I did a blog last week about my desire to make rice pudding the conventional way.
The first comment was from Melody with a YouTube video of a no-bake recipe for a Venezuelan rice Chicha.
I tried a modified version 'American style Chicha' or maybe better described as Chatillion's Chicha. What's the difference?
The sugar was omitted. Low fat milk replaced the water. No ice cubes. Blender only, no whisking. Ginger and Cinnamon added.
Yes, it was nice. I'm on my 2nd cup and will pour the rest into paper cups and place into the freezer. I'm expecting they will make really nice frozen deserts.
Thanks for the idea Melody!!
They (whoever they is) say the proof is in the pudding. Or in this case, the proof is in the Chicha.
Actually, I'm going to drop a banana into the blender and see what that flavor is like!
A married man finds birth control pills in his wife's drawer...
However, he had a vasectomy a few years before they were married.
Is that a reason to be suspicious?
20 years ago I had a computer monitor go bad while under warrantee.
I returned it to the manufacturer's repair center and rather than wait for the repair, I was offered a refurbished unit they could ship the same day.
Not knowing what refurbished meant (exactly) the manager said all their new monitors go through a 24 hour burn-in test. Unfortunately, a small percent fail in the field. Those are repaired and returned.
The refurbished units not only get repaired, they go through extensive testing to find out what caused the problem in the first place.
Electronic components usually have a manufacturer's tolerance of 10% on resistors and diodes that are allowed to pass their standards for specifications. In the chance too many components are close to being out of tolerance (yet still acceptable) other components in the circuitry may fail due to the tolerance.
Guitarists may test out a few different amplifiers and pick one that sounds better. While they are wired with parts that pass standards, there are some that all the parts are ideally 'on the money' and exactly in tolerance.
I took that monitor he offered and used it for many years until it was time for something larger.
I've been shopping for a cellphone. My phone is maxed out on the SD memory with more than 5,000 photos and videos. I do monthly backups and purge old photos no longer needed. It's roughly 4 or 5 years old and the battery won't make it a whole day.
New models are around $1,200 and one drawback to many is you cannot add/extend memory as they don't have a slot for SD memory.
Samsung is offering 'refreshed' models that are a few years old. They have been thoroughly checked out, new batteries installed and screens, cases replaced if they have signs of wear. The operating systems are updated, unlocked and serial number with ID's are all new. One year warranty (same as a new phone) included. Priced about half of a new phone.
Some of the other models have dropped off the sales page and no longer available. Rather than risk the model I want to disappear, I made the purchase and expected it to arrive in 10 days or less.
I'll be cloning my old phone to the new phone and a few hours of updating apps and passwords should get me into another phone for a few more years.
The smell of my fingers after eating peel & eat shrimp is enough to make me wash my hands at least 5 times and if it lingers, I'll add a few rounds with alcohol.
I doubt other people resort to this... but that's the way I'm wired.
Police responded to a tip to search a New York home seeking a girl who was abducted more than 2 years ago. They found the girl after an hour search in a makeshift room under the staircase in a house they had searched before.
While the story was creepy and had lots of hype, I find it strange that someone would abduct a kid and the 2 of them hide away. The residents of the house allowed this to happen and denied knowing about the whereabouts of the girl. For what purpose?
Did the abductor have foresight more a day or two of what the outcome would be?
It's not like Tarzan who raised by apes and survived in the jungle for so many years.
Too weird!
Link to the story here:
With a few cold fronts into Florida this winter, I've been thinking about cooking 'stuff' as it reminds me of a time when my parents were alive and the kitchen was always warm from a gas stove. My dad liked to grill and stove top. my mother was the boiler and baker of the family.
For some (possibly) unknown reason, I thought of rice pudding. Maybe it was the flan custard from a party not long ago. We buy rice in 25 pound bags so there's never a shortage of rice... thinking that I could get a recipe wrong and have to drop the entire disaster into the dumpster!
I made pancakes on Sunday morning... the kind where you only need to add water. Well, I added 2 eggs and used low fat milk in place of the water. Of course it tasted better that way.
Out of milk from Sunday, I went shopping tonight and grabbed the low fat milk again... maybe next time it will be whole milk so I can make some rice pudding.
If I should add raisins or not is open for debate.
I went through Macy's department store and was amazed to see how many different styles of jeans for women that have the knees already shredded. They aren't cheap either!
Personally, I wear clothes until they are torn... like the ones in my report of the high-efficiency (HE) washing machine that prematurely wears out jeans. I've got a few with the crotch wearing through, but that wasn't from the washing machine.
Side note: I knew a college girl who knew which side of the zipper a guy hung his junk on from the worn spot on his jeans. I'm sure her research was more than their appearance.
There are YouTube videos describing how to take new clothing and cut holes in them with back stitching to keep the shredded look exactly the way you want.
I doubt this fad is going to end anytime soon...
Guitarist Joe Bonamassa has been hoarding vintage guitars and amplifiers for more than a generation. Some of his collection comes from famous owners that were passed through friends or family. Many were modified by their previous owners. Some remained in their altered states and many Joe had restored back to their original luster.
Interviewed by Mark Agnesi of Gibson guitars, Joe is an expert to the details of his collection, literally having total recall for the history behind each and every one.
Mentioned in the video, he doesn't break up a set. So if he made a deal for a guitar that came along with an amplifier, they stay together and the story told behind his quest to get these instruments becomes part of it's history. Joe can tell the year an instrument was made, specifics to the pickups and electronics, style of the neck (thin or rounded) whether or not it had original frets or modified.
His Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) to collect instruments, especially Gibson Les Paul series with sunburst finish is apparent. It's memorabilia madness and about 33 minutes into the video a significant statement "I buy the story, the instrument comes free" puts it all together.
He doesn't say, I picked up this guitar from a music store... it's more like: This one was bought from Woodies music in Chobonga, Illinois. It's a '67 with original electronics. The owner bought it for his son who played in a garage band before joining the army. They paid $157 with a case. I wasn't unable to strike a deal with Woody the first time, but passing through 6 months later, he finally accepted my offer. It comes with the original receipt. That's Joe. That's Nerdville.
Joe first did a video of his California collection calling it Nerdville. In his travels and touring, geographically it was beneficial to relocate to Nashville so his new home was appropriately titled Nerdville East.
Last week, I received a call from a woman who is renovating her winter home in Florida. She claims to have lost communication with another design company and wants to find someone else. I told her the time-frame we can build by and it appeared to be acceptable.
For the layout and specific details, she had her husband send over drawings and an appliance list. We passed a few emails and I quoted a price. I also redid the layout as the one supplied wasn't to my liking. More questions and I had answers for every pass of mail.
Most of the questions were to lower the price... that can only be done by omitting something in the design or changing to a less expensive material. I again responded with options.
There is a $4,000 difference in my adjusted price and want they are willing to pay. The husband also included a statement he felt ripped off by the other design firm, especially that he bought chairs where the seats are 25" high. That's for a mid-height counter of 36" and his designer shows the counter at 42" which is normally bar height. This requires 32" high bar stools.
I'm waiting to hear back from them... either send a deposit and place an order or I move on. I cannot make the cabinets in half my normal delivery and cut corners just to fit their budget.
If they ask for any other adjustments in my product or price, my next comment will be "I'm sorry, there are no other options available. That would be like ordering a BMW with fabric seats. BMW doesn't offer fabric seats."
On Friday, I had a meeting with a financial planner. We went over a few things as to my finances and what I wanted to achieve in my (not yet created) portfolio.
Without wanting to divulge too much personal information in this (or any) blog, I could have payments go to paying off a mortgage, money for vacations, or continue to have the base grow and not touch any of the money.
Actually, refinancing is a major consideration right now and why I didn't act sooner is basically lack of response on my part.
None of us own a crystal ball and his starting investment price is much steeper that I would consider, I did get the seeds for more research.
CS Blog number 68,900 we've reached a milestone...
It depends on the room. South Florida had a cold front move through this weekend with freezing temperatures across the state. Currently, it's 39F (3.88C) outside and the temperature inside is 61 (16.11C), mostly due to the high winds blowing into the jalousie window in my front door.
My door faces the north and cold fronts normally come from the north. If you put your hand near the jalousie you can feel the wind passing through the glass slats.
I know, that's not very energy efficient in the summer especially when the cool air escapes from inside.
The past 2 months the a/c has been off and room temperature has been a nice 75 to 78. Should cold weather from this front remain, I'll tape some clear plastic over the window so the wind doesn't blow through.
Eye exam. Originally scheduled for last year, pushed back as the doctor decided to take a holiday vacation. No cataracts, no signs of glaucoma. The blurred vision is because my left eye is weaker than the right and my standard glasses need to be changed.
I left the office with disposable sunglasses as blurred vision was at maximum. Good thing the vision center was only a mile from my home. I took the day off from work and it was a good thing as I had a splitting headache and couldn't focus for a few hours.
It was dark 7 hours later when I went grocery shopping and bright lights from car headlights had a slight blue 'edge' when I blinked. I'm thinking that was a reaction from the eye drops.
Hopefully, I'll be back in business tomorrow.
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