macdonaldster

See: http://www.kk.org/cooltools/archives/001604.php I have always wanted to put a system like this into a place I lived. But really, in a bungalow, it's not necessary. If we ever re-do our kitchen/dining room/living room it would make sense to set this up, I think, as part of the budget for the project.

Ingredients   1 cup hot water  1/2 tsp granulated sugar  1/2 tsp quick rise yeast (any yeast will do)  2 1/2 to 3 1/2 cups flour (depends on consistency of dough needed)  1 tsp of salt (to taste)  1/2 to 1 tbsp of oil (olive oil makes the dough heavier)   Method and Notes   I am not 100% sure of the quantities above but that is pretty much how I do it...  When it comes to flour I go by the dough consistency. I want a nice, soft dough I can spread out and work with... Softer and easier to work than bread dough.  Mix water, sugar, yeast and let the yeast sit until it is bubbling.  Mix flour salt and oil in a mixing bowl or mixer.  Slowly add wet ingredients to dry, mixing/kneading until fully incorporated. Add flour as needed until the dough is sticky but not wet to the touch; reserve some flour for kneading (you can add more, just don't add too much or the dough will get too stiff).  Knead until the dough is soft and elastic (a mixer with a dough paddle is best for this).  Place th

Want to have some Web Clips in your gmail that remind you of important things, display your favorite sites, scroll witty quips, or what have you but don't have any easy way of publishing and maintaining an RSS feed? Simply create one or more Google Calendar and enter the items (they show up with the clip name as the calendar name and the calendar event title as the text of the clip) to be displayed as you wish. None of the data other than the calendar name and event title are displayed so if you date/time reminders you should create events with titles containing the date and time of the event. Some links to figure out how to order/constrain the XML feed: http://groups.google.com/group/google-calendar-help-... http://code.google.com/apis/calendar/overview.html http://code.google.com/apis/gdata/reference.html You could also publish/consume public calendars for this purpose. Anyway, enjoy.

Fascinating torrent forums for rare films: Cinema-Obscura.com . Good discusssions. Members only. Courtesy of Toddius Maximus. Update (2007-07-05): the other night I tried searching for Circle of Iron as a torrent on the site but didn't find it as my login seems to have expired? I was able to find that on torrentspy .

I recently purchased a memory foam pillow at Canadian Tire on a whim while we were browsing for other stuff. My sleep has improved somewhat. It is just super-comfortable and is "smooshy". A smooshy pillow can be formed into various shapes to support your head for different things. I got the non-contoured model and now want to get a contoured one to try it out. Some common pillow actions: stacking: it doesn't stack well with other pillows because it is quite thick and is meant to conform to your head which requires it to be flat on the bed in my opinion, but that's ok. use with "the wedge": I have a foam wedge made for people with health issues that require them to be propped up in bed; I use it to watch TV and read as well as sleeping propped up when my back is bugging me -- the pillow works well with the wedge. sleeping positions: worked well when laying on my side, back, etc... I was even able to get it under my shoulders and it settled down to contour t

Well, I removed the chat from the bottom of the blog. It just didn't get used. :)

Energy is a funny thing. I have trouble sleeping through the night so I know all about energy highs and lows. Unlike a sound sleeper each day presents a new challenge for me. Sometimes I am well-rested and full of energy, alert, and responsive. Other days I am exhausted and spaced out (and ineffective). I have tried many things to get a good night's sleep but nothing seems to work. Even sleeping pills don't do much. I'll take them one night and get a good sleep, the next night, I'll wake in the middle of the night and other than being groggy it's like I didn't take anything. Ideally, I would have a job where I could nap, work when rested, etc. I actually do have a job like that but my lifestyle doesn't really allow me that freedom... I guess one day I'll figure it all out. The latest thing I'm trying is going to the gym and doing cardio/fat-burning exercises on the machines. Hopefully, this will exhaust me into sleeping through the night. I'

Velocity Trap (1997) was interesting but bad... :) SciFi B movie, for sure. I wanted to see the whole thing but fell asleep (it was on at like 2AM). I plan to try to see it again as it was very intriguing and had great atmosphere. A SciFi movie that was believable (the universe was, the plot wasn't so much). There were some funny scenes when one of the characters goes through an extended period of isolation from other people. Worth watching if you are alone and love SciFi.

101 New Uses for Everyday Things | Life Skills : RealSimple.com Seems like a good place to waste some time becoming more efficient.

This image was taken while hiking in Cape Breton off the Cabot Trail inside the park. This was the first hike we took our dog on. He was wearing an embarrassing harness (training him not to pull on the leash) and so he asked me not to publish an pictures of him from this trip.

Update - 2007-08-27 - After abandoning weight loss this summer for logistical reasons (long story), I am back on track (and 10 lbs heavier) and starting again. Using Physics Diet to track my weight loss (see my public profile: http://physicsdiet.com/Public.aspx?u=macdonaldster@gmail.com ). Old Info: View the entire spreadsheet or:

Most bizarrely named product ever: Sacro Wedgey Still, I'm curious:

So now you can chat on the blog... Click here to chat . Until further notice I am using Gabbly.com 's chat widget (cool).

Update - 2007-08-27 - Superstore is now selling a case of 24 Red Rain for $27 + deposit. Nice. My most significant food discovery lately has been Energy Drinks . I thought these were for frat boys and steroid junkies for the longest time but, during an extended period of "working late", learned they were good for me as well. See, I recently learned I could no longer drink coffee and never really found it very good for staying up late, anyway. Late night work and driving are the two times I really can't afford to be drowsy and I was telling a friend this, when then said "we get Red Bull free at work" and told me it helped them get through all-nighters. I tried a can of Red Bull on my next road trip and it worked. It worked really well. The drowsiness (and fear that I would fall asleep at the wheel) were gone. I soon began drinking them as needed (not very often). Anyway, now that I have established that these are used by me as needed and I am not hooked or a

See: What You Didn’t Know About Bruce Lee’s Kick-Ass Success Seemed like a good link for just about anyone to read. I've always been a huge fan of Bruce Lee the movie actor but also Bruce Lee the person and martial artist.

Did about 5.5h of highway driving today from NB to NS. Saw a panel truck almost almost run a car off the road while it merged in, couple of people barely squeezing in a pass before oncoming traffic nailed them, and lots of speeding... About 20 km/h faster than posted for most drivers, I'd say.

After a long period without a blog I have given up on building and hosting my blog on my home network (for various reasons, hopefully to be detailed below) I am moving onto Google... It'll be interesting to try out their system.