Getting Ready for Passover II

If you're coming for Passover tonight, you're in for a treat. We've got so many good things cooking. I've been outside in a Hailstorm, making green tea-marinated, maple-smoked corned beef, and it is starting to look really good. Next up: my famous Matzo Ball Soup.

 

 

Die, Evil Toaster Oven...

Die!

One of the worst chores involved in getting ready for Passover is cleaning a Toaster Oven. I'm sure there may be very observant people who say it's impossible, but I think it can be done. Crumbs may be chometz, but once they're charcoal, they're not. However, in the case of this particular Toaster Oven, I am gladly getting rid of it. (Click on any picture to see larger version.)

I used to jokingly say, "Promise her anything, but get her Black & Decker," which was a play on an old perfume ad. This was back when Black & Decker only made power tools. Now they're making small household appliances, as well. Unfortunately, this particular appliance has been an evil presence in our house since the day we bought it. The timer mechanism has never worked, and it has charred more bread & baked goods than I can recount. It is with real pleasure that I am putting it in the trash (if I had a baseball bat, I'd probably be whacking it to pieces first), and looking forward to getting a new one that works properly.

Deadly Yogurt

Back from San Diego. Two highlights from our return journey, wherein we cheated Death by flying through the Air. First, early this morning an alert TSA Agent prevented me from smuggling deadly Greek Yogurt from Trader Joe's onto the Airplane (I'm guessing he forgot to bring his own breakfast to work), and

Second, the "Tornado Shelter" signs on the Restroom entrances at the airport in St. Louis (although to be honest, if I saw a tornado rushing across the tarmac towards the all-glass wall of the Terminal, I'd probably be running to the Restroom, anyway).

Boston Needs This

View from the Skyfari ride at San Diego Zoo. Just missed getting picture of descending Airliner about 200 feet above the highway (which looks like an aqueduct, running across the upper left-hand side). Anyway, this is exactly what Boston needs, a Cross-Town Gondola Ride. It would not only be great for Tourism, but would also be a very practical way to get from one side of Town to the other. The Gondolas could be open in the Summer, and enclosed the rest of the Year.

Goat Path to the Beach

We made it down the goat path to the Beach below Torrey Pines. It was hazy and only 66 degrees, so we were able to be there for an hour plus, without hearing that sizzling frying pan sound and realizing it was us. I managed to get myself in more than waist-deep, but wasn't up for body-surfing. We did gather a bunch of shells, but nothing spectacular. Of course, once we had reached our bag limit and were heading back to the trail, then we started to see the good ones. Shells like the Balboa Babiyaga, the multi-chambered Convolutus (AKA "the Conchominium"), and the rarely-seen Whampeter's Stoma. Oh, well, there's always next time.

Tide Pools

It was just a few minutes after dead-low tide, and definitely time to check out the tidepools and the sedimentary rock formations between the Pumphouse Beach and La Jolla Cove. (Click on any photo to see larger versions.)

 Made me think of Ireland for some reason....

 The sedimentary rock has the same lunar look as the Burren,

with erosion creating some strange effects.

This looks like a line of giant vertebrae....

Dance of the improptu Beach Sculptures...

Possibly left by an ancient, beach-worshipping civilization?

The Cactus Garden

The Cactus Garden is just before the San Diego Zoo, right on the west side of Park Drive. It's a great place to walk through, as it has all kinds of unusual cacti and desert plants. (Click on any photo to see larger versions.)

 

Ski Report

Having just repaired both cross-country ski boots with super glue, I was unsure of how much stress they could take. So, on Friday the 15th, I decided to go somewhere that wasn't too steep, and headed out to Estabrook Woods in Concord. It's mostly level out there, with some up and down where the trails go along what look like glacial arêtes. Had a good ski, but while heading back, I realized that the white plastic layer on the bottom of my right ski was coming loose. I was able to keep it lined-up under the ski, until I was almost back to the entrance. Had to pull it loose and drape it over my neck, where it hung like a long, thin scarf or Tallis, while I tried to ski the last part of the way on snow that was rapidly turning into slush.

Once I was home, I got out the glue and the clamps again. But, since there was no more super glue, I had to resort to smearing Gorilla Glue the whole length of the right ski, and along goodly portions of the left one as well. Along with the afore-mentioned clamps, I used a lot of clear packing tape & large binder clips to hold things together as well.

Everything sat until the following Sunday, when, thanks to our third Weekend blizzard in a row, there was plenty of fresh snow. I  took off all of the various forms of binding technology I had resorted to, and went out for a good long ski behind Horn Pond and across the Golf Course. Everything held together just fine. When I got home I wanted to crow, "I am the Jed of Jeds, the Mr. Clamp-It of Clamp-Its!" (You have to admit, you don't always get to combine home repairs, A Princess of Mars, and The Beverly Hillbillies in one allusion.)

Super Glued My Ski Boots

My cross-country ski boots, that is. The last time I went x-country skiing, back in February or March of 2012, my right boot came apart. The sole came loose from the upper, halfway along its length, from the binding pin down to the arch. I had to limp back through the snow, skis on my shoulder, the broken boot flapping open like Jaws and collecting a lump of snow with every step.

Naturally, I didn't get around to replacing it until the day before the big Blizzard. I went to Play It Again Sports in Stoneham, because they usually have a good stock of new and used equipment, but just couldn't find boots that were the right size. So I went home, and got out the super glue and some serious clamps. I applied glue generously along the inside of the sole, and then clamped the shoe tight.