ProfessorTomoe

Got e-mail from my son - he's all in on making the Aviation cocktails when he comes over. Today, I'm having more smoked salmon with capers and cream cheese on a bagel. I've come to realize that I'm addicted to capers. I'll get them out of the slim bottle, pour them into a small dish, and nibble on a few at a time, enjoying the vinegary goodness of the nasturtium buds. I've come to putting a ton of them on my salmon bagels now. Nom.

Obtained a bottle of Rothman & Winter's crème de violette last night after learning that my son would be coming over to my house in the near future. You see, he's a budding amateur mixologist, and we've been discussing the possibility of creating a drink containing Rothman & Winter's crème de violette - "The Aviation." It's a cocktail that predates World War II, going back into the pre-prohibition era if memory serves, and it's made a comeback as of late. We already have the other ingredients needed to make an Aviation - I have a bottle of Aviation brand gin (named after the drink, and company owned by actor Ryan Reynolds). My son has everything else, including the bar implements. I'm hoping he'll bring them over when he comes so that we can create the ancient cocktail. In the meantime, I tried to create something called a "Blue Moon" cocktail tonight using the Rothman & Winter's crème de violette and the Aviation gin and failed, because my wife had thrown out the lemon juice we had (it was expired). I wound up using cranberry juice instead of the lemon juice, plus frozen cherries for extra flavor. The end result wasn't bad, per se, but I hope the Aviation cocktail tastes better when we eventually make it.

Update #1: I have my new hearing aids. They're clearer: less distorted, more focused. Maybe not as loud, but that's adjustable. Comfortable - no change there. Update #2: Finally had my CT scan w/contrast media. No reaction to the media noted, thanks to the pre-medication regimen. I'll get the results soon.

Tl;dr - what does this all mean?

From Dutch Bros.: a White Chocolate Lavender Freeze with extra whipped cream. My treat to myself for surviving the CT scan procedure today.

I told my wife as she came out of the foster cat's room a few minutes ago that she's needed down at the Dallas Zoo for her Trap-Neuter-Return trapping skills, and that she'd better bring her large drop trap since Dallas SWAT is on the scene. She gave me a sparkled look and said, "Why!?!?!?" I told her a Clouded Leopard had escaped its enclosure (true statement). She gave me a crestfallen, "Yeah, right," and stalked off.

Oh, almost forgot - got the first half of my clearances (medical approval) for surgery to fix my torn right rotator cuff yesterday. However, it comes with a referral to a nephrologist, since my kidney numbers are worse than they were last time. Still waiting on cardiac approval.

Today is the day to pick up the new hearing aids for both Mrs. Prof and myself. I expect there will be some fine-tuning done, once we get the appropriate apps downloaded, installed, and activated on our phones (she's on a Samsung, while I'm on a Google Pixel 6 - at least there shouldn't be a software incompatibility). Should take a fair amount of time. This will be followed by lunch somewhere at Firewheel Town Center, where the hearing aid place is located. That'll be weird, getting used to the new acoustics.

We hit record highs the past two days in a row. Today, we're at least 25 degrees colder. My fake knee is feeling it.

On topic in another forum...

"Lo Wang's Rap" from the 3D Realms game Shadow Warrior now has transcribed lyrics! Former employee Joe Siegler has taken the lyrics I transcribed from the rap and added them to his upload of the song on YouTube as Closed Captions. To see them, go to the page for his upload, turn on Closed Captioning, and enjoy! (You might have to restart the playback to see everything if you have autoplay on.) Here's the link: https://youtu.be/H7V7vMMLE7U Please let me know what you think.

I have absotively no military vehicle knowledge whatsoever, yet I got 7 out of 10 right. I missed the Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV), Self-propelled anti-aircraft gun (SPAAG), and 'Technical' wrong. Wonder which ones they were?

A six-ounce container of fresh, chilled, organic raspberries. Ohmydearlordthey'resogood. Juicy and sweet. That, plus I had to have the fridge on "turbo chill" for a little while to get some sodas cooled down, so they're extra cold. Not too cold, just right. Om nom nom.

Had a follow-up with my hematologist the other day. More blood work. Turns out my "iron stores" are back up in the normal range, but I'm still technically anemic since my hemoglobin and hematocrit levels are below normal. She's going to wait 6 weeks and test me again. If I'm still anemic, she's going to do a bone marrow biopsy on me to figure out what's going on. Fun!

Since we had cats, we used to hang our artificial (small) Christmas tree from the ceiling. It kept the cats out of the tree, and it had the added bonus of letting us put our presents truly under the tree.

Former University of Texas baseball coach Cliff Gustafson. He won two national championships at UT.

I eat heavy metal and gargle premium gas I drink heavy water and nitro-demitasse I eat heavy metal and chew up a Limousine I munch barbed wire in my submarine I like stainless razor, sharpen appetite I can swallow laser, if I'm eating light I like anchor sandwich served on aluminum side I like rusty fences, locomotive pie Eat heavy metal, I don't truck with tinsel Drank heavy water, eat turbo schnitzel Eat big transformers, I like stoves and cans Tasty rolled steel girders, chomp copper pans - from "The Iron Man" by Pete Townshend

Mrs. Prof has eaten all of the chile con queso. Damn.

The intrinsic values of the two would appear to be at the root of the idiom, IMHO. Diamonds worth much, goldfish shiny and apparently worth much, but deep down, not worth anything. Look deep into your deal before you commit, I'm guessing. @The Old Hack Am I anywhere in the neighborhood?

There, damnit! I have finished off my black-eyed peas. I didn't eat any on New Year's Day 2022, and the year flat out ***sucked***. Let's see if this makes any difference whatsoever in 2023.

I just whipped up a batch of smoothies for Mrs. Prof and myself. Contents: 1 1/2 cups of Dole Frozen Tropical Smoothie Mix 2 cups of Crystal Light Lemon Iced Tea, prepared About 1-2 cups of fresh strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries from an Albertson's fresh fruit pot The innards of one large, fresh dragonfruit Add everything to a blender and blend until it's a smoothie. Nom.

I would pay good money to see this.

That's why I supplement the Velveeta with some real shredded cheese - it adds flavor. The recipe is on the border of being complex, without being too complex. Otherwise, I'd have figured out a way of not using Velveeta at all. Seriously, someone please try this and tell me what you think.

I mentioned "special chile con queso" in another thread, so I thought I'd better document it here in case someone wanted to try it. I've saved this off as a Word document in case you want a permanent copy. Just DM me and I'll send it to you. This makes a 3-quart pan full of the stuff. Lee Jackson's Special Chile con Queso Ingredients: 1 loaf Velveeta cheese, cubed 6 to 8 oz. shredded Mexican blend cheese (Kraft is what I use - store brand is ok) 1 pint milk (whole preferred, don't use skim) 1 can Ro-Tel tomatoes (Mexican or Hatch variety preferred, otherwise get regular) 1 small can chopped green chiles (Hatch brand if you can find them) 1 small serrano or jalapeño pepper, seeded and diced 1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped fine 2 tbsp. chile powder 1 tbsp. ground cumin 1 tbsp. Mexican oregano flakes, crushed fine 2 tbsp. oil (olive oil ok, vegetable oil of your choice is fine for sautéing) To prepare: In a 3-quart saucepan, heat oil over medium heat until shimmering. Add serrano or jalapeño pepper and garlic and sauté until lightly brown. WARNING - this next step will create what my wife calls "pepper gas," which may cause eye watering and coughing. You might want to turn on your oven fan for this and/or wear a mask, but don't skip it, because it really adds to the flavor of the dish. Add the chile powder, ground cumin, and Mexican oregano flakes to the oil and sauté briefly, moving rapidly so that the spices do not burn. When things start looking dry, add the can of chopped green chiles. Sauté until the liquid dries out somewhat. Finally, add the can of Ro-Tel tomatoes and stir to incorporate all the garlic, peppers, spices, and chiles. Bring the Ro-Tel mixture to a boil. Add the shredded Mexican blend cheese and mix until slightly incorporated, not fully melted. Add cubed Velveeta carefully to the mixture and stir until it begins to "cheese over" (i.e., it begins to look more like smooth cheese than it does like a conglomeration of stringy stuff). Stop stirring and add milk (add less than a pint if you want a thicker queso, but try the base recipe first). Turn heat down just below medium and start stirring non-stop (don't dare stop stirring, or you'll burn it) until everything is melted and all lumps are gone. Serve with tortilla chips, as a dip or over the top of the chips – your choice. A thousand and one uses otherwise.