Anti-Vaccers Are A Scourge of Society... Literally.

On the way to London's Heathrow airport, I am, at the moment, surrounded by many sleeping passengers. Most, that is, with the exception of the fellow who is in the aisle seat next to my inner seat, who is watching a program on his video monitor. He pulled his feet back to allow me to get to my seat.  The seats are arranged with two aisles in 2-4-2 arrangement, with seats alternating in direction, either facing forward or facing aft.

Peter had accumulated enough air miles to get us tickets in Business Class, which, on British Airways, is very, very nice. Our seats fold down completely flat, and there are footstools opposite our seats that flip down from the partition between seats.  Peter and I are in seats D and E, in the middle. We're sitting facing the rear of the plane. Takeoff was smooth, and though there has been some mild turbulence, it's been a pretty good ride.

Prior to boarding the plane, we sat in the British Airways lounge at the San Diego airport and each had a bowl of tomato-based cream soup. We shared a charcuterie plate, with a couple kinds of sausage, sliced prosciutto, and what they call “country pate,” which is really just a terrine made with coarsely ground meat. The passenger on my outside just turned off his video screen, so I'm under the impression that he's going to go to sleep for a while.

Actually, I may go back to sleep.

After eating dinner, which started with lobster tail and a salad, followed by cheese-stuffed pasta with a creamy mushroom sauce, I thought about how I wanted to finish the meal, and decided on the dessert, which was a slice made up of a chocolate layer and a hazelnut layer, topped by a white cream. The hazelnut and chocolate layers are firm, something between a dense cake and a cookie. The white cream on top was... well, creamy. I had coffee with it. The coffee filled the cup almost all the way to the rim, so the mild turbulence spilt some of the coffee out onto the placemat on my tray.

Peter'd opted for the cheese plate with a glass of port. The flight attendant serving him poured him a pretty tall glass of port. She apologised for pouring so much, but Peter took it, anyway. I reminded him, when he had finished most of the cheese on the plate, that one of the privileges of flying (in general, traveling) this way is that one need not feel compelled to be a “clean-plater.”

We had a short conversation about clean-platers, whom are created out of a sense of necessity, because the implication is that one must eat while one can because one's next meal is not assured. Peter said that that is an upbringing thing, isn't it, and I said yes, it is. He explained that he was raised as a clean-plater, but that he has not raised his daughters that way, which probably gives them a healthier relationship with food. I am trying to do similarly with Kat, though I think I've inadvertently raised a clean-plater...

It's a class issue: “upper” classes of people can eat to a comfortable level of fullness, because once one feels full, one stops eating, thus not overfilling one's belly with unnecessary calories. There is always more food to be had when necessary. Unfortunately, there are people (a large minority of the human population, I believe, if not an actual majority) for whom this is not the case. Food is a necessity that must be used wholly and completely, because one may not know where or from whence one's next meal is coming, or whether it is coming at all.

Human society, as a whole, is striving to feeding its entire population sufficiently. However, with the ever-increasing number of humans on a limited planet, this has not, so far, been possible. Some geographic and economic regions are richer than others and have the luxury of food abundance, whether the food is grown locally, as in such is in places like San Diego, or imported, as in places such as Las Vegas, where much of the population have sufficient wealth to import foods from those more productive regions. This is true not only on a local or national level, but on an international level: some countries, like the United States, are flush with food (even though food distribution is unequal). Other regions of the world, such as the desert regions of Africa, do not have the ability to produce or buy sufficient food to support their burgeoning human populations.

Before modern human technology, which only occurred in the last couple hundred years or so, each geographical region could only support a certain (human) population density, and different numbers of people lived in different geographical regions of the world. There was zero overpopulation. If a population's demands outstrip resources, a portion of the population will die, leaving (one hopes) a healthier (or more fit) population to continue as a smaller population.

The human population began its exponential growth with advances in medical technology which have lowered the death rate phenomenally. Not only are more people surviving to breeding age, but people are living longer (with the recent news of life expectancy notwithstanding). Modern science has even eradicated many childhood diseases which used to be a rite of passage, like chicken pox and measles, as well as (nearly) ridding us of other, more dangerous, diseases, like typhoid and smallpox...

Thinking about disease eradication, there are few groups of people I despise more than people who refuse to vaccinate their children. In all fairness, I think these parents ought to be winners of the Darwin Awards, leaving a healthier, if less-religiously inclined, population. Unfortunately, anti-vaccers don't only cause the spread of disease in their own lineage, but spread it to innocents around them.

The claim of parental privilege when it comes to the willful neglect of children appalls me. It is a form of child abuse. 
When one can perceive a threat to one's offspring, is one not obligated by one's conscience (or at least by a desire to pass on one's genetics) to protect that life? What these parents fail to realise is that they live within a healthy society because of modern medicine's ability to eradicate much of the diseases that used to plague it. They deny not only their children that same privilege, but also the others in their community. I think that as a step towards a healthy population, children who are not immunised be excluded from public schools, at the very least. If parents truly wish to remain a part of the society into which they are privileged to have been born, they will act accordingly in order to maintain herd immunity to preventable diseases.

A current, if mild, example of the curse of anti-vaccers is whooping cough. It has reared its ugly head in California, and has spread to otherwise healthy children. Parents who tend to deny their children vaccines also tend to have children at an alarming rate. They claim religious privilege, but my opinion is that their religious privilege ends where my child's right to live, unencumbered by the threat of easily eradicable diseases, begins. Their right to practice their religion does not give them the right to kill others through willful neglect. By refusing to live up to the implicit agreement between the individual and the society, they are, essentially, forfeiting their right to live amongst that society. The world has run out of room for religious zealots to pioneer new territory under the influence of the insanity that is religion, particularly one:  christianity.

The United States, my home, was founded on secular principles. Those principles are being challenged by the incursion of religious pretensions. That zealotry needs to be stamped out, and I believe it's happening. I can only do my part to inform and educate. I hope that the recent rise in fundamentalism and acting out (ie, terrorism) on the part of various religions (muslim, christian, and otherwise) is religion in its death throws. It is society's forward momentum that will finally advance our species beyond the dark age of magical thinking.

Homemade Marzipan and Other Wonders of the Confectionary World

I just looked up a recipe for homemade marzipan.  The first and only comment was by someone who claims to be a culinary professional, stating that "authentic" marzipan uses almonds, sugar, corn syrup, and kirsch.  I have my suspicions about the writer of this comment, because how many (high-end) professional kitchens use corn syrup regularly?  I agree with sugar and even the kirsch, but I'd tend to leave out the corn syrup, though I suppose it might help to keep the marzipan moist for shaping:

Marzipan Basic Recipe

2 c. granulated sugar
2 egg whites
1/8 t cream of tartar
4 c. ground almonds
Confectioners' (powdered) sugar for dusting & kneading

Prepare a nonstick or wooden work surface with a dusting of confectioners' sugar, fill the kitchen sink or a large bowl with ice water, and have them ready.

In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat 2/3 c water with the granulated sugar until it comes to a boil. 

Boil, covered, for three (3) minutes.

Uncover and continue boiling until it reaches 240 F on a candy thermometer.  This might take a while.

Remove from heat, place in cold water bath, and stir vigorously until it loses its glass and becomes creamy.

Add ground almonds and egg whites, and mix over low heat until it thickens.

Pour onto prepared work surface and commence kneading, using powdered hands, until it comes to the right consistency for forming into desired shapes.  Keep remaining wrapped in plastic to maintain moisture and pliability.  It will dry out in a matter of a few days, so it's best to use it immediately.

I haven't tried this recipe yet because I don't own a candy thermometer (yet).  I just ordered a candy thermometer from the Food Service Warehouse, an online vendor.  Shipping was more than the thermometer itself, so I ordered two, one for me, and one for Peter (he doesn't own any thermometers, and I've got two meat thermometers and a digital one that doesn't clip onto the pot so it not quite as useful as it could be).  At any rate, I figure it'll be a good addition to our kitchen.

Kat, Peter, and I ate our orange creme cupcakes with orange chocolate fudge frosting yesterday afternoon, and I find them rather tasty.  Kat judged the frosting a bit heavy, but I figure it'll be fine for tonight, anyway.  I suppose I can develop a recipe for frosting, but I'm in love with buttercream and I know that I will never make another frosting that I will enjoy as much as buttercream, so why bother, unless it's a recipe that goes specifically with something, like cream cheese frosting for carrot cake...

That reminds me that I have some fresh carrots from our CSA share, and cream cheese is in sale at a few supermarkets, so it might be worth baking and frosting a cake or two to give to Brian and Lorrie and to my folks.  Brian's coming on Sunday to pick up Kat as she'll be staying with them in Temecula/Murrieta until Christmas Eve, when she'll fly to meet Mark in Colorado for the holiday week.  I'll have the remainder of Sunday, plus all day Monday, to pack, which should work out fine.  I plan to do the last load of laundry for this calendar year on Saturday afternoon after we have dim sum with Werner and Mika and go to the 99 Ranch Market mall-ette to order Peter's reading glasses.

Peter's not relishing needing reading glasses, as he'd been enjoying his "monovision" that has, thus far, allowed him to utilize one eye for distance and one eye for close-up focus.  It's also time for me to get reading glasses.  I'm just not sure whether I need one pair for when I'm without contacts, and one for when I do wear my contacts.  When I'm wearing my contacts, I can probably just buy a pair from a drugstore, but for when I'm wearing my glasses, I might want a prescription pair to correct for my lack of both near and far clarity.  I have two pair of frames, consisting of just the bridge and ear pieces, as the glasses are completely frameless.  That is the type that Peter wants to buy.  He likes that they are lightweight, and would delicately and lightly perch on his nose while the arms rest around his ears.

The first shop we looked in to buy glasses yesterday told him that they could not substitute one lens shape into another set of ear- and bridge pieces.  After we left, Peter observed that that was likely the reason why their prices are about half of what I'd paid for my frames.  The shop is not an "authorised dealer" and therefore cannot send the glasses to the manufacturer to have the glasses made up because they bought the frames without signing a dealer agreement with the manufacturer and therefore can offer them for a lower price.  So for that lower price, one is limited to their existing stock.  Peter wants to customise his glasses, as I had when I bought my second pair (my first pair still has its originally-sized lenses.  I'll likely replace the current shape with a larger one the next time I use that frame for the new prescription.

So that pretty much finishes off Saturday:  dim sum in the morning, glasses and laundry in the afternoon, finishing with an open evening, during which we'll likely try our best to use up ingredients from the fridge before our departure.  Also that evening, Kat will pack for visitation.

I'm excited for Monday evening.  Peter and I are planning to make one last gym visit on Monday.  So we'll be leaving behind some sweaty laundry, but that'll be all right.

First, though, we need to finish this week.  Tonight, we're celebrating Theresa's birthday.  Tomorrow, I'm hosting a sushi dinner.  On Friday, there is a party/potluck.  Busy, busy, busy!

Pumpkin Cheesecake, Cream Mints, and Shiitakes

I'm baking a pumpkin cheesecake, taking cues from a couple of recipes but essentially making it up. We'll see how it comes out, though if it's successful or if it's a failure, I won't know exactly what to blame, since I only measured certain ingredients, like bricks of cream cheese and number of eggs, but not others, like spices, which I like to add, sometimes excessively (or so I've been told).  So far, so good:  It's in a slow oven (300 F), and still has about a half hour to bake.

In the meantime, I'm remembering what a relief it was to FIND MY WALLET!  Even after having canceled my credit cards and replacing my ATM card from the bank, and my driver's license, it was good to find it at the bottom of my backpack.  Of course, it was in the wrong pocket, and I had made an insufficient check in that main compartment for it, though that's where it ended up...

So I phoned my health insurance provider (Anthem Blue Cross), and learned that I can get a cleaning and exam covered once a year, starting next year, as a new benefit of the plan.  Unfortunately, my current dentist is not on their provider list, but I did get a few names of other dentists to try.  One of them is the dentist with whom I'd had a dispute months ago, so I won't go to them.  The name of their practice is Pacific Dental, and they're located in the shopping center of the Big Lots with an ARCO gas station at the intersection of Black Mountain Road and Mira Mesa Boulevard.  Unprofessional and essentially out to bill as much as possible, I'd left their office without even having been given a proper exam!

I just phoned 1-800-Dentist to see whom they recommend according to my insurance carrier.  It looks like the nearest one in their network is on Regents Park Row, in La Jolla, which can work for me, since I know where that street is and how to get there on the bus.  I made an appointment for 4 August, since it's likely that I'll be in town then.  I figure, as long as it's routine care, it'll be fine to go somewhere that is not within walking distance.

If Kat goes to see her father (even if it's in Colorado, where his mother and siblings live) that month, that is when Peter & I'll be taking our summer vacation.  I'd forwarded to Peter an email announcement regarding dive vacations at Palau, and he responded that he's been thinking to return there, as he'd gone a couple years ago and had really, really enjoyed the diving there.

I think the band director at Mira Mesa High School told parents that the students will have about two weeks in August before band practice starts (before the school year commences), so we'll need to coordinate our travel plans, for it is better to make plans ahead of time and avoid last-minute changes (as Kat's dad did for Christmas this year, as he is wont to do).  Kat's father seems to have made some effort to prevent me from learning where he's residing (especially since I'm submitting a petition to the court for an increase in child support), though I don't really care.  It's immaterial to me where he lives as long as he makes his payments.  If my petition goes through, those payments will go up to catch up with inflation and general increases in cost of living as a child grows older and incurs greater costs upon parents (namely, me).

Addendum to post:
I learned this morning (16 December) on NPR that Anthem does not pay for routine care sought outside its state borders.  This does not mean too much for me, since the only care I'd require outside of California would likely be in an emergency, and emergencies are all covered.  Any follow-up or long-term care that results from anything I get done over state lines would need to be written so that they can be followed by my GP and other health care providers within California.  Apparently, this decrease in service area was one way in which Anthem is trying to cut its costs and ensure their profit margin, which, I'm sure, is plenty wide, especially since they are the largest health insurer in the state.

The cheesecake came out loose, but still very much edible and quite tasty.  I hope I can remember exactly what I put in it, though I suppose that will never happen...

A Good Day's Work

This morning, I made myself lunch out of a sliced hard boiled egg and a sliced avocado, dressed with a little soy sauce, cumin, paprika, and freshly ground white pepper.  I also packed several soupspoonsful of salt and vinegar roasted almonds in a zippy bag, an enormous red apple, and my water bottle (well, it's actually Peter's water bottle, but I cannot seem to locate mine since having potentially left it at Peter's last weekend).

When I reached the pickup site, there were a few people already waiting.  I joined them, and soon we were joined by several others (I think there were about thirty of us in all).  The officers came out, and then one of them (Mercado, I think his name is) called my name out to line up to go with him for the day's work.  Also in my group were a young Asian woman and the young Korean-descended man with whom I'd worked side by side last week.  His name turned out to be John, and he talked quite a bit during the day, as he had last week.

We started cleaning up another drainage ditch in East County, scraping overgrown weeds from the joints of concrete and clipping overhanging branches, as well as sweeping up sand and dirt from the bottom of the ditch.  I call it a ditch because I don't remember the actual name of the construction.  It was a concrete ditch with a trapezoidal vertical section (if one were to place a lid on it).  The sides were steep enough so that I required assistance the first time I went into the ditch to start scraping and shoveling.  After about an hour of this, we were called to stop,  leaving the equipment there, because we were needed in Spring Valley to do something.  When we showed up at the materials pickup point, we watched a truck being loaded with three pallets of sandbags.  We followed the truck to the site, adjacent to an Albertsons supermarket.  There, we heaved sandbags from the truck to a few different areas around a low-lying building.  Some of the sandbags were not terribly full, while others were quite heavy.  I helped unload the truck, handing the sandbag from the tailgate of the truck to another worker, who handed them to another, who placed the sandbag to make a short wall around the base of the small building.  We must've unleaded about a hundred sandbags around that building.  After that was done, we took lunch in a park, then returned to the ditch to clean it up a little bit more.  By the time we were done, it looked like a rather nice, clean concrete ditch, if I do say so myself...

We returned to the materials yard, and there, we finished the day filling sandbags in preparation for placement around other buildings, as there was a flood warning for low-lying areas in San Diego County.

We returned to the county offices complex in the van, then all dispersed to our individual cars.

Two Down, Two To Go; and Theft

The Day started off inauspiciously.  I realized that my wallet had been stolen from my backpack while I was playing games at Fuddrucker's last night.

Today, I completed the second of my four "public service" days.  I decided to complete two this week, and will serve the remaining two next week.  I have them scheduled (on my personal calendar) on Tuesday and Thursday, my non-gym days, so I'll have some physical activity every day.  This week, Tuesday was not as fulfilling as today (Thursday), as we mainly picked up trash (the men also loaded discarded furniture and a few garbage-laden shopping carts into a garbage truck, which mashed everything in its maw and swallowed it into its cavernous interior.  There wasn't much conversation (at least toward me) on Tuesday, whereas today, there were a couple of people, whom I worked adjacent to, with whom I was able to carry on bits of conversation.  

They had each chosen to perform community service in lieu of the hefty fines they received for their DUI convictions, each of which was easily over $2000.  One actually lives in my neighborhood of San Diego, and he said that if we should ever see each other in another context, we should say hello, but he doesn't want me to tell people how we met, though I'd love to say, on such an occasion, "Oh, we served time together," just to see the look on the face of whoever was accompanying either of us.  As funny as that might sound, it'd be the sad truth.

Today, we cleaned out a drainage ditch in the East County.  We cleared a lot of leaves, small branches, and assorted discarded debris:  candy wrappers, pens and pencils, and even a computer/music disc (I didn't inspect it so I don't know if it was a cd or dvd).  The most potentially valuable thing I found was a drill bit that would be the correct size and length for drilling holes into stone or concrete for the insertion of rebar.  

We took lunch at the small airport located in either El Cajon or Santee (I don't know eastern San Diego well at all).  The young woman, beside whom I worked in the ditch, asked me if I was eating chicken pot pie.  I answered, "No, it's a quiche that I made last night because I knew I had this today."  She'd never heard of quiche before, but said it looked good.  One of the young men who shared the table with us said, "Quiche is good."  I didn't feel hungry enough to eat my apple, so left it in my erstwhile lunch tote to bring with me on Tuesday.

Three women who rode in the van with our group were separated out to work for a female officer, whom we met in a rural industrial parking lot.  When we picked them up at the end of the day, one of them complained about their officer, calling her (the officer) a bitch.  Another woman said, "She wasn't really a bitch;  she wasn't mean, but she's just [very exact and demanding]."  I thought to myself, well, yeah, I'd be that sort of probation officer, too!  

One thing that I've noticed about our motley crew:  most were mainly regular "normal" people with regular jobs, and a decent percentage of them smoke tobacco.  We were given occasional "smoke breaks" during which the addicts would light up and get their fix. The rest of us could have a snack or a drink from beverages that we'd brought with us, use the loo, or simply stand there.

The young man who worked on the same section of the ditch as I I worked has run several marathons, in San Diego and LA, but had stopped running when he started to drink more heavily.  Now he's determined to get back into running and to moderate his alcohol consumption.  I encouraged him to do so.

My last task was to sweep the street to sweep up the detritus which came out with us when we exited the ditch at its upper end.  The young woman's job was to brush out the van we rode in, for there was dried and caked mud between and below our seats.

My fellow servants and I ended up finishing our tasks ahead of the end of the day (3:30p), so the officer brought us back to our meeting place (the County Services Complex) and let us go for the day.

Upon reaching home, I phoned my credit card companies to report my cards stolen, then talked to an officer from the San Diego Police Department, filing a report for a stolen item.  Finally, I was able to phone the credit union to report stolen ATM and credit cards.

Unfortunately for me, my SCUBA cert cards were also in my wallet, along with my library card, my gift card from Home Depot, and my Transit photo ID.  Not fun.  I kind of hope that whoever stole it throws it away and that it's found and returned, because all the ID cards are worth much more to me than the cash, though there was not an insignificant amount of cash in it, either...

I hold out little hope of having anything returned, since its return would immediately cast suspicion on the perp, and then they'd be alienated, if not literally, then at least in their mind, from other Meetup attendees that night.  But I'm giving the perp a conscience, and they obviously don't have one, to steal a wallet from someone's backpack while attending a recreational social activity.

Chocolate Truffle Cheesecake

I haven't decided whether I'm making this yet tonight, as I'm a little tired.  I'd like to, though, as it sounds nice, and I already have the ingredients:

Chocolate Truffle Cheesecake (copied from a cooking website, though I don't remember which)

Ingredients

	CRUMB CRUST
1 1/2 c	vanilla wafer crumbs (about 45 wafers crushed)
1/2 c	powdered sugar
1/3 c	unsweetened cocoa
1/3 c	butter, melted
	CHEESECAKE
1 pkg	12 oz. package of semi sweet chocolate chips
3 pkg	8 oz. packages of cream cheese softened
1 can(s)	14 oz. sweetened condensed milk
4	eggs
2 tsp	pure vanilla extract

Heat oven to 300°F. To make crust, stir together vanilla wafer crumbs, powdered sugar, unsweetened cocoa and melted butter or margarine in medium bowl. Press firmly onto bottom of 9-inch springform pan and set aside.

 Place chocolate chips in microwave-safe bowl and Microwave at MEDIUM (50%) 1-1/2 minutes; stir. If necessary, microwave at MEDIUM an additional 15 seconds at a time, stirring after each heating, just until chips are melted when stirred.

 Beat cream cheese in large bowl until fluffy. Gradually beat in sweetened condensed milk until smooth. Add melted chips, eggs and vanilla; mix well. Pour into prepared crust.

 Bake 1 hour and 5 minutes or until center is set. Remove from oven to wire rack. With knife, loosen cake from side of pan. Cool completely; remove side of pan. Refrigerate several hours before serving. Garnish as desired. Cover; refrigerate leftover cheesecake.

Four Days in Lieu of $400 Plus Administrative Fee

This morning, I went to the gym, as I like to on Monday mornings.  I stayed until just past 12 (I arrived a bit past 9, and started on the stationery bike and the hand-bicycle).  I did most of my mat exercises and stretching & rolling, then used just one machine, the Dual Cable Cross.  When I'd finished those seven exercises, I decided that I'd get cleaned up and ready to go, as I needed to catch two buses to the courthouse on Claremont Mesa Boulevard.

Though there was  queue for the check-in desk, I walked right into Courtroom A.

The commissioner was a slightly older man, probably in his late 50's or early 60's, from the look of him, and there were a few of us who were there.  A couple of attorneys were there, representing several clients each.  They moved through their cases pretty quickly. Other defendants pleaded guilty, though a couple of them were let off because the state neglected to schedule their trials within 45 days and therefore nulled their cases.

When the commissioner asked if anyone wanted to change their Not Guilty plea, one man stood up and went up to plead guilty.  He received a fine, something around $300, I think. He left the courtroom to the cashiers' room, which is where one goes to pay one's fine(s), makes payment arrangements, and/or gets instructions for community service.

When the commissioner asked if anyone else wanted to change their plea, I raised my hand and stepped up.  I said to him that when the light changed, I waited for the opposing traffic to pass, then made my turn, as I didn't want to sit through another light cycle and waste gas.  The commissioner said he understood not wanting to waste gas, but said there are other, overriding, factors that come in when driving.  He said that there could have been a cyclist, and I countered, saying that it's a well-lit overpass and I would have seen the cyclist had there been one.  He didn't go on with hypotheticals, but just said that it's a $400 fine.  I told him simply that I'll need to perform service.  He asked me my employment status.  After I told him that I'm living on Disability, he sentenced me to 4 days of physical labor.  He asked me if my disability would prevent me from performing physical tasks, and I answered that it depends on exactly how physical the task would be...

The commissioner said that there is an registration fee of $59.  I asked if I could work that off, as well.  At that point, he waived the fee.

I left the courthouse and walked down to the county services building complex, at the end of Overland Avenue.  The building that houses the work registration office is tucked back within the complex (from the point of view of approaching from Claremont Mesa Blvd), around the side of a large building.  In the office were several chairs, all facing the same way, away from the bank of windows through which I could see county employees, chatting and generally passing time.  I filled out paperwork, took a number (note:  I was the only person there), and sat down. When they finally got around to calling my number (government employees like to take their sweet-ass time, don't they?), I gave the woman behind one of the windows my paperwork.  She took them, then said she'd call me after she did some other stuff (presumably to do with my case).  I sat for several more minutes. She called me up and asked me to pick a day on which I can serve.  I said that Tuesdays were probably best for me.  She said that I can serve for four consecutive Tuesdays, and I told her that I might not make it to the last one, as I'll be out of town.  She told me that I can come for a maximum of two days per week. Then I would be done sooner.

I walked out, then took the street parallel to Claremont Mesa down to Ruffin Road, where I saw a bus stop across the street.  Just as I crossed, I saw the bus coming down the street, as if on cue.  I rode the bus to the intersection just before my condo, then walked the rest of the way home.

Power, Energy, and Utilities

If I have this correct, Power is the product of Energy and time, so that whereas energy has the unit called a volt, which describes the difference in electrical potential over a given resistance (the resistance is expressed in ohms), power describes how much energy is transported over that resistance in a given time period (as in kWh that one reads on one's electric bill).  I'm not completely sure I understand the terminology, because there are not only volts, watts, and ohms, but also Amperes, which describes how much energy is put through one ohm of resistance by one volt...  It all seems fairly circular, but I suppose that's not so different than the definitions for the circumference, radius, and area of a circle (though the latter are more physically easily modeled and therefore make more sense to the likes of me).
Utilities like SDG&E provide power, over transmission lines which they (typically) build and also maintain.

I started reading an article by the Rocky Mountain Institute, found here:

http://blog.rmi.org/blog_2014_09_25_why_the_net_energy_metering_debate_misses_the_point

in which they discuss the problem of "net metering."

My initial reaction, when first approached with the problem of utilities paying small producers the same amount as the utility charges its customers was that the utility needs to separate the cost of the energy provided from the cost of transmission.  To that, I would now add a third element:  energy storage (capacity?), which has become a hot topic with respect to the electrical grid.  As it stands, electricity is not "saved" or "held in reserve."  What is produced must be used immediately, and therefore, so-called "peak" plants are being proposed by utilities, such as SDG&E, under the assumption that electricity demand will continue to rise, and therefore, they need "peak" plants, for which they receive government money to construct and operate.

Unfortunately for customers, while they still pay through the nose for peak electricity, the utilities (such as my local provider, SDG&E) appear to be double dipping, since they receive grants from the government for building "peak plants" so that they can provide such power in the first place.  SDG&E takes no risk in its investment, and yet reaps the rewards from both taxpayers and ratepayers.

Just yesterday morning, I watched a few presentations by VPs of energy storage and management firms, including Tesla, who is building a factory in Nevada for the production of high capacity (think utility-scale) batteries.  One smaller firm, called Sunverge Energy, is working with smaller capacity energy producers, some as small as multi-residential housing complexes like condominiums (condominia?), who install batteries in addition to on-site solar generation.  Smaller capacity batteries ensure consistent power service to the customer as well as leveling off the customer's peak demand on the grid, thereby avoiding "peak charges" that utilities (such as SDG&E) demand during those times, such as the middle of (hot) summer SoCal afternoons, when many folks run their (electric) A/C units.

As battery storage becomes common, utilities will be pushed even further to move their business model from a "one stop shop energy producer/provider" to that of an energy broker or power transmitter.  They can keep their role of keeping the wires and lines in good repair, and allow others to put their energy onto the grid (and therefore the market) to charge what they will for the power they produce.  Not so unlike Ma Bell back in the day?...

3 am fantasy

I am thinking about a playmate Peter and I had acquired last Winter (and it's really been that long, hasn't it?).  His name is Steve, and he, like Peter, lives in suburban San Diego County.  We've met for drinks before, and, in addition to being physically attractive to both Peter and myself, Steve has turned out to be an intelligent, well-intentioned, thoughtful, and just all-around cool guy.  He's at a point in his life, similarly to Peter, where he no longer needs to impress anyone with his CV.  In fact, he's retired (at a quite-early age), and spends his time between here and the house in Palm Springs which he also shares with his wife, whose name I will refrain from mentioning.  Hers is an unusual name and would be very easy for people to look up (as Peter did when he was first introduced to them).  At any rate, she is likewise retired, but spends much of her time organizing a nonprofit club for brainiacs, which means Steve is often left to fend for himself because he chooses not to attend various out-of-town functions with her.  Since she is often out of town fulfilling her duties, he is oftentimes (but not altogether too frequently) available for playdates.

Given that Peter is out of town this week, I am thinking it would be fun to have dinner with Steve at a restaurant run by the same wine company where we'd gone for a wine tasting earlier this year.  After dinner, Steve can take me home, either to his house or Peter's, and we can spend some time indulging in extracurricular activities...

Not that I'd do anything without Peter's knowledge, of course, for he is my lover, as well as my best friend (funny how those roles coincide in the best of relationships) with whom I share my thoughts, although there are probably times when he wishes I wouldn't share quite so much...

I was about to say "without Peter's knowledge and consent," but consent isn't a word I'd use with respect to Peter, for that implies permission, and I don't seek Peter's permission to do, well, anything, because he doesn't command me (except, of course, during play, and even then only sometimes).  Part of the fun of playing with Steve is that I'd be able to regale Peter with it afterward.

I won't get into a detailed description of the fantasy here, but suffice it to say that I am certainly glad that Peter and I have found someone with whom we both feel completely at ease.  Now we seek the elusive Unicorn...

The Slope is Steep and the Road is Slippery

This was a sign Peter'd seen in Beijing.  It made sense that it was at a Buddhist garden near the Wall.

It reminds me that, indeed, the trajectory of one's life can be steep, and the means to achieve it difficult and unforgiving.  But that is the journey, is it not?

I just took a pound cake out of the toaster oven (I use the toaster oven for baking things that don't need the volume of the oven).  It looks really nice, browned with a nice light crack running down the center.  It's not a difficult recipe that I followed from a website:

1/2 c. butter, softened
1 1/2 c. granulated sugar (I cut this back to 1 1/4 c. because I appreciate less sweet foods)
3 large eggs (I used 2 jumbo eggs, as they're what I have on hand)
1/2 c. sour cream
1/8 t. baking soda
1 1/2 c. a-p flour (I used unbleached and it's still pretty light in color)

Preheat the oven to 375.
Cream the butter and sugar for a few minutes to maximize volume.  Scrape the bowl.
Beat in the eggs, and add sour cream.
Sift together the flour and baking soda.
Beat in the flour mixture to the egg mixture until a smooth batter forms, scraping the bowl often.
Spray a loaf pan with Pam or some other nonstick product, then dust with flour.
Pour cake batter into the pan.  Cover tightly with foil, then bake for 45 minutes.
Remove foil and bake an additional 15 minutes.
Replace foil and finish baking, about another 15-20 minutes.
Cool on rack.

I think I'll try whipping some heavy cream to top off the pound cake because I do not have any ice cream in the place at the moment.

We have the opportunity for Kat to apply to Scripps Ranch High School, which is where I'd wanted her to go originally.  Mira Mesa High is a "Program Improvement" school, and we have the option of applying for admittance to both La Jolla and Scripps Ranch.  Given our location, it makes much more sense for Kat to go to Scripps Ranch, because the distance from our flat is about the same to either Mira Mesa or Scripps Ranch.  I want her in the better school.  She wants to stay with her friends and acquaintances.  The application is still on the dining table, where she'd left it, probably hoping I would not see it.  But I do want her to apply.  She'll get used to the other kids and they'll soon accept her as a regular student.  I don't want to fuck up this opportunity.

The Slope is Steep and the Road is Slippery.  She'll adapt to her new situation, I'm sure.  And it's not even a guaranteed entry.  It is an application, the implied meaning being that entry is not guaranteed.

The pound cake stuck.  Will need to remember to flour the pan next time,  It tastes quite good.

I think if I make this again, I will add some lemon zest or almond extract to the batter for more flavor.

At any rate, our trip to Avalon, on Catalina Island, was quite pleasant:
We took the morning ferry from Newport Beach, which is just about directly east from Avalon and therefore provides the shortest crossing from the mainland to Avalon.  We arrive in the late morning, and decided to have a snack, so we went to a wine bar with a view of the water and a Blue Planet dvd playing behind the bar.  Afterwards, we intended to go to the Dive Park and get ourselves wet.  While donning my drysuit, I pulled on the neck seal, then felt it suddenly give way (NOT what you want to feel happening with your head inside the suit).  The neck seal had ripped, all the way down to its base, and would need to be replaced.  Peter went to ask the fellow at the fill station if they carried neck seals, and was told no, but that there is another dive shop in town that does carry DUI neck seals.  We decided to go get a replacement neck seal after Peter went on a solo dive.  The entire trip over, I could tell that he was itching to get into the water, so I told him that he can scope out some things to show me on the morrow, when I'll have my drysuit whole again.

I checked into our room, whose preparations were completed while we were out, and took care of emails, which took quite a while as I'm trying to whittle away a lot of the junk that gets sent my way.  Shortly after 4, Peter returned to the hotel, and after hanging up his drysuit and liner, he joined me upstairs for a spell before we went out for dinner.

We ended up going to a rather noisy restaurant for dinner the first night, where Peter ordered fish tacos and I ordered a spinach salad and clam chowder.  The second night, however, we went to a Mexican restaurant on the ground floor instead of climbing up the flight of stairs to Steve's Steakhouse (or some name similar to that).  Peter ordered pork loin, and I ordered a duck enchilada with mole.  My dinner was really quite yummy.  Peter's was the same, also very good.  After we turned down dessert, we waddled back to our room.

The diving was good;  the water was relatively clear, and there was not the huge kelp that typically obstructs one's view in all directions.  We made one dive after breakfast, and one dive between lunch and dinner.  Since I do not have a functioning torch, we did not dive after dinner.  Instead, we sat with our drinks after dinner;  Peter had a glass of merlot and I had a cup of coffee, as I was feeling the cooling air without my hat, which I'd inadvertently left somewhere...

On the second morning, we decided that we'd make a lazy day of it instead of trying to dive, as the hotel checkout time was too early to allow us to have a decent morning dive.  We went instead to a breakfast/lunch restaurant (there are a few in town), where we were served a large omelette with spinach (me), and something more akin to a ploughman's breakfast for Peter.  As we left, we realized we were late in checking out of our room, so we hurried back to the hotel, packed quickly, and went to the storage room to gather everything to take to the ferry.  We were each fairly well-laden, with one pull-along each (I had the rolling duffle, and Peter had the two tanks on a trolley) and one gear bag each.  When we were about a quarter of the way past the point where we'd left our dive bags on a bench, we both realized that in order to get there, it would be faster if I pulled the two and Peter carried both gear bags.  We made it onto the ferry in good enough time, and watched the sun set behind the island.

So there's our trip, in a nutshell (yes, I know, it'a more like a coconut shell than an almond or even a walnut).  Now Peter's on a business trip that will take him to Beijing, Shenzhen, and Seattle.  The original assignment was for him to spend almost two weeks in China. but because he's needed at some meetings in Seattle, the China trip was truncated to three days for (I think) a product launch.

Kat will have me full-time for the next week, which I'm sure she appreciates (yes, my tongue is firmly planted in cheek).

Yay! That Wasn't Too Terrible, After All!

I went to the Energy Innovation Center yesterday for a presentation on Net Zero Energy Buildings.  One of the presenters, Katy Hamilton, was one of my classmates in the first architectural studio I'd taken at MIT!  When she was introduced, I thought to myself, "I wonder if she could be the same Katy Hamilton whom I knew at MIT?"  Turns out she was!  She now holds the position of Architectural Energy VP at a firm called Adroit Solar, an engineering firm that consults and provides design/build services to the construction industry.  They have a number of interesting projects in San Diego and out, including long-term resident/clients.  Katy is their architect of record, I assume.

Their presentation went over many aspects of creating a zero net energy building, and how that is something that is becoming ever more important in society's pursuit of sustainable architecture.

Katy's moved from full-time work to part-time recently because she decided to spend some time with her new baby boy, who is still a baby (barely a toddler, I think).  I asked her if she remembered Liz, who was also in our studio, and she didn't remember, probably because we were not in the same studio subgroup, which makes sense, because the introductory classes at MIT are not small.

This morning, I experimented with a recipe for a very eggy-looking flatbread made with coconut flour.  Well, the recipe calls for coconut flour, but I used coconut powder, instead, having forgotten that I actually do have coconut flour in the freezer.  I can make the recipe again later today if I find the ones I made this morning palatable.

Hmmm...  not bad.  I acquired the recipe from somewhere;  I don't remember where, but it was probably from someone else's blog:

Grain-Free Butternut Squash Flatbread

recipe makes about (4) 3-4" breads

1 T coconut flour (I used my coconut powder, which has a coarser texture)
1/2 T gelatin (about half of an envelope)
3 T well-cooked and mashed butternut squash (recipe says that sweet potato can be substituted)
1 T coconut oil or butter (I used coconut oil)
1 egg (I used a jumbo egg and added about a half teaspoon of coconut powder)
dash salt

Have all ingredients at room temperature.  for the coconut oil or butter, you can just nuke it for several seconds).

Preheat oven to 400F.

Stir together squash and coconut oil until smooth.  In separate bowl, stir together coconut flour, gelatin, and salt.

Sprinkle gelatin mixture over squash mixture, and fold in until completely incorporated.  Mix in egg until it becomes a relatively thick batter.

Drop by tablespoonfuls onto a lined baking sheet (I used foil for the initial bake time, then used waxed paper for the second) and spread each "patty" into desired thickness (these will not rise).

Bake for 12 minutes, then peel the breads from the liner and turn over (it was at this point that I switched from foil to waxed paper).  They might still look slightly moist on their upper sides when you take them out to turn over, but that is okay.

Bake on second side for about 5 minutes (time really depends on how thick you've actually made each bread circle).

Cool on cooling rack.

I took K to school this morning because it was still dark when she was leaving for school and she was wearing her black jeans with the black band hoodie.  I also helped her carry on the beverages (she carried the two cases of Dr Pepper and I carried the 24-pack of half-litre water bottles).

I put the brie with mushrooms back in the fridge, because I don't think I'll be opening it today during the day, and I plan to go to games tonight at Fuddrucker's, so will not be around to have it with dinner.

For dinner, I think I'll prepare a lasagne (of sorts) with ground beef (since we have it), thinly sliced eggplant, and bechamel, since it's easiest to prepare and I don't have any tomatoes to make tomato sauce.  Actually, thinking about the beef, I'm not quite sure the bechamel will work.  Perhaps I will just make an eggplant lasagne with the jarred white sauce that's sitting up in the cabinet over the fridge.  I might take a gander at Smart & Final to look for canned peeled roma tomatoes, in addition to cumin and cinnamon, which I usually buy there because I can get it in the large packages for about twice the price of the small jars at Albertson's when I'd be buying about four times as much product.

Yes, I think it'll be eggplant lasagne with the pre-made sauce-in-a-jar.  The hardest part will be precooking the lasagne noodles before assembling the lasagne, since I'm using less liquid than I typically use, I'll want the extra moisture for the noodles to bake properly.  Or maybe I'll leave them dry and make sure I have them sufficiently surrounded by sauce to provide the needed moisture without making the lasagne a soupy mess.  I can put that in the oven when Kat comes home this afternoon so that I can serve it before leaving for games around 5:15 or 5:30(since I take the bus to games, I'm at the mercy of MTS).

Thinking about MTS, the service has improved dramatically in recent weeks.  They've introduced the Rapid Lines, which run a lot of the same (or similar) routes as some of the local buses, but they skip a lot of stops and take the express lanes on the freeway instead of the regular lanes, thereby bypassing a LOT of automobile traffic.  I'm relieved and pleased that MTS has decided to go this way, because it definitely helps those of us who live in the northern portion of the City and County, since two of the Rapid lines run up to Escondido and Rancho Bernardo transit stations).  I'm glad I live near one of the new transit stations so that I can take advantage of the Rapid bus by walking only about three-quarters of a mile from home.  If I want to be especially lazy, I can leave home a little earlier and take the local bus, which stops just about across the street from my flat, to the transit station.

I just tasted the paleo flatbread, and it's very eggy and very coconutty, which is fine, though I don't think I'll be using it to accompany my garlicky baba ganoush (recipe in previous post).  For that, I think I will bake some lavash.  When I bake the lavash, I'll put the recipe here to share.

Peter's wanting to go for a night dive sometime this week.  I will need to find a substitute for my torch, which was made by Princeton Tec, but has a broken switch so that the torch is constantly on once the front is screwed onto the body.  I just phoned one of my regular dive shops, where I thought I had purchased the Island Pack, which included a torch, a backup, and a strobe.  Turns out I didn't buy the pack there.  Sport Chalet is not open yet today, but I can phone them when they do open to see if they can look up my purchase of it at one of their locations (I typically go to the one in University City, but have also made purchases at the locations in Mission Valley and Point Loma).

I also can't find my backup light, which I had bought for our trip to Roatan last year and had not used extensively or recently.  I had been keeping it in my drysuit pocket, but it's no longer there, and I have no idea where it can be.  Might have left it somewhere?  Ugh, that'd be pretty bad.  And I'd bought it online, too, so I don't even remember the online store from whom I'd purchased it.  I'll look through my receipts and see if I can find my record of its purchase and see if it has a warranty, and what it covers.  Probably doesn't cover forgetfulness, though, so I think I'm out of the $80-90 that it'll cost to replace it.  Urgh...

Home Again

The dive boat (Horizon) got in around 7:30-ish last night, so I stayed over at Peter's.  We stopped on the way and bought a bottle of red wine (might have been a zinfandel), about a half pound wedge of brie, and some fruit for breakfast, as well as some milk.  We slept very well, and spent the early morning snuggling and sipping tea.  Peter had an 8 o'clock telephone call to take, so I spent some more time relaxing in bed, thinking about our dives this past weekend.

We ended up not going to San Clemente after all because the U.S. Navy was busy shelling the place (how much practice the Navy needs in shooting onshore targets is unknown to me, but it must be a lot, because the island was closed to divers) for the entire weekend.  We did go to the ocean side of Catalina, to Farnsworth Bank, where we'd gone diving in May and enjoyed the hydrocoral.  There were lots of little fish about, including the California State fish, the Garibaldi.  As juveniles, the Garibaldi sports electric blue spots, and are quite stunning in addition to being extremely cute!

After Farnsworth, we went to another site, but I don't remember that one so well because I'd skipped the third dive, and then went on the fourth dive after taking a much-needed nap in the early afternoon.
The next day, we were at Santa Barbara Island, where there is a sea lion rookery and we were greeted and buzzed by several younger sea lions.  On the surface, we could hear the adults calling back and forth, their voices echoing off the rocky shore.

For the third day, we returned to Catalina, but closer to the south end of the island, closer to but not in Avalon's Dive Park.  Visibility was poor on the first dive, so we scuttled our second dive.  Some more adventurous divers went on a second dive while those of us staying on board began packing up our things to return to San Diego.  I was finished packing my dive bag in about a half hour, and my drysuit hung, drying, on one of many hooks meant for hanging dry- and wetsuits.  Peter and I napped a bit while the rest of the divers got back on board and the boat left Catalina for San Diego, a 7- to 8-hour drive.

Today, I've spent a lot of time catching up on my email inboxes, and also checked my postal mail. There is quite a contest between two people in our district for City Council, Carol Kim and Chris Cate.  There is quite a spate of negative ads running from Chris Cate's campaign, which makes me feel much less inclined to vote for him.  Instead of talking about his own character and his ability to serve the public, it appears that Mr Cate is trying to paint Ms Kim as unworthy of the post and therefore people ought to vote for him instead.  Typical Repugnican move, in my not-quite-humble opinion.

I made a shopping trip up to Sprouts to buy dinner ingredients, including quinoa for stuffing the 8-ball squash we'd received as part of our share last time.  We ended with quite a bit of extra filling, so I might spread it into a baking dish and sprinkle it with some cheese and just bake it to eat on its own, or spread it, along with the ground beef I'd bought, also from Sprouts, between some lasagna noodles to bake for dinner.  I don't have any ricotta, but perhaps the vegetable filling will be enough, since I don't plan to make a very large lasagna.  I'm really just using up the remaining lasagna noodles that we have.

I've been toying with the idea of making another ganache, and then making some more puffs to fill with pastry cream, though this time, I will make sure I make the puffs when Kat is home so she can help me fill the piping bag with the pastry batter, as it really does seem to be a two-person task.

Tomorrow, for lunch, I will go to the Energy Innovation Center for a presentation on Net Zero Energy Buildings.  It will be very encouraging to learn about the use of modern technology to tackle our biggest challenges, with energy being our primary concern as our species evolves beyond burning fossil fuels for energy.

Who knows?  I might even feel motivated enough to go to the gym tomorrow, as my visits there have been few and far between of late.

For now, though, I will head to bed to try to get a good night's sleep.

A Weekend Away

Today is looking like a good day.  I baked some mini apple muffins for breakfast, and Kat took the remaining to school with her:

High-Fibre Apple Muffins

Ingredients
1 1/2 c whole wheat flour
1/4 c. coconut flour or powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
1/2 t nutmeg, shaved or ground

1 medium-sized sweet apple, peeled, cored, and chopped

1 extra large or jumbo egg
1/2 c. buttermilk

Instructions
Preheat oven to 400F.

coat a 12-portion mini muffin tin liberally with cooking spray.  Set aside.

In large bowl, sift together baking soda, whole wheat flour, nutmeg, and salt.  Stir in coconut flour or powder (the powder has a coarser texture than flour).

In medium bowl, beat egg, then add buttermilk, whisking until it forms a thick fluid.

Add chopped apple to dry ingredients, stirring to coat.  Add wet ingredients all at once to flour mixture, then stir to mix thoroughly.  Allow the coconut flour/powder to sit for a few minutes to start absorbing moisture.

Pour batter into muffin tin (the cups will be very full), and bake for 15 minutes.  They will brown slightly along the edges, and will likely meet each other, almost completely covering the top of the tin, so it may behoove you to spray the entire top surface of the tin with the cooking spray instead of just the interiors of the cups.

Allow to cool slightly in the pan on a cooling rack, then place in a folded linen teacloth in either a ceramic bowl or wooden bowl (which would allow better air flow for cooling).  Serve with butter.

This evening, Peter and I will board the Horizon, a boat fitted out for SCUBA diving.  It has cabins and bunks downstairs, and a dining room on the deck level which serves as the meeting space for the crew to provide information to passengers prior to departure, before each dive, and at the end of the trip, when passengers will have the opportunity to leave gifts in the tip jar.

The Horizon is a nice dive boat, outfitted well with, from what I've experienced, a good crew.  A dive boat's crew is usually made up of the captain, a cook, a dive master, and one or two deck hands to help keep things running smoothly.

We will dive at San Clemente Island.

I will be leaving Kat for the weekend.  She has activities planned for both Friday and Saturday (no football game on Friday, so they'll have marching practice), and will likely be finishing homework on Sunday.  I just baked some nice crackers for her to snack on over the next few days (garlic-rosemary crackers, recipe below).  They are cooling on racks on the stove at the moment.  I tasted a few of the edge pieces (ones which came out quite irregularly shaped) and can say, with no doubt, that she will enjoy them.  They have just enough salt to bring out the flavors, and the ample garlic and rosemary really pack a punch.

Garlic-Rosemary Crackers

Ingredients
1 good-sized head garlic, root ends cut off and paper removed
(3-4) 5-6" sprigs fresh rosemary (we'd just gotten some in our CSA share this week)

3/4 c. warm water (just nuke it for several seconds until warm to the touch)
1/3 c. EVOO

1 t salt
1 t baking powder
1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour, plus a little more if needed

Instructions
Preheat oven to 400F.  Spray two baking sheets with olive oil or some other nonstick spray.

Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together into a large bowl.  Set aside.

Separate garlic cloves and mash them (I use a garlic masher that I'd bought from The Pampered Chef) into a paste.  Separate rosemary leaves from stems, and chop into a fine texture (I used my Ulu knife).

Stir rosemary into the flour mixture.  Add garlic and liquid ingredients all at once.  Fold mixture until a smooth batter forms.  You may need to add a tad more flour if the batter is too sticky/runny to handle.  Form a soft ball with the batter.

Cut batter ball in half, and spread each half, using your bare hands, onto each baking sheet (the batter will not completely fill each sheet, but you want it to be pretty thin).  Cut into cracker portions with a pizza cutter.

Bake in preheated oven for approximately 12-14 minutes (mine took 13).  Remove from oven and allow to cool on baking sheets until ready to handle and eat!

These crackers would go well with the Baba Ganoush I'm preparing next.  Vampire dispellers!

Baba Ganoush

Ingredients
1-1 1/4 lbs eggplant, either a single large one, or two smaller ones
4 small- to medium-sized lemons or limes, or combination thereof
4 large cloves garlic
4 T Tahini

Instructions
With a sharp fork, poke holes all around eggplant(s).  Wrap in foil, and bake on a baking tray at 450F for 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, process/chop garlic cloves and juice lemons/limes.  Add tahini, and place mixture into a large bowl.

When eggplant(s) are finished roasting, cool slightly, then cut open and chop coarsely.  Place in food processor and process in bursts until desired texture is reached.  Pour eggplant into large bowl with remaining ingredients, and mix together thoroughly.  Add salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste.  

Losing and Finding

This evening, we experienced some panic, worry, and, thankfully, great relief.

Kat had borrowed, from my brother, who lives in Temecula, a library book he had taken out from his local library, to use for a school assignment over the summer.  That book has come due for the final time (no renewals remaining) and he came by tonight to fetch it.  He'd intended to pick it up when they'd visited for Kat's birthday, but had forgotten.

After searching for it all over our flat, Kat concluded, as we all had at that point, that the book was nowhere we knew of (hell, I don't even remember seeing the book at all).  Kat remarked that there is a girl in her English class who has the exact same edition of the book, and she'd noticed it at the time.  I told Kat to try contacting this girl to get the book back, because library books tend to be on the not-quite-cheap side as far as books go, at least.

Luckily, Kat instant messaged the girl and found out that indeed, the girl did have the one that Kat had borrowed from her uncle (my brother), and the girl would bring it into class to return to Kat tomorrow.  So now, there might be a late return fee charged for the book, but at least it will be returned and no lost book fine assessed.

My brother reminded Kat that she needs to be careful with her things (and I emphasized that she needs to be especially careful with other people's things).  Because if something is lost, and it is one's own personal belonging, then it's lost.  However, if that which is lost had belonged to someone else, then not only is the object lost, but then a suitable substitute must be found, and for some things, like library books, suitable substitutes are hard to come by, if they can be found at all.

Out of this little saga, I'm hoping that Kat learns to keep track of things.  She'd previously lost other things.  One such thing was a digital camera which was given to her a couple of years ago by my previous lover.  She'd taken it to Girl Scout Camp, and had apparently left it on the bus when they arrived at the meeting point where they were picked up by their parents.  Of course, the first thing I said to her was not "Where is your camera?" but "Did you have a good time?"  It wasn't until hours later that we realized the camera was missing, and then we figured that she must've left it on the bus.  Of course, the Girl Scouts would have contracted with a coach company to provide the buses, and the drivers are in no way liable for any lost items, including cameras.  Kat was disappointed that she'd lost the pictures she's taken during the trip.  I was pissed that she'd lost her camera!  Granted, it was not an especially expensive camera, but it was the fact that she'd failed to take care of it that pissed me off.  She'd also lost the sunglasses that I'd bought for her to take on the trip.  They did not cost too much, either, but I refused to replace them.  Unfortunately, Kat's grandfather (my dad) gave her his camera to use, and he bought himself another one.  I remind Kat that if she loses this camera, she is NOT to be GIVEN another just so that she can continue to be irresponsible with them.

Less recently, Kat borrowed my swim goggles, which I had purchased at CVS for something around eight dollars.  They were not expensive, but they were perfectly serviceable, and I'd enjoyed using them.  A short while ago, Kat asked me if she could borrow them, and I replied that I had no idea where they were since the last time she'd borrowed them from me, so having lost them, now she's facing the inconvenience of not having them to use.  I just wonder how many times and how many things she's going to lose before it finally dawns on her that there is no infinite supply of stuff for her to squander.

Amidst losing this, that, and many other things, I'm becoming, suitably, less attached to material things.  Some things hold monetary value, and other things hold sentimental value (though those are few and far between these days).  For those things that have some significant monetary value, I have a safe deposit box at the bank.  Also in my safe deposit box are my citizenship certificate and a copy of my birth certificate (I have no idea as to the whereabouts of the original).  But, in the long run, they are all things, when it comes down to it.  Why so much importance?  Why is anything of any consequence?

I suppose that for me, convenience is nice.  It is comforting to know that something is available when and where it is wanted or needed, like bathroom tissue (aka toilet paper).  This is also the reason why I'd favor using handkerchiefs rather than paper tissues most of the time.  A handkerchief is there, and can be used when needed.  When it's not needed, it remains quietly in one's pocket.  The exception is when one is ill with a sinus infection, when one might really want to get rid of all those germs one is blowing out of one's system, hopefully never to return.

Anyway, I think I've written enough about this, at least for now.

Follow-up on the Making of Truffles and Puffs

My hands were, indeed, coated with chocolate ganache after I completed making about a dozen and a half truffles, each measuring about one and a half to two teaspoons.  I coated all of them in unsweetened cocoa, not using the confectioners' sugar at all.  Kat complained that there were none with confectioners' sugar, so I might make some more truffles, using confectioners' sugar to coat them, over the coming weekend, or something like that.  I don't want to keep too many truffles around, though, as they'll just take up space in the fridge...

The puffs came out all right, though not great.  They managed to puff somewhat, but after I told Kat how hard it was to get the batter into the bag for piping, she agreed that it's a two-person job.  Perhaps she'll help me make puffs next time, then.

For now, I've got truffles in the fridge, half of a pecan pie in a tart pan, and flatbreads/breadsticks in a large Ziploc baggie, all waiting to be consumed.  I've also got some food in the freezer, waiting to be cooked and eaten.  I'd purchased them for mornings when I don't have time to prepare something fresh, so Kat can just pop one or two scallion pancakes into the egg pan (20 cm diameter) for breakfast.

We also have, in the freezer (I hope the freezing process doesn't kill their texture), Chinese taro cake and turnip cake, each of is to be sliced up and pan-fried.  They take more time, as they'll need plenty of time to thaw before being sliced, and then the slices need pan frying.  So perhaps I'll thaw one of them, slice it, and then freeze the slices individually so that they'll be ready to cook for breakfast on that odd morning when I don't have time to cook and Kat's not in the mood for the scallion pancakes...

Can you tell I'm in a really big culinarily-inspired mood?

Presence

I have noticed the mental absence on the part of many people whom I see at bus stops and riding the buses.  This has been a phenomenon on my part, as well, as I've had my eyes on my phone more and more while riding the bus along a familiar route, often reaching my stop just as I'm becoming aware of my whereabouts.

I've been trying a few new bus routes because they provide much faster service to places where I would like to go (Poway, to get to Peter's, to and from UCSD, where I had initially started sitting in on  class, and to and from UTC, where I went today to buy a pair of comfortable shoes (imagine that - and they're not even ugly!).

I decided to forego the gym (again) because my plantar fasciitis is still causing pain when I walk.  Peter suggested that I massage my foot and practice flexing my toes, stretching the fascia gently, slowly, throughout the day.

It's been several weeks now since the fasciitis started bothering me this time (initially, it'd acted up a while back, and I'd tried "running through it," only to cause more damage and resulting in additional scar tissue buildup).  However, it reminded me of the lack of presence on the part of a lot of commuters and others who regularly use public transit, myself included.

While riding, I put my phone away and watched the traffic and passing scenery as I rode along Mira Mesa Boulevard, heading toward the 805.  I noticed the construction that continues at the junction of Mira Mesa, the I-805, and Sorrento Valley.  They are adding in an extension of Carroll Canyon Road, which, as far as I know, runs from Scripps Ranch into Mira Mesa, ending at Black Mountain Road.  However, I know it "continues" on the other side of the quarry.  Whether this leg of Carroll Canyon Road connects to the other a mystery to me.  Time to go to Googlemaps!

Ugh.  I just Googled it, and IT DOES NOT CONNECT!  Why, in the name of cartography, would two roads share a name when they don't connect?!?  How asinine is that?  Or maybe just the result of lazy mapmakers who cannot come up with new names for roads?

Back to my point:  being unaware of one's physical whereabouts can be dangerous, if one is traveling (esp. in unfamiliar or unsafe surroundings), but is, on the whole, a loss of experience, even if that experience tends to be similar from one passing to the next.  There is always something worth noticing, or observing.  I'm going to try putting my phone away from now on, and keep my awareness to that which is around me.  I encourage others to practice this level of presence as well.

Trial Date is Set

Indeed, it is Monday, 24 November, 2014, whose afternoon will find me in Courtroom A of the San Diego Superior Court for my traffic violation trial.  I chose to go to trial because I want Officer Ryan, who gave me the ticket, to tell the court exactly what happened that evening (or at least what he witnessed).  I remember he'd told me, that evening, that he'd come to court and testify, on my behalf, that I was not driving in an unsafe manner, and that although I did not follow the letter of the law, that I surely followed its spirit...

After having spent most of my morning hours yesterday waiting for my arraignment, I spoke to the magistrate (they're called Commissioners here), and told her that I want a speedy trial date set.  I was given an appointment in the cashiers' room, and then left.  I had the chance to stop into the restaurant supply shop down the street to take a look at a few items.  

Peter's looking (casually, I believe) for a bamboo steamer basket for the dim sum that he'd bought, frozen, from the Korean market we visited (on Clairemeont Mesa Boulevard).  I saw a few Chinese-made baskets, but they did not look that well made, so I gave them a pass.  I also looked for a small offset spatula, which would come in handy for frosting cakes and cupcakes, as well as frosting cookies (yum!).  They were out of stock (of course!).  Finally, I searched (in vain) for an Asian-style vegetable peeler, one of which I'd used when I volunteered at a food event preparing vegetables for a festival taking place in Balboa Park.  I saw lot of other things in the store's show- and storeroom that would come in handy, but then I realized that, with a kitchen the size of mine, I've really got no space to store much in terms of additional equipment.

On Monday, and yesterday, I was finally able to successfully make chocolate ganache!  The ganache I made on Monday has the proper consistency for forming truffles, and the second ganache is the right consistency for pastries (like topping eclairs or cream puffs, which I intend to do tomorrow afternoon).  I've tasted both and each is delicious.  The difference between them is the cream-to-chocolate ratio.  For the truffles, it's a ratio of about 1:2 of cream to chocolate.  For the dip, it's the opposite, 2:1 cream to chocolate.  I bought some Ghirardelli's bittersweet chocolate baking chips and shaved & chopped them into small bits with my Ulu knife.  I then placed these bits into a Pyrex bowl, then poured boiling heavy cream over them.  By allowing this to sit, undisturbed, for fifteen minutes, I allowed the heat of the cream to soften and melt the chocolate, which then mixed into the cream perfectly, forming a creamy, smooth mixture...

I might actually form some truffles this morning, since tonight, I'll either be attending a cheese tasting at the Venissimo Cheese shop located at a small shopping center near the waterfront downtown, or going to the near opposite, Fuddrucker's, here in Mira Mesa, for games, with SDBG.  Each will be fun and interesting, in very different ways.  I invited Kat to come to the cheese tasting with me, so when she comes home this afternoon (I think she might be stopping into Wangenheim to help Ms. Vanderhurst with JMUN today), I'll see if she still wants to go.  If she does, I will plug the address into my phone and set the GPS to give me turn-by-turn directions.  I might make it a completely decadent evening and, after going to Venissimo Cheese, come home and devour some bittersweet chocolate truffles, coated with cocoa powder and confectioners' sugar...  Ooh, I can feel my thighs and belly aching at the prospect! (No, I don't mean to "bellyache.")

I'd watched, on the Food Network, a program in which Alton Brown demonstrated making chocolate truffles.  He used latex gloves (powderless, of course) to prevent his hands from becoming completely chocolate-coated as well as preventing, I would assume, his body heat from melting the chocolate.  I might go to Albertson's and buy some gloves for that purpose, although I'm not especially bothered by the prospect of having my hands coated with bittersweet chocolate...  Might be good to keep my hands from melting the chocolate, though.  My hands tend to be relatively cold, so not as prone to causing truffles to melt during formation.  Oh, who am I kidding?  I may as well form them with my bare hands.  It's a cool enough day so the truffles won't immediately soften and go gooey, and I won't be too pained at licking off the chocolate from my fingers (though I wish Peter were here to do that for me).

So:  I'll fill a couple of small dishes with confectioners' sugar and cocoa (each in its own bowl, of course), and get rolling!  I'll write again after rolling some truffles, and describe the process, if it entailed anything interesting.  Otherwise, I'll just relate the number of tablespoon-sized truffles I was able to make with 168 grams of heavy cream and 248 grams of bittersweet chocolate...

Cranberries, Butter, Fuel Efficiency, and Traffic Law

Stopped into my local Smart & Final to buy butter and heavy cream (yes, I'm a bake-aholic and big, big foodie, if you haven't noticed), and saw that the price has gone up significantly in the past month, from just over $7 for three pounds to over $10.  While I can (still) afford to buy these things, it makes mistakes in cooking and baking much more costly (about 35% more costly!).  The price of a half gallon of heavy cream is almost $5 now, so it's in par with almond milk, which I buy because of our (Kat & my) lactose intolerance.

At least bananas have remained relatively inexpensive at 49 cents per pound, which is far below the price at most other grocery stores, including Sprouts, where I usually like to shop, even if only because their produce is fresher and more reasonably priced than at a lot of other food retailers.  Unfortunately, Sprouts' locations do not include Mira Mesa, so I'd have to travel to University City or La Jolla to patronize them.

I'd gone into Target to buy feminine hygiene products, bobby pins, and hair conditioner.  Maybe I should be thankful that I have a lot less hair now that I used to, but then again, I probably still use about the same amount of shampoo and conditioner as when I had more hair, so scratch that thought...

The other day, I watched a YouTube segment featuring Sarah Silverman, who talks about a "pussy tax" being levied on women because of the unwillingness of the penes in the United States legislature to pass an equal pay bill into law.  It's a funny program, and gets the point across.  Humourists are the people best able to point out Society's many, many idiocies (and yes, I do realize that's putting it rather mildly).  Among my favorites are (currently) Ricky Gervais, Sarah Silverman, Steven Colbert (whether that's his given name or not), Tim Minchin, and my perennial favorite, who has unfortunately died, George Carlin.  Other than Sarah Silverman, all of my favorite humourists are unapologetically atheists.  I don't know whether Sarah Silverman is an atheist or not, but considering the nice acidity of her humour, I'm led to think so.

While at Smart & Final, I looked for the "food service" packages of dried cranberries that I liked to purchase, but saw that they seem to have stopped stocking these larger (2- or 3-pound) packages and now just carry the smaller, more expensive packs of "Craisins."  I'll want to make a trip to Sprouts this week, then, to buy dried cranberries.  It'll probably be one day when I can catch the bus to get there after going to the gym in the morning, even though I'll be fully laden with my purchase, in addition to my gym gear, on the return trip.  It'll help build up my arms and shoulders, I figure, and improve my heat tolerance, even though Autumn is supposed to be here by now...

I'm registered to attend the "Clean & Green" meeting in Solana Beach tomorrow evening (5-6:30), but now am reconsidering it because it's not that close (for driving), and I hate using gas to attend events created to address climate change.  They'll discuss hydraulic fracturing along California's coast, which ought to be interesting, but I've already got a lot on my mind.  I'm going to traffic court on Tuesday to tell the magistrate that I want to go to trial for the minor traffic offense (not that minor, as it's a fine of almost $500!) with which I've been charged.

Hopefully, I'll get my trial scheduled before the end of this calendar year.  I know they'll want to schedule it really far out, but I won't let them schedule it beyond the guaranteed 90 days, because I want to get it out of my hair and mind.  I remember the fellow who wrote the ticket to me, Officer Ryan, had told me that he'd testify at my trial that I wasn't driving unsafely, but that I had not followed "the letter of the law."  I had discussed with him, before he gave me the ticket, that I am a careful driver, but am also mindful of wasting resources, so rather than wait through a long red light, I waited until the opposing traffic passed and it was safe, then made my left turn onto the freeway on-ramp.  From what Officer Ryan told me, he actually agrees with my reasoning, but unfortunately, the law does not allow for personal judgment, which, in my opinion, is probably the single most egregious fault in our legal system in the United States of America.  Because really, especially when it comes to traffic laws, if public safety is the point, then why penalize me for acting safely and in a manner that is conscious of the economic and environmental cost of utilizing my car?

Sentencing guidelines have become mandatory sentencing, taking away any discretion on the part of the judge.  The laws are being written for the "lowest common denominator," and in treating everyone as criminals, the legal system has created criminals of us all.