April 2009
16 posts
March 2009
32 posts
A Korean Cow Wants to Become a California Happy... →
It’s been a while since this ad campaign started. California Milk Advisory Board has been running a series of TV commercials for choosing new Happy Cows. One of the candidates is a cow named Soo from Korea. Most of the commercial is Soo making her case in Korean—with the appropriate inability to pronounce the “f’ sound—with English subtitles to be the next Happy Cow.
This is interesting because...
Grocery Bag Credit
I frequently do not bring in the canvas grocery bags when I go grocery shopping at Sunflower Farmers Market, mostly because I forget to bring them in. At the check-out counter, I simply reload the groceries into the shopping cart to bring them to the car, and I pack them into the bags and carries in the trunk.
What is interesting is that none of the cashiers have ever offered to give me grocery...
Tumblelog Facebook app is not supported
I used to use the “Import Notes” app in FB to bring my tumblelog entries into FB. But then I discovered the Tumblelog FB app, which promised tighter integration. Unfortunately, the app is not working as it should—many people are complaining about the same—and the developer, a Stanford ’08 named Tom Brow is utterly unresponsive.
I’m going back to the Import Notes app.
A colorful cast runs for mayor of Russia's Olympic... →
Anyone else want to run? [Via FP Passport]
Twistori →
I just discovered this in the sidebar of the Twitter page. I just downloaded and installed the screensaver version. This is awesome!
Making Baby Food at Home: Apples and Raspberries
Apples (easy)
Peel and core an apple. Quarter it.
Steam the quartered pieces for about 10 minutes.
Purée with a mini food processor. Freeze in an ice cube tray and store.
Raspberries (moderate)
Fresh ones would work, but I used 1/3 of a bag of frozen ones.
Bring to boil in a saucepan with a little bit of water. Simmer.
Strain through a sieve.
My batch turned out a bit loose, so I...
3 tags
Making Baby Food at Home: Carrots, Squash and Peas
Making baby food at home is totally worth the effort, mostly because it takes very little effort to produce food of the quality that exceeds that of even good store-bought ones.
Carrots (easy) Buy organic carrots, wash and cut into short pieces
Buy one of these collapsible steamers
Steam the carrots for ~ 20 minutes
Purée the steamed carrots in a mini food processor with a bit of the water...
3 tags
Oversalted Organic Cereal
I bought a box of Cascadian Farm’s “Purely O’s” yesterday at Sunflower Farmers Market to start giving to Xander. (Cacadian Farm is General Mills’ organic brand.) When I tasted one that Xander dropped on the floor, I immediately tasted the bitter saltiness. It turns out, this organic version of Cheerios contains almost 25% more sodium than the regular bee-branded Cheerios—250mg per 30g as opposed...
Obama gave Gordon Brown DVDs in the wrong format →
Very rarely do news items about foreign affairs make me laugh out loud. But this is hilarious. It’s such a poignant commentary on Brown’s relationship with Obama (or lack thereof) and on the sad state of segmented media markets of the world.
2 tags
How the Crash Will Reshape America →
Via marco:
The crash of 2008 continues to reverberate loudly nationwide—destroying jobs, bankrupting businesses, and displacing homeowners. But already, it has damaged some places much more severely than others. On the other side of the crisis, America’s economic landscape will look very different than it does today. What fate will the coming years hold for New York, Charlotte, Detroit, Las...
Un-Happy Noodle House
The wife’s review—along with three of her friends—of the new Happy Noodle House in Boulder is generally unfavorable. Their appetizers are good but their entrées are not. I guess they do not try to be authentic, but she was highly disappointed by their version of bibimbop.
The dish came with an “onsen egg” on top, about which they apparently made a huge deal. The only translation I can find of the...
My First Photo Contest
Via babyxander:
Daddy selected and submitted his three entries for Whole Food Market’s Whole Baby Baby’s Favorite Food photo contest. Here are the links to the three entries on his Flickr site:
Mmmmmmmm
Yum!
More Please!
All the submissions for the contest can be viewed here. The contest ends this Friday, and they will contact the winners by the end of the month. Wish us luck!
This is my...
Home Security Companies, Part II
The ADT sales guy made a repeat visit on Saturday. He was just as smarmy as he was with me, saying “Six!” when Susanne said she wanted to see some numbers. He should have realized right away that such cheesy and manipulative sales tactic would not work when he saw me systematically getting bids from different companies.
So, we decided to go with Brinks. We signed the agreement on...
Things that are/should be criminal…
Requiring 3-year contacts for home security monitoring services.
Charging $1.25 for a standard-size Twix candy bar from a vending machine in the building where my department is located.
I guess the candy bar price is what the market will bear—if the sales went down, then the vending machine operator would presumably lower the price. But on the issue of 3-year contracts, there appears to be a...
Home Security Companies, Part I
Due to my time constraints, I scheduled both ADT and Brinks for consultations at 11AM. ADT guy called me at 10:45, saying he was running a few minutes behind. Brinks guy showed up a little after 11.
When I informed the Brinks guy that ADT was coming soon, he said he’d leave and come back later. The Brinks guy surveyed the house and started writing up a plan. The ADT guy showed up, so the...
Department of Home Security Systems
So, there has been a recent burglary in the neighborhood and the police told the owners of the burglarized house that the burglars will likely come back to the area in 2-3 weeks. Apparently that has been the pattern in Boulder. We are looking into installing an alarm system. So, I began looking into various companies. Home security systems is a messy industry with asymmetric contracts, charges,...
Perimeter Fence and Public Goods
Discussions in homeowners’ Associations (HOAs) frequently and easily spiral downward to pointless exchanges and invectives. Our barebones HOA is not immune from this. A recent burglary within the subdivision has led to some heated exchanges about whether the HOA should fix the perimeter fence near the home that was broken into. Below are my thoughts that I sent out:
I would like to share my...
Provider Conscience Regulation in a Modern Society →
On my drive back from work today, I listened to parts of the discussion on Talk of the Nation on NPR about Obama’s pending rescission of the Bush-issued regulation protecting provider conscience. The discussion revolved around some pharmacists refusing to fill prescriptions for the morning-after pill based on their personal convictions and whether/how their personal views should be protected.
...
