Hi Loan How are you?
Lets get Dim Sum today.
Me | Comments (0) | words in this post
TiVo Desktop Works with OS X 10.4.2
In case you didn't already know, the latest Mac OS X Tiger upgrade to 10.4.2 fixes the TiVo Desktop. Once again you can stream you Music and Photos to your TiVo. If you haven't already done so, upgrade to 10.4.2 via Software Update, and install TiVo Desktop 1.9.1.
TiVo | Comments (0) | words in this post
Japanese Weenie Art
If you have ever been amazed at how they make those amazing presentations with sushi, here's your chance to learn.
Links | Comments (1) | words in this post
ESOL
West Virginia has finally got with the program, the geniuses confirm that english is the best choice for an official language.
Random | Comments (3) | words in this post
Gmail Upgrade
I just checked my Gmail account and noticed they upgraded from 1 gig to 2. They also gave me 50 invites!
Anyone got a good joke? I'll trade an account for a good one. Try to keep them kinda clean.
Tech | Comments (0) | words in this post
My Last Penny
This weekend I spent my very last penny. Don't worry I'm not broke, so don't send money (or do if you want to), I just finally got rid of the huge pile of pennies that has been haunting me for the last several years.
To explain better I have to give you a little background. In a time long-long ago I used to keep all of my change in my car. As I went to a drive thru, car wash, or other driving related activity, I would use up my change paying for things. I was at symbiosis with my normal change collection process throughout the rest of my day. Eventually I gave up my car and no longer had the outlet for using up my change. It began to pile up in drawers, on the kitchen counter, next to the bed, anywhere that was convenient to throw down coins. It started to become a big mess, as well as an expensive habit.
One day I decided I was going to make a conscious effort to get rid of all of that change. I could take it to the grocery store and cash it at one of those coin machines, but that seemed like cheating. I could also roll it up and take it to the bank, but that seemed like too much coordination. I decided to get rid of the change the old fashioned way... spend it.
It has taken several years to get rid of all the change. To make the system work I had to make a game out of it. Every time I left the house I would fill my pocket with some assorted change, whenever possible I would use up all of the smaller coins and then the larger ones. After a while I even developed the perfect assortment coins that would yield the best reduction in amount of coins, with the least weight in my pocket, and as many payment options as possible. It actually became such a habit that if I could get rid of nine pennies in one shot I was so excited I might come home and load up on more for the rest of the day.
It is very satisfying being free from the coins that cluttered my life. I almost feel like a smoker who just had their last cigarette, an drug addict who just had their last hit, or a college student who just payed off their last credit card bill. I will remember this experience for the rest of my days and never let the change pile up again.
Me | Comments (2) | words in this post
Play with the Devil
After spending the better part of this morning searching Amazon for that perfect new kitchen gadget, I was really in the mood to go in the kitchen and get creative. Since PeaPod also made a delivery this morning there was additional options to contemplate than on an average day.
First I thought I would run the bread machine. I haven't run that guy in years, but I ordered way too many eggs and was looking for a chance to use them up before they started going bad. I have the machine running in "dough mode" right now that will turn into garlic French baguette later on this evening.
Realizing that I was really only going to use two eggs in the bread endeavor, I decided some deviled eggs would be perfect. It's also been a while since I had to boil the things, so I thought it would be best to look up the proper timing for the eggs to cook. Naturally I reference my trusty Joy of Cooking where I saw ingredients that amazed and enticed at the same time.
The recipe had yolk moistening options like sour creme, french dressing or even butter with lemon juice and sugar. I opted for pickle juice, dijon mustard, kosher salt, and paprika. Next came the fun part, usually you see paprika sprinkled on top of the eggs, but "Joy" had some other more exotic ideas.
First I tried Worcestershire sauce. It was pretty good. Then I tried ketchup, not as good. As I looked through my pantry for some other ideas I saw a bottle of Tabasco. I thought "people like this stuff on eggs", so I tried it. That was too spicy for me, but I also had a bottle of Tabasco's evil twin - Tobasco Chipotle Pepper Sauce. That was it, perfect. It has a hint of spicy along with a rich smoky flavor. I can't believe I haven't heard of this before.
Moral of the story, experiment with your devils, if you mess one up there's plenty more where that came from.
Me | Comments (4) | words in this post
Cold Birds
Last fall you got to see the tree outside my window changing into it's yellow fall colors. This morning, the tree's trunk put on it's white winter couture.
We got a couple of inches of the white stuff last night, and the snow is still trickling down, but the temperature is rising just above 32° so it probably won't stick around for too long. I was just laying back checking out the snow, when I noticed these birds sitting out there.
I thought they were supposed to fly South for the winter.
Weather | Comments (1) | words in this post
Grey Whales of Anacapa
Today we took a boat trip out to Anacapa Island to see the annual southern migration of the pacific grey whales. The day was really nice, around 70°, and there were very few people willing to drive down for the tour due to the recent mudslides in the area. It made for an excellent day of whale watching in the channel islands.
We saw about 12 to 18 whales, including a rare family group of six, but It's hard to tell exactly how many whales saw because once they dive under water, they call that sounding, you can't tell if it's the same whale that comes back up. The captain said we were not allowed to drive closer than about 100 yards from the whales, but I think we got closer than that. I'm not so sure that we really wanted to get that close though because when the whales come up to breathe they send out a huge gasp of air at 300 miles per hour, their breath is apparently the worst thing you ever experienced, smelling like dead rotting fish.
After about 2 hours of checking out the whales, we got a bonus trip around Anacapa Island to pick up one of the park rangers who had been stationed there. The island is home to very large populations of Brown Pelicans as well as other seabirds. Most of the cliffs where the birds hang out were so covered in poop that it looked like it had snowed recently. Lastly was a group of six harbor seals spotted sunning themselves on the beach.
Me | Comments (2) | words in this post
Christmas Ham
The 8lb ham I got for Christmas has taken many different forms over the last week. First there was just plain spiral ham with it's smokey molasses goodness, but that got boring. Next came omelets with diced ham and onions, sandwiches, and now soup.
You can see the ham right there, next to his friends carrot, bay leaf and corn. There's also a ton of onions, great northern beans, and celery under there. It's almost done, so I'm off to toast up some Italian bread and serve up a big steaming bowl for myself.