We had dinner with friends. I’m allergic to turkey, but there was plenty else to eat.
What WE had as a follower: made another spaghetti sauce. Here’s my personal recipe:
Spaghetti Sauce
3 pounds ground beef.
2 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
4 tsp dry basil
2 tsp oregano
2 tsp powdered clove
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp red chili flake
dash of cayenne
dash of allspice
heaping TBS chopped garlic in oil
SEAR beef.
Then:
can tomato sauce (standard size canned goods can)
1 can tomato paste. (small can, not big one)
I tomato-sauce can-ful of water.
Bring to boil
let rest an hour
then add:
2 cans tomato paste
sufficient water. About 3 cups. Add more as needed.
Simmer for, oh, 3 hours checking periodically for need of water.
I’ll confess the spaghetti sauce recipe I grew up with varied some, but Lawry’s Spaghetti Sauce spice packet (2) were a basic ingredient. — I’m told that when my mom was pregnant, a neighbor whose husband was Italian brought over homemade spaghetti, and this was, surprisingly, the only thing my mom could keep down at that point. The other thing was, that Italian neighbor’s family would put whatever might be handy / leftover in with the sauce, as vegetables. A small amount of carrots were mentioned, as was a small amount of potato. I don’t know, I’d presume that was overwhelmed by the tomato and meat and spices. — One of my former, best regular cabbies had an Italian (Sicilian) grandmother who made nearly everything by hand. He said a small amount of spinach was typically added to their spaghetti sauce as an herb/spice more than any primary ingredient.
I once tried adding veggies, including a couple of stalks of chopped celery and carrot and a couple of bell peppers. I like olives, so black olives, pre-sliced or chopped, typically go in my sauce. — The veggies worked out surprisingly well, but yes, that lent a more “vegetable” undertone to the sauce.
My mom was a chili-head, without being so-called. — She would add a little more tabasco sauce or chili pepper sauce, to her serving. We did typically put a little Tabasco sauce, and/or a little cayenne, in the sauce. My mom would sometimes have jalapeños on the side in later years, haha, to eat with her spaghetti.
(And I just saw I need to get more grated Parmesan and Romano cheese for spaghetti or chili next time.) — I needed a Wolf brand chili and cheese fix earlier this week, haha.
I’m copying that recipe to try soon. That sounds good!
As I write, Shu and Finity are playing chase, thumpity-thumpity through the house, in fun, not wrath. This is good.
No surprizes this month! You knew this was coming, didn’t you?
Paul, your seasonality is a treat!
Thank you.
I don’t know why, but for some reason, not only the red, but penguins in green or blue seasonal attire appeal to me too. Though somehow, cyan seems appropriately seaworthy and continental. Or maybe I’m just getting in the mood to watch Happy Feet 1 and 2 again. Heh. — Hmm, a penguin stuffed animal did make it here to the apt. I think I should get him out for the season!
Happy holidays, Paul and all. It’s slightly cooler here, but not really cold enough for it to feel much like December. — At least it is not still 80°F, which it was a few times in November. That just feels wrong. At that point, I expect penguins and reindeer and polar bears to go surfing or something…. LOL. Aloha, Yule All!
Distracting, but very good!
Much better than Tanner yowling.
Kitty games—how nice. May there be many more. It brings a happy smile to the home.
I had to share a smile. — Just now, outside, there are a couple of very little kids playing, accompanied by adults. The elementary kids are running around within earshot elsewhere. No knowing about the teens.
The little one was playing and gave this vocalization I don’t have any word to describe, a very satisfied, happy, chortling, grumbling, chattering sort of sound. Not any kind of word-sound to it, pure feeling and vocalizing, sound-making because the little one felt good. Oh, that sound could be awfully pouty or it could be very stress-making for the adults, if the mood were pouty or angry or sad, unhappy. But this was pure glee, and casual, and I had to smile with a sort of snort of amusement at the strange sound.
By the way, I’m never quite sure if a “smirk” implies a silent sneering or amused expression, or if it implies the stifled snort or frisson that we make sometimes, amused. I tend to think a smirk covers both, but then that would need clarification if I were writing that a character smirked. Did they make that sound or only the facial gesture? Heh.
I wonder. Within that little toddler’s chattering, grumbly, yet very happy vocalization, if that also led to the first use of words Among our early, almost-human ancestors. The onomatopoeic sounds we make, plus things we intentionally make sounds for, seem to lead toward words. The babbling human babies do seems to be a human-only type of thing. (As far as I know, the other great apes don’t do that, and we don’t know when or if early Homo genus ancestor species started babbling.) But somewhere in there, our photo-human ancestor species went from sounds with very limited meanings, sounds for warnings or for voicing emotional content, to that moment when some single or few hominids first spoke a word that had a conscious meaning to it, a concrete thing, an idea with significance attached, a noun or a verb or both, and from there, on to stringing words together like babies do when first learning to talk.
The little toddler’s funny sound reminded me of that, in among all the more meaningful English and Spanish out there, from the adults doing their thing, to the kids playing, doing their thing, raucous and wild and only a small step away from our pre-human ancestors, in some of the things young kids do when playing. (Screeching, in particular.)
So…it was just a moment no one around probably much thought of. But at least the little one and a couple of adults and another kid or two were enjoying themselves, in among the car repairs and everyday talk going on.
As I’ve written this, people are heading in to rest or fix supper, likely. Quieter for a little bit. — There are times I don’t mind the extra noise at all, like then. That’s just the noise of good living.
Hmm, the upstairs neighbors must not be here today. It’s been quiet all afternoon. No clomping about upstairs. (Oh, thank heavens.)
Heh, that little one has no idea he or she just gave away one of the secrets of how our whole species gained language, from whatever few individuals to across the whole species and around the globe. …Now if only we could be a little smarter than we think we are, and not so destructive. Have to count myself in that “we.” I’m prone to it too.
Have a good week, y’all. Good to hear the cats are having such a good time. That’s much more like it should be. Maybe Tanner can integrate now, even if it takes a bit more to get him in with the others and feeling good about it. Bless him. Quite a lot he’s been through, and yet he has a better situation than he knows, and he’s just not quite ready for that step to join the others, to include himself in. … Hmm, I could resemble that more than I think….dang it. Bless the little guy. I’m glad he has such a good home, and glad Finity and Shu and Sei are feeling like playing together.
Now four days since I last saw Curry. I’m feeling less attached, but if and when I see him next and he sashays in, well, OK, kitty. That’s how you want it, and I can live with that. As long as he’s OK, that’s what matters. Hoping he’s fine out there. At least the weather’s decent; chilly tonight, cool to cold this week, but not down near freezing. So I’ll look for Curry when I see him, as the saying goes.
Meanwhile, Goober is very much enjoying monopolizing the attention and the food. Heheh. He knows what’s good. He _likes_ being an indoor cat. When we moved in, he took only a couple of looks outside, determined that was, oh, not for him, and has only rarely shown any hint of wondering what’s out there, mostly when he hears other cats; but otherwise, oh, no, thank you. The domestic life for him! 😀 But he’s a very senior kitty now, so that’s best for him now anyway.
Uh-oh. Tomorrow morning, I get to report a small, slow leak in my kitchen. I can’t tell for sure, but I think this is from the ceiling again, somewhere near the light fixture, as about two years ago, when around New Year’s, the ceiling fell in (!!) and had to be repaired. I think this is a recurrence. I don’t see any trail where it’s come from the wall by the washer or dryer, or the dishwasher and sink, or the refrigerator. That leaves the ceiling. It’s not enough to see any water actually dripping. But, eegad.
So it needs to be repaired, and whatever’s causing it is a recurring problem. Oh, joy.
I am not at the point I want to move elsewhere, which I was a few months ago. But I may look for other apartments or town homes around here. I don’t think I can swing a rent-to-own home now. Sigh.
But…I really do not want the ceiling to fall in again. This was from pipes above meetups, not my own usage or fault. Just…yee-ouch.
This also means a call to those erstwhile friends, in case I need help or have to move. Felgercarb, frak, and frell.
Had Thanksgiving Dinner on Saturday evening rather than Thursday, as my Sister-in-law is a Nurse Practitioner and worked the night shift at the Pediatric ICU. Saturday was a better day as both of their sons (and associated girlfriends) came up to Columbus. The younger nephew lives in Raleigh, NC, and the older lives in Cincinnati. After dinner, my brother broke out a bottle of exclusive bourbon for us to sample, and to raise a toast to the older nephew and his girlfriend’s engagement. One unwritten rule at these dinners: NO POLITICS. It’s been like that as long as I’ve been invited, and this year was no exception. With 7 people at the table, the conversation never lagged, though.
I hope everyone had a great week and that the coming holidays are great.
Mom and I had T-dinner with long-time friends. There were other guests besides us — his Japanese bookkeeper and her two girls (5 and 2-1/2) and an unrelated man (his friend but not so much hers). Unfortunately, politics did rear its ugly head. My mom agrees with their politics; I do not. Seeing as how the male guest had been showing off his assault rifle earlier, I kept my opinions to myself. The food was excellent, however, and the children were refreshingly well-behaved.
Well, gee. I launched the new-ish font editor this morning. Oh, an update is available. Do I want to install it? Sure, thanks. Oh, but wait, after the install, I discover that’s not free. I can buy the upgrade from the previous version for $99. I discover this, only after trying to enter my existing license key. (That’s the upgrade price with the existing license. For older or other programs, you can pay more, up to the full price.)
Do I feel like paying $99 when I didn’t know I was going to be charged for the upgrade? Well, not really. Not right now, certainly. Bills and groceries are a higher priority.
If I can still used FontLab VI, I am going to do that, convert the source files over to the new formats, and try to import those into the other new-ish and cheaper editor, Glyphs Mini, which has a better licensing / registration strategy, and see if I can get that to work. I may just ditch FontLab entirely. Every time I’ve upgraded, there’s been some weirdness involved with the registration key, such as the time I had to call and speak with someone twice, to get the registration keys they provided, one right off the box, and the other via email and orally by phone, to work.
And — If I’m going to have to pay for an upgrade, I might do that, but _tell_ me so first. Don’t spring that on me afterward. Underhanded. I looked back at my records. I purchased FontLab VI as an upgrade from 5, in January of 2018, and I’d purchased the Fontographer upgrade before or after. $99 is better than full-price or a monthly subscription (which costs you far more). But…dang, tell me beforehand, so I’m not given a nasty surprise when I try to enter a bought-and-paid-for and very legitimate serial number key for the version I have.
Other companies, except Adobe and Microsoft and probably AutoDesk, no longer do this this way. Glyphs Mini is available from the Mac App Store, and once you’ve paid, you’re good for upgrades. If Mac App Store apps later come out with a very different version of the program, you sometimes pay a reasonable fee for that, but they may offer a discount to people who already own it. BareBones Software, who make BBEdit, a very long-standing Mac text editor (programmer and otherwise) dating back to the 1980’s, have a very reasonable upgrade system, but yes, I’ve paid for it when needed, and sometimes it’s pricey and usually it’s free.
I’m not thrilled with FontLab already about having to import all my old files and save to the new formats, with no easier built-in way to do that, and a tedious file-by-file process, just to be able to work on those again, each of which can be weeks or months of work.
So…I may ditch FontLab this time. I’ll have to see if I can still use the “old” 2018 version of FontLab VI. If so, good, and I’ll decide later if I want to pay for the new version or not bother. Leaning toward, enough is too much.
(LOL, and why did they go from 5 to VI to 7? Why the Roman numerals? Aside from an allusion to Mac OS X or the vi Unix editor, there’s no real reason to use Roman numerals these days. It is the 21st century. Hindu-Arabic numerals (the ones we use, base 10, with that very handy zero and powers placeholder) makes more sense. But you know, marketing people have rather different minds. Heh.
I thought I had the right file formats, so I could export from FontLab VI and import into Glyphs Mini. But no, Glyphs Mini doesn’t want to open either one of those. Aarrgh. Now I have to go through, try another format, and see if it will do that more directly, if I can get it to export the entire file (rather than a few characters) into the proper file format.
For anyone following along: FontLab VI .vfc and .ufo files apparently are not readable (openable) by Glyphs Mini. My two best options now are to try to get it to export directly to Glyphs format, or else to import the output .otf files. — And because I thought I had the right file formats, I just spent a few hours over a couple of days doing file format conversions. I guess if I end up buying the FontLab 7 upgrade, I won’t have lost that time, but, oh, dang. (And ordinarily, I would’ve tested a couple of files before doing everything. But I thought I had this right.) Nuts.
So I’m going from Fontographer .fog files, to FontLab VI .vfc and .ufo files, to Glyphs Mini .glyphs files. — One at a time, lots and lots of files. And FontLab wants me to open from within the program, not from the Finder (like Windows Explorer). So this takes extra time and steps, not a handy batch process. They rarely do that anymore. Very frustrating, and my eyesight is getting in the way. I have a lot of work put into this. I don’t want to have to stop, as fonts still seem like my best chance at an income. But I am going to spend more time writing, and I am likely going to get that electronic plan keyboard for my birthday, if I still think I can afford it then, to give myself a possible outlet for income, after learning it. I am so, so frustrated with my situation. And I still have not found the eye doctor’s documentation from wherever I had put it before the Great Reshuffle of boxes. Nuts. Unhappy, discouraged, telling myself to keep at it, but, dang it all.
Speaking of ‘Star Trek future’ — D. C. Fontana: 1939 -2019
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/obituaries/d-c-fontana-who-helped-shape-star-trek-its-first-n1095211
🙁
D.C. Fontana’s great work on Star Trek and other shows was some of my favorite viewing, growing up and beyond. I hadn’t realized how many shows she was involved in. Besides Star Trek, I was a particular fan of Fantastic Journey and the two Witch Mountain films, back in the 70’s as a kid. (Fantastic Journey has never made it onto DVD or BluRay or streaming online, except via YouTube, ported from VHS tapes.)
She would have been 27 when Star Trek premiered on TV in 1966, and 30 when the moon landing occurred. She was 6 years younger than my mom and 9 years younger than my dad. I wanted to work out the comparison.
What a great talent. Sorry she had to go. Best wishes to all those who cared about her and whom she cared about. I hope there is something better in whatever worlds await us next door, beyond this one. May she have a grand adventure exploring.
Tonight will be a week since I last saw Curry. I think I’ve heard him twice, fighting or mating, but he hasn’t come around, or I have missed him. I stopped calling for him a couple of nights ago. I think he is still out there.
Goober has been spending lots of time with me, now that he got the idea he has unlimited access again, no closed doors, and that I wanted him with me specifically. Less time in his favored sleeping spot in the living room, a cart that, instead of for storage space, has become his. (And sometimes Curry’s.) Goober is enjoying the attention a lot, and I am very glad to have him, now more aware than ever what a blessing he is, a mild and loving cat.
I wish Curry well. If and when I see him again, he’ll still be welcome. But the shine kind of wore off when he left last before eating. I am not even sure why it got to me emotionally, or why I got the feeling it was different. I hope he’s OK, and maybe he’ll be back now and then. But I think now, he is a visiting cat, a former old friend, and not still the connection I had thought and hoped for. He wants the freedom he has outside, and doesn’t see life with Goober and me as what he truly wants. So, well, it’s his life to lead, not mine. I just wish he wanted to be with us, a friend to both, a third member of the team or family or crew.
It is sunny today and cool to chilly, mild enough with a jacket. So he is as OK as he can be, outside. But it is not the kind of life I would wish on anyone, cat, dog, or human. Bless him.
At the risk of sounding mean, maybe it’s for the best. Curry obviously didn’t want to be an inside only cat. Catching him to get him fixed and the BB removed, especially with your wacky ride schedule, was problematic. You can now put the money you saved on the neutering and BB removal (and furniture repair and cleaning!) towards something else.
That’s not mean, it’s pragmatic, realistic. I have been struggling with my mixed feelings ever since Curry got so angry and aggressive wanting out that first time, and dinged me with his claws. Really, if he’d been only inches off, he could’ve gotten my eyes. Instead, he got my ear, minor, it bled and healed up in a few days. But after that, I had to be practical, and it shook me up. When I took him back in and resolved to let bygones be bygones, well, that seemed OK, but I was still mindful of what he’d done, and that he could do so again.
So I have been back and forth about my feelings towards him and the situation it presents, with him in and out, more than has shown in my posts. So yes, I’ do have that other side going on, less sanguine about him, and I’ve been trying to determine which of my various feelings on it is the right thing to do. I still haven’t quite forgiven myself about Smokey.
Curry plainly doesn’t feel as attached to me as I do or did toward him, and that’s something I’m having to face still. If he really wanted to, he could surely figure out that he could meow at the door to get in. He’s loud enough, I’d sure hear that! He had been hanging around before, since I kept finding him or he kept finding me. So, dang it, he knows how to find me and how to get in if and when he wants.
It was a sign of how disgruntled I’ve become, that I’d stopped calling for him a couple of nights ago. So I guess in my own weird way, I’m coming to some acceptance of this. Its’ just this big difference between how I wanted things to work out versus the real world and the fact that, hmm, you know, someone else can really and truly want something entirely other than what I want. Heh. Which I suppose I needed a reminder of. I think I’m supposed to learn something from this and from how I did with Smokey, and something about how it applies to me, to my current and future situation.
The dryer and the old sofa are still here, still not out. — I’ve got to call again to get the blinds and the porch light done, but surely that’ll be done by the end of next week.
I can’t get myself to buy the electronic keyboard. I feel like relearning to play could give me a needed outlet and a potential for income, but I’m wary of spending so much. I’m also very wary of buying a new dryer. The futon, I may do once the old sofa is gone, but I’m even reconsidering that. — And I have got to find where the blazes that paperwork from the eye doctor got to, as well as for the storage space, so I can move forward on those. Or I need to get a new eye appointment and start from there. My eyesight isn’t going to wait forever, and it’s a real stumbling block for me lately.
I spent today doing font source file conversions, and I’m still not done yet, but maybe by Friday, I’ll have all the source files converted into the formats I might need. It’a a pain in the posterior. I am worried how well I can use the new programs, due to my eyesight these days. The work I’ve got on these fonts is good, and I want to get these done if I can.
Writing — I keep getting stalled out. Something’s got me blocked, whether it’s overall worry and frustration, or whatever it is. But I need that as a possible route to income, plus a creative outlet, just like the font work.
So — Yeah, Curry is his own cat. I can’t make him want what he doesn’t want, or love someone if he doesn’t. There’s that age-old problem, be it pets, or friendships, or family, or a couples relationship.
I am, uh, also trying to remind myself I’m supposed to be a grownup, here. I should know better. If Curry wants something else, OK, Ben, move on.
Whatever will be, will be, and who knows what’s ahead? I am trying to remind myself to be positive and look ahead, and maybe there’ll be something better down the road.
Anybody want ringside seats? Maybe I should sell tickets. Or alternatively, anybody want to adopt me and rescue me from this life of, uh, whatever this is? No, probably not, huh? Just asking.
There is a heated argument or something going on, at least two women, plus other people I think on the periphery. Not sure what it is, but they are not happy with each other over something or other. There was a brief outbreak earlier and then it quieted down. But I guess now they’re back for a rematch. I don’t know. Luckily some distance away. But oh yeah, it’s on, and plenty of cussing, whatever your favorite cuss words are, it sounds like they’ll appear multiple times. Sigh. I think even the kids around here are used to hearing or saying cuss words.
However, they aren’t hitting yet. And maybe I’m misunderstanding and they are not after each other, but angry / upset over something or someone else. Not sure on that point. I thought they were arguing with each other.
Not everyone around here acts like that, fortunately. But people are prone to some things more than I’m used to. I guess it’s just me, raised differently and sheltered, not too used to how most people live. Both good and bad, not being used to how most people live in the real world.
It’s a quarter till midnight. Maybe they’ll get tired eventually and go to bed. Doesn’t sound like they/d go to bed with each other. I suspect the problem is, someone else may ave gone to bed with someone, or something along those lines. Sigh. Which, you know, you could sort of hope would make at least the two people involved happier. But not necessarily the third or more, I guess. (That seems to work that way, regardless of orientation.)
OK, guess I’ll be up a while longer, then. Can’t sleep with that racket going on. — If those people have kids, I feel sorry for them, having to hear that up close.
I don’t suppose they could just arm wrestle? Mud wrestle? OK, kinda chilly for that, but…. Yeah, probably no boxing either. Dang people. If you can’t stand each other, then stay away from each other and don’t bother each other. Isn’t that simple enough? Man….
Where is that handsome prince or stable boy or cowboy or whoever, when I need him? Or he needs me? Dang it. I wish.
Oh, go to bed, y’all. Crazy people. No brains. So how come I’m not doing better either? — LOL, now dogs throughout the complex are barking. Great.
Just please don’t get worse and go beyond verbal fighting. Man….
No, it’s not you, BCS. I’ve never heard an out of control argument from another home, but I’ve never lived in, only visited, apartments. And I’m way in the suburbs, not an urban area.
Here, the sheriffs are usually Marines and nice. I wouldn’t hesitate to call them if I thought an argument was getting out of hand. But, things aren’t so chill in a lot of the country.
I’ve heard a few, in the apts I’ve lived in. The people generally were given the choice of keeping it down or moving out – though in the more egregious cases, they were told that they had to leave. (Yelling after 11pm was bad enough. Screaming cussing was worse.)
The only such loudness coming through the walls I used to hear, growing up, was the neighbor boy practicing his singing – he became a professional opera singer. A very different sort of loudness, much less disturbing (once we knew what it was).
And in summer, when everyone has their windows open, you can occasionally hear someone practicing on their musical instrument – a drummer, a beginning trumpeter, my nice neighbor who plays the piano beautifully…
I like those sounds much better than the sawing and hammering when someone is improving their home, but even those sounds are not upsetting the way a (verbal) fight would be.
I guess I’ve been lucky too, with my neighborhoods and most of my neighbors; there’s only a few boys that like to light off loud firework bangs when it’s not allowed (as that is only on New Year’s Eve) and startle everyone, and the occasional garden party in summer that might run late and be a bit irritating, when it’s after midnight and I really want to go to sleep.
I live in Suburbia and haven’t lived in an apartment in decades, but, I had a neighbor over the fence from my backyard that fought with his wife outdoors, loudly and viciously. Then the teen-age son would join in fighting dirty. They finally got a divorce and moved away only to be replaced by a family of partiers who would party every other weekend. They moved away too. A quiet family lives there now.
You, sir, are a lucky man to have quiet, presumably friendly neighbors now. Heh.
There must be kids in the apt. above me, or right nearby above me. But the trundling around upstairs is, ah, vigorous, this morning and was last night around 10/11 o’clock. It’s all over the place and shakes the ceiling, walls, doors of my apt. — Which speaks more to the quality of construction here, I suspect, than to the actual amount of force up there. Although p until a few months ago, there was not such a problem.
Thankfully, no recurrence of the verbal sparring match outside last night, nor the fighting couple from inside the courtyard / patio area / square for a few (blessed) days now.
Kids are starting to play and yell outside, but hey, that’s healthy and normal. Although wearing sometimes in the evenings on my adult nerves, it’s still preferable to the alternatives.
Lately a group of kids, probably preteens and definitely a few very little kids, have been playing and hanging around near my apt., front and back, but anywhere in the area. This sometimes includes boys, but this group seems to be heavy on the girls. LOL, I am glad I can’t hear all of that all the time, but once in a while, boys’ or girls’ comments, hahaha, it makes you wonder how we ever become civilized adults. (Or perhaps we flatter ourselves to think so; and I do include myself in that; or why wouldn’t I be more successful, in income and in relationships?) Heh.
No banging of something against the metal poles, lately, however. I guess that boy and his friends may have gotten in trouble for that.
So it is never dull around here, that’s for sure. I’m trying to be positive and get used to it, and tell myself, maybe I need to loosen up a little too. But…dang.
And to all the parents and teachers out there who deal with kids and teens all day and night, whew, y’all deserve a raise as well as a medal for putting up with some of that and still managing to raise young people who make a positive contribution to life.
(I still firmly believe most kids are pretty good, if they get half a chance, and some kids are much, much smarter, intellectually and emotionally, and wiser, than most people give them credit for. This, despite the wacky behavior and mistakes kids are prone to make. The adults, ah, don’t seem to be much better at handling real life than the kids, frankly, myself very much included. So…noise and rambunctiousness aside, I am still glad they are around. — And I missed out as a kid and teen, partly due to my parents’ personality or idoelogical quirks, I think, regarding protecting me, and partly my own personality, I guess. I’m glad for the friends I had growing up.)
Oh, that was outside, two or three women arguing, with spectators or allied or involved persons, I think. Thankfully, they did quit the fight (argument) after quite a lot of back and forth interchanges. From what little I could tell, it was a dislike between them, each other or because of some man or some rival woman, likely each other. Whee.
I don’t generally mind people’s music, unless it’s like the obnoxious car stereos the other weekend. I wouldn’t mind much if someone was practicing playing music, or if a band was starting up. (Funny, you hear about garage bands; you never seem to hear about “in the apartment” or “outside the apartments” bands starting up. Haha.) And someone practicing opera? Hmm, OK, not my favorite genre, but maybe I could even get singing lessons. (I miss singing in the choir. I couldn’t read the music well enough anymore, and it frustrated me no end.) — Music, even someone learning or practicing, is a good thing. OK, endless repetitions very badly played and very loud, I might have a problem with, but in general, I’m OK with people practicing.
—–
Today’s the 9th day without seeing Curry. Don’t know where he is or what he’s up to, but I suspect all the human activity around Thanksgiving and the weekend after meant that he’s lying low.
—–
Weird weather: Continued mild but not unheard of here, until Monday. It’s projected by the Weather Channel that we’ll reach 83 on Monday! That just seems way too strange. I don’t know if that will be a record high, but it must be near it. — However, the next day, it’s supposed to turn cooler, with a high around 50 or 60 something, and a low around the upper 40’s, followed by a few days of that, before warming up again. — Wait five minutes, and the weather around here can change. — That is, based on experience, not enough for Curry to want to show up or come in, unless it’s also very wet and he’s very hungry and thirsty. — But I don’t know anymore; I no longer expect anything. If I see him, I see him, and if he needs a meal and a place to sack out, OK. Certainly if it gets too cold out. — December, January, and February are generally our coldest months, and Easter has always been the last potential day for frost here. (Which hasn’t happened in a few years now.) It’s not uncommon for us to have temps in the 70’s on Christmas Day, but usually, it’s at least something more approaching seasonal. — No idea yet if we’ll have a cold or wet Christmas, or (very rare) enough snow to say there is some. — If our winter remains this warm overall, then heaven help us this summer, it could get very, very hot. Or it could level off. Eh, always odd, the weather.
I have always used a pinch of cinnamon though have never tried adding cloves (or allspice), I will have to up my pinch and give cloves a try. It is unusual to see cloves in an amount as large as the cinnamon, I would never have even considered it. Thank you and I must say it makes me smile that you are being entertained by your little Finity. Take care.
Curry, the saga (or soap opera) continues — This morning, 7:45 or so, I opened the door to go to the P.O. Boxes, and…. “Meow?” There’s Curry. “Well, hi, Curry, guess who? Haven’t seen you in 10 days.” (Yes, I should be putting in dialogue paragraphs; oh well.)
So I let him in, stopped to feed him and Goober and close the bedroom doors (oh, you bet!) and went to get the mail. Sun right in my eyes both ways, and I managed to trip on the sidewalk coming back, because I missed where the curb and the grass were at one point (within the apt. complex). Oh, joy. Embarrassing. I don’t think anyone saw. Both good and bad they didn’t.
Got back. Goober and Curry were both waiting for my return, perched near the door, watching it, haha. Hiya, kitty-cats. Petted them both. — Curry and Goober went back for seconds. I guess separation anxiety for Goober, curiosity/puzzlement what’s the human gonna do, did he leave me locked up in here, for Curry.
They ate, Curry went back and forth several times for water, after eating and flopping down on his box, and oh, was happy to get attention. Just as if he’d never left. Silly cat. — And this says, he hadn’t forgotten, the Thanksgiving human commotion may have interfered, but also, he is independent or a free spirit or…whatever you call it when he’d rather be outside than inside, even though apparently he still thinks I’m a friend. Or convenient or gullible or soft-hearted, which I suppose I am.
When he got a little too enthusiastic and grabby again, still hasn’t learned not t o mouth, though he’s not biting with that, and it seems to be playful — OK, I opened the door. Do you want out?
He went out, I stayed to greet him a little so he’d know, no hard feelings. When I went to the door, he zipped over and put out a paw (and claw) to my pants leg. “Oh? Don’t want me to leave, huh? Well, OK. Petted him a little more, but he’s feeling too frisky. Well…OK, kitty, if you’er gonna play rough, see ya, I’m going in.
Curry came back in. That might be another step, but I have quit thinking I know what’s actually going on with this cat; he’s so independent, even though he also has a side that clearly wants affection and contact. And like all cats, there’s a thinking brain there, a personality, a little being all his own. A soul? A soul of some kind, and I don’t know how to split hairs on the religious aspects of that, except, he’s a living creature, he has some spark of a soul, a spirit there, he’s not human, but there is a cat kind of intelligence and emotion going on there, like all cats, as non-human as it can be at times, and other times, thoroughly relatable.
So OK, kitty, sure, you can stay in today. I’ll make sure he gets supper too, before offering to let him out tonight. But by now, I also have no real expectation that he’ll stay in long-term. Not unless the weather is too bad or he is too hungry and thirsty or otherwise in need of shelter, safety, companionship. If, at some pint, he can stay ing enough to work out a ride for a trip to the vet for the neuter and BB pellet removal, I guess that will happen, but so far, it’s unlikely, and my budget needs the money for other things.
But he’s welcome, the little character, as nonchalant as he is about his ideas on staying here or on the quality or duration of our friendship. Clearly, his ideas of home, family, and friendship and love, are fundamentally different than mine. And yet, he’s also happy to see me and stay in a while, and he’s glad to get the affection, showing some in return.
I am puzzled about his take on this, and puzzled about my own take on this. Why is it that I have this deep expectation that he’d want to bond, be my cat, me be his person, and for him to therefore want to stay all the time? I grew up with the cats going in and out at will, no problem letting them in and out. — It was only after my previous two cats, one got FIV and the other did not, that I kept them in, and yet they were mostly happy with that. Then Goober and Smokey also were mostly happy with that. And somewhere in there, maybe because of being a caregiver and then losing my grandmother, inevitable as that ways, I got clingy? I don’t know. But for some reason I can’t quite figure, I have some difficulty with Curry’s brand of love/friendship and his brand of what a home is, versus my own ideas or emotional life on that.
Meanwhile, Goober was, oh, very happy to get in the bedroom door so he could stay with me, and be on the bed, since now, he knows again he’s welcome there. (Silly cat, you never were not welcome there. You’re the one who thought you weren’t for some reason, for a while.)
So, Curry’s sleeping soundly in the living room and Goober’s snoozing on the bed, and I’m here to do more dang font file conversions. And the upstairs neighbors are moving around as ever.
No telling how long Curry will be in. He’s definitely wanting lots of water, and food and a long rest, sleeping it off. — I am guessing that finding clean water is a problem for him. I may put out a bowl in my little patio / privacy area, though I may have to change it out daily to keep it from getting dirty and gross.
Huh, I have an old / former friend, or a still current friend, visiting, staying over, though an outdoor, temporary resident. I don’t think he’s quite aan indoor-outdoor cat at this point, but indoors occasionally, at need. — Well, OK, kitty. It’s better than not, and I am glad he’s OK. Not enough local friends, so he’s welcome to hang out here until he’s ready to go out again.
I have more contact with this wacky stray cat than those erstwhile friends. That also says something. So OK, Curry, welcome. Might as well. — Maybe that qualifies as the “Aloha spirit?” Or I’m just a goof. Hahah.
You may remember, I hybridize and grow rhododendrons. Well, member Peter Kendall composes haiku for our newsletter. I thought I’d share a couple from the fall.
The reluctant leaf
falling to earth with measured
reluctance.
With a low-slung sun
those pronounced shadows more pronounced
than ever.
Leaf following leaf
Rhythms of the wind, barely
discernable.
p.s. 5-7-5 is NOT a requirement in haiku, just conventional.
p.p.s. Three? Oh well….
Cool! I need to review the haiku form. I recall something about a 7-9-7 form, or some larger form than the 5-7-5.
Thanks for posting three, Paul: I like the third one best. 🍁🍂
I think I enjoy reading Peter’s haiku best in our chapter newsletter.
I ~think~ there’s a scene where a stsho reads a stshoshi poem about white on white to Ker Pyanfar. I know she thinks of their “white on white” preference for very subtle contrasts and stash fashions in personal appearance, clothing, and interior decorating. And of course, Tully gets a stash shirt (or upper garment) early on, because he’s too cold shirtless. (Brrr….)
Now I wonder what that poem is and where it is. It’s been too long since I last read the series. Methinks I should try Kindle’s “notes” and bookmarks features for the Chanur saga.
I also need to copy down the haiku forms. I don’t try those enough to recall the usual forms besides 5-7-5, and thanks to Paul, now I am curious again.
Ker Hilfy, IIRC.
I wonder if Chanur is available as audiobooks; and if so, who vetted pronunciation and did they survive?
All 5 Chanur books { The Pride of Chanur , Chanur’s Venture , The Kif Strike Back , Chanur’s Homecoming , Chanur’s Legacy } are available as audiobooks from Audible.com . The pronunciation is OK, as I recall, in Pride. But I think I’m going to reread by listening, this time.
One that is sadly not available in ebook or audiobook is Finity’s End.
Cyteen, either the 3 volume run as originally published, or the later omnibus Cyteen edition, is not available as an ebook, unfortunately. It is available in audiobook form.
Neither Merchanter’s Luck nor the collection, Alliance Space, I think it’s called, that it’s in are available in audiobooks, nor is the Alternate Realities collection, nor Wave Without a Shore.
In Kindle ebooks, Alternate Realities, Alliance Space, and The Deep Beyond (each are collections of two or three earlier, shorter novels) are available, but not as audiobooks.
Alliance Rising is available in ebook (Kindle), but not yet in audiobook (Audible).
Cloud’s Rider and Rider at the Gate are not available, either in ebook or audiobook.
Oh cool! Hey, the Collected Short Fiction of C.J. Cherryh — IS now available for Kindle!
Several other great Cherryh books, including most of the Foreigner series, are available in ebooks and audiobooks. — However, as international readers have noted, they are not available as ebooks or audiobooks outside of the USA and Canada, or rather, not all are.
Note: There are Spanish editions of The Pride of Chanur and Foreigner 1, and I believe there are French editions still of The Pride of Chanur. I can’t recall, but possibly also Spanish and French for Chanur’s Venture (search Amazon). I think there may be some German editions too. (The French titles should be, L’Orgueuille de Chanur, L’Aventure de Chanur; Spanish: El Orgullo de Chanur, La Aventura de Chanur.) Oh! There are Spanish editions (old) of — La Estación Downbelow, and Hermanos de Tierra; i.e., Downbelow Station and Brothers of Earth. Looks like there may be a few others, but it’s unclear without going through each if those are only bringing up the English-language editions, because they aren’t given with Spanish titles.
@Cathy in PA, you may want to jump on those Spanish-language editions of C.J. Cherryh’s books for your grandson; though I’m sure he’d want the English editions too, provided you haven’t already got them for him. (Those are paperback or hardbound, but for at least three, also Kindle ebooks.)
I would, as always, love to see and hear those in ebooks and audiobooks. I look periodically in case something gets released for Kindle or Audible.
Yay! What a neat surprise! — Just arrived and now unboxing, a care package from Chondrite! Goober thanks you and I thank you! — Will try this out this evening with supper.
——
I have a cup of black beans soaking. I have to check to see what spices I do and don’t have on hand; I think I have what’s needed, but not sure. I need to check whether I still have ground cloves and enough oregano, given CJ’s recipe earlier. Also, oh my, no garlic on hand. I haven’t cooked much special the past few months.
Looking toward Christmas, and plan to order groceries Monday, but I may order a bit the week before Christmas too.
On the list are pie crusts so I can fix a mince pie. I bought Nonsuch canned mincemeat before Thanksgiving. Mmm, mmm.
(Huh, I did not find garlic butter on Kroger’s site. I wonder if it’s listed as garlic spread? Well, garlic spread plus butter, OK, we can work with that. — I saw salmon fillets and want those.
Likely ramen tonight with veggies and canned chicken.
Humor, slightly askew: I looked up “oranges” or “orange peel,” something like that, on Kroger’s web store, and got, let’s say additional alternatives. Thus, I learned there is a “Bearglove Pump Body Wash” by Old Spice. I guess there’s a plant called the bearglove. But I snickered. I was quite unaware of this, but thought it might give others a laugh If not, my apologies.
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Curry and Goober have had an early(?) supper. Curry was sitting on the counter, one of the two “bar” ledges between the kitchen and the breakfast/dining nook. So I knew by now not to try to pet him and get his signals confused again.
I’m giving them a little while to digest their meal before seeing if Curry wants out or wants to stay in. He’s been happily sleeping away all day, and enjoyed attention when I went by a few times. I won’t be surprised if he wants out. But things are likely to be active after suppertime again. — Kids were playing with a skateboard or something after dark. I’m not sure I could’ve seen well enough to do that in that dim light, even when my eyesight was better. I’m amazed that those boys (any girls?) cold do that so well. It might have been something other than a skateboard, but something wheeled, suitable for skating. Thankfully, they didn’t have a bad spill. — Back when I was in college, a friend’s son was an avid skateboarder and did tricks, got banged up a few times, still loved it. I never saw him at it, but that’s truly impressive stuff. I don’t think I could ever get that far into mastery. I’d be lucky to stay on the thing with it moving, and not fall off, haha. — I don’t know how to surf or scuba dive or skin dive either. That looks like great fun though.
Right now, it’s actually quiet. People must be eating or napping before a late supper. (Different customs, several different kinds of folks around here, mostly Latinos and black folks and some white folks; I’m in the minority. If there are a few Asian or Indian/Pakistani folks, I haven’t seen them, which, given our city’s makeup, is maybe unusual.)
I did not find bearglove in the dictionary. Could it have been bergamot? Bergamot is a particular species of orange, used for perfumes and to make Earl Gray Tea. It can be poisonous in high doses, c. a gallon of strong Earl Gray Tea, IIRC.
You might try looking for orange zest, the peel of a citrus fruit used as flavoring.
Talking about mixed cultures, I spent Sunday playing a game, Egizia (Egypt) about the building of Egyptian monuments–from Germany, I think–with an Asian (Taiwanese?) and an (Asian) Indian (or maybe Sri Lankan–but I think Indian). My gaming group is quite diverse.
Nope, the product says, “bearglove,” three or four Old Spice products: body wash in a regular bottle or a pump bottle, deodorant/anti-perspirant, something else. Apparently, Old Spice has (new spice?) multiple versions these days, not just the original one guys have been using for, oh, before I was born. I may have to get it just to see what the heck it is, future grocery list item.
When I looked, oh yeah, Krogers will sell you grated orange peel by itself, but didn’t list candied orange peel. Their freshly grated supply was $3 or $4 for whatever quantity. I looked at that and the price of fresh oranges, and decided if I really needed orange peel / zest, yeah, I could grate my own. (Hmm, is my grater still around, in the Great Reshuffle kitchen stuff?)
Why? Candied orange peel was listed as an ingredient for homemade Colonial-era and pioneer era mincemeat (canned mince fruit, cooked) such as in a mince (or mincemeat) pie, along with, in that recipe, apples, currants, raisins, the candied orange peel, various spices including at least cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves, and brandy or rum or wine, IIRC. The recipe was given by Townsends, on YouTube.
While I’m happy with the canned mincemeat from Nonesuch brand, I was curious about making it at home, but not curious enough to do that right now. However, I wanted to see if candied orange peel was available, which I expected, these days. I haven’t looked elsewhere yet, but I’d be surprised if it isn’t available somewhere, ready prepared in a jar. If not, I’d check how to “candy” it homemade, which I presume is just some combo of sugar and maybe orange juice, plus the orange peel cut into strips, julienned or grated or diced, boiled so the sugar melts, and allowed to cool. Approximately that, there’s probably something else there to it I don’t know about. (Cinnamon or nutmeg?)
Candied orange peel – there are recipes available online. It doesn’t look too difficult, but does require some equipment – the parchment paper you may have to get, but you probably have the cooling racks.
The grated orange peel in the stores is usually dried, which is why fresh is preferred – dried has less flavor and scent. It’s okay in a pinch, and a bottle will go a long way.
I’ll look; thanks, PJ. 🙂 — I don’t have cooling racks; I may have one or two in storage. I do have a couple of cookie sheets, of course, which would probably work about as well. Cooking parchment paper, I know I don’t have. Good idea to get some.
LOL, I nearly overstocked myself with the grocery order. Did fit everything in. A few items were frozen instead of dried box prep meals, which caught me off guard. Because it’s too far after Thanksgiving and too far before Christmas, haha, I probably should’ve skipped the rotisserie chicken until right before Christmas. But I’ll likely get it then. I forgot paper towels. Think I will be OK until before Xmas. Otherwise, things will get used up quickly enough, so I’m good.
@WOL — Funny you should mention that brand. On a previous order, I found, innocently, Talenti Gelato makes a Cherry Chocolate Cheesecake layered pint, like their other flavors of gelato or ice cream. Ah, I highly recommend this as a dessert item, a treat for oneself or two selves or three, haha, as the case may be. It’s the holidays. CJ and Jane may wish to try that and not mention it to their diet.
I also saw, but did not get, mug-style servings for cake mix, maybe 2 to 4 in a box, I don’t recall. But for one or two, without having lots of cake left to tempt one, that sounded interesting. Also noticed sweet potatoes used in a few other dishes. I think it was Raesean who suggested a Buddha Bowl, which I’d tried a while back and quite liked.
Current plans are a rotisserie chicken as the main course, and I may get ingredients for homemade stuffing on the side, plus fresh salad kit and, hmm, mince pie, from Nonesuch plus store-bought pie crust, so kinda cheating on homemade versus store-bought, but it’ll work. Not sure yet if I’ll want something more for veggies. That may be plenty. Cranberry sauce, of course. I like either whole berry or the jelly. I opted not to get fresh berries this time, but maybe for New Year’s. And I ordered black eyed peas (with snaps) because that’s traditional (with a little bacon) for New Year’s; my grandmother and my mom and dad always did this, “for luck,” although we weren’t really supposed to believe in “luck.” That whole Protestant guilt thing, very like the Catholic and Jewish guilt thing, and American work ethic, y’know.
Too much stuff on hand and not quite cold enough to want to fix wassail, but I have a feeling I’ll want to do that between Christmas and New Year’s.
Of note, I have never fixed Bao, and will have to look up a recipe. I may want to try that when Chinese New Year rolls around, which, if I recall, is around February. Nuts, I will have to look it up. My brain needs an upgrade….
Cold and wet today, tonight, all through tomorrow night, but not down to freezing. I heard (I think) Curry around 4-5am, but that was fighting, and I was in bed and so did not try calling him. So this is the 2nd day he’s been away. No sign of him this afternoon.
It is Goober’s opinion that a cold, wet, dreary day like today is a good day to snooze on the comfy bed. Now that he’s back on the bed, he’s very pleased with that. At the end of this month, he’ll be somewhere over 13 and 2 months. I am enjoying however many months or years I have with him now. He’s a senior kitty, still in good health, so we may have longer together than I had guessed before. This is very good, at least, much desired.
I have converted all my original font files to the new formats. I see I still need to convert some old vector graphics files, if possible, but I think my current programs can read those. Not so sure of copy-and-paste into the new font editor or the old one. Fontographer remains resolutely moribund. They have not explicitly said they won’t be updating it, but I think that’s the unstated plan, to face people over to their newer, pricier program. — Rather than do the next (paid) upgrade, I am likely switching to Glyphs Mini. — The problem seems to be more getting my own input devices (my eyes) to work well enough to be able to do fonts and graphics still. I am more bothered by this, deep down, in ways I did not expect bothered me, than I had realized, and I am dragging my feet about it, which I must, must stop and be pro-active. I am trying to get past this and that means fighting some very deep-seated emotional baggage, which I did not realize I had, about my eyesight or abilities. I still want to do my font work. And if I think I can afford it by my birthday, I may get that electronic keyboard and work through relearning piano. in case music could be an income option for me, whatever happens with my sight, at this point.
After being pretty down for weeks, I am feeling a little better about things, pulling up the old bootstraps.
The cooling racks are necessary – there will be syrup dripping from the pieces, and they need to dry on both sides. It’s useful to have more than one pair, anyway.
When I was at my friendly Ralph’s (Kroger) market yesterday, they had bao in the frozen snack section, next to the burritos. and tamales.
If you are in the mood for it, look for either ‘candied fruit’ or ‘candied citron’ at the grocery store. Both contain hefty (in the case of citron, exclusively) quantities of candied citrus peel, often dyed outrageous shades.
Off-topic, for Rasean I think it was, who was interested in Dutch traffic-calmed street design to bring down the number of people harmed in traffic accidents (or rather, as they should be properly named , in car crashes).
There’s a new channel on YouTube by Not Just Bikes, where they put up films about what makes Dutch cities pleasant to live in and to move around in.
They are working on one about traffic-calming, but you might also like these two that are up already.
Here’s the one they made about the nearly car free city centers, that might be interesting for people who haven’t been to the Netherlands to see for themselves: https://youtu.be/GlXNVnftaNs
And here’s one about the continuous footway design at intersections with minor side roads, that Robert Weetman’s blog went into details about, and that do a lot for pedestrian comfort and safety in towns (that and the bulb-outs, lane reductions, sharper corners, well-timed lights etc. at larger crossings; and most importantly no-right-on-red!): https://youtu.be/9OfBpQgLXUc
Cool! I’ll take a look at these when I am not about to fall on my nose with tiredness. In the past 6 days, I’ve put in some 66 hours between my regular work, teaching and a long weekend up at the Vermont International Fair setting up a booth/display and selling work made by the Samburu of Northern Kenya, whom I do some advocacy/self-sustainability with. The real killer is the hours spent setting up and laying out each piece and then the (not so many but still too many) hours tearing down/packing away and driving all the way back to Boston, then unloading the van..and heading into my day job (albeit rather late) in the morning.so, I am fr bed now first.
Thank you for those videos, Hanneke.
First video, I note a lot of zebra (striped crossings) just as are common near me. Some concern is that zebras make pedestrians feel too safe and they stop looking. While the Dutch system works well when bikes and pedestrians are the majority of traffic, here both are very uncommon–if it’s rare, it’s forgettable. So, we have heavily controlled turning and pedestrian crossings. Even with right-on-red, cars commonly give pedestrians too much room, more than legally required or required for safety. That is very much a local thing, but the pedestrian traffic near my Trader Joe’s (owned by the Albrecht family / Aldi Nord) is insane with about 10 pedestrian paths crossing the road at irregular intervals, some marked, some implied, a few at stops, most not. Still, the vast majority of drivers stop for pedestrians to cross, despite the inconvenience of the appalling design.
Second video, the level crossing for bikes seems very good: bikes have a much tougher time with dips and rises than cars do. However, cars with automatic transmissions–nealy all in the US–can tend to surge up the rise and overshoot, so the rise would have to be more gentle. Then those rises can disrupt rain drainage–the cost might be justified in a city, but not in a suburb; the suburbs just aren’t collecting enough taxes per intersection. And then there’s the problem of traffic solutions happening city by city, while visitors to an area can come from across the world.
A signal near me is a special concern. Most cars turn right-on-red, looking at the traffic to the left, which is also a source of pedestrians and slow-moving bikes. However, to the right, while the pedestrians don’t move much faster, the bikes, coming down a steep slope, can be going too fast to stop. Maybe a chicane is needed. In any case, assuming the crosswalk is empty, I slowly creep my car forward, looking right up the slope, until I completely block the pedestrian crossing; only then do I look left and prepare to turn right-on-red. I don’t think most people are this careful of those speeding bikes, which should stop at the signal, but often don’t.
So why don’t I walk and ride more? A major difference from the Netherlands. If I want to walk to the nearest stores, it’s a km or two or three, and it’s something like 100m of vertical rise and fall; it’s exhausting to walk or ride carrying nothing, much less with groceries. I consider an electric bike, but like some people I have mild balance problems due to sinus conditions, and I would need a trike; trikes are much more expensive and the low “tadpoles”–the opposite of unstable “deltas”–are hard to see and rather a menace to pedestrians, being wide. And my area is 70-80 kph traffic.
But again, thank you for the videos. I may take up the appalling Trader Joe’s situation with my city council.
Hi Walt, I’m glad to hear your car traffic is careful of pedestrians around the supermarket, and I fully agree: don’t try to bike with 70 kph traffic, that is very dangerous!
I rather expect (electric-assist) trikes won’t take off anywhere as a viable transport option unless and until there are good bike paths and protected bike lanes for them to use – they don’t deal well with narrow shared pedestrian footways and are in danger from fast car traffic and even more from HGV blind spots than other bikes, because they’re lower.
Congested towns are probably the place that will start (in other countries), as they need to find ways to move more people and packages while the room for street expansion is limited.
I can’t find the source now, but I read somewhere recently that cars turning right-on-red are involved in a large percentage (IIRC nearly 60%) of crashes that hurt or kill vulnerable road users, exactly because of the behaviour you describe: looking left for an opening in traffic, while moving their heavy machinery to the right, across the path of vulnerable pedestrians and cyclists – who have the green light to cross at that moment!
I’m glad you treat that situation with appropriate caution.
I’ve never understood how American traffic laws could set rules that deliberately promote these situations that are bound to lead to deaths and injuries for the most vulnerable street users; it’s not something I’ve heard of being allowed elsewhere.
And then the American lawmakers don’t even try to mitigate the harm caused by cars, by setting rules for how deadly dangerous their exteriors can be to pedestrians, and especially children. Those high straight fronts of SUVs cause 3x as many deaths as sedan noses because of where and how they hit a pedestrian, and apparently there’s nothing in the rules to prohibit making them more dangerous to those outside the cars (and even ride over and into the cab of small sedans, if they are ‘ jacked up’, something which is prohibited in the EU, as far as I know).
Sorry, end of traffic safety rant.
I can’t quite envision what would be the problem with drainage, for the continuous footway. The main street has its own drainage, and so does the side street. Both drain from the crown of the street to the gutters, and thence through grids into the (storm)water drainage pipes. Those pipes can easily run underneath the continuous footway to connect the side street and main street drainage pipes. The continuous footway drains to the side, into the (main)road gutter, as it does over the whole length of the footway – nothing special about the intersection, so what would be the problem?
Keeping the footway (and cycleway, if present) level and flat at entries and parking exits, as well as at minor side roads (with only a short sharp ramp to the road), is nicer for the people on bikes, but even more important for people with disabilities, in wheelchairs, on crutches, blind or otherwise, for those unstable on their feet from age or balance problems, for moms with strollers and prams, even for non-disabled people pushing a shopping cart or just walking.
The great added bonus is that making cars climb up and dip down fairly sharply at those points where they might encounter pedestrians makes them slow down to a less-dangerous speed.
Making the speed bumps more fluid makes them easier to take at more than walking-pace, which makes any impact on a crossing pedestrian more dangerous. Dutch street engineers want the car driver to worry about damaging his undercarriage if he takes the bump at speed 😉.
Hanneke, a bicycle operating on the street is required to obey all traffic laws, including stopping at signals and driving on the right side of the road. Bicycles are not technically allowed to be ridden on sidewalks or across pedestrian crossings, but this is usually ignored unless the bike is being operated dangerously. So, a bike on the road that conflicts with a right-on-red turn is on the wrong side of the road or being ridden in a pedestrian crossing.
In the situation near me, I’m near a high school, so the riders are not always careful or lawful. The pedestrian crossing is controlled by a signal, but….
The cost and drainage problems are from sidewalks already dropping to street level, and drainage flows sometimes going around corners. The pipes would have to be large, and they’d be costly to clean and maintain. I suppose the basic problem is that the area was designed for 70-80 kph car use, not for high levels of bike traffic. We have bike paths, but crossing roads, the bikes are required to be walked; or they need to operate with 70 kph traffic; the fastest electric bikes allowed operate at 45 kph, and a trike would be dangerous.
Bikes here are popular for exercise, but not for transportation, so it’s a chicken and egg problem. Until enough people ride, no changes; without change, enough people don’t ride.
The problem I see with the rises and automatic transmission cars is that cars typically have to stop before going through an intersection. This means they need quite a lot of power applied to climb the rise; at the top, that energy is released and the car jumps forward.
In the case of driving through such an intersection without stopping, some cars might not clear the rise at speed; having to reduce speed leads to rear-end accidents. Imagine two strangers to the area traveling at 70 or 80 kph and coming to a rise needing 30 kph or less.
To be sure, these accidents are much less dangerous than car v. pedestrian, but they still aren’t desirable. Especially, more and more cars are using aluminum bodies, which are very expensive to repair. Tesla cars are popular here.
Realistically, such crossings would need warning signs unless the city wanted to be sued for damage to cars. That requires traffic studies, warning signs, new speed limit signs, adjusting the traffic lights, and if the traffic stays the same, much more pollution from cars slowing down and speeding up frequently.
It could also make drivers hostile to bicyclists.
Oh. I’m from SoCal where TJs originated. Somehow I missed the fact that they’d been bought out.
And some years ago when I was walking home one evening from the grocery, I was seen and soon found myself staring down the barrel of a .38! There is that to consider.
Theo and Karl Albrecht founded the original Aldi’s (ALbrecht DIskont) after WWII, but in the 1960s, they split the company into Theo’s Aldi Nord and Karl’s Aldi Süd. Joe Coulombe sold TJ’s to Theo Albrecht in 1979; Theo died in 2010, Karl in 2014, the stores being held by different family trusts; Aldi Süd expanded in the US around 2015. I’m not worried about TJ’s!
Aldi Süd (just Aldi in the US) is a strange store, the opposite of TJ’s in many ways. They’re the same in that they tend to carry only one of a kind of product; I think Aldi Süd stores are smaller than modern TJ’s. Aldi Süd carries basics; TJ’s carries higher quality food, and more convenience food, at slightly higher prices. Aldi Süd has treasure hunts (random products they got cheap), weekly discounts, and coupons (only their own); TJ’s just sells at low prices all the time. Aldi Süd has almost no service, and the few clerks wear somewhat spooky black uniforms mit epaulets; while TJ’s has abundant, friendly service, with the clerks (crew) wearing logo T-shirts with a flower, while managers (various nautical titles) wear Hawaiian shirts–an important difference is that all TJ employees do all jobs: if the store gets slammed, the managers are checking and bagging. Aldi Süd makes you pay a quarter to get a cart, which they return if you re-park the cart, and they dump your groceries into your cart, and want you to bag on a counter away from the registers; TJ’s operates normally, except they open new registers if two people are in line, and they’re happy to help you carry something out to your car, like a carton of water, wine, or whatever.
TJ’s under Joe had products that were discontinued or off-brand stuff. Things like orange juice concentrate in a squeeze bottle, so you could make one glass instead of a whole pitcher.
Joe’s view of his customers was “unemployed PhDs” – intelligent but not much money. (I’d like them to go back to that.)
There’s some interest in volcanoes here, so you may want to look up the news about the White Island eruption in New Zealand yesterday (or today, depending where you are).
Currently there are 5 confirmed dead, 18 injured, including 7 critically, 20+ missing and almost certainly dead.
Experts have been warning about the volcano for some time, and in recent weeks the Volcanic Alert Level was raised to 4 (on a scale of 5), but it’s a popular tourist destination, and the warnings were ignored.
There’s a story here with photos of the eruption as it was starting.
https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/White-Island-volcano-eruption-Michael-Schade-14892683.php
This was the last boat to leave there, and they were rescuing people.
Oh boy! A workman or a neighbor is working on the neighbor’s kitchen; I’m guessing the sink. Startled the heck out of me, not expecting that, quietly at my desk. No knock on my door. Hoping things will be OK here too.
That leak I’d thought I had over my kitchen did not reappear past that weekend, so I did not report it. Hoping that won’t later turn out to be an error. Have not seen a recurrence, though. But did have to replace another light bulb for the kitchen’s central track lights. That thing eats light bulbs, the fifth or sixth (of four bulbs in the fixture) replaced since it was put in maybe two years ago after New Year’s.
I fixed the beans I had soaking. Forgot them yesterday until late evening. Changed out the water a couple of times, rinsing, as a precaution. — Hmm, and I see I need to give them more cooking time on a low simmer. Still not done. I added a can of buffalo chicken I’d foolishly bought two of, too spicy for me. Hoping the beans and veggies will tone that down. Expected to need to add a bit of sour cream to each serving.
1 cup black beans, soaked overnight, rinsed;
3 cups water;
dash of season salt;
1 or 2 tbsp. oil, judge by eye;
Let that cook about 40 minutes, bring to a full high boil, then down to a simmer to cook;
Added:
1 pkg. Mirepoix, frozen;
1 can buffalo style chicken (¡caliente!)
1 small can tomato paste;
1 small can corn;
I may add:
1 can diced tomatoes, fire roasted, with garlic and basil (it may also have oregano);
Once the pot’s liquid reduces down some more.
Cook about 1 hour and test. — Check every 15 minutes, stir and add water as needed to keep from sticking or drying out.
I expect this needs another hour or so, tended, before these beans are cooked tender. I personally like my beans cooked down quite a bit, but others like them more like a thick soup or stew to the liquid. My parents didn’t cook theirs down as much as I do, and tended not to add anything when they cooked pinto beans. But I like adding the veggies for a more complete meal, and tend to add some meat so it’s a one-pot full meal, sausage or chicken or ham, sometimes hamburger. I have also been known to add in a little sour cream or ketchup. These days, I tend to take the bachelor approach, lazy cooking, but I try to use up leftovers, rather than throw things into another dish, unless I know that’ll go fast.
Hmm, definitely not enough cooking time. Should’ve known that; I usually give beans about three hours on a slow simmer.
Huh, no further banging on the kitchen? Weird. Hope it’s fine.