I went to the grocery store yesterday. The Publix was a little bit better than before, but still stripped of a lot of things (paper, cleaning, canned goods, bread, anything related to baking, frozen goods), rations on others, and out of some weird things. Social distancing but only about 20% with masks.
Then I went to H-mart, which is usually 50% Asian and 50% Caucasian. It went to nearly 0% Caucasians. Nearly 100% masks by Asians. And I got a lot of things (canned goods, meats, frozen goods) I couldn't get a Publix. Thanks, casual racism!
The other half went to one of the area stores at 6 AM, and was only ~50th in line. The good news is she got in on the end of the first tp availability locally in nearly 3 weeks. Life is good.
I happened to buy a bunch just before the panic so I'm good but when I go to Safeway I always check out of curiosity. About a half dozen single rolls was all there was. I don't understand it either.
turns out that it might be because of the market shifting (checks spelling carefully) with all those additional, uh, movements at home rather than the office or schools, etc.
at least at the korean markets in like the oc/buena park/fullerton, they all have masks/gloves/hand sanitizer in stock that they're getting from korea.
Tip: go to the fresh fish area - point at a fish you want fried. They'll fry it for you for free and stink up your car all the way home. Eat with rice and a nice sauce.
Some pork that soaked in bbq sauce in the crock pot all day, red potatoes, and some sourdough bread. Brownies baking in the oven at the moment for dessert.
Small victories: my boss asked me to jump on a call, so I was rushing to finish making breakfast before it started. Just as I finished cooking, the call got canceled, so then I could eat my breakfast in peace. Flaky scallion* pancake with egg (except for it's actually a sesame pancake!? I've never seen these before, and I'm not sure if my mom bought these on purpose, or if she thought they were scallion pancakes...)
The scallion ones are good. When my sister's family was here before Christmas I made a batch the way my dad used to. They were pretty good. Though not as flaky as he used to make them.
Yes. Also, using lard instead of oil makes a huge difference. We learned how to make these at a cooking class in Taiwan while there for NinjaBear’s wedding.
Ok so I just watched another minute of the video. When you make noodles, you want them to be "Q" (chewy/al dente), so you use hot water to make the dough. If you make a cold water dough, the finished product doesn't have enough bite, so...warm water it is.
Going back to this response so we don't get too far over to the right. I'm only 3 minutes into this video, but she mentions that one difference between scallion pancakes and flaky scallion pancakes is the press that the carts use. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_-PpG-DVj8
The most popular cart on Yongkang St in Taipei does have a press, which is a fun thing to watch while you're waiting in line.
uh oh...I understand some of it but probably not enough. When I get some time I'll try to watch it all the way through. Will probably have to have my mom translate.
Nice! I've only ever made 蔥油餅, not 蔥抓餅, so I need to look into the difference between how they're made. From scratch, I mean. I have definitely cooked the frozen ones of both. Let's see if those Chinese characters show up here.
Oh ok. 抓 is "grab," and I think (but could be wrong--this could be folk etymology) that's the action that makes it flaky. The directions on the package say to use two pairs of chopsticks or two spatulas to push the edges in while cooking. I'm not sure if there's something about their construction that also makes them flaky...?
蔥油餅 (the kind that I've made and that HAG has made) is also laminated dough, but it's less flaky. Well, it's flaky, but it's not like the same kind of flaky...?
I have been trying to hold off on spending money on things for work, partly because this is theoretically a temporary state of affairs, and partly because I don't want to make things any worse for folks at Fedex / UPS. However, I am doing a ton of documentation for work and one aging 21" monitor is not cutting it here.
The only thing I miss during this endless teleworking is my dual monitor setup at work. It feels like going from watching something in a movie theater to watching something on an old 9" portable CRT tv.
After two weeks I went to the office and grabbed the docking station. then realized I needed a different cable for my old school tv/monitor at home. Office Depot curbside pick-up.
I'm mulling the merits of "get a second monitor and a cheap docking station" versus "get a large really good monitor" because I was thinking about retiring my wife's imac and replacing it with a Mac Mini
Fortunately, I had just recently added a decent sized and resolution monitor for solo watching streaming video (mostly games; remember when you could stream ballgames?) while working on something else, or just having the game stats up, so I was relatively well positioned, compared to some.
My 2 biggest problems aren't readily solvable, remote desktop's one primary window limitations, and an area-wide bandwidth shortage that can bog anything down to the point where latency is a significant issue.
one reason that I've avoided getting a better monitor is that I don't have a specific place dedicated to work in the house - we do have a room that's an office, but it is largely taken up by old files and a massive mid-century desk that contains my wife's iMac. (I also hate the room with the white hot fire of a thousand suns, it's the hottest room in the house and shows signs of the roof leakages I can't get the missus to take seriously). So I've been working with the cheap-ass monitor I used to throw on the dining room table when necessary.
pulled out and hosed off a folding table that formerly served as the snack table at the kids' soccer games and set it up away from the "family areas" of the house. fewer trips to the kitchen; less noise; better view; increased productivity. Now need to move the bike in...
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) reverses resistance to shelter-at-home after saying that he just learned yesterday that some contagious people are asymptomatic.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) issues stay-at-home order, citing traffic patterns. Watching these fuckwits try to come up with excuses as to why the quarantine orders come now after Trump's gaslighting left them in the lurch is... sad.
The official recommendation is now, 3 weeks after the fact, that masks be worn by people when they go out for necessary reasons. This from the same government that for 3 weeks advocated to not do so, even though it would have limited the spread, because they were so unprepared that there wasn't an adequate supply to do so. Of course, now there are none available to use if you want to wear them.
I'd be willing to spot them "it's easy to make mistakes in a pandemic for which there was little known about the disease" if it weren't for the amazing trail of errors on all the stuff they should be able to do anyway.
I don't think I've ever seen it written down before. People say it all the time but people say a lot of things incorrectly and that's more easily forgivable than when it's in writing.
It seems like there are fewer folks out and about everyday. I always carry a dollar bill with me and the lone panhandler I saw was amazingly grateful just to get a dollar. A fair number of the cyclists I saw were wearing masks or bandanas of some sort. Things are getting real.
What's most noticeable to me is the absolute silence when I take the dog on a short walk before bed. Ordinarily there's a distant hum of road traffic, but now there's nothing. Everything is closed by then so there's no real reason to be on the road.
I ran along the C&O canal just up from Georgetown and you're right. I couldn't hear the "traffic" on Canal Road but could hear the geese and ducks along the river.
when I commuted into the city, I carried extra singles for some of the regular panhandlers at my stop. Now I carry singles and dog treats for the guy (and his pooch) at the end of the off-ramp near my home. I've been WFH for three weeks; maybe I should make a run over to the off-ramp and check in...
I'm noticing a difference even in the number of people strolling around the neighborhood - although perhaps that will pick up when the weather is a little warmer.
I've noticed this too, but in the opposite direction. Lots more people out running, walking the dogs, biking with families. Still plenty of social distancing, but it seems like the neighborhood is busier now than ever.
that was us last week and before. I think the new "shelter in place" rules are freaking some people out, plus our county schools are now trying distance learning, and it's been rainy and / or windy and cool.
my kids' spring break was originally supposed to be starting tomorrow COB until the 14th, but thanks to the 2 weeks with no school, they've pared that back to the 11th - 13th (for some reason, Easter Monday is still a school holiday in Maryland).
We were supposed to be flying to the UK tonight. 😬
I went out yesterday for the first time, Oakland Chinatown seemed fairly busy, 90% of peeps wearing masks; Oakland downtown was dead (5% masks), and the 'rona is bringing out the asshat in some clowns.
Long line outside the bank (6 feet apart), clown parks not in a spot, blocking other cars from getting out, won't move it because he doesn't want to lose his place in line.
A run of cold and wet weather in this area has done more to curb people getting out than any executive order has. As soon as warm sunny weather returns, I expect to see and hear a lot more outside activity.
it *was* on YouTube briefly until I figured out a better way to upload it. Took my whiteboard off my office wall and mounted it at home. First try was too low, second try works but the lighting is *horrendous* (large shiny surface doesn't play nice with room lighting) so that's my current project
Nick's tribute to Larry Berroya/Reef: https://writeforcalifornia.com/p/remembering-larry-berroya
FET: Grocery stores
I went to the grocery store yesterday. The Publix was a little bit better than before, but still stripped of a lot of things (paper, cleaning, canned goods, bread, anything related to baking, frozen goods), rations on others, and out of some weird things. Social distancing but only about 20% with masks.
Then I went to H-mart, which is usually 50% Asian and 50% Caucasian. It went to nearly 0% Caucasians. Nearly 100% masks by Asians. And I got a lot of things (canned goods, meats, frozen goods) I couldn't get a Publix. Thanks, casual racism!
that's it, my next supermarket trip is going to be Hmart
bulgogi at DC Trojan's house!
this is shaping up to be a great idea... right up until I can't get into the place because I don't have a mask on.
they don't let people into places without a mask in Shanghai - but it's relaxing (at too fast a pace I think)
The other half went to one of the area stores at 6 AM, and was only ~50th in line. The good news is she got in on the end of the first tp availability locally in nearly 3 weeks. Life is good.
tp shortage still a thing in your area?
Very much so.
I happened to buy a bunch just before the panic so I'm good but when I go to Safeway I always check out of curiosity. About a half dozen single rolls was all there was. I don't understand it either.
turns out that it might be because of the market shifting (checks spelling carefully) with all those additional, uh, movements at home rather than the office or schools, etc.
https://twitter.com/WillOremus/status/1245745345587486727?s=20
at least at the korean markets in like the oc/buena park/fullerton, they all have masks/gloves/hand sanitizer in stock that they're getting from korea.
interesting.
BRB...driving down to K-town.
BRB driving to the nearest 99 Ranch which is...73 miles away. Sigh, I actually do miss some things about living in OC.
Tip: go to the fresh fish area - point at a fish you want fried. They'll fry it for you for free and stink up your car all the way home. Eat with rice and a nice sauce.
The one by me had marinated spicy pork bulgogi for $2.99/lb and that was definitely a worthwhile purchase.
JoJo Fire Starkey alert
TRAIN TO BUSAN PRESENTS: PENINSULA (2020) Official Teaser | Zombie Action Movie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=91&v=yVucSRLLeIM&feature=emb_title
seems meh compared to train to busan...seems like a standard zombie survival movie...
oohh...99 might work. There's one in Concord. Though there definitely are non-asians at 99. Maybe the smaller stores in Oakland chinatown.
dunno. the ranch99 in chino hills last weekend looked like a hurricane struck.
Provincial judges overturn sentences WSJ's Danny Pearl's killers. Will go to Pakistan's supreme court.
https://www.ibtimes.com/pakistan-overturns-britons-death-sentence-daniel-pearl-murder-2951334
CAL
GO BEARS
Patrick Christopher's All-American little brother Josh (5-star, SG, Bellflower) did not put Cal in his top 5.
https://twitter.com/Jaygup23/status/1245170374968365056
Cal has been out for a year.
For the life of me, I can't figure out what DBD stands for. One googled “DBD” and get a bunch of results. Could anytime let me know?
It stands for the Daily Bear Dump (or Daily Bear Dumb, as some have started calling it)
Thanks
and that some is "Nick Kranz"
Hater
? He's the one who wrote "Daily Bear Dumb" on the first new DBD.
Nick's the hater, not you.
why are you booing him
he's right
Also, where should I get good to-go cocktails in the East Bay?
Pizzaiolo has some.
ooh
Ok, my meetings are over and I'm available to talk about food again. What are you all eating? What's a good afternoon snack? What's for dinner?
I made fajitas using the Chevy's recipe.
Some pork that soaked in bbq sauce in the crock pot all day, red potatoes, and some sourdough bread. Brownies baking in the oven at the moment for dessert.
Panini, bacon, apple, cheddar, I think I'll go with a Syrah.
i made brownies: ghirardelli mix + dark chocolate chips, cinnamon, cardamom, and chipotle chile powder
ghirardelli's has the best mix. and always add extra dark choc chips to any brownie recipe. Will have to experiment with cardamom and chile adds!
Small victories: my boss asked me to jump on a call, so I was rushing to finish making breakfast before it started. Just as I finished cooking, the call got canceled, so then I could eat my breakfast in peace. Flaky scallion* pancake with egg (except for it's actually a sesame pancake!? I've never seen these before, and I'm not sure if my mom bought these on purpose, or if she thought they were scallion pancakes...)
I'm having Dan dan noodles with pork for lunch
The scallion ones are good. When my sister's family was here before Christmas I made a batch the way my dad used to. They were pretty good. Though not as flaky as he used to make them.
OHHHH you need to add a twist before you roll it up. That adds to the flake!!!!!!!!!
TwistNFlake
Yes. Also, using lard instead of oil makes a huge difference. We learned how to make these at a cooking class in Taiwan while there for NinjaBear’s wedding.
ooh....lard. That sounds like a good idea.
Using lard always sounds like a good idea
I remember when that was the standard. That and bacon drippings.
I thought adding a twist was DBD late nite??
Ok so I just watched another minute of the video. When you make noodles, you want them to be "Q" (chewy/al dente), so you use hot water to make the dough. If you make a cold water dough, the finished product doesn't have enough bite, so...warm water it is.
interesting. So when making dough hotter water makes it more chewy? I didn't know that.
Around 11:50 of the video, after she's rolled it up, she kind of does that stretching-while-thumping motion that people use to stretch noodles
This may be informative: https://www.seriouseats.com/2011/04/the-food-lab-how-to-make-scallion-pancakes-chinese-appetizers.html
I thought you were supposed to be "working" from home...
I've got a bunch of meetings the rest of today, so no more food videos for the time being
Maybe after this is all over we need a CGB蔥油餅HH
Going back to this response so we don't get too far over to the right. I'm only 3 minutes into this video, but she mentions that one difference between scallion pancakes and flaky scallion pancakes is the press that the carts use. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_-PpG-DVj8
The most popular cart on Yongkang St in Taipei does have a press, which is a fun thing to watch while you're waiting in line.
uh oh...I understand some of it but probably not enough. When I get some time I'll try to watch it all the way through. Will probably have to have my mom translate.
Nice! I've only ever made 蔥油餅, not 蔥抓餅, so I need to look into the difference between how they're made. From scratch, I mean. I have definitely cooked the frozen ones of both. Let's see if those Chinese characters show up here.
As a twinkieI had to google translate. I made 蔥油餅. I'm not sure what the difference is. I guess the 2nd is flaky and the first isn't?
Oh ok. 抓 is "grab," and I think (but could be wrong--this could be folk etymology) that's the action that makes it flaky. The directions on the package say to use two pairs of chopsticks or two spatulas to push the edges in while cooking. I'm not sure if there's something about their construction that also makes them flaky...?
抓 also has some secondary meaning as in "tear" - or implies a grabbing in tearing motion - so stuff like 羊肉抓飯 means hand-torn lamb rice.
Oh cool, thanks for the info!
is it not laminated dough
蔥抓餅, the flakier kind, is closer to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roti_canai
蔥油餅 (the kind that I've made and that HAG has made) is also laminated dough, but it's less flaky. Well, it's flaky, but it's not like the same kind of flaky...?
I have been trying to hold off on spending money on things for work, partly because this is theoretically a temporary state of affairs, and partly because I don't want to make things any worse for folks at Fedex / UPS. However, I am doing a ton of documentation for work and one aging 21" monitor is not cutting it here.
The only thing I miss during this endless teleworking is my dual monitor setup at work. It feels like going from watching something in a movie theater to watching something on an old 9" portable CRT tv.
After two weeks I went to the office and grabbed the docking station. then realized I needed a different cable for my old school tv/monitor at home. Office Depot curbside pick-up.
I'm mulling the merits of "get a second monitor and a cheap docking station" versus "get a large really good monitor" because I was thinking about retiring my wife's imac and replacing it with a Mac Mini
get a long hdmi cable and work from tv
we only have one tv so that seems like a non-starter
you can get a decent monitor / tv for under $100...
so it would appear
Fortunately, I had just recently added a decent sized and resolution monitor for solo watching streaming video (mostly games; remember when you could stream ballgames?) while working on something else, or just having the game stats up, so I was relatively well positioned, compared to some.
My 2 biggest problems aren't readily solvable, remote desktop's one primary window limitations, and an area-wide bandwidth shortage that can bog anything down to the point where latency is a significant issue.
one reason that I've avoided getting a better monitor is that I don't have a specific place dedicated to work in the house - we do have a room that's an office, but it is largely taken up by old files and a massive mid-century desk that contains my wife's iMac. (I also hate the room with the white hot fire of a thousand suns, it's the hottest room in the house and shows signs of the roof leakages I can't get the missus to take seriously). So I've been working with the cheap-ass monitor I used to throw on the dining room table when necessary.
pour a few drops of water around the iMac when it's raining. Oh honey, you're lucky it didn't drip right on it...
ha! Unfortunately it's not that obvious a leak, it's an issue with flashing and gutters where the roofs meet at a weird intersection
but what if it *became* an obvious leak to suit particular personal goals
"it's an issue with flashing" oh???
I'm thinking about if I should acquire a desk. The couch is comfy, but not conducive to productivity.
I wish that "not having a desk" was the reason for my rock-bottom productivity.
pulled out and hosed off a folding table that formerly served as the snack table at the kids' soccer games and set it up away from the "family areas" of the house. fewer trips to the kitchen; less noise; better view; increased productivity. Now need to move the bike in...
Indeed, Leland. Indeed.
our crumbling collective self-quarantine
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) reverses resistance to shelter-at-home after saying that he just learned yesterday that some contagious people are asymptomatic.
STUPID OR LIAR?
https://twitter.com/andishehnouraee/status/1245513642319151110
Why not both?
Both, plus Denier
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) issues stay-at-home order, citing traffic patterns. Watching these fuckwits try to come up with excuses as to why the quarantine orders come now after Trump's gaslighting left them in the lurch is... sad.
https://twitter.com/GovBillLee/status/1245798004101185537
All the "it's our constitutional right to go out" tweets are at the top and the "thanks for doing this finally" are at the bottom.
The official recommendation is now, 3 weeks after the fact, that masks be worn by people when they go out for necessary reasons. This from the same government that for 3 weeks advocated to not do so, even though it would have limited the spread, because they were so unprepared that there wasn't an adequate supply to do so. Of course, now there are none available to use if you want to wear them.
I'd be willing to spot them "it's easy to make mistakes in a pandemic for which there was little known about the disease" if it weren't for the amazing trail of errors on all the stuff they should be able to do anyway.
would of
damn you
i would not of said would've
If you're my in-laws from central MA, it's "woodah". Like, "He woodah handed me da glass of cold woodah"
could of
damn you
i could of said could've
But should've?
should of
cringeworthy esp when I see it in business writing.
I don't think I've ever seen it written down before. People say it all the time but people say a lot of things incorrectly and that's more easily forgivable than when it's in writing.
I see it frequently on the internet.
I find it doesn't really bother me when I hear it but definitely notice and am bothered when it's written.
(Especially lately), this is not even at the bottom of the back side of the sheet that has all the things I'm worried and concerned about.
damn you
i should of said should've
It seems like there are fewer folks out and about everyday. I always carry a dollar bill with me and the lone panhandler I saw was amazingly grateful just to get a dollar. A fair number of the cyclists I saw were wearing masks or bandanas of some sort. Things are getting real.
What's most noticeable to me is the absolute silence when I take the dog on a short walk before bed. Ordinarily there's a distant hum of road traffic, but now there's nothing. Everything is closed by then so there's no real reason to be on the road.
I ran along the C&O canal just up from Georgetown and you're right. I couldn't hear the "traffic" on Canal Road but could hear the geese and ducks along the river.
when I commuted into the city, I carried extra singles for some of the regular panhandlers at my stop. Now I carry singles and dog treats for the guy (and his pooch) at the end of the off-ramp near my home. I've been WFH for three weeks; maybe I should make a run over to the off-ramp and check in...
I'm noticing a difference even in the number of people strolling around the neighborhood - although perhaps that will pick up when the weather is a little warmer.
I've noticed this too, but in the opposite direction. Lots more people out running, walking the dogs, biking with families. Still plenty of social distancing, but it seems like the neighborhood is busier now than ever.
I have been walking over on bayfarm for some activity, pretty mellow and people are good about not getting too close.
that was us last week and before. I think the new "shelter in place" rules are freaking some people out, plus our county schools are now trying distance learning, and it's been rainy and / or windy and cool.
we are on "spring break" from distance learning. all iPads, all the time!
my kids' spring break was originally supposed to be starting tomorrow COB until the 14th, but thanks to the 2 weeks with no school, they've pared that back to the 11th - 13th (for some reason, Easter Monday is still a school holiday in Maryland).
We were supposed to be flying to the UK tonight. 😬
yeah there are definitely more couples/families out for walks.
I went out yesterday for the first time, Oakland Chinatown seemed fairly busy, 90% of peeps wearing masks; Oakland downtown was dead (5% masks), and the 'rona is bringing out the asshat in some clowns.
What are the asshat clowns doing?
Long line outside the bank (6 feet apart), clown parks not in a spot, blocking other cars from getting out, won't move it because he doesn't want to lose his place in line.
>:-|
A run of cold and wet weather in this area has done more to curb people getting out than any executive order has. As soon as warm sunny weather returns, I expect to see and hear a lot more outside activity.
recorded my first lecture from home (previously I've been doing them at a whiteboard on campus when checking on things in the lab)
How'd it go? Did you bring a whiteboard with you?
it *was* on YouTube briefly until I figured out a better way to upload it. Took my whiteboard off my office wall and mounted it at home. First try was too low, second try works but the lighting is *horrendous* (large shiny surface doesn't play nice with room lighting) so that's my current project
I think d$ needs to post the link so we can all learn!