Yearly Archives: 2002

Economics and Republican fantasy

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I’ve said it before, but let me repeat it: There is a finite amount of money. I’m not a communist… I love capitalism. But reality prompts me to point out that we don’t have unlimited amounts of cash.
If we increase our spending at the same time we cut taxes, we’re going to wind up with a huge debt that we can’t pay. If we can’t pay the bills now, how are we going to pay them in the future? In the future people will have become attached to tax cuts, and they won’t want to pay more. They’ll also be attached to government services that they don’t want to give up. We will never be able to get out of debt.
When are the Republicans ever going to get a grip on reality? I don’t carry any debt in my own life. I certainly don’t want the government to do so. We need a good democratic presidential candidate…. and fast.

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sanding floors

On the homefront — I sanded Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It sucked. It was really hard and the sander I used didn’t do a very good job. I picked the square buffer-type sander because the drum sander is too big for me to control easily. The square sander is also really hard to control, and it isn’t as efficient: I went over the floors dozens of times and they didn’t get up all of the first layer of junk off the floor. So I gave up and decided to paint rather than stain. You can also see murphy bed in Boise here and buy it at a great price.

My reasoning is this: I need to preserve the wood now that I’ve sanded it, or the traffic will damage the wood. I need to do it quickly and cheaply, and hiring a pro to finish the sanding would take too long. Simply putting down a polyurethane isn’t good enough because the floors look like crap. So I’m painting with an oil-based polyurethane paint that will protect the floor for a year or two until I can hire a pro to sand it up and redo the floors. You can see the website if you need for flooring services.

I put the first coat on the foyer and part of the dining room last night. I take tonight off and pack, Wednesday I’ll spend with friends. Then Thursday, I’ll finish the dining room and put a second coat on the foyer. Saturday the cable guy and the phone guy are coming, and when they’re done, I’ll put another coat over all the floors.

Floor sanding & painting

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Republican Anti-Intellectualism and the dumbing down of American Culture

“Brain Drain” by Mark Crispin Miller:

For reasons too complex for us to hazard here, the anti‑intellectuals are finally on the side of power at its most unforgiving and voracious. And so they give a pass to those professors who are at the service of such power, while jeering anyone–inside or outside the Academy–who thinks to raise a fuss about how wrong it is. For them, this isn’t something to discuss, because discussion is itself suspicious, even dangerous–the sport of jerk‑offs and Prevaricators. Thus there is no point in arguing with them–and yet no wisdom in attempting to ignore them. And such is true not only of the Bush regime’s most unrestrained supporters, but of the Bush regime itself–a fact that now requires a lot of careful thought, and something more.
And yet it’s just such thinking that has all but disappeared since 9/11–as it always disappears in time of war. In bringing down the World Trade Center (a mile from where I sit right now) and ravaging the Pentagon, the terrorists not only murdered thousands, and left tens of thousands more bereft, and devastated lower Manhattan, and sparked the wreckage of the local and the national economy. Through that spectacular atrocity, the killers also managed, at one blow, to knock the brains clean out of countless good Americans. Although those citizens had started out that day with all their wits intact, by dinner‑time they sounded way much like Fred–a terroristic consequence a lot less hideous, surely, than what happened in the air and on the ground, and yet even more destructive in the long run. For while we can and will no doubt rebuild beyond the shattered lives and property, the prospects aren’t as upbeat for our frail democracy, which cannot function if too many people think like Bill O’Reilly and his fans.

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Working On Floors

Rich came over Tuesday night and we finished ripping up the foyer and the entryway. Last night I went back over and removed more of the baseboards and ripped up some of the plywood that’s still around the edges of the room. I still need to get the baseboards in the living room and then try to work on the linoleum that’s still stuck down in there. Then I can start sanding!!! I might try to get the sander this evening just to have it in the house. I could potentially start on the dining room tomorrow morning.

I also put the legs on the dining table Paul gave me and set it up in the game room, which is going to be the dining room temporarily until I get the living room finished. I’m starting to feel more and more like the place is mine.

2165 N. Penn - House Projects

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Celebrity Tattoos

Cool: Celebrity Tattoos.

On Sunday I finished the ripping up the living room and most of the foyer, with Gary’s help. Good thing in the foyer; where the window was broken, all the plywood was rotten and molding. If I hadn’t decided to rip it up, it would have been a huge mold problem in the future. Fortunately, the floor underneath it is okay. Gary also brought me Paul’s dining room table; it will look great in the dining room. Cool, that’s one less thing I have to worry about buying off the bat.

The foyer is the wide plank flooring like the living room. There’s a small section where it would probably be a good thing if I replaced a couple of the planks. I hope to god I can find the planks to replace all these easily. Tonight I’ll go to the house and try to finish up ripping up the flooring. I also want to try to knock the plaster down off the ceiling this week before I begin to sand the floors, take down the outside edge strip of the drop ceiling, remove the ugly tacky baseboards they put in the living room and foyer and generally clean everything up.

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Almond Pastry

From the kitchen of: Kelly Ackley.

  • 2 sticks of butter
  • 2 cups flour
  • 3 tablespoons water
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons pure almond extract
  • Betty Crocker Smooth & Creamy Vanilla frosting
  • Chopped walnuts (or almonds)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Add 1 stick of butter to 1 cup of flour & bring to a boil. Remove from heat and add 1 or one-and-a-half teaspoon almond extract. Quickly stir in 1 cup of flour & mix well until smooth & no lumps. One at a time (important) stir in 3 eggs.

Separately…

Mix 1 cup flour, 3 TBSP water, and 1 stick butter until smooth. Roll into a ball and divide in half. Pat out each half into two strips (onto a cookie sheet). Spread above mixture on each layer.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour–no more, no less!

Let cool and then frost and add nuts.

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Apple and Cheese Torte

From the kitchen of: Tami Putney.

  • 1 stick butter or margarine
  • 3/4 Cup sugar, divided
  • 1 teasp. vanilla, divided
  • 1 Cup flour
  • 1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese
  • 1 egg
  • 4 thinly sliced apples
  • 1/2 teasp. cinnamon
  • 1/2 Cup powdered sugar
  • 2 Tablespn. milk
  • 2 tablespn. toasted and slivered almonds

Cream together butter, 1/4 Cup sugar and 1/2 teasp. vanilla. Add four and when it’s well blended press the mixture into the bottom and 1 1/2 inches up the sides of a 9" spring form pan. Beat the cream cheese, 1/4 Cup sugar, the egg and 1/2 teasp. vanilla until the mixture is smooth. Pour into the prepared crust.

Toss the apple slices lightly with 1/4 Cup sugar and cinnamon. Layer evenly over the cream cheese. Bake at 450 degree F. for 10 minutes and then reduce the oven to 400 degrees and continue baking for 30-45 minutes or until the apples test "done". Cool the pan and then remove the sides of the pan and place on a serving plate. Combine the powdered sugar and milk, drizzle over the torte and garnish with almonds.

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Apple Squares

From the kitchen of: Tami Putney.

Try to avoid eating very many of these squares on the day you make them, as they improve immeasurably on the second and third day! This recipe originally came from a Pillsbury bake-off. Makes 12-15 squares)

  • 2 cups unbleached white flour
  • 2 cups brown sugar, firmly packed
  • 1/2 cup butter or margarine
  • 1 cup chopped nuts (optional)
  • 1-2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 cup sour cream or yogurt
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 egg
  • 2 cups apples, peeled and finely chopped (about 2 apples)

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 350 deg. F. In a large bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar and margarine. Blend at low speed, until the mixture forms fine crumbs. If you want to include them, stir in the nuts now. Place 2 3/4 cups of the crumb mixture into an ungreased 13×9 inch pan. Press down firmly. Add the remaining ingredients (except for the apples) to the remaining crumb mixture. Blend well. Stir the chopped apples into the batter. Spoon the batter evenly over the crumb base in the pan. Bake at 350 deg. F for 30-40 minutes. If you use the larger pan, bake for 25-30 minutes. Cool before cutting. Better yet, let it wait 24 hours before cutting. Store loosely covered.

Difficulty: easy. Time: 15 minutes preparation, 40 minutes baking. Precision: approximate measurement OK.

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Irresistible Apple Pie

From the kitchen of: unknown.

  • 6 cups sliced, peeled Jonathan apples (about 6 pounds, or 6 medium apples)
  • 2 tablespoons of orange juice
  • 1/3 cup firmly-packed brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup white sugar
  • 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Heat oven to 400 degrees.

Toss apples and orange juice in large bowl. Combine brown sugar, sugar, flour, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg. Toss with apples until coated. Set aside and make pie crust.

Pie Crust

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup Crisco (3/4 stick)
  • 5 tablespoons cold water

Combine flour and salt in medium bowl. Cut in Crisco using pastry blender or 2 knives until all flour is in to form peas-sized chunks.

Sprinkle with water, one tablespoon at a time. Toss lightly with fork until dough forms into a ball. Divide dough into two equal parts. Press between hands to form two 5 to 6 inch pancakes.

Four pancakes lightly on both sides. Roll bottom crust between sheets of waxed paper or plastic wrap on dampened countertop.

Peel off top sheet. Trim one larger than the upside-down 9-inch pie plate. Flip into pie plate. Remove other sheet. Trim edges even with pie plate.

Finishing Up

  • 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
  • 1 to 2 teaspoons milk
  • 1 teaspoon white sugar

Spoon filling into unbaked pie shell. Dot with butter. Moisten pastry edges with water.

Roll top crust the same way as the bottom. Peel off top sheet. Flip onto filled pie. Remove other sheet. Trim 1/2 inch beyond edge of pie plate. Fold top edge under bottom crust. Flute. Cut slits in top crust for steam to escape.

Brush top crust with milk. Sprinkle with sugar. Cover top with sheet of foil to prevent overbrowning.

Bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes. Remove foil. Bake 10 to 20 minutes longer or until apples are tender, filling in center is bubbly, and crust is golden brown. Cool pie to room temperature before serving.

Makes one 9-inch pie.

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Fat Free Applesauce Spice Cake Or Gingerbread

From the kitchen of: Tami Putney.

  • 1/2 cup molasses
  • 1 cup applesauce
  • 1 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp. cloves
  • 1 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp. baking soda
  • 1 3/4 cup flour (I use whole wheat pastry flour)
  • 2 tsp. ginger (optional)

Combine the molasses and applesauce in a large bowl. Combine remaining ingredients and stir into the liquid. (If the batter seems very dry, add a little more applesauce or a little water.) Bake in a nonstick or pan-sprayed 8*8-inch baking pan, in a 350 degree oven, for 30-45 minutes or until it tests done.

The optional gingermakes an acceptable gingerbread. I have also had success leaving out the ginger and adding 3 or 4 tablespoons of cocoa (I guess you could use carob) to make a tasty but not very sweet or rich chocolate cake. If you use cocoa you might need to add extra sweetening, but that depends on your taste.

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