the uvScene

“Lets tread on the earth lightly while we stomp rhythmically!”

I recently found out about a small, but growing network of people who have put together a site and initiative called Project1111:

Project 1111 is a group of Engineers, Inventors, musicians, artist, Party promoters, and YOU (everyone who wants to help). We have lots of resources and we have decided to pool them together to prepare the planet (at least in the new england area for now) for its inevitable shift toward sustainability and peace. This does not mean we all need to quit our jobs stop showering and start rebelling against authority, this is more of an opportunity to explore new ways of living that have less impact on the earth.

The site is pretty slick, and I think their goals are very much in-line with sustainability-minded individuals and organizations up here. I wanted to share this info with people because I think there would be nothing better than to grow networks like these across New England and beyond!

La Bomba

Welcome back to Thirsty Thursday, the uvScene’s weekly discussion on beer, cocktails, and the local bar scene.

This week we’ve got a recipe for La Bomba, a colorful tequila-based cocktail with orange liqueur and fruit juice.  A perfect way to reminisce about the balmy days of summer.

3/4 Oz Tequila
3/4 Oz Cointreau
1.5 Oz Pineapple Juice
1.5 Oz Orange Juice
Splace of Grenadine.

Shake with ice, and serve over rocks.

What are *you* drinking these days?

You know the place.  You drove by it for months or years, never even noticing or, or thinking to go in and check it out.  But, after you finally went, you were impressed by it enough to think, “Why didn’t I know about this place before?”  In other words, I’m asking about hidden gems.

I’ve got three I’ll discuss here:  The Beverage King, Stern’s Produce, and The Baited Hook.

I think everyone in the Upper Valley knows about the existence of The Beverage King, nestled in West Leb across the street from the McDonalds.  But for my first few years of living here, I never really thought of going in, thinking to myself, “hey, that’s just another crappy beer store.”  Boy, was I wrong.  While having a lot of the features of your typical beer store (beer, wine, Boones Farm, munchies, cheap cigars, etc), the secret is that the Beverage King has an incredibly good selection of beer (a substantial fraction of what’s available anywhere in NH, and several breweries like Stone have made their NH at the Beverage King).  And, their prices are good (typically around $1/sixpack less than most other stores in the UV).

My second hidden gem is Stern’s Produce in White River Junction.  Nestled just off of Route 4 in WRJ by the school, Stern’s deceptively modest front hides a produce stand that has some seriously good  produce at really good prices. They carry in season fruits and vegetables, and even carry a lot of items that most of the UV grocery stores don’t carry (a lot of good chile peppers, unusual Asian fruits and veggies, etc).  While produce everywhere else is skyrocketing in cost, I can still come out of Stern’s which a honkin’ huge bag of good produce while spending only $10.

Baited Hook Burger

My last hidden gem is the Baited Hook restaurant in Lebanon, NH, on the west shore of Mascoma Lake (yes, folks, that is Lebanon, go look on a map…). It’s a small restaurant with both indoor and outdoor seating, and an ice cream window for the nicer months. I’ve seen this place ever time I’ve driven down Rt 4A since moving here, but for some reason I never thought of stopping in.  And they’ve got one of the best burgers in the UV.  I ended up getting a straight up cheeseburger and fries. While slightly expensive (around $9 with a Coke), this was quite a good burger: nice and juicy, good sear on the meat, and a decent toasted bun.

So, where are your hidden gems?

Tuckerbox

You know something’s going on when you get several recommendations for not just a place, but a particular menu item, all in a short period. It usually means something’s going pretty well indeed.

In this case, in the last week, two different people both recommended Tuckerbox in White River Junction. And, more specifically, they recommended the BLT, since it was the “Best BLT Ever!”.

The Tuckerbox, for those that don’t know of it, inhabits one of those restaurant spaces that I consider mildly cursed, since, in my 7 years of living here, it’s the third restaurant that has inhabited the space (the first two were Karibu Tule, an outstanding African place; and Como Va, an Italian place). It has been reinvented yet again, this time as a coffee and sandwich shop. The coffee drinks are already well respected around the area (indeed, it’s one of those places that will still serve you drinks in actual cups and glassware), and I’ve heard several good rumors about the salads and sandwiches. So, Carol and I decided that today we’d go to Tuckerbox and try the BLTs.

BLT

I’ll have to admit, this was one fine BLT, with everything really working for it. The bacon was extra thick cut and perfectly cooked (tender in the middle, crunchy at the edges, no burnt bits). The tomato was fresh and not soggy. The lettuce nicely leafed. The mayonnaise not overly thick. And the bread well buttered and toasted.

Best in the UV? Probably.

Best ever? Not yet. But in the running.

So yes, it’s worth trying out Tuckerbox. And I’m definitely going to go back and try some of their other offerings, such as the Chicken and Pesto sandwich.

Tuckerbox
1 S Main St
White River Junction, VT

Annnnnd we’re back!

As you can see, this weekend Tim, Rich and myself got the uvScene working again, with the latest version of WordPress and all the old content more or less intact.

The Short Story™
There were numerous technical and logistical problems (some involve me being in another country, and getting off my duff) getting the software that powers uvScene.com working again. But we did it!

The Long Story™
Originally the hosting provider that was serving the uvScene decided for some reason that the site had been hacked and took it down without notifying myself or anyone else. Then they were kind enough to not return my phone calls, emails, etc for 2 weeks. I finally got ahold of someone and over the course of a month was able to get the files and data that makes up uvScene.com.

However, I didn’t want to just put the site up and risk it being compromised (something I’m still personally doubtful happened to begin with - but I’m a SysAdmin and cautious by nature).

So thus began the cranky process of upgrading the software that powered the uvScene. Things like summer, me traveling to Tokyo (where I currently am), template issues, etc etc etc blah blah blah — the bottom line is we’re back and hope you’ll help spread the word!! Everyone’s accounts (writers, commenters, etc) should work the same as they did before.

The Future
I now have the uvScene hosted on my own servers which I have much more control over, so stuff like a 6 month hiatus (knock on wood) won’t happen again. This site is also replicated across the country (and soon to a server in the EU as well) so even if we do lose this server, I can pull the site back up again without having to wait.

Thank you all for your patience and enjoy!!

Get your cards in your spokes, kids, because this Friday is National Bike-to-Work Day! It’s easier than you think! This year’s event has more breakfast events and meetups/biking groups. If you live out Mascoma way, you may already use the rail-trail to get to Lebanon — it’s a safe and direct route. I hope we can start eliminating the hundreds of single-passenger cars we see on a daily basis and replace a portion of them with bikes.

For more information, visit www.bike2work-day.com/ and saddle up!

How about you? Are you biking to work on Friday? Do you regularly bike to work?

PS if you are driving on Friday morning/afternoon, be aware of bikes and share the road!