chowmama
chowmama's JournalI'm tired of economic pundits trying to calm us down
I can only assume that's what they're trying to do, to prevent a panic. And this was NPR, who should know better.
The statement was that the war's effects on petroleum wouldn't be so bad because we're producing more oil in the U.S. than we used to. This is technically true, except that there's no 'we' about it.
It doesn't matter whose dirt that oil came out of. It belongs to the private company that drilled for it. They can, and will, sell it to the highest bidder for the highest price the market will bear. We may or may not be the highest bidder. If we are, we'll get it at that high price, and only at that high price. It. Isn't. Ours.
The only way the federal government could get them to sell it to us at a lower price than they could get elsewhere is if they nationalized the industry. I'd love to hear them trying to justify that one. Be worth the price of admission, that would. Not gonna happen.
I've already advised DH that we're going to be stocking up on more sweaters for next winter. His metabolism has been changing and we've had to up the thermostat 2 degrees this year. He still has to wear warm clothes downstairs. We're going to have to drop it 4 degrees next winter and live upstairs most of the day.
Andrew and Charles and Trump
I have a thought about what Charles could do here, and I hope he does.
There's not an animal low enough to compare Andrew to, so that's a given. The same applies to Trump. Remember Trump's constant talk about Charles' wife? He swore he could have her any time he wanted. Didn't just say 'dated', used the F word. After the divorce, she complained he wouldn't stop calling her. He simultaneously thought of her as his best hope of finally breaking into classy society, and as a piece of meat for his bedpost notching. This was pretty public.
There were other slights against Chuck's mother, the Queen; public demonstrations of disrespect. Both Elizabeth and Charles had to put up with this revolting cretin and Charles still has to. That's got to really frustrate the hell out of him, that he can't treat Trump as Trump deserves.
Now we have Andrew and the consequences that he's going to be facing for the rest of his life. Assuming he's convicted, and I have every confidence that he wouldn't have bothered to cover his tracks because of his position, he's going to be in prison. Charles is cooperating because he doesn't want the royals to be slimed any more than they already are.
I think if Charles gives the go-ahead, a lot of pressure can be put on Andrew. Andrew was there. Andrew knows everything. And a British prison is going to be tough to arrange a 'suicide'. Since he's a child rapist, he doesn't have the guts to stand up to anything that the authorities, or any adult, could legally do to him. They wouldn't even need to promise him a puppy.
Bringing down Trump, while saving the reputation of the royals, would be the ultimate revenge for a literal lifetime of insults to his mother, and Diana, during and after the marriage.
C'mon, Chuck!
Waiting for the pullback in Minneapolis
Wondering if it'll happen in any meaningful way.
It's just because it's not 'playing well' and I don't believe for a minute that they're giving up. If they leave at all, they're coming back. I think it's their end goal to occupy the whole country and impose terror everywhere to the level of Minnesota at its most intense. They just don't have the personnel to do it.
And I'm beginning to think they never will have the personnel. At its height, they never did. Then a few people quit when they couldn't stand it anymore; more are quitting now because they're not getting their promised pay. Who'd have thought the Trump Admin would break its word?
Kinder/gentler isn't happening; terror and pain is the point. The first group aren't coming back. As for the second, the money is never coming. The only employees the Admin is going to be able to get are the ones who'd work for room and board, just so they got to hurt people.
It's starting to look like there aren't nearly enough of those people to achieve the goal. There are still way too many, but I'm a little warmed by the thought that we're not quite as bad a species as I was beginning to think we were.
The third group needs to be charged and convicted; there'll be plenty of evidence. Now if we can start to work on those who'd do it for money...
Something dyed today
In a good way.
At a now (I hope, temporarily) closed shop at the Midtown Global Market in Minneapolis, DH and I both got t-shirts that said 'Keep The Immigrants, Deport The Racists'. Great shirts, made and sold by immigrants. Heavyweight cotton, message was embroidered, not screen-printed, so it'll last a long time.
Problem was, the only one in his size was a really nuclear yellow, with black printing. We're not really that involved in 'best personal colors', or any of that stuff, but we both agree that this isn't a good look for him. He looks like one of the original Killer Bees from early Saturday Night Live. It doesn't help that he's always been built a little like John Belushi, and now he looks like Belushi 40+ years older and heavier. Oh well, they're both from Chicago.
Anyway, given that the shirt is cotton, we got it on the basis that I would dye it. I've put it off, so he's worn it a couple of times and I had to make sure it had no stains that would be preserved for all eternity. That done, I tested the tub in an inconspicuous spot to see if it would survive the process. It would, so I did the deed, with a dark green and a chambray blue mix of Rit, in a laundry bin, in the tub. It looks really good, darker than olive green, and the black printing still shows up. It'll go through the washing machine once and get hung up when damp to dry.
I wore only black clothes and used nitrile gloves, so I don't look like a refugee from Blue Man Group or a woad warrior. The room survived. The tub is a disaster. The surface of the tub is fine, but every drop of soap scum is blue as blue can be. I had no idea there was so much of it.
I now have an extended appointment with a sponge and canister of Bon Ami.
And I want my Midtown Global Market Back!!!
There are going to be a lot of Melt The Ice hats in Minneapolis
These are the Norwegian protest hats, for which a pattern is being sold to raise funds for immigrants.
I say this because I bought the pattern and the yarn. Then went to my ample supply of needles and other equipment and came up empty. The worsted weight version, which will have a medium weight fabric and knit up the quickest, uses size 8 needles. I really only use double point needles for circular because I'm a 'propped needle' knitter - the needle from which the yarn is being knit is propped vertically on my leg. You can't do this with a circular, unless you're the Hunchback of Notre Dame. And if you try, you soon will be.
I have no size 8 DP needles. I've shopped around this weekend at several places and looked on the websites of every store located within a reasonable distance. Every store is sold out. (I didn't look at Hobby Lobby because I'd sooner stop knitting.) There are no size 8 DP needles in the Twin Cities.
I have my mom's old needle collection and it turns out that she had a size 8 15" length circular needle, tip to tip. It's going to be hard to squeeze 96 stitches onto it and I'm going to have to rubber band the tips any time I need to set it aside, so the piece doesn't explode off them and unravel. I'm going to need markers - I hate markers. And my hands are going to be cramped as hell from trying to knit in midair. Gauge and consistent stitches may be another problem.
We'll see how it goes. But how often does this kind of shortage, on only one size of needle, happen?
Spending this horrible day canning
Atakilt Wat, an Ethiopian vegetable dish involving cabbage, potatoes, carrots, onions and spices. I'm making a large enough batch that I hope I can get 10 pint jars, half of which will contain half a large serrano chili. I've never canned it before, but I'll use the timing I've used before for beets, potatoes and carrots. Worst case, it may be a little overcooked, but it'll be safe.
I'm trying to come up with good ways to preserve the produce I hope to get this year from the big-ass Victory Garden I'm putting in this spring. The setup will be hella expensive, so there'll be no savings this year, but I'll try to get as much as possible. I'm definitely planning on a few cabbages and I hate sauerkraut. It'll be interesting, as I'm not a skilled gardener. Yet.
The musical accompaniment so far has been primarily Kris Kristofferson, for no particular reason. However, Sunday Morning Comin' Down fits the mood, if not the details.
On the plus side, last night I made wartime Crunchies, an oatmeal cookie from the 1940's Experiment website, for the first time. I won't post the recipe, because it's not mine, but I'm keeping it in my recipe collection (five 3-ring binders, each with its' own category). Go check out the website and get the recipe there. DH wants to eat them all and have me make more right away.
Edited for spelling of the dish.
Also, I've already bought the seeds for starting next month. Is there any way to store the leftover seeds, of which there will be many, for next year?
More putting up
I canned 4 pints of mirepoix last night and froze 2.5 pounds of homemade Mexican chorizo in 8-ounce portions this morning. I also have 2.5 pounds of plain ground pork in 5-ounce portions frozen from last weekend, and bought a huge bag of frozen peas.
Given it took me almost a month to get all the way through the horrible adenovirus I had, I made some inroads on my existing stock and need to replace. It was damned handy to not have to go to the store often or do a lot of scratch cooking, though.
I still have no appetite; I can taste and smell just fine, but I don't get hungry; I eat because I know it's time and I have to. It's a really weird feeling, but I do know how to supply good-tasting healthy food in reasonable portions. Brainworm Bobby would be scandalized that I'm not following his advice. As if I'd pay any attention to an upside-down food pyramid that was based on lobbyists' recommendations.
I'm so worried about DH
The murder happened 2.5 blocks from my house. I got home from work last night and went over for a while, so I know what the walk is like.
All hell is breaking loose today and DH, home by himself, called me to let me know that he was going there now. (I'm at work.) He doesn't walk well and would have trouble going that distance in summer on good surfaces. I insisted he at least put on his ice covers (Yak Tracks). However, I can't be there to steady him.
He also has a pretty good temper, but promises that he'll be peaceful because he knows the Feds are just waiting for any opportunity.
I can't find any streaming footage about what's happening right now. I wanna go home. And then to the protest to find him.
What the fuck has happened to my country?
Damn, I wish I was psychic
I dreamed this morning that some unlikely source announced "President Trump has passed". I no longer remember the name of the source, only that it began with 'C'. Something like Census.
Imagine my disappointment.
This links into the 'offbeat Christmas carols' thread
but doesn't quite go there.
The Twin Cities in Minnesota has a very active Irish language club. I and a singing group I was in had a lasting effect on the beginners' class with a Christmas carol.
Irish has a process called 'eclipsis' which, under the right grammatical circumstances, substitutes consonants at the beginnings of words. It's important to know when this happens and what letter replaces which (and which letters are left alone). One of the teachers does rapid-fire drills in this, using Irish words, English words, nonsense words, anything, to help remember the correct replacement on the fly.
We wanted to tweak him a little at the annual Christmas party and decided to eclipse a carol - Twelve Days of Christmas. Every single word that begins with a consonant, grammatical placement be damned. And we worked on it till we could do it really fast.
There were three groups at the party - the teachers, the students, and the students' plus ones. The teachers were all laughing uproariously. (The one from the U of MN was standing at the bar and had to hang on to keep from hitting the floor.) The different levels of student had increasing looks of anxiety. The plus ones all thought we were drunk.
The Eclipsed Twelve Days is now a permanent method of teaching eclipsis in the Twin Cities. If you can do this at speed, eclipsis no longer holds any fear for you. But you'll still have to explain it to the plus ones.
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