Dancing with the Universe

I have an orange-fleshed (Garnet) sweet potato in a pot here, and it's going to produce many more slips than the ten I need. Is there anybody in the East Bay who wants rooted slips to plant sweet potatoes this year?

They're easy: plant at the same time as tomatoes, and lighten any particularly heavy clay with leaves or compost, then water until established. After the vines take off, they just want occasional water, enough to keep from wilting (drip works quite well)... dig them when we start getting the first really soaking rains in late October/early November, so that the tubers don't split. The hardest thing tends to be curing them after harvest -- if you want them to keep more than a month, you'll need to put them in 95% humidity at 95°F for 10-14 days (I wrap them in damp towels and put them in a bucket over a heating pad). Then the roots will keep for nine months to a year in a cupboard.

They need more potassium than nitrogen, really, and Bay Area soil is generally quite adequate by itself. Lighter soil or a raised bed makes them easier to dig (chiseling them out of clay is no fun, believe me.) The vines are also quite attractive, looking much like their morning glory relatives; the flowers for this variety are white edged with purple.

When I ran across the article in the Seattle PI about the atheist display that was put up near the Nativity scene in the Washington State Capitol building, I posted it to lily's -culturewar discussion. I was a bit surprised when one of the more moderate (and less religious) people there started bitching about how it was offensive, and I must have a bias toward the atheists if I didn't think so. I insisted that there was no bias, I simply felt that all groups have a right to state their beliefs, so long as they do not target a group or individuals in the process.

The disagreement stemmed from the wording on the placard: "There is only our natural world. Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds." I said that was a general statement about religion, not targeting any group in particular. He said it was offensive to anyone who believed in a religion.

I finally narrowed it down to his view that when someone makes a generalized, strong, negative statement about something, he feels that implies a criticism of the people who hold a different view. Thus, saying "religion is bad" means you are stating that anyone who believes in religion, any religion, is stupid or evil. I handed him the statement from the poll: "Cars are dangerous and destroy the environment", and he replied, "that to me would imply I was either dumb, uncaring, or evil to own a car."

I thought he was being too sensitive, and said as much. I was curious, however, whether I was being insufficiently so, and put up the poll. It seems most of you feel he was being too sensitive about reading between the lines, at least on the metaphorical statement. That's good to know.

Anyone got a basic PC setup hanging around? Nothing fancy, just capable of running Office, a browser, some light Java, that sort of thing. No need for peripherals.

One of the computers in the household decided that its mission in life was to kill all power supplies and release their magic smoke. Returning it to a happy docile system would cost more money than it's worth, and we don't have much. Dell's $300 new units are not within the budget.

Any leads are welcome.

Sitting on my dining-room table are the following kitchen cooking utensils looking for a good home in the East Bay:

1 8" frying pan, teflon (anonymous)
3 10" frying pans, teflon (1 Farberware, 1 T-Fal, 1 anonymous)
1 6-quart stainless steel Revereware pot with lid
1 6-quart teflon T-Fal pot without lid

The teflon ones are a little scratched, a little worn, but not even close to dead yet; as for the stainless pot, Revereware wears like -- I was going to say iron, but, well. We have Revereware pots from the 70s that are still perfectly good despite steady use.

If you're interested, let me know; unless you're willing to come to the East Bay, I can't get it to you.

I lost a filling. Now is not the best time for it -- I have most of the afternoons of Monday and Friday free, and about an hour on Tuesday and Thursday afternoon, but I'm spending all the rest of my time up north. School doesn't have any way to plead for time off for a dentist appointment.

It's particularly inconvenient because I need time to find a new dentist. I guess I can call up my old one, but I haven't been in for several years... the main reason for that is that he and I just don't work well together. I don't want anesthetic, which makes him palpably anxious, and that's a bad quality to have in a dentist.

Does anyone know of a better-than-average dentist somewhere around central Contra Costa? I'll hit Berkeley if I have to, but I'd rather have one close to home. My requirements are a non-new office with non-toxic cleaning supplies (or at least enough flexibility to be willing to change what they use), and a dentist with steady nerves who can handle a patient who requests fillings with no anesthetic. Mine is just too empathetic (and I suspect he has a low pain tolerance himself). Skill is always good, too, though I'm not especially difficult.

I'm not a fan of holistic dentistry as a class; it's rather like chiropractic, in that there's a much greater percentage of quackery. If you have someone where you can swear that they're not going to try to use kinesiology to determine what filling materials are safe for me, I'm willing to give them a shot. At least they tend to clean their offices with safe substances.


I suppose I could ask around in Davis, as well, but I have no leads on where to start looking.

Anyone want to pitch in on an order to King Arthur Flour? All I need is cheese powder, and it's kind of silly to order just that. Especially when they keep offering free shipping or gifts for orders over $60 or so. They have really good pans and equipment, but I have everything they carry that I need... and I either can't use their mixes or have no need to. It's good stuff, though.

It isn't urgent, but I should get more cheese powder before the end of the year, if I keep indulging my cravings for mac&cheese as much as I have been. And holiday baking is upon us...

Edit: The yeast measure (2.25 tsp) for $4; the crumpet rings for $8; perhaps the rolling pin rings for $8; liquid measure for $5?

Edit: Gah! the orange cheese powder is no longer listed... I have to write them to ask whether they've discontinued it. (That would suck.)

I'm looking for a tasteful parrot pin that isn't particularly expensive or antique (I want to put it on my bookbag). Preferably colored and somewhat durable, maybe enamel. Seen any for sale lately?

I just got charged $134 for last month's cell phone bill.

Most of that was 15-second phone tag calls -- incoming, outgoing, the occasional call to check my own voicemail. Each 15 second tag cost me a minute of service time. It added up to about 350 minutes on my 100-minute plan.

I've been feeling the slack in the Nextel lines since the merger, and toying with the idea of at least switching to Sprint (they'd let me do it for free, just sign another contract and *sigh* buy a different phone) but now I really think it's time to start looking. Maybe every company does the rounding-up thing... but not every plan will charge me this much for it, nor am I yet convinced that every company will try to screw me. Nextel used to be the "nice" one, the maverick. Sigh.

I am officially looking for recommendations for a) carriers and b) plans. I'm not getting a Treo, nor do I need internet access/cameraphone/mp3 capability. Funds are reasonably tight. I don't spend all day on the phone, despite what this bill looks like, so I don't need the dee-lux we'll-shine-your-shoes-too plans. Just something that won't make me cough up $100 because my friends and I can't make connections.

I suppose this means I'll have to get a flippy-phone. I hate flippy phones. With the way I treat my phone, it'll be dead within a couple months.

Sigh.