U9O.net: You and I Know.

If you were to ask me 8 years ago, back in 2000, how things would be in 2008, I would probably have had a hard time coming up with anything, let alone have the imagination, nor the maturity and wisdom to even get close.

9/11 hadn’t happened yet, my parents were still married, and I was busy charging money to my credit card. I had just landed my first paid web design and Flash job during the summer and was making an incredible sum of money for the time, and spending it almost as fast by travelling, eating out, bleaching my hair blond, and partying.

I had just purchased an expensive sony digital camera, with an unheard of 64 megabytes of memory and 3x optical zoom, and one of the first cameras to feature carl zeiss lens. Eagerly I stepped out to the wincingly scorching July summer to take what I envisioned would be “real” photos of our black pug puppy Rosie. I often envisioned how Rosie would be the ticket to my becoming the hit with the opposite sex, and I would often take her with me to the mall, fruitlessly wondering when a girl was going to notice the pug, pet her, and then invite me over for some sort of alcoholic beverage and to sleep with her, if she so wanted. I left the older pugs at home, as they weren’t puppies.

My nose crinkling in the dry valley heat, I softly put her down, her legs dangling, slid the plastic switch on the camera on, set it to the black-and-white setting (one of the first built-in digital effects), as that automatically makes photos more “real” and “artistic”.

She, like me, stuck to the grass, as we were both barefeet, and gingerly tippy-toeing on the hot concrete driveway in front of our home. Her figure was lithe and her movements tentative, as she was the runt of the litter– and the only survivor. Her personality would always be tentative, submissive, shy, albeit extremely intelligent and loyal. As a puppy, she was tiny, and is small even today. Her tongue always sticks out slightly in a juvenile way.

This summer, I moved back home with my mother a month ago, a different home, while I prepare to move into my new place in downtown next week.

A few weeks before I moved back, I had slowly started moving small items not in storage to my mother’s home. I welcomed Rosie as she initially barked as me before sniffing at me to reawaken some part of her memory. Her eyes lit up and she promptly had a seizure, urinating on the floor. Horrified, I gasped internally, before my mom gently told me she was prone to having seizures when overly excited. Pet her gently, my mother advised, and she’d be fine. So I did.

It reminded me of an old Winston Churchill poem:

POOR PUGGY-WUG
Oh, what is the matter with poor Puggy-wug
Pet him and kiss him and give him a hug.
Run and fetch him a suitable drug,
Wrap him up tenderly all in a rug,
That is the way to cure Puggy-wug.

The first night I slept in my sister’s room, Rosie begged at my bed for me to pick her up (she’s not the most athletic dog anymore) so that she could lie down next to me (as dogs are social creatures, used to sleeping in packs). It was hard to refuse, my memories going back to that summer, and the recent memory of her gasping for breath, her eyes milking over. My mom, a stickler for cleanliness, and a general perfectionist, was apalled at the sight of dog hair on the sheets, but relented. “Sometimes I let her sleep with me when it’s cold”, she conceded.

It was difficult to refuse every other night, her paws scratching at my hand if it peeked into her vision, and her labored breathing and panting reminding me of time past. Then it became to the point if such that I refused, I was afraid she might have another seizure.

What made it worse was when I went home one day, she rushed out of the door barking at a small blue-jay. The blue jay dived at her, a small 3 inch bird, in fury, with her small claws extended (My mother explained to me later that the 2 birds had nested there for years and had altercations with the dog before). Rosie ran all the way back in the house and had another attack.

It was impossible to not immediately pick her up and spoil her after that.

Soon, my mother was complaining that Rosie would not sleep in my mom’s room anymore, on a yellow duck pillow. My mother eventually threw it into my room to encourage the dog to sleep on it. As I left early in the mornings to go to work, my mother told me she’d cry for 30 minutes, and then wait patiently next to my shoes (”her nose is right inside your shoe, smelling your stinky feet, awgh!”), until I went home 10 hours later. “It’s like she’s in love with you or something!”, my mom groused, with more than a hint of envy, as she’d yell at the dog while she fed her. “it’s not even likes he feeds you!”, admonished my mother, “I do!!”

I had opened up some old wounds for my mother, the high-achiever, but never the easy-going one, well-respected, but never well-liked. “How come she likes you so much?”, she complained to me once. “I pet her and I rub her belly and I massage her legs, because she’s old and she seems to have problems with it”, I replied.

My mother just nodded and sighed.

Bryan Curtis explains the intricacies of Salmon (the fish) on Slate.com. Overall an engaging piece, but I couldn’t leave alone the quote about Sushi.

If you have never tried seafood, you would probably love salmon. (Correlative: If you have never tried sushi, you would probably love salmon sushi). Fifteen years after it exploded in the American and Japanese markets, fresh salmon still sells at a brisk clip, often trailing only shellfish and tuna.

I’ll have to disagree on salmon (sake) being the best for beginners. I would rather recommend tuna maguro, or yellowtail hamachi. The characteristics of most salmon itself when served as nigiri (the raw or cooked piece of flesh on top of lightly flavored white rice) or sashimi (plain) is such that the majority of places I’ve been to usually garnish with some light ponzu sauce (I’ve always assumed it was ponzu, please correct me if I am incorrect), grated radish, and if feeling a bit fancy, some green onions (or chives?) as well.

Tuna and yellowtail is overwhelmingly the favorite for newly indoctrinated western eaters. Such is the reason why you’ll see ahi-tuna and tuna sashimi served in many avant-garde (and not so avant-garde) non-sushi places. It is also why the most favorite “sushi” of neophytes is a “spicy tuna roll”– true sushi foodies/foodites will instantly have the appearance of utter disapproval upon hearing this. Enjoying sushi, at least properly, requires a delicate palate. It’s why ginger (gari) is served- you eat a piece to cleanse the taste of the previous piece you were served, and why the short-lived but fierce wasabi is served instead of a longer lasting spicy red sauce.

Salmon has a more “fishy” taste than that of tuna when raw, and thus is less palatable to developing tastes. Consider the difference in taste between lox on a bagel and your average tuna in a can on top of some toasted rye. Tuna isn’t called “chicken of the sea” for nothing. And while tuna can be as accessible as bread, in terms of the high-end, the fatty belly of the southern blue fin is served mostly in what is described by a Japanese maguro web site as “posh” restaurants. Toro, the name for a tuna’s belly is often served in seasons when it is available, is a much older and traditional delicacy than of the contrived post-modern elitism of salmon.

Finally ran out of fruit. 6 days after my grocery run. Apples had a tinge of caramel color to it, but the refrigerator basically did its job.

I stupidly put the bananas in the refrigerator. It ripened unevenly. With literally half of a banana being black, the other half being green. I only got to eat like 2 of them. Next time I’ll leave it outside and put it back inside after 2-3 days. Or just hurry up and eat it all quickly. It’s actually quite difficult to eat everything without spoilage for the young single guy.

Half a carton of milk left. I better hurry up and drink it. With my weekly basketball sessions on Tuesday (not to mention voting!), I think I’ll be on target to drink it all without spoilage. I put the pork sausage patties in the freezer so it won’t rot.

Note: Spam is rather … not bad… for you, asides from the high saltiness of it. Fat content to protein content is relatively favorable, and when sliced extremely thinly and grilled til it turns a crispy maroon color it’s almost like a cross between bacon and pork chops. I shoudl try getting turkey spam (actually saw that while flipping through the men’s health mag the other day).

I go through eggs a lot faster than I realized. After today, I will have gone through a dozen. I really need to cut down on the eggs, but I really love em.

I think the next thing I should try in terms of saving money on food is good ol’ pasta. Just like how mom uses to make em.

The following post is not really intended for everyone and you can feel free to skip over it as it’s not very interesting at all.

This is a modification of a shopping list I made last week, but I consider this the first one as I’m actually cataloging this for a specific purpose and challenge. The challenge is to get enough food for cheap but also for the food to last (it needs to fit my lifestyle). It also needs to be somewhat healthy. Last time I got a bigger jug of milk. Bad idea, as it spoiled, and I only drank 1/3 of it. Getting large packages of raw pork or turkey sausages is also not a good idea for me unless I’m willing to separate it out everyday and defrost it every morning (I’m not). I also already had a few other items in stock, including ziplock bags, plastic cannisters, a huge bag of rice (a real money saver),cheese slices, a loaf of wheat bread, and 2 cans of spam (I’m very gourmet, unlike my sister– that girl liked to hog all the spam when we were growing up). I also have softdrinks, water and various other drinks. I also had 3 cups of fruit yogurt (it should become more apparent as time goes by what variety of food is both healthy and cheap). I plan to keep track for about 3 months on a weekly basis to see just how long the food I got lasts and what spoiled, etc.

Some meal ideas are sliced fruit salad (I got addicted to this in India, as you can get a large fruit bowl for around $0.50) with yogurt on top (perhaps with some cereal spread over it). Grilled cheese sandwhich. Grilled salami and cheese sandwhichHeavier breakfast ideas include eggs, toast, cheese, and sausages. Dinner maybe a salad, some fruit, and some kind of pasta dish. Cereal (I tend to eat cereal in a CUP–a  trick I learned from my mother, as you can drink the milk and the crumbly aftereffects without scraping the bottom of your bowl)I fully plan to do more grocery shopping and such. Rice is the great equalizer, and 3 cups of rice will last 2 meals– takes about 20 minutes to make with a rice-cooker, and can go with anything salty and meaty. you can even put a slice of cheese on top and some butter and maybe soy sauce. But that’s not the healthiest option of course.  The ultimate goal is a healthy and hearty meal option that is cheap, lasts long (hard to spoil if I forget about an item), and goes under a budget of $300 a month (it should be easy– this will also allow me on occasion to purchase brand name products and frivolous convenience type food items– microwaveable foods, prepackaged meals, etc). For this grocery list I focused on mostly generic basics. Also, I will modify and change the list upon reflection (I can already see that I’m missing a lot of vegetables and also a “main meal” type dish). My uber-super-duper-ultimate goal is to perhaps hit around $200-$250 a month in food costs once I streamline everything I tend to not eat every day or I don’t like enough to eat so that’ll go bad. My goal is to have zero spoilage and food waste.

1. Jumbo Sized Eggs 12 count - (should last 2 weeks) $2.99
2. Milk 0.5 gallon - (should last 2 weeks.. also expires in 2 weeks. better make sure to drink it all) $2.39
3. Smart Start Cereal . Two of them because they are on sale. This is also my favorite cereal brand, next to Kashii. Should last at least a month $3.00 x 2 = $7.00
4. Butter. 1 pound. Two of them. Should last for a long time. Maybe 2 months, maybe even longer. I use it to cook, flavor rice, etc. $3.50 x 2 = $7.00
5. Challenge Butter. The whipped kind in a tub for those days when i’m lazy as hell. $2.29
6. Salami. Salami is good because it keeps for a long long time. This is presliced with maybe 32 slices or so. I put it into a ziplock bag after I couldn’t resist taking a few slices. $4.79
7. Pork Sausage patties (about an inch and half in diameter). 8 count.  $4.49
8. 1.72 pounds of banana (extremely green. This is 5 bananas) at $0.50  a pound…. $0.86 (hrm, very very cheap for all that fruit. This is also about 2x much volume as the other fruit items, so in all about 4x cheaper for the volume than pineapple)
9. 2.44 pounds of cantaloupe (one) @ $0.79 = $1.93
10. 1.24 pounds of Fuji apples @ $1.79 (3 small ones, very hard and not ripe– yet) = $2.22
11. 1 large pineapple = $3.99 (also note that the pineapple, cantaloupe, and the apples produce the same amount of fruit in terms of volume).
12. 2 prepackaged salad (cobb) = $3.99 x 2 (hrm, maybe I should prepare this myself– but this is very convenient as it comes with dressing and a fork, along with bacon bits and crumbled hard boiled egg) = $8.00
13. Roasted, smoked almonds in a large plastic container (to go with my salad or just as a snack) $6.99

Total cost: ~$55.93

As soon I got home, I sliced up all the fruit and put them in plastic containers. I also ate the little fruit pieces along the way, killing 2 birds with 1 stone. Lucky me, as the amount I ate was just enough so that the fruit could comfortably fit into the containers. I think I have enough fruit for around 5-6 real big bowls of fruit (If I add a piece of bread and some cheese, it’s a nice, healthy early meal).

[via CNET]

World of Warcraft makers Blizzard announced a delay to the release of the expansion pack that lets users gain 10 levels from 60 to 70. Millions of angry gamers could be heard muttering, “Those dudes are just harshin’ my roll, man. ” The 10 levels from 60 to 70 is supposed to take as much time as from 1 - 60.

Seriously though, Blizzard reminds me of a particularly crafty drug dealer. The one that knows he has limited supply for the ellite upper tier of the gamer population (the ones hellbent on achieving level 70 status), and unlimited supply for the people who just log onto the game to hang out and have fun. If they delay the game a few months, they can easily extend the 500,000 people or so paying the monthly fee by a multiple of 3 months or so (any drug dealer knows that too much supply is just as bad as not enough supply, and the promise of supply can be just as good as the supply itself, if the consumer is buying other stuff from you– not that I’d know).

Contrary to popular belief, hot water is readily available everywhere. However, due to the highly educated workforce of Bangalore, the shower has been made complex far behind what a recent college graduates can handle. It’s been more than a week, and I’ve finally gotten the hang of how things work.

Most countries I’ve been to are not as extravagant with hot water systems compared to where I live in the United States. In normal everyday apartments in Bangalore (I am not referring to the mansions and 5-star hotels), an individual heating element usually resides in every shower. This will probably change, or has already changed in newly built dwellings. But if you happen to run across the one I use every day, here is a short primer. Your results may vary.

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This is the water that leads into the heating element. The heating element needs to be turned on (usually a switch on the wall). Some people leave it on all the time. That’s wasteful, and that’s me. Knobs Z and Y usually can be left on all the time. Knobs Z and Y are the main water supplies, with one going to the water heater, and the other going to the cold water regulator. Prior to taking a shower, turn on the heating element if not already on for at least 15 minutes to get the water hot.

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Knob A controls the hot water from the water heater. Knob C is the regular water without temperature control. Lever B when pulled to the left causes the water to emit from the faucet, while if pulled to the right, causes the water to emit from the shower head.

The normal standards of operation is to turn the lever to the right and then to turn the how faucet as far as it can go. It will emit cold water for approx 20 seconds, progressivly becoming hotter and hotter until almost boiling. Resist the temptation to turn knob C at this time.

Wait abou 3-4 minutes while the bathroom becomes filled with heat. Brush your teeth. Take off your clothes, brush your teeth again, scratch your genitals, etc.

After about 5 minutes, turn knob C on half a rotation or whichever you wish to experiment with first. The shower has odds much much like the blackjack table at Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas. The water will not get much colder at first. Just be patient, as operating the shower is a finess procedure.

Wait 1 minute. The water will become freezing cold. Suddenly. Ask me not how freezing cold water can come from a country known for its heat, but the water will be very cold.

Turn knob C about 1/2 back to the off position. The water will become luke warm or scalding, depending on how the Gods favor you today. Repeat pulling kbob C in whichever directions. This is when you will realize that the shower follows no rhyme or reason. Thankfully, this exercise will enlighten the soul and keep the brain sharp and get you really rinsed and ready to receive either hot or luke-warm water for the 5 or so minutes that the warmness will be consistant. When you hit upon this moment, realize that the window of opportunity is also random and subject to no rules.

This shower will never be understood by rational, delibritate analysis and is not be subject to normal laws of physics. To even jump in the shower requires a rather Kierkegaardian leap of faith. Thinking myself a clever man, I marked a spot on the knob with some tooth paste so I could hit the exact spot where it remains warm. And warm it was for a precious half a minute. Then without warning, a powerful eruption of burning enveloped my entire body, not unlike Tom Cruise enveloping Oprah, followed by an icy cold feeling on my genital area (I had scampered forward and turned around in a haphazard fashion to turn knob C).

May the fortunes smile happily upon you.

Agency: Iran Papers Are for an Atomic Bomb - Yahoo! News

Here is a future scenario for you.

World opinion turns against Iran. Western nations form a real coalition. Iraq is conveniently there as a base of attack. Coalition forces use Iraq as a base of attack.

US does most of the bombing.

Coalitions forces stay in Iraq and Iran to keep the peace. More US troops can go home. Republican president wins in 08. Democrats lose again.

Scenrario #2

Everyone just delays and delays, China and Russia do not get involved, and Iran tests a nuclear device. A blockcade is set. Iran launches a few nukes. Everyone invades Iran for varying reasons. China and US stand off in Tehren. A new berlin wall is created, but mostly in name, as economic trade is healthy.

Scenario #3

Coalition forces invade Iran. Oops, no nukes found! World embarassed. Entire middle east simmers with tension. Someone’s capital city becomes nuked.

Scenario #4

Iran tests nukes after delay. nobody does anything. because it has nukes, Iran doesn’t do anything and acts more like a first rate country. the country goes democratic anyway and becomes important economically and nobody cares.

Scenario #5

Iran tests nukes, remains fundamentally islamic, but doesn’t do much asides from that. It becomes much like Iraq, a thorn on everyone’s side that nobody cares much about. It implodes in civil war and becomes a 3rd world nation barely reaching headines in the news.

Personally I thought it that this device, the optimus mini three would never see the light of day, but they say it will be released very soon.

I’m still waiting for the keyboard.

But though our present account is of this nature we must give what help we can. First, then, let us consider this, that it is the nature of such things to be destroyed by defect and excess, as we see in the case of strength and of health (for to gain light on things imperceptible we must use the evidence of sensible things); both excessive and defective exercise destroys the strength, and similarly drink or food which is above or below a certain amount destroys the health, while that which is proportionate both produces and increases and preserves it. So too is it, then, in the case of temperance and courage and the other virtues. For the man who flies from and fears everything and does not stand his ground against anything becomes a coward, and the man who fears nothing at all but goes to meet every danger becomes rash; and similarly the man who indulges in every pleasure and abstains from none becomes self-indulgent, while the man who shuns every pleasure, as boors do, becomes in a way insensible; temperance and courage, then, are destroyed by excess and defect, and preserved by the mean.

–Aristotle, the Nicomachean Ethics.

The Loopy Oracle.

Dec. 2007: Gas prices go down late 2006 to around $2.16 (nationwide average) and stay at this level. Iraq picture suddenly looks better with the majority of American soldiers gone. Terrorism gets less media coverage in Iraq without american deaths, and public memory looks back on the whole thing with rose colored spectacles, especially as a series of elections in Iraq go by without incident, of course buttressed by a relatively large presence in a more friendly Kuwait.

However, due to saavy politicking in 2005 (Iraq? what we worry?) by the majority of center-left democrats who are in contention, the presidential election looks to be close. Mccain takes it for the team again, settles for vice presidency with someone nobody even thought about it in 05. Powell loses big in Iowa and New Hampshire in rather viscious primaries.

Hillary Clinton and Lieberman scores big with mainstream America and poll numbers look to be close at the time of this fortune-telling.

San Francisco, then Las Vegas, become the two cities after Denver to legalize up to one ounce posession of marijuana.

The housing bubble in California sputters, but doesn’t crash. Instead, it remains stagnent after years of consecutive growths . Arnold in California becomes reelected when the democrats cannot muster a single viable candidate after Warren Beatty drops out after allegations of sexual assault comes to light.

Arizona becomes the first state to organize a state-funded border control after a terrorist attack at the NBA Phoenix Sun basketball game kills 10, mostly maintenance personal, but also a higher level executive. It is later revealed that the terrorists (who were part of an indonesdian islamic group not remotely connected to al queda) in the plot entered the US with the help of local smugglers operating along the border. In the US congress, talks of a nation-wide border along the Mexican-US broder contructed with barbed wire and concrete fences is dismissed as being too expensive and nothing else actually happens.

North Korea experiences a brief political struggle when Kim Il Jung becomes seriously ill, but control is taken back (along with reports of mass executions) within weeks.

I’ve been avoiding coffee for awhile. I’m more of a pop a can of coke type of guy (I switched to diet coke 2 years ago as I got older and my metabolism slowed down), and it really suited my college type atmosphere.

But loe and behold I discovered the joy of coffee today. On the whole, it makes a lot of sense as to why my blood in my veins seem to flow better, the haze of the morning gone, and my heart bumping with energy– coffee contains over 3x the caffeine as coca cola, ounce for ounce.

And coffee itself is a bit more healthy than your average can of coke. And choices abound! Depending on how you want it, it can be an extremely low-carb proposition. You can pick and choose the type of sweetener you want, and if you are lactose intolerant, a non-dairy creamer. An alcoholic? Add some whiskey. Got migraines? Caffeine can help!

Coffee by itself is intrinsically individualistic. Black or brown, sweetened or non-sweetened, sugar or nutrasweet or sucralose? In all, coffeee is American and if not American, certainly Freedom-living! No wonder our founders dumped tea into the boston harbor and swiched to the joy of coffee. Well, at least their descendants.

Even if you aren’t a Lockian, but perhaps a collectivist, you would still love coffee: “Ah, that is a perfume in which I delight; when they roast coffee near my house, I hasten to open the door to take in all the aroma.” said Jean Jacques Rousseau as he was writing the last pages to his philosophical works. Or so I would imagine.

No wonder you can find coffee everywhere. The French have made a lifestyle of the outdoor cafe.

It gives a certain sense of understanding as to why when starbucks raised the price of their coffee by a few cents, contraray to most companies, their stock prices increased. In makes sense as to why coffee beans are the 2nd largest commododity (after oil I believe) in the world. In short, it gives the 3rd world coffee producers of the world a large amount of leverage in the affairs of postmodernity.

Caffeine is a special substance, with little of the side affects of stronger amphetamines– but one with a lot of positives. It is banned in most Olympic sports for providing a temporary boost to both mental and physical activities.

It was a tad bit embarassing to ask the secretary on how to make coffee, but I’m glad I learned– because today and perhaps for the next few hours, I will be productive.

And perhaps one day, instead of laughing at the people standing at the starbucks line, I too, will be standing in line, cringing and frowning until I can sip that frothy brew of coffee, when the sun becomes brighter, the day becomes quicker, and the company of others, more joyful.

- An ode to coffee, by David Oh