Life - 3

I've been looking at the various e-reader/tablet options for a while without finding anything compellingly more interesting than my netbook. Android tablets until now have been too slow to be fun to use and are riddled with technical problems, the iPad is too large for easy portability, is nearly as heavy as a netbook, and has a low ppi screen I find insufficient for reading, and the various e-readers didn't have color screens and/or had poor support for DRM-free formats.

Enter the Barnes and Noble nook color; this device has the better portability I am looking for, something I can slip into my coat pocket when I head to the coffee shop, a reasonably high ppi screen I find comfortable to read, and supports DRM-free ePub, PDF, and plain text formats. As shown on the screen, it's great for reading comic books in PDF form like Marvel's Complete Iron Man Collection. Gutenberg project ePub books work great on the device, as do other DRM-free ePub books available online directly from publishers. There are also various magazines online in PDF form including Model Railroad Hobbyist.

It has a shop as well, but until such shops are DRM-free I strongly recommend avoiding buying anything from them. Read EFF's The Right to Read before being tempted to purchase DRM materials of any kind, especially with so many other freedom preserving options available online.

We've been replacing our worn dishes with made in the USA Fiestaware dishes; Joyce brought these colors home today.

I can't imagine what inspired her to select these colors . . .

Some people waste their lives hating others instead of improving their own lives, placing blame for their own failures on others. It is human nature to need someone to blame sometimes to vent frustration, but once this basic need is filled, one needs to let it go. Life is too short to spend it on things like revenge that don't make any difference in the end. Such activities are often likely to end up causing more harm to oneself than the intended target.

Often such feelings are based on a misunderstanding of the whole situation; angry people rarely look at problems rationally, become paranoid, and take things out of context. I have had this happen to me personally a couple times over the years. Advice such as this is often given and rarely heeded; indeed one may need to experience both sides before really understanding it, and some are so focused on hate they can't let it go even with experience.

There are a lot of very good reasons to wear a helmet when riding a bicycle. Here's another one to add to the list.

Some crazed automobile driver may pull out a gun and shoot a bicycle rider in the head. He later justified his action; he was frustrated the rider was on a busy street obstructing traffic, so he apparently decided to take matters into his own hands. Thankfully wearing a helmet saved the rider's life from this lunatic.

While camping at French Creek State Park last weekend we encountered an ice cream location called Scoupe DeVille.

A short drive from the park, they dip Nelson's Ice Cream, locally made in Royersford, PA, as well as soft serve and various burger and fry type items. With a 50's theme inside including seating and an old fuel pump from the era, it has a fun atmosphere as well as delicious ice cream.

This delicious sandwich, called the Caitlin, is filled with corned beef, cole slaw, swiss cheese, and dressing on grilled rye bread. Available at the 3rd Street Deli across from Capitol Park in downtown Harrisburg, I have had a couple of these and enjoyed every tasty bite. Their sloppy joe is another favorite. Not the sweet variety most places have, this one has a more spicy flavor.

As the chef there once told me "breakfast is best"; I recommend their western omelets as well as the two eggs, home fries, and corn beef hash combination.

They are only open for breakfast and lunch, but if you find yourself downtown looking for a good hometown deli atmosphere and food, I recommend giving them a try.

For approximately the next eight weeks, Pepsi and Mountain Dew are available with sugar. Labeled as Mountain Dew and Pepsi 'throwback' (a reference to a marketing term used for football products), they are a refreshing return to what soda tasted like before the HFCS craze hit the soda industry in the mid 1980's.

I find the Mountain Dew throwback to have a more citrus-y taste with a lighter feel and less syrupy aftertaste. Pepsi throwback reminds me of what I liked about Coke, with a sharper cola flavor and again lacking a syrupy aftertaste. After drinking these more tasty products, I believe many consumers will find why so many are choosing to drink sugar-based products. Fortunately Boylan's, Jones, and other bottlers will continue to provide other flavor choices with sugar for consumers finding the switch back to HFCS in a few weeks intolerable.

Van Wagner is now on iTunes as DRM-free iTunes Plus selections. Only "Be a Tree" and "Shikellamy" are available so far.

His music is not the type of music that typically engages me the most, but as I say in my iTunes review of "Be a Tree":

Beautiful strings and well written lyrics bring the history of Pennsylvania in days past to life. Living in the state and experiencing the people and their stories, Van Wagner brings a fun and interesting perspective on everything from superstition, factory work, coal mining, and back woods philosophy to this album.

I consider this a decent capsule summary of his music in general; some albums focus more on history, others more on the atmosphere of life.

My favorite album by Van Wagner is "Climbing to the Top," but it is not available on iTunes yet.

After receiving one of these Chemex Coffee Makers for Christmas and using it for a while, it not only makes better tasting coffee, but I enjoy pouring the water over the grounds and experiencing different smells that emanate from them as the brewing extracts the coffee oils. With this brewing method it is possible to tell from the scent when the beans are extracted and starting to go bitter, giving the brewer more control over the flavor. I definitely recommend trying one of these to anyone who wants better coffee, but more time and effort is needed to do it, so it isn't for everyone.

Excellent Chemex brewing instructions are available. The coffee does cool rather quickly in the carafe, so after pouring myself a cup I usually put the rest of the coffee in an insulated travel mug.

While eating at Neato Burrito today I noticed these delicious looking treats in their dessert bin in front of the cash register.

Labeled Bailout Brownies, they consist of a rich chocolate brownie with gold foil-wrapped chocolate coins adhered to the top with a chocolate glue. While eating, the coins stay on the top until their location is reached, when instead of the coin falling off, a hunk of chocolate comes loose with the coin. After prying the coin loose from the chocolate base, a nice imprint of the coin can be seen in the short period before the chocolate inevitably disappears. In a caricature of the real economy, the shadow of the coin is much more tasty than the chocolate within the coin itself.

A wonderful sweet relief from the stress and woe caused by this trying time.

Water spurting out from between sidewalk segments and flowing down the road has become a common sight this week as the local water authority has been steadily increasing the water pressure. The old 70's vintage pipes in my apartment complex couldn't take the pressure and are turning the complex into a waterfront property. As they repair one segment, new ones open up shortly thereafter, often just a few feet away.

I bicycled to work today. A 5.3 mile trip from Summerdale to downtown Harrisburg (Pennsylvania), I have been talking about cycling to work ever since I moved in the spring. A series of issues as well as a need to improve my general fitness level so I could do so successfully delayed my attempt.

I am hoping this is the start of many such trips; I want to do this once or twice a week starting out. As my health improves and I get more comfortable biking in less optimal conditions (rain and perhaps snow), I should be able to do this more often.

Dairy Queen's Blizzard of the Month is a Girl Scout Thin Mint^® Blizzard. I have had more of these than I would like to admit to this month and still love them. Often with Blizzards they have too much of the featured ingredient and not enough ice cream. These cookies are good enough that I enjoy this particular blend even when it is supersaturated with them.

Generally I prefer hand-dipped ice cream to soft. Handel's Homemade Ice Cream has a wonderful version of this combination, but as I thought they were only in Ohio (which I only venture to when visiting family or camping) I haven't eaten any of it this year. It seems they now have a York, PA location . . .

While ordering a burrito at one of my favorite Harrisburg eating establishments, Neato Burrito, I handed some change to the cashier in exchange for the rolled meal. The sharp-eyed cashier noticed one of the coins I handed him wasn't what I thought it was.



Having never seen such a coin before I paid in more appropriate currency and went to a table, glad this entertaining item came up as a side activity to occupy myself with during lunch. While enjoying my burrito I used one of my ever present internet connected gadgets to look up what this coin was; a 1 Jiao Chinese coin, which is one-tenth of a Chinese Yuan. At current exchange rates it would be worth about one and a half cents.

Another season of delicious chocolate egg-shaped confections is upon us. Once upon a time there were wonderful ones available in my home town, but they started adding vegetable shortening to those as a filler. That cheap concoction is disgusting, so I have been seeking a better variety.

The wonderful sample shown here is a Peanut Butter/Chocolate Truffle from St. John (Barner's) Lutheran Church. A simple treat containing only peanut butter, corn syrup, and chocolate, these are quite delicious. They are also reasonably sized, a nice side feature for those watching their waist.