Just found out, to my dismay, that I exceed the "average climber" weight the Union Internationale Des Associations D'Alpinisme (UIAA) uses to test climbing gear. The UIAA attaches 80-kilogram weights to climbing ropes, for example, and drops the weights. That's 176 pounds, a full 14 pounds under my present weight. I've lost 20 pounds in a year of rock climbing, but I seem to have plateaued at 190.
Anybody out there measure 6'2" and weigh 176 pounds without looking like a tall, hairy Ally McBeal?
Tuesday, April 20, 2004
Kill Comment Spam, Upgrade Your MT-Blacklist
Those of you having problems with comment spam should remember, as I did not, to upgrade your MT-Blacklist script and download the latest blacklist. I had a mountain of spam waiting for me yesterday upon returning from a Colorado climbing trip. My frustration drove me to the MT-Blacklist home page, where I discovered I was quite behind on the whole new version thing.
The latest version lets you search your blog for comment spams you may have missed; my search yesterday found 11 spams. Now I don't have to worry about closing comments on my old entries.
Jay Allen, the guy behind this indispensable tool, is asking for donations. I'm seriously considering it.
The latest version lets you search your blog for comment spams you may have missed; my search yesterday found 11 spams. Now I don't have to worry about closing comments on my old entries.
Jay Allen, the guy behind this indispensable tool, is asking for donations. I'm seriously considering it.
Friday, April 16, 2004
Happy Birthday, Tucker
My cute little niece just made a birthday present for my cat, Tucker, and sang him "Happy Birthday." The present, a sculpture made from a book, a wad of orange Play-Doh and one of Mr. Potato Head's arms, is just about the best gift anyone could get.
She's speaking in short sentences now, but phrases most statements about herself in the form of questions. Need to get her on Toddler Jeopardy.
She's speaking in short sentences now, but phrases most statements about herself in the form of questions. Need to get her on Toddler Jeopardy.
Friday, April 2, 2004
Minor Commenting Policy Change
I get about four comment spams a day, so I've upgraded to Movable Type 2.661 to take advantage of its comment spam controls. What this means to you is after you post a comment, you have to wait 60 seconds to post the next one. If you want to comment more often than that, dear readers, you might consider acquiring other interests. :-)
Foolproof Eggs Over Easy
I used to murder eggs over easy before inventing (?) a technique that only dirties two more dishes and produces consistent results. I'd been making them, I suppose, the traditional way: Crack an egg in a pan, fry till the white just gets opaque, then flip ever-so-carefully so the yolk doesn't break. You want the yolk runny to provide both a handy bacteria vector and dip for your toast. (For the record, I make eggs over easy for others, and don't eat them myself. But raw cookie dough -- that's the stuff.)
So I could never flip ever-so-carefully and would always break the yolk. I needed something I could pick up with tongs, but even in my snazzy omelette pan the white spread out too thin to be gripped. Enter my handy-dandy 10-oz Pyrex glass ingredient bowls, without which no kitchen should be. (Ending a sentence with a preposition is something up with which I will not put.) Crack an egg in each of two Pyrex bowls and nuke the eggs on high for 35-45 seconds, or until you hear the first pop of the whites exploding and coating your microwave's interior with tough goo. Use a knife to slide the eggs out of the bowls into your frying pan and fry on the non-yolk side for a bit, then grab the egg with your tongs, flip it, and fry a bit longer. Voila! Perfect (and pleasingly compact) eggs over easy.
So I could never flip ever-so-carefully and would always break the yolk. I needed something I could pick up with tongs, but even in my snazzy omelette pan the white spread out too thin to be gripped. Enter my handy-dandy 10-oz Pyrex glass ingredient bowls, without which no kitchen should be. (Ending a sentence with a preposition is something up with which I will not put.) Crack an egg in each of two Pyrex bowls and nuke the eggs on high for 35-45 seconds, or until you hear the first pop of the whites exploding and coating your microwave's interior with tough goo. Use a knife to slide the eggs out of the bowls into your frying pan and fry on the non-yolk side for a bit, then grab the egg with your tongs, flip it, and fry a bit longer. Voila! Perfect (and pleasingly compact) eggs over easy.
Wednesday, March 17, 2004
Small-Market TV News Hilarity
How do small-market TV news staff avoid death by embarrassment during each newscast? They must be heavily medicated, because a story last night on one of Lincoln, Nebraska's two TV stations was a real howler.
A report on research into Vitamin D's preventative effects for women prone to multiple sclerosis began with the anchorperson stating, "Multiple sclerosis is a disease that affects ... (slight pause) ... the tissues." Which tissues might those be? The Charmin? Would squeezing them help?
The accompanying video was the best. Remember, the story's about women taking Vitamin D to lower their chances of developing multiple sclerosis. So who do they show happily tossing back some pills? A man.
A report on research into Vitamin D's preventative effects for women prone to multiple sclerosis began with the anchorperson stating, "Multiple sclerosis is a disease that affects ... (slight pause) ... the tissues." Which tissues might those be? The Charmin? Would squeezing them help?
The accompanying video was the best. Remember, the story's about women taking Vitamin D to lower their chances of developing multiple sclerosis. So who do they show happily tossing back some pills? A man.
Monday, March 1, 2004
Certain Dri: Sweaty Pits Salvation
John: Hi, my name's John, and I have axillary hyperhidrosis.
Support Group: Hi, John!
Today, loyal readers, I'm performing the classic act of self-sacrifice in today's culture: revealing an embarassing fact about myself, in order to help others.
I have, or should I say had, sweaty pits. Frightfully sweaty pits. Not just a light dampness -- a steady drip, drip, drip of cold, clammy nastiness. You can feel beads of sweat forming before they slide, ever so slowly, all the way down your side to your hips.
The condition's called axillary hyperhidrosis, and apparently it afflicts quite a few people (enough, anyway, to justify the purchase of the domain name www.sweaty-armpit.com by a doctor who treats hyperhidrosis).
Any shirt I put on would be soaked through in the underarms in five minutes flat. Wearing undershirts didn't help, whether they were made of cotton or high-tech wicking material; the sweat would just gather in an ever-expanding white-ringed splotch on the outer shirt.
All that's changed thanks to a fairly inexpensive medicated antiperspirant, Certain Dri.
It cost me about $5.50 at Walgreen's. It contains aluminum chloride instead of the aluminum zirconium tetrachlorohydrex found in your standard antiperspirants. You put it on before bedtime and, after some initial fierce but bearable itching, forget about it. It shuts down your armpit sweat glands for days at a time; you don't even have to use it that often. Don't worry, you won't overheat. There's plenty more sweat glands all over the rest of your body.
Believe it or not, you can buy it at Amazon.com, where its sales rank is93 in the Health & Personal Care category. #5 in the antiperspirants category. Gift wrapping, you'll be sorry to hear, is still not available for this item.
Be sure to catch the glowing and hilarious review from "chatchi," who refers to himself in both the third person and the first person while relating that he (somehow) measured seven quarts of personal sweat output and decided to get help "[a]fter failing numerous job interviews, and scaring away an immeasurable amount of potential romantic companions because of my mind-boggling sweat production ... ." He concludes: "Thanks to Certain Dri, chatchi had the last laugh."
Support Group: Hi, John!
Today, loyal readers, I'm performing the classic act of self-sacrifice in today's culture: revealing an embarassing fact about myself, in order to help others.
I have, or should I say had, sweaty pits. Frightfully sweaty pits. Not just a light dampness -- a steady drip, drip, drip of cold, clammy nastiness. You can feel beads of sweat forming before they slide, ever so slowly, all the way down your side to your hips.
The condition's called axillary hyperhidrosis, and apparently it afflicts quite a few people (enough, anyway, to justify the purchase of the domain name www.sweaty-armpit.com by a doctor who treats hyperhidrosis).
Any shirt I put on would be soaked through in the underarms in five minutes flat. Wearing undershirts didn't help, whether they were made of cotton or high-tech wicking material; the sweat would just gather in an ever-expanding white-ringed splotch on the outer shirt.
All that's changed thanks to a fairly inexpensive medicated antiperspirant, Certain Dri.
It cost me about $5.50 at Walgreen's. It contains aluminum chloride instead of the aluminum zirconium tetrachlorohydrex found in your standard antiperspirants. You put it on before bedtime and, after some initial fierce but bearable itching, forget about it. It shuts down your armpit sweat glands for days at a time; you don't even have to use it that often. Don't worry, you won't overheat. There's plenty more sweat glands all over the rest of your body.
Believe it or not, you can buy it at Amazon.com, where its sales rank is
Be sure to catch the glowing and hilarious review from "chatchi," who refers to himself in both the third person and the first person while relating that he (somehow) measured seven quarts of personal sweat output and decided to get help "[a]fter failing numerous job interviews, and scaring away an immeasurable amount of potential romantic companions because of my mind-boggling sweat production ... ." He concludes: "Thanks to Certain Dri, chatchi had the last laugh."
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