Being a long time Apple fan, I have often sung their praises. Products that work, fit in with my natural workflow, and in general delight. That said, a recent experience has tarnished the gleam. About 6 years ago, I realized that the built in photo management tool, iPhoto, was completely unsuitable for the task. I had graduated to a decent DSLR, and started shooting in RAW format. iPhoto did read...
House Journal – Failed Projects Yesterday started innocuously enough, a trip to Lowes to get a few items we needed, and to pick up an under-sink water filter. There was a filter when we moved in, an old GE unit, that was so old, that filters were no longer made, and old enough that I couldn’t find cross referenced replacements. Perfect time to upgrade to a reverse osmosis system. A...
I have been MIA lately, the move, unpacking, and some insane deadlines at work have meant that I had no time to write, but I will begin to rectify that. With the move, the trusty Pioneer Plasma screen was showing its age. When we bought it in 2006, the LCD panels at the time sucked big tool. Side by side, there was no comparison, the plasma kicked their ass all over the playground. It was a...
The joys of travel. Hotel rooms, uncomfortable beds, pillows that are too much or too little support, ice machine runs that you hear, and doors slamming in the halls. However, Hotels are often the site of passionate lovemaking. I am used to hearing the hookers in Asian hotels with their clients. But those are strictly business deals. Bang, and they are done/gone. Last night though, my neighbors...
One of my specialties is hand made pizza. I first came in contact with making pizza when I got a job at Chuck E. Cheese in the early 1980’s. Apart from the access to wicked cool video games, I got to learn how to build a pie. Of course, Chuck E Cheese isn’t known for their pizza, but it was a start. Crust, sauce, cheese, toppings, in a very hot (550 – 600F) oven and 7-8 minutes...
A series of posts about the meals I cook in our new house. I have posted on some of my culinary exploits in the past, but these will be special. For the first time ever, I have new appliances (mainly a quality range) to cook with, and that brings me no small measure of joy. The first meal was Arroz con Pollo, a hearty Mexican classic, single pot meal. You really need a good heavy dutch oven for...
We bought a house, and as the appliances were ancient, well used, and put away wet, we decided to replace the kitchen set. There were some difficulties finding a refrigerator that fit the space in the cabinets, but that was minor compared to the Bosch Dishwasher we bought. First, it was back ordered. Many deliver dates were promised, and missed. Apparently the installers would pick them up and...
Coming of age at the dawn of the video game revolution, I pumped a lot of quarters into the machines. I loved many of them, but the one that really captured my attention was Pole Position. Prior to that I had played the “Night Driver” game on the Atari 2600 (I remember playing at a friend’s house) but it was primitive. Pole position, with its steering wheel and the perception of...
With the move, I made a singular splurge. While I have cut way back on video gaming, I do have a humongous soft spot for racing games. From the first time I played the Pole Position arcade game back around 1983. I was hooked. My favorite game on my XBox 360 was the Forza series, and when the premier launch game for the XBox One was to be Forza 5, I knew I was doomed. I held out for over a year...
As we settle into our house, I will be writing about some of the work we have done. I have already commented on the plumbing work that escalated, now I will talk about the fences. One of the first observations we made when we initially looked at the house was that the fences sucked. Actually two of the three sides of our yard were in pretty bad shape (the back fence is actually OK and serviceable...