Notes by Vik Duggal

I won't drive with a phone in hand

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I'll be hanging up on people more frequently.

There is definitely an element of safety that I need to consider as I use all these amazing mobile devices. I'm a huge fan of RIM's Blackberry device and I know how easy it is to want to look at it for a message while driving on the road, or pick it up if I forget to connect it to the car's Bluetooth system.

So here's what I'm attempting to do and I hope try this as well.

1. Get bluetooth connectivity for your car if you don't have one (or a bluetooth headset).
2. Don't message and drive. Please. It's not worth it.

So, why will I be hanging up on people? Because when I ask them if they're on bluetooth while driving and they say, "No." Click. Sorry. Call me when it's safer.

I want to drive safely and I'm urging you to as well. There are too many people out there that care about us and I care about you.

Drive safely.

A thousand Christmas trees

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My wife recently had an interview question posed to her: "If one thousand Christmas trees showed up in front of your door, what would you do? You can't replant them."

I posed the question on Twitter and received a handful of interesting responses, but Sarah Koss from Vancouver, BC shot me a note back and asked what I would do.

Here's my answer: I would take the one thousand trees and I'm assuming they're on trucks, so I would take them to a neighborhood that didn't have much vegetation or fresh air. Once they were pretty much done, I would partner with a pulp and paper mill and create paper from the trees and donate the paper to a local school that didn't have many supplies while raising awareness for youth education.

That's what I would do. Hopefully you're able to stretch your mind a little and think about what you would do.

The downtown Bellevue Stair Climb

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One of the things I was really looking forward to upon returning from South America was getting reconnected and re-engaged with my local community. I currently happen to live in this beautiful city of Bellevue, Washington and was looking for something to do, that was meaningful. I happened to grab dinner with Michael Brandt, a great friend who runs the hyperlocal site called the Downtown Bellevue Network, and he mentioned that the country's largest stair climb was going to be happening in October of this year in Bellevue!

This was exciting news for me, so I asked him if he would connect me with someone to see if I'd be a good fit to get involved. Michael connected me with Brent Ruth (a pretty amazing guy in his own right) over at the American Lung Association's Seattle chapter and we got to talking about what the ALA was trying to do. I love his vision for the event and I told him straight up that I was all about the event happening in Bellevue and would love to help!

I'm hoping to share some more stories about the event and what we're trying to do. I've been to one committee meeting so far and everyone definitely seems passionate about the event.

I'll pass along more information as it becomes available, but in the meantime, if the idea of helping the American Lung Association, or participating in a stair climb, or being part of an awesome event in Bellevue interests you, please drop me a note. My email address is: vikduggal [at] gmail [dot] com.

Evaluating the hamburger: Blue Moon Burgers

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Since having returned to North America I have avoided meat altogether. A combination of watching Food, Inc., eating amazingly real food in countries like Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, and Brazil, and just a better awareness of what food I put in my body has resulted in a weariness of eating things just because they taste good. While I haven't gone vegetarian, I have become very weary of meat in this country.

Recently, Joe Sunga at Teachstreet in Seattle dropped me a note suggesting I try Blue Moon Burgers. I was doubtful, but after a few notes from him, Blue Moon, and a video by Michael Foley with an interview by the rancher they are switching to that raises the cattle and I was convinced to try it. Here's some background on Blue Moon Burgers: Up until now they have only provide vegetarian fed cow meat. As of May 1st, they will be providing grass-fed beef only from a new rancher in Walla Walla, Washington. That's HUGE for someone like me who doesn't just eat anything and has had a tough time finding a burger in the Kirkland/Bellevue/Seattle-area.
 
Last Friday we happened to be in the Seattle area and there just so happened to be a Blue Moon Burgers spot close to downtown. We were hungry, so we decided to go try it. Upon arriving we were greeted and after telling them it was our first time there and asking a few questions with the staff there we decided on a single cheeseburger with regular fries.
 
Our food arrived fairly quickly and two bites into the burger and a few nibbles into the so-so fries and one of the staff members came by and proclaimed, "The manager doesn't think the fries are great, so we're going to take these back and get you a new basket." Okay we thought, at least they are aware. Aside from that the meal was fairly uneventful. As for the burger, here's my review:

I felt that that there wasn't enough burger. While the patty was standard size, I felt the bun and large amount of lettuce (the cheap kind with no nutritional value) took away from the main course. While I'm no burger savant, I would recommend that Blue Moon go with a smaller bun and a darker green, more nutritious lettuce. After all, if you're going to go to the trouble of finding the best lead actor (meat), why not surround her with the best support cast (fixings).
 
The service was great and the place was very well put together (loved how organized all the posters were). If I were in Seattle and wanted a burger, however, this would be the only place I would go. While, I hope to see the changes in the burger, I'm looking forward to trying the grassfed beef next time I'm hungry and close to one of their locations.