Independence Day!

This is my second 4th of July with M's family, and even though there were no fireworks due to the weather we still had a pretty good turnout for the party.

I also finally got to meet her Uncle Mark, who is a Syrian Orthodox priest, and he did a little something for us, in her family church, with her Mom and Dad in attendance, and her newlywed brother and sister in law joined us.

If we had opted for the big ceremony it would have been held here, and her uncle would have officiated, so in a way she got the wedding she wanted without all the hassle involved. This makes her happy, and making her happy makes me happy.

So it's been a pretty good holiday. I hope yours was just as good.

July

This month's ROTM is brought to you by...One More Time

Happy July everyone!

And Then There Was One

David Thatcher, tail gunner in the seventh plane on the Doolittle raid over Tokyo Japan in WW2, passed away on June 22, 2016 after suffering a stroke on Father's Day.

The last remaining survivor of the Doolittle Raid is Doolittle's co-pilot Richard Cole who is 100 years old. Cole attended Thatcher's funeral on the 27th of June.

Farewell and Godspeed SSgt Thatcher. Thank you for your service.