| (no subject) |
[Oct. 29th, 2009|09:30 pm] |
|
The song "Buildings and Mountains" by The Republic Tigers has been stuck in my head for about three days. For reasons I can't describe, it reminds me of Toto. |
|
|
| Rad any good books lately? |
[Oct. 25th, 2009|07:44 pm] |
|
Anyone read anything good lately? I'm stuck in a loop of re-reading stuff. If I had to pick a genre I'd ask for fantasy recommendations, but I'll try anything. |
|
|
| (no subject) |
[Oct. 20th, 2009|12:53 am] |
|
Someday I'll stop procrastinating. But not today. |
|
|
| (no subject) |
[Oct. 5th, 2009|09:53 pm] |
|
Well, the Extreme Home Makeover down my road is complete. The new house is about twice the size of the old one. Apparently they didn't even tear down the old house until Wednesday, and I'm amazed that they could put a new one up so fast (even if it is modular). There were probably 75 people moving around on the work site while we were watching, and that was just on the outside. |
|
|
| A tale of two health insurance plans |
[Oct. 1st, 2009|08:33 pm] |
A year ago I spotted a suspicious mole on Alison's leg. She had it looked at, biopsied, and then removed. There were multiple visits to the dermatologist, one surgery, follow-up visit, plus costs for pathology on the biopsy and surgical specimen. It turned out to be not quite melanoma but close enough to be scary. They took a 1 cm margin, so a 6x3 cm incision with 8 stitches and a pretty awesome scar.
A couple months later, Alison told me that I had a funny mole on my back (mostly in retaliation I'm convinced). So I went in to have it checked, the dermatologist said it wasn't highly suspicious, but since it was in an area I can't monitor I decided to have it removed. Punch biopsy right there, three stitches, had them removed at the student health clinic (free) plus costs for pathology.
Approximate total cost for Alison's care: $3000
Approximate total cost for Matt's care: $500
Alison's out-of-pocket expense: $40
Matt's out-of-pocket expense: $250 |
|
|
| (no subject) |
[Sep. 25th, 2009|07:52 pm] |
I woke up in the middle of the night after having an amazing dream. "I should write this down!" I thought, then "No way could I ever forget anything that awesome."
Of course, I forgot.
Not only did I forget, I have absolutely no inclination whatsoever as to what made this dream so awesome. Either it was a really great story that I thought I could sell for a million bucks, or it included some really great idea. I was pretty sure it would make me rich one way or another, but other than that - no clue. Lesson: keep a pen and paper on the nightstand.
The next night I dreamed the movie Aliens practically from start to finish. It's a good thing I knew the story, otherwise it would have been a real nightmare! |
|
|
| (no subject) |
[Sep. 4th, 2009|01:27 pm] |
|
Do we have a single word that means things are good because they are getting worse more slowly? Like, the derivative of badness is lowering over time. This has been in the news a lot lately (housing, unemployment, economy, etc). |
|
|
| (no subject) |
[Aug. 25th, 2009|09:05 pm] |
|
Listening to NPR just now, I learned that Tracy Kidder's new book, Strength in What Remains, is about a former medical school classmate of mine! He left after second year to focus on founding his clinic in Burundi. I didn't know him well, so it will be interesting to read the book. |
|
|
| (no subject) |
[Aug. 10th, 2009|09:19 pm] |
|
Leftover risotto will never be the same, now that I know how to fry it. |
|
|
| (no subject) |
[Jun. 7th, 2009|12:57 pm] |
|
I forgot how much I enjoy mowing the lawn. I like that each pass takes a little less time than the previous pass, and as you go you get to lop off sections and simplify the problem down to a simple rectangle. It's also outdoors, and moderate exercise. This was the first time I mowed our lawn, and it took a very manageable one hour and ten minutes. It's just enough work to make my Sunday feel productive. |
|
|
| (no subject) |
[May. 30th, 2009|07:19 pm] |
|
I don't have anything against The Gap, but I'm not sure I approve of them selling rock band T-shirts, especially for Pink Floyd and The Who. Sort of like when Mercedes-Benz used the Janice Joplin song in a TV commercial to sell cars. |
|
|
| (no subject) |
[May. 9th, 2009|09:04 am] |
|
Plot summary for Wanted: Pheochromocytoma leads to superpowers, betrayal. |
|
|
| (no subject) |
[Apr. 22nd, 2009|11:20 pm] |
|
Boo. The sequel to The Name of the Wind is delayed. Right now I'm reading the Earthsea cycle and that's been very enjoyable. Next on the list is Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. But right now - bed. |
|
|
| (no subject) |
[Apr. 8th, 2009|08:25 pm] |
When I heard that an American cargo ship was hijacked by Somali pirates and subsequently retaken, I had a big "America - Fuck Yeah!" moment.
Although I hear the captain may still be held hostage. |
|
|
| (no subject) |
[Feb. 24th, 2009|09:05 pm] |
Maybe this is a stupid question or I misunderstand something fundamental.
There are a bunch of prisoners at Guantanamo. A few of them are terrorists. Others have no reason to be there and pose no threat to our country, but we can't send them back to their home countries because they face torture - for example, I have hear this about the Uyghurs. So we are trying to find other countries to take them.
So, if we've locked up innocent people for half a decade and we can't send them home, why don't we make them U.S. citizens? Isn't that, like, the least we could do? Someone tell me why this is a horrible idea. |
|
|
| (no subject) |
[Nov. 17th, 2008|08:06 pm] |
One of our priorities with the house has been to tighten it up for winter. My parents have some very nice homemade drop-down window quilts, so we are working towards that. So far, all we have is the insulation material hung over the window, with hinged window casing holding the sides firmly to the window frame.
One kitchen window is particularly bad because it doesn't have a storm window. Right now it's 62 inside the house. The outdoor temperature is 26. The space between the window and the insulation material is 39. I think we'll be getting our money's worth. |
|
|
| (no subject) |
[Nov. 4th, 2008|06:07 pm] |
|
I have a bad case of Obamania. I hope it doesn't progress to McCaincreatitis. Then, the only option would be imPalin myself. |
|
|
| (no subject) |
[Nov. 2nd, 2008|06:06 pm] |
I have a recipe to share. I've had a few kinds of chocolate with hot pepper, and I wondered I could make cookies with hot pepper. I didn't find any satisfying recipes online, so I took one for chocolate chocolate chip cookies and added spices on my own. I think they are the best cookies I've ever made. There's some zip at the end, so reduce the cayenne if you're not into that sort of thing.
This is a half recipe, about two dozen cookies.
1 stick of butter, room temp
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 cup flour
3/8 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp kosher salt (1/8 tsp regular salt)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I used Ghirardelli)
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp ground clove
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1. Preheat oven to 350
2. In one bowl, mix the butter and sugar. Add the egg and vanilla and mix together. In another bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt, and spices. Mix the two ingredients together and add chocolate chips.
3. Drop about 1 tbsp balls onto ungreased cookie sheet, then bake at 350 for 12 minutes. Let cool on cookie sheet, then move to a wire rack. |
|
|
| (no subject) |
[Oct. 28th, 2008|09:05 pm] |
Fun fact for the day. I was wondering about the mechanism of toxicity for melamine, the compound causing all the ruckus in the Chinese milk scandal. It turns out that melamine on its own is essentially nontoxic. However, if it is in the bloodstream along with another compound called cyanuric acid, these two chemicals react and form a highly insoluble precipitate in the kidney, leading to kidney failure. Cyanuric acid is also nontoxic and is present at low levels in drinking water and animal feed. Because cyanuric acid is basically out there in the environment, melamine is banned as a food additive. Although, melamine can be used in cattle feed, and I haven't figured out why cattle don't get renal failure from the compound.
Granted, I read it all on Wikipedia, so take with salt. |
|
|
| navigation |
| [ |
viewing |
| |
most recent entries |
] |
| [ |
go |
| |
earlier |
] |
| |
|
|
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
queftzefoni's journal