Fallenmonk

Gorgonzola Pita and Pressure Cooked Eggs

2012-02-16T12:23:00.000-05:00

I don't why I haven't tried it before but I haven't until today. Got home from the gym hungry but not starving and just wanted a light bite. Rummaged in the fridge and found a whole wheat pita and some Gorgonzola left over from the great pasta the other night. Split the pita and sprinkled a little cheese on one half (not much maybe a 1/4 cup) and put the other half on top. Put in on a hot grill pan brushed with a little olive oil and grilled it on both sides until the cheese melted and there was a little crispness to the bread. Cut it into 6 triangles and ta-da! I must say it makes a tasty little snack. I'm sure you could kick this up with a little fresh spinach or arugula but plain is just fine. I wonder why I never thought of a grilled blue cheese sandwich before! The little wedges would make nice snacks for a party as well.

Now I am off to find a small pressure cooker. I have a big one but I need one in the 5 or 6 liter size. Mark Ruhlman had a post today (by guest Laura Pazzaglia who lives in Italy and blogs at hippressurecooking.com). On how to cook eggs in a pressure cooker. I love hard cooked eggs but since I buy very fresh eggs and they don't hang around long I almost always have trouble peeling them without ravaging them somewhat. Using a pressure cooker is supposed to eliminate the problems of peeling hard cooked fresh eggs. It is also faster than the method I use currently which is bringing the eggs to the simmer and then turning off the heat and let them sit for 13 minutes before rapidly cooling. This method eliminates the eggs getting too hot and developing the unappealing green ring around the yolk. I shall report on whether pressure cooker does the deed.

Oh! If you follow the Mark Ruhlman link above Laura also gives a method of making
Oeufs En Cocotte which is a great alternative to the fried, poached, scrambled dilemma and something I love but never think of when trying to decide how to have my eggs.

Darn Early

2012-02-15T10:32:00.000-05:00

Just got back from Madam's little cataract surgery with no problems. I would just like to know why surgery is scheduled at such early hours. We had to be there at 645a and since it is all the way inside the Perimeter off of I-75 we had to leave the house at 545a. I will note that there is not much traffic at that time of day. All's well that ends well but there might be an afternoon nap in the offing.

No More Seal Hunt In Canada

2012-02-11T11:46:00.000-05:00

After years of struggle by people horrified by the cruelty and waste that surrounded the Canadian seal hunt it appears that environmental pressures and the lack of market for seal pelts has finally ended the yearly tragedy. That will be my happy thought for the day.

Back to Work

2012-02-11T10:47:00.000-05:00

A good two days off but I start back today 1230p til 915p and worse I'm scheduled for returns which really sucks. To top it off I have to back at 745a Sunday. Best case I'll get to bed by 1030p tonight and have to roll out Sunday morning no later than 5a. Not looking forward to the weekend needless to say.
Everybody have a safe and happy weekend. If you are of a mind try the pasta recipe below as it was fabulous, especially with the fresh made spaghetti. Just note that you should be prepared to add a nice dose of the pasta water to the dish or it will gum up quickly as the cheese and pasta cool.

Change In Plans

2012-02-10T10:28:00.000-05:00

I grandly announced yesterday that I was going to fry some chicken today but Flavor of Italy published a recipe this morning that changed my mind. I love blue cheese and Gorgonzola is high on my list. Spaghetti with Gorgonzola Sage Sauce. It's so simple it is bound to be good and with nothing but butter, sage and Gorgonzola how can it be bad?

Here's what you need, to serve one person:

Spaghetti, 100 grams
Gorgonzola cheese, 60 grams
Butter, 20 grams
Sage leaves (fresh), 5 finely chopped
Parmesan cheese, grated

While your spaghetti is cooking in boiling, salted water prepare your sauce. Put the ingredients in a saucepan and cook until hot and sizzling. Done!
Drain the pasta and reserve some of the cooking water. Toss the spaghetti in the Gorgonzola sauce. If it's not creamy enough add a tiny amount of the cooking water.
If you wish you can sprinkle the pasta with grated Parmesan cheese. I don't as the sauce is so rich and tasty it really doesn't need it.
Note that there's no salt in the recipe. Gorgonzola is naturally salty so it's quite unnecessary.

This is the menu for tonight with a salad of baby greens from the greenhouse and some fresh made ciabatta. I'm hungry already and all I need to do is stop and get some Gorgonzola and decide whether to make fresh pasta or use the dried stuff. I have the day off so fresh is definitely a possiblity.

Oh, and if you need a lesson on making fresh pasta you can get a nice pictorial from Flavor of Italy as well by going here. It is very simple, the recipe for pasta is simple: 100 grams of flour + 1 egg = 1 portion of pasta. In spite of what you might see in fresh pasta recipes there is no oil or water or salt. The only trick is learning when the dough is right and the lesson linked above does a good job. Even though I have a good Italian made manual pasta machine you don't need one if you have a rolling pin and good place to roll out the dough. Just divide the dough into batches small enough to handle easily.

Much Ado About Nothing

2012-02-10T08:38:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Mother Jones for pointing out that all this flap about President Obama’s “unprecedented assault on America’s religious freedoms” by requiring church-related hospitals and universities to cover contraception at the federal level has actually been on the books for, oh, about 12 years now.

That's right

In December 2000, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ruled that companies that provided prescription drugs to their employees but didn’t provide birth control were in violation of Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which prevents discrimination on the basis of sex. That opinion, which the George W. Bush administration did nothing to alter or withdraw when it took office the next month, is still in effect today—and because it relies on Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, it applies to all employers with 15 or more employees. Employers that don’t offer prescription coverage or don’t offer insurance at all are exempt, because they treat men and women equally—but under the EEOC’s interpretation of the law, you can’t offer other preventative care coverage without offering birth control coverage, too.

The wingnuts are so uninformed about the real world it just makes you want to crawl away and hide.

H/T Balloon Juice

Meat Loaf

2012-02-09T17:05:00.000-05:00

I have developed a urge for meat loaf and I will make it for dinner tonight. Madam is not a fan but she is not here and it will a done deal before she gets home. I had to run get some ground chuck but I already had some ground veal and pork in the freezer so I am good. You never know there might also be mashed potatoes (I'm not a fan but Madam likes them) to balance and of course there has to be some Dixie butter peas.
I fortunately fought off the urge for buttermilk fried chicken (mostly because I didn't have time to properly brine the chicken ) but the meat loaf wouldn't go away.

I basically use my recipe for meatballs (add Dijon mustard,Tabasco and Worcestershire sauce)and just make a giant meatball which I cook like a loaf of bread on a sheet pan instead of in a loaf pan as you get a better crust and not as much fat. Sauteed onions, fresh parsley, garlic, 2 eggs, bread soaked in milk, tomato paste, a bit of oregano, a dollop of plain Greek yogurt, olive oil, black pepper, salt, Dijon mustard, Tabasco, and Worcestershire sauce with a pound of ground chuck and a half pound each of ground veal and ground pork. 350F for an hour. If you like you can glaze the loaf with a mixture of half catchup and brown sugar about halfway through the cooking.

If I stop and get a chicken on my way home from my haircut first thing in the morning I will have enough time to brine it properly and fried chicken could be on the menu for tomorrow night.

As you can see I have two straight days off this week and I need some kitchen therapy.

Better Big Blue Marble

2012-02-09T14:20:00.000-05:00

NASA has a new earth image available. It is very high definition and was created from multiple earth passes on January 4th of this year. It's a very cool picture.

You might also note the lack of snow cover over the U.S. for a January day. Just sayin'.

It Ain't All Bad

2012-02-09T13:56:00.000-05:00

For all those who insist that government regulation is bad and always a failure there is this little bit of good news.

The amount of trans fat in the American bloodstream fell by more than half after the Food and Drug Administration required food manufacturers to label how much of the unhealthful ingredient is in their products, according to a new study.

Blood levels of trans fat declined 58 percent from 2000 to 2008. FDA began requiring trans-fat labeling in 2003. During the same period several parts of the country — New York most famously — passed laws limiting trans fats in restaurant food and cooking. The makers of processed food also voluntarily replaced trans fats with less harmful oils.

The decline, unusually big and abrupt, strongly suggests government regulation was effective in altering a risk factor for heart disease for a broad swath of the population.

Pepper,Pepper

2012-02-02T19:39:00.000-05:00

Ok, 19 varieties of peppers in flats and now beginning to react to the moisture. It is truly a miracle that a small little flake of stuff will awaken, answer the program Mother Nature left in its DNA and start the cycle of life once again. I never get tired of the show. Some cool heirlooms in the mix this year and it just tickles me to no end to know that these seeds have been gathered, protected and replanted year after year to preserve their unique qualities. Two of the strains I started today started their journey in Italy, who knows how long ago. I have now stepped up and will add my small bit to their history.

Oh Boy! The Seeds Have Come

2012-02-02T10:47:00.000-05:00

My two largest seeds orders came yesterday whilst I was at work. A nice surprise to come home to. I'll do my duty and get an hour or so at the gym this morning since I have a day off but the rest of the day will be dedicated to getting the first seeds of the spring into their little containers. Peppers are the first phase since they will take about 8 weeks to be ready for the outside. Lots of peppers and some new varieties especially two new Italian heirloom sweet peppers and all the regulars as well. Also, I snagged some seed from Seed Savers for an heirloom red habanero to add to my traditional orange. Still a few weeks away from getting all the tomatoes started but I'm looking forward to some new heirlooms. Seed Savers offered a collection this year of all the tomatoes that have won their annual taste test over the last few years. Can't wait...I can almost feel the juice running down my chin! Cherokee Purple hasn't won the taste test and I am looking forward to trying a tomato that could taste better than a Cherokee fresh from the vine and still warm from the sun. Don't worry I will have Cherokee's in the garden as usual as well.

It is also time to get the onions started as well. This year I am going for class and will start cippollini from seed. They are very expensive in the market and they are a brilliant fresh onion and we won't even mention them roasted in olive oil. Of course, I will also start the leeks from seed as well and this year we will try the heirloom variety Lincoln. I still have probably a bushel or more of leeks from last years planting still in the garden. Rather too many than not enough.

Candlemas, Imbolc, Brigid's Day

2012-02-01T10:52:00.003-05:00

A blessed Candlemas, Imbolc, Brigid's Day to you. For those of you unfamiliar with this special day it is considered the "morning of the year" when we begin to awaken in the dawn of a new cycle of birth and growth. We revere Brigid the Summoner of Spring, the Radiant Flame of Gold.

May Brigid bring you a new cycle of creativity and growth.

My thanks to Joanna Powell Colbert for pointing me to the video.

Hotter and Hotter

2012-01-31T09:50:00.000-05:00

It's the last day of January and from everything I can see in the meteorological news this January has been the hottest since we've been keeping records. It's supposed to be 64F today here in Atlanta.
Eight of the warmest years on record have occurred since 2000 and November, December 2011 and now this January will mark the warmest 3 month stretch ever recorded.... But Al Gore is still a little heavy.

It Takes All Of Us

2012-01-29T21:23:00.000-05:00

What you are seeing in Oakland is just a preview of coming events. If we don't see any outrage then all the pain and suffering will be for naught. It doesn't take much...just a blog post or an email to the editor of the local fish wrapper. Even better a call or fax to your reps in the Senate and Congress. It won't help but at least they will know we are paying attention.

Saturday Sin

2012-01-28T10:34:00.000-05:00

I woke up this morning with a "need" for a hot biscuit. While fresh/hot buttermilk biscuits with Kerry Gold butter and homemade apple butter are quite sinful on their own I also added country ham and crisp thick bacon. Madam extended hers with the addition of local honey. I only ate two but they were what is known down South as "cat head" biscuits. That should keep me satisfied for a few weeks....maybe.

"Pink Slime" Loses

2012-01-28T10:27:00.000-05:00

Unless you have been a devotee of Jamie Oliver (I'm a huge fan of his shows and technique/attitude) you probably weren't aware that McDonald's (and Burger King) use a product that is a blend of "off cuts" and ammonium hydroxide to extend their burger in the U.S. Jamie labeled it "pink slime" and McDonald's has finally agreed to remove it from the their hamburger. It is only used in the U.S. (UK, Irish and European MickyD's get their beef from local suppliers.) The reality is it only raises the cost of the burger a penny or so, so why not get pure beef? No word on the fate of "pink slime" from Burger King.

An aside: If you haven't watched Jamie's show on the Food Channel (6pm weekdays on my cable) then you should. Not only is he a very creative cook but he often gathers the food from his own garden and shows you how to make the most of it. Simple but very good cooking. He is fun to watch as well.

All Done

2012-01-25T10:15:00.000-05:00

Finally got all my seed ordered yesterday for the summer garden. Just the first step but a step. Not much new stuff except some new heirloom tomatoes from Seed Savers and a few new pepper varieties. Saved quite a bit of seed from last year so the financial hit wasn't too bad this year only about 150 bucks but that includes the 20 bucks for sweet potato plants and a lot of the seed was organic and a little more expensive.
Four straight days of work starting today at 11a which means I won't get any real time off until the weekend. It starts off badly with 11a to 8p today and then 8a to 5p tomorrow. Nice weather though and that is good since I am scheduled for the outside garden both days.
Play nice.

Not In The South

2012-01-23T17:04:00.000-05:00

I don't know why everyone is so surprised that Mitt Romney lost South Carolina and why he is already trailing in the polls in Florida. He is a Mormon and from infancy a whole bunch of Southerners have been told over and over that Mormonism is a cult just like Scientology or Jehovah's Witnesses and just as evil as Paganism/Wicca. It is a regular theme in the Bible belt and they believe it with all their black little hearts. It ranks right up there with "black people are lazy and shiftless". There is no way in hell that a Mormon is going to get a vote from one of these Southern Baptist or Church of God types. They have no trouble at all overlooking Newt's serial infidelity even though it is one of the BIG 10. They have no trouble overlooking his ball faced lies which again is one of the BIG 10. They don't even blink about the Catholic part. We are going to wind up with Newt winning the Southern states and Romney the Northern states and there will be a full blown Civil War at the convention.

Bumper Sticker

2012-01-23T16:50:00.002-05:00

I spotted an interesting bumper sticker on the way home a while ago...

If we all stop voting...will they all go away?

The Race For Bat Shit Crazy HQ

2012-01-21T21:46:00.000-05:00

I always considered Texas(sorry Steve) the HQ of bat shit crazy but I was obviously misguided. South Carolina has now given Newty the nod for Prez which confirms that they are truly the HQ. While the zombie from Bain will probably wind up with the nomination in the end it does give one pause to imagine "President Newt". I know the late Molly Ivins considered her beloved Texas a wellspring of bat shit crazy and she is surely looking down and laughing hysterically as the Palmetto state challenges the Lone Star state for the title.

Just as an aside, I have met Mr. Gingrich a few times and my very reliable 'radar' effected a rather strong dislike upon shaking hands. It doesn't happen very often that I immediately dislike someone on first contact but it surely and strongly did on each occasion. I should add that I had the same reaction to my Congressman Dr. Tom Price on the multiple occasions we have met. It is also, most assuredly, not because they are Rethuglicans as I have a number of Rethuglican friends that are actually quite pleasant as long as you keep the conversation away from anything even closely political or (Goddess forbid) liberal. Many of them still even talk to me whilst knowing that I am a DFH.

Bad Dreams

2012-01-20T21:43:00.000-05:00

I need to get to bed but I really, really need the Goddess to grant me a small boon before I retire. Please gracious lady don't let me dream that Newt is the GOP nominee for Prez. I am not sure I can stand 10 months of his bile. Then again what are the options? I think the Lost Bunny of the Apocalypse would be the best choice...all things considered.

Effective

2012-01-20T16:08:00.000-05:00

It looks like the blackout/strike was successful a both bills were put on indefinite hold today. There is power in the people when properly focused.

No Politics

2012-01-15T21:06:00.000-05:00

You will have noticed that I am not getting embroiled, excited, upset, angry or impassioned of the current circle jerk of GOP politics. I will wind up voting for Mr. Obama because he offers at least some hope of change. Granted it hasn't happened but there are valid reasons for why it hasn't. Patience. There is also no redeeming value in the entire GOP contingent of clowns and I just don't have the energy to erase thenm from my reality. I will do my best to ignore them and understand that I do so at my peril.
Believe this and use it to judge your choices:

If one leader had true wisdom.

They'd quit.

Pleasant Surprise

2012-01-15T20:34:00.000-05:00

We had all intentions of spending Sunday afternoon sort of chilled and maybe doing a few things that needed doing. Unfortunately, a friend has come down with the flu (he's a retired doctor and that's his diagnosis) asked if we wanted the tickets to a play this afternoon since he wasn't going anywhere. We happily accepted and spent a nice afternoon at the Arts Center here in town watching the Georgia Ensemble Theater's production of "Becky's New Car". The fact that our friends are also patrons of the theater meant that we had excellent seats which was a real plus. Not all of the productions of the GET are to my liking but this one was a lovely little play and the cast, especially the lead were superb.
It is so nice to have friends that think of you when there is something like this.
Yeah, I had to shower and shave and put on proper clothes but it was worth it.

Seeds and Stuff

2012-01-14T16:36:00.000-05:00

Finally have worked through the seed catalogs and I think I have everything identified that I need to order. Some from Park, some from Seeds of Change, some from a few other sources like Traditional and The Cook's Garden. Trying to decide what not to plant(cause I want to plant everything) is difficult enough but then you have to decide on variety...which is especially bad when it comes to peppers and tomatoes. I lean toward the heirlooms but I also need to have some variety.

I just took my sourdough baguettes out of the oven and they don't look too bad...not as much oven spring as I anticipated with such a wet dough but we'll see what the crumb looks like when they cool. I do think trying the same technique with a regular yeast poolish is worth a try. I like the "no knead" aspect of the stretch and fold method and it makes great ciabatta so a little more experimentation is worth the effort. Yes, I already make a great baguette with a combo of yeast and sourdough but you never know when you will stumble on an even better method.

The pot roast is simmering away and filling the house with all kinds of good smells mixed with the fresh baked bread aroma. I'm getting hungry!

Purged the canned stuff today as well. Everything from 2009 went into the compost and there were a lot of pickles...I definitely need to step up the pickle consumption around here. I did take one batch of last year's apple sauce that Madam deemed too thin and am turning it into apple butter.

All in all a pretty productive day off and I have another tomorrow!

Winter Finally

2012-01-13T10:32:00.000-05:00

It's actually snowing this morning in Atlanta. Not expecting any accumulation but it is nice to see some winter finally. Got the day off and have already gotten my haircut and am off to the gym for a good workout. Nice wintery day so it might be pot roast for dinner. Madam has a lunch with the girls thing today so she might put the kibosh on a big dinner but we'll see. I might finally get the time today to get all my seed ordered for the spring. There will be some bread baking today though. Going to try a new method for baguettes using a very high hydration and no kneading(just stretch and fold) and a long slow fermentation with only sour dough(aka wild yeast) for leavening. I make ciabatta with a similar technique (stretch and fold) but I use commercial yeast and a regular fermentation and it comes out nice. The wild yeast only and the long fermentation out to give some nice flavor and the high hydration ought to give a very open crumb. We'll report.

TJ's Marinated Bean Salad

2012-01-09T14:31:00.000-05:00

I got pretty close in recreating the discontinued Trader Joe's marinated bean salad. The recipe could use some minor tweaks but it is good as it is. Any suggestions welcome.

1 15 oz. can each of kidney, garbanzo, and pinto or other light bean such as cannellini rinsed and left to drain in a colander.
In the bowl of your food processor mince 2 cloves of garlic and half of a medium onion. Add the juice of two lemons and a half cup of extra virgin olive oil and a handful of parsley leaves. Whir this up for a couple of seconds and add a teaspoon of sugar, a teaspoon of kosher salt, a teaspoon of dried oregano, and a teaspoon of dried thyme. Pulse a couple of times to blend and then (in a non reactive bowl) pour this marinade over the beans and stir to coat the beans. Refrigerate overnight and then serve at room temperature. Like I said this is close to the canned version TJ's used to carry and which I sorely miss.

Day Off

2012-01-05T15:04:00.000-05:00

Whew! Finally a day off. Been to the gym. Baked two loaves of sourdough. Got a pot of pinto beans with the scraps from my Honey Baked ham simmering away. Finally getting caught up on what is going on in the world. Still have to do more research and order my seeds and I also need to get a Penzey's order together as I am almost out of black pepper. The last two weeks have been way too much and thank goodness next week is down to a more reasonable 20 hours. I can live with that.
Next project is to try an recreate Trader Joes marinated bean salad. The jerks have discontinued it ( a couple of months ago) and I just used the last can I was hoarding yesterday. You can buy other canned bean salads but all of them have green beans which I don't care for canned. The Trader Joes is just kidney, garbanzo and Roman or pinto beans in a nice marinade. I think I can get close with a lemon/olive oil vinaigrette, a bit of garlic and onion and chopped parsley. I bought the oragnic canned beans the other day so we'll make a pass at it and work from there. I've searched the tubes and found nothing so I will have to do it myself. I'll post the recipe if I get close enough as there are a lot of fans of the product judging from the internet postings and gripes about it being discontinued.

Not Really So Bad

2012-01-01T16:25:00.000-05:00

Here is a post that is worth reading entitled: President Obama: A Radical Liberal Moderate Conservative Socialist Corporate Stooge?

Here is the great line in the last paragraph...

...the next bill the President needs to sign, aimed at Congressional Republicans, is the Cut the Crap Act; Republicans won’t out-game this president, and he seems ready to let them know it.

While I can say that I was expecting a "little" more change from Mr. Obama I cannot honestly say that he is a failure as many on the left are saying. I mean the man was handed a "bag o' shit" when you boil it down and the reality is that he prevented it from getting a lot more worse. When you consider what he has had to deal with from Congress it is amazing that he has had any successes at all. Just because the "professional left" didn't get all their blue sky dreams answered doesn't mean we haven't made progress. You really have to be a bit pragmatic about it.

May 2012 Be Better

2012-01-01T11:27:00.000-05:00

I missed ringing in 2012 awake but Happy New Year to all. Worked Friday 9a to 6p, did a little dinner party for friends that evening and didn't get to bed until about midnight. Off to work again at 630a until 330p and therefore crashed last night at about 9.
Finally going to get cold around here tonight and it is supposed to be about 20F for the low for the next few days. Not sure it is a long enough cold snap to reduce the insect pests for next year but its a start.
Everyone have a nice relaxing 1st day of the year and don't forget your collards and black-eyed peas for wealth and good luck in the New Year. Even though it is a Presidential election year please keep focused on the positive and if all else fail there is always the Mayan thing.
Cheers!

Winter Excitement

2011-12-28T12:35:00.000-05:00

This time of year we gardeners start getting our seed catalogs for next year. All the 'varieties' and, for the last few years, rediscovered heirlooms. So far the Park's, Seed Savers, Seeds of Change, Jackson Perkins and The Cook's Garden have come. This is first year I have received the last one and I didn't ask for it but it looks like a good one. Lots of organic seeds and varieties you don't see in the regular catalogs.
The Seed Savers Exchange is brilliant again this year and you can't help but want some of everything. All heirloom and some very hard to find varieties. Gardner candy for sure. My lists will be made in the next few weeks and I will have the seeds on order soon after...I need a bigger garden.

Surprise

2011-12-28T12:27:00.000-05:00

The latest news that our elected representatives are richer and that we are poorer is one of those "duh" pieces of news. Why else do they vote to protect the 1% over the 99%? They are part of the 1%...duh!

Happy Christmas

2011-12-24T09:23:00.000-05:00

Happy Christmas everyone!

Even though I have to work from 11a to 5p today I've already gotten a start on things. Up well before light and off to the market to beat the rush. I had settled on a nice brined pork loin but as luck would have it the market only had some prepared ones stuffed with various things like spinach and feta and apples and cranberries. As the Goddess would have it there were some excellent beef rib roasts and were on offer at $9.99 a pound. Picked out a nicely marbled specimen that came in at just under 7 pounds so it is back to my original thought of traditional British fare with roast beef and Yorkshire pudding. We'll also have some grilled asparagus(from Peru unfortunately), proper English style roasted potatoes(par boiled and then roast in oil in a very hot oven), green beans, and fresh bread. Oh! and real gravy for the Yorkshire pudding.
Dessert will offer pumpkin pie and/or pecan pie and any or all of the assorted cookies I just baked.
I picked a nice Claret for the dinner wine and we have Champagne or Prosecco with the dessert.
Everyone but me has decided to go see the new movie War Horse after dinner but I will stay home and baby sit the mini monk's dogs. We might even snack on a bit of left over roasted beast.

Everyone have a lovely holiday and be safe.

It's The Season

2011-12-22T23:03:00.000-05:00

I had to drive out to Tractor Supply this morning to get bird seed and it is out in the country a bit. On the way back it dawned on me why I was feeling a bit down over the upcoming holiday. I needed to make cookies! After a quick stop for some supplies I came home and went into cookie baking hyperdrive. Company's Coming Oatmeal cookies, pecan sandies, old fashioned molasses ginger cookies, pecan and cranberry biscotti and last but not least a big batch of Chex snack mix(my own kicked up recipe of course). Since the oven was still warm from the cookies I even made fresh buttermilk biscuits loaded with Honey Baked ham for dinner. A fine day of baking. I feel much better now. I'm scheduled to work tomorrow and Christmas eve but we are closing at 5pm Christmas eve so I will get to enjoy the holiday. Still haven't settled on the menu for Christmas Day but it is leaning British with a roast prime rib and Yorkshire pudding.

Winter Solstice

2011-12-21T14:01:00.000-05:00

Tonight is the Winter Solstice so take advantage of the triumph by the Sun over darkness to cast your wishes for the coming year and beyond. I don't have to be at work until 3pm today so I managed to get a session in the gym in and I always feel good about that. It has been about three months or so since I started this workout business and I think I can detect some changes. If nothing else I am definitely stronger judging by the increasing weights I can push around.

Today is a "potluck" at the store and since I am coming in late and am sure most everything will be either gone or be well on its way to spoiled, I decided to take something sweet. We'll see how a big tray of sliced panettone goes over with this crowd. Madam waits all year for the season and the panettone. We have gone through two already and there is one more in the queue. While they are sinfully good I need to limit myself to a small slice now and again but a small slice spread with a little marscapone is a very nice treat indeed. A double espresso is brilliant on the side but then so is a cool, bubbly glass of prosecco or champagne.

Enjoy the longest night of the year and now we can look forward to longer days and spring even though it is the first of winter.

What's Over?

2011-12-19T10:01:00.000-05:00

How can the "war" in Iraq be over when we never declared "war" in the first place? Just asking.

Mail Merge Weirdness

2011-12-19T09:55:00.000-05:00

I have been trying to do a mail merge in Word 2010 with my xmas addresses in an Excel 2010 spreadsheet. It refuses to do more than 105 addresses. I recreated the spreadsheet and even reduced it to only the necessary fields (took out phone numbers etc.). I finally had to create a second spreadsheet for the balance of the addresses before I could get all the labels printed. Very strange.
I should say that Word 2010 is pretty easy to use and has a lot more power than older versions. I created the entire newsletter in no time with pictures and everything. Almost like they rolled all the stuff that used to be in Publisher into Word.

Not So Exciting

2011-12-19T09:49:00.000-05:00

When you sit down to do your Christmas newsletter and can't fill a page you know you need to rev it up a little. This was a very quiet year. Madam got a new knee. I worked. We gardened. Everybody is in pretty good shape for the shape they are in.

Not A Problem

2011-12-13T17:03:00.000-05:00

You can read the details here at Digby's place but in a nutshell, the Russians studying the East Siberian Ice Shelf are reporting massive up-wellings of methane gas from underneath the ice shelf. In a sane world this news would shock and dismay most people but in the world we are living in such tragic news doesn't even hit the papers in the U.S. It should be a headline.
Why the concern? Methane, in the near term, is 72 times more effective at trapping heat that CO2 which means that we are all going to be closer to the beach in the very near future. Well, some of us might have to tread water for awhile but you can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs.
Besides our leaders have to resolve all the problems around gays in the military and how to keep us 99% a little more timid. Expect some really "good shit" in the tap water soon.

Newt and Palestine

2011-12-12T08:53:00.000-05:00

As unusual as it is, Newt is partially correct in stating that Palestine is a "made up state" but also, as usual, he leaves out some facts that most Americans either don't know or choose not to remember. True...Palestine didn't exist before 1920 when it was created as a "pseudo state" by Britain in breaking up the Ottoman Empire. There is no distinct Palestinian language and history and effectively they are Arabs just like most of their neighbors. By the same token Israel is a "made up state" as well. It was created in 1947 when the UN decided to partition Palestine and create the state of Israel. You could say that the "Palestinian state" predates the state of Israel.
It should also never be forgotten that Israel would not exist today were it not for the billions and billions of dollars(in cold hard cash and military aid) pumped into it by the U.S. since its founding. Israel never has been able to stand on its own two feet and probably never will. The harsh reality is that Israel is somewhat of a rogue state and its actions with respect to the Palestinians are in violation of numerous UN sanctions and the Geneva Conventions.

Make It Stop

2011-12-09T08:06:00.000-05:00

Hours are up at my "part time" job and in some ways that is good. I'm off again this morning but the real problem is the music. Hour after hour, day after day of the same loop of pablum Xmas music. The same songs over and over. The really horrible part is that you find yourself humming along and realize that your "soul" is gradually dissipating into a plastic tree forest with days more of the pain immediately ahead. It's going to be a long haul.

All You Need to Know

2011-12-06T16:52:00.000-05:00

All you really need to know about the Republican's amongst you is that they now consider Newt the best they have to offer for the presidency. It's very sad.

Need Fast Ship

2011-12-06T16:49:00.000-05:00

It's very exciting to hear that scientists have found a new planet that appears to be very earth like and it is only 600 light years away. We should be putting every spare penny into the FTL (faster than light) spaceship research because we are going to need to get the hell out of here real soon.

Global emissions of carbon dioxide from fossil-fuel burning jumped by the largest amount on record last year, upending the notion that the brief decline during the recession might persist through the recovery.

Emissions rose 5.9 percent in 2010, according to an analysis released Sunday by the Global Carbon Project, an international collaboration of scientists tracking the numbers. Scientists with the group said the increase, a half-billion extra tons of carbon pumped into the air, was almost certainly the largest absolute jump in any year since the Industrial Revolution, and the largest percentage increase since 2003.

The increase solidified a trend of ever-rising emissions that scientists fear will make it difficult, if not impossible, to forestall severe climate change in coming decades.

What A Pain

2011-12-02T15:47:00.000-05:00

Another 4 hour shift at you know where this evening (4:45-8:45)...what a pain and what a way to ruin what has been a pretty productive day. Good two hour workout, more computer recovery, etc. The silver lining, as it were, is that I am scheduled for the outside garden and not returns. Thank the Goddess!

You Want Rights? Show Me The Money

2011-12-02T15:44:00.000-05:00

Governor Walker needs to be educated on exactly what the word 'abridged' means.

Gov. Scott Walker’s administration could hold demonstrators at the Capitol liable for the cost of extra police or cleanup and repairs after protests, under a new policy unveiled Thursday.

The rules, which several legal experts said raised serious free speech concerns, seemed likely to add to the controversy that has simmered all year over demonstrations in the state’s seat of government.

The policy, which also requires permits for events at the statehouse and other state buildings, took effect Thursday and will be phased in by Dec. 16. Walker administration officials contend the policy simply clarifies existing rules. State law already says public officials may issue permits for the use of state facilities, and applicants “shall be liable to the state . . . for any expense arising out of any such use and for such sum as the managing authority may charge for such use.”

But Edward Fallone, an associate professor at Marquette University Law School, said the possibility of charging demonstrators for police costs might be problematic because some groups might not be able to afford to pay. “I’m a little skeptical about charging people to express their First Amendment opinion,” he said. “You can’t really put a price tag on the First Amendment.”

My best guess is that this idea would not stand up to a court challenge but I'm no lawyer.

China Syndrome

2011-12-02T15:37:00.000-05:00

Just how close did we come to a "china syndrome" at Japan's Fukushima plant?
With each report, it just gets worse. Early on they reported the possibility of some meltdown but now we find that we came damn close to a complete melt through. Or at least that is the story so far. I won't be surprised to learn that we did, in fact, melt down completely once more of the truth comes out. So far TEPCO has been rather timid about telling the whole truth about what they know.

Molten nuclear fuel at Japan's Fukushima plant might have eaten two thirds of the way through a concrete containment base, its operator said, citing a new simulation of the extent of the March disaster. Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) said their latest calculations showed the fuel inside the No. 1 reactor at the tsunami-hit plant could have melted entirely, dropping through its inner casing and eroding a concrete base. [...]
Until now, TEPCO had said some fuel melted through the inner pressure vessel and dropped to the containment vessel, without saying how much and what it did to the concrete, citing a lack of data.
"Almost no fuel remains at its original position," TEPCO said in the report.

Not Easy

2011-12-01T11:57:00.000-05:00

Finally, a day off. This new computer scheduling is not so hot since it is scheduling me and others for four or five hour shifts which means these tiny shifts are ruining what would have been a whole day off. It is also a pain to have to get ready and drive to the store for just 4 hours. To add insult to injury I've been put on returns for the last 4 straight days which really sucks and especially so at the end of the month when contractors are cleaning out material they've over bought. You get boxes of pipe fittings and electrical stuff(with no receipts). A lot of the stuff no longer has readable UPC's so its a major headache. Thanks goodness I am scheduled for the outside garden for the rest of the week and I can just freeze to death instead.

Still on the marathon of restoring my new computer. Most everything is back....though I had a battle with Itunes. I had to go out and buy a utility (CopyTrans) to restore my music libraries back into a new install of Itunes from my Ipod Touch. The good news is that the CopyTrans program was a snap and did everything, music, playlists, stats with the click of a button. I love it when a program does what it is supposed to do with no hoohah. All the finance stuff is back into Quicken with the exception of my IRA, Roth stuff. I'll work on that today but it will be all manual since it is not available as a data file...Quicken or other. It is at least online.

I'm also trying to catch up on my reading(online) which is a challenge since Google Reader indicated I had a couple of thousand things to sort through. It is amazing how much stuff gets generated in just a few days. One thing is apparent though, and that is the Rethugs are getting dumber and more dangerous everyday.

They're Laughing At Us

2011-11-28T11:20:00.000-05:00

Now that Bloomberg LP, the parent of Bloomberg News won their court case against the Fed and a group of the biggest U.S. banks called Clearing House Association LLC we now know just how much the our overlords got from the Fed while the rest of us saw our jobs and savings go away and the economy tanked..

Remember that Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke argued that revealing borrower details would create a stigma as investors and counter parties would avoid firms that used the central bank as lender of last resort.

The amount of money the central bank parceled was staggering. Including guarantees and lending limits the Fed committed $7.77 trillion as of March 2009 to rescuing the financial system. Do the math and you will see that that is more than half the value of everything produced in the U.S. that year. It dwarfs the Treasury Department’s better-known $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP.

All the while these SOB's were taking the equivalent of half of the U.S. GDP the were loudly whining and screaming about socialism and government involvement in the markets.

This revelation should make the average Joe insanely mad and disgusted, especially if they also reveal that nothing has changed at the "too big to fail" banks. They are still sucking billions out of the economy with shady, high risk deals and exotic debt instruments and not adding any real value. What happens during the next crisis? You know there will be one since nothing has changed.

You can also bet that they are laughing at us rubes because they know that we are going to re-elect their enablers next year and the party will continue.

Black Friday - Oh Boy!

2011-11-25T08:01:00.001-05:00

The holiday is over and I am getting ready to head out and face the crowds on Black Friday. I work from 9a to 6p and there are quite a lot of good offers in the brochure...especially tools and appliances. Hopefully it won't be too insane and I will emerge unscathed but I am not looking forward to the next 9 hours. I can hope that most of the crazy shoppers will have done their shopping before I go on at 9.

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T09:17:00.000-05:00

A Happy Thanksgiving to all! Everyone have a safe wonderful day. Going to be low key here at Chez Monk since it will just be Madam and I. Since Madam has no love for turkey it will be a slow cooked Boston butt brined in Winter Spices (black pepper, allspice, bay, cardamom, coriander, juniper berries) along with sweet potatoes, cornbread dressing, butter peas, etc.. and, of course, pumpkin pie with whipped cream.
We've started out with buttermilk pancakes with maple syrup and bacon for breakfast so we are on the road for a feast day.
I hope your feast, whether traditional or not is full of fun. Since I have to work 9a to 6p tomorrow I also need to rest up for Black Friday which I am fearing will be a madhouse. Cheers to all!

Dragon's Loss

2011-11-22T21:41:00.000-05:00

Fantasy author Anne McCaffrey passed away yesterday.

She was the first woman to win a Hugo Award.

I was a huge fan of her work and cherish the time I spent with her wonderful fiction. I've read all the Pern books numerous times and most of her other works multiple times as well. I would be hard pressed not to call her my favorite.

May the Goddess watch over her and she find her way to the Summerlands.

Heartbroken

2011-11-20T07:57:00.000-05:00

The whole police/thugs response to the various OWS demonstrations around the country have, for weeks, depressed and saddened me. The incident at UC Davis has moved me beyond sad and angry into heartbroken. I keep asking myself how my America got to where this could happen...on a college campus no less, and then I remember Kent State. The same shock and horror. The sad reality is that this whole incident and to a large degree the whole OWS phenomenon reflects the deterioration of America.
I'm just waiting for assault charges to be brought against Officer Pike and his buddies.

It's going to be somewhat quiet around these parts as I am working everyday for a week. We are now being scheduled by a computer and the first two weeks suck big time. I have multiple days where I have only a four hour shift which really shoots a day without much reward. Maybe it will get better.

Whoops

2011-11-17T16:06:00.000-05:00

I awoke to the "blue screen of death" this morning. Everything was fine when I went to bed. I ran the diags and the HD just said "fail" number 7 and I couldn't get any further.
I got in the car and went to Fry's and now have a new Dell XPS 8300. I couldn't believe it but it comes standard with an I5 core processor, 6GB of memory and a 1Tbyte HD plus a 1GB video card. Way more PC than I need but it was still half the price of my old one.
Anyhow, long story short...my last backup was corrupt...not good. So I am faced with starting over. I have taken the old HD over the "Geek stop" and they are going to try and transfer my data to my external drive but in the meantime I am going to try and do what I can to get somewhere normal.
What kind of irritated me was that even though the new box comes with Windows 7 it comes with a crippled copy of Word and Excel and no Outlook. I had to spend another 250 bucks to get MS Office Home and Business really just for Outlook. As much as I use Word I could probably get along but Outlook standalone was $149 all by itself so what the hell. Yeah, I know there are open products just as good but....

Lettuce Spray

2011-11-16T10:25:00.000-05:00

I meant to give credit for the video in the previous post to Balloon Juice but I hit publish to quickly. Anyhow, I spent part of my day off yesterday building some planter boxes out of cedar (35"x20"x6") that will fit on my greenhouse tables. I have been growing lettuce, spinach, roquette, etc. in small seed starter trays and while it works the plants get root bound and too crowded very quickly. I am thinking these little planters will allow a better environment and I should get better production. I only made three(my calculations caused me to be short by one 8' board. These came out pretty well so I'll get two or three more 6 inch cedar boards while I am work today and whip out two more as I would like to grow some radishes, green onions and maybe even some beets as well. I finished up the boxes last night and filled them with soil and this morning I got the new crop planted. In a few weeks I'll know if this plan is workable but it looks nice in the greenhouse. The other thing the added mass of soil will help on is watering. With the small containers you had to stay on top of the watering just about every other day.

Something For A Rainy Morning

2011-11-16T08:22:00.000-05:00

A little JS Bach in the woods. Very cool and very Japanese.

Asteroid Recall

2011-11-14T20:34:00.000-05:00

Can we have that asteroid that passed by on Tuesday make another pass and this time not miss? I just read that Newt is now the front runner in the GOP clown car race. Maybe it's indigestion or just a bad dream.

Fair Warning

2011-11-14T20:31:00.000-05:00

Do not try Trader Joe's Olive Oil Potato Chips. You will never look at any other potato chip the same way again. Seriously, dangerously good potato chip.

Day Off

2011-11-14T16:27:00.000-05:00

I got a day off, two actually, but today's was consumed with leaves, lots of leaves. Got both the front and back done and all the leaves moved to the garden and spread about. An acre of trees makes a lot of leaves. The rest of the afternoon is chill....I just have to figure out if it will be a martini chill or a wine chill. Then again we can start with a martini and transition to wine. Madam has begun the decorating for Xmas at the historic homes so she will be scarce for the next week or two. I'll just have to entertain myself.

It All Ends

2011-11-11T16:13:00.000-05:00

I purchased the final Harry Potter flick today which I haven't seen. Tonight I will and I must say I thoroughly enjoyed all the books and films. JK Rowling deserves what she has gotten for creating such epic and wondrous world. We can always use more magic in our lives.

Veteran's Day

2011-11-11T16:08:00.000-05:00

Don't want to let the day pass without acknowledging the sacrifices made my fellow veterans both living and not. Some laid their lives down in their service and some lost limbs or suffered wounds that haunt them all the years of their lives. Some, like me, did their service and emerged unscathed. All of us, however, were changed and all of us are proud to have served.
Thanks to all the men and women who have served and all that are serving. It was an honor to serve with you.

Still Among The Living

2011-11-10T10:13:00.000-05:00

Sorry it has been so quiet around these parts but life is crowding me lately. Still have the remnants of the cold from hell...nagging cough and some head congestion. I've done everything I can think of ....doubled up on "C" added zinc and all the rest but still not 100%. Like I mentioned I've been scheduled for the outside garden pretty much exclusively for the last week(and again today) and I imagine that hasn't helped. Still doing the 6 hour shifts for some reason which suck.

On another note I have been just amazed at the political theater going on. I guess last night's debate will see the beginning of the end for Mr. Perry. so that's going to leave the GOP with "look how many women haven't accused me of assault" pepperoni man and "Don't worry about what I stand for today as it will change tomorrow" Romney to fight it out. Neither has a chance to win the election over Obama so I guess we should just enjoy the show. It has been nice not to see "moosewoman's" name in the news lately so thank the Goddess for small favors.

The recent voting had some progressive goodness as well. Mississippi voters actually demonstrated some sanity and the voters in Arizona toasted their racist Senator big time. Ohio voters shoved the overreaching governor's union busting zeal right where the sun never shines and that was a good thing.

I guess the next thing we have to look forward to is the epic failure of the "Super Committee" and then we get to watch the GOP try and undo all the forced cuts that result. McCain and Graham are already trying to make sure that war mongering is fully funded going forward.

We are supposed to get our first freeze tonight. We have had one light frost so far but we might see 30F tonight. There are still a bunch of peppers in the garden that should be picked today but I am out of time.

Off to work in a bit so you guys have fun out there. When things are quiet I can keep up my reading on the smart phone but posting is another issue. They were beginning to set up for the Xmas tree sales yesterday so that looks to be in my immediate future. I was there for it last year and it wasn't fun.

No On the Do Not Call

2011-11-05T18:43:00.002-04:00

I understand this was a false post so it has been removed....sorry for anyone's wasted time.

Well Enough

2011-11-01T15:20:00.000-04:00

I think I am recovered enough to go to work this evening(430-1030) we'll see. Still a bit rough around the edges but walking upright. For some reason they have been giving me 6 hour shifts which means no lunch break and only two fifteen minute breaks. Makes for a long haul. I have drugs if required. Hopefully, I will be inside tonight but tomorrow I am scheduled for the outside garden center. Oh boy!

Seized With Disease

2011-10-29T11:27:00.000-04:00

I went and got a flu shot on Wednesday afternoon. During the day at work yesterday I realized that I was, in fact, coming down with flu. Sore throat, sneezy, congestion and aches. It is now in full force and I am grateful that I had today off so that I can be miserable without any interruption. Hopefully, it is just a reaction to the shot and I will bounce back with vigor tomorrow but today I feel like hell. Then again this may be completely unrelated to the flu shot and I just have a common cold. Whatever.

Running Scared

2011-10-25T13:41:00.000-04:00

By all indications the 1% are beginning to be frightened by the Occupy Wall Street bunch and the associated demonstrations in other cities. Last night(actually early this morning) Oakland police overwhelmed the protesters in that city and arrested scores and wiped out the encampment. Arrests on trumped up charges are occurring everywhere. Here in Atlanta the mayor has reneged on his agreement to allow the protestors to stay until 11/7 and it is only a matter of a day or so before you see the demonstration broken up.
The media, for the large part, are ignoring the fact that these demonstrations are merely and legally excercising their rights under the First Amendment to peacefully gather and protest.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

It is that simple folks. The fact that the police in cities across the land are encroaching or outright preventing citizens from exercising their First Amendment rights means that the PTB's have realized that this is not going away and what's worse that these people have lost faith in government and corporations. The protestors have rightly come to the conclusion that the issues of joblessness, income equality/equity/disparity and all the rest of the woes facing we 99% are not going to be solved by either the government or the corporations that control the government. The curtain has been drawn back and revealed the truth. We are being governed by people who do not care whether we have jobs, food security, health, nor any other basic requirements for a healthy society as long as they continue to make more and more money. While the demonstrations are still, for the most part peaceful, it will not take long for the realization to sink in that the police, DHS and others at the bidding of the PTBs are breaking the law and will not allow for peaceful demonstrations and when peaceful demonstrations are not allowed that leaves the other side of the coin which is violence and increasing civil disobedience. It is going to get ugly.

More Crazy For You

2011-10-25T13:16:00.000-04:00

Sorry to have been so MIA around here lately but life's little pressures are interfering. Anyhow, and true to form, the "clown car" of GOP presidential candidates have delivered us another crazy tax plan. This time it is Cowboy Perry and he has a flat tax for us.

An optional flat tax of 20 percent. ( Do the math and you will see that this is actually only a tax cut for people making more than about 70K$ per year of regular income.)
Reducing the corporate tax rate to 20 percent. (The real problem with the corporate tax code is that it is rife with loopholes that allow corporations to avoid paying any taxes. This does not even address it.)
Completely eliminate taxes on long-term capital gains. (Let me see now...who makes most of their income off capital gains? Another giveaway to the wealthiest.)
Cap federal spending at 18 percent of GDP. (Federal spending hasn't been this low since 1966. Even under Saint Reagan it never fell below 21.3%.)
Allow younger workers to opt-out of Social Security. (This fits nicely with the GOP plan of destroying Social Security. This will starve SS of revenue and kill it quickly.)

I guess we should be grateful that the idiots have finally quit trying to disguise their economic policies as "good for the average Joe" and are now just brazenly trying to destroy the middle class and enrich the rich further.

Focus, Focus

2011-10-20T12:50:00.000-04:00

If you are a photographic geek like me you are familiar with the annoying problems of deciding where to focus and how much depth of field to work for. Too narrow an aperture and sloppy focusing has ruined hundreds of my photos or if not ruined then winding up with an image that is less that its potential. No more worries if you have a few hundred bucks.
Interested? If so, check out this gallery of pictures taken with the Lytro light field camera. Light field pictures allow you to choose the focus point of the image after the fact since the camera and its software capture the entire light field and all of the information in it, unlike a conventional camera. This allows you to basically ignore aperture and focus when taking the shot and then focus after the fact...way cool. Stanford researchers introduced the "light field" concept about 15 years ago but it took dozens of cameras and a supercomputer to actually process the picture. No more, Lytro introduced a new camera yesterday. It’s $400 and appears to be no more complicated than a point and shoot. This is going to very, very hard to resist.

Winter In The Air

2011-10-19T11:16:00.000-04:00

Cold an raining here in Altanta and the forecast is for the lows to be in the mid thirties for the next few days. I guess it is the first threat of winter. Good day to work, which is where I am heading in about an hour. Scheduled to be in outside garden today so I will have to bundle up a bit. Should, however, be extremely slow since folks don't do the garden shopping and stuff on days like this. I might just have to take the Ipod to keep me entertained. A little Queen, ZZ Top, Springsteen and of course Little Feat and Clapton.

More Trouble With Police and OWS

2011-10-18T12:53:00.000-04:00

It looks like the police are getting serious with respect the Occupy protests here and about. It now appears that at least in NYC and Philly that they have deployed LRAD.

The Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD) is a distance hailing device and non-lethal crowd control weapon developed by LRAD Corporation to send messages, warnings and harmful, pain inducing tones over longer distances than normal loudspeakers. ... LRAD systems are used by maritime, law enforcement, military and commercial security companies to send instructions and warnings over distances, and to force compliance.

This is serious. This is a military weapon and at ranges less than 100 meters can cause serious and permanent injury(according to the manufacturer). The police in many of the large cities are already outfitted as combat troops and using urban combat techniques against lawful protesters but it now seems they are going to take it one step further. These weapons are not meant to be used in such settings and people are going to get hurt. It is getting harder and harder to recognize the "shining beacon on the hill".

Small Things

2011-10-13T21:41:00.000-04:00

I have always been a fan of graham crackers but when everyone started making them with HFCS I gave them up. Finally, Nabisco has seen the light and introduced Graham Originals made with sugar and no HFCS. Tonight as my bedtime treat I had them with ice cold milk. There is a precise timing when "dunking" the sections into milk. Too long and they self destruct but just right they turn the cookie into a glorious little bite. Cold, almost crunchy, just a little sweet. If I had to pick a last meal, proper graham crackers and cold milk would be very close to the top of the list. I limit myself to two cookies(8 small sections) but I could easily eat the entire package and even want more.
Oh! And a note to Nabisco, if you are listening. I have never forgiven you for changing Nilla Wafers and adding artificial vanilla. They were glorious when they were made with real vanilla but are basically crap now. I haven't had a vanilla wafer since the change and my life is poorer for it.

What The 1% Do with Their Pocket Change

2011-10-12T21:34:00.000-04:00

Via Greg Sargent, Vanity Fair has a long, very positive piece on Elizabeth Warren, “The Woman Who Knew Too Much“:

... At a time of record corporate profits, a time when 14 million Americans are out of work, when millions have lost their homes and, according to the Census Bureau, the ranks of those living in poverty has grown to one in six—that Elizabeth Warren could be publicly kneecapped and an agency devoted to protecting American consumers could come under such intense attack is, ultimately, the story about who holds power in America today.

When the C.F.P.B. was first proposed to Congress, in early 2009, the Chamber of Commerce, the leading business lobbying group in the country, announced that it would “spend whatever it takes” to defeat the agency. According to the Center for Public Integrity, from 2009 through the beginning of 2010, it would be one of the biggest spenders among the more than 850 businesses and trade groups that together paid lobbyists $1.3 billion to fight financial reform…

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, in 2010 the financial industry flooded Congress with 2,565 lobbyists. They were financed by the likes of the Financial Services Roundtable, which, according to the Center, paid lobbyists $7.5 million, and is on its way to spending as much or more this year. The Chamber of Commerce spent $132 million on lobbying Washington in 2010. The American Bankers Association spent $7.8 million. As for individual banks: JPMorgan Chase, which received $25 billion in TARP funds from taxpayers, spent nearly $14 million on lobbying during the 2009–10 election cycle; Goldman Sachs, which received more than $10 billion from taxpayers, spent $7.4 million; Citigroup, which was teetering on the brink of insolvency and received a $45 billion infusion, has paid more than $14 million to lobbyists since 2009. And none of this money includes the direct campaign donations these organizations, and their surrogates, made to members of Congress.

The banks “do not like to lose,” says Ed Mierzwinski, of the National Association of State Public Interest Research Groups, which was part of the grossly outmatched consumer coalition that managed to scrape together a paltry $2 million to lobby in favor of reform…

You know they are spending a lot to keep their shell game going but when you see the hard numbers it kind of leaves you breathless. We are so owned by the oligarchy. Oh, and this is part of what Occupy Wall Street is about.

No Jobs For You Until That Black Muslim Socialist is Gone

2011-10-12T21:27:00.000-04:00

Every single Republican voted against even discussing whether or not to pass the jobs bill. Every freaking one of them( and two fucktard Dems). The media mostly described the vote in the Senate as a defeat for Obama's Jobs Bill and you have to wonder why they don't tell it like it really is. This was not a vote on the Jobs Bill. It didn't matter what was in the bill or even whether it was a good or bad bill. It didn't matter if some of it was good and some was bad. It was a vote to say we ain't even going to talk about it. No discussion. No compromise. Nothing. There is/was some possibility that it might actually, you know, create some jobs and the really, really scary thing was that it was Obama's idea and that he might get a win.

I'll say this one more time and I'll keep saying it every time this happens. There is no mystery as to why the GOP is doing this—the GOP loathes Obama. They hate that he is black(though according to Cain...not black enough). They hate it that he can actually speak whole sentences. They hate every thing about him. They hate him so much that they are willing to sacrifice the livelihoods of millions of Americans hoping that they can render him unemployed in thirteen months.

For the next thirteen months, the GOP will block everything that the president supports because they are spoiled children not to mention fucking assholes.

Violence Is Overdue

2011-10-08T10:41:00.000-04:00

I haven't posted about the Occupy Wall Street thing as yet. I think it is a good thing and even though there is no specific demands or platform it shows that the 99% are not happy and it is putting pressure on the 1% to do something. As the protests spread (bubbled up in Atlanta yesterday) and more and more and more of the Plutarch realize that they don't have the traditional leverage over these crowds.(Many are jobless, foreclosed or mortgage less already) they will resort the desperate side. They will have to find a way to disperse these crowds and the quickest way will be to instigate violence. They will find willing plants from somewhere to instigate some kind of violence whether it be looting or whatever and this will cause the police response to escalate and some rookie or bought and paid for white shirt will take it the rest of the way.
We saw it during the civil rights marches and again during the anti Vietnam marches (Kent State anyone?). Unfortunately, I think it is only a matter of time. The march has gone from getting no media attention (NPR didn't cover it at all for the first 8 days) to global attention on all the media. This doesn't bode well for the plutocracy and they know it. The sociopath Koch brothers have shown what a lot of money can buy and there is a lot of money behind the 1%(half of American wealth). It will be a shame but it will happen. There is some good news though and that is that a lot of the people associated with the OWS know that this is what will happen and are prepared for it.

The Drones Have a Virus

2011-10-08T09:48:00.000-04:00

Even if you are just a dilettante when it comes to computers and networks you should very concerned with the news that the computers running the U.S. fleet of Predator and Reaper drones has a virus. Wired reports that the U.S. fleet of Predator and Reaper drones have been infected with a virus that allows keylogging. No one appears to know if there has been any RED information transmitted across BLACK networks and no one seems to know if the virus has other aspects other than keylogging. These software systems are supposed to be isolated from the public networks but evidently they either aren't or someone has used hardware to bring the virus in. It is reported that the virus has been removed repeatedly but just reappears. This isn't good news.

I guess we should also wonder whether these virus infected control systems can cause extra-judicial executions all on their own. From a software point of view there isn't a lot of difference between surveillance and triggering a firing order. Jeebus, the difference could be just a bit or two.

Another Day Off

2011-10-07T11:31:00.000-04:00

Yeah! another day off. I've done my two hours in the gym and now I am gathering my spit for an attack on the garden...what a mess though there are lots of all kinds of peppers ready for harvest. I took a huge sack of all kinds to work the other week and a friend of one of my associates took them for making jelly. I just got sample of each and all are very nice. The pineapple/habanero is kicking!
Whoops! I just fell asleep for a minute... I better get on my feet and outside before I miss the day sitting behind this stupid computer or should I say snoozing in my chair...whatever.
Later and have a nice Friday.

Thanks Steve

2011-10-07T11:20:00.000-04:00

As usual I am a little late to the game but I just wanted to put in my two cents worth on the passing of Steven Jobs. I was reminded this morning at the gym as I threw my Android phone in the bag put the earphones on and fired up my IPod Touch just how much of an impact Mr. Jobs has had. If not for Jobs and his vision and dedication to getting it right would we even have the Android phone or even a Windows PC? I wonder if left to their own devices would Mr. Gates and the boys at IBM ever have moved us off DOS and would we still be typing cryptic shit on a keyboard? Who knows but Apple sure set the standards for UI on both the personal computer and then the IPod, IPhone and now the IPad.
Most people take all of the new stuff like touch screens, apps, and all that for granted but all of it we owe to Steve Jobs either directly or indirectly. Who can even imagine a PC without a mouse?
Happy Trails Steve.

A Degree of Normal

2011-10-05T18:03:00.000-04:00

Been really busy around here and the almost full time part time job has had me working into the evenings most everyday. Today is finally almost normal and a day off. This evening work has put a serious dent my kitchen endeavors and tonight will be the first actual meal I have been able to prepare in what seems like weeks. Madam scored some nice Long Island duck leg quarters(the local Whole Foods has stopped carrying them?) on the girls outing to the Dekalb Farmer's Market so we are having them slow braised with fresh greens from the greenhouse and brown rice. We have a nice baguette to soak up the braising juice(which will be reduced here shortly) and some nice German Riesling to top it all off. I have to work again tomorrow but Friday is another off day so maybe we will actually get two proper meals in this week.
While it was a "quicky" meal last night Madam also bought some fresh bratwurst at the market yesterday and they were made with locally raised Berkshire pork which I simply roasted in the oven. Again fresh Mesclun greens from the greenhouse and homemade applesauce made a nice quick meal. the "brats" were very nice.

Treason Or Not

2011-10-02T11:25:00.001-04:00

I've been so busy with stuff that I am a little behind the news cycle but there is something I just have to comment on (even though my car is full of stuff from the Flea Fling yesterday, the grill is still full of ashes, and on and on).

There is a reason there is only one crime actually spelled out in the Constitution of the United States....

Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.

The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted.

While our founders were concerned about unfair taxes, their greatest concern was for the history of the crown declaring domestic enemies as treasonous and then using that as an excuse for executing them. The assassination of the cleric Al Alwaki by the United States was a terrible miscarriage of justice and it surely has the founding fathers and mothers turning in their graves. To prevent this type of lawless assassination was precisely why treason is defined so carefully. When the government can murder a citizen without due process and then suffer no consequence we are all in terrible trouble. Just because the assassination was carried out in another country is irrelevant. This is a precedent that we should all fear. Terrorism, GWOT, "Global Battlefield", Al Qaeda, etc. etc. are all just loaded words that are used to cloud the issue that it is now apparently all right to declare an American citizen treasonous and summarily execute same without due process. Not Good.

Candle-Both Ends

2011-09-26T20:52:00.000-04:00

Working way too much and have managed to crowd my schedule to the point of insane. I have the day off but I had an appointment for a two hour workout first thing. Came home from that and started in on the bird houses I am donating to the Historical Society/Hembree Farm Flea Fling(yardsale). Got all six put together and with Madam's help got three dressed up. Still a few more to decorate. Since this is a donation and all the funds go to the restoration of the farm I am suggesting they price these at $35. It's a lot of work...all rough cedar and the tin roofs are from "The Bricks" some of the first apartments in the country and they date from around 1900 (the tin shingles). The "fling" is this coming weekend and I need to get all finished but I am running out of time. It's going to be a down to the wire thing.
Hey Duff: note the tea towel from the Five Sailed Windmill in Alford, Lincolnshire. I have some friends that have a B&B nearby and on our last visit got to tour the mill...Way cool! Speaking of Lincolnshire...I will pay for a proper sausage or meat pie from Lincolnshire. Probably the best butchers and sausage makers in England come from thereabouts.

Consider The Alternative

2011-09-23T20:44:00.000-04:00

While I am not completely enthralled with the performance of President Obama I just have to keep reminding myself of the alternative. President McCain and VP Palin....enough said.

Let The Chickens Roost

2011-09-23T10:49:00.000-04:00

More of the same:

House Republicans closed ranks just after midnight on Friday morning, and passed legislation to avert a government shutdown at the end of the month. The vote tally was 219-203.

But the bill received almost no Democratic support and faces an uncertain future in the U.S. Senate because Republicans have used the funding bill as a vehicle for disaster relief money, and insisted it be paid for by slashing funds for jobs programs Democrats support. Dems say the GOP legislation provides insufficient aid, and sets a dangerous precedent by requiring those funds to be offset with partisan budget cuts.

"The bill the House will vote on tonight is not an honest effort at compromise," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) in a statement anticipating its passage. "It fails to provide the relief that our fellow Americans need as they struggle to rebuild their lives in the wake of floods, wildfires and hurricanes, and it will be rejected by the Senate."

A livid Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) told reporters Thursday night "We're fed up with this...we're sick of it, we're tired of it."

I think it would be only fair if the all the cuts in relief funds come from the districts of Representatives who voted for the legislation.

Fall In More Ways Than One

2011-09-23T10:44:00.000-04:00

Not only is today the first day of fall 2011 (0904 UTC) it also turns out that a great big thing the size of a school bus is going to fall out of the sky:

On Friday (Sept. 23), a dead NASA satellite the size of a school bus is expected to enter the atmosphere, break into pieces and rain down upon Earth. Though space agency officials don’t yet know where the chunks (some weighing as much as 300 pounds) will hit and haven’t narrowed down exactly where, they say the chances of the falling space debris striking a person are extremely small.

According to the story the chunks won’t be falling on North America so we North Americans probably don't need to carry an umbrella today.:

According to Mark Matney, a scientist in the Orbital Debris Program Office at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, the odds that any of the 7 billion people on Earth will be struck by a piece of the soon-to-fall satellite is 1 in 3,200. “The odds that you will be hit … are 1 in several trillion,” Matney said. “So, quite low for any particular person.”

While, in addition to the first day of fall and the sky falling we are also getting a pretty good fall out of the stock market.

Classy Folks-Again

2011-09-23T10:27:00.000-04:00

The Teabagger/GOP audience once again showed what a class act they are last night by booing an American serviceman on active duty in Iraq because he is gay. I'm sure the audience was caught on film by someone and every one of the folks that booed should be identified and issued a rifle and a ticket to Baghdad. Just saying.

Getting There

2011-09-20T10:16:00.000-04:00

I must say I am encouraged by the latest tack taken by the White House. Is the hope for a happy honeymoon with the insane GOP over finally? All indications are that the President has finally realized that no matter how much he bends it won't be enough for the Republicans whose only goal in life is to insure he is a one term president. Of course, regardless of how defiant the President is and how firm he is on standing his ground with respect to progressive issues the GOP ain't going to budge.

You do have to love the President's line from yesterday..."It's not class warfare. It's math."

No Fun

2011-09-17T15:14:00.000-04:00

In case you are wondering...cleaning up the garden at the end of summer is not nearly as much fun as planting it in the spring. I will admit, however, that the smell of rotting tomatoes brings back happy memories of helping my Dad and Granddad clean up the garden in the fall. There is no smell quite like it and no matter how diligent you are some tomatoes are going to go to the bad and fall or rot on the vine.
I've finished the tomatoes and all the wire cages are neatly stacked for next spring. The next task is to till where there are not remaining veges(really only peppers) and get ready to put most of the garden to bed for the winter. I did discover two more butternut squash today which means that we got over 3 bushels of squash from 5 plants. Been a really good year for butternut squash.

GOP Fantasy

2011-09-13T21:05:00.000-04:00

This is not a surprise. If you can add 2+2 and come up with 4 this is not magic. Lo and behold austerity, it turns out, is contractionary. What the Hell!

In a new paper for the International Monetary Fund, Laurence Ball, Daniel Leigh and Prakash Loungani look at 173 episodes of fiscal austerity over the past 30 years—with the average deficit cut amounting to 1 percent of GDP. Their verdict? Austerity “lowers incomes in the short term, with wage-earners taking more of a hit than others; it also raises unemployment, particularly long-term unemployment.”

More specifically, an austerity program that curbs the deficit by 1 percent of GDP reduces real incomes by about 0.6 percent and raises unemployment by almost 0.5 percentage points. What’s more, the IMF notes, the losses are twice as big when the central bank can’t cut rates (a good description of the present.) Typically, income and employment don’t fully recover even five years after the austerity program is put in place.

There’s also a class dimension here: A deficit cut of that size tends to cause real wage income, where lower-income folks get their money, to shrink by 0.9 percent, whereas rents and profits, which higher-income folks depend on, decline by just 0.3 percent. And, as the chart on the right shows, profits tend to bounce back faster than wages.

Some austerity programs can be harsher than others. The IMF study notes that plans to reduce the deficit can be particularly brutal if central banks “do not or cannot blunt some of the pain through a monetary policy stimulus.” (In 1992, Italy and Finland took steps to rein in their deficits but mitigated the discomfort by depreciating their currencies and boosting exports.) Meanwhile, if multiple countries are all carrying out austerity at the same time, the overall pain is likely to be greater. This sums up the current debt crisis in the euro zone: Individual euro member states can’t depreciate their own currencies because they’re all on the euro; the European Central Bank isn’t providing much monetary stimulus; and the economically ailing countries are all dragging one another other down.

As Krugman says:

In the first half of last year a strange delusion swept much of the policy elite on both sides of the Atlantic — the belief that cutting spending in the face of high unemployment would actually create jobs. I went after this stuff early and hard (I suspect that the confidence fairy will be one of my lasting contributions to economic discourse); still, it’s good to have a steadily mounting weight of evidence about just how wrong that view was.The latest entry is a comprehensive review of past episodes of austerity by economists at the IMF, from which the figure above is taken. Yes, contractionary policy is contractionary. And as the authors point out, it’s probably even more contractionary than usual under current conditions...Unfortunately, austerity programs are now the rule everywhere; even if the new Obama plan became law, which it won’t, it would only slow the pace of fiscal consolidation in America, and there’s nothing like it even on the table elsewhere.

I actually don't know why I am posting this since pretty much everyone who stops by here has a brain but I thought it important.

Just Die

2011-09-13T15:13:00.000-04:00

Former Florida Congressman Alan Grayson got heaps and heaps of grief when he stated that the GOP health care plan was to die quickly. Based on what was displayed at last night's CNN/Teaparty debate that is exactly what the plan is. They audience cheering when Blitzer said that if a young man needs extensive care and he had no insurance he should just die in response to Ryan's answer about health insurance. These are some sick and scary people.

Hypocrite

2011-09-12T22:31:00.000-04:00

I just realized, while I was standing in the garden center checking out bag after bottle of chemical fertilizer, poison, and herbicide, that I an a total hypocrite. Here I am an ardent organic gardener that successfully grows abundant gardens of vegetables and fruit without pesticide or chemical fertilizer and I daily sell the poisons to my 'neighbors'. Maybe I should consider joining the GOP?

We Have Dogs

2011-09-10T11:46:00.000-04:00

Minimonk dropped off her three dogs this morning whilst she and SIL observe their 20th wedding anniversary in Savannah... so we are with dogs. We've had treats and taken a tour of the manor and had a walk around the neighborhood. I've now Megan and Rudy begging for attention at my knee while Stewart is busy stalking the wildlife in the backyard. Megan is constantly looking for a pat or rub and she will walk up and insert her nose under your hand over and over until you have to tell here to go away. She would stand and be petted 24x7 if she could find someone to do it. I have to go to work at 1pm and Madam should be back from her travels by then so they can spend the afternoon watching TCM or something as the walk is out of the way. I am sure I will find at least one or two or even all three of them piled in the bed with Madam when I get home tonight at 11pm.

Happy Birthday to

2011-09-08T12:36:00.000-04:00

Me!
Cookie Jill,
Star Trek (debuted in 1966 on NBC)
Bernie Sanders and a whole bunch of other people.

Amplified Failure

2011-09-08T12:18:00.000-04:00

The thing that is really somewhat tragic about President Obama's performance so far is that we are at a time where greatness was needed. We are faced with an insane group of people that want to take the country back into the 19th century. Obama promised us greatness and change. He promised to end the Bush tax cuts, stop the free trade agreements, and take away all the tax breaks for companies that moved our jobs overseas. Nothing has happened and we should have seen the clues that nothing was going to happen early on when it was apparent that he was going to surround himself with Wall Street folks and not folks that represented the middle class or labor.
We're were/are at a cusp that will determine the future of this country and to a large degree the world. We are looking at the huge impact of climate change, and unprecedented challenge for most of the world's economies and finally a disparity in wealth in this country that is nearly at the revolutionary point. This is the time we need greatness and fearlessness and thus Obama's failure to rise to the times is thus greater in comparison to the need and the opportunity in less challenging times. Now that the 2012 campaign season is officially underway the President and his handlers are going to try and make us forget our disappointment and renew our faith that Obama is the instrument we need. The tragedy is that, looking at the GOP challengers to date, Obama, despite his faults and failings, is still the best we have been offered.

Day of Reckoning

2011-09-05T09:54:00.000-04:00

Since I am taking my Labor Day morning off to catch up on my reading I though I would share another worthwhile article. This one from John Lanchester in the London Review of Books discussing the current state of the Euro and the the global economy. It isn't pretty.

Meeting the Crazy

2011-09-05T08:47:00.000-04:00

An excellent article by a disillusioned career GOP staffer that is worth the read. It is a clear and concise explanation of where we are at politically in this country. The sooner we all admit that practically all of our political and economic problems are caused by the fact that one party has gone completely insane the sooner we may be able to recover. Honestly, I don’t see how it’s going to be possible to have an intelligent discussion of American politics without accepting disturbing reality.

Butternut Squash Soup

2011-09-04T20:22:00.000-04:00

Decided I had better use some of the mountain of butternut squash in the basement. I had a bumper crop of extremely large squash and despite the dry weather there are more to come. Cut up the squash into chunks and roasted it for an hour a 350F and then separated it from the skin. I did season the squash with salt and pepper plus a teaspoon or so of ground cumin. An onion and a bit of garlic sauteed in olive oil and butter plus a box of chicken stock, a little thyme and a couple of bay leaves and simmered for a bit and we have soup. I ran the hand blender through it and added a cup of Greek yogurt....very nice. Toasted ciabatta with olive oil and we had a nice dinner.

Last Weekend of Summer

2011-09-04T15:48:00.000-04:00

How's the last weekend of summer going for ya? We're are supposed to be getting rain from Lee for the next couple of days and that should put a kink the number of tube steaks consumed. Me...I gotta work tomorrow(but it is time and a half). Got in a workout this morning and then some more garden cleanup. I used 6 foot metal fence stakes to hold up the trellis for the cukes and today was the effort to get them out of the ground. They are meant to stay in. Brute force didn't work even with a 8 foot lever so I had to soak the ground with a hose before I could lever them out. A couple of times the 2x4 lever threatened to break even with the soaking and it did fail on the last stake. Next will be the 70 or so tomato cages....big job.

Nothing much else here at FM manor...I don't have to work until 1pm tomorrow so I will at least get a bit of holiday and it really shouldn't be too busy. I guess now I have to go figure out what to fix for dinner. Night before last was just about the last of the fresh tomatoes as a pizza.and last night was German with brats, homegrown potatoes boiled and served with lots of Irish butter and home canned apple sauce. I'm kinda in the mood for pasta and that may make the last of the tomatoes go away. There are actually a few tomatoes still on the vines but the drought and heat have not done them any favors however they won't go to waste.

I hope everyone is having a good time on the official last days of summer.

The GOP Is Winning

2011-09-02T11:26:00.000-04:00

In their never ending campaign to make the American economy as miserable as possible before the 2012 election, which will give them a shot at the presidency, the GOP won another battle today. This lousy jobs report is going to hurt and the markets have already responded with the DOW down a couple of hundred points at the bell. Bummer! While their efforts are as transparent as glass the electorate will wind up blaming Obama for the lousy economy and while we teeter on the brink of another recession I'm sure the PTB within the GOP are figuring out the best way to push us over the edge.

I'm Moving

2011-09-01T22:17:00.000-04:00

...To another star system where there are more than 24 hours in a day. I can't get everything done in a mere 24 hours especially since I have added two hours of gym time to any day off or any day where I work the evenings. Did manage to get some garden clean up done today but it was not much. By the time I got back from the gym and had a bite of lunch the temperature was pushing 90F with the humidity right up there so I fragged after a couple of hours in the garden. The older I get the more I need a full 8 hours of sleep so I definitely need to find somewhere that allows another 6 or so hours per day.

I think I have solved one problem though. I was having problems making it from breakfast to lunch without my blood sugar crashing down to dangerous levels. If you are not familiar with hypoglycemia it usually manifests with the shakes, dizziness and excess sweating and no matter what I had for breakfast the blood sugar would crash to 50 or so sometime around ten. This was especially bad if I did a morning workout that included any cardio. It wasn't only after the workout and it happened several times at work so I decided to drop Actos from the meds(this is the $260 a month one) and I haven't had the problem of extremely low sugar since. I'll keep monitoring closely but I think the added exercise has made this one drug unnecessary which is good news.

Fall Garden Time

2011-08-26T17:06:00.000-04:00

I finally got around to getting my seeds started for the fall/winter garden. Broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, spinach, mesclun, romaine, salad mix. I would have gotten the arugula and spring onions and a couple of more things started but I ran out of potting soil and I don't feel like going to get any more. I'll pick up a couple of bags tomorrow at work if my pea brain can remember. The big chore still lies ahead though and that is cleaning up the summer garden and that's at least three days or more of hard work. Until I clean up the remains of summer I won't have space for the fall/winter root crops which don't transplant well. Beets, turnips, rutabaga, parsnips, etc. I successfully grew lettuce and spinach in the greenhouse last year but I left them in their little starter cells and they were a bit stunted. I think this year I will build some cedar boxes for them and see if that improves things. They have some growing boxes at the Depot but they are plastic and pretty expensive but they have a good name "City Pickers". They would be perfect for growing some stuff on a balcony or roof. Since I have a pretty complete wood shop I think I can build something a little cheaper but just as good and as a bonus they will be of wood.

Damn Near Magic

2011-08-24T22:33:00.000-04:00

I got my new Ipod Touch today and have it all set up and while I haven't figured out all the bell and whistles yet I am impressed as hell. I thought my Android phone (HTC Inspire) was sharp but the Ipod 4G has it beat. This tiny little thing is very close to being plain old magic and not just high tech. It is going to take me a while to figure it out. There is even a website that can tell you where your Ipod is if you happen to misplace it.

Going To Get Hungrier Out

2011-08-24T22:26:00.000-04:00

If you are not paying attention to the current trends in such things as food prices and are not actively planning to insulate yourself as best you can from the coming problems then you should. This is only the tip of the iceberg and this year's heat, flooding and drought are just a symptom of the changes our global climate will experience in the coming years. We're going to have snow and cold but the trend to warmer and drier will continue into the future and things are only going to get worse. We aren't quite at the point yet for this to cause civil unrest but that is not far in the future either. You need to start thinking in disaster terms when it comes to the things you need to survive and yes that means stockpiling some things that will come into short supply. You may be able to afford to put food "on your family" today but at some point money does not answer the questions of short supplies or unavailable at any price. Just remember that this year's high prices and short supply are not a "one off" but a trend and it will continue to get worse.

Consumers can expect to see a jump in prices for pasta, meat, vegetable oil and many other grocery items in the coming months as a pair of new government reports forecast on [Aug. 11] that a brutal mixture of heat, drought or flooding has taken a toll on the corn, soybeans and wheat grown on American farms.

Futures prices for those important crops jumped on [Aug. 11], and commodities experts said that would lead to higher prices for manufacturers and consumers.

“The message, based on today’s report, is these higher costs should not be expected to abate any time soon,” said Bill G. Lapp, president of Advanced Economic Solutions, a commodity consulting firm that works with restaurant companies and food manufacturers. “It implies higher cost forthcoming and subsequent margin pressure, and at some point the need to increase prices at the retail level or on the menus.” ...