Nareed's Blog
Work in progress: Rules for recreational gamblers
1 Gamble in the present. It's ok to learn from past mistakes and to compare the current game with previous ones. But don't agonize over getting a 6-card flush in PGP which would have been much better in High Card Flush last week.2 Gamble the hand you're dealt. Don't agonize over "Oh, if only I had been dealt four to a flush instead of two!" If you had been, you'd be playing a different hand.
3 If a bet makes you uncomfortable, then you probably shouldn't make it. Even if it's the right play (like leaving all come bets with odds on at the come out roll).
4 If you're not comfortable with the game's denomination, you probably shouldn't play it. No point to play if you'll suffer with every loss.
More as it develops.
Kathy's Laws of Cooking
A work in progress:1) Safety first. Knives, pots, pans, stoves, ovens, graters, and other things are sharp or hot. Exercise care at all times. Mind your fingers, use oven mits and grab tools only by the handle. Also, wooden utnesils can and will catch fire, so may plastic utensils. Don't leave them in the pot or pan while cooking.
2) Recipes should be seen as guidelines, not absolute rules. You can change them to suit your tastes.
3) All the ingredients you're using are already dead. Don't be afraid to experiment.
4) Try to always get the ingredients yoruself. That way you can make sure you get what you need or want, especially you want or need to make substitutions.
5) When possible, sample the ingredients first (this doesn't apply to raw meats and eggs).
6) Tasting while coking is a valuable thing to do. Just remember it's VERY HOT. Let it cool a bit or blow on it before tasting.
7) A bit too much spice is often better than a bit to little, the major exceptions are very hot chilies.
8) Cooking is supposed to be a fun, enjoyable activity. If you don't like it look for alternatives. Restaurants are expensive and leave you little choice of ingredients, but perhaps you can pay a neighbor or colleague or the maid to cook for you.
9) When learning to cook you will ruin things, make mistakes and otherwise produce some things that are not very good or downright inedible. Aceept it, learn from them and move on. But don't get discouraged. Unless you lack all sense of taste and smell, you will get better in time.
10) If in doubt about cutting or trimming off a piece of vegetable or meat, cut it off.
11) Changing a recipe makes it your own. Accept the responsibility if the result isn't good.
Last) Always clean up after you're done cooking.
Sometimes things just work out
When I started electrolysis I assumed it would be a long, arduous and painful process. I calculated a total of around 150 to 200 hours would be needed to fully clear the unwanted facial hair.According to the records kept by the electrologist, I've had 1,085 minutes so far, which equals just over 18 hours. All but one hour have been spent on the neck and cheeks, with the neck thus far getting perhaps 3/5ths of the time. The other hour was applied to part of the chin (hair is thicker there).
The progress has been very good. About 2/5ths or so of the neck are clear now, as is a respectable fraction of the cheeks. What remains is growing back softer and weaker. And there's been no scarring at all. Also after some trial and error, I've managed to learn how to apply the topical anesthetic so that it works (most of the time).
My new estimate based on results so far is for between 80 and 100 hours total. That's actually very good compared to what I gather the average, not to mention the worst case, should be. Of course I'm being conservative in this, and hoping I'll be done in 60+ hours or less. In fact it's going so well, I'm thinking of having other parts done later on.
What concerns me most is the upper lip. it's as yet untreated, it has thick growth, and it should hurt despite the anesthetic. Well, I can hardly wait ;)
Comments
Could you just expand your lipstick upward? Just a joke, I'm all for you, girl.
Time off
Starting tomorrow, June 14ht, I get time off til July 4th. I won't call it a vacation because I'm not going anywhere, but it's the next best thing.I figure I can retake my morning workout, at least there won't be any excuses any more (and isn't that too bad?) I may even finally try out the building's pool.
But far more important now I can write the novel I began to outline in late November of last year. I have the outline, the first of nine parts (or chapters? I'm unsure about it), and a good portion of the dialogue already. Over the next three weeks I'll either finish it or get close to. I may also do a short story I've also outlined. I figure I'll take a day or two to unwind, then get to work on it.
Comments
Is Mexico like Europe where half the year is vacation?
Don't I wish!
In theory I get 6 days vacation time for my first year on the job, then 2 days for each additional year. Weekends don't count as vacation, so I'm taking 14 days off this year.
Book today, fly tomorrow - unwind for a day or two at WoVCon I.
It's rude to taunt people.
Even if I could afford to, which I've explained in the board I can't, it's impossible to obtain a visa for the US in time, even if I'd requested one last week.
Best of luck on the book. Free time can be a catch 22. I have been riding out a non compete clause in golden parachute for the last year. In the 6 months before my job ended I got 8 chapters done. In the year of free time 1.
I have found a dozen parks/preserves within a 30 min drive from me and my dog loves the 3 hour daily hike so not a total loss.
Nareed, no taunt intended. I fuzzily remember earlier this year you had a work schedule conflict with the conference. I realize that last minute travel is not always practical or affordable.
Think of it as a "wish you were here" message.
Allen
One of my favorite things to do when I've got a 'home vacation' is to watch a whole TV series on DVD or online if possible. I much prefer just to watch a series all at once than wait weeks or years for a storyline to conclude.
It's just an idea if you get some writers block or are looking for something else to do. The last few home vacations my wife and I together we went through the entire series of LOST in a little over a week and did Dexter in the same amount of time.
Still another occasional update
Curious thing. I more or less neglected my diet these past 9 weeks or so, and have not resumed exercise since early March. I still watch what I eat, but found more occasions for making exceptions; but the past two months were a hard time and special circumstances.So I was surprised yesterday when I weighed myself, with the intention of re-booting the weight loss regimen, to find I had lost a little over one and a half kilos over that time. :)
Not too bad.
Another minor item. I tried mixing the textured soy protein with ground beef to make meatballs. I also subbed the whole eggs in the recipe for egg whites. Surprisingly they tasted almost exactly like regular beef meatballs. The texture was fine, too. I think the processed soy is tasteless but absorbs any flavors it's cooked with. Next I'll try mixing it with ground chicken to make burgers.
Now you can turn back to Teddy's much more itneresting postings.
Comments
Haha, thanks!
What do you know? Someone does read these things! :P
Lots of us read them. We just don't always comment.
I wouldn't read them if they weren't mine :P
And if I did, there's not much to comment on anyway.
Weight loss is a tough thing to keep up, but I am glad that you are still making progress.
Comments
2) Recipes should be seen as guidelines, not absolute rules. You can change them to suit your tastes.
Except when baking cakes, pies, or breads. Changing the proportions of ingredients that cause a chemical reaction between other ingredients (ex. baking soda, baking powder) can produce horrendous and inedible results.
6) Tasting while coking is a valuable thing to do. Just remember it's VERY HOT. Let it cool a bit or blow on it before tasting.
Remember to always use a separate, clean utensil for tasting -- never use your fingers! -- and never, ever, ever put that utensil back into the cooking vessel ... not when anybody is looking, anyway. ;)
>All the ingredients you're using are already dead.
except lobsters and oysters [and such] in the shell.
I know, I'm a Smart-ass.
odiousgambit
I'm thoroughly unable to cook any kind of fish or seafood. So all the ingredients I use are already dead.
Who's Kathy?
12) Chop, cut and separate all the ingredients before you start cooking.
13) There are some things you can leave unattended on a stove for a few minutes. A pan with cooking oil and vegetables or meat isn't one of them. Quite aside from ruining the food, you could set the kitchen on fire. (very appropriate number, don't you think?)
Kathy