Hey Hey

 Just a quick howdy and hey and maybe I'll circle back to add more as time permits.

We're still kicking, I wouldn't exactly say thriving but we're still surviving and that's something. Knocking on wood, we have remained a Covid free house since the outbreak of the pandemic..

The world is an absolute hellscape of rising fascism but also rising worker strikes and increasing solidarity among the lower classes (which bodes ill for the very fat and very rich cats at the top). 

That's all for now, its hard to not feel the psychic burden of knowing our government is extremely super complicit in committing genocide. It will definitely make Thanksgiving next week a very, very different feeling for me.

The Cacophony

 There was another horrific gun massacre in the only country on earth where this happens regularly and literally nothing is ever done to stop them because the gun nut lobby has some deep ass pockets and they own enough elected types to stop any efforts to reign in America's rampant gun massacre epidemic.

The American people want and demand changes but the leaders of America don't march to our orders, they march to the orders of the Military Industrial Complex that requires billions spent on tools of death rather than the fraction of that money on building a sustainable, just and humane world for everyone.

I've said it in the past but what if America's nearly $800 BILLION for so-called defense was spent on humanitarian aid, building housing and working together to solve what are increasingly looking like doomsday scenarios for the human race? Think about how different the world would be if capitalism wasn't the overarching (and toxic) mindset. 

Capitalism is economic cancer, it requires constant expansion or it implodes upon itself. It requires constant improvement or it falls apart, capitalism is a giant pyramid scheme built on the exploitation, subjugation and desperation of the lower and working classes. 

Anyway, the noise and furor of the latest tragedy will fuel alot of anxiety driven tweets and speeches and then it will all die back down again and nothing will change. Because the powers that be love their profit margins more than slaughtered children and innocent people.

Cooking Post: Sous Vide and Air Fryers

About 8 months ago or so, I got a sous vide device for about $50. A very basic Curtis Stone (infomercial guy apparently) model that is large but works reasonably well. I got an 8 liter clear Cambro for my bath and a cheap vacuum sealer.

And it worked really well. I've made all kinds of awesome food in it including pork chops, steaks, potatoes and poached apples and pears. My current favorite is to peel and cut up a few potatoes, seal them up with spices and a little butter, sous vide them for an hour or two and then now the new thing is to throw them into the air fryer to speed crisp them.

They aren't quite the best potatoes I've ever had or made but they are damned close and waaaaaay easier.

Along the way there have been some attempted upgrades and then some real upgrades and I've got at least one more planned. I got a "better" vacuum sealer off Ebay and it has a ton more features and does work well in almost every way with the fatal exception of a dead spot on the sealer, no matter how much air got sucked out, it would never stay sealed. And that also meant water infiltration.

Eventually I got a really good vacuum sealer that I kind of love, its a Nesco VS-12 and part of why I love it is because its big and powerful and has a locking handle instead of clips and a built in place to hold bags to cut to size and seal. And it can be used on dry and moist things, not quite wet but moist. 

A couple of weeks ago, my kid and I were at Target and happened to remember to check out the appliances aisle and came across a larger air fryer on a good deal and got it. And have been having a delicious time making fries, hash browns, fish sticks, chicken nuggets/tenders and roasted potatoes in it! I wish it weren't quite so big and that it had some with a second rack to double cooking space but this thing has been freaking awesome!

Going straight from sous vide into the air fryer is resulting in outstanding potatoes! And they are as easy as it gets. My previous easy method was to wash and then slice the potatoes with a mandoline but sliced potatoes are space hogs, cubed and partially cubed are much better uses of cooking space.

Local Surfer Dies After Shark Attack Saturday Near Santa Cruz

Cowells Beach and Cove.

Local Surfer Dies After Shark Attack


"A surfer was killed in a shark attack on Saturday at Manresa State Beach in Santa Cruz County.

The 26-year-old man was attacked around 1:30 p.m. by an unknown shark species about a mile south of the main parking lot, California State Parks said in a statement.

The surfer was pronounced dead at the scene and the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office has notified his family.

According to the sheriff’s office, the attack occurred within 100 yards of shore near Sand Dollar Beach...."

We were boogie boarding on Saturday around the same time just a few miles away. Oddly enough, a fish or something swam into me while I was in a little over waist deep water and startled me.

While a shark bite death is sobering for anyone that spends any significant time in the water, the facts remain that you're far more likely get hurt by another human or your own self.

This other article identifies him as Ben Kelly.

Pretty sad but I will also say that I still went out and surfed yesterday. Maybe a little extra vigilant and also a little extra thankful to be a standup paddleboarder which gives me a better view into the water and changes my silhouette from under the water. Conventional wisdom is that surfers can look a bit like wounded seals from below with flailing arms and legs hanging off a board. That said, there was a shark attack off where I do regularly surf a couple of years ago where the shark bit into a kayak, hard enough to knock the guy out of it. That shark took one bite and did not try again.

As tragic as a death from shark attack is, they are rare but part of the contract one signs knowingly or not when one chooses to go out into or onto the ocean. Same for going into the woods or other wild area.

RIP Ben Kelly.

Making Actual Use of 3d Printers

Among the many knocks against 3d printers and 3d printing has been that they are largely not especially useful. At least not at the hobbyist level. It is as arguable that decoration, customization and personalization is extremely useful.

But, in the wake of the corona virus and the exposure of a poorly situated emergency response, many 3d printers are being used to try and help out.

I've been printing face shield frames, trialing a couple of different models until deciding on one that has the most upside and least downside. Want to see it? Its an Aegis remix that incorporates a slick locking mechanism on the front. Add a transparent sheet of plastic and a rubber band and this face shield is very ready to go.

This evening's print is a first attempt at making a mask, a mask with a place to hold a filter to help protect against viral inhalation. With some foam tape and suitable filtration material (I've heard some folks are cutting up hepa filter vacuum bags), I'll have made a very usable 2nd level PPE. The fact that it'll look cool is partly why 3d printers are cool.

Being able to embellish the hell out of stuff for fun is part of why 3d printing is fun.