- “Transformers” Hostess Cupcakes And Sno Balls Roll Out – OK, I have to admit that "Chocwave" cupcakes are inspired.
- Emergency Preparedness: Cell & Home Phone Guidelines. In particular: wireless home phones require power. Keep one landline phone with a cord on hand. And for non-emergency communications (“I’m OK, hope everyone else is”), stick to texting, email, or social networks so that emergency workers and people in immediate danger (“Help, I’m trapped under a fallen wall”) can use the voice channels.
- Whenever I hear someone complain about “hipsters,” I always think of this comic.
Category: Life
Sequencing the Black Death
A few years back, while I was reading Eifelheim, I found myself curious about the timeline of the pandemic and read up on the Black Death. There was an idea floating around at the time that, based on descriptions of the symptoms and spread of the disease, the black death might have been caused by a viral hemorrhagic fever like Marburg, not by the bacteria that causes the bubonic plague that’s still endemic in some parts of the world. Since then, researchers have managed to extract bacterial DNA from the bones of Londoners who died when the plague reached the city in 1348, confirming that they were infected with a relative of the modern plague…and have reconstructed its genome. It’s virtually identical to the modern form.
Wow.
Orange Sunset & Double Rainbow Over LA (Photos)
We’ve had a couple of storms run through Los Angeles over the past week. Last Friday, I went up to the top of a parking structure after work to look at the clouds, and stayed to watch a double rainbow and the play of light at sunset.
This was the view that surprised me the most: Bright orange (a little more magenta in real life than it looks here in the photo) on the underside of the clouds, but plain gray on the sides.
Walk For Food Allergy: Please Help Me Raise Funds for Research & Education
Those of you who know me well, or have been to a restaurant with me, probably know I have food allergies: some serious, some moderate, and some mild. I like to think I do a decent job of navigating the minefield that is the modern food industry, and striking a balance between not getting myself killed and not hiding away in my house like a shut-in.
I carry emergency medication whenever I eat somewhere. I don’t go out for Thai food or visit restaurants that hand out peanuts like chips and salsa. I check ingredients in the grocery store, and I ask the waiter about them when I order food. If I can’t eat one item on the menu, I look for another dish that I can.
Even so, sometimes something slips through (most recently: this past Saturday) and I have to spend an anxious couple of hours hoping that the medication I’ve taken will be enough, that I’ll keep breathing and won’t have to jab myself with an auto-injector (or have someone else do it) and go to the ER. Thankfully, it’s been years since I’ve had a reaction bad enough to send me to the hospital.
I’ve also got a not-quite-one-year-old son. I’d like to spare him from having to deal with all that, if I can. And if I can’t, and he develops serious allergies like I have, I’d like to help smooth the path for him as he learns how to live with them — or, better yet, help find a cure.
So I’m participating in the FAAN Walk for Food Allergy to raise money for research and education, and I hope you’ll sponsor me. Continue reading
Dietary “Demands”?
I’m not sure who annoys me more:
- The people who think that those of us who have food allergies are all a bunch of whining hypochondriacs and/or drama queens who just want attention, and the tiny percentage who really do have allergies shouldn’t expect to ever eat outside the home, or…
- The people who lie about having allergies because they’re afraid that “I don’t like this ingredient” won’t get the point across, thereby convincing the jerkwads that they’re right.
Remind me not to read these kinds of articles. And especially not the comments on them. And especially not the ratings on the comments.
When it comes to diners’ dietary demands, how much is too much? – Inside Scoop SF
Originally posted on Google+
50,000 Miles
This morning, I hit 50,000 miles on the Prius. We’ve had the car for four years now, and it still feels like a new car — or at least, it doesn’t feel old yet. That’s why, though I’d love to have the plug-in hybrid model launching next year (and Toyota keeps sending me ads for it), I don’t feel any need to get onto any waiting lists. There’s plenty of life in this one yet, and no reason to trade it in early.
For the record: Typically around 43 MPG on an eight-mile commute that mixes city streets and freeways, plus errands and occasional longer trips. It was a bit higher when I was commuting 25-40 miles each way, mainly on freeways, but I don’t remember exactly how much. I think it was around 48 MPG.
Update: The car kept going eight more years until 2019, when I did in fact replace it with a plug-in hybrid.
A Radical Notion
I’ve accepted, even embraced the return of “awesome” over the last few years. But I’m seeing signs that “rad” is making a comeback, and I really hope that’s not the case. Some slang is worth preserving and maybe even incorporating into the language over time.
Some…isn’t.
I mean, it’s dudical to the max, daddy-o!