Julio’s Musings Around Columbia County, New York

“La Gallina”. What you see is the Logo of the newly formed Havana On the Hudson . Well not quite the finished Logo but the image that will serve as such. What is Havana On Hudson? Since I left AOL at the beginning of 2010, have been working on multiple fronts. On the ordinary front I have partnered with a friend and ex-colleague at AOL to form jittr.com which will be concentrating on Mobile Applications with a Mobile (of course), Social and Local convergence. Technology is what I do for a living and being Chief Technology Officer (translates into the Software Engineer) of my own startup is in line though scary with what I have been doing since the advent of the modern web circa 1994.
Havana on the Hudson is a totally (180 degrees) and opposite endeavor but one I have been thinking about for sometime though it matured from just opening a Bagel store in Westchester, New York. It represents a Cuban Catering service concentrating on some key staples for which I possess the closely guarded Cuban recipes from my ancestors for Croquettes (croquetas), pastelitos , Black Beans (Frijolles negros), Cuban Bread (pan Cubano) and Flan Custard as the sole Dessert offering.
Based in the idyllic county of Columbia in New York State and near the artistic and antique capital of Hudson, New York , Havana On the Hudson is conveniently located near centers of sophisticated culinary tastes (New York City is just 100 miles south) and studio exhibitions which we hope will expand the culinary experimentation for their guests by purveying Cuban delicacies with their Wine , cheese and crackers.

You generally have to go very far to get legitimate , genuine Cuban cooking ; quite literally 1,300 miles south from New York City to Miami, Florida

Most of the work the past few months has been tinkering with the recipes of all the dishes and preparing and spreading free samples through contacts near Hudson, New York and various other family members to opine on the adherence to the taste they remember when our grandmother also cooked they delectable dishes.

A special website at havanaonhudson.com is under construction and will be the initial storefront for the enterprise and being built by jittr.com (actually me acting within the context of my craft as Software Engineer). Will be using the Columbia County Musing Website for the time being to provide status of the budding business but I expect the canonical site ready by the end of April 2010.

Oh, also converting various acres here in Miyares Farm to the role of cultivating various ingredients that go into the Havana On Hudson culinary offerings. Though the weather in the Miyares Farm locale is harsh as winters go, adding a greenhouse that will allow extending the growing season to well into December especially for crops like parsley , cilantro and tomatoes.
A chicken coop for purposes of laying eggs is also in the short-term plans. Currently fresh eggs are procured from a nearby Farm down the road in Gallatin, New York.

Head Chef
Julio Hernandez-Miyares

I thought I would have gotten into the habit of blogging regularly , like everyday. Alas that has not happened yet with all I am doing which sometimes seems like it is always filling out one paper form or another. Lets face it what has automation and computers truly done for us other then sometimes helping us consume our day with one or another type of administrative work. Since Administrative Assistants are largely a thing of the past and who is actually going to do it for your personal life unless you are child , this grunt activity seems to be what we actually living for.
Anyway, this is probably a half baked rant about why I have not been able to blog on a daily basis.

Actually the form filling is being done for a host of exciting developments for myself. One for instance is the completion of my second Bachelor’s degree. Way back during my youth I decided to go for a Bachelors in Computer Science and Mathematics. It was a redundant BA as I already had one but I figured what I would learn and the actual confirming piece of paper would serve me well. I completed all of the requirements for the Degree except for those College specific general requirements like a Gym class and an additional English Comp. Class. I was not able to complete those 2 fundamental requirements as the act of living and making a living trumped pure academia. Fast forward a decade or two and I still have the desire for the “piece of paper” validating the investment in time and knowledge acquired. The gym class is no longer a requirement which is natural given 300 pounders are now the norm instead of the exception and in place of English I have a diversity class requirement in the Africana and Puerto Rican Studies Department. I decided to sign up in the spring semester 2010 for the Africana/PR class which is an intense reading and writing class. The first day of class was beautiful as the crew from “Revolution Books” sold the course texts in between a speech around class struggle and such. Revolution Books is the publishing wing of an avowed Communist Organization based partly in New York City (Where else!). At least the political slant at my beloved CUNY ( City University of New York) has remained consistent over the years from my original studies and degree and now that I know better it should make for an intense rapport during the actual class. Of course not so intense the Professor holds it against me during the grading process. The class professor is charming as well. Maybe half charming. When I asked about how to get reading assignments when a class is missed, I thought she was going to have a heart attack right there in front of us all that I could possibly miss a class. Well I have to miss a class and her suggestion of becoming a buddy with someone (a half clueless 18 year old) to get the assignment is dead on arrival. I will just read the entire course material which are presented by a short story anthology and a book of poems. Not a big deal! So far what I have read, (Collymore,Wickham,Marquez and Arenas) have been excellent except for Marquez’s one sentence “The Last Voyage of the Ghost Ship”. I just can’t deal with a 5 page run on sentence even if that is the way we think and the short story is basically a stream of consciousness.
The pimply faced student at the Computing Center was helpful or as helpful as he could be telling me it would take about a week to get my Hunter ID so I could avail myself of the campus wireless network. Given the fact this is something that can be setup or revoked in seconds in a relatively well run Private business, the good is they have wireless which is not something they had back when I was there originally, the bad is academia still has this lack of appreciation for time like we treat it in the real world. At least for the first few days, looks like it is Starbucks Wireless or sufficing on smartphones.

As I was raking leaves with my daughter this past autumn Saturday, a group of high school kids in all their glory passed by , jostling , joking and strutting. They seemed so carefree that I felt like dropping the rake and all my responsibilities and just tagging along. Well I didn’t. What I did was ask my 10th Grade daughter if she knew the kids? She said with a clear smirk she did and they were freshman. She went on to lambast them and say no one liked the freshmen , that they were wimps of some sort (it was getting cool outside and related to the cold). We got into it a little more and I asked her if she and her friends fraternized with them and she said “no way”. When I asked what she and her friends did when they came and sat on the same table in the cafeteria she said “we ignore them!”

Anyway, I just loved it. Though I am was not a girl it did bring some memories back from my own high school years. Mind you , I would and never did have the kind of attitude my daughter expressed as I would think it better to have a lively cafeteria table then a group of siloed cliques. Nevertheless there was just something raw about the whole thing and was wondering if I could bring the same approach to the work place. Well I am only kidding or day dreaming of course but that attitude if I don’t like you I am not going to deal with you even if you are in my face was something I had not thought about in a long time.

It has a certain power and finding something so trivial to differentiate as being in 9th or 10th grades
has a certain wonder to me as I contemplate the mind of a high schooler.

Over in Greenport , a Town adjacent to the city of Hudson in the boonies of New York, the next revision of Wal-Mart just recently opened replacing the long standing box store in the same town. The new Wal-Mart is the Super-Center variety and is already the toast of the town! You need a compass to navigate the store and all its aisles and it even has it’s own Dunkin Donuts store within alleviating the previous tradition of a separate stop for my favorite coffee brew.

I can’t say what it doesn’t carry at the moment as I have not been able to navigate it in it’s entirety yet
Given it’s complete variety of meats and produce it will definitely put pressure on the nearby Shop-Rite and who knows what assortment of mom and pop shops it hasn’t driven out of business yet.

It will also become a beacon for a larger part of the surrounding area which is basically rural and not adverse to going 50 miles to shop at the temple of retail (even if they can’t afford the gas guzzled by their SUV’s).

Though I make no apologies for shopping there, the latest store further sharpens the dysfunctional and destructive car oriented mentality of American Culture. It attracts people way out in the middle of nowhere to the middle of nowhere with the only possible mode of transport being the car.
It has no esthetic soul as even the previous one about 1/2 mile down the road had fitting in somewhat better with a slightly suburban community surrounded by an agricultural rural community. As is the bent in the architecture of the USA mass market, it looks like it can be anywhere and nowhere.

Photos to follow soon….

Tags: Julio Hernandez-Miyares, Wal-Mart, Columbia County

I don’t usually repeat topics on my blog but will break the practice this time.

The simple thing in Life are the best , Happy Clown

When Easter came and went early spring 2009 and the anticipation of the spring opening of Happy Clown came and went with nary an opening soon, alarm ran through Columbia County or at least the Miyares Farm household. Alarm turned to distress and depression as the “For Sale” sign appeared by the smiling clown.
The spring came and went and then the summer (though this summer has felt like spring) and still nothing more then a lonely “For Sale” sign.
All hope seemed lost. The kids were gloomy (well actually not them but me) thinking a staple of Columbia County living was lost.
Then in late July as I was zooming on the 2 lane country road 82 throwing a quick glance to catch the sad looking Clown mascot, I saw the “Open” side and the Flag!
It had been saved, how I don’t know. A new owner?, the old geezers that own it deciding a recession was not the right time to sell? A public referendum to re-open post haste? I don’t care wish as I finish off my Butterscotch Vanilla sundae on a hazy lazy Saturday afternoon in the dog days of summer 2009.

Man, if I had a bonus this year, I may have bought it. Maybe next time it is up for sale.

Tags: Julio Hernandez-Miyares, Happy Clown, Columbia County New York

It has been a tough winter here in Columbia County, New York which is 100 miles north of the hustle and bustle of New York City. Had the normal number of sub 0 degree nights; and that is fahrenheit but the worse was the ice storm of January ‘09 which left a path of destroyed tree limbs besides the 6 days with no utilities whatsoever. (Luckily I have a propane powered Generator so all was not lost except internet service)
Now that the snow has finally melted and am here observing the aftermath on a pseudo spring day , I can’t imagine the number of days it will actually take me to clean this mess up. Sure, I can hire someone and believe me with the economy in this here parts, I will find many takers, but I just can’t bring myself to pay for brawn. At least most of the time. That is something I still have. Well , guess I have to count the coins and see if I get my kids to do it.

Tags: Julio Hernandez-Miyares, Columbia County

You know times are tough (economically speaking) when the cops come out in force not to maintain social order but to disrupt it further by performing Ticket Biltzes”. Here in Columbia County , New York they must be truly desperate for their raises and jobs as they are strewn about trying to catch unsuspecting motorists a few miles over the speed limit. The fact there is not much traffic in this idyllic county 100 miles north of New York City makes it like “shooting fish in a barrel”. Just think how fast you can move on a road just like photo above. No, not like a put put American driver but imagine you drove almost anywhere else in the world.
Just remember next time you fall for the exhortations of higher spending and by extension taxes for purposes of more police! In actuality you will end up paying twice. Oh, and your house will still get robbed as the safety patrol will be too busy manning the speed trap check points.

Tags: Julio Hernandez-Miyares, Columbia County, Police State

I have not seen it for myself though I will see for myself today (Sunday March 1,2008) but a friend went to Wal-Mart on Saturday just before noon and came away depressed.

Why? You ask? Because at 11:30am on a Saturday with good weather the Wal-Mart was mostly empty. That is the time everyone says “let’s go to the temple”! Well I say that but given the full parking lot I get the feeling most other folks here in the boondocks of Columbia County, New York say the same thing.

Before you get the wrong impression of my tastes, I only go to Wal-Mart for the regular stables; Clorox, Detergent, Salt, gardening equipment etc etc. I learned long ago not to depend on it for anything such as furniture or things of “taste”.
Given the fact almost everything you may need to carry on in 21th century in life is at Wal-Marts often at 1/2 the price and you get better service from friendly people then the struggling mom and pops, its just foolish not to take clear advantage.

Tags: Julio Hernandez-Miyares, Wal-Mart

If memory serves me, I generally make a habit of posting something either Christmas Day or Christmas Eve. This year will be no different , once again if my memory is correct.
Trip up north from New York City to Hartford Connecticut was a horror on Christmas Eve. News Radio 88 was saying all highways were clear in Westchester and Connecticut except they were patently wrong. I-95 North was clogged a good portion of the ride from the CT border through to New Haven.
I was so peeved I was searching for their “report a tie-up” phone number to give them a “piece of my mind” for getting it so wrong. Made me realize the point of the regular traffic reports from the likes of News Radio 88 or WINS in New York City is going the route of many other services. While I was stuck in traffic eating my heart out, I reverted to checking google maps on my iPhone to see if there was an alternative to the snail’s pace of my current route.
Though I did not find an alternative worth the detour , it was startling to see the normal route which I was on indicated as heavy in traffic. If I had bothered to check google maps earlier in my travels instead of depending on the dated , advertising laden NewsRadio 88 traffic news reports, I would have had the opportunity to take the Merritt Parkway north to just Southeast of Hartford probably bypassing the clogged I-95 horror. From now on , I will do what I should have done a while ago. I will depend on google Maps and NewsRadio 88 like many of the big media outlets will lose another part of their demographic for advertising purposes.

Tags: Julio Hernandez-Miyares, Christmas, News Radio 88

Fooling around with GeoPress which is a mapping utility that works with WordPress. Writing this from Columbia County and am testing the ability to easily insert maps and geocoding including ability to syndicate via GeoRSS.

If you zoom in from the satellite view , you may be able to just make out the crops that are growing and being eaten rom the Miyares Farm. Pictures will follow as I get around to it. Over the last two nights, have eaten seasoned corn rice with chives and a healthy dose of salad. All but the rice grown organically at the Miyares Farm. Blueberry pancakes and of course the Blueberries from the Farm. That took some doing as at the beginning, just as soon as the berries were ripe for the pickings, the next morning we would discover them eaten. We had to put netting around the bushes to prevent our friends from picking them dry.

Tags: Miyares Farm, Julio Hernandez-Miyares