Tales from Easement Acres
Twice in one year! It’s been cold winter. Polar vortex and such, again. I guess that’s cyclical – the weakening of the polar vortex that allows cold air to push south. Something like that. Anyway, here’s the February snow:
Not as much as January, but a lot more than last year.
–Simon
If even Netflix made a series on pizza chefs, you know that making pizza has to be more than a straightforward process. I keep trying, and get a little closer each time, but something’s always just a little…not quite. I’m my harshest critic, which means my approach is scientific. If I considered myself an artist, my criticisms would originate with others and I would hate everyone and do more drugs.
But this attempt wasn’t too bad. I liked the dough, which I can never crisp in an electric oven but I got the oil/water mix to a point where the result was flaky and just a little chewy. The sauce could have used some improvements. Oh well. I did like the sausage on it, which was my own creation.
I’ve also taking to mixing different white cheeses. It add some more flavor depth to an otherwise bland mozzarella. And I made the crust edge smaller this time.
–Simon
Sometime in the 90s I won a goldfish at one of those rigged carnie games at the county fair. What followed is a very common narrative for new fish keepers: I loved the fish, kept it in a bowl on my nightstand, overfed it, and it died within a few days from a lack of proper equipment and my own ignorance. Some years prior the family had made an attempt at a small aquarium, and the results were similar. I find these outcomes odd, considering my father is an environmental scientist with a specialization in decomposition. I would have thought that an intimate understanding of the nitrogen cycle would have armed him with some background on cycling aquariums, but maybe his experience was limited to the terrestrial variety, or more likely – he was just absent-minded and didn’t care about keeping pets.
Despite the initial failure, my interest was piqued, and so began my lifelong involvement in the hobby. In the beginning, it was mostly trial and error, until I acquired some books on the subject (the early days of the internet didn’t have much to offer), and I finally understood how nitrifying bacteria prevented the water column from going toxic – not to mention the limitations on the total bioload tanks of a certain size could maintain. These are lessons that curiosity and experimentation continually forced me to relearn, but what fun is a hobby that doesn’t allow for constant tweaking?
I maintained a 10 gallon tank throughout high school and college, eventually getting a 29 gallon from Liz, which I kept in 4 different apartments and now currently resides in the house. Its size is just big enough to give me options, without being so big that I’d worry about the floor joists (one day I’ll have something huge). It is this tank that I’m documenting here, since it existed in the time of digital cameras and smart phones. So here’s a fun look back in my personal aquarium history of this particular tank:
And here’s where things went wrong:
I hadn’t intended to reset the aquarium this year, but events necessitated it. With some lessons learned on caution and chemical dosing, I’m back on track to what will hopefully be once again a pretty tank, this time with mollies!
–Simon
What point is it in owning a fancy weapon if no one sees it?
So it has been mounted!
Skull-cleaving capability available to use against home-invaders, provided I don’t get shot first.
–Simon
Salmon’s an acquired taste. One of my sisters never liked it as a kid, and I know a couple adults with a lasting aversion. Of course, like chicken, salmon’s flavor profile is strongly influenced by preparation. Everyone appears to like Lox. My mustard-baked attempt, however, was not well received. This honey-ginger glazed version went over better, although the kid complained about ginger. Ah well – can’t please everyone.
The foodsaver also shorted out during this project. But it was just a bad power cord and I was able to cut out the bad portion and re-splice the wires. Not a project that warrants its own post. But still worthy of mention because – manly skilzzz!
–Simon