kochleffel

In about 2008 I attended a conference at the University of Vermont. The sheer amount of maple syrup in the dining hall was astonishing. Maple syrup is also made here in New York. I will be having matzah brei instead of pancakes, though.

There are no local newspeople whom I would ever want to hug. The school library was my safe place in high school, and I got to read the Saturday Review and the Atlantic Monthly. A red shakshuka, the more typical kind, is a lot like huevos rancheros, but when I make it, I cook the eggs separately, because runny yolks make me queasy. I'll skip the cocktail. I see that the New Zealand Wine Festival is continuing, but this one is pretty expensive. You could probably guess that I haven't been to Haugesund. It was a bit surprising to come upon a shakshuka restaurant in Barcelona. Today is trash and recycling, Passover cleaning and shopping, and I have to be at the office in the afternoon.

I forgot to mention: the Zoom meeting yesterday had a change of speaker and was not as tedious as I had feared it would be. My doctor's appointment was a different story. A nurse took me into the examining room approximately on time but it was another 50 minutes before the doctor was ready. However, he said that the condition I was seeing him for is no longer a concern and that no follow-up is required.

Work hasn't been fun for a while. I think that Tweed Day refers to the fabric, not to Boss Tweed or Tweed New Haven Airport. Cod and asparagus are OK but I would rather have something else today. No on the cocktail (waste of whiskey), maybe or maybe not on the wine. I went to graduate school the last time in Boston, but the most recent time I was there was as a port of call in 2018. Milk Street Café is a kosher restaurant downtown. The fridge magnet was my only purchase other than shoelaces. I have a medical appointment 20 miles away this morning.

No, and not in my pocket, either.

So the questions of the moment are (1) how did I mislay a dishcloth while I was using it, and (2) where is it now? It's not anywhere around the sink, nor is it in the refrigerator, the oven, or the flatware drawer.

Lunch today was tacos, this time with mashed avocado from Target. Still have filling, taco shells, and everything else. Startling story on the local news: a truck carrying blood overturned on the interstate highway in a neighboring county. From the number of cartons showing in the photo, I think it must have been coming from the regional blood bank, perhaps making deliveries to hospitals. I donated recently enough that one bag might contain my blood. The news report is half-baked like all local TV reporting here, but it doesn't mention any spillage. Also slightly startling: the big online merchant that used to be a bookstore opened a warehouse in that same county recently, and now delivers here in its own trucks. The delivery notice includes a photo of the package resting on the doorstep.

Back from Target, or as Israeli friends call it, Tar-zhay. For a change I was able to get the app to work and pay with a gift card balance.

For the record, I don't like being up this early. I woke at 5:30 a.m. and couldn't get back to sleep. Every day should be Children's Book Day. I usually have my PB&J without the J. It has been Ramadan for more than a week already; Ramadan is a month in the Islamic calendar. BTW, the reason that Muslim and Jewish holidays move around, relative to the Gregorian calendar, is that the religious calendars are based on the lunar month, which is about 29.5 days, so a lunar year is shorter than the solar year. The Jewish calendar is corrected by the addition of a leap month every second or third year to keep seasonal celebrations in approximately the right season, while the Muslim calendar is not. Thus, Passover is always in the spring but Ramadan can be at any time of the year. I don't really like coconut and I'm not sure that steaming is such a good way to cook cod. Will skip the cocktail; might like the wine but I suspect that it's beyond my budget. I haven't been to Normandy but would like to visit. This morning I need to get to Target and hope to go as soon as I can be ready. I also need something from Staples, which is near it, but the store doesn't open until 11:00. After that, the first stage of Passover cleaning, and then a (likely tedious) online meeting at 4:00. Maybe a run to Aldi before the meeting.

Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit. This is my first time in years not saying it to a cat. My mother knew how to tat, but didn't enjoy it. Atheists are OK but atheist missionaries are just like any other missionaries. I think that fun at work is against the rules. I'm actually having tacos for dinner, but the filling will be vegan and there isn't any avocado. "Bourbon Renewal" sounded to me like a band, and a search reveals that the drink is named for one. I would probably like the drink and would make one now if I had any bourbon. I don't know the wine. I added the last of the ratatouille to last night's dinner as a starter, and opened a bottle of Gewürztraminer from Alsace to go with the fish. There's also some Lindeman Shiraz from Australia, a loyalty benefit on NCL, remaining that will probably go better with the tacos. My doctor changed my blood-pressure medication at the last visit and I don't think it's working well enough, as my blood pressure is higher with it, not lower. I'll check it again tomorrow and Monday and then let him know.

Oy. When my washer stopped working, I purchased both washer and dryer. On the delivery date they showed up with only the dryer, which I didn't need right away. The washer had apparently been "misplaced" in the warehouse.

Bunsen burners are OK in their place, which is the chem lab. Clams are OK in their place, which is the beach. As a Hebrew-school principal I always tried to get the primary grades to use crayons, which are cheap and relatively non-destructive, instead of markers, which are expensive and messy, but the teachers almost always wanted markers. Red snapper would be OK without the clam broth, but dinner tonight will be salmon, baked potato, and asparagus. Will skip the drink and don't know what the wine is. Haven't been to Robinson Crusoe Island or any part of Chile, but it's chilly in the house this morning.

I'm not sure that any of us are males between the ages of 18 and 35, but if we are, Amsterdam is inviting is not to visit.

Only the National Doctor's Day has any appeal for me. I like my doctor. The quotation: a chemistry professor friend points out that scientists who make unusual and unexpected discoveries usually do so from a large base of knowledge, although others who have as much knowledge may never discover anything. No on the meal suggestion and the cocktail; yes on the wine. I'd rather have Roy's alternative. I was puzzled at first by "snow egg" but recognized it as Oeufs à la Neige, poached meringues. Typically served on custard, and American cooks of a past generation would have called it Floating Island. I haven't been to Katakolon. Yesterday some weather forecasts said a huge amount of snow overnight and others said little or none; the latter was correct. I need to shop for Passover and it's more difficult here than usual. One store's Passover section is pitiful; another's was better but they inexplicably removed it too early. Speaking of badgers and dogs:

There are two few mom-and-pop, or even locally owned, businesses remaining here, except for liquor stores. Smoke and mirrors would be OK in their place, which is in a stage magic act. If we see manatees here, we're in serious trouble. Balanced diet? Everyone knows that the four basic food groups are sugar, fat, salt, and preservatives. No ham for me, please. The drink might be OK, the wine probably would. I haven't been to Honolulu. I'm giving a talk at the local college this afternoon, and for the sake of looking ever so slightly less like an old fogey, I'm bringing my notes on an iPad mini instead of on paper. Except for quotations, I could give the talk without notes. My TCM appointment for later in the afternoon was cancelled because the TCM practitioner has covid.

I disagree. Last year, with the same 12:30 p.m. departure time, I set up a tour with Ephesus Shuttle that included the Temple of Artemis and the Terrace Houses (both specifically requested by one or more in our group), but not the House of Mary. We didn't feel rushed, and made it back to the ship with plenty of time.

Like Sandi, I wondered which kind of weed was being appreciated. I remember a county sheriff, decades ago, who announced that he had discovered a field of the other kind being cultivated in an outlying corner of the county. For several days he had deputies out there, pulling the plants up one by one. Then a botanist from the university visited and told them, "That's not marijuana." If the shells are stuffed with ricotta, they're not for me. Lactose-free ricotta exists but is hard to find. The drink is a maybe, the wine more likely. Portland is a major container port, the Columbia and Willamette rivers being navigable that far. In the days of wooden ships, captains liked to dock at Portland because the fresh water killed the barnacles. I finally got the ratatouille made. I had forgotten how much eggplant there is in an eggplant, if that makes any sense. Fortunately, the zucchinis were quite large but not woody. Should have auditioned for a Caribbean cruise:

I wasn't sure whether it was average Joe, cuppa joe, or Joe Sixpack, the friend who brings a sixpack of Bud to your elegant dinner party. The meal suggestion would be OK but I'd prefer the alternative one. No on the drink and on the wine; I don't appreciate Merlot, and there is a glut of it. I've been to Quebec City but not on a cruise. I've had top-loading washers for years and always leave the door ajar. The new one is even more water-saving than the old one and requires even less detergent.

That's often the situation here, but we may have a chance on Wednesday or Thursday.

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Whether you saw the aurora last week or not--it was overcast here--you might want to watch this week for an alignment of five planets in the night sky. The article says that the best night will be Tuesday, and that it's best to look asap after sunset, because some of them will disappear a bit later. https://apnews.com/article/five-planets-align-night-sky-jupiter-mars-d0170eea9fee67680cf2f1bca68a4fcf

From our badger and dog conversation the other day:

I'm generally in favor of prosperity and long life, but my religion has so many holidays already that I don't need or want any more. Spinach is one of the few greens I like, along with beet greens and Swiss chard (which are different varieties of the same plant), and I eat one of them at least once every week. I don't think that osmosis works with books. I would probably season the chicken another way, and a strawberry mai tai has no appeal at all, but I might like the wine. I haven't been to Cape Verde, but I lived in southern Massachusetts and eastern Connecticut where there are Cape Verdeans. This morning I taught Hebrew and Prophets classes back to back, then had a nap after lunch. I didn't make ratatouille on Friday, because a work-related uproar late in the afternoon had me too upset to handle a knife, so it's still on the list.

Here's some video of the escaping zebra in Seoul: https://www.usatoday.com/videos/news/have-you-seen/2023/03/24/caught-camera-escaped-zebra-cornered-returned-south-korea-zoo/11534937002/

Occasionally HAL offers a bonus on gift cards.