Can anyone recommend a good refrigerator-repair company that serves Nepean? My fridge seems to be having problems.

After slightly less than a day, my Hallowe'en jack o'lantern was converted to a nice rich soup. Ars brevis, arse longa.

Ginger Pumpkin Soup

1 medium pumpkin (will not all be used; or, 12 cups pumpkin pulp)
water
2 tsp powdered ginger
1 tsp powdered mustard
1½ tsp salt
2 tsp freshly-ground pepper
250 mL table cream (18% milk fat)
4 eggs

Halve pumpkin; remove seeds. Place halves cut-side down in shallow baking dishes or on cookie sheets with rims; bake for 1 hour at 350°F. Rotate pumpkin halves so cut sides are upward; bake for another ½ hour.

Scoop pumpkin flesh from the rind. Run about ²/₃ of it -- this should be about 12 cups, packed -- through a blender or food processor, adding enough water that the result can flow slowly. (The remaining pumpkin is not needed for this recipe.) Put the result in a large slow cooker; mix in spices and bring to a simmer. If necessary, add more water to give a thick soup. Mix in the cream.

Beat 2 of the eggs, and mix in about the same volume of hot soup, then add the mixture back to the crock put with good stirring. Repeat for the other 2 eggs. Bring back to a simmer.

Serve as-is or over chunks of bread.

This year's jack o'lantern.

Was it merely a coincidence that ARPANET, the precursor of the internet, was brought on-line on the tenth anniversary of the first publication of Astérix?

I think not.

If one were to receive a vaccination for H1N1 a few hours after exposure — say, in the big crowd/lineup waiting for the shot — would one be protected?

Staples / Business Depot has signs up for their affiliate credit card:


Hey, if you're giving, and it's not your business's "turn", I need it more than Staples does.

When I receive E-mail flagged as "Important", it almost always means that the sender has poor time management skills and an inflated sense of self-importance.  The higher the supposed "importance" rating, the poorer the time management and the more inflated the self-importance.  (Does anyone ever mark a message as "moderately important", in between "normal" and "very important"?  Does anyone ever mark a message's importance as below "normal"?)  Only rarely is the message really more important than the rest of the real (non-spam) messages I receive.

Earlier this afternoon, I was heading westwards along my street (Norice), and was slowing to a stop behind the student driver waiting at the red light to make a left turn onto Woodroffe.  The SUV well behind me honked.  I glanced backward, then returned my attention to the important matter of signaling my turn and coming to a safe stop, centred behind the student driver.

The SUV pulled up close behind me.  Then edged fowards, partly in my lane and just to my right, so the woman could open her window and tell me that I wasn't supposed to ride across the road.  "You're supposed to walk your bike across."

I gave her a "what planet are you from" look.  "I'm a vehicle, and I have as much right to be on the road as you do."

She became more insistent.  "But you aren't supposed to ride across the road.  I'm sure of it.  I don't want you to get in trouble."

A "what colours are the moons around your planet?" look.  "Read your Driver's Handbook.  I'm a vehicle, and I have as much right to be on the road as you or any other vehicle."

"But I don't think..."

Then the light changed, the car ahead went through, and I followed it.  Carefully switched into the bike lane on Woodroffe when I was through the intersection.  I was worried that the idiot was going to pass me on my right and then cut me off, but she stayed behind me through the intersection and stayed in the regular lane.

Good grief -- if she's expecting that cyclists won't ever try to bike across roads, she's going to hit somebody.  Of the two of us, I know which one shouldn't be on the road.  How can people be so ignorant?

Jo Walton's excellent alternate-history novels Farthing and Ha'Penny have been remaindered by the Chapters chain -- hardcovers for $6.  A number of the local stores have them in stock in the "Bargains" areas; you can check availability on-line.  (The third novel in the so-called "Small Change" trilogy, Half a Crown, has been out for just over a year in hardcover, and will probably be available in paperback soon.)

Later addition, per papersky 's comment: "There are no present plans for a paperback Half a Crown, at least not before this time next year."

Roof vents should be screened with a metal mesh.

The purpose for doing this, O Roofer, is not merely to be able to mark off an item in a checklist, nor merely to be able to add some billable time and a marked-up charge for materials to an invoice.  The purpose is to prevent the passage of birds, small animals, and large insects into and out of the attic space.  This will not work effectively if the metal mesh is crumpled or askew, or otherwise not filling the open area.

Due attention and care during the installation of said vents will prevent the homeowner — that's me, by the way — from having to execute damnfool stunts like parallel-bars gymnastics to ascend the roof rafters and straighten the metal mesh.  In both vents.

Again, "millennium" has two 'L's and two 'N's, and companies whose names are misspelled should be avoided because their owners are thereby demonstrating that they are too sloppy to be competent.

I've been watching The Guild, after having been nudged about it a few times from several directions.  Joss Whedon cited it as a significant inspiration for Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, and there are some clear similarities.  Each segment starts with the main character doing an entry in a video blog before shifting to a more normal story depiction, for example.  And of course The Guild is written by and stars Felicia Day, who played Penny in Dr. Horrible.

Another similarity is a lack of genuinely likeable characters.  Codex, Day's character, means well but is hapless, unemployed (and not seeking work), and addicted to the game.  Her fellow "guild" members are even more socially deficient.  I know that the show is intended to be humorous, but a lot of the humour is just about the awkward interactions of these poorly-socialized people.  To me, much of it is simply painful.

I'd probably appreciate the show somewhat more if I had any experience with their kind of game, a multi-player on-line thing which I gather is supposed to be similar to World of Warcraft.  I'm looking at it more from the point of view of someone who got together with friends for a weekly D&D session for a number of years — sure, some of us lacked some social skills, but we did much better than the people in the Guild.  Those folks would be impossible to hang around with.

I'm curious about the story, so I probably will keep watching the episodes.  I may take a break for a little while; the awkwardness may not be so strong if I'm not watching many episodes together.  And Wil Wheaton has been brought in to the current series as an antagonist — apparently working hard to blow away whatever nice-guy reputation may be lingering from his Star Trek years.

I've been going through the process of applying for Employment Insurance, as they call it these days.  Had a few questions which I couldn't find answers for on the Service Canada website.  The service representative that I spoke with couldn't answer them either, and had to refer the questions upwards.

• I must report any income I receive while I'm on EI; this counts against my EI payments, fractionally up to some level, then 100% deducted.
• Sale of possessions is not "income"...
• ... Unless I obtain or create them after filing a claim for EI, in which case the sale would be considered a home business and hence "income".

This may affect any hypothetical sales, for example of plush toys.  Presumably if I sold items I currently own, and then created identical items to replace them, that would not be "income".  Unless I then went and sold the replica items as well.

Feh.  I'm intelligent, educated, creative, and in decent health.  I'm supposed to be one of the people keeping things going, for some value of "things".  Instead, I've spent most of the last few days washing all my windows, dusting, cleaning, sorting and tidying — all very much needed, without question, and there's a lot more to do, but it doesn't feel productive.  I'm feeling very drone-like, in several senses.

(Free-sample bottles of shampoo, and hotel shampoos, are usually much too strongly scented for me to use.  But they make effective detergent  for cleaning.  As an economization, it's so trivial as to be pointless, but more important, using up those little bottles is clutter reduction.  I've got way too much crap around here.)

A few days ago, there was a brief discussion on the rec.music.filk newsgroup of "Madeira-ing" women at filk conventions -- that is, getting them to play the part of the young woman in a performance of Flanders and Swann's "Madeira M'Dear", as schtick.  The consensus was that it's not a good idea to do this unless the woman in question agrees to it and is familiar with the song, or at least has a good idea of what's going to happen or is otherwise expected to be comfortable with the role.

It's unquestionably a clever song, with extremely elegant word play.  But I've been increasingly uncomfortable with it over the years.  It is, after all, a humorous song about a foul codger getting an innocent young girl drunk so he can have sex with her.

And with the recent blow-up about Roman Polanski, with many prominent entertainers spouting justifications for his having done just about exactly that... the song seems a lot less amusing at the moment.

Many children spend much more time and energy, and create much more stress for themselves and others, in trying to avoid doing some chores than if they'd just go and do them.

Some people never outgrow this.  Or they revert to it.

I am once again propeller-enabled.



[Edited: I repositioned the propeller from the rear to near the front of the helmet. Unfortunately, the design of this helmet doesn't let me put the propeller right at the peak.]

I had an eye examination a couple of days ago.  It seems that I should now consider getting progressive lenses (or separate glasses for reading, etc.).  The gradation shown on the prescription isn't large, but the optometrist said that it's best to start with progressive lenses early, so as to "train the brain" to handle the effects while they're mild.

I'm not keen on the idea, frankly.  Part of my reluctance is that I don't think I fully understand what this "training" involves.  Am I correct in thinking that if I were wearing progressive lenses and tilted my head up and down while focusing on an object, I'd see the image distorting as my line of sight with the object passed through the gradation?  I think I'd find that very distracting, at best.

The oafish minions who reshingled my roof last autumn replaced the flashing around the chimney.  To do so, they pulled out the old flashing which was embedded in the mortar between the chimney bricks, and applied new flashing which is "surface-mounted", i.e. held in place with caulking.  The new flashing covers a smaller area than the old.  This left old and slightly-crumbly mortar, with cracks and gaps, exposed.

I could have hired someone to repoint the mortar.  My previous experience with getting someone to do masonry repair was not positive (as with most of the repair work I've paid people to do around here).  And considering my lack of employment, I decided that I could deal with it myself, save my money, and probably do as good a job.  My previous work with concrete and mortar went pretty well, though that was at ground level rather than way up high.  I have leftover concrete and mortar mix from that project.

I am not an acrophile.  I'm not acrophobic, either, but I don't enjoy being up tall ladders, crawling around on roofs, etc.  But I can do it when I have to.  I started by climbing up carefully and tying a rope to the chimney, to provide support and safety for later when I'd be bringing up tools and materials.

Of note:

• An electric drill with a masonry bit can be used to remove old mortar, in place of the traditional hammer and chisel.  It's probably more appropriate for small jobs like what I was doing, but it's a one-handed tool which doesn't require whacking away at brickwork while one is on a surface with less-than-ideal footing.
• A garden hose with a spray nozzle can be used in place of the traditional spray bottle to wash out bits of old mortar and to dampen brick surfaces, and doesn't need to be refilled.  Hauling it up the roof is a bit tricky.  Water running down the roof surface will make it more slippery, especially if the water is runoff from fresh mortar, which is alkaline.
• Even when one has the proper tools (thanks, ragnhildr !) and even though fresh mortar is somewhat caustic, it's sometimes faster and easier to take a handful of mortar and slap/rub it into place, then rinse off the surface, than to carefully work the mortar into the gaps and cracks it needs to be in.  Skin in contact with fresh mortar should be washed off with plenty of fresh water ASAP, of course, per the usual protocols for handling caustics.  Brief soaking in vinegar can also be used to help neutralize the caustic, but lots of fresh water should do the job.
• The oafish minions also didn't caulk the flashing properly; there are some gaps.  I'll need to back up there in a few days, after the mortar has set, to finish the job.  I left the rope tied to the chimney.

Really truly, don't hire companies whose names are misspelled.  "Millennium" has two 'l's, two 'n's.

This morning, after my shower, I was in my bathroom with the window partly open -- it swings on a vertical axis.  I caught a flicker of colour and motion from the corner of my eye.

What had caught my attention was the reflection, in the window glass, of the window ledge of my guest bedroom / sewing room, beside the bathroom.  A pair of cardinals -- one bright red, the other brown with red highlights and the characteristic crest, so presumably a mated pair -- were relaxing on the ledge.  Their wings and tails were splayed out in the sun; occasionally one or the other would riffle its feathers or skritch itself with its beak.

I've seen them around my house, usually flitting into or out of the cedar hedge around the back.  This was the first time I've been able to watch them reasonably close-up for more than a few seconds.  Unfortunately, I didn't think to get my camera until after the male had left, and the female took off while I was still thinking about it.

I'm looking for a few Kinder Egg capsules for a craft project -- specifically, small plush squid that are "shaker toys".  Can any of you local folks help?  The former colleague and Kinder Egg fanatic who I thought could help me has told me that he has none left.  Yes, I could just go buy some of the eggs, but I don't have any interest in the candy or the toys.

(I gave my prototype shaker squid to Heather Dale after her concert at Worldcon.)