'Cause "pro tip" would be more than a little of an exaggeration. However, I did figure out something about Windows Phone again about $20 late. Although there are few Windows Phone users and nobody I know (as far as I know), this might be useful for other phones. For all I know. (Like I said, I'm an amateur.)
The big problem with the phone was that storage space had filled up. My brilliant and earlier reported observation that this is a Windows Phone and thus the reason I couldn't find any app to manage files on it was because I was supposed to use Windows for that was only so useful. Because a major contributor to the storage space problem was temporary files piling up to the tune of more than a gig. They don't show up in Windows. There's an app on the phone that allows me to dump temporary files, or try, but it never works. Under search settings, there's also a place where you can delete your searches, but that doesn't reduce the quantity of temporary files either.
Last night, as temporary files started getting up towards 2 gigs, the phone started grinding to a halt again. It turns out that one of the default settings for search is to let Microsoft store your searches, search terms, etc. If you uncheck this and then delete your searches, le voila, your temporary files pile suddenly gets markedly smaller. Still large (225 megs, as I recall), but much less. If I'd known this, I wouldn't have really needed the microSD card I just bought. It still helps, of course, especially in the longer run. And again, I'd feel like an idiot except that the pro at T-Mobile (the manager, I'm pretty sure) didn't know it either. So if this helps anybody, good.
Friday, February 28, 2014
Thursday, February 27, 2014
Pink lemon and pelican snocones
Because I'm cheap, I use St. Ives body wash, which I'm usually not too enthusiastic about. However, the latest type I bought I like a lot. The scent is called Even & Bright, and it's described as pink lemon and mandarin orange. There's even a picture of a pink lemon, or some damned thing. It looks like a blood orange in a lime rind. Go figure. Unless Monsanto has been working overtime, I'm pretty sure the only pink lemons are the ones to make pink lemonade, which by all reports is made with pink dye. Just odd, I thought. But I can give an unqualified (and unpaid) endorsement to this one consumer product.
Also in the weird stuff department, a new business is popping up in this town. The store will be called Pelican Snocones. Again, maybe I'm pitifully uninformed and perhaps this is a huge, highly profitable corporation, but I've got to assume that somebody just decided to start a water ice business with a strange name. This is one of those times that I'm glad my blog isn't more widely read, since the person behind it is likely somebody who knows me or somebody I know. Since they're unlikely to see this, really... is there a worse business name? Penguin Snocone would at least make sense. Yeah, I know, it's of even less importance than the weird body wash, but I see the place every time I go to pick up or drop off my dad, and it puzzles the hell out of me. Anybody know somebody named Pelican? It's possible.
Edit: It's actually Pelican's Snowballs. I'm not sure that's better or worse, but I should probably be accurate at least.
Also in the weird stuff department, a new business is popping up in this town. The store will be called Pelican Snocones. Again, maybe I'm pitifully uninformed and perhaps this is a huge, highly profitable corporation, but I've got to assume that somebody just decided to start a water ice business with a strange name. This is one of those times that I'm glad my blog isn't more widely read, since the person behind it is likely somebody who knows me or somebody I know. Since they're unlikely to see this, really... is there a worse business name? Penguin Snocone would at least make sense. Yeah, I know, it's of even less importance than the weird body wash, but I see the place every time I go to pick up or drop off my dad, and it puzzles the hell out of me. Anybody know somebody named Pelican? It's possible.
Edit: It's actually Pelican's Snowballs. I'm not sure that's better or worse, but I should probably be accurate at least.
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
GI Doc again
We finally succeeded in seeing Dad's gastroenterologist again. His last appointment was canceled by blizzard. The previous one entailed about a four-hour wait to see the doctor, so I was dreading this drastically, but it wasn't too bad. It was still more than an hour wait and two-plus hours all told. And he said he was going to phone in a prescription but didn't, so that sucked another half hour out of my day unnecessarily, but no meals were missed.
Essentially, nothing Dad has tried has helped with his perpetual burping. The doctor still would like Dad to get off his laxative, which the doc says will eventually stop working and also kill the nerve function down there so nothing else will work either. So he prescribed a stronger, hopefully better laxative. He also scheduled a gastric emptying test for next Wednesday, which is just where Dad eats some scrambled eggs and then they image his stomach every 15 minutes for the next two hours. It ought to be as dull as dialysis but not painful or tiring at least. So maybe we'll get some kind of answers after that.
At the drugstore, the pharmacist phoned around to their other locations to see if the doctor had called in the prescription to the wrong one. He wanted me to leave a number and they could call me when it was ready, but I had an idea how unorganized the doctor's operation is and a sense that we would be waiting for Godot in that case. So I asked him to call the doctor's office. He wasn't optimistic since it was already 5, but he did and it worked. So yay. Of course, the doctor could have just printed and signed a prescription and saved everybody a lot of time and trouble, but was I think the victim of his own good intentions. Worked out in the end, though.
Essentially, nothing Dad has tried has helped with his perpetual burping. The doctor still would like Dad to get off his laxative, which the doc says will eventually stop working and also kill the nerve function down there so nothing else will work either. So he prescribed a stronger, hopefully better laxative. He also scheduled a gastric emptying test for next Wednesday, which is just where Dad eats some scrambled eggs and then they image his stomach every 15 minutes for the next two hours. It ought to be as dull as dialysis but not painful or tiring at least. So maybe we'll get some kind of answers after that.
At the drugstore, the pharmacist phoned around to their other locations to see if the doctor had called in the prescription to the wrong one. He wanted me to leave a number and they could call me when it was ready, but I had an idea how unorganized the doctor's operation is and a sense that we would be waiting for Godot in that case. So I asked him to call the doctor's office. He wasn't optimistic since it was already 5, but he did and it worked. So yay. Of course, the doctor could have just printed and signed a prescription and saved everybody a lot of time and trouble, but was I think the victim of his own good intentions. Worked out in the end, though.
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
We need to talk about vegan shepherd's pie
Or, I don't feel like writing the recipe yet, but I think I'll squeeze two blog entries out of it anyway.
I've mentioned before only a few thousand times that I like combining lentils and organic yellow grits to make somewhat hamburger-like hushpuppies or fritters. So it occurred to me that it would be a hoot to try making shepherd's pie with this as the "meat." So far, this has been quite true. I've made it twice and while neither time was perfect, both were pretty neat.
A stumbling block is something that I've noticed before, that whatever the directions on the package say, black lentils need more water than red lentils. When I ran out of black, I used red for the second batch, and wound up trying to pan-fry dal. The result would have still been very good except for bad luck. The particular sweet onion that I used that day was hot instead, so while the lentils were fine, the dish wound up tasting a bit like kerosene. (Either that or I put in too much kerosene.)
OK, to call this a recipe would be romancing, but how I make this is roughly as follows. Cut up a large potato (officially extra-large, according to Publix); throw in a large pan with turmeric, salt, pepper, EV olive oil and just enough filtered water to cover. Put on medium heat.
In a small saucepan also on medium heat, bring to boil a cup (for red lentils) or a cup and a half (for black lentils) of filtered water. Wash and strain a half cup of the lentil of your choice; when water is boiling, dump lentils in, along with every spice you can think of, or anyway cloves, cumin, ginger, Ceylon cinnamon, allspice and maybe some Tabasco sauce, as well as salt and pepper. The more the merrier; with the vegetables, this thing runs a high risk of ending up bland.
While that was coming to a boil would have been a good time to put a LOT of water in a large pan. (I use filtered water here, too, but then I live somewhere where they think that they haven't purified the water unless they put ALL the chlorine in it) and put it on medium heat as well. In a steamer insert, put in kale, collards or both (or whatever green leafy floats your boat) two cut-up carrots, okra, a cut-up turnip and really whatever occurs to you. Steam 'em until you get bored.
About now, your potatoes are probably boiling pretty joyously. Turn them down such that they keep simmering. I find that enough water to cover is too much to make mashed potatoes, so I tend to leave the lid off for long periods; it's worked well so far. Maybe eventually I'll get around to measuring lengths of time and whatnot.
Oh crap, the lentils! You turned down the lentils, right? Once you have all the spices in, turn down the lentils to medium-low (or 2 on this range) and let them go wild for a half hour. Then add 1/4 cup of organic yellow corn grits. Stir constantly at the same heat for 5 minutes. This is also a good time to turn on the oven at 350 degrees.
Then is the crazy part. Put parchment paper down in a pan; shovel your lentil/grits mixture in. Flatten it a bit and put in the oven for 20 minutes. Your vegetables should be as steamed as anyone ever needs. Your potato should be mashable. Turn off the former and do the latter with a fork. I also slip in a tiny bit of crushed garlic, bought in a jar from Trader Joe's. It's much too strong, but I persevere. (Explains the tiny amount, though.)
While your lentil mess is baking, I guess, cut up a sweet onion. Coat a frying pan or skillet with EV olive oil, put frozen mushrooms of whatever quantity you choose and the onion in the pan which you have already put on medium heat, right? Once you hear cracking and popping, however, turn it all the way to low, cover, and let sautee or simmer for ten minutes.
When your mess comes out of the oven, slash it up into small chunks (size does not matter, just this once, turn your frying pan up to medium and dump the stuff on top of the onions and mushrooms. Cook on one side for four minutes and on the other for three. Meanwhile, jump the oven up to 400 degrees.
Much to my surprise, I got all this stuff into a 7 X 11 baking pan. I dump the lentils, grits, mushrooms and onions in the pan, followed by the steamed vegetables. I mix it all up. A smart person would then taste the mixture, find it bland and dump Crystal hot sauce on it, but I haven't done this as of yet. Then you put your mashed potatoes on top. Bake for 15 minutes and voila: vegan shepherd's pie. And I didn't say "First catch your vegan shepherd" onc-- oh, dammit.
I've mentioned before only a few thousand times that I like combining lentils and organic yellow grits to make somewhat hamburger-like hushpuppies or fritters. So it occurred to me that it would be a hoot to try making shepherd's pie with this as the "meat." So far, this has been quite true. I've made it twice and while neither time was perfect, both were pretty neat.
A stumbling block is something that I've noticed before, that whatever the directions on the package say, black lentils need more water than red lentils. When I ran out of black, I used red for the second batch, and wound up trying to pan-fry dal. The result would have still been very good except for bad luck. The particular sweet onion that I used that day was hot instead, so while the lentils were fine, the dish wound up tasting a bit like kerosene. (Either that or I put in too much kerosene.)
OK, to call this a recipe would be romancing, but how I make this is roughly as follows. Cut up a large potato (officially extra-large, according to Publix); throw in a large pan with turmeric, salt, pepper, EV olive oil and just enough filtered water to cover. Put on medium heat.
In a small saucepan also on medium heat, bring to boil a cup (for red lentils) or a cup and a half (for black lentils) of filtered water. Wash and strain a half cup of the lentil of your choice; when water is boiling, dump lentils in, along with every spice you can think of, or anyway cloves, cumin, ginger, Ceylon cinnamon, allspice and maybe some Tabasco sauce, as well as salt and pepper. The more the merrier; with the vegetables, this thing runs a high risk of ending up bland.
While that was coming to a boil would have been a good time to put a LOT of water in a large pan. (I use filtered water here, too, but then I live somewhere where they think that they haven't purified the water unless they put ALL the chlorine in it) and put it on medium heat as well. In a steamer insert, put in kale, collards or both (or whatever green leafy floats your boat) two cut-up carrots, okra, a cut-up turnip and really whatever occurs to you. Steam 'em until you get bored.
About now, your potatoes are probably boiling pretty joyously. Turn them down such that they keep simmering. I find that enough water to cover is too much to make mashed potatoes, so I tend to leave the lid off for long periods; it's worked well so far. Maybe eventually I'll get around to measuring lengths of time and whatnot.
Oh crap, the lentils! You turned down the lentils, right? Once you have all the spices in, turn down the lentils to medium-low (or 2 on this range) and let them go wild for a half hour. Then add 1/4 cup of organic yellow corn grits. Stir constantly at the same heat for 5 minutes. This is also a good time to turn on the oven at 350 degrees.
Then is the crazy part. Put parchment paper down in a pan; shovel your lentil/grits mixture in. Flatten it a bit and put in the oven for 20 minutes. Your vegetables should be as steamed as anyone ever needs. Your potato should be mashable. Turn off the former and do the latter with a fork. I also slip in a tiny bit of crushed garlic, bought in a jar from Trader Joe's. It's much too strong, but I persevere. (Explains the tiny amount, though.)
While your lentil mess is baking, I guess, cut up a sweet onion. Coat a frying pan or skillet with EV olive oil, put frozen mushrooms of whatever quantity you choose and the onion in the pan which you have already put on medium heat, right? Once you hear cracking and popping, however, turn it all the way to low, cover, and let sautee or simmer for ten minutes.
When your mess comes out of the oven, slash it up into small chunks (size does not matter, just this once, turn your frying pan up to medium and dump the stuff on top of the onions and mushrooms. Cook on one side for four minutes and on the other for three. Meanwhile, jump the oven up to 400 degrees.
Much to my surprise, I got all this stuff into a 7 X 11 baking pan. I dump the lentils, grits, mushrooms and onions in the pan, followed by the steamed vegetables. I mix it all up. A smart person would then taste the mixture, find it bland and dump Crystal hot sauce on it, but I haven't done this as of yet. Then you put your mashed potatoes on top. Bake for 15 minutes and voila: vegan shepherd's pie. And I didn't say "First catch your vegan shepherd" onc-- oh, dammit.
Monday, February 24, 2014
Log stacking
Today I visited Congaree National Park for the first time since the ice storm. They're in some disarray. The elevated boardwalk is closed due to storm damage and the trails I tried (Sims, Lake Weston Loop) were passable but only if you're willing to navigate a good deal of fallen trees and limbs. (Tree limbs, mind you!) It was still pretty and all; I definitely recommend people continue to visit. But it will be better still in a few days by which time they will have been able to make more repairs.
An odd thing I noticed was a tendency on the part of the rangers, I assume, to stack logs neatly by the side of the road or trail. I don't think anyone will be able to carry them like that. Assuming they could get a forklift trailside, it probably wouldn't be able to carry them that way either. There isn't a fireplace handy that I know of. I assume it isn't somebody just being impossibly tidy. My best guess is that stacking them shows that somebody has been here, that this job is done. It just struck me as an odd thing to do when they obviously have a lot of work still to get to. Not a criticism at all; I'm just puzzled. Of course, maybe the beavers like 'em that way! I think I would have gone with a crop circle look, myself.
Since the polar vortex is expected back in another few days, I just want to note that today is about the most gorgeous day possible. I did get buzzed by a fly in the national park, which seems unfair in February, but that's about the height of the complaints. The light was beautiful, but I've finally figured out that all my Congaree photos look about the same, so I'm finally weaning myself from posting them on Facebook. But they were still pretty.
An odd thing I noticed was a tendency on the part of the rangers, I assume, to stack logs neatly by the side of the road or trail. I don't think anyone will be able to carry them like that. Assuming they could get a forklift trailside, it probably wouldn't be able to carry them that way either. There isn't a fireplace handy that I know of. I assume it isn't somebody just being impossibly tidy. My best guess is that stacking them shows that somebody has been here, that this job is done. It just struck me as an odd thing to do when they obviously have a lot of work still to get to. Not a criticism at all; I'm just puzzled. Of course, maybe the beavers like 'em that way! I think I would have gone with a crop circle look, myself.
Since the polar vortex is expected back in another few days, I just want to note that today is about the most gorgeous day possible. I did get buzzed by a fly in the national park, which seems unfair in February, but that's about the height of the complaints. The light was beautiful, but I've finally figured out that all my Congaree photos look about the same, so I'm finally weaning myself from posting them on Facebook. But they were still pretty.
Sunday, February 23, 2014
People should tell me this stuff!
I mean, I'm the famous hiking book auther and everything! Ahem. So I took Paul to see the progress at the new 10,000 Year Park in Cayce and to join me in puzzlement at the signs saying Timmerman Trail. Even though the Timmerman Trail was the only part of the entire park complex with "Trail closed" and "No trespassing" signs, we took our courage in our hands and explored. (Shhhhhh.)
It turns out that the Timmerman Trail was a paved trail passing through Congaree Creek Heritage Preserve, one of my favorite places but one that I can't normally take people because the trail through it is so very, uh, rustic. It's a little insane, because it starts from a parking area on one side of the busy (or at least speedy) 12th St. Extension (the trail passes underneath the road on its own bridge) and winds around to another access on the other side of 12th St. almost down to I-77. There is a brand new building going up right next to the trail (Thanks, SCANA!) and there's the pedestrian bridge linking this trail to those of the 10,000 Year Park. The bridge is in place, but there still working on the parts at either end of the bridge; that's the Trail closed/ no trespassing part. But none of us scofflaws seemed to have any difficulty with the parts under construction.
A guy on a bike lapped us twice, which meant that he had to go a mile or more on 12th St. (speed limit 55, no bike lane), which makes him considerably braver than me. It's a nifty trail, in spite of the closed part, and coupled with the new park will be an absolutely terrific amenity. I just wish I'd known about it before.
I appreciate that this isn't terribly useful information if you live more than 20 miles away, but dang, I'm excited. If anyone living nearer is interested, you can reach the Timmerman Trail by turning on SCANA Parkway from 12th St. Extension (there's only one way to turn at the moment, so it doesn't matter whether you're going north or south; you turn towards the west) and take the first right almost immediately to get to the parking area. If you want to go all slick and park cars at both ends, the other end is past the Lexington County Tennis Center on Saxe-Gotha Drive. I drove past the tennis center and parked where the road is closed, but you could always park at the tennis center.
I can't wait until the new park is completed! But I'm still a little red-faced that I didn't know that the Timmerman Trail was there already. Oh well.
It turns out that the Timmerman Trail was a paved trail passing through Congaree Creek Heritage Preserve, one of my favorite places but one that I can't normally take people because the trail through it is so very, uh, rustic. It's a little insane, because it starts from a parking area on one side of the busy (or at least speedy) 12th St. Extension (the trail passes underneath the road on its own bridge) and winds around to another access on the other side of 12th St. almost down to I-77. There is a brand new building going up right next to the trail (Thanks, SCANA!) and there's the pedestrian bridge linking this trail to those of the 10,000 Year Park. The bridge is in place, but there still working on the parts at either end of the bridge; that's the Trail closed/ no trespassing part. But none of us scofflaws seemed to have any difficulty with the parts under construction.
A guy on a bike lapped us twice, which meant that he had to go a mile or more on 12th St. (speed limit 55, no bike lane), which makes him considerably braver than me. It's a nifty trail, in spite of the closed part, and coupled with the new park will be an absolutely terrific amenity. I just wish I'd known about it before.
I appreciate that this isn't terribly useful information if you live more than 20 miles away, but dang, I'm excited. If anyone living nearer is interested, you can reach the Timmerman Trail by turning on SCANA Parkway from 12th St. Extension (there's only one way to turn at the moment, so it doesn't matter whether you're going north or south; you turn towards the west) and take the first right almost immediately to get to the parking area. If you want to go all slick and park cars at both ends, the other end is past the Lexington County Tennis Center on Saxe-Gotha Drive. I drove past the tennis center and parked where the road is closed, but you could always park at the tennis center.
I can't wait until the new park is completed! But I'm still a little red-faced that I didn't know that the Timmerman Trail was there already. Oh well.
Saturday, February 22, 2014
Unmarked pickup
Today I saw somebody pulled over by an unmarked black pickup truck. It even had a big chrome toolbox in the bed just behind the cab for verisimilitude. I've already mentioned that I think that the unmarked-at-the-front cars Columbia Police use (no markings on the hood or front fenders and a lighting rig on top that looks like a luggage rack when seen in a rearview mirror) are unsporting. This seems even less so. It was kind of funny, though.
Margaret's outpatient procedure yesterday turned out to be totally straightforward, as expected. It was a long day for her but only because of the usual "hurry up and wait" approach so prevalent in medical care in this country. She is well and Dad had no problems. I stayed with him for most of the time she was away and helped him a bit with Facebook and email.
Margaret's outpatient procedure yesterday turned out to be totally straightforward, as expected. It was a long day for her but only because of the usual "hurry up and wait" approach so prevalent in medical care in this country. She is well and Dad had no problems. I stayed with him for most of the time she was away and helped him a bit with Facebook and email.
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