Text 1244, 97 rader
Skriven 2006-05-08 18:35:00 av JOAN MACDIARMID (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av JIM WELLER
Ärende: Government projects
===========================
 Hi, Jim,

 JW> Here's one happier story. Our city tried to build a twin pad hockey
 JW> arena for $8M in 2 years. They achieved a twin pad shell building with
 JW> one pad, no bleachers, no canteen for $11M in 3 years. They said it
 JW> would take a 4 year wait to save $4M to finish but it might cost even
 JW> more in 4 years time.

 JW> Diavik Diamond Mines, part of the Rio Tinto group, had a 6 month lull
 JW> between 2 mega-projects and wanted to keep their team busy. They said
 JW> they could do the job in 6 months for $2M and that the city could pay
 JW> $1M this year, $1M next year. It took the city 5 weeks to analyse the
 JW> offer. They finally accepted and told Diavik to start planning
 JW> construction. They responded that they had already done all the
 JW> planning during the past five weeks, hired a project manager and had
 JW> tentatively ordered the materials so could they please have a building
 JW> permit this afternoon as they wanted to start tomorrow. There was a
 JW> full crew on site the next day at 7 A.M. The bureaucrats were in total
 JW> shock at the pace they set.

 JW> All the contractors, who had received lucrative mine work before and
 JW> after this job, worked at cost. Diavik supplied that cracker jack
 JW> project manager for free. And they did the job in 5 months for $1.9M.
 JW> They also added an annex for the YK gym club to operate in, within
 JW> that budget.

 WOW!....just...Wow! It can be done, when most of the corruption is
 apparently cut out. I wish something like that could happen in my
 area, but I doubt it could happen. Maybe it happened so fast the
 bureaucrats had no chance to work in the side deals. Thanks for a
 great story!

MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.05

      Title: PAD THAI
 Categories: Pasta, Seafood, Asian
      Yield: 4 Servings

      6 oz Flat rice noodles
    1/2 bn Purple basil, leaves whole
           - stems removed (or any
           - fresh basil)
      3 T  Vegetable oil
      3 oz Firm tofu, diced
      1 ea Boneless, skinless whole
           - chicken breast, cut into
           - strips, OR
      1 lb Peeled, deveined shrimp
           Salt
  1 1/2 T  Paprika
      3 ea Eggs, beaten
      3 cl Garlic, pureed
    1/4 c  White vinegar
    1/4 c  Fish sauce
      2 T  Palm sugar or brown sugar
      1 t  Roasted chile paste or red
           - pepper flakes
      1 T  Dried shrimp
      2 T  Finely chopped dryroasted
           - peanuts
      1 c  Bean sprouts
    1/2 c  Mint leaves
      2 ea Scallions, white and green
           - parts, thinly sliced
      2 ea Limes, cut into wedges, for
           - garnish

  Soften the noodles according to the package directions (noodles
  usually need to soak in warm water for about 15 minutes), and drain.
  Set aside.

  Heat a wok or large skillet over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of the
  oil, add the basil leaves and fry just until crisp, about 1 minute.
  Lift leaves out with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Add 1
  more tablespoon of oil to wok. Add the tofu, chicken or shrimp, salt
  and paprika, and stirfry until cooked through and browned, about 3 to
  5 minutes. Stir in the eggs and scramble, while shredding them with a
  spoon, until egg is just set. Transfer everything from wok to a bowl.
  Wipe out the wok.

  Reheat wok and add remaining tablespoon oil. Add the garlic and
  stirfry until aromas are released, about 10 seconds. Add the vinegar,
  fish sauce, palm or brown sugar, and heat through. Add the drained
  noodles and toss until the noodles have absorbed most of the sauce,
  about 3 minutes. Add the red chile paste, dried shrimp, ground
  peanuts, bean sprouts, and reserved tofu, chicken or shrimp and eggs,
  and toss thoroughly.

  Transfer the mixture to a platter. Garnish with reserved fried basil
  leaves, mint leaves, scallions and lime wedges.
  SOURCE: Two HOT Tamales World Tour Copyright 1997, M. S. Milliken & S.
  Feniger Copyright 1997, TV-Food Network SHOW #WT1A06

MMMMM
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