Categories
Reviews

Gossip and Gas Stations

Main Street
Main Street

SOLON— Word on the street is that the Dock Restaurant is doing a makeover. There had been some negative chatter about the restaurant in social media, the owners found out and are taking some new directions. As I wrote in my Aug. 18 review, “the food was good, and reasonably priced, and that is a positive. However, rather than the good food, the restaurant’s operational issues dominated the evening.” We’ll give it some time before the restaurant crawl makes it over for round two— the hope for redemption.

Needing to dispense with the two gas stations on the restaurant crawl, I stopped by Casey’s General Store and RJZ Express this week. If one’s view of dining options includes take out while stocking up on tobacco products, lottery tickets, fishing bait, beer, sugary drinks and salted snacks, these establishments are the ticket. Hands down, Casey’s is the better option for food.

The fare is similar, pizza by the slice, sandwiches made in house, chicken nuggets, and other items served in a rotating warmer.  I’d go back for another slice of Casey’s pizza because it was freshly made. The RJZ Express pizza looked like it had been in the rotating warmer a day too long. The reason for the difference is corporate process.

According to their website, Casey’s operates more than 1,759 stores. Their “success has been attributed to (their) clean stores, restrooms, and the friendly employees who pride themselves in customer service. Casey’s customers have come to know that inside each store they will find dedicated, helpful, and well-trained employees, exceptional prepared food items, and a clean environment in which to shop.” Casey’s knows what it is, a large chain of convenience stores, and focuses on having processes and training to them. That includes food preparation, and managing a competitive pizza take-out business in small towns that might not have a pizzeria.

RJZ Express is a small-scale owner operator that sells BP fuels. It serves a need in town, but the freshly made sandwiches that persuaded me to include them on the crawl have apparently been replaced with made once in the morning sandwiches that twirl in the warmer all day. Not the same thing. They sell prepared food because their competitor within eyesight does. RJZ Express food is a pale imitation of what Casey’s provides.

That’s about it for gossip and gas stations. Be sure to stay tuned for the rest of our restaurant crawl.

Categories
Social Commentary

Navigating Health Insurance Change – Part 2

Insurance Agent Office
Insurance Agent Office

LAKE MACBRIDE— While gaining an understanding of how the health insurance exchanges may change our family budget, I decided to wait until the government worked through the initial computer problems evident at the start-up of open enrollment. Last night, the glitches seemed resolved.

I logged on to healthcare.gov, created an account, applied, determined eligibility to choose a plan from the market place, live chatted with an agent who offered to have a specialist call me within 48 hours, and was ready to hit enroll on a plan (I didn’t) in less than 40 minutes. Given the challenges of the questions asked, the online experience met expectations.

When saying there were challenges, what I mean is  a projection of 2014 household income is required to complete the application. That may be easy for a wage worker in steady employment, but for self-employed people it can be a bit of a WAG (wild-ass guess).  Most people who work low wage jobs are focused on getting through the present and income forecasting is unfamiliar territory. We know how much we need to earn, but that is different from creating an accurate forecast of what we will earn, which is the question the ACA application asks.

There is an option to check a box that says, “I don’t know.” Because of the tax implications of the ACA, more specificity in the application can make it easier come tax time. That is, what we submit on the application impacts what, if any, tax credits might be available for the year. If we get it wrong, we will have to reconcile the tax credits taken to subsidize premiums with the government based on actual income. If income is understated, we may have to reimburse the government for part of the tax credit. The tax credits are an important consideration in the application process, as it impacts net health insurance policy pricing.  I plan to discuss this aspect of the application process with an ACA specialist in hope of getting it right, so I can take the tax credit now, and not have to reimburse it when we file our 2014 tax return.

Something else that wasn’t expected was that only one of the two of us was eligible for a policy through the exchange. We expected to change to a family policy, not two individual policies and this introduced another variable in the evaluation process. After resolving how to project income for 2014, I will ask my individual health insurance policy agent about costs for a replacement policy for one of us. Based on similar situations with which we are familiar, we could still save about $100 to $200 per month over our current health insurance premiums. It is worth pursuing.

As I mentioned in the first post about navigating the change in health insurance, getting facts and working through them is essential, and there is no hurry to make a bad decision. In a society where instant gratification is the expected norm, spending this time runs against the grain. However, it is the only rational way to make a decision, and some of us still believe using reason and common sense when making a decision that impacts our family still matters.

Categories
Reviews

D & D Pizza and Cafe

D & D Pizza and Cafe
D & D Pizza and Cafe

SOLON— Coming off the cold, windy fields at one farm, heading to another, I stopped in Solon for lunch. Monday being ruhetag (rest day) for restaurants, the selection was restricted. D & D Pizza and Cafe was open. I went in, favoring it over the gas stations, grocery store and bar.

The building is the second newest on Main Street, having been rebuilt after a fire during our town’s annual Solon Beef Days festival burned the former Breadeaux Pizza to the ground, killing one occupant. The restaurant is now managed by the person who owns the town’s grocery store. A bedroom community like ours needs a pizza outlet, and this one has survived.

When I entered, more than a dozen people were sitting in five groups. Most were construction workers coming off a job for lunch. Two construction workers were sitting on the same side of their table, eating and watching a flat panel television that was tuned to The Chew, which is a celebrity chef program on ABC. Mario Batali was explaining low country cuisine, and preparing a Huguenot Tart made of Blondie apples. The place was busy.

Merci
Merci

The decor is sports schedule posters tacked up on the walls, with beer advertisements that appeared to be provided by a local distributor. Perhaps in reference to the cafe part of the name, a trash receptacle had the French word “merci” on it, instead of the expected “thank you.” There is no table service, and the idea is to bus your own.

The all-you-care-to-eat buffet is the main luncheon feature. It had six kinds of thin crust pizza, bread sticks, chicken strips, and a salad bar with twelve items, and four dressings. The salad was fresh and appetizing. Soup of the day was chili, which fit with the colder weather. Beverages were fountain drinks along with bottled beer. The lunch buffet cost $7.41 including tax and a beverage. A soup and salad combo was available for a dollar less.

My dining experience was positive. The thin crust pizza was what one expects, the salad was made of fresh ingredients with an adequate selection, and the chicken strip I tried appeared to be made from actual chicken. Based on this lunch, I’d go back, or bring a friend for conversation. It is difficult to convey the idea of freshness, but this salad bar accomplished it.

D & D Pizza and Cafe fills a small town need, which is a place on Main Street for workers to go for lunch. It competes with Casey’s General Store for pizza, and with the nearby Solon Station, which has been offering a $5.50 burger basket at lunch time. Other Monday lunch competitors are Sam’s Main Street Market and RJZ Express which has takeout sandwiches. I’m not sure how much competition the restaurants located in strip malls south of town provide. My point is there is an active lunch marketplace, more than what meets the eye. Part of D & D Pizza and Cafe’s success is it recognized and caters to the lunch trade. While visiting Solon for the day, it is worth a try.

Categories
Writing

Last Days Before the Hard Frost

Moon Set
Moon Set

LAKE MACBRIDE— For two nights, I’ve covered the Swiss chard, arugula, parsley, collards, peppers and turnips with old bed sheets to protect them from a hard frost. The temperature hasn’t dipped down, so no damage. Not that we’ll eat a lot of this produce, but one more meal made with arugula, another soup stock of turnip greens, and one more dish made with flat leaf parsley would stretch the food budget and taste good as we go into winter. Snow is forecast for Tuesday, but I doubt it.

The work at the orchard will end soon. An abundance of apples remain, but most trees have been picked clean. The customer count reduces each weekend, and with it, so slowed my work until it was done yesterday. Except to drive tour groups on the John Deere tractor next Sunday morning, and to join my cohorts in the end of season staff potluck soon thereafter.

Work in our local food system has been a new connection to nature and agriculture. As if the world outside our compact geography slipped away and I’d gone native. It’s something I should have done long ago.

A trip to the county seat seems a long excursion. While a number of gatherings of friends there have been unattended, there are no regrets in staying local. There are new friends to be made in the environs of our life in Big Grove.

As the moon sets, and the day begins, much work lies ahead. The frost will come, and soon. In the meanwhile, the challenge is to make the most of each day’s diminishing sunlight— splitting time between intellectual work and the reality of temperate climate and the geography of local friends.

Categories
Kitchen Garden Work Life

Cabbage Harvest

Cabbage Regrowth
Cabbage Rows

LAKE MACBRIDE— On Friday we diverted from planting in the high tunnel to harvesting cabbage at another farm: 400 heads of cabbage in 80 minutes plus travel and storage time. Frost is coming, and we need the cabbage for the fall shares. As we used to say as union workers in the meat packing plant, “it all pays the same.”

Actually, farm work doesn’t all pay the same. There is a complex web of reliance among farmers, and when one needs something, another reaches out to help, making a deposit in the relationship bank. Who knows when we may need to make a withdrawal?

There is a frost advisory Sunday morning from 1 until 8 a.m. Whatever plants need saving should be covered with the worn sheets kept for that purpose. Mostly, it is the leafy green vegetables and the pepper plants, since the tomatoes are done. Gleaning plot #3, and harvesting is on today’s agenda, so whatever might get bitten by tomorrow’s frost will come in. That is, except the greens, which will continue growing outside until the last minute.

The days are getting shorter, and attention turns toward inside work. There is a lot to be done before the end of the year. When isn’t there?

Categories
Environment

A Rising Challenge to Iowa Agriculture

DES MOINES— In the wake of 2013’s extreme weather roller coaster, marked by the wettest spring on record, followed by the second-driest July through September ever, a statewide group of leading Iowa science faculty and researchers released the Iowa Climate Statement 2013: A Rising Challenge to Iowa Agriculture at Drake University in Des Moines on Oct. 18. Below is the text of the statement. The document with the names of Iowa scientists endorsing it is here.

Iowa Climate Statement 2013: A Rising Challenge to Iowa Agriculture

Our state has long held a proud tradition of helping to “feed the world.” Our ability to do so is now increasingly threatened by rising greenhouse gas emissions and resulting climate change. Our climate has disrupted agricultural production profoundly during the past two years and is projected to become even more harmful in coming decades as our climate continues to warm and change.

Swings from one extreme to another have characterized Iowa’s 2013 weather patterns. Iowa started the year under the widespread drought that began in 2011 and persisted throughout 2012. But the spring of 2013 (March‐May) was the wettest in the 140 years of record‐keeping, creating conditions that hampered the timely planting of corn and soybean fields. During those months, sixty‐two Iowa counties experienced storms and flooding severe enough to result in federal disaster declarations.

By mid‐August, very dry conditions had returned to Iowa, subjecting many of the state’s croplands to moderate drought. These types of weather extremes, which are highly detrimental to Iowa’s crops, were discussed in our 2012 Iowa Climate Statement, where we also noted that globally over the past 30 years extreme high temperatures are becoming increasingly more common than extreme low temperatures. In a warming climate, wet years get wetter and dry years get dryer and hotter. The climate likely will continue to warm due to increasing emissions of heat‐trapping gases.

Climate change damages agriculture in additional ways. Intense rain events, the most notable evidence of climate change in Iowa, dramatically increase soil erosion, which degrades the future of agricultural production. As Iowa farmers continue to adjust to more intense rain events, they must also manage the negative effects of hot and dry weather. The increase in hot nights that accompanies hot, dry periods reduces dairy and egg production, weight gain of meat animals, and conception rates in breeding stock. Warmer winters and earlier springs allow disease‐causing agents and parasites to proliferate, and these then require greater use of agricultural pesticides.

Local food producers, fruit producers, plant‐nursery owners, and even gardeners have also felt the stresses of recent weather extremes. Following on the heels of the disastrous 2012 loss of 90 percent of Iowa’s apple crop, the 2013 cool March and record‐breaking March‐through‐May rainfall set most ornamental and garden plants back well behind seasonal norms. Events such as these are bringing climate change home to the many Iowans who work the land on a small scale, visit the Farmer’s Market, or simply love Iowa’s sweet corn and tomatoes.

Iowa’s soils and agriculture remain our most important economic resources, but these resources are threatened by climate change. It is time for all Iowans to work together to limit future climate change and make Iowa more resilient to extreme weather. Doing so will allow us to pass on to future generations our proud tradition of helping to feed the world.

Categories
Environment Home Life

Storm Cleanup is Finished

Ashes from the Brush Pile
Ashes from the Brush Pile

LAKE MACBRIDE— Embers of the brush pile marked the final cleanup after the Sept. 19 storm. Uneven spots remain where the tree fell, but the lilac bushes retained a nice shape and appearance after trimming the damaged branches. Next order of business is to mow the lawn, which is still partly brown after the drought, and collect the grass clippings to use as mulch where the burn pile is now. It’s been two months since the lawn was mowed.

The season’s canning is mostly done, and I posted this to Facebook yesterday,

All the canning jars in the house have something in them, more than 30 dozen. Tomatoes, applesauce, hot peppers, soup stock, sauerkraut, dill pickles and hot pepper sauce. There is apple butter, pear butter, peach, raspberry and black raspberry preserves, and grape jelly. The freezer’s full too. Plenty of potatoes and onions. We will have the beginnings of plenty of winter meals. All was grown locally and organically. Think I’m done for this canning season.

Herbs are drying in trays in the dining room, and a lot of produce remains in the garden. The counters and bins in the house are full of tomatoes, winter squash, apples, onions and potatoes. By Monday we should have a hard frost which will end most of the growing season. The historical first hard frost is around Oct. 7, so the growing season extended by about two weeks this year. It’s not clear what weather history means any more, except to point out how different things are getting.

A farmer was talking about the weather last night, commenting that it has recently been extreme, with nothing in between. He was referring to the early snowstorm that killed an estimated 100,000 cattle in South Dakota earlier this week. What we want is a steady, soaking rain for about 48 hours to bring up the moisture level in the ground. It hasn’t happened, and we are left with heavy downpours, flooding and fires in the great plains and upper Midwest.

For some farmers, the soybeans are in. While they had the potential for a big crop, the average yield was about 40 bushels per acre. The pods formed but didn’t fill for want of rain. The corn crop is still coming in, so if it rains, nature could wait until the rest is in. The variation in yield is between 40 and 200 bushels per acre. There aren’t many places producing the high end of the range and average is coming in around 140. There is some hesitancy to say until it is all in, but yield will be better than last year during the record drought.

Everywhere in the farming community, people are concerned about the extreme weather. Weather is always a concern for farmers, but this is different. People seem worried like they haven’t been before. There has been no mention of climate change in these conversations, and I don’t bring it up. No need to assert my views when the connection between extreme weather and climate change will become obvious with the persistence of trouble, and the expansion of knowledge.

While our cleanup is finished, the extreme weather seems like it is only just beginning. We use the same language, developed over generations, to discuss farming. But there is a sense, a resonance of worry, unlike what has been present before. It will nag at people and hopefully result in action to mitigate the causes of climate change before it is too late.

Categories
Work Life

On Worker Engagement

Garlic Planter
Garlic Planter

LAKE MACBRIDE— Being fully engaged at work is important. Without it, things start to slip. We get distracted, our morale slumps, and the benefits of a job are reduced to working for wages in a way close to enslavement. It’s better for us and for our employer when workers are fully engaged. This is not new. The idea of worker engagement as a business management concept developed during the early 20th Century.

In our local food system, the work requires full engagement. The size of the operation and community in which we live is such that if we don’t do something, or if we cut corners, the impact would have tangible results. If customers see an inferior vegetable selection in their weekly share, they have options. Their business could be lost the following season. If one person fails to turn off the irrigation, someone else must do it because some farm jobs have to get done. The need for worker engagement exists at every small business. It helps build the sense of being part of a team, which adds to the value of the enterprise.

If willingness to align worker interests with those of a business is important, there is a down side. Being fully engaged at work suppresses engagement in other things. In the case of seasonal or temporary work, worker engagement can use energy that should be spent finding work during the next season. As the author has experienced, lowly paid work at a number of companies can consume many hours during the week. The result can be feeling tired and worn out at the end of each day.

The better engagement is in our community. To the extent community life provides a means of economic support, we are better prepared to contribute and reinforce shared values. Worker engagement serves a purpose, yet broader engagement in the community of which we are a part is what we should be after. It is possible, but not easy.

Employment at a job has an arc of existence from getting hired until moving on to what’s next. There is always a what’s next, and the longer we are in the workforce, the better understood is the importance of full engagement. Experienced workers know we are the less if our focus has become the monetary income associated with our work.

As fall weather turns colder, and the garden activity is extended due to a late frost, the seasonal work for others comes to an end. It is a time to be thankful for community and the support it provides during the interregnum until the next paid work is found. It is a chance to re-engage in life for a while, and for that we can be thankful.

Categories
Social Commentary

A Minimum Standard of Living

Blog Action Day GlobeLAKE MACBRIDE— If there is a right to a standard of living in the United States, one wouldn’t know it. In vague cultural terms rests an idea of fairness, that each of us will have an opportunity to pursue our dreams as individuals. For so many, threats against our personal security, lack of economic means, and inadequate access to food, shelter, clothing, medical care and social services prevent the pursuit of anything but survival. For some, that has to be enough.

Government helps, but is constrained by what is politically achievable. During this year’s state of the union address, President Obama called for an increase in the national minimum wage from $7.25 to $9 per hour. He said, “we know our economy is stronger when we reward an honest day’s work with honest wages.  But today, a full-time worker making the minimum wage earns $14,500 a year.  Even with the tax relief we put in place, a family with two kids that earns the minimum wage still lives below the poverty line.  That’s wrong… We should be able to get (an increase to $9 per hour) done.”

It hasn’t happened yet, and in any case, what a slap in the face. While raising the minimum wage would provide some help to people who are working poor, not enough help to reach a standard of living one expects in a nation like ours. Change the hourly amount to a so-called living wage, or a family wage, and it would not be much better. These things are intellectual constructs that have little to do with the way people live, and in any case there is more to life than wages in a system rigged to benefit the wealthiest among us.

According to Article 25 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, “everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.”

In our country, government imperfectly picks up part of the responsibility for a minimum standard of living, and there are those who say government provides too much. That leaves provision of a standard of living up to each of us and to those we hold dear. As we consider standard of living as a human right we first have a duty to ourselves. It is to provide for ourselves so we can provide for others.

If you are reading this post, consider that you have a standard of living enabling you to give something to others. Give of yourself, to someone who needs it, be they family, friend, neighbor or stranger. We would do this not for ourselves, but to lift us all up in community. A place where standard of living would be measured by what we do together.

Categories
Reviews

Breakfast at the American Legion

American LegionSOLON— The twelve hour weekend work days must be catching up with me, as I slept in until 5:30 a.m. Saturday morning and left home to work at the newspaper before having breakfast. The workload was light, so when I had a half hour before having to depart for job number two at the orchard, I went to the Solon American Legion for a quick breakfast.

I ordered a cup of coffee and three breakfast tacos, which were soft flour tortillas filled with a mixture of egg, sausage, cooked onion and pepper, and topped with cheddar cheese and a mild salsa for $5.50. Two would have been enough, and the total bill came to $7.48 plus tip, which seems like a lot for breakfast.

At least one of the people who opened the breakfast operation a year or so ago was present, indicating continuity. Regrettably, he was outside, idly leaning against the railing and looking bored when I drove up. It was a beautiful morning, but still.

The menu is standard Midwestern breakfast fare of eggs, potatoes, onions, peppers and breads done up in a variety of expected combinations. Almost forgot the meats, which appear to be typical food service fare. Like everything served, the food is made to order and appealing for palates acculturated to small town cuisine.

At 9:15 a.m., three other tables had patrons, with more expected after church let out. The decor was legion patriotic, with service flags mounted on one wall and a variety of other decorations occupying most places on the exposed walls. There was a notice of a flag disposal service and I considered bringing one of my faded and worn flags for disposal.

The legion is a place to grab breakfast from 7 until 11 a.m., and talk with a business associate or friend over coffee. It has been the most popular place to have breakfast in town, but since then a new restaurant opened for breakfast, will have some competition. The menu is not posted on line, and there was a sign indicating the full menu service is now available from 5 until 9 p.m. It is worth checking out if you need a bite to eat in town. The legion website is here.