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Everyone should have to read this. I knew some of it, but there was so much more than what I knew. This is a horribly overlooked gem. https://www.amazon.com/American-Nations-History-Regional-Cultures/dp/B0067LZX80/ref=sr_1_2?crid=3KHE99PX76RIQ&keywords=11+nations+of+america&qid=1585748787&s=books&sprefix=11+nations%2Caudible%2C156&sr=1-2

Pulitzer prize winning history of the early 1800s. Some of the best history writing I've ever seen. This was a hole in my knowledge of the country. Imagine my surprise, having thought not much went on, to find it was a transformative era. https://www.amazon.com/What-Hath-God-Wrought-Transformation/dp/B001PI828I/ref=sr_1_1?crid=12RQD8XEO438H&keywords=what+hath+god+wrought&qid=1585748726&sprefix=what+hath+%2Caps%2C152&sr=8-1

Shatner.. needed.. to.. go.. to.. Overactors Anonymous....

The quality of handheld frothers has taken a nose dive. So I get the plug in kind with a carafe. It's great, it'll froth anything. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07HH9BHL1/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 cheapo plastic bags: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01NBB966W/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I want to do a post about chai sometime. I've been using the traditional style, boiling it in a pot on the stove, but I am not entirely happy with the spices. I will say I got a bag of green cardamon seeds from Amazon, and they are handy. Bang them gently with a wooden mallet for tea, a little harder for recipes. It's one of those things companies usually cheap out on. I will be so glad when I get over this bug, and can make a prison break.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01NBB966W/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I am posting this because it's a heck of a story. In 1981, you could buy a lifetime 1st class ticket for $200K. Seems like a lot, but a couple guys were getting a million bucks a year of air travel. One of them must have made a point of it, Tokyo 100 times, Hong Kong 100 times, etc. They could do things like fly several hundred miles for a meal, and then just come back the same day. I imagine in first class, it's not that bad.

I have stumbled across a place that should have really good coffee. The good news is that Blue Bottle has places across the country. The bad news is that means Boston, NYC, Wash DC, and about 20 places in Cal. No idea when I am going to be able to check them out, but they are on the to do list https://bluebottlecoffee.com/cafes Japan is the pinnacle of 3rd wave coffee.

Invert sugar makes for a nice addition to bread, bit hard to find if you don't want to pay through the nose for Lyles.

If you look at the buildings, that level of tech is centuries earlier than then the fancy looms that could make patterned fabric. They would also have used bits of wood, not nice metal buckles. The swords back then were plain, and that looks like modern steel. Sorry. By the time you can do all that you should have muskets and cannon. The red hair, green dress, it's very Scottish, and you know what happened to them.

Let's put a peg in that.

I like Panko. Meatloaf is whatever you want it to be, except maybe tofu... But there are themes, bacon, bbq, chili spices, ketchup. I got some truffle powder, and I've added a little of that at times. We have a double meatloaf pan, the inner pan has holes and the fat drains into the outer pan. So. if you get adventurous and add a rich sausage, you won't pay too high a price later. Has anybody mentioned worcester sauce? I use that stuff a lot. https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/rustic-french-meatloaf-352292 If you use chicken livers, because pate is really just French for meatloaf, I strongly suggest getting organic or Bell & Evans at Whole Foods.

I am still arguing with myself over getting Prime so I can catch season 4 of The Expanse. I'm pretty sure I'll lose that argument, but I'm not giving up without a fight.

We will be a very, very different country after Trump.

https://www.businessinsider.com/economists-publish-letter-save-lives-republican-democrat-economy-coronavirus-pandemic-2020-3

I've got a friend that had quadruple bypass surgery a couple years ago. He was back in the hospital a month ago with a heart problem. I think he's waiting for things to clear so he can get the surgery. I've got some work that needs doing, but it's nothing compared to that.

We haven't been getting out much, and for me not at all since I got something like the virus. I heard rich New Yorkers descended on the Hamptons like a plague infected plague of locusts.

I got annoyed, but now since I am pretty much a prisoner, I've got time out my yin yang.

Better late than never.

In my massively unhumble opinion, ya gotta read the books first. The first book is incredible. If you read the reviews, nobody says that, almost nobody. But for what I like and want, it's the best Space opera I've seen. They really had to tame Avarsala for the tv show, she's one of my favorite characters.

Good for her. I've been getting them for over 20 years, can't remember the last time I got the flu. I'm not really part of the group here, so I don't pay much attention to who is whom. Guessed wrong.

Audioengine A5 https://www.amazon.com/Audioengine-Active-2-Way-Speakers-Black/dp/B005OA3BSY/ref=sr_1_1?crid=13C1LJTYAKXH5&keywords=audioengine+a5%2B&qid=1582407753&sprefix=audiengine%2Caps%2C166&sr=8-1

I have been listening to her for the first time with my new speakers. Wow.

Next time, get a flu shot.

Because we're 20 years past the time we should have gotten serious.