Never Fake Left

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 05:44:46 GMT

Hob is burbling along nicely.

Sun, 13 Dec 2009 01:46:17 GMT

Making a Hobgoblin clone today. Ran out of propane mid-brew and had to move indoors to dinky kitchen range. What a hassle!

Sat, 12 Dec 2009 01:16:15 GMT

Merry Christmas from Die Chermans

Sun, 06 Dec 2009 21:34:52 GMT

My new spring cleaning theory

I'm working on a Giant Plan for cleaning out my possessions this coming holiday break.

Things to go through:
- clothes
- books & DVD's
- kitchen gadgets
- food
- garage

Divide everything mentally into four categories:
- keep
- 2010 probation
- donate or recycle
- sell

The first crucial thing here is to be really ruthless about the "keep" category. I have a ton of stuff in my garage that I haven't used in going on three years. But I like the idea of having it. Into this category for instance fall all my metalworking tools. They're nifty but there's no chance I'll use them any time soon. What ought I to do with them?

Which leads to "2010 Probation". Anything that I really like but haven't used in a long time gets sentenced to probation. I'll mark it or put it in a box or on a shelf or whatever that's designated for such things. If in a year's time I still haven't used it, off it goes.

Finally, the problem with the "sell" category is that I usually just can't be bothered. How can I overcome this? This is presently a problem with a set of motorcycle luggage that I never used, my smaller motorcycle, my "fast red" bicycle, and probably a host of other junk in the garage. They all have value but jeez, what a hassle, right?

Sun, 06 Dec 2009 19:53:17 GMT

We are expecting snow here in Folsom tomorrow morning. Whee! Californians on Ice!

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 04:57:58 GMT

I just started a cause on Facebook called "Save the White Elephants!" This is basically to ask you for a pledge to give your Christmas returns to charity rather than brave the crowds and stand in line at the store to get a slightly different sweater, or exchange the toaster for a video game. Everyone wins! You get the warm fuzzy of donation, you don't have to tell your friends and loved ones you exchanged their gifts, the store doesn't need to deal with you, and MOST IMPORTANTLY, the charity gets a brand new item rather than the broken faded castoffs they're used to.

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 14:33:14 GMT

This is worth the 1:30, trust me. Chinese news on Tiger Woods vs. wife, fire hydrant, tree, cops...

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 02:40:49 GMT

courtesy of Krista

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 17:53:21 GMT

it's like he's talking directly to my soul

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 04:03:48 GMT

I have been writing a bit. I've fleshed out my Sarge and Lt. mystery story into about 2/3 of a book outline. But 1700 words a day for NaNoWriMo is right out of my league, given present work-and-play load.

Feeling a bit out of control lately. Not in a fast and wild sort of way, in a drifting towards icebergs sort of way. I know this is related to my workout prohibition.

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 16:18:10 GMT

Last weekend I made a whole wheat sourdough that has lasted me the whole week. Not because it was big, but because it was so very sour. I think it needs more sugar. Most 100% whole wheat recipes you see have about a tablespoon of sugar for each cup of flour so I guess I should have expected it. I let it rise in a bowl but when I plopped it on the baking stone it just pooled, so it was very wide and flat. This seems to happen with all my sourdoughs. If I want to make sandwiches I need to use loaf pans.

This weekend, I'm making 10% and a 40% sourdough rye loaves.

Our club Halloween party was last night and was a good time if not a huge party. Last year I organized the party and justified my costumelessness with being too busy. But I was the only one there out of 40-ish people to not have a costume. Chastened, I made a costume this year. It seems to have been a success. Will post pictures as soon as I get any.

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:02:00 GMT

I found them! I found the non-flours. In the bulk goods, not in the baking aisle.

- spelt
- semolina
- rye

Time to now make some bread that is actually interesting and not merely nourishing!

There's also bread flour over there that costs about a third what the Gold Medal brand does, and whole wheat bread and cake flours, which are finer ground than the mealy stuff in the baking aisle.

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 23:08:15 GMT

Projects this weekend...

- Working on Halloween costume. It was supposed to be ready for a party tonight but isn't coming together, and I'll be putting on the Charlie Brown outfit. Hopefully it will be done for next week's thing. I've nevertheless learned a lot; for instance, fabric glue takes forever to dry, better to use glue gun and staples; also, flannel cuts easier with the tin snips than with the cheap scissors.

- Bread... I'm preparing a sourdough whole wheat loaf. In the past this has been a muddy and not very appetizing disaster but I keep trying.

- Beer... The pale ale I made last month is way too bitter. I'm going to make a half-batch of beer with dry malt extract and only a little hops, and make a blend. I've never tried this before, should be interesting to see how it turns out. Also it's time to keg the stout I made two weeks back.

Oh, and Facebook and dog walks and laundry. Lots of that.

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 17:05:17 GMT

In addition to a lot more bread, I made butter yesterday. This turns out to be pretty easy:

1. buy pint of cream
2. put in food processor
3. whip til it's whipped cream. This took a long time, I think cause my pint was "ultra-pasteurized"
4. then keep going til it grains up into butter
5. Strain and knead a little to get rid of the buttermilk

I have to say that, while this made good butter, it isn't any better than what you can buy. And having proved I can do it, I don't need to do it again.

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 04:13:07 GMT

I made beer and bread this weekend. And I thought, how much of a pain in the ass must this have been before gas and electric? When you had to use wood for everything? How much wood did it take to boil a pan of water, much less boil a whole barrel of beer for an hour, or keep an oven hot enough to bake? Wood that you lit with flint and steel?

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 00:19:39 GMT

I'm back on to talking about frivolous things that people want to talk about: gossip, movies, etc. I played Rock Band last night and today I'm making a nice pub stout to replace that awful pale ale, as well as a batch of bread.

The former went nicely, the latter... well, this is why they remind you to oil the plastic wrap. I was just about to put them in the oven, too. Crap!

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 06:30:44 GMT

Mead update.

Fermentation is stalled out again, it seems. Or at least the yeast isn't flocculating. Didn't get a chance to check the gravity. I transferred it off the oak chips tonight and did manage to check the pH. Pretty low! Need to add some buffer, calcium carbonate or similar. My mead book scolds me for not having checked it to begin with.

I also transferred the latest beer to the fridge. It's supposed to be a Sierra Nevada clone but I don't have high hopes for it. It seems on first runnings to be super bitter, and not enough hop flavor to go with the bitterness.

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 19:48:09 GMT

A few weeks ago, at work, I was moved to a freshly remodeled building. About the same time, our charity club took over the snack bar in the previous building. So I started up an outpost of it over here. It's right next to the snack machine so I have it pretty limited to a few items that aren't in the machine.

Sales started slow and I wasn't counting out every day. The last time was 9/17, and I left $5 change in the cup. Today I brought in some inventory and checked the cup. It had $1.25 in it. I've been ripped off.

Now I work in an office behind a locked door. I'm pretty sure no one is in need of the lunch money level of cash that was in there. What kind of dick steals from charity?

Inventory has been steadily disappearing, too, as it should. I choose to believe for now that it's not also shoplifting.

Sun, 27 Sep 2009 03:43:51 GMT

I will need to switch entirely to pie. Well, that's not so bad.

Meanwhile, this, courtesy of Jalopnik.

Sat, 19 Sep 2009 16:44:50 GMT

I have been buying and reading the Complete Peanuts collection. These are pricey and printed on nice paper, two years per each hardcover book. Each has a nice introduction by some relevant luminary. The lack of colors in the Sunday strips is the only off note. I'm a bookstore, not Amazon, kind of guy, so I keep an eye out for the next one I don't have whenever I'm in Borders or whatever. I just got the 67-70 box (2 books) but I'm missing the 65-66 book. The 71-74 box is out now, and gets us up to Peppermint Patty and Woodstock. Books come out every six months, so no hurry. I do wonder how long to pursue it. Peanuts wasn't always funny.

This has started a trend of fancy completist comic strip collections. There is now a Dick Tracy collection series, which I've been ignoring. I just picked up a Buck Rogers collection, clearly intended to be the start of a series.

If they'd do it for Krazy Kat, I'd buy the lot, but I suppose that's too much to hope for. So far they've only really done Sundays and the publication is sporadic due to publishers going under and other publishers picking up the torch. There are 30 years of dailies with meandering complicated plots I'd love to see.

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 18:27:04 GMT

From the WTF file: The production arm of Orange County Choppers is going to make a hybrid bike.

No one has really attempted this before, so far as I know. There are several outfits making fully electric motorcycles. But the complexity of a hybrid in the compact form of a motorcycle would seem to be difficult. Motorbikes often get good city and poor highway mileage compared to the ratio for cars, due to their light weight and poor aerodynamics. So the case for a hybrid, which improves city mileage, would seem hard to make.

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 04:07:17 GMT

aieee!

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 03:35:50 GMT

The sequel to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is called Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, with a Lovecraft and Verne vibe. No vampires to be found, thank God.

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 03:57:08 GMT

California Capitol Air Show 2009. Attended with Melisa, Jasmine, Aiden, Jon, and Daniel McC. What a great day for pictures!

Sat, 12 Sep 2009 22:29:20 GMT

Meanwhile the mead is down to 1.05 and still cloudy. Slowest fermentation ever... I'm putting it on some oak chips today.