Here are my 2007 flights, so far:
Friday, November 30, 2007
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Alaska, and elsewhere
I know that some of you occasionally see vestiges of my e-mails to you show up in this blog. For better or worse, it's when writing generalities about ANC, and what I'm doing, that I realize I should probably blog it. So I guess you could be happy that what I was writing to you seemed interesting enough to me to share it with eveyrone, right? The next couple paragraphs are (somewhat edited) versions of an e-mail I just sent.
Life in Anchorage remains fine. It's in the low 20s, crisp and clear. The snowy mountains across the way look like they have movie lighting on them, with a low sun shining under a layer of haze. We're waiting for Alyeska to re-open, after last weeks unseasonably warm temps (mid to high 40s was standard) melted all the snow. In our front yard, the ice and snow that covered the gravel is all gone, and only remains over the "grass."
Outside my window, the birds are doing acrobatics. I guess I'm thinking they might do better by migrating south, but they do make for entertaining diversions when I see them out of the corner of my eye. I'm mostly working on asylum and political protest stuff, and home improvement and homebrewing.
Last week I flew to Georgia for the annual SOA Watch vigil. Just before that I was in Sacramento, and in the weeks before that Atlanta, DC, and Boston. On Saturday night I'm flying to Arizona. My carbon footprint is really sucking, but life is definitely not boring.
Homebrewing:
recently bottled and kegged: Belgian pumpkin ale; imperial porter
recently racked to secondary: rye DIPA
planning: Bog Monster (two pounds of peated malt in a ~14 pound grain bill!)
Okay, I need to finish catching up on e-mail, and then make sure my folding bicycle fits in its suitcase, and see if I can fashion a relatively solid set of towing wheels to tow the suitcase with the bike.
I know that some of you occasionally see vestiges of my e-mails to you show up in this blog. For better or worse, it's when writing generalities about ANC, and what I'm doing, that I realize I should probably blog it. So I guess you could be happy that what I was writing to you seemed interesting enough to me to share it with eveyrone, right? The next couple paragraphs are (somewhat edited) versions of an e-mail I just sent.
Life in Anchorage remains fine. It's in the low 20s, crisp and clear. The snowy mountains across the way look like they have movie lighting on them, with a low sun shining under a layer of haze. We're waiting for Alyeska to re-open, after last weeks unseasonably warm temps (mid to high 40s was standard) melted all the snow. In our front yard, the ice and snow that covered the gravel is all gone, and only remains over the "grass."
Outside my window, the birds are doing acrobatics. I guess I'm thinking they might do better by migrating south, but they do make for entertaining diversions when I see them out of the corner of my eye. I'm mostly working on asylum and political protest stuff, and home improvement and homebrewing.
Last week I flew to Georgia for the annual SOA Watch vigil. Just before that I was in Sacramento, and in the weeks before that Atlanta, DC, and Boston. On Saturday night I'm flying to Arizona. My carbon footprint is really sucking, but life is definitely not boring.
Homebrewing:
recently bottled and kegged: Belgian pumpkin ale; imperial porter
recently racked to secondary: rye DIPA
planning: Bog Monster (two pounds of peated malt in a ~14 pound grain bill!)
Okay, I need to finish catching up on e-mail, and then make sure my folding bicycle fits in its suitcase, and see if I can fashion a relatively solid set of towing wheels to tow the suitcase with the bike.
Thursday, November 08, 2007
Travelin'
In the Alaska Board Room in Seattle now, at the tail end of a long trip (ANC-BOS-DCA-ATL-ANC.) Confidential to the guy in the blue fleece with "UCI" on the back of the collar, sitting at a work desk on the ground floor, screaming into your bluetooth headset: we don't need to hear it, and at least a few of us had a good laugh at your expense when it became clear that it's your mother you're screaming at.
In the Alaska Board Room in Seattle now, at the tail end of a long trip (ANC-BOS-DCA-ATL-ANC.) Confidential to the guy in the blue fleece with "UCI" on the back of the collar, sitting at a work desk on the ground floor, screaming into your bluetooth headset: we don't need to hear it, and at least a few of us had a good laugh at your expense when it became clear that it's your mother you're screaming at.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Anchorage, for now
I just looked out the window at what I thought was a bird, then realized it was a leaf, falling from a tree, but fluttering at length. It really reminded me of the plastic bag dancing scene in American Beauty.
Back from a lovely wedding celebration in Maryland a couple of weekends ago, I'm off to Boston tomorrow. Then DC. Then Atlanta. Then back to Anchorage.
We got our first real snow night before last, and by real, I mean just an inch or two, but enough to stick to the ground. The mountains I look out the window at as I sit at the computer, in the Chugach range, are now pretty much covered with snow.
I just looked out the window at what I thought was a bird, then realized it was a leaf, falling from a tree, but fluttering at length. It really reminded me of the plastic bag dancing scene in American Beauty.
Back from a lovely wedding celebration in Maryland a couple of weekends ago, I'm off to Boston tomorrow. Then DC. Then Atlanta. Then back to Anchorage.
We got our first real snow night before last, and by real, I mean just an inch or two, but enough to stick to the ground. The mountains I look out the window at as I sit at the computer, in the Chugach range, are now pretty much covered with snow.
Sunday, October 07, 2007
D.C., D.C., oh how you annoy me
I had an excellent time and J and C's wedding ceremony. It was truly beautiful, and had loads of great people, in a gorgeous setting. I was up until 1:45am looking at stars, and since I didn't want to interrupt people sleeping in the barn, just laid out in the passenger space of the ridiculous SUV I was given at Alamo. It was just about the comfiest sleeping I've ever done in a car, though.
Lots of good conversation and good people. I was the bartender for much of the night, and helped people imbibe with the extensive good booze to be had, including lots of outstanding merlot from Trader Joes, and a couple of organic wines. The potluck was excellent, too: lots of vegan goodies. It was designed as a way of contributing and sharing with our community, and it was wildly successful.
Had a great time this morning helping clean up, including moving straw bales on J's bike with the fantastic work trailer attached. At one point, we moved five bales with it, and it wasn't particularly difficult.
At DCA now, awaiting my first flight DCA-SEA, and then on to ANC with mom. See you in Seattle, mom!
I had an excellent time and J and C's wedding ceremony. It was truly beautiful, and had loads of great people, in a gorgeous setting. I was up until 1:45am looking at stars, and since I didn't want to interrupt people sleeping in the barn, just laid out in the passenger space of the ridiculous SUV I was given at Alamo. It was just about the comfiest sleeping I've ever done in a car, though.
Lots of good conversation and good people. I was the bartender for much of the night, and helped people imbibe with the extensive good booze to be had, including lots of outstanding merlot from Trader Joes, and a couple of organic wines. The potluck was excellent, too: lots of vegan goodies. It was designed as a way of contributing and sharing with our community, and it was wildly successful.
Had a great time this morning helping clean up, including moving straw bales on J's bike with the fantastic work trailer attached. At one point, we moved five bales with it, and it wasn't particularly difficult.
At DCA now, awaiting my first flight DCA-SEA, and then on to ANC with mom. See you in Seattle, mom!
Friday, October 05, 2007
At SeaTac, and why [some] Horizon ramp agents suck
After flying in last night and spending the night in a priceline hotel, I'm back at the airport to continue the journey to DC for the wedding of two friends. I ended up getting lucky with my flights: I was booked on AS 162, didn't get on standby on AS 96, got rolled over to AS 148, but then AS 96 went mechanical and they had to swap equipment, and AS 162 was delayed, so of the three ANC-SEA flights, I got lucky with Door #2.
The bus from SeaTac to downtown Seattle, #174, was damn near intolerable. Since the #194 "express" (a very relative term) doesn't run after about 9:15pm, I had to take #174, the milk run. In was a nasty slog, with about half the bus yammering loudly into their cell phones (many of them ramp/handlers for QX, i.e., Horizon Airlines) and then yammering excitedly to one another about what they'd just yammered about on their cell phones. One of the worst offenders moved to jam in next to me, in a sideways facing seat that is already somewhat cramped due to the metal poles, and remained there until he disembarked, despite there being at least half a dozen available seats immediately nearby.
Two of the QX ramp agents actively tried to cut in line getting on the bus (for no apparent reason, since the bus was not full, and there were only about a dozen of us unlucky enough to be standing there and waiting for it.) A moderate bit of stinkeye and asserting myself prevented both, at least from cutting me off, though they actively cut several other people.
Confidential to Horizon Airlines (and/or Menzies, if QX ramp work is also subcontracted to Menzies, as AS is): you might want to ask your employees to take off their company clothing before acting like complete asshats for 45 minutes in public.
In other news, I spent about 45 minutes at the Alaska MVP/First Class ticket counter with an extremely pleasant employee, while we sorted out my fouled up reservation. Because a multi-city itinerary (totally legal, and booked through alaskaair.com) included two ANC-SEA and SEA-ANC trips over a week, when I boarded the first of these legs the computer decided to 'use' both of my roundtrip sets of flight coupons. Like I said to the agent, if you can have one cookie, why not have two?
In the Board Room now, enjoying the free wifi, free Alaskan Amber, free chips, and awaiting the free veggie chili. Gotta fill up before the 5.5 hour SEA-DCA flight!
After flying in last night and spending the night in a priceline hotel, I'm back at the airport to continue the journey to DC for the wedding of two friends. I ended up getting lucky with my flights: I was booked on AS 162, didn't get on standby on AS 96, got rolled over to AS 148, but then AS 96 went mechanical and they had to swap equipment, and AS 162 was delayed, so of the three ANC-SEA flights, I got lucky with Door #2.
The bus from SeaTac to downtown Seattle, #174, was damn near intolerable. Since the #194 "express" (a very relative term) doesn't run after about 9:15pm, I had to take #174, the milk run. In was a nasty slog, with about half the bus yammering loudly into their cell phones (many of them ramp/handlers for QX, i.e., Horizon Airlines) and then yammering excitedly to one another about what they'd just yammered about on their cell phones. One of the worst offenders moved to jam in next to me, in a sideways facing seat that is already somewhat cramped due to the metal poles, and remained there until he disembarked, despite there being at least half a dozen available seats immediately nearby.
Two of the QX ramp agents actively tried to cut in line getting on the bus (for no apparent reason, since the bus was not full, and there were only about a dozen of us unlucky enough to be standing there and waiting for it.) A moderate bit of stinkeye and asserting myself prevented both, at least from cutting me off, though they actively cut several other people.
Confidential to Horizon Airlines (and/or Menzies, if QX ramp work is also subcontracted to Menzies, as AS is): you might want to ask your employees to take off their company clothing before acting like complete asshats for 45 minutes in public.
In other news, I spent about 45 minutes at the Alaska MVP/First Class ticket counter with an extremely pleasant employee, while we sorted out my fouled up reservation. Because a multi-city itinerary (totally legal, and booked through alaskaair.com) included two ANC-SEA and SEA-ANC trips over a week, when I boarded the first of these legs the computer decided to 'use' both of my roundtrip sets of flight coupons. Like I said to the agent, if you can have one cookie, why not have two?
In the Board Room now, enjoying the free wifi, free Alaskan Amber, free chips, and awaiting the free veggie chili. Gotta fill up before the 5.5 hour SEA-DCA flight!
Monday, October 01, 2007
Speaking of chest thumping right wing Christian conservative no-bid defense contractors:
Specifically, of Blackwater USA, the mass murdering American defense contractor solely run by Erik Prince, a right wing Christian conservative wingnut with strong ties to the Bush administrationS:
"No doubt about it, if you shoot everyone around you, you reduce the risk that you will be shot."
-Daniel Schorr, NPR (10/01/2007)
Specifically, of Blackwater USA, the mass murdering American defense contractor solely run by Erik Prince, a right wing Christian conservative wingnut with strong ties to the Bush administrationS:
"No doubt about it, if you shoot everyone around you, you reduce the risk that you will be shot."
-Daniel Schorr, NPR (10/01/2007)
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Settling in
I've had a break from EMT training for most of the last week due to scheduling and logistical issues of the instructor. It's been nice, and has allowed me to get more done around the house. I've worked through most of the list that filled amost an entire side of an envelope, and am now on to mostly puttering-level tasks.
Today's to-do list includes dragging our asses all over robin hood's barn, from the commissary for onions and bananas and tofu, to the BX for bookshelves, to the hardware store for a showerhead, and bed bath and beyond for non-slip strips (or a mat) to put down in the main floor tub. I also need to track down 3-way CF and dimmable bulbs, which are looking both not too common, and very expensive.
Here are a few (bad) pictures of the three moose that were wandering around at the edge of our driveway last week. A couple of days after watching these three, I saw the largest moose I've ever seen, walk through the other part of our driveway and then wander into our back yard. Unfortunately, it was dark and I didn't get any photos.
I've had a break from EMT training for most of the last week due to scheduling and logistical issues of the instructor. It's been nice, and has allowed me to get more done around the house. I've worked through most of the list that filled amost an entire side of an envelope, and am now on to mostly puttering-level tasks.
Today's to-do list includes dragging our asses all over robin hood's barn, from the commissary for onions and bananas and tofu, to the BX for bookshelves, to the hardware store for a showerhead, and bed bath and beyond for non-slip strips (or a mat) to put down in the main floor tub. I also need to track down 3-way CF and dimmable bulbs, which are looking both not too common, and very expensive.
Here are a few (bad) pictures of the three moose that were wandering around at the edge of our driveway last week. A couple of days after watching these three, I saw the largest moose I've ever seen, walk through the other part of our driveway and then wander into our back yard. Unfortunately, it was dark and I didn't get any photos.
Monday, September 10, 2007
Thoughts on media, and what we've unfortunately been watching lately
1) 24 is comically stupid: it's preposterous idiocy for the post 9/11 right-wing conspiracy-theory wingnut moron crowd. It's astonishing that people think this show is good, or interesting.
2) 300 is far beyond comically stupid: it's nonsensical high-sugar junk food for the pitifully limited brains of the xbox generation.
3) 300 is stupid, 24 is stupid. Therefore, all shows and movies with numbers as the sole title are stupid.
4) Disturbia is very, very stupid. It's Scream meets American Beauty for the moron crowd, and yet another installment in the 'how difficult it is to be rich' genre.
5) Fracture is appallingly bad and unrealistic. All of the characters are embarrassing parodies.
1) 24 is comically stupid: it's preposterous idiocy for the post 9/11 right-wing conspiracy-theory wingnut moron crowd. It's astonishing that people think this show is good, or interesting.
2) 300 is far beyond comically stupid: it's nonsensical high-sugar junk food for the pitifully limited brains of the xbox generation.
3) 300 is stupid, 24 is stupid. Therefore, all shows and movies with numbers as the sole title are stupid.
4) Disturbia is very, very stupid. It's Scream meets American Beauty for the moron crowd, and yet another installment in the 'how difficult it is to be rich' genre.
5) Fracture is appallingly bad and unrealistic. All of the characters are embarrassing parodies.
Friday, August 17, 2007
Food for thought, since it's certainly not going to be very tasty
I'm going to be a judge of the homebrew competition at the Alaska State Fair this weekend, and while looking through the website came across the winners, for 2006 and all-time, of the largest vegetable contest.
A few interesting things show up, like how many records were set last year. Examples: 67&1/8" long gourd, 84 pound collard green, 96.95 pound kohlrabi, and the one you most often hear about: the 1019 pound pumpkin.
Then there are the records for the ages, like 4.5 pound rhubarb (1983), 39.5 pound broccoli (1994), 45.25 pound red cabbage (1994), 71.75 pound chard (1995), and 25.3 pound mushroom (1993).
See what you too could do with 18 to 23 hours a day of sun, two 1,500 watt heaters, a Visqueen tent, a forklift, and up to 120 gallons of water a day? Get busy!
I'm going to be a judge of the homebrew competition at the Alaska State Fair this weekend, and while looking through the website came across the winners, for 2006 and all-time, of the largest vegetable contest.
A few interesting things show up, like how many records were set last year. Examples: 67&1/8" long gourd, 84 pound collard green, 96.95 pound kohlrabi, and the one you most often hear about: the 1019 pound pumpkin.
Then there are the records for the ages, like 4.5 pound rhubarb (1983), 39.5 pound broccoli (1994), 45.25 pound red cabbage (1994), 71.75 pound chard (1995), and 25.3 pound mushroom (1993).
See what you too could do with 18 to 23 hours a day of sun, two 1,500 watt heaters, a Visqueen tent, a forklift, and up to 120 gallons of water a day? Get busy!
One reason we're excited about the new house
(And hope it closes as planned, with any more turmoil or headaches.) I was just writing this in an e-mail to a friend:
Denver: one bed, one bath
San Diego, OB: studio, one bath
San Diego, University Heights: one bed, one bath
Salt Lake City, downtown: three bed, two bath (but only for four months)
Salt Lake City: two bed, one bath
It'll be awfully nice to be in a decently sized place, three bed, two and a half bath, especially with a view like this:
(And hope it closes as planned, with any more turmoil or headaches.) I was just writing this in an e-mail to a friend:
So definitely think about coming up when you have time: we're really excited to have people visit. In a sense, we've never really had enough space to properly have guests stay with us, at least who didn't mind sleeping on the couch in the living room.It got me to thinking about the places J and I have lived, and how we really haven't had space for people to stay, at least when everyone didn't wan tto be in every else's back pockets:
Denver: one bed, one bath
San Diego, OB: studio, one bath
San Diego, University Heights: one bed, one bath
Salt Lake City, downtown: three bed, two bath (but only for four months)
Salt Lake City: two bed, one bath
It'll be awfully nice to be in a decently sized place, three bed, two and a half bath, especially with a view like this:
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Don't ask me why in the fuck I'm reading this stuff:
at 1:30am in Anchorage. And don't ask about the last several hours I just spent reviewing individual assessor and property records for the Mat-Su Borough. (And TGS, say what we will about Mat-Su, but damn they've got a nice website for reviewing other people's property records: about the nicest I've ever used.)
Then, after hours of reasonably productive web surfing, I fall into the all too common practice of fucking around for an hour or two on the web, and before I know it, it's 1:30am, and for a series of links and click-throughs that I could relate to you, Gentle Reader, but won't, I end up reading a blog about being a consultant. At least it made me laugh out loud, especially this part:
(In the original version of this post, I actually included a link to the blog that this was in, but decided to remove it. As I read further down in the blog, there was some offensive, racist shit that I didn't like.)
Okay, now I'm really going to go brush my teeth with the electric toothbrush that, after about six years of faithful service and hundreds of falls, has finally developed a large crack. But hey, it's still working!
at 1:30am in Anchorage. And don't ask about the last several hours I just spent reviewing individual assessor and property records for the Mat-Su Borough. (And TGS, say what we will about Mat-Su, but damn they've got a nice website for reviewing other people's property records: about the nicest I've ever used.)
Then, after hours of reasonably productive web surfing, I fall into the all too common practice of fucking around for an hour or two on the web, and before I know it, it's 1:30am, and for a series of links and click-throughs that I could relate to you, Gentle Reader, but won't, I end up reading a blog about being a consultant. At least it made me laugh out loud, especially this part:
The Art of the Shnap
Shnaps are a great way to escape the pain of a local [consulting] project for 30 minutes to an hour. To take a shnap, you tell the client, “I gotta go drop a deuce, be back in an hour.” You head into the John, slip down your drawers, drop some kids off at the pool, turn off the alarm on your cellphone, put your head in your lap (don’t forget to flush before this step so you’re not huffing your own shit fumes), and sleep.
(In the original version of this post, I actually included a link to the blog that this was in, but decided to remove it. As I read further down in the blog, there was some offensive, racist shit that I didn't like.)
Okay, now I'm really going to go brush my teeth with the electric toothbrush that, after about six years of faithful service and hundreds of falls, has finally developed a large crack. But hey, it's still working!
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Price comparisons of vegan groceries in Anchorage
You know how you sometimes see those signs up at supermarkets claiming that in a direct product to product price comparison, their store came out x.x% lower than Competitors Y and Z?
While just about shitting myself over the preposterous prices at Carr's (which is essentially Safeway, same company) the other day, I decided to do just that. Except of course I did it with a distinctly hippie-ish natural foods vegan twist. For fuckssake, I'm sure not interested in comparing the price of Ragu's Ground Up Animal with Fresh Unknown Industrial Byproducts and A Half pound of Added Sugar Sauce.
I made a list of things that I regularly buy, and found myself with a shockingly logical route coming back from the dentist this morning. I then had the brain flash that should do beer price comparisons, too, but I'll report on those in another blog post.
THE ROUTE
* The products and NON-SALE* prices are listed from from lowest to highest.
* I deliberately used the regular everyday price, ignoring temporary sales.
* Where a store isn't shown for a particular product, they either didn't sell it, or I just couldn't find it.
TOFU, cheapest available: Base $1.07; Sagaya $1.49; Carrs $2.19; Fred $2.39
Soy milk, 8th Continent
SOY MILK, 8th Continent (my favorite): Base $2.19; Fred Meyer $3.79; Sagaya $4.69
SOY MILK, Silk: Base $2.89; Fred Meyer $4.39; Carrs $4.69 (Silk Lite, no regular visible)
SMART BALANCE ORGANIC (vegan margarine): Base $2.59; Fred Meyer $3.29
SMART BALANCE [regular, non-vegan]: Base $1.79; Fred Meyer $2.45; Carrs 2.79
ONIONS, ORGANIC RED per pound: Base $1.11 (Earthbound Farms 3# bag); Sagaya $1.66 (IDENTICAL Earthbound Farms 3# bag)
ONIONS, conventional RED per pound: Base $1.15; Sagaya $1.49; Fred Meyer $1.99
(yes, I honestly couldn't find red onions anywhere at Carrs)
ONIONS, YELLOW per pound: Base $0.59; Fred Meyer $1.29; Sagaya $1.29; Carrs $1.39
LETTUCE, RED per head: Base $1.09; Fred Meyer $1.79; Sagaya $1.99; Carrs $1.99
LETTUCE, GREEN per head: Base $1.09; Fred Meyer $1.79; Sagaya $1.99; Carrs $1.99
SPINACH, per bunch: Base $1.29; Fred Meyer $1.79; Sagaya $1.99; Carrs $1.99
BROCCOLI, ORGANIC per pound: Base $1.58; Fred Meyer $2.29; Carrs $2.29; Sagaya $3.99
LIGHTLIFE vegan sausage tube: Base $2.34; Fred Meyer $3.99
COFFEE, ORGANIC per pound: Base: $4.38 ($2.74/10 oz.); Carrs $9.69; Fred Meyer $10.79
And my personal favorite for the most preposterous, indefensible markup in Anchorage:
BOCA VEGAN BURGERS: Base $2.00; Fred Meyer $4.19; Sagaya $5.49; Carrs $5.49
Note that despite vastly lower purchasing power/economy of scale, New Sagaya is almost always lower than Carrs / Safeway. Crazy.
The moral of the story? Always shop at the Base, then go to Fred Meyer as a more local backup, Sagaya is occasionally okay for certain items, and avoid Carrs / Safeway like avian influenza.
You know how you sometimes see those signs up at supermarkets claiming that in a direct product to product price comparison, their store came out x.x% lower than Competitors Y and Z?
While just about shitting myself over the preposterous prices at Carr's (which is essentially Safeway, same company) the other day, I decided to do just that. Except of course I did it with a distinctly hippie-ish natural foods vegan twist. For fuckssake, I'm sure not interested in comparing the price of Ragu's Ground Up Animal with Fresh Unknown Industrial Byproducts and A Half pound of Added Sugar Sauce.
I made a list of things that I regularly buy, and found myself with a shockingly logical route coming back from the dentist this morning. I then had the brain flash that should do beer price comparisons, too, but I'll report on those in another blog post.
THE ROUTE
- Carrs (Safeway) on West Dimond and Jewel Lake (hereinafter "Carrs")
- Fred Meyer on West Dimond just west of Minnesota ((hereinafter "Fred")
- Fred Meyer liquor store
- Gold Rush Liquors on Old Seward at East Dimond
- Brown Jug Warehouse store, 4140 Old Seward
- New Sagaya Midtown Market, Old Seward at 36th (hereinafter "Sagaya")
- VERY briefly spun around the astonishingly expensive Natural Pantry across the street from New Sagaya
- Carrs in the Sears Mall on Northern Lights, since I (mistakenly) assumed that the Carr's selection on West Dimond completely sucked due to their renovations
- Oaken Keg liquor store, a Carr's operation, in the Sears Mall
- the Commissary/PX/BX at Elmendorf AFB (hereinafter "base")
* The products and NON-SALE* prices are listed from from lowest to highest.
* I deliberately used the regular everyday price, ignoring temporary sales.
* Where a store isn't shown for a particular product, they either didn't sell it, or I just couldn't find it.
TOFU, cheapest available: Base $1.07; Sagaya $1.49; Carrs $2.19; Fred $2.39
Soy milk, 8th Continent
SOY MILK, 8th Continent (my favorite): Base $2.19; Fred Meyer $3.79; Sagaya $4.69
SOY MILK, Silk: Base $2.89; Fred Meyer $4.39; Carrs $4.69 (Silk Lite, no regular visible)
SMART BALANCE ORGANIC (vegan margarine): Base $2.59; Fred Meyer $3.29
SMART BALANCE [regular, non-vegan]: Base $1.79; Fred Meyer $2.45; Carrs 2.79
ONIONS, ORGANIC RED per pound: Base $1.11 (Earthbound Farms 3# bag); Sagaya $1.66 (IDENTICAL Earthbound Farms 3# bag)
ONIONS, conventional RED per pound: Base $1.15; Sagaya $1.49; Fred Meyer $1.99
(yes, I honestly couldn't find red onions anywhere at Carrs)
ONIONS, YELLOW per pound: Base $0.59; Fred Meyer $1.29; Sagaya $1.29; Carrs $1.39
LETTUCE, RED per head: Base $1.09; Fred Meyer $1.79; Sagaya $1.99; Carrs $1.99
LETTUCE, GREEN per head: Base $1.09; Fred Meyer $1.79; Sagaya $1.99; Carrs $1.99
SPINACH, per bunch: Base $1.29; Fred Meyer $1.79; Sagaya $1.99; Carrs $1.99
BROCCOLI, ORGANIC per pound: Base $1.58; Fred Meyer $2.29; Carrs $2.29; Sagaya $3.99
LIGHTLIFE vegan sausage tube: Base $2.34; Fred Meyer $3.99
COFFEE, ORGANIC per pound: Base: $4.38 ($2.74/10 oz.); Carrs $9.69; Fred Meyer $10.79
And my personal favorite for the most preposterous, indefensible markup in Anchorage:
BOCA VEGAN BURGERS: Base $2.00; Fred Meyer $4.19; Sagaya $5.49; Carrs $5.49
Note that despite vastly lower purchasing power/economy of scale, New Sagaya is almost always lower than Carrs / Safeway. Crazy.
The moral of the story? Always shop at the Base, then go to Fred Meyer as a more local backup, Sagaya is occasionally okay for certain items, and avoid Carrs / Safeway like avian influenza.
Of beers and vomit
So J is in Georgia, and while going to an excellent beer bar at my suggestion and urging, she happened on to an unknown brewpub. Their web site suggested decent beer and good vegetarian food options, so I urged her to go. Among other mixed reviews in a first e-mail, here is the entirety of the second e-mail she sent me:
So J is in Georgia, and while going to an excellent beer bar at my suggestion and urging, she happened on to an unknown brewpub. Their web site suggested decent beer and good vegetarian food options, so I urged her to go. Among other mixed reviews in a first e-mail, here is the entirety of the second e-mail she sent me:
when the ipa warms up it tastes like vomitThe identity of the brewpub will be withheld until I can do my own visit, but given that IPA is J's favorite style, the prospects look pretty dim.
Friday, August 10, 2007
It's been a long time since I laughed out loud at something on the web
Actually, probably since E (and by extension, S) got me to read Best of Craigslist. But, see, I have a relatively short attention span, and like pretty constant entertainment and/or stimuli of some kind. So with rare exceptions, like the Alaska Airlines board on Flytertalk and the homebrewing forum on BeerAdvocate, I rarely read many pages for long.
Anyway, back on topic, laughing out loud at things on the web.
Several things in this Instructable, and the pages linked from it, made me laugh out loud. Repeatedly.
Actually, probably since E (and by extension, S) got me to read Best of Craigslist. But, see, I have a relatively short attention span, and like pretty constant entertainment and/or stimuli of some kind. So with rare exceptions, like the Alaska Airlines board on Flytertalk and the homebrewing forum on BeerAdvocate, I rarely read many pages for long.
Anyway, back on topic, laughing out loud at things on the web.
Several things in this Instructable, and the pages linked from it, made me laugh out loud. Repeatedly.
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Dinner!
Here's tonight's dinner, a green leaf lettuce salad with sauteed organic red onions and tofu, and toasted bread infused with garlic. The bread wasn't fresh per se, but was hot to the touch when I picked up it yesterday.
Cost breakdown:
$0.37: green leaf lettuce (1/3 of a $1.09 head, Alaska grown)
$1.07: tofu (one package)
$0.42: red onions (1/2 of one, $3.39 for 3 lbs/four onions, Earthbound Farms organic)
$0.20: Annie's Goddess dressing: (~ 1/30 of a $5.99, 1 liter bottle)
$0.25: bread (1/8 of a loaf, 2 for $4.00)
GRAND TOTAL: $2.30
Now, tell me where you can get vegan food like this at a restaurant at this cost?
TGS, watchoogot?
Cost comparisons of Anchorage groceries likely to follow.
Here's tonight's dinner, a green leaf lettuce salad with sauteed organic red onions and tofu, and toasted bread infused with garlic. The bread wasn't fresh per se, but was hot to the touch when I picked up it yesterday.
Cost breakdown:
$0.37: green leaf lettuce (1/3 of a $1.09 head, Alaska grown)
$1.07: tofu (one package)
$0.42: red onions (1/2 of one, $3.39 for 3 lbs/four onions, Earthbound Farms organic)
$0.20: Annie's Goddess dressing: (~ 1/30 of a $5.99, 1 liter bottle)
$0.25: bread (1/8 of a loaf, 2 for $4.00)
GRAND TOTAL: $2.30
Now, tell me where you can get vegan food like this at a restaurant at this cost?
TGS, watchoogot?
Cost comparisons of Anchorage groceries likely to follow.
Thursday, August 02, 2007
Today's technology rant...
is more of a resigned sigh than a rant, I guess. My formerly reliable and trustworthy Dell 700m laptop has of late become a shitty little piece of shit laptop. First, the 71WH, 4800 mAH, Type C6017 extended life battery is dying. It basically only holds a little over an hour charge when fully charged with the DVD/CDROM drive running. For the last couple of years, it would regularly give me three plus hours with DVDs, a lifesaver on long flights. Researching it some, I've come to find out that almost everyone hates these batteries, which are close kin to the infamous firestarter Dell batteries which have resulted in at least three recalls in the last several years.
In addition, ont he ferry ride up here, the DVD/CDROM drive has started to malfunction, and doesn't like to correctly play DVDs for much more than an hour or two.
Mere coincidence that this all starts to go down after my 2 year extended warranty period ended in April? Truth be told, though, the extended warranty wasn't worth a shit anyway. When I had problems within a year, I spent endless and worthless hours on the phone with "technical support" who ran be through a series of stupid checklists, and ultimately I resolved the problem through some advice I found online.
Moral of the story? That Dell laptops suck, and I won't buy one again? Not really. I actually think it's a sad statement about built-in obsolescence, which manufacturers shamelessly apply to pretty much all consumer products these days. I still have a Mac Powerbook 5300c from 1996! that works fine, and offers better battery life than my Dell 700m from 2005. Okay, then, is the moral of the story that Macs are better than Dells for this purpose? Nope, not that, either: I know plenty of people with newer Max laptops that have jad just as shitty of lifespans.
No, I think the moral of the story is that computer (and consumer electronics) manufacturers have figured out that we, the purchasing public, have an endless capacity for ignorant spending and replacing and consumerism. In short: we're fools, and they know it. Pretty irritating, isn't it?
On a related note of irritation: sometime recently, Costco changed the only decent refund policy in the industry, and now only offers 60 or 90 days on electronics. I forget which, but it's not important, since it's a damn sight less than the lifetime satisfaction guarantee that they used to offer on everything they sold. That eliminates what was usually the primary reason, beyond decent (but usually not extraordinary) prices, to purchase from Costco. I used to almost always buy from them even when it wasn't precisely what I wanted. Now? Depends on where the price is right. And no, Costco, the "technical support" you offer as part of your Concierge services isn't a good substitute.
is more of a resigned sigh than a rant, I guess. My formerly reliable and trustworthy Dell 700m laptop has of late become a shitty little piece of shit laptop. First, the 71WH, 4800 mAH, Type C6017 extended life battery is dying. It basically only holds a little over an hour charge when fully charged with the DVD/CDROM drive running. For the last couple of years, it would regularly give me three plus hours with DVDs, a lifesaver on long flights. Researching it some, I've come to find out that almost everyone hates these batteries, which are close kin to the infamous firestarter Dell batteries which have resulted in at least three recalls in the last several years.
In addition, ont he ferry ride up here, the DVD/CDROM drive has started to malfunction, and doesn't like to correctly play DVDs for much more than an hour or two.
Mere coincidence that this all starts to go down after my 2 year extended warranty period ended in April? Truth be told, though, the extended warranty wasn't worth a shit anyway. When I had problems within a year, I spent endless and worthless hours on the phone with "technical support" who ran be through a series of stupid checklists, and ultimately I resolved the problem through some advice I found online.
Moral of the story? That Dell laptops suck, and I won't buy one again? Not really. I actually think it's a sad statement about built-in obsolescence, which manufacturers shamelessly apply to pretty much all consumer products these days. I still have a Mac Powerbook 5300c from 1996! that works fine, and offers better battery life than my Dell 700m from 2005. Okay, then, is the moral of the story that Macs are better than Dells for this purpose? Nope, not that, either: I know plenty of people with newer Max laptops that have jad just as shitty of lifespans.
No, I think the moral of the story is that computer (and consumer electronics) manufacturers have figured out that we, the purchasing public, have an endless capacity for ignorant spending and replacing and consumerism. In short: we're fools, and they know it. Pretty irritating, isn't it?
On a related note of irritation: sometime recently, Costco changed the only decent refund policy in the industry, and now only offers 60 or 90 days on electronics. I forget which, but it's not important, since it's a damn sight less than the lifetime satisfaction guarantee that they used to offer on everything they sold. That eliminates what was usually the primary reason, beyond decent (but usually not extraordinary) prices, to purchase from Costco. I used to almost always buy from them even when it wasn't precisely what I wanted. Now? Depends on where the price is right. And no, Costco, the "technical support" you offer as part of your Concierge services isn't a good substitute.
With apologies to John McPhee,
we've come in to the country. We arrived in Whittier, Alaska on the ferry on July 26th, and have been on the go since. On that first day, we:
We've now been in town a week, and J has been busy with meet and greets for her new job. In the meantime, we've gone to the home inspection for the house we're under contract for, and submitted a list of request repairs to the sellers. If all goes well, we close on the 27th.
I've been to the commissary twice, due to the VERY cheap prices, especially on the small but nice selection of organic produce, and excellent prices on fake-meat products.
Today we went out for a medical appointment for J, and checked out the "for sale" lot, and the (free to us!) recreation/fitness center. A free swimming pool! Yay!
Also over the weekend, we bought a Jeep Liberty. Ugh. It's an SUV, but getting in and out of our driveway in the winter will actually require legitimate 4WD. We are both sickened by the crappy gas mileage (18/23) but it's truly a winter vehicle only, and the bad mileage will help keep us honest honest on that.
I just called and got a dentist, and have an appointment for Monday morning. First thing Monday morning, like 6:45am, I drop off J at the airport to fly to Nome for the week, then go straight to the Jeep dealership to have the optional undercoating installed (sprayed on?) I then have a dentist appointment at 10am. Busy day ahead there, too.
And in the next hour, I need to go drop off some DVDs at the library, and then pick up the tickets we bought a month ago for tonight's sold-out Indigo Girls show at the Bear Tooth First Tap.
we've come in to the country. We arrived in Whittier, Alaska on the ferry on July 26th, and have been on the go since. On that first day, we:
- drove to Anchorage
- had breakfast at Snow City (details below)
- got both of our driver licenses
- got an expensive smog test for the car
- registered the car
- got library cards
- got J on the request list at the library for Harry Potter
- went to Elmendorf and got a base sticker for the car
- and got our health care switched over and PCM teams assigned
- and checked out the commissary
- 'checked in' to the B&B we're staying at for the month
We've now been in town a week, and J has been busy with meet and greets for her new job. In the meantime, we've gone to the home inspection for the house we're under contract for, and submitted a list of request repairs to the sellers. If all goes well, we close on the 27th.
I've been to the commissary twice, due to the VERY cheap prices, especially on the small but nice selection of organic produce, and excellent prices on fake-meat products.
Today we went out for a medical appointment for J, and checked out the "for sale" lot, and the (free to us!) recreation/fitness center. A free swimming pool! Yay!
Also over the weekend, we bought a Jeep Liberty. Ugh. It's an SUV, but getting in and out of our driveway in the winter will actually require legitimate 4WD. We are both sickened by the crappy gas mileage (18/23) but it's truly a winter vehicle only, and the bad mileage will help keep us honest honest on that.
I just called and got a dentist, and have an appointment for Monday morning. First thing Monday morning, like 6:45am, I drop off J at the airport to fly to Nome for the week, then go straight to the Jeep dealership to have the optional undercoating installed (sprayed on?) I then have a dentist appointment at 10am. Busy day ahead there, too.
And in the next hour, I need to go drop off some DVDs at the library, and then pick up the tickets we bought a month ago for tonight's sold-out Indigo Girls show at the Bear Tooth First Tap.
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