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Yes, today is Cinco de Mayo (the 5th of May in Spanish). Cinco de Mayo is a Mexican holiday. Not to be confused with the Mexican Independence Day which is actually celebrated on September 16th, Cinco de Mayo celebrates the initial victory of Mexican forces over French forces in the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862.

In the United States, Cinco de Mayo has taken on a significance beyond that in Mexico. The date is perhaps best recognized in the United States as a date to celebrate the culture and experiences of Americans of Mexican ancestry, much as St. Patrick’s Day, Oktoberfest, and the Chinese New Year are used to celebrate those of Irish, German, and Chinese ancestry, respectively. Similar to those holidays, Cinco de Mayo is observed by many Americans regardless of ethnic origin. Celebrations tend to draw both from traditional Mexican symbols, such as the Vírgen de Guadalupe, and from prominent figures of Mexican descent in the United States, such as César Chávez.

I know what I’m doing this evening. I’ll be heading out to indulge in some Mexican food!

Yesterday was the Harrisburg Flickr Meetup photo walk. It’s been a long time since we’ve all seen each other so it was nice getting together again. We met at the Broad Street Market and had some lunch before heading out through the city on our photo walk. As we walked through Midtown I was surprised at all of the homes that have been renovated and the homes that are in the process of being renovated. We even talked to some builders who were working and discussed their plans for renovating several other houses close by.

Every time we get together and go for a photo walk we end up meeting people. It seems that a group of people walking down the street with cameras tends to draw some attention. It’s always fun.

Attempting to better my health through watching what I eat, I’m trying to cut some bad stuff out of my diet. One thing I absolutely love is ice tea. I could drink this beverage all day, every day. But I’m trying to cut caffeine out of my diet so I need to find an alternative beverage. I really don’t enjoy drinking water. It is too bland for me.

So last night as I was out I thought I would stop and pick up some fruit juice to quench my thirst. Browsing down the aisle, there are so many choices! First I browse by flavor, cranberry sounds good, then by price, then after picking up the bottle and turning it around and reading the ingredients… ahhhh… high-fructose corn syrup! Trying to find something to drink which doesn’t have high-fructose corn syrup in it is quite a task. But it is something I intend to do to better my health.

On a related note, I did pick up some decaf coffee for the morning. I hope that by cutting out caffeine and high-fructose corn syrup I am bettering my odds against diabetes and hypertension in the future.

I’ve been noticing a lot of automobile commercials on TV lately that sound like they are trying to make a point of the car and it’s outstanding fuel economy. They state that the car gets 32 miles per gallon! And I think to myself, “My 1998 Honda Civic gets 32 miles per gallon highway.”

Let’s take a look at this. The website www.FuelEconomy.gov has a nice feature that lets you look up the fuel economy on select vehicles. I used this to compare my 1998 Honda Civic with a 2008 Honda Civic. A 2008 Honda Civic with 5-speed manual transmission gets 34 miles per gallon highway. My 1998 Honda Civic with 5-speed manual transmission gets 32 miles per gallon highway. This tells me that in 10 years Honda has only improved the fuel efficiency in the Honda Civic by 2 miles per gallon.

I’m sure comparing other manufacturers will be very similar. Why after 10 years have we made such little progress in fuel economy? Is it as simple as 10 years ago we were not concerned with fuel economy? I remember filling up my car with fuel for roughly $14 or $16. Those were wonderful days.

My friend Mike and I decided last week that we should do a weekly ride on our motorcycles with an ice cream destination. Last week it was 3B Ice Cream on Linglestown Road and Colonial Road. A small ice cream is most certainly enough. I don’t know how anyone would be able to hold a large ice cream cone from 3B. It was a nice end to the night after I grilled some dinner for Mike and his girlfriend Lisa.

Last night we decided to head out again. I thought it may be a bit cold to sit outside and eat ice cream. This time we decided to ride to Eat’n Park on Eisenhower Blvd. I haven’t been to Eat’n Park in years and I feel like the establishments have really gone down hill since they first appeared in the area. But it allowed us a nice ride along the river before taking the back way through Steelton and behind the Harrisburg Mall.

We ordered stickies à la mode and hot cocoa. Yummmmm! Spending time with good friends over a tasty treat like that… things couldn’t be much better. Eat’n Park still isn’t my favorite place to go. But it’s definitely worth a trip for some stickies à la mode and hot cocoa.

I seem to be on an architecture kick lately. I’ve always been fascinated with architecture and even wanted to become an architect at one point in my life. Recently I learned about LivingHomes. These homes are designed by architects but are built in factories to very precise standards. They also use natural, non-toxic and sustainably-derived materials and because they are built in a factory, the waste material is very minimal compared to the average stick-built home.

Not only do I find these homes absolutely stunning to look at, but they are also built with the environment in mind. When you “configure” your home, you can choose to harvest rain water which traps rain water and uses it for irrigation of plants around your house. LivingHomes recommends choosing land for the home in an urban area which is already close to waterlines, sewers, electrical lines, community resources and mass transit. That would make Harrisburg a prime area to build. I wonder how much a small vacant lot in the city would cost. Hmmm…

There are many models to choose from. Or you can select to have one custom designed to suit your needs. My house is a nice first home for me. But I still dream of one day owning the “home of my dreams”. The LivingHome looks like it just may fit my dreams rather well.

For as long as I can remember I’ve suffered from allergies and asthma. In elementary school I was tested for allergies. Small drops were placed on my back and I remember being so itchy. Everything that was tested on me I was allergic to. Cats, dogs, dust, trees, grasses, hay, chickens, all of these things plus many more I’m allergic to.

Add on top of this, asthma. When I was young and I would find it difficult to breathe I was told to try to relax and control my breathing. At the time there was no rescue inhaler. I was even hospitalized because of my asthma on more than one occasion. But since those days I now carry an Albuterol rescue inhaler with me every where I go. But there have also been times when it would get lost or I would run out of medication, or worse - my asthma would be so out of control that the Albuterol would no longer work - this would sometimes lead me to visit the emergency room.

I learned over the years to try to avoid things that I am allergic to. It’s called preventive maintenance. Many people enjoy having pets like cats and dogs, and they make wonderful pets. But when coming in close contact with these animals or their hair/fur causes you to no longer be able to exhale the carbon dioxide from your lungs and you start to asphyxiate, it becomes quite easy to avoid visiting people with pets. It’s not an excuse to not visit people, it’s a simple health factor. I can only dream how nice it must be to cuddle with a cat or dog and not have to worry about the consequences of asthma and allergies.

A little over two weeks ago I began taking allergy medicine to get into my system because I knew Spring was finally here and that means pollen will be in the air in full force. So far things have been going well with the exception of my eyes watering and being completely blood-shot. The pollen in the air here in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania is extremely high right now. In fact, the city of Harrisburg is number 20 on this list of “The Most Challenging Places to Live with Spring Allergies” provided by the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America.

For the most part my allergy medicine is in control of my allergy symptoms. But this only masks the warning symptoms of my asthma. For me, my allergies often spark my asthma making it difficult to breathe. And this has occurred over the last two days. I would feel a shortness of breath. As I simply attempt to exhale all of my breath I can easily hear my wheeze. A quick inhale of my Albuterol inhaler, hold my breath in for a while, then slowly exhale, and I have a feeling of being able to breathe once again. Sometimes this will lead to a bit of nervousness and/or anxiety (a side effect of the medication). And in the back of my mind I know that if I need to use the Albuterol too often, then my asthma is not under control and I need help quickly.

When the weather seems to be so nice it seems to be only natural to open the windows and enjoy the nice breeze as it flows through the house. But lurking in that air is pollen. The simple ingredient to my breathing problems. So it becomes a gamble with opening windows to let the air in, or running air conditioners to filter the air and control the humidity. One thing is certain, this is a difficult time for me and my health.

I was out on the motorcycle this afternoon when I saw a bunch of people standing on the corner of 2nd and Division Street with Hillary Clinton signs. After returning home I hopped online and saw that Hillary Clinton was scheduled to be at the Zembo Mosque on Division Street this evening. This is only a few blocks away from my house so I decided to take advantage of this and go see her speak. After all, I missed Obama when he was in town on Saturday.

Hillary Clinton takes the stage.

The crowd at the Zembo Mosque.

A guy with a mohawk supports Hillary Clinton.

Hillary engages to the crowd.

Getting the crowd excited about changing the future of our country for the better.

Yours truly excited about a new president and looking forward to a national health care system and better educational opportunities in our country.

Photo courtesy of Khrum.

I believe I found my next home. It will be a Huf Haus. Now I just need to find a nice plot of land with a view and see if they can come to the United States from Germany to construct a unique and wonderful post and beam home for me.

More Huf Haus photos available on Flickr.

After doing a lot of work around the house yesterday and waiting for my new mobile phone to arrive I decided to head off for a ride to Perry County. I wanted to visit “The Pond”, which is land that has been in my family for a very long time.

I knew I would go north on route 15. But then I decided to stop and plug in “shortest route” to Ickesburg. It was basically the same route I usually take until shortly after New Bloomfield. My GPS found me a wonderful dirt road towards Mansville and a few other roads that I was not familiar with. It was a nice change from taking the “fastest route”.

Unfortunately on my way back I headed for a dirt road that I remembered from when I was growing up. To my surprise it had been paved! Damn. The search for dirt roads gets more difficult. Maybe I should look at trading the F 650 GS on a BMW R 1200 RT instead.