Saturday, December 26, 2009

Post Christmas Slump

Yesterday was Christmas with lots of snow and ice and most shops were closed after heavy festival sales. One would naturally expect the sales to continue through new year. But today's shoppers got a rude surprise when they hit the stores... the prices were back to their highs and only the clearance items were cheap and low priced. American retailers sure know how to get customers into their stores and make them spend more than they expected to.
At least it is good for the economy, someone is making money.

Friday, December 25, 2009

Christmas Snow

This is the first snowy Christmas in the past 3 years that I have been here. It started off as a mild rain yesterday morning and soon turned into a snowfall and by nightfall it was a full blown snow fall. The roads were covered with a carpet of snow and it was dangerous to drive.

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Online Knowledgebase

The internet is a huge repository of information. How much of it can be considered knowledge is a big question. General searches will throw up millions of websites that contain related data. It is very difficult to find authentic, relevant and correct information/ data/ knowledge on the subjects we are searching for. Looking at this chaos entrepreneurs have come up with their solutions. One of the recent developments is the springing up for websites which contain articles on various subjects.

For example a search on Health Weight Loss would yield thousands of responses on a search engine. But by visiting this dedicated site which contains articles by experts on the related subject it would be lot easier to find the information we are looking for.

One might argue that there are so many websites that contain articles on all subjects, what is the big deal about another one that is joining the web. Well I agree that there are several websites that features articles on various subjects but how many of them feature articles that are written by experts? How many feature articles with references and further reading on the research?

These are some of the things one needs to look for while looking up for an article base on the internet.

Vistas of Meteor Crater

Yesterday I blogged about our visit to Meteor Crater and how the private owners have created a swank shopping and educative space in the desert. This is a very successful business model which benefits the individual, visitors and the government. The individual owner of the property preserves, maintains, and promotes the place. Visitors get the opportunity to learn about meteors and other space phenomena and the government gets its taxes. It is a win-all situation from all aspects.
Here are some more pictures of the Meteor Crater. I wish they would allow visitors to go down into the depths of the crater, but since they have done some mining in the past looking for precious metals at the site of the meteor fall, they are little wary of letting people inside the crater. For now visitors have to content themselves looking over the rim of the crater and the museum does offer some guided hiking tours which take visitors half-way round the crater.
Meteor Crater, Arizona Meteor Crater, Arizona - View of the left side of the crater wall Meteor Crater View

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Meteor Crater, Arizona

Meteor Crater in Arizona is one of the largest craters in the world formed as a result of impact of meteor showers. Surprisingly this crater is not a government owned national monument, but a privately held museum which offers tours, and allows visitors to look around for a fee. One good thing though is that the private owners of this crater have not modified it or exploited the land for commercial purposes. The location continues to be one huge crater located amidst the rugged desert/ arid state of Arizona in the US. This location has been used by the NASA to train astronauts in the past. There have been allegations that the original moon landing by Neil Armstrong, et al was a hoax and that it was filmed here. I don't know about those conspiracy theories, all I know is that I visited this huge crater and stood on its periphery. The attached exhibition is a great place to learn about space explorations, meteors and comets. It would be a great place to take kids to educate them in a fun filled way about space.
External administrative building of the Meteor Crater, Arizona Meteor Crater

Holidays are here, are you ready to make tantalizing Gravy?

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Club House. All opinions are 100% mine.



Every year during Christmas season many women and men get stressed out on a seemingly inconspicuous part of the festivities. These people are worried about making good gravy which is a very integral and tasty part of the traditional Christmas meal. What is the big deal about making Gravy? It is a big deal because making gravy from a scratch is a very time consuming and tedious process. Sourcing the right quality ingredients in the correct quantity can be quite stressful.

I was watching a gravy tips video which provides amazing hints about how to save time and still make the best possible gravy for this festival season. For all those who are worried about their Christmas feast I recommend you watch this educative and entertaining video before you start your cooking. I am sure you will feel relieved at the end of it.

When there is a problem, there is bound to be a solution. The solution in this case is to use some readily available raw materials to prepare gravy. I am talking about the Club House Gravy mix which gives the option to add roast drippings and make great gravy. This is one of the most dependable mix with which you can make wonderful gravy which will be cherished the memories of your family and friends.

This year there will be no tension about preparing the Christmas meal because Club House Gravy mix is here and your cooking time will be greatly reduced. Club House Gravy products bring out their periodical newsletter which offers tips to culinary enthusiasts on cooking and also a contest has been announced on their website. Winners get fabulous prizes, so don't wait just log on and visit the newsletter sign-up and contest entry page. You never know, your lucky day might be just here.

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Monday, December 21, 2009

Walnut Canyon: The Grand Finale

I have posted three blogs about Walnut Canyon and I am pretty sure some of you may be quite irritated about it. Anyway here are the final set of pictures I would like to share with you all about Walnut Canyon, next we will talk about Meteor Crater in Arizona, which is famous among many "Moon Landing Fake Theorists" as the location where the entire moon landing was filmed. Anyway that will come later, for now let us look at few more pictures of Walnut Canyon.
Forested Slopes of Walnut Canyon

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Walnut Canyon continued....

The ancient peoples that lived in Walnut Canyon continue to haunt me and I would like to write a little more about them. Looking at their homes, and the surroundings I would conclude that they lived in perilous, hostile and rough areas. The Canyon was surrounded by wilderness and they pretty much built homes on the steep slopes of the canyon. Far below in the valley bed is the flowing river which is the only source of water for these people. To get their regular meal they had to struggle and work hard cultivating corn and hunting in the wilderness. Water had to hauled up from the stream below. I am sure the community lost some of its members because of accidents, they would have just fallen off the path into the ravine and gotten washed away in the river.
Anyway coming back to this post I would like to present some pictures of the steep slopes where the homes were built. A cursory look at the image would not reveal any dwelling/ construction. This I guess provided them a natural camouflage. Look at the pictures and see if you can identify any of the ancient homes.
Steep slopes of Walnut Canyon
Walnut Canyon slopes where native americans lived
Rocky edifices of Walnut Canyon
See the Home in the slope!!!