April 16, 2014
When the swallows return to Capistrano..
The first lawn mower of Spring. (Are lawn mowers migratory?)
Also, the maple trees are flowering all over my sinuses, and I'm a bit miserable.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Daily Life at
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March 13, 2014
All the comforts of home -- except 1
You get used to things, and only miss them when they're gone. I started to make my breakfast this morning and turned on the kitchen faucet to wash something off, and got nothing but a sucking sound.
So I checked my front door, and there was a slip from the management saying water would be out from 8 AM until noon. The city was digging up something having to do with the water.
They've been out there at the end of the parking lot working on something for several days, right where one of the fire hydrants is located.
They turned the water on about 11, so it was only 3 hours and not that much of a burden, but it's still a hassle. Running water is one of those things you don't think about.
And when they turned it back on again, it was muddy. So I left my sink running for about five minutes, until it was clean again.
And then I made my breakfast.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Daily Life at
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I can relate to that, albeit my discomfort lasted a bit longer. During the 1994 Northridge earthquake, I was about 10 miles from the epicenter. Land line telephone service was actually never disrupted (not that many cell phone back then). Electrical power, at least in my area was restored quickly (I think we're down for less than 12 hours). Gas was not affected.
Water wasn't restore for days. Now we have access to bottle water, so dying of thirst wasn't an issue. Considered the situation, cooking canned food was fine. What we can't do is flushing toilet. Fortunately for us, our neighbor was an absentee owner at the time (the house was in between tenant at the time) but they do have a swiming pool. We weren't using the water for cooking or bathing, but it flushes the toilet just tine.
Posted by: BigFire at March 18, 2014 09:38 PM (PzKK9)
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March 12, 2014
Bachelor Chef -- baby pizza
I've been creating again.
Toast a hamburger bun.
Add marinara and mozarella, then top with pepperoni.
Cook for six minutes in a blazingly hot oven.
And serve with an appropriate wine.
It wasn't bad, actually.
UPDATE: But it wasn't as good as this:
Pepperoni and Havarti on Ritz. Yum!
Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Daily Life at
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Yeah, that sort of "pizza" is good. The commercial version of it (pizza toppings factory-installed on a chunk of french bread) was one of my staple foods back in college.
Posted by: Mikeski at March 12, 2014 08:56 PM (Zlc1W)
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March 03, 2014
Found on the web
I don't know about you guys, but that's what my breakfast looks like.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Daily Life at
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1
I'm no expert on etiquette, but shouldn't the pistol grip be facing
away from the plate, to facilitate easy pickup with the diner's dominate hand?
Posted by: Siergen at March 03, 2014 07:34 PM (c2+vA)
Posted by: Wonderduck at March 03, 2014 08:03 PM (bqvkh)
3
The meal requires a pile of scrambled eggs equal to the bacon, as well as some other drink to replace the coffee (Milk and orange juice.). A stack of donuts is also necessary.
Posted by: cxt217 at March 03, 2014 08:36 PM (MUYF1)
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Sure hope there's nobody sitting to the left. Col. Cooper would not approve; nor would Miss Manners.
Posted by: DougO at March 03, 2014 08:38 PM (aSh73)
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I'd say it's close, but one mistake makes it an obvious European forgery.
It's a bachelor's breakfast, since it's being served on a kitchen counter and not a table. (Tile backsplash, there.) Thus, he wouldn't be dirtying three whole plates to have to wash later... the toast and egg should just be piled on the bacon.
(And put some jelly or something on that toast. Just butter? Ew.)
Posted by: Mikeski at March 03, 2014 08:52 PM (Zlc1W)
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Whiskey instead of coffee?
Posted by: Jaked at March 03, 2014 11:14 PM (5EMrd)
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Just replace the 226 with a 220 and that's just about right over here. -_^
Posted by: Bob (aka Robert) at March 03, 2014 11:40 PM (0ZuFs)
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They know us so well....
Posted by: Mauser at March 04, 2014 03:54 AM (TJ7ih)
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Close. I put the eggs and back between the slices of toast, the coffee is black and the handgun is a Taurus 905 revolver. And I don't put it on the table; that's rude!
Posted by: Ben at March 04, 2014 09:35 AM (Oftf2)
10
My Springfield XD-9 is made in Croatia, but my bacon and eggs are locally sourced. As for coffee, the Keurig technically is American, though should I instead consider the bean source for the K-cups themselves?
Posted by: wahsatchmo at March 05, 2014 07:30 AM (uHea4)
11
Usually it involves 2 eggs, half the bacon is substituted for an equal volume of suasages, and if you're in Philly, scrapple is involved in some way.
Posted by: Mark at March 05, 2014 06:59 PM (sgEfF)
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February 26, 2014
Ant detector
A few days ago my smoke detector went off in the morning, and kept doing so off and on for maybe half an hour, then stopped.
This morning it woke me at about 6:30 and it's been intermittently going off ever since. I suppose I should mention that there wasn't any smoke or anything like that, either time. (No, I don't smoke cigarettes or anything else.)
I got fed up with the damned thing and called the office, and the handyman came and replaced it about noon.
When he took the old one off, it was crawling with ants. I guess some of them got inside it and interfered with the detector gap.
I hope the new one isn't vulnerable to ants that way.
UPDATE: I haven't seen any ants in my apartment, which is why this was such a surprise.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Daily Life at
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1
Is that one of the smoke detectors that has a small radiation source inside? If so, you may need to watch for
Them!
Posted by: Siergen at February 26, 2014 01:34 PM (c2+vA)
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Oh, dear! I think I'm going to hide under my bed now.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at February 26, 2014 02:10 PM (+rSRq)
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If we hear stories about the 7th Infantry Division dispatching the 2d Infantry Division brigades under its' command across state lines, we will know why.
Posted by: cxt217 at February 26, 2014 04:09 PM (OdrvA)
Posted by: RickC at February 26, 2014 05:23 PM (swpgw)
5
We don't get fire ants, either. And I've never seen a cockroach here. Combination of "Too far North" and "Too wet".
Plus, the Willamette Valley is one of the few places on Earth which has no poisonous animals. (Rattlesnakes don't live here, either.)
On the other hand, what we do get a lot of is slugs. All over the place. And yellowjackets. I really hate yellowjackets.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at February 26, 2014 05:31 PM (+rSRq)
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I read the "people who've seen both prefer fire ants" comment on wikipedia with a certain amount of horror.
Posted by: RickC at February 26, 2014 06:27 PM (swpgw)
7
I've seen videos on YouTube of the really cool things you can do with a fire ant hill and a crucible of molten aluminum.
Posted by: Mauser at February 27, 2014 02:52 AM (TJ7ih)
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February 25, 2014
Going for a walk
I feel like complaining about my life, so I'm going to do what Brickmuppet does: put some cheesecake above the fold, and hide all the unpleasant stuff below the fold:
more...
Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Daily Life at
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February 22, 2014
Not a lot to talk about
There hasn't been much activity here lately because there just isn't much to talk about. You can tell I'm desperate when all I have to post is nudity shots...
The latest episodes of Witch Craft Works and Maken Ki took a while for my selected sub groups to get around to, and for good reason. Neither was particularly good.
Maken Ki was another "girl of the week" episode, only for a change Takeru wasn't even in this one. The teaser says that next week will be Kodama, so maybe we can have some decent pettanko tsundere action -- but probably not.
And they censored the hell out of it, too.
Witch Craft Works is getting really strange. Actually, they're starting to explain things, but... well... learning what's going on is taking the magic out of the show, as it were. The mystery led me to imagine much bigger things than they're actually telling story about. Another problem with it is that Kagari isn't very interesting: fire and boobs, and there really isn't anything else there. For the show to become more captivating they need to develop her as a character, and they're not doing it. Plus, the Macguffin of the show, name of Evermillion, has only shown up once and then only briefly. (She's voiced by Mamiko Noto, another reason to mourn her virtual complete absence.
Witch Craft Works feels a bit like Yuushibu did, where they've decided to make one cour of show out of only one or two basic plot arcs, and thus having to spread everything out. And some of the running jokes are wearing thin.
Meanwhile, I still haven't found anyone writing anything about the Mouretsu Pirates movie.
Man, this season has been a real loser. And right now it looks like the only thing I have to look forward to in the next season is the restart of Fairy Tail.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Daily Life at
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Most of this anime is stuff I can't watch at home, with a wife and a 5 year old around. (Though I did check out Strike Witches while she was away with the son visiting her parents. Never did quite get the concept; An alternate history where women didn't wear pants or skirts???)
I do enjoy replaying my Oh My Goddess collection (On laserdisk!) which my wife also enjoys. Tenchi Muyo was entertaining, too, until they started blowing away the continuity. My first love in anime was Urusai Yatsura, though. (Which I also have much of on untranslated laserdisk.)
I don't know if Japanese animation has gone downhill, or the tastes and mine have just diverged. But I'm seeing less and less of it I would even have bothered with when I was single.
Posted by: Brett Bellmore at February 22, 2014 01:19 PM (HGNzm)
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Girls und Panzer and Mouretsu Pirates should both be fine for your wife. Essentially no significant fan service in either of them.
(Lots of swimsuits in the GuP extras, but only once in the main show, maybe 20 seconds in episode 2.)
And they both pass the Bechdel test.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at February 22, 2014 01:49 PM (+rSRq)
3
I think there have been a couple of good shows this season, but most of all I've been enjoying Sekai Seifuku Bouryaku no Zvezda.
Posted by: Mauser at February 22, 2014 03:48 PM (TJ7ih)
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Fairy Tail is starting back up?
I stopped reading the manga after the fire mountain/frozen giant arc. I wanted it to build up so I could follow through on several stories in a row.
Maybe I shouldn't restart until after I see the anime.
Posted by: topmaker at February 22, 2014 04:10 PM (2yZsg)
5
I stopped reading at the end of the tournament.
It's beginning again in April, and I assume they'll pick back up and finish the tournament. That, alone, is probably good for 15 episodes considering everything that's going on.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at February 22, 2014 04:25 PM (+rSRq)
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at February 22, 2014 06:58 PM (+rSRq)
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Usagi Drop is quite safe for to watch around family. As a father, you'll appreciate it. Your wife may have a severe emotional reaction to a middle story arc, however. (Perfectly safe series, but it's a story of an abandoned child, so they deal with the mother well. It goes over fine with male audiences.)
Posted by: sqa at February 22, 2014 07:11 PM (HW6oD)
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Reaction to the Pirates movie has been very positive, Steve. I'm told it has lots of Grunhilde and the Yacht Club, too.
Posted by: tellu541 at February 22, 2014 10:45 PM (g3Agm)
9
I am considering breaking out the Nausicaa. But "Burn Up" is carefully hid.
Posted by: Brett Bellmore at February 23, 2014 01:34 PM (HGNzm)
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February 11, 2014
Well, it was fun while it lasted
I'm glad it's taking it's time melting. When we get snow and a snap-thaw, then we get flooding. And that isn't fun at all.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Daily Life at
05:18 PM
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Nothing left but a lonely snowman...
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at February 12, 2014 10:30 AM (+rSRq)
2
I think the snow that left you is heading for Brickmuppet....
Posted by: Siergen at February 12, 2014 02:11 PM (c2+vA)
3
The snowman made me think of an Elmer's Glue bottle. At least at lower resolution.
Posted by: Mauser at February 13, 2014 01:32 AM (TJ7ih)
4
Interesting that someone made a Japanese-style two-snowball snowman (yukidaruma), rather than an American-style three-snowball one, right in front of the anime-blogger's residence.
Posted by: Mikeski at February 13, 2014 09:50 PM (Zlc1W)
5
I think he just ran out of snow. There wasn't actually all that much.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at February 13, 2014 11:23 PM (+rSRq)
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February 06, 2014
Join the fun!
Well, everyone else has been having fun with the snow this winter, so now I guess it's our turn. They say 3-5 inches of accumulation by tonight, and we're probably not going above freezing until Sunday.
Also gusting winds, so maybe some drifting? Should be amusing.
By the way, it is snowing now.
It just began.
UPDATE: This will be the first time since I moved back that we've gotten snow that actually sticks around for a while.
UPDATE:
OK, that's more like it!
Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Daily Life at
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1
The DFW area had snow today too.
We've had stuff that stuck around several times in the past 15 years, so that's different from where you are.
Posted by: Mark A. Flacy at February 06, 2014 01:06 PM (i1KFF)
2
Gonna do any duck or beaver tracking in all fresh snow?
Posted by: Siergen at February 06, 2014 02:42 PM (c2+vA)
3
The beavers are dead. (They brought in a trapper.)
There have been ducks and geese out swimming in the creek all day. But with the kind of wind we're getting, tracks will get covered. We'll see how it looks tomorrow.
(There's no way I'm going out there, however.)
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at February 06, 2014 03:05 PM (+rSRq)
4
They say 3-5 inches of accumulation by tonight, and we're probably not going above freezing until Sunday.
Awww,
that's so cute!
Posted by: Wonderduck at February 06, 2014 06:56 PM (OcKnz)
5
It's "ocean effect". We're less than a hundred miles from the Pacific, and all our weather blows in off the water. It keeps us relatively warm in the winter (usually mid 40's) and relatively cool in the summer (80's), most of the time. If you look at a climate map, there's a very temperate strip that runs right up the coast to BC because of it.
The effect stops with the Cascade Mountains, and east of there weather is about what you'd expect for the latitude.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at February 06, 2014 07:07 PM (+rSRq)
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February 04, 2014
Bachelor Chef -- hash browns
I cook up a bag at a time, which is four servings for me. The bags are usually frozen solid, but I finally figured out that putting the entire unopen bag into the microwave for a minute breaks it up without fully melting the potatoes.
So I melt a quarter stick of butter in my fry pan, and then pour all the potatoes in:
And then I liberally salt it.
I use the timer in my phone and get up to turn them every 3 minutes. Initially the stove is set to medium heat (to melt the butter) but after I put in the potatoes I raise it to between medium-high and high.
They cook down nicely and brown up:
This batch is done. Now to put them in a refrigerator box:
And here's my favorite breakfast:
Three extra-large eggs scrambled, a quarter of a bag of hashbrowns, and a chocolate chip muffin. Yum! That's usually enough to get me through to dinner.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Daily Life at
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I found that with age I started to lean more on greens. Still love a breakfast like pictured (I also add bacon), but only once in a while.
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at February 05, 2014 08:15 AM (RqRa5)
2
Are those browner than they actually appear? They look pretty pale still, unlike what you'd get at a restaurant.
Posted by: RickC at February 05, 2014 10:20 AM (swpgw)
3
No, that's about accurate. If you keep cooking them, they start burning. Also, the texture changes, for the worse IMHO. (And since I'm the guy eating them, it's my decision.)
I've tried experimenting with different amounts of cooking, and on this particular batch I tried a shorter cooking time.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at February 05, 2014 11:36 AM (+rSRq)
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I've always pushed the "fry until they're nothing but crispy bits" end of the envelope, with a chopped onion and can of corned beef mixed in, but it's absolutely a matter of taste. And doing it that way does kind of require standing at the stove for about an hour, spatula in hand. So I only make them on Saturday mornings, for the family.
Forget that bread maker I never use, I want a hash browns maker, to have them ready when I wake on work days, instead of just on weekends. That's an appliance I'd buy in a heartbeat.
Posted by: Brett Bellmore at February 05, 2014 02:18 PM (HGNzm)
5
Nice. I've given up breakfast foods in general for milk + carnation
chocolate breakfast mix. I'm eating too many calories in a day (I eat
like an 18 year old...and I'm 37.)
How do you get your scrambled eggs like that? I either end up too runny or overdone.
Also, do the hash browns stay somewhat crispy that way?
Posted by: Tom Tjarks at February 05, 2014 02:29 PM (T5fuR)
6
Brett, what I found was that I could make a big batch of hash browns and microwave a small part when I wanted to eat them.
Tom, I don't know how to answer your question about the eggs. Part of it is to get the heat setting right. If it's low then they cook slowly and you can get them off the stove before they turn to rubber. If they're runny, you need to keep cooking. Anyway, after long experience I've learned how to set my stove properly.
Also, stir constantly as long as they're in the pan.
The hash browns are not crispy, nor do I want them to be. That's probably possible if I let them cook longer, but when you do that the shreds break down and it's like having mashed potatoes with a crust.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at February 05, 2014 02:42 PM (+rSRq)
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Oh, and I can't do milk any more. It give me terrifically terrible gas.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at February 05, 2014 02:43 PM (+rSRq)
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Alas, they never seem as crispy once they've been in the fridge, unless you refry them. Not a problem, of course, if you're not looking for crispy in the first place...
Wonder if there'd be enough of a market for a corned beef hash machine, to justify developing one? Probably not.
Posted by: Brett Bellmore at February 05, 2014 04:13 PM (HGNzm)
9
I favor a bit more "brown" in my hash-browns. I probably get that from my mom's cooking; I do not recall her getting even close to under-cooking anything...
Posted by: Siergen at February 05, 2014 04:24 PM (c2+vA)
10
Tom, another thing that helps is to use the right tool when stirring (constantly) the eggs. I use a silicone spatula rather than a pancake flipper.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at February 05, 2014 04:47 PM (+rSRq)
11
Tom: In lieu of developing actual kitchen skills like our gracious host, I've found that mixing in a little water (I don't know, about a teaspoon per egg? Experiment) makes scrambled eggs
really hard to overcook.
Posted by: benzeen at February 05, 2014 08:49 PM (w1Fue)
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