Modern Living

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Equipment for Modern Living,
Betty Jane Johnston, The Macmillan Company, New York, 1965.
(a gift from Daughter C!)

Did you see #10? Plug-in vision-phone. How cool would that be?

What is the thing above #5 that has a line but no number?

[Betty Jane has a Ph.D. by the way, so that’s Doctor Betty Jane to folks like you & I.]

Crappy old books such as this are good for a laugh. How could they have been so wrong about the near future?

Crappy old books such as this can teach a valuable lesson. How could they have been so wrong about the near future?

This is true. See, for example, this compelling story of the electric quesadilla maker.

Before we look at a couple of “well-chosen” appliances, let’s examine the drawing, shall we? Those are cloth diapers hanging on the line. Pampers were introduced to US markets in 1961; the “modern” double-gusset version in 1973 (from that infallible source which has the whole history of diapers). Further, in 1965 there was not an electric dryer in every home. Dr. Betty Jane encourages you to purchase one. See that big pot piled high with bottles and a pair of tongs? That’s what this poor wretched homemaker used to sterilize the baby’s glass bottles, nipples, and rings. And would you look at her shoes! Believe it or not, in 1965 one wore flip-flops only to the pool or beach. One last thing. I’ll bet you dollars to donuts that teddybear has button eyes, and the ABC block has lead paint.

And now, to the appliances that will deliver our wretched homemaker from her personal hell of drudge work.

Completely immersible! Though look at the placement of the fork relative to the knife and spoon! And where’s the napkin? Dr. Betty Jane needed a better editor.

Nothing much has changed in the design of these appliances, has it? Today’s may have a magnetic safety feature on account of the crying little girl, but they still have removable probes.

Who sits down to iron? That’s like the life of leisure our wretched homemaker is missing out on.

I iron a lot of table cloths and similar items. The cord holder and extensions would be very useful accessories.

2019. 1965. One the one hand, only 54 years ago. On the other, more than half a century has passed. But things were so thoroughly modern, don’t you know?

Similar post regarding photographing your favorite TV scenes here. Go just to see the picture. It’s great!

12. Use definite, specific, concrete language.

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A period of unfavorable weather set in.

He showed satisfaction as he took possession of his well-earned reward.

It rained every day for a week.

He grinned as he pocketed the coin.

The Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr., With Revisions, an Introduction, and New Chapter on Writing by E.B. White (1959)

“Sixty-three words that could change the world”

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Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all his sentences short, or that he avoid all detail and treat his subjects only in outline, but that every word tell.

William Strunk, Jr. The Elements of Style (1919)

From the Introduction to The Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr., With Revisions, an Introduction, and New Chapter on Writing by E.B. White (1959).

ADDED: I like WP just fine but I’d like it to do what I tell it.

Must not have a Walgreens

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via Newsalert

Our little town– not the village, the town– has three pharmacies. When we moved here, we chose to do business with the small, not-a-chain one. Customer service was pretty good (although screwups were made) and there was a nice little selection of drug store stuff. Soon after the passing of a certain piece of legislation, it was bought up by a company in the business of buying small, independently owned drug stores. The selection of stuff diminished but customer service remained consistent, and we remained customers.

About a year or so after the transition, the company in the business of buying companies was itself bought up by a national chain and the formerly independent drug store was now “powered by Walgreens.” Things went down hill from there, and rather quickly.

With the first buying up, the staff remained the same– not so when Walgreens came to town. Obnoxious young pricks, some were. There was clearly animosity between the sanctioned-by-Walgreens folk and the old timers who had worked with the independent owner. And everyone had to wear stupid smocks of different colors so each employee’s place on the totem pole was advertised. Of course, there was the introduction of the new computer system, and the new system of identifying pharmacy customers by DOB, mother’s maiden name, first grade teacher’s name, SS#, phone number, etc.– and God forbid if you were picking up a prescription for someone other than yourself!– all of which those in the know knew were going into Walgreens database. And the security cameras. Right.

But the thing that finally got to me was this.

[Tetanus angle below the fold]

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This cracks me up

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Singer paid off an alleged crooked test proctor to inflate the girl’s scores to a perfect 800 on the SAT math exam and 710 on the literature test. On the ACTs, her score of 23 out of 36 was upped to a near-perfect 35, according to court filings.

The New York Post, March 13, 2019

I remember being in a bookstore with Mr. Big Food years and years ago. We were shopping for an SAT study guide.* I asked Mr. Big Food what his SAT test scores were. 1600. This girl is no Mr. Big Food, I can tell you that.

*Mr. Big Food did not rob the cradle. I was a quote-unquote non-traditional graduate student.

(Pi Day) Recipe: Old Fashioned Texas Style Chicken Pot Pie

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It’s made from scratch!

It’s a longish recipe, but absolutely worth the the effort of making everything from scratch. Full recipes for chicken, sauce, and crust here. First posted on Pi Day, 2015.

It’s always the last place…

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There’s a term for this poppycock, “presentism*”– the tendency to interpret the past in presentist terms– and it’s moronic (no offense to AoSHQ morons). The idea that one needs to go looking in crappy old children’s books to discover whatever -ism you’re looking for today… . Augh. Forget it. Not worth my time.

*As I understand its use in literature and in history, presentism of this sort is distinct from the philosophical use of the term. According to The Stanford Encyclopedia, presentism is an “ontological thesis”: only present things exist.

The Linda Problem

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Linda is 31 years old, single, outspoken, and very bright. She majored in philosophy. As a student, she was deeply concerned with issues of discrimination and social justice, and also participated in anti-nuclear demonstrations.

Which is more probable?

  • Linda is a bank teller.
  • Linda is a bank teller and is active in the feminist movement.

Kahneman & Tversky (1982)

The Conjunction Fallacy. Will you fall for it?

Recipe: Creative Cooking Corned Beef and Cabbage Hash

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For the leftover corned beef and cabbage

Corned Beef is not actually a variety meat but we include it here because it is the same type simple family food as many of the variety meats. Le Melange Americain, as the French call Corned Beef Hash, is a typical American dish. Thrifty New Englanders prepared corned beef in numerous ways … Other variations for hearty meals on snowbound evenings are the German inspired corned beef and cabbage, or the world famous “boiled dinner”—corned beef and vegetables.

—The Creative Cooking Course (1982)
Print Recipe

CREATIVE COOKING CORNED BEEF AND CABBAGE HASH

Makes 5 to 6 servings

Ingredients

  • ½ stick butter
  • ¼ C vegetable oil
  • 3 C onions sliced thin
  • 4 C shredded cabbage cooked in ½ C water with ½ tsp salt added until crisp-tender, about 12 minutes, drained well
  • Salt
  • 2 medium potatoes diced, cooked in a small amount of salted water until tender, drained well
  • 12 oz can corned beef flaked (“two cups flaked, freshly cooked corned beef may be substituted for the canned corned beef”)
  • 2 Tbsp tomato purée
  • ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
  • Poached eggs if desired, for serving

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 375o. Heat butter and oil in a large frypan, add onions, and cook until transparent. Combine onion mixture, cabbage, potatoes, and corned beef, stir in tomato purée, and season with salt and pepper. Pack mixture into a lightly greased loaf pan and bake 30 minutes. Invert on a serving platter and top with poached eggs, if desired.

Recipe: Corned Beef and Cabbage II

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“An Old-Fashioned Jiggs and Maggie Dinner”—Master Chef Louis P. De Gouy, The Gold Cook Book (1947)

“Important. If the corned beef is to be eaten cold and enjoyed like Westphalia ham, cold Southdown mutton, brook trout in aspic, or a terrine of pâté de foie gras, it should be cooked with devoted care. Yet the cooking is of the simplest form.

Put it into cold water to cover, and bring to the simmering point very, very slowly, then hold it at that point without variation till it is cooked through and as tender as a quail. Even then, do not lift the meat
from the pot or drain the water off, but set it away in a moderately cool place so that there will be no sharp changes of temperature, and allow it to cool in the cooking water. During the first heating and simmering, scum will rise to the surface of the water, and it should be skimmed off from time to time and kept clear.”

Print Recipe

CORNED BEFF AND CABBAGE II

Ingredients

  • 4 lb about choice brisket of corned beef, soaked in cold water for 1 hour, drained
  • Cold water
  • 6 potatoes peeled, halved
  • 6 white turnips peeled
  • 6 small carrots scraped
  • 6 small onions peeled
  • A fine large cabbage cut to make 6 wedges, core removed
  • Butter
  • Freshly grated horseradish mustard pickles (for serving)

Instructions

  • Cover drained corned beef brisket with cold water and gradually bring to a boil, skimming thoroughly. “Simmer very, very gently for about 4 hours (do not let it actually boil lest the meat be tough).” Thirty minutes before corned beef is done, drop in onions, carrots, and turnips, and cook until tender. Boil potatoes in a separate pan in plain salted water. Cook cabbage in still another pan for only 15-18 minutes. When tender, lift meat onto a large platter, and rub over with butter. Slice thinly, allowing 2 slices per serving. Garnish platter with potatoes, carrots, onions, turnips, and cabbage, and serve with fresh horseradish and mustard pickles.

Recipe: Authentic Irish Corned Beef and Cabbage

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As found in Mr. Big Food’s Big Food Manual and Survivalist Flourishing Guide. Herter’s recipe assumes you’ve made your own corned beef— a process that takes about 15 days. If not, get yourself to the store!

This is the previously described method for just cooking the corned beef.

COOK CORNED MEAT AS FOLLOWS:

“Place the corned meat in a pan with a cover. Add enough cold water to cover the meat. Bring to a boil and remove the scum from the water. Reduce the heat and simmer for about five hours or until the meat is tender. Season to taste and serve as a main meat dish.”

From Bull Cook and Authentic Historical Recipes and Practices by George Leonard Herter and Bertie E. Herter (1960/1970)

AUTHENTIC IRISH CORNED BEEF AND CABBAGE

“In writing about corned beef [see “How to Make Real Corned Venison, Antelope, Moose, Bear or Beef” and above] it would be a great oversight not to list this world famous recipe. It is a great recipe and if you have not tried it, you have missed one of the world’s finest meals. This recipe was brought to Minnesota by early Irish immigrants. It is very popular throughout Minnesota and especially in St. Paul where the population of this second largest Minnesota city is over one-third Irish.

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Something different

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It’s raining. As of yesterday late afternoon, the models were forecasting mostly sunny. I was going to play with my new solar toy. I’ll keep you updated.

Due to Circumstances | Day One

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8:30am, March 7, 2019

“Due to circumstances beyond our control… .” That’s a funny phrase. Many circumstances are not beyond our control, in retrospect. In retrospect, we did not need to go to Denver.

Had we not, we would have been able to engage the nice young couple who Farm-sat through the storms a few weeks ago to mind the dogs & The Farm this weekend. In retrospect, we could have arranged for The J-Man to rent a car and come back for a few days. But we went to Denver and squandered our Farm-sitting capital, and because Spring travels are not over, we did not waste The J-Man’s good will by renting him a car at the last minute.

Due to circumstances, our Farm & dog-sitter backed out 14 hours before we were to back the truck out of the garage and head up to Cincinnati. So, due to circumstances, I am not with Mr. Big Food the ‘Nati. Due to circumstances.

I moped between the hours of 7 and 9am yesterday. I am ever so glad we no longer live in Cincinnati– and ever so thankful to Mr. Big Food for having gotten me the hell out of there when he did– but I was looking forward to a short trip back. I’d gotten a new book– Fields without Dreams by Victor Davis Hanson– to read on the trip. That excellent sushi place is a short walk from the downtown hotel. I’m not a dedicated shopper, but Macy’s, Sak’s, and especially, Tiffany’s are just across the street. I love shopping at Tiffany’s. The staffs at Tiffany’s stores can spot a Country Mouse with just a glance. They think I don’t belong, or that I’m sightseeing. Ha. I was planning on pulling out a dog choking mother-load of cash and treating myself to something shiny. We were to have Mr. Big Food’s birthday dinner at Maury’s Tiny Cove on the westside. I would have worn my new bling. Sadly, due to circumstances… .

So I sat at my desk and moped for a couple of hours. Then I got to work, because the idea of moping for five whole days was most unbecoming. I divided the joint into 10 more or less equal parts and determined that if I spent 30 minutes every day attending to each, I’d burn five whole hours per day! Add to that long walks with Rocky & Missy, caring for Tiger, talking to Miss M, reading, and burning data watching Agatha Christy movies, I’m set!

Ugh.

How to make real corned venison, antelope, moose, bear, and beef

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This won’t be ready for St. Patrick’s Day but might be a fun Spring project for the ambitious! Found in Mr. Big Food’s Big Food Manual and Survivalist Flourishing Guide.

From Bull Cook and Authentic Historical Recipes and Practices by George Leonard Herter and Bertie E. Herter (1960/1970)

HOW TO MAKE REAL CORNED VENISON, ANTELOPE, MOOSE, BEAR AND BEEF

“Corned meat originated in the town of London, England in 1725. It was invented by a man named John Wilson, a chemist. The real secret of producing true corned meat is known only by a very few people and they guard their secret very carefully. Although some cookbooks and food editors of magazines from time to time publish recipes for corning meat, these recipes are not even close to the real one. This is the first time the real authentic recipe for corning meat has ever been published.

           “You can corn venison, antelope, moose, bear or beef with this same authentic corning method. It makes all of these meats simply wonderful eating. People who will not eat wild meats just love them corned. Corning wild meats takes out all the musky wild flavor that most people do not like and even the toughest of wild meats becomes as tender as can be.

           “The canned corn meat called corned beef that you buy in all of our grocery stores is not corned beef at all but simply a very poor preserved beef made in South America and sold under the label of corned beef.

           “In World War I this South American so-called corned beef was shipped to our fighting forces in Europe. They did not like it at all and gave it the nickname of “Corned Willie,” meaning goat meat preserved by soaking it in corn whiskey. The name stock. In corning beef no corn or corn whiskey of any kind I ever used.

          “In stores the fresh corned beef you can buy is never really good. Packing houses invariably take the brisket of beef which is the cheapest, poorest possible meat, and corn it so they can get a high price for it.

           ‘Here are the ingredients to make up 6 gallons of corning liquids. If this is too much, cut the recipe in half or if it is too little, double it.

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Sunday Travels: Let’s See Where Kat & Tony Are

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“We’ll take this one!”

Hobbiton, New Zealand!

  • “Aukland suburbs”
  • “Typical Kiwi McMansion”
  • “More excess”
  • “Bag End, Bilbo’s digs”

From Kat & Tony’s Newsletter:

To get to Hobbiton, you drive into farm country. Actually, most of New Zealand is farm country, but in this case you drive into places where it’s tough to get a cell signal.

We arrived late the night before — late enough that we weren’t sure whether we were going to get a camp site. It was rainy and dark, and our immaculately painted campervan seemed to have a burned out dome light. But we overcame these profound obstacles, got some rest, and arrived ten minutes after Hobbiton’s opening.

Originally, Hobbiton was built with standard, low-quality materials, because it only needed to survive a few months of filming for the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Close to forty hobbit holes were built and arranged to provide a 360 degree film set, in which the director can turn the camera anywhere and get a shot that looks set in a hobbit village. After the Lord of the Rings series succeeded, Hobbiton needed to be rebuilt. This time, the directors and the farmers decided to partner on building everything out of solid materials. The end results is a mishmash of functioning gardens, real trees, fake trees, facades and partially-built interiors. Almost all of the interior shots of Bag End were conducted on a studio lot elsewhere. The interiors of all of the hobbit holes are just empty sheds. Hobbiton does have one fleshed-out interior: a full-service pub built in the Middle Earth style.

Thanks to Kat & Tony for today’s content!

I Love Electricity!

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A short story of preparedness by Dr. Marica, Full Professor in the Department of Redundancy Department.

The untaped box.

Just heard the first rumble of thunder, but who care about that when there’s a box in the mail to open? Curiously, it was not taped shut. I will comment on that at Amazon.

The open box.

My

RAVPower Solar Charger 24W Solar Panel with 3 USB Ports Waterproof Foldable Camping Travel Charger Compatible iPhone Xs XS Max XR X 8 7 Plus, iPad, Galaxy S9 S8 Note 8 and More, Black

has arrived,

with complementary owner’s manual, hooks, USB cords, and silica gel pack.

I’ve had this in my ‘saved for later’ folder for ages. Since I will not be buying any bling at Tiffany’s this weekend as planned (long story), I decided the time was right.

“Outdoors charger” sheez. One goes outdoors, one modifies charger with “outdoor.”

It is, as Amazon describes, a solar charger,

so, obviously, I will not be using it today.

But it’s way cool!

Inside the “outdoors charger” pocket are the three USB ports.

The owner’s manual cautions me to tuck my devises inside the pocket when charging. Doesn’t look to me like an iPad would fit– but that’s not too important to me.

“Smart” because they detect optimal current for each devise,

and evenly distribute output current.

It weighs just over 1.5 pounds!

It does not store electricity. It converts radiant energy to electrical current. Which is exactly what I want it to do. Let’s walk through a course in The Department of Redundancy Department. You need your gadgets and gizmos and devises. They need electricity. Therefore, you need electricity. (The principle of transsomethingorot– transitivity.) Most of the time, your needs are satisfied by electricity flowing as if by magic from little holes in the walls. Sometimes, though, you are not near holes in walls, or the flow stops. What are you and your gadgets going to do?

You have several options. 1) You can generate electricity by burning non-ethanol gasoline in a piece of heavy machinery. This is a lot of work, and if you’ve had to crank up the generator anyway, it’s probably busy generating electricity for things that are, frankly, more important than your stupid iPhone. 2) You can steal electricity from your truck. My experience is this takes an inordinate amount of time, especially if you are trying to power up a turbo devise. Also, if it’s frigidly cold, your truck might not have too much electricity to spare. 3) You can follow a tried and true Department of Redundancy Department Principle and store electricity for a rainy day.

Shit. There goes tornado watch #15 on the weather radio.

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