Well. There you go.

No lack of inquisitiveness

2009-04-02T19:56:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since the last post, huh? It's not for lack of questions.

Question of the day: is this our Miz Kollar mentioned?

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/outdoors/2008966279_nwwporttownsend020.html

Roasted Chestnuts

2008-12-31T11:38:00.000-08:00

Poke an X in the curved side with the tip of a very sharp knife. Serrated knives won't work; that's how I nicked a finger. Aim for the curved side because that lets you press the flat side against a cutting board. Plates won't work. And forget about only cutting through the shell. How can you tell you haven't punctured the nutmeat?
Arrange the chestnuts in a single layer in an enameled cast-iron pot. The heavy lid is important--if a chestnut explodes, the heavy pot contains the mess nicely.
Place said pot in a 350-degree oven. Bake for roughly 20 minutes, until the shells show black spots and they start peeling back at the X. Or some other location. It appeared rather arbitrary.
Take out the pot and put it over a medium-low flame on the stove. This will keep the chestnuts warm while you are peeling them.
Peel the chestnuts, using a paper towel to help you hold them. Keep a small knife on hand to help with the fibrous parts. Use the tip of said knife to dig out the meat because peeling only works well in theory.
Dip hands occasionally in cool water to stave off burns.

Verdict: forget it. I'm staring at the nick on my finger right now.

Question of the day.

2008-11-23T14:28:00.000-08:00

Why is it, whenever I'm recovering from a cold, that all the goo in my chest comes out my nose while I'm still stuck with a nagging cough?

Whee...

2008-11-20T15:24:00.001-08:00

Some ideas for Wii game titles, just in case they haven't been done yet. (I'm still building out my knowledge. For all I know they've been done.)

* Wii Curling: the thrill of curling without the ice.
* Wii Plumber: make housecalls and fix emergency leaks.
* Wii Painter: Van Gogh never had an electronic canvas.
* Wii Sculptor: carve marble, wood, or form whatever you want, and possibly even have the option to order real versions of your design.
* Wii House Painter: requires business acumen but no artistic talent.
* Wii Handyperson: now you have to diagnose the problem.
* Wii Auto Mechanic: now you're fixing cars.
* Wii Botanist: like Endless Ocean, but in the jungle, with animals you probably shouldn't pet.
* Wii Deadliest Catch: like Rock Band, but without the special toys and with lots of crab.
* Wii Dentist: like Trauma Center, but without the urgency and with lots of teeth.

There's a special place.

2008-11-19T13:29:00.000-08:00

There's a special place for people who

* come to work sick
* turn then signal
* don't wash their hands after going to the restroom
* don't clean up their exploded food from the microwave
* hide in the back row when there are other seats available, and refuse to move when asked
* take up multiple parking spaces
* don't turn on their headlights in the rain
* don't read the question before answering
* believe that if they're not interested in it, no one is
* drive slowly in the left lane
* pass in the right lane

Question of the day.

2008-11-12T08:12:00.001-08:00

How would a turkey roasted Cantonese-style taste?

Question of the day.

2008-11-11T15:18:00.000-08:00

We don't wear suits in Silicon Valley. Is the badge on a lanyard the pathogen-carrying tech equivalent of the necktie?

Maybe I was wrong to ask for stock.

2008-11-10T14:58:00.000-08:00

I am the proud owner of a Wii. It is the first game console I've ever owned, partly because I've been put off by the prospect of paying a premium for older graphics, partly because I've been put off by the prospect of having to keep buying new games for what was sure to become obsolete.

After all, cookbooks pay off more, don't they? And stocks pay real dividends.

Now I'm reconsidering this line of thought. A video game console is indeed something every well-rounded kid should own, along with the bookshelf of good books (containing the Anne of Green Gables, Chronicles of Narnia, and Lord of the Rings series, as well a bunch of others that escape my mind at the moment).

One weekend of suffering a strained shoulder from Wii tennis, and another weekend of carpal tunnel from Williams Pinball is downright embarrassing. Definitely something that could have been averted had I bothered to play my friends' consoles earlier in life.

Products I hope never go away.

2008-10-06T08:32:00.000-07:00

* Swiffer in the mop and duster form.
* The bug killer from Home Depot that comes in the gray bottle.
* Rickshaw tea.
* Unsalted chicken broth in the aseptic carton.
* Engineering graph paper.
* Those little palmier cookies at Costco.
* Schweppes Ginger Beer, Bitter Lemon, Grapefruit, Dry Ginger Ale, and Cream Soda, in that order.
* Disinfecting wipes.
* Neutrogena clarifying shampoo.
* Coke One.
* Trader Joe's dark chocolate-covered caramels.
* Act in its original, non-alcoholic, 0.05% fluoride form. It boggles the mind that other mouthwashes don't offer fluoride.

Discontinued products I wish they would bring back.

2008-10-04T22:34:00.000-07:00

* Trader Joe's Gummi Chewies, both the ones shaped like fruits and the "tropical" ones shaped like animals.
* Trader Joe's Gummi Bears.
* Trader Joe's mango sauce. At least I thought they made one at some point. Now I'm disappointed because I want to experiment with mango turnovers.
* Robitussin Cough and Cold, the kind with pseudophedrine.
* Trader Joe's ladyfingers.
* Haagen-Dazs burnt caramel.
* Ben and Jerry's White Russian.
* Costco French chocolates, not the Swiss ones.
* Costco caramel nut frozen yogurt topping.
* Costco hot lattes and mochas.
* Yoplait guava.
* Trader Joe's rice senbei.

Shrimp in "Crazy Water", Modified

2008-09-30T10:19:00.000-07:00

Ingredients
~24 shrimp, thawed
1 c Corona Light
0.5 c unsalted chicken broth
1 small yellow onion, sliced into thin half-moons
2 cloves garlic, smashed
couple shakes red pepper flakes
2 small handfuls sugar plum tomatoes, halved
couple tablespoons olive oil

Method
1. Saute onion and garlic until the onion turns translucent and slightly golden.
2. Add (carefully) beer and broth, and tomatoes. Simmer 10 minutes.
3. Add shrimp and cover until done.

The truth about black grapes.

2008-09-22T15:28:00.001-07:00

They probably contain more antioxidants.

They probably taste different than the red and green ones.

None of that matters.

They just look cooler, that's all.

Question of the day.

2008-09-15T17:58:00.000-07:00

How many cooking games do we really need for the Nintendo DS?

Thought of the day.

2008-08-26T20:13:00.001-07:00

The Democratic National Convention looks great in HD. Now it's time to go watch cartoons.

Homma's Brown Rice Sushi

2008-08-08T08:18:00.000-07:00

2363 B Birch St, Palo Alto, CA 94306

* Had the chef's choice Combo #1, $8
* Combo #1 had tuna nigiri, smoked salmon nigiri, couple pieces of white fish nigiri, 3 pieces tuna roll, and 3 pieces cucumber roll
* Also sampled the unagi roll, futomaki, unagi donburi, and spicy smoked salmon asparagus roll

* I didn't realize brown sushi rice could stick together about as well as the white kind.
* The texture of the rice was nicely chewy (but not overly so) and the fish and other ingredients were very fresh. The fillings were nicely proportioned to the rice as well as to each other.
* The rice itself seemed to have a wasabi kick. This offset the slight nuttiness of the rice but was surprising at first.
* The unagi was very good, with the skin nicely broiled to give it a crispy charred edge. I think it worked better in the roll because it the texture of the skin was immediately offset by the texture of the rice. However, the donburi is a better choice if you want to focus on the eel.
* Since there is only one chef, it takes a while to get your order. Although it is worth the wait, the wait itself is a test of patience.
* As with all sushi, I found everything on the salty side.

Costco Polish a la Japadog

2008-08-07T14:39:00.000-07:00

Ingredients
1 Costco Polish sausage with bun from the deli
2 tbl thick Korean barbeque sauce (teriyaki works too)
1 snack pack seasoned nori seaweed

Method
* Apply sauce.
* Shred seaweed and top sausage.

I'm off the bagged spinach.

2008-08-06T10:17:00.000-07:00

I was so grossed out last night I neglected to take a photo. The underside of one leaf of my spinach contained a neat cluster of little grey spheres. They were either insect eggs or styrofoam packing material of some sort. The meal ended right there.

The e-coli didn't get me, the foreign matter did.

Question of the day.

2008-08-05T13:40:00.000-07:00

You know what's great about summer? Being able to eat a bowl of blueberries like I would a bowl of cereal. Only it's blueberries, not cereal.

So Gong Dong Tofu House

2008-08-04T17:02:00.000-07:00

4127 El Camino Real, Palo Alto, CA 94306

* Had the combination tofu stew (no spice), $9.24
* Nice smooth tofu stew with bits of beef, clam, and a couple whole shrimp.
* Rice was mixed with a little black rice and beans, giving everything a reddish hue. Perhaps J can fill me in on what it's called when that is done and why it's done.
* Banchan included kimchi, seaweed in ketchup/spicy sauce, pickled cucumber, potato, garlicky bean sprouts, and those clear noodles stirfried in sesame oil.

* I liked the rice, that the stew contained very little onion, the flavor of the beef, and how the clams miraculously didn't turn into rubber bands. My favorite banchan was the noodles, followed by the potato.
* The ventilation system was a little smoky. Also I think $9.24 is a little pricey for tofu stew, but then, the cheaper option in Santa Clara contains a lot of onion.

Question of the day.

2008-08-04T13:26:00.000-07:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/04/arts/television/04watc.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Solar-powered tanning beds.

Run that by me again?

Banana Chocolate Vivanno

2008-07-25T08:51:00.000-07:00

* Banana Chocolate smoothie...sorry, Vivanno, $3.70
* Basically a chocolate banana smoothie. Chocolate part was nice and the drink was not too sweet. The texture was more watery than expected; most smoothies are thicker. Seemed more wholesome than the green tea Frappuccino but the chocolate was the only thing keeping it exciting.
* So we know the cup used 45% less emissions to produce...now what about the straw?

Ramen Club

2008-07-25T08:46:00.000-07:00

3924 El Camino Real, Palo Alto, CA 94306

* Had Tonkatsu Ramen, $7.25
* Contained porky broth, ramen noodles, corn, sliced green onion, shredded cabbage, seaweed slivers, 2 slices roasted pork, half a hard-boiled egg, and a slice of roasted seaweed.
* Noodles were nicely al dente and fresh, the broth was salty for my taste but had a nice porky flavor. Broth was not as milky as expected. Hard-boiled egg not overdone, but yolk was soggy from being buried in the broth.
* Meal came with a cup of peachy gelatin.

Question of the day.

2008-07-24T08:40:00.001-07:00

Since when is an on/off switch an optional feature?

Thought of the day.

2008-07-16T16:05:00.001-07:00

I really don't want to get into a cc battle.

Question of the day.

2008-07-10T15:46:00.001-07:00

As people, are we really as idiotic as we think we are, or is it just easier to call everybody idiots?

Question of the day.

2008-06-18T20:13:00.000-07:00

See what happens when you don't pay your bills right away?

Question of the day.

2008-06-16T08:28:00.000-07:00

This weekend I consumed, among other things,

barbeque chicken pizza
hawaiian pizza
Tim's Cascade jalapeno potato chips
shrimp chips
lychees
cherries

How long do you think it will be before I break out in zits?

Question of the day.

2008-06-02T13:36:00.000-07:00

When you detox, where do the pesticides and other junk go?

If it's important, they will call back.

2008-04-21T09:00:00.000-07:00

Let this be a lesson to those of you who think everything is so important that you must take the call while driving your car.

Heaven help you if I ever discover you're the one who rang my landline at 4:30 this morning.

I know what I want for Christmas.

2008-04-16T10:17:00.001-07:00

Statement of the day.

2008-03-26T09:51:00.000-07:00

It's facsinating how even 20/20 vision is fuzzy.

That's two.

2008-03-09T21:02:00.000-07:00

I've run over two squirrels with my car.

I hit the first one several years ago. It was sitting in the middle of the lane on a two-lane side street. Most squirrels sense the car's vibrations well in advance and run out of the way. This one just sat there. There was oncoming traffic so I couldn't swerve, and besides, I thought the squirrel would get out of the way. There was traffic behind me so stopping hard was not an option. My front bumper knocked it out.

I hit the second one today. It was zigzagging in my (the left) lane, which was on a four-lane street that sits on the entrance to a freeway. There was a median on my left, and traffic on my right and behind me, so swerving or stopping was again not an option. This one was clearly spooked by all the traffic swirling around and could not decide where to go. I felt a bump as my front right tire dispatched it.

I've never managed to run over a bird. They get away in time. Why can't the squirrels?

Avocado adoration

2008-02-17T20:54:00.000-08:00

In all the years I've been shopping, there, I've never realized there is such thing as a Costco-sized avocado. This is mostly because I've shied away from buying five or more avocadoes at a time.

They're fantastic. Today's was gigantic, perfectly ripe with none of the weird brown streaks, and the flesh wasn't disappointingly thin close to the stone. The peel flaked off a bit, but not too badly. The flesh was buttery, savory, and a gorgeous shade of green. It didn't need the drizzle of salad dressing. Come to think of it, nearly all avocadoes and tomatoes I purchase suffer the same fate. They're eaten out of hand with a little dressing. Few ever make it to any sort of recipe.

The avocadoes are imported from Chile. I know, the planet will die as a result. However, the quality far surpassed that of the locally grown fruit. I'm all for reducing food miles, but it's disappointing to have to make such drastic tradeoffs in quality.

Gripes.

2008-02-14T20:47:00.001-08:00

I've been sick twice this year. That is, I've been sick twice since January 1, 2008. It is now February.

The first round was just a cold and was relatively mild. It only needed a little pseudophedrine, although I was cranky enough to wrestle any meth-heads for it if it came down to that.

The second round I think was the flu. I caught it at the end of January, a mere week after I got over the first round. Is it a cold, or is it the flu? I couldn't eat properly for a week and lost two pounds as a result. With the flu, I've always assumed one cannot keep much food down. In this situation, I couldn't get it down in the first place. Does that qualify? Textures and flavors of any sort were causing a problem. Rice soaked in soup wouldn't go down. A few bits of English muffin with a little jam did, except I had to call it quits after half the muffin. I've only just added junk food back to my diet.

At any rate, I've got a lingering cough that only flares up when I speak or inhale steam or a strong scent. It doesn't surface when I sleep. I love sleep.

They say if your cough lingers more than a week, it's bronchitis and your should seek professional help. (Arguably, we should all seek professional help, but that's for another day.) If that's true, then I must get bronchitis nearly every time I catch a cold. Every time except the first round. I've downed most of the cough syrup and am trying to keep myself off the stuff. It kills the appetite and you lose two pounds as a result.

I mentioned that I love sleep. This is in direct conflict to the current quarter. This week alone demanded five papers. Two were 4-5 pages, one was 5-8 pages, two were 1 page. We have an assignment due Wednesday which I'm pretending to work on. I'm lost in the numbers and despairing because I signed up for two numeric classes next quarter.

Okay, back to work.

Question of the day.

2008-01-29T08:06:00.001-08:00

You know what I dislike? People who announce that they're sick and then proceed to rub their hands all over my desk.

Nearly vanquished.

2008-01-18T21:32:00.000-08:00

I've only picked up 10 ants today, and there are no discernible trails left. Finally, I can vacuum the corpses from the baseboards and use the mop handle to run a soggy paper towel between the fridge and the cabinet.

The tally so far:

* The spray chemicals, while highly effective, are noxious to humans and therefore not a great options. I will continue to boycott these as long as possible.

* The Raid baits in the teal box don't work. The box touts it contains *two* kinds of food for the ants. Neither of which the ants like, apparently. It's really expensive to boot, at nearly $6 for four.

* The MaxAttack baits in the red box are awesome. The ants love this stuff and die reasonably quickly. They are inexpensive, at about $2 for four.

* The Ortho Ant-B-Gon traps don't work, according to my pals. Good thing, too, as they are on the pricey side.

* The Raid outdoor stakes may or may not be working. They are not too expensive, at about $9 for six. They live outside, so I'm not too concerned about them.

* The tube bait is going back to the store. I don't like the idea of leaving open bait indoors.

* The clear containers of liquid bait looked incredibly cool. It's a pity they don't actually lure the ants inside, because it would be neat to see drowned ants *inside* the container. They are expensive, at about $5 for four. I bet they don't work.

The ants must die, or why I dislike Woody Allen.

2008-01-15T14:37:00.000-08:00

The ants have returned. They are the resilient Argentine variety, the kind with no natural predators except humans. Right now I've got 15 bait stations scattered around my kitchen, a bottle of Windex on standby, and I've taken to walking around the kitchen on paper towels so I can squash the little vermin with my toe when necessary. I spent an hour last night scrubbing down the baseboards with said Windex.

The ants responded by creating an even bigger path from the patio door to the refrigerator, swarming four of the bait stations, and stepping around the rest. I hope this means some of the bait took. I know from experience the sprays are a highly effective neurotoxin, both to the ants and to humans. I'd rather not use them.

I also know from experience that homemade remedies involving honey bait and borax poison do not work. Why? Because Argentine ants are not attracted by sugar. Given sugar, they will swarm it, for sure. They will also swarm water, Windex, Orange-Glo, Pine-Sol, diluted dish soap, bait stations, dead wasps, their newly fallen siblings, dust bunnies, and refrigerators.

The last case happened when I was in grad school. The fridge was particularly old, and the ants particularly mutant. One rainy day, the ants decided to swarm the fridge but none of the food on the counter. The fridge had old seals and so the ants got in. The resulting scene resembled http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Minard.png if you turn the image on its side, picture the freezer on the skinny side on top, and the band made entirely of well-chilled ants.

I spent days shaking the frozen corpses off the peas.

Anyways, the movie "Antz" is all about the survival of the current ant colony thanks to Woody Allen's ant character's neuroses. Forget that. I wish the entire colony would die off and leave my kitchen alone.

Bummed out

2008-01-13T19:29:00.000-08:00

They've stopped making Robitussin Cough and Cold liqui-gels.

I am extremely bummed out about this. They were my drug...uh, pharmaceutical...of choice. They were the only thing that worked. Boy howdy, did they work. They sealed up the sniffles and stopped the coughs all in one go, without the nasty taste of cough syrup. They were definitely worth putting my name on that hit list they demand at the pharmacy counter.

Mucinex-D doesn't contain the same active ingredient. It's got pseudophedrine and an expectorant, which is not what I want. I'll hawk a big loogie some other time. I just need to get rid of the coughs (or rather, I will later this week).

So I had to settle for Advil Cold & Sinus (for the pseudophedrine) and a separate bottle of Robitussin Cough Gels (for the cough suppressant). Although it's not the same, I still would have beaten down any meth-head in the parking lot for my pseudophedrine. I need it more than they do.

And for goodness' sake peel the ginger

2008-01-04T17:08:00.000-08:00

The skin is nasty to eat. At least wash it before you use it. You don't know where it's been and who else handled it before you, so why would you toss it in the pot as is like the guys on TV do?

Criminy.

Why they're all ripoffs of Cook's Illustrated.

2008-01-04T16:58:00.000-08:00

Or, why I post no Chinese recipes.

The Cook's recipes are by far the clearest and easiest to use. Because things are spelled out so well, it's easy to see where you can substitute different ingredients, even if it's not called for.

I don't make stuffed tomatoes or cookies every day, you know. But you would be disappointed with my recipes for Chinese dishes. Case in point:

Braised Chinese Mustard Greens

1 bag Chinese mustard greens (gai choy) (1 bag is the minimum unit they'll sell me)
1 piece (not the entire thing, but enough so the cashier doesn't think you're cheap) ginger, peeled and sliced (Or chunked. The point is no mincing and no paper-thin slices.)
water to cover bottom of pot
dash salt

1. Trim and wash the mustard greens.
2. Find a pot big enough for the greens. Cover the bottom with water and add the salt and ginger. Boil the water.
3. Turn the heat down to medium. Add the greens and cover. Cook until done.

I mean really, there's not much to it.

Stuffed Cherry Tomatoes

2008-01-03T17:14:00.001-08:00

Adapted from a Cook's Illustrated recipe.

1 dry pint cherry tomatoes
4 oz goat cheese (most of a TJ log)
6 kalamata olives, rinsed and chopped
1 tbl capers, rinsed and chopped
2 tbl fresh parsley, chopped
drizzle of olive oil

1. Mix the cheese, olives, capers, and parsley. Add enough oil so the mixture holds together.
2. Take the tops off the cherry tomatoes and scoop out their guts. For me, this involved a really small spoon and getting up to my elbows in tomato guts.
3. Spoon the cheese into the tomatoes. I wound up using only half the cheese.

Pros:
* This recipe would be tastier if I had 2 tablespoons olive tapenade, as specified in the original recipe, on hand instead of the capers and olives.
* The cheese is nice on toast.

Cons:
* I thought it could use more olive and less caper. That's what I get for running out of olives.
* I detected a "fishy" taste, which was confirmed by one other person.
* Another person couldn't detect the fishiness, but thought the goat cheese rather strong.
* Gutting a dry pint of cherry tomatoes is surprisingly hard work. Miniature bell peppers would be a better choice as they have a more assertive flavor. However, you'd need to add a squeeze of lemon to the cheese to add a hit of acidity.

Baked egg with tomato.

2007-12-31T08:14:00.000-08:00

Adapted from Mark Bittman's NYTimes recipe.

Baked Egg with Tomato

1 egg

tops of 1 pint of cherry tomatoes

dash olive oil, salt, pepper

1. Oil the dish. Preheat the oven to 375.

2. Line the dish with the cherry tomato tops.

3. Salt and pepper the tomatoes.

4. Crack the egg over the tomatoes.

5. Bake, uncovered, for at least 12 minutes. The egg doesn't look done, but believe me, it is. It gets a rubbery layer over the top if you let it go too long. The good news is despite the layer, the yolk turns out almost perfect, which is tough to do in a frying pan. At least it's tough for me.

Note: make sure you use an adorable dish that looks like a tomato. It will take your mind off the fact that you're eating a gazillion cherry tomato tops instead of a proper slice of tomato.

Question of the day.

2007-12-17T08:32:00.000-08:00

Have you tried WD-40?

Gingerbread Cookies

2007-12-14T08:15:00.000-08:00

Adapted from the recipe on the back of my molasses bottle. This recipe results in cookies that are fairly toothsome. They're not crisp, nor are they soft. If you roll them out fairly thin they start to resemble soft ginger snaps. If you roll them out on the thicker side, they can be a little bit difficult to bite into. However, the result is still not sturdy enough for gingerbread houses.

Well, I like them anyway. They have a black licorice flavor that is not too sweet. If you like sweet, they will take well to icing without becoming overly sweet.

0.75 c each dark molasses, light brown sugar (packed), and butter (1.5 sticks)
1 egg
3 2/3 c flour
1 tbl ground ginger
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
0.5 tsp each allspice and baking soda

1. Boil the molasses, sugar, and butter on medium heat. While the mixture cools, measure and blend the dry ingredients.
2. Add the beaten egg to the molasses mixture. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry until well combined.
3. Wrap and chill the dough at least 1 hour.
4. My dough needed additional massaging to become pliable and cohesive enough to roll. Roll it out 1/8" to 1/4" thick and go nuts with the cookie cutter.
5. Bake at 350F for 12-14 minutes, until the edges start to brown. That is, they turn browner than the dough already is.

Makes 32 large bears, 12 large stars, 15 small stars, and one round splodge.

Mmm...

2007-12-13T12:15:00.000-08:00

Cheese lasagna freezes beautifully. Sliced portions reheat to an unattractive puddle of sauce, noodles, and cheese, but then, all lasagna does that, except for the comercially made ones. It tastes just fine. If you're hungry enough, it really doesn't matter what it looks like, now, does it?

Here's my recipe. It comes courtesy of Cook's Illustrated. Note the emphasis on where I shop.

Cheese Lasagna (billed as Simple Cheese Lasagna, but I never ever go for complicated recipes)

15 oz ricotta cheese = 1 tub from Trader Joe's.
1.25 c grated parmesan cheese. I use preshredded.
0.5 c basil, minced
1 egg, beaten
0.5 tsp each salt, pepper
2 jars marinara sauce. I use the no-salt added kind from TJ.
12 no-boil lasagna noodles. Thank goodness TJ started carrying these.
1 lb shredded mozzarella = 1 bag preshredded.

1. Set oven to 375F with rack in the middle.
2. Mix ricotta, 1 c parmesan, basil, egg, salt, and pepper until it forms a squidgy mass.
3. First layer: 0.25 c sauce in your 9x13 baking dish, then 3 noodles, then 1 spoon of ricotta onto each noodle. Smoosh out the cheese over the noodle. Scatter 1/4 of the mozzarella over everything.
4. Second and third layers: 1.5 c sauce, 3 noodles, 1 spoon ricotta smooshed on each noodle, 1/4 of the mozzarella. This uses up all the ricotta.
5. Fourth layer: noodles first, then rest of the sauce, then last of the mozzarella, then last of the parmesan.
6. Oil a sheet of foil and use to cover the pan tightly. Bake, covered, 15 minutes.
7. Uncover and bake 25 minutes more.
8. Let sit a few minutes then eat.

Weekend recap.

2007-12-10T08:25:00.000-08:00

The long-rise, no-knead bread has a nice crust but a dense interior which is not to my liking. After reading Cook's Illustrated revision of the NY Times no-knead recipe, I think the dense interior could be rectified with a little kneading, a hotter baking method, more yeast, and a warmer rise cycle. I won't be revisiting this, because I abhor kneading (why else would I go for a no-knead recipe), don't have a Dutch oven suitable for the hotter baking method, and am unwilling to crank up the heat anywhere in my kitchen for a warmer rise.

I did not bake the gingerbread after all. Instead, I went for a modification of the gingerbread cookie recipe printed on the back of the molasses bottle. Instead of 1/4 tsp nutmeg, I used 1/2 tsp allspice, because I refuse to buy yet another bottle of rarely-used spice. Also, I used butter instead of margarine, because margarine is evil. I like the cookies and hope the stars stay fresh until C's birthday on Sunday. I don't know if other people will like the cookies. I used the dark molasses, which gives the cookies a Black Vine licorice flavor. I like Black Vines, but not everybody does. Also, the cookies must remain uniced. After spending the time to massage the dough into something more pliable, I didn't feel like making and applying a glaze.

In the non-baking department, I also made braised Chinese mustard greens. Mostly because I needed a vegetable and those were on sale.

My fridge is wonky and I don't know how to fix it. The main cabin is the correct temperature. However, all of the drawers are at or below freezing temperature. Cranking up the temperature using the little buttons causes everything to get warmer, so much so that the main cabin approaches an unsafe temperature. In the meantime, the drawers stay a good five degrees colder. Sigh.

But will it insure accurate service?

2007-12-10T08:16:00.000-08:00

I started a subscription to the Wall Street Journal a couple weeks ago because it's required reading for my next class. Normally I prefer to read my news online and I strongly prefer not to have to pay for access, which is why I didn't have a subscription earlier.

In Saturday's paper my delivery man included a card asking for his annual tip. I've never known anybody who tips their delivery man, partly because I know very few people who actually get a newspaper delivered.

I don't know what the protocol is. A couple bucks? What if you've only been getting the paper a couple weeks, and only intend to for another quarter?

And what if during those couple of weeks, I haven't actually received my own newspaper? On the days when I received the WSJ, I received my neighbors'. Or rather, somebody in my neighborhood. I didn't actually go to their houses to try to swap the papers, because the odds were good that 1) they weren't home and 2) they hadn't received my paper. It's not like I can call the WSJ to complain, as they have no control over the delivery man.

Over the weekend, I received both the WSJ and the Mercury News. This is baffling because I never ordered the Mercury News. The MN doesn't have address labels so I don't know if I'm getting a neighbor's paper or a surplus. It's not like I can call the MN to complain, because they probably don't know I'm receiving their paper in the first place.

Today, I got the MN only. This is a pity, because I really only want the WSJ.

I could send in the card with a note, but then, I might as well ask the delivery man to put more dents in my garage door while he's at it.

Question of the day.

2007-12-07T09:05:00.001-08:00

Dear Guy In the Next Cube,

Would you like a lozenge? You've been clearing your throat and sniffling for the last hour.

Weekend Recap

2007-12-03T10:47:00.000-08:00

* Tried two new-to-me Korean places, both fabulous. One makes its own tofu, the other has fantastic fried chicken. No more Popeye's for me. The combination of fried chicken and pickled daikon is fantastic--the vinegar cuts through the oil nicely.

* Nice surprise with the buttermilk pancakes. Turns out I really did have two cups of buttermilk left over from the Thanksgiving mashed potatoes. I prefer a runnier batter, though. The pancakes are wonderfully thick, but I prefer a thinner pancake, and one that cooks a little faster so as to make heat management a little easier.

* The cheese lasagna was blissfully easy and tasty. The most difficult part was mincing the entire pack of basil, 2/3 of which went into an ice cube tray into the freezer. The resulting lasagna was full of hot molten cheese and bubbly rich tomato sauce punctuated by fragrant basil bits.

* No bread this weekend. There wasn't enough time given the long rise required and the fact that I had a week's worth of pancakes made up already.

* No gingerbread mix, boo-hoo. Everyone else loves this mix as much as I do.

* Chinese broccoli for the first time in a quarter. It looks tough but is an exciting prospect nevertheless.

Next weekend: gingerbread and bread (hopefully). If eggplants are cheap, eggplant pasta. If not, will consider Pasta Puttanesca, assuming I locate the recipe and have the energy to mince an entire pack of parsley.

Post Office 5, Me 1

2007-12-03T08:37:00.000-08:00

I don't understand how I'm supposed to buy stamps. Obviously I'm missing something.

They took out the vending machine in this building, instructing us to purchase stamps at the ATM. Like hell I'm paying the ATM stamp service fee.

To purchase online, you need a printer. Presumably you'd need special paper. I'd imagine you can have the stamps shipped to you too. Like hell I'm buying a printer, toner, and special paper, or waiting for my stamps.

The post office with the special package machine that takes credit cards normally dispenses stamps, except for when I actually want to buy stamps. In the same post office, there were two cash machines. One was out of order, the other was not accepting bills of any sort. Like hell I have $8.20 in loose change on me.

The other post office closer to my house has two cash machines and no package machine. One refused to take any bills. The other would take only my crispest bills. Or rather, bill. The first $5 went in all right, but it refused to acknowledge any subsequent bills. And it would not dispense more than $5 in change, so a $20 was out of the question. Like hell I'm buying two books of stamps, even if the machine let me (which it didn't).

I suppose I could return during operating hours. But they open after I get to work and close before they leave. The only branch that's open on Saturday is about 5 miles out of the way. Like hell I'm dashing out of work just to buy stamps.

So there you have it. The solution was to have enough cash on hand to pay for my groceries, thereby breaking the $20s into $10 or smaller, and using a $10 in the machine that only accepts one bill at a time. Because like hell it's going to accept *two* crisp $5s.

TGIF. Question of the day.

2007-11-30T14:51:00.000-08:00

Stuff I want to cook this weekend:

* simple cheese lasagna
* bread (http://projects.washingtonpost.com/recipes/2007/11/28/easy-slow-rise-no-knead-light-wheat-or-white-bread/)
* french toast made from aforementioned bread
* Chinese greens (it's been a while since I've eaten those)
* gingerbread cookies (mix is fine)
* something with phyllo dough to use up the roll that's left over
* buttermilk pancakes

How will I be able to eat all of that?

Stuffed.

2007-11-26T16:28:00.000-08:00

Everything turned out delicious. The verdict?

Turkey: buying kosher results in a moist bird, but salty leftovers. A leave-in probe thermometer is a great investment. Get one now.

Cranberry sauce: 1 bag berries boiled with 1 cup sugar, 3/4 cup water, 1/4 tsp salt, and 1 tsp zest, and with 2 tsp triple sec stirred in after cooking. A hit, and surprisingly fresh-tasting given that there was no orange juice involved.

Buttermilk mashed potatoes: buttermilk gives a nice tang, but makes for watery leftovers.

Green beans: surprisingly, doesn't need oil. Sliced almonds were a welcome addition.

Pie: Trader Joe's crust from the frozen case was a little thick for my liking, but shattered satisfyingly on first slice. The apples took an awfully long time to slice up.

Doing it right this time.

2007-11-19T10:12:00.001-08:00

It's week two of living in my new cubicle. I still believe I am facing the wrong direction, even though it is technically facing the same way as my old cube. The reason is my old cube faced the window (not that you could actually see out the window), whereas my new one does not. The new one is significantly warmer than the old one and has far more interesting neighbors.

I am determined to setup this cube right. This meant scrubbing down all horizontal (and most vertical) surfaces with disinfecting wipes. Also, this has meant setting up the books properly on shelves and not hiding stuff behind cabinet doors wherever permissible. And acquiring hanging folders, so papers remain properly sorted.

The Lego set shall live on an open shelf, not on the desk proper. The desk shall remain as clear as possible. I'm hoping there's enough space in the overhead cabinet to leave my toothbrush in a non-disgusting spot.

Annoyingly enough, one cabinet is not hospitable to standard sized hanging folders. It may fit legal sized, assuming I can find some.

Food shall remain on the desk. It shall not be hidden amongst the books. If it were in the overhead cabinet, it would warm up because of the lights.

I still have not figured out how to hang up the plaques without killing anybody. Will have to check the neighbors' cubes when they go home.

And I never thought I would ever find this line of discussion particularly facsinating.

Can't wait! Ramblings from a rumbling tummy.

2007-11-18T21:02:00.000-08:00

For the first time in two years, I'm actually having a real Thanksgiving, hopefully one as enjoyable as six years ago when we had an all-girls dinner. The negotiations class is all but done--all that needs to be done is to print out the project writeup, reformat the diary, and read the last articles and case. The marketing class is also all but done--all that needs to be done is present the project and read three more articles for the final.

No accounting project to stress over.

No management paper to stress over.

No marketing project to stress over.

Only one final. You either know it or you don't.

So I get to cook a lovely meal for three dear friends. Two girls and a guy who's recovering from Lasik surgery, so it's almost an all-girls dinner. I'm truly excited about the prospect of cooking a full menu.

green salad (from a bag of course)
either mango-shrimp or potato salad (C's secret recipe)
roast turkey breast (hope there's enough meat; Trader Joe's didn't sell the full breast)
cranberry-orange sauce (orange = triple sec, not juice)
buttermilk mashed potatoes
green beans
corn
pumpkin pie (C's secret recipe)
apple-cranberry pie

I am debating whether to make the sauce as is, or do a cranberry-orange relish with the addition of triple sec. After all, I was rather proud of myself for finding the triple sec, so I might as well use it. I am secretly hoping B will bring cranberry juice just so we can have a mixer.

As for green beans and corn...I wonder if there is anything else that should be done with them besides a little dab of butter. Green bean casserole is evil and unhealthy anyways.

Also, there is no bread. I figure we don't need it, what with the potatoes and pie and the fact that there are only four of us.

It sounds like a lot, but the more I think about it, the more I realize the most involved dish will be the pie.

Question of the day.

2007-11-13T14:49:00.001-08:00

Why is corn considered to be a strange pizza topping, but potatoes are not?

Eeeeeewwwww.

2007-11-12T13:53:00.001-08:00

I moved into my new cubicle today. Previously it was filled with old equipment and was configured as a two-person cube.

The previous owner left:

one reusable heating pack in a thin pseudo-cloth sleeve
one wooden pencil with a broken lead
one retractable red pen with about 1/3 of the ink left
one container paper clips
one ancient KVM switch, the kind that requires a power supply (power supply not included)
two power cables
one paper holder
two very dusty cubicle coat hooks
one dusty can Dr. Pepper, about 1/3 full, on the far top corner of the overhead bin
one dusty can Dr. Pepper, unopened, next to the other can (but still in a location that I could barely reach even while kneeling on the desk)
one cable lock with no key

I have gone over the desk six times with Clorox Disinfecting wipes. It is now to the point where you can barely make out the perfect brown handprint on the wipe.

The cabinet still has sticky splotches on the vertical surfaces. I found these on the desk drawers too, and was stymied until I discovered the previous owner's affinity for Dr. Pepper.

Question of the day.

2007-11-05T15:56:00.001-08:00

You know what Nickelodeon needs? A cooking show.

Question of the day.

2007-11-01T08:33:00.000-07:00

Dear Lysol,

When has anybody gotten sick because their toilet bowl cleaner didn't cling to the u-bend?

Sincerely,

Question of the day.

2007-10-31T08:16:00.000-07:00

What is wrong with a night of fun and candy? A Halloween featuring only healthy treats is just plain wrong.

(Remember, fruit is nature's candy.)

Dear Escalade Owner,

2007-10-30T08:48:00.000-07:00

Just because your tires would fit within the lines had you parked properly doesn't mean your car is a compact car. It's incredible to think that walking the extra 20 feet from the parking spot that would fit your car would actually kill you. Actually, you might have been better off taking two compact spaces; that way you could have saved an additional 20 feet.

Question of the day.

2007-10-28T20:37:00.001-07:00

How do you get rid of the crud in your shower head?

I think it's from the hard water. I tried soaking it in bleach, then poking at the little rubbery holes with a toothpick, but the crud is still there. It only partially comes off when you dig your fingernail into the holes, but that takes a long time and sends little bits of hard water crud into your eyes.

Question of the day.

2007-10-15T08:13:00.001-07:00

Dear Clothing Manufacturers,

Why can't you standardize your sizing and let women's egos fall where they may? I am sure many women are pleased to remain the same numeric size for years on end. However, I am not one of them. If sizes are any indication, I seem to be shrinking as I get older, whereas I would be perfectly willing to accept increasing girth as a byproduct of age.

Sincerely,

Things I want to accomplish this quarter.

2007-10-09T22:17:00.000-07:00

Swept floor.
Clean toilet.
Apple-cranberry pie, even if it's made with store-bought pie dough.
Mashed potatoes with root vegetables, even if there is only one root vegetable, and it's carrots.
Finish Christmas shopping early.
Get a little something for myself for Christmas without making it seem totally selfish.
Transfer rest of CD collection to iPod.
Smooth job transition.
Check up on my pal B, who is supposed to take GMATs this weekend. Either that or she took it last weekend. I can't remember.
Get more sleep.

Oddly enough, none of these are "study hard and pass this quarter".

Every blog comment ever, summarized for your convenience.

2007-10-07T19:55:00.000-07:00

X is right, Y is wrong.
Y is right, X is wrong.
I'm right and everybody else is wrong.
I'm right and you're stupid.
No, I'm right and you're stupid.
I'm educated and you're not.
I'm not educated, but your point is wrong anyway.
I'm right and you're not, and by inference, you were raised by wolves.
(plagarize favorite news article here)
It sucks to be you, and I'm great!
*burp*
Let's stop beating this dead horse.

Things I wish I could fix.

2007-09-21T19:11:00.000-07:00

1. Hands that freeze easily despite gloves, hot water, pockets, or hand warmers
2. Feet that freeze easily despite thick socks.
3. Sweaty palms, which makes gloves rather miserable.
4. Two left feet.
5. Being tone-deaf.
6. Being half deaf.
7. Dry skin.
8. Tenderfeet.

Question of the day.

2007-09-13T15:11:00.001-07:00

Where have all my ideas gone?

How to make vending machine trail mix healthier.

2007-09-12T16:32:00.000-07:00

The vending machine trail mix is unsalted, but a tiny packet contains two servings, each of which sports 120 calories and 6 grams fat. Here's how I made it healthier:

1. Open packet.
2. Dump packet contents into a clean styrofoam cup.
3. Discard packet so I won't read the nutrition label.
4. Enjoy!

Back in the USA.

2007-09-07T18:01:00.000-07:00

Harry Potter is a horrible book to travel with. I managed to get halfway through with hardly any effort. His only redeeming quality is he can keep your immigration/customs declarations forms uncrinkled.

小笼包 is not something that should be eaten every day.

HK has fewer opportunities these days.

There is no food in the fridge.

The guy who was supposed to be my boss left the company during my absence. Interestingly, the offer letter still went through. Fortunately, my previous colleagues still seem to love me and are calling for my return.

Seoul was the cleanest city visited on this trip and filled with incredibly polite and helpful people, even if we didn't speak the same language. It's too bad the food is so expensive.

I have no idea what horrors lie in my mailbox.

There was a giant cobweb stretching across the second floor. I walked right into it.

I dozed off this afternoon, which was a very bad thing to do. On the other hand, driving to the grocery store in a fog isn't such a great idea either.

The Curse of the Harry Potter.

2007-08-21T21:10:00.000-07:00

The first book was great. I looked forward to reading every book...until this one. The last one looks thick, heavy, and even less well crafted than the others of late. It will take up a ton of space in my backpack. It's hardcover to boot.

Question of the day.

2007-08-16T08:47:00.001-07:00

If people are drinking more soda and bottled water, are taking these with their meals and are getting obese as a result, is milk really the staple they say it is, and is the increase in price of milk really such a cause for concern?

Why I love my job. A rant.

2007-08-13T22:26:00.000-07:00

I love my job because my coworkers and I all know how to write. We don't turn out finely tuned prose like J and Z, but what we write gets the job done. It may be riddled with grammatical inconsistencies, but our peer review process quickly irons those out. And I don't see the problem with starting sentences with conjunctions in a blog.

When I studied for the GMAT, many test questions contained many examples of God-awful phrases and sentences. I used to wonder, "Isn't this obvious? Who on earth would write like that?"

My classmates, that's who. They really do write that poorly, when they can be bothered to write at all. I am not just talking about the engineers. The ones who majored in other things, the ones who really *should* know about writing because they would have taken several writing courses in college, these are the people churning out documents that would have made me blush in middle school.

If these are the college-educated, how are the high schoolers writing?

I am generally willing to give some leeway to those who do not speak English as a first language. I'm impressed at how Z writes so well (and how I write so poorly) considering.

But this quarter's project took the cake. There were four people on my team. The Girl (as in the other female besides me) just sat and nodded her head. She kept saying she understood things conceptually, but couldn't put the numbers to them, and that she was going to study how to do the numbers in detail. I wanted to scream, "You keep saying that, but wouldn't it be easier just to do your homework?"

The First Guy was a little lazy at first, but eventually came through. At least he checked all of my numbers (and by God there were a lot), helped conduct the final analysis, and actually read through and critiqued my argument.

The Second Guy was a moron, almost as bad as the Girl. His major contributions were the templates for the slides and the report. He simply believed all of my numbers. At first glance you'd think he was simply an agreeable, happy guy. It turned out he was just believing everything. Every modification he made to the report I had to undo. His grammar was terrible, and he couldn't decide between past and present tense, very often in the same sentence. His last significant contribution to the report was to move our assumptions from the start of the document to the very end, after our recommendations.

I had to point out to him that it is traditional to end reports with your conclusions, not the assumptions you made while crunching the data. Call me old-fashioned, but I firmly believe reports should end with conclusions.

I downloaded the report at midnight Saturday night. Up until then, I had not been able to look at it, because I did all the numbers for the project. I did all the numbers because FG was checking my numbers, SG was too stupid to replicate the formulas, and the Girl had no idea what was going on. I expected to find a decent argument, to which FG and I needed only to add figures, reference to figures, and analysis of the figures.

Boy, was I wrong. The last time I saw a report this bad was in middle school.

It took me half an hour to adjust the page numbers so the cover page wasn't page 1. He reverted that, at which point I decided I didn't have half an hour to change it back.

He kept losing my tables and figures, substituting his own captions instead. Around version 7 I practically screamed at the group to make damn sure they didn't lose the figures. This was at 5AM Sunday morning.

I wanted to spend Sunday cramming for the final. Instead I was updating the report because SG kept screwing it up. I think I failed the exam as a result.

Now how can I make this known to the professor without sounding whiny?

Five minutes: a study of the mundane.

2007-08-01T12:12:00.001-07:00

I bought an electric kettle. It cost $20 plus tax.

It has nearly paid for itself. Here's why: it has given back five minutes of my time every morning. This is because I can boil water while showering, leaving the tea bag to steep while the toast goes. That's five minutes that can now run in parallel with the rest of breakfast assembly time.

Told you it was a study of the mundane.

Musings.

2007-07-31T08:25:00.002-07:00

I am coveting an ice cream maker. Either that or a mandolin. The ice cream maker would be much safer. Less chance of taking a finger off.

Do I really need an ice cream maker? Couldn't I rig up something that works equally well? Here is what I am thinking:

* big metal bowl filled with ice cubes and salt
* smaller metal bowl that has been frozen overnight
* hand mixer blades frozen overnight
* sherbet/sorbet/ice cream mixture refrigerated overnight

Would this be sufficient to freeze the mixture while beating air into it? After all, with the ice cream maker, I would still need to freeze the bowl overnight. The ice cream maker would probably be more convenient (only 1 thing to freeze, no need to hold the mixer) but would also take up cabinet space when not in use. The advantages of the rig are it uses things I already own, and by proxy, it would take up less space. Also, the rig wouldn't cost me anything extra.

Question of the day.

2007-07-31T08:25:00.001-07:00

How did I get an A- on the midterm? I had the world's biggest cramp that day combined with a nasty headache.

Reasons to be happy despite being in a fog, however mundane they are.

2007-07-22T22:36:00.000-07:00

1. The Saturday midterm was tough but didn't go as badly as thought. At least I hope it went well. I am sure I bombed one of the cash flow problems but accidentally got the future value one correct.

2. The professor complimented me on my use of notes during the exam. (It was an open-book, open-note exam. The only reason it was tough was it involved a lot of computation that can be very time-consuming.)

3. I have now replaced everything about my work laptop except the power brick. The new 6 hour mega-battery is fantastic. Much better than the wimpy old 2 hour one. Even better, I can claim in jest my mega-battery was swiped off an intern.

4. I did quite well on the first Thurdsay midterm.

5. I believe I have made some inroads with the Dean and our invited guest that evening, a professor from a local university.

6. The new Trader Joe's has opened.

7. They will be opening a new Costco in a month. It will be very close to a rather decent 99 Ranch, assuming they didn't build on the 99 Ranch site. The 99 Ranch is in the same plaza as a lovely dessert place that sells one of the more passable mango desserts you can find in the states. It's not mango pudding, but then, hardly anybody does mango pudding for some reason.

8. I had a coupon for the pizza.

9. I haven't had ribs in a long time.

10. The weather is nice and mild.

11. The ancient water filter still works.

12. Dried black currants are surprisingly tasty.

13. The Harry Potter book arrived. If I had checked my mailbox earlier, I would have received it on the day it was released. It's not like I have any time at the moment to read it. Pity it's so thick. I will be rather grumpy when I lug the thing on my next plane trip. But it's here! And it's an easier read than 99% of the other books on my to-read pile! So it will fly by quickly and weigh a ton.

14. 247 people registered so far.

15. Dark chocolate mints, with the gooey center.

16. The grapes from two weeks ago haven't molded over. They are a little shriveled, but that's to be expected.

17. Slightly molten peanut butter cups.

18. Clean dishes.

More to do.

2007-07-20T08:34:00.000-07:00

1. Wednesday's conference. The joy of trying to assemble a decorative rig in high heels.

2. Midterm Thursday. Can't remember if I included it last time.

To do.

2007-07-19T12:41:00.000-07:00

1. Research a language horribly unsuited to the goals of my group, and present interesting discussion topics about the language. Research done (took all of yesterday), presentation in 15 minutes.

2. Fix my code so it builds with the new toolset.

3. Finish adapting my code to the new specs. Which would be done now, except migrating to the new toolset was higher priority. At this point having things running with the new tools is completely useless because it's not like anybody else is using the code. Which is why I wanted to finish the adaptation before migrating. But nooooo, satisfying the boss' ego is more important, which is why the code is now broken in two different ways.

4. Run statistics on the unbroken code. Again, to satisfy the boss' ego. Nobody else is interested in performance, because we're all too busy trying to fix the code.

5. Class. Tonight and tomorrow night.

6. Midterm. Saturday.

7. Problem set. Tuesday.

8. Project. Next Saturday.

9. Midterm. Week after. Thursday, I think.

10. Book report. By the end of month.

Question of the day.

2007-07-16T13:40:00.001-07:00

Where am I going to find free zip ties by next week?

Question of the day.

2007-07-11T12:43:00.000-07:00

Are you aware you're wearing your polo shirt inside-out?

Annoyed

2007-07-11T07:54:00.000-07:00

Midterm tomorrow. We just learned the last of the material for the midterm last night, which leaves tonight to cram, practice, and write up the cheat sheet.

The midterm was originally called "quiz/exam" because the professor wanted to put us at ease. Bullspit. It's a midterm. What is more, it is the first of two midterms in a compressed quarter. We already know that professors who have two midterms plus a required final in a normal quarter are insane.

The midterm requires a scantron and a bluebook, both of which I have to dash out and purchase today.

The bookstore opens late (8:30) and closes early (6:00). It is also not open during the weekends this month and you can be sure they won't mail me the scantrons and bluebooks.

Also there is a midterm for the other class next week, which I am not prepared for because I have been catching up for tomorrow's exam.

I got home late from class last night, mostly because the class ends late. I have not had enough sleep for over a quarter now. As a result I am halfway through a 12-pack of Diet Pepsi, and it's only the third week of the quarter. This is in addition to the usual tea habit.

The study abroad book report is due at the end of this month. While it is mercifully short (800-1000 words) and the book is a fast read, I am only 70 pages into the book, and have zero time to actually read it. This is because I have to spend all the other nights of the week studying for the two classes.

Having classes on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday has turned out most inconvenient. At first I enjoyed having half my Saturday back. Now I'm rethinking that. Not only do you lose Tuesday and Thursday as study days, you have effectively locked in Monday and Wednesday (prep for Thursday's session) and Friday (prep for Saturday's session). So that leaves only Saturday and Sunday as flexible days wherein you can choose to study more for the class you're weaker at.

I quit my job. More specifically, I am transferring to a job in another department. It turns out that quitting mid-project makes you Loved, more Loved than you would be at review time, and so Old Boss and New Boss are negotiating the transfer date and the details of the transfer. I am waiting, just waiting, for them to each take an arm and make a wish. At least that would settle things very quickly. In the meantime, I am trying to be very discreet while at the same time divesting myself of all kinds of administrivia junk that, if left unattended, would eat up tons of time just when I need to deliver on my technical promises.

This means transferring ownership of many, many machines to the guy in the organization (okay, one of two) whose job it is to take care of the machines. He asked me why I was transferring everything to him, then said he didn't want the machines. Well, hell. I haven't wanted them for several years either. It sounds petty, but it's one reason I wanted the transfer in the first place.

The department that is supposed to pickup unwanted, unused, and decrepit machines is being stubborn. I want to get rid of an ancient, decrepit machine that I inherited during my first year. It was ancient and decrepit by the time I inherited it. Anyway, the serial number no longer seems to be registered anywhere, which is bad, because you need a record in the database to submit the request to have it collected. They keep insisting I need to give them the record, and I keep insisting there is no record.

Oh, and I found out you can stuff a lot of junk in the cabinet in your cubicle. This will make moving an all-day ordeal, even if I just dump the lot into the moving boxes without sorting or winnowing.

Question of the day.

2007-07-10T09:02:00.000-07:00

What's wrong with skim milk?

Condensed milk in ice coffee cracked.

2007-07-08T14:02:00.000-07:00

The trick is to warm your coffee gently (about 1 minute) in the microwave so it's still cool, but just warm enough to allow the condensed milk to integrate. Stir well, and add a couple ice cubes to help dilute the solution and bring down the temperature.

It helps if you've made the coffee and ice with pristine water, and not the stuff from my tap that tastes like a swimming pool and appears to have floaties in it.

How MBA school is like Harry Potter.

2007-07-08T13:40:00.000-07:00

More specifically, MBA school is a lot like Hogwarts.

Although there is a degree of specialization, it is not nearly to the same degree as an undergraduate education. You learn about a lot of different subjects, not all of which are necessarily directly related to each other, but which somehow manage to come in handy in a later class.

Your classmates are all over the map, some academically inclined, others less so.

Your instructors are also all over the map, some competent, some less so, some seeking fame.

Your magic wand is your financial calculator. It is a bit mysterious at first, but then later becomes nearly indispensible.

The ghosts of more famous alumni haunt the halls.

Okay, we don't wear robes and hats. I suppose if we all wore suits, that would count.

Question of the day.

2007-07-06T10:26:00.000-07:00

To all of you who object to the Nathan's hot dog eating contest because it glorifies binge eating in an already obese society.

Shall we ban NASCAR too because it glorifies speeding?

Crimes against coffee.

2007-07-05T08:04:00.000-07:00

I am a convert to cold-brewed coffee.

Z will roll her eyes because she believes coffee must always be drunk hot, never cold, and by proxy, coffee must always be brewed hot at the optimal temperature.

J will roll her eyes because, despite growing up in the Seattle area, she has managed to avoid becoming half the coffee fiend that Z and I are. (Which must be commended; that's an incredibly difficult thing to master in Seattle.)

I followed the NY Times recipe: steep 1/3 cup medium-grind coffee in 1.5 cups water for 12 hours at room temperature. Strain twice: first through a sieve, second through a coffee filter. The sieves, bowl, measuring cup, and steamer (improvised coffee filter rig) are much easier to clean than the french press.

I'll admit to using decaf instead of regular, but in my defense, I used Peet's. I don't agree with the description in the article. I couldn't taste caramel notes anywhere, although the resulting brew was definitely less harsh than iced coffee made with hot-brewed coffee. Also, this iced coffee definitely needed milk and sugar, and the recipe made too little coffee for my taste.

It tastes wonderful with condensed milk, although I have yet to figure out how to dissolve the condensed milk in cold liquid.

Things I am coveting at the moment.

2007-07-03T11:46:00.000-07:00

* Water boiler.
* Mango splitter.
* New music.
* Garlic press.
* Wii.
* Ice cream machine.

Question of the day.

2007-07-02T13:38:00.000-07:00

How difficult can it be to fill out a form?

After last week, let's just say I do not envy the DMV. Sample registration responses I have received:

* Reason for attending: not attending. (Why fill out the registration form then?)
* Business group: respect. (I didn't know we sold that.)
* How you heard about us: newsletter. (Written in when Newsletter was already an option.)
* When presented with parallel sessions, choosing both. (I am obviously behind as I have not perfected the art of being in two places at once.)

Noting this is a professional, well-educated (possibly distracted) set of respondents. The only questions that haven't gotten messed up are the ones for which you're not allowed to fill in answers.

Question of the day.

2007-06-28T13:19:00.000-07:00

If your reason for attending the event is "not attending", why bother to register in the first place? After all you are not attending.

I don't get it. A rant.

2007-06-26T08:08:00.001-07:00

Quite a large number of my classmates are incredibly insecure about professor selection, despite there being many reviews about many of the more common classes posted online. To their credit, a few actually check the posted reviews before asking the list for feedback. Many don't, and I would like to slap them silly.

"Appreciate any feedback about Prof. F, who teaches this entry-level class, and has done so about a million times." Don't you know any classmates whom you could ask in person? Why do you trust the opinion of a total stranger but not the professor, who is also a total stranger?

If the class is a prerequisite, do you really have a choice? Don't you think some of your classmates would have warned you off by now if Prof. F was really bad?

Isn't dealing with the occasional bad professor all part of the schooling experience? Maturity in general? And isn't the point of continuing your education enjoying the experience of learning, regardless of the professor? You only cheapen your experience by demanding "value for your money".

Armchair entertainment.

2007-06-25T08:19:00.001-07:00

There is a feud going on between two of my neighbors.

Q: Who has the right to the guest parking space immediately next door to your house, you, your neighbor in the next house, or the neighbor across the alley?
A: None of the above. They are guest parking spaces and not intended for residents.

Q: Where should you park your car?
A: In the guest parking space. If you park your car in your own garage, you are a chump. You are supposed to use your garage for all the crap you can't otherwise fit in the house.

Bonus A, for the record: I am a chump. I don't have enough crap to evict my own car from my garage. Also, I don't like cleaning tree sap from my finish and scraping the ice off the windscreen on certain mornings.

There are two spaces next to my house. Technically one is next to my house, and the other is next to Next Door Neighbor. Across the Alley Neighbor has permanently parked his car in my spot.

The other day, Across the Alley Neighbor was working on one of his cars in the other spot. Across the Alley Neighbor has four cars (for four adults in his house) and two motorcycles. Apparently this pissed off Next Door Neighbor, who technically has two spaces, and who has two cars for four adults in his house but is too lazy to unload the moving boxes from his garage.

So Next Door neighbor has parked his backup car in the spot nearest my house and went away for the weekend in his SUV, leaving the spot right next to his house open.

I am tempted to park my car in that spot just to teach him a lesson. But then I would have to remove the tree sap from my car.

The mango pudding code and lessons learned.

2007-06-24T13:49:00.001-07:00

I am getting bolder in my experiments on my friends. Last night marked the first time in which every dish except one was an experiment. (If you has been counting, all of them were experiments in some form or another, but at least I'd made the pasta before.)

Phyllo dough cups: they really are as easy to make as they look, and they turn out nice and light. We discovered that while they are nice filled with tapenade, they are equally nice filled with spinach salad.

Salad: the baby spinach turned out okay, despite the need to wash the greens before using. Julienned basil tastes great in any salad. Everybody seemed receptive to the idea of spooning on their choice of toppings, a nice alternative to tossing the entire salad beforehand. When toasting pecans on the stove, you should watch the pan carefully--if you smell toasted nuts, it's too late (but they make the house smell nice). Bacon is always a hit.

Stuffed chicken breasts: next time, halve the amount of chicken but keep the amount of tomatoes the same. The tomatoes were a hit.

Pasta puttanesca: next time, reduce the amount of red pepper flakes.

Cupcakes: liked the cake mix with its flecks of vanilla, liked the frosting with its rich smoothness, but for some reason they didn't taste very good together. Next time, bake the cake at a lower temperature than specified on the box and make a light lemon glaze.

Mango pudding: terrible. Robertson's brand mix tastes like crayons. Unfortunately, this means the search for the elusive Perfect Mango Pudding Recipe continues.

Question of the day.

2007-06-22T08:27:00.000-07:00

Why have people been asking me stupid questions all week?

Q: Do you have a cart so I can haul my machines to the lab?
A: No, I am not the tech. I get paid to do other work.

Q: Can you let me into the lab so I can put my machines there?
A: Yes, but your badge should work too. If it doesn't, we have a tech who can help you.

Q: Can you help me move my machines to the lab?
A: No, I'm not the tech. I have other work to do.

Q: Chassis #2 of 4 never came up. Did you want 12 cpus?
A: No, I want all 16. If I wanted 12, do you think I would have taken out a chassis that way, in the middle?

Q: What is the textbook for the class?
A: It is the one in the bookstore. You can call them yourself, lazy.

Opinion of the day.

2007-06-19T16:41:00.000-07:00

Proper carnivores are willing to eat every bit of the animal as long as it's safe to do so (no trichinosis, no sun-baked fish, and no fugu poison bladders), and not just the bits that resemble steak.

Yes, intestines. Deep-fried pork intestines are wonderful, as are fish intestines steamed in egg with tangerine peel.

Question of the day.

2007-06-15T08:54:00.001-07:00

A's soon-to-be 3 year old son is having a birthday party tomorrow, and A has invited several of us adults to join in on the fun, mostly because A would like to spend at least part of the time conversing with actual adults. Keeping in mind we have been encouraged to wear socks in case we'd like to climb on the jungle gym.

A's son apparently loves Disney and cars (and probably Cars by inference). I'm not so sure I want to schlep all the way to the mall this evening, which leaves tomorrow morning to obtain a gift. Furthermore, I intend to spend tomorrow morning at several grocery stores because I would really like to eat Chinese vegetables this week instead of pasta. Oh, and it's the Dragon Boat holiday and my only opportunity this year to get the really good, Cantonese-style rice tamales with the fatty pork. They freeze really well. The rest of the year, they tend to sell only the Taiwanese and Shanghainese styles, which are tasty, but not the same.

(The reason for visiting several grocery stores is one sells the Chinese vegetables, another sells frozen phyllo dough, the third is Trader Joe's, and yet another is a new Japanese one and therefore is totally unexplored territory. Well, that's assuming the Japanese one is where I think it is.)

Considering the boy loves cars, would it be inappropriate to buy him an air freshener?

Reasons why I could never voluntarily become a vegetarian.

2007-06-11T08:14:00.000-07:00

Bacon.
Wine gums. (The really good ones contain gelatin.)
Mango pudding.
Steamed spot shrimp, heads on, with a soy and green onion dipping sauce.
Hainan chicken rice, the proper kind, with the coconutty rice.
Raw geoduck, sliced paper-thin, eaten after being dunked in hot soup or congee.
Flash stir-fried geoduck with ginger and green onion.
Clams in black bean sauce.
Pork ribs with bitter melon in black bean sauce.
Oysters steamed with ginger, black beans, and green onion.
Copper River King salmon.
Rock cod.
Char siu. But only the end bit that's just a little fatty and has the burnt edges.
Real Peking duck, the kind where the fat is perfectly clear, you can read through the pancakes, and all you need is hoisin sauce and not that silly dish of sugar.
Barbequed goose.
Chicken feet.
Fish intestines in egg.

Statement of the day.

2007-06-06T08:13:00.001-07:00

"Mythbusters" explosions always cheer me up.

To whoever is pooting next to my cubicle at about this time every afternoon,

2007-06-05T16:11:00.001-07:00

Please eat something different for lunch. Please.

Question of the day.

2007-06-04T12:57:00.001-07:00

Which is worse--the fact that I had to ask whether today is Monday, or the fact that he had to think about it before replying?

Question of the day.

2007-06-04T12:57:00.000-07:00

Which is worse--the fact that I had to ask whether today is Monday, or the fact that he had to think about it before replying?

Question of the day.

2007-05-30T08:26:00.000-07:00

Did I hear the morning news correctly? The Caltrain representative they interviewed actually suggested that if you're going to commit suicide, you should take pills from the drugstore instead of jumping in front of a Caltrain.

He didn't mention anything about how life is precious.

He didn't mention anything about getting help.

He didn't mention anything about how jumping in front of a train is an incredibly painful way to go.

No, he's pissed off that you'd delay thousands of commuters by stopping the trains and gumming up the tracks.