Rick's b.log - entry 2023/07/18

Oops!

Four enchiladas on farfalle.

The colours in that picture are a little off as I was eating using a litte LED light stick for light. Because it had been hot, I had the window open and kept the main light off. I have a bug screen, but still, shouldn't announce "hey, bugs, there's something here" as some bugs can be quite inventive.

I'm eating the leftover wraps, dry, right now. I'm peckish and it's either that or another Twix...

Anyway, it wasn't bad but didn't seem particularly strong.

So on Sunday I made the sauce with the chicken and the onions again. To spice it up a little, I added two tablespoons of Tabasco. Which might have been just a tad too much. Especially given that when I threw in the rest of the spice powder, it became clear that my half and half was more like a quarter (yesterday) and the rest today. Oh, well, I'll just toss it on the chicken pieces and see how it turns out.

Oh, bloody hell.

Oh, well, I can't throw out all this nice chicken, I'll just toss it all on the pasta and see how it goes.

Oh, bloody help!

It was... somewhat on the warm side. As in "oh look, chemical burns" and "oh, I hope it doesn't come out like it went in".

Hot linguine.

To further torture myself, I had made a hot chocolate to drink. So there was no respite from the chilis. I just told myself that "oh, it'll be okay, that one just got some of the Tabasco, this one will be better", over and over.

# Rebel and a liberator, find a way to be a skater, rev it up to levitate her, super friendly aviator...

Yesterday, to have a complete change, and since I was feeling a bit down (my go-to excuse here is blood sugar levels), I made myself pancakes covered in lashings of cherry jam. Like, half a jar of jam.

Cherry pancakes.

It certainly provided the desired sugar high. And, um, had a bit of a wonky tummy today.

So... chili? No problems. Loads of chili? No problems. Cherry pancakes? Oh 💩! Oh 💩! Oh 💩!
Of course, I find this really rather amusing.

I think, if I remember when I'm next in the shop (don't count on it, my memory sucks), I'll look to see if I can get the chili powder mix by itself. The Old El Paso pack contained eight wraps, two sauce sachets (that's literally condensed tomato puree), and one sachet of the magic powder.
I don't see any reason why I couldn't jazz up some pasta by getting a generic tomato-and-basil sauce and throwing chili powder into it...

Crabs!

Crabcake Festival promotional poster.
Photo from publicity on WZBA's site

So, if you happen to be near Baltimore at the end of October, like crabs, and have nothing better to do...

Me? Not likely. Baltimore isn't over in a different département, it's a different continent with an ocean in between. It could be doable... Drive to Châteaubriant, tram-train to Nantes, train-train to Nantes airport. Flights to Washington (about 16h) from €550. Train from Washington Union Station to Baltimore Penn Station (every 20 minutes, seems to cost about $15?).
And then spend the day walking around Baltimore because the festival is actually in Westminster and there's no direct train or bus connection, plus, I don't much like crabs to be honest (sorry mom!).

I have a suspicion that I might be overthinking this.
In other words, file it under "things to do if I win the lottery tonight".

Embarrassing!

The story, and the photo I'm referring to, is here at DW, or The Guardian.

So, the rozzers basically have an arm each under her shoulders, and the other hand gripping her. In case what, she runs away?

Isn't this just a little bit embarrassing?

No, not for Greta, for the rozzers? I mean, look at her. Being led away, she is shorter than the radios attached to their chests.
Surely it would have only need one of them to handle a small young woman?

Still, she looks like she's taking this just a little more seriously than her utterly bemused expression when she got hauled off by the fuzz in Germany.

She will face a court later this month, and probably get a fine. That... ought to be interesting, given that in the intervening time, southern Europe has caught fire, as has Canada, and parts of California with record heat expected. Miami is having its worst heatwave on record.
Meanwhile Vermont, India, Korea, China, etc have seen flooding that, too, might break records (it has in Vermont).
There's a photo in The Guardian of two park rangers in Death Valley national park posing next to an unofficial sign that reads 132°F and, for the rest of the world, it says 55°C underneath.
I can't imagine the environment being 55. That's like how hot hot comes from the tap, isn't it? Those park rangers are wearing uniform trousers, not dresses or skirts. How the hell are they even conscious? That's just crazy hot.
Speaking of crazy, the forecast map for Phoenix Arizona is turning purple. The heat index goes from green to yellow to red. We've blown past red, through deep congealed blood red and now into purple with readings between 115-120F (46-49°C). Given that two places (Blythe and Phoenix) made 117F (47C), will we be asking what colour comes after purple?

I think it's fair to say that the weather has gone a bit crazy.

With all of this in mind, maybe - just maybe - that little Swedish woman might actually have a point?

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Clive Semmens, 19th July 2023, 06:56

" In other words, file it under "things to do if I win the lottery tonight". "    Sounds to me like the kind of thing I wouldn't bother to do even then...

Rick, 19th July 2023, 07:30

Meh, where's your sense of adventure? 😋

Clive Semmens, 19th July 2023, 08:38

"Meh, where's your sense of adventure? 😋"    Elsewhere... :)    As for Greta ... "might just have a point" ... indeed, a fact I've been aware of since long before she was born. That she's Greater than almost every politician on the planet has been evident since shortly after she first hit the media. Anyone who can't see that by now is truly blind - and more likely won't than can't.

Rick, 19th July 2023, 13:11

I think those who can't are either utterly delusional fools, or have a vested interest in not.

BENIS EXPERT of the Benis Brothers, of Ben Nevis, 19th July 2023, 13:14

Those pancakes look really really good!

Clive Semmens, 19th July 2023, 16:01

"...or have a vested interest in not."    That's what I meant by "won't".

J.G.Harston, 19th July 2023, 23:03

There seemed to be loads of comments along the lines of "How dare you arrest Greta..." But the *whole* *point* of public protest is that you are offering to sacrifice your liberty in order to get over a message. If there was no risk to your liberty, protest would have no point.    Today's youth? Phwf!

C Ferris, 20th July 2023, 09:02

Madam lives in a country with dirt cheap electricity - here it will be back to blankets and hot water bottles - this winter.

Clive Semmens, 20th July 2023, 13:34

Madam lives on the same planet I do. We both live in countries where renewables could easily provide our entire energy requirements if our governments could be weaned off bribes from the fossil fuel industries.

C Ferris, 21st July 2023, 07:56

We as Humans have to find some way of cutting out numbers - other than war or disease.    Nature has just given those two options :-(

Clive Semmens, 21st July 2023, 08:40

The vast majority of humanity are not responsible for the problems. The problems are entirely down to the activities of the wealthy - which includes a large minority of the population in every rich country, and a smaller minority of the population in the rest.

Clive Semmens, 22nd July 2023, 17:28

To put that another way: culling the poor (or sterilizing them) won't make the slightest difference to the problem. Culling the rich would...

J.G.Harston, 22nd July 2023, 18:14

Globally speaking, "the rich" is the entire West. Somebody destitute and sleeping in a doorway in London is in the global top 10%.

Rick, 22nd July 2023, 19:01

Socioeconomic status isn't the same as wealth distribution.    According to Wikipedia, 1% of the global population have more than $1M. 11% are middle class ($100K to $1M). 33% are poor ($10K to $100K), and all of the rest (55%) are "miserable" (under $10K).  I'm not sure what to make of a chart that considers "up to 100K" as "poor". I think that's a rather America-centric way of looking at the world.    A person sleeping in a doorway may have no home, no possessions, no clothes, no food, and no future. The only difference between him and somebody in Africa is that he happens to live in a country with a slightly better infrastructure, so soup kitchens and the like can keep him fed. But are his prospects really that much different? He has access to various sorts of assistance, but this isn't his wealth, it's the generosity of others. That global 10% isn't his to enjoy.  Remember that should you see him in that doorway in London having frozen to death...

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