Tag Archives: R. Doug Wicker

January 25, 2019 · 10:43 am

Personally, I’ve had enough of the ACHDTB* Government Shutdown


The ACHDTB* Government Shutdown

As many of you know, I spent over 34 years of my life performing the duties of Air Traffic Control, and I’ve been training air traffic controllers since September, 2011. Also, I’m sure many of you have noticed that I seldom blog anything political. That’s by design. Because of the highly polarized political environment in which we find ourselves today, it just doesn’t pay to get in the crossfire.

But enough is enough. Today, a ground stop was initiated into LaGuardia Airport. Flow control restrictions have been implemented for Philadelphia International and Newark Liberty International. The reason? Not enough controllers showing up because many can no longer afford to go to work for zero pay. Today, by the way, marks the second payday in a row that controllers have received $0.00 on their pay statements. That’s over a month without one dime being paid to them for performing one of the most stressful jobs in existence.

And for what? No, not a wall, if that’s your answer. The wall was a non-issue for the two full years that Donald Trump had majorities in both houses of Congress. At any time Republican senators and congressmen could have inserted wall funding into any one of  dozens of bill reconciliations between the two houses of Congress, and there there would have been nothing Democrats could have done to prevent it. But even Republican senators knew an unguarded wall in a remote area is a waste of money, so they opted otherwise.

Indeed, as recently as December 19, a mere 38 days ago, President Trump was onboard with a short term spending bill passed by the Senate—a spending bill that had no funding for an extension of existing urban wall into remote areas. But a funny thing happened on the way to the House of Representatives. Ann Coulter publicly attacked Donald Trump. By the end of the day, President Trump reversed course, and on December 22 a quarter of the government went unfunded. Ironically, for someone who now claims the wall is essential to national security, the unfunded agencies include Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Coast Guard, the F.B.I., the U.S. Secret Service, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), and, yes, the Federal Aviation Administration and the air traffic controllers who work for it.

So, here we are some 35 days and two paychecks later. Air terminal passenger inspection stations are closing because TSA agents cannot afford gasoline to get to work. For the first time in history, a uniformed branch of the U.S. military is going unpaid. And, now, airports are experiencing delays, and even ground stops, because controllers are reaching their financial limits. If you think that’s bad, consider this: while controllers are considered essential, and must work even without pay, their support staff are not. Those staff employees are furloughed and sitting at home.

“So what,” you may ask. Well, next week is Super Bowl Sunday. And with Super Bowl Sunday arrive a lot of aircraft. Airliners. General aviation. Corporate aircraft, Air taxis. All streaming into (and later out of) Hartfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. As any controller who has worked aircraft on Super Bowl Sunday (or any major sporting event) can tell you, weeks and weeks of pre-planning and inter-facility coordination goes into handling the massive influx of aircraft that occurs during such an event. But the people who handle that planning and coordination have been furloughed since just before Christmas.

So, even if, by some miracle, staff were recalled tomorrow, the window of opportunity to provide for smooth air traffic operations during Super Bowl Sunday has long passed . . . assuming, of course, there are enough controllers around next week to even keep open Atlanta Int’l Control Tower, Atlanta Terminal Radar Approach Control, and the Atlanta Air Route Traffic Control Center. Without all three of those facilities operating at 100% and in a complete, coordinated harmony, total chaos in the skies within hundreds of miles of Atlanta’s airspace is a certainty.

And it’s going to get worse from here as the ACHDTB* Government Shutdown continues. Several air traffic controllers around the nation have already resigned, three from the Dallas-Fort Worth area today alone. Others, preparing to jump ship, have submitted applications to air traffic service providers operating overseas. One more missed paycheck, two on the outside, and my prediction is that the system collapses, taking with it some 5% of the U.S. economy.

Senator Mitch McConnell has the power to end the ACHDTB* Government Shutdown, but he’s afraid to buck the president. Senator McConnell could, tomorrow, put together a veto-proof majority to pass government funding to end the ACHDTB* Government Shutdown — a shutdown that we now know has nothing to do with a wall and everything to do with Donald Trump being publicly challenged by a woman.

But he won’t. And the *Ann Coulter-has-Donald Trump’s–Balls Government Shutdown continues as a direct result. Prepare for the crash.

 

© 2019 R. Doug Wicker
Permission to reprint with
attribution of the author is
granted to all

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January 25, 2019 · 5:35 am

Fun Food Friday — Attempting to duplicate Katz’s pastrami


Pastrami closeup

Today I’m going to reveal my secret to duplicating (as best I can) the incredible pastrami that comes from the incomparable Katz’s Delicatessen. It’s not that difficult to do, and although I’ll be the first to admit Katz’s is still better, I believe this comes as close as you’re going to get short of a trip to New York City.

What you’ll need:

  • Good quality corned beef brisket (don’t skimp here; you get what you pay for)
  • The packets of pickling spices included with those briskets
  • Additional coriander
  • Additional black peppercorns

Pickling seasonings packed with briskets; additional coriander and black peppercorns

Start with a good corned beef

But before we work with the seasonings above, let’s prepare the corned beef briskets. Corned beef straight from the vacuum-sealed pack is rather salty, which is why you boil it. But you don’t want to boil a brisket that you’re going to smoke into pastrami, so forget that. Instead, soak your briskets in cold water for 24 to 48 hours, changing the water several times.

Soak in cold water

Now that the brisket is soaking, let’s get back to those spices. Using a mortar and pestle, or if you don’t have the patience, a spice grinder, crush together the pickling seasonings that came with the brisket along with additional black peppercorns and coriander to pad out the amount of seasoning available.

Mix spices into mortar

Crush spices with pestle or in a spice grinder

Now rub vigorously the spices into the corned beef briskets. Putting a little oil onto the meat while your doing this won’t hurt, either, but it’s not absolutely necessary. Wrap tightly the briskets in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Rub seasoning into meat; wrap and refrigerate

The next day load up the smoker. Make sure to keep up your water levels to prevent the briskets from drying. Maintain a temperature of 225°F/110°C. What wood? Whatever you like. I used hickory, and that seemed to work just fine. I suspect apple, cherry, or even pecan would also work well. Keep up the smoke for at least three hours into the process, after which you can concentrate on just maintaining water levels.

Loading up the smoker

Now smoke the briskets for at least six hours. When they’re ready to pull out of the smoker they should look something like this:

Six or so hours later

But you’re not done yet! If you’re having the pastrami the next day, allow the briskets to cool and then wrap tightly with plastic wrap and put them in the refrigerator. If you hunger for this for dinner, continue to the next step (which you would instead do the next day if you decided to wait). That next step is to place your briskets onto a rack over a roasting pan, and to place water into the pan below the level of the meat.

Place briskets on a rack over a roasting pan; add water to pan

Tent heavy duty aluminum foil over the roasting pan and rack, making sure that the foil does not come into contact with the meat. Wrap tightly the foil around the edges so as to trap steam from the water in the pan.

Tent tightly with foil and steam in the oven

Steam the smoked briskets in the oven between 250°F/120°C and 275°F/135°C for two to three hours — thicker steams longer; thinner steams less. Take the briskets out of the oven, keeping the meat, rack, and pan tightly wrapped. Allow to cool gradually for at least 30 minutes or so. Remove the foil while taking care to avoid steam burns! Now slice the brisket and thinly as you can.

Slice thinly

Get a nice Jewish rye bread, some mustard, and a good quality Emmenthaler cheese (that’s what we call Swiss with holes), and build your sandwich!

Serve on rye with a good imported Emmenthaler (Swiss cheese)

Normally, this is the point where I give a wine pairing. But, hey, we’re talking pastrami here. That calls for a light ale! If I absolutely had to pair a wine with pastrami, however, I believe I would lean toward a lighter, fruitier red. Here I’m thinking pinot noir, petite syrah, sangiovese/chianti, perhaps even a tempranillo. If I wanted something a bit more robust to compliment the smoke flavor, I might try a zinfandel, but a shiraz would probably be a grape too far.

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January 23, 2019 · 5:35 am

54 Days at Sea — New York City’s famous Katz’s Delicatessen


Looking north on Bowery at Bleecker

There is one place in New York that Ursula and I consistently hit at least once each and every time. That is the incomparable Katz’s Delicatessen and their indescribably delicious pastrami sandwiches. Those sandwiches are piled so high that, if you take one along with a side of their marvelous fries, you better be prepared to share. Indeed, I doubt I could finish one on my own even without the fries. Look in the lower left corner of the photo below to see what I mean:

Katz’s Delicatessen

Katz’s is always busy every time we go there. But if there’s a wait, it’s definitely worth it.

Katz’s Delicatessen

Here’s a shot of Ursula waiting patiently for our shared pastrami on rye with a side of fries:

Katz’s Delicatessen

While Katz’s is world famous, I mentioned in Monday’s article that a rather suggestive, uproariously hilarious movie scene only further added to the mystique of this New York landmark. Yes, this was filmed in Katz’s Deli, and the last time I was there a sign hovered over the table that hosted Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal:

I doubt anyone can truly duplicate the wonderful flavor of Katz’s pastrami, but this week look for a special edition of Fun Food Friday as I come up with a really close impersonation. Until then, enjoy these New York City scenes:

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