Pot Luck

Hey Jay (4.00 / 5)

I posted a little photo diary a DKos called Friday Evening Photoblogging: Needle Park Edition. Plenty of New York photos.

It's at Firefly too but checkout my DKos reply to One Pissed Off Liberal. It hurt someone's feelings.  

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by: Eddie C @ Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 04:34:28 AM UTC

I should probably repost this one here (4.00 / 5)

Since it's food and all.

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by: Eddie C @ Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 04:39:54 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Eddie, I saw that at firefly... (4.00 / 5)

It still blows me away.  I never shopped at Citarella, but now I sure wish I had window-shopped there.

The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for thirty years she served the family nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been found. -- Calvin Trillin

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by: Youffraita @ Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 07:27:18 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

What a beautiful display! (4.00 / 4)

I'd almost hate to buy anything for fear of messing it up.

Normal people scare me.... But not as much as I scare them.

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by: JoanneRigutto @ Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 10:29:18 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Funny! (4.00 / 1)

Hit the nail on the head there.  What are they upset about, anyways?  Can't they file for tax-exempt status now?  Heh...

I think I had some form of that dream once, too.  Can't remember, but I know how I would answer David Letterman's last question - I don't.

"The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks." - Christopher Hitchens

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by: JayinPortland @ Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 00:28:54 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Long time, no talk... (4.00 / 4)

Sorry that I've been gone so long. I've been VERY busy these last few weeks, and there were some moments when my head was about to explode...

But it's all better now. And I hope everyone here is doing well. And btw, my diaries will resume tomorrow with a review of my very special b-day dinner last night. And btw, expect a little more green. ;-)

Act on Principles and make equality happen.

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by: atdleft @ Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 04:46:48 AM UTC

yes, we were wondering (4.00 / 4)

where you were. I was afraid you might have gotten caught up in Liz Cheney's very special dragnet to round up secret Al-Qaedans.

Glad things are OK but, if you haven't been lurking, you'll have a heck of a time catching up! A lot has been going on here...talking about huckleberries, free greenhouses, sewage sludge, lots of other good stuff.

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by: count @ Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 04:55:03 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Thanks, count... (4.00 / 4)

And what was going on with the huckleberries?

Any good recipes?

Act on Principles and make equality happen.

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by: atdleft @ Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 05:03:04 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Ways to eat huckleberries (4.00 / 3)

Hot from the bush (best way)

In something, such as pancakes or oatmeal

On something, such as ice cream

Bathed in half-and-half or light cream

In my mother's huckleberry pie. I don't make pie, and my mother passed away about twenty years ago, but my sister-in-law's huckleberry pie is very good.

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by: count @ Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 05:11:26 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

I haven't had huckleberry in a while... (4.00 / 3)

And I haven't seen it at TJ's, Sunflower, or the Henderson farmers' market. I'll probably have to scour Whole Foods for it, unless Molto Mario knows of any growers.

I've seen huckleberry desserts on the menus at some Strip restaurants, so I know they're around here somewhere.

Act on Principles and make equality happen.

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by: atdleft @ Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 05:30:03 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Welcome back! (4.00 / 2)

And Happy Birthday!

"The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks." - Christopher Hitchens

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by: JayinPortland @ Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 00:32:00 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Thanks, Mr. Jay... (4.00 / 2)

I was looking for a good food cart, but all Caesars had were outdoor bars. Viva Las Vegas! ;-)

Act on Principles and make equality happen.

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by: atdleft @ Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 00:56:55 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

And btw, to whet your appetite... (4.00 / 3)

I was here. :-)

Act on Principles and make equality happen.

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by: atdleft @ Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 04:54:06 AM UTC

And btw, a b-day gift I'd like to share with you... (4.00 / 3)

And yes, all the water is recycled and it complies with SNWA's strict conservation program. :-)

Act on Principles and make equality happen.

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by: atdleft @ Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 05:23:58 AM UTC

kiwi (4.00 / 3)

Waiting for rice to cook so I can make fried rice, so I decided to try the kiwi fruit. Sliced in half and scoop out as suggested by Jay, and squeeze the skin to extract the last bit of pulp and juice, very easy.

Good by itself, better with Williams-Sonoma balsamic vinegar, best drizzled with Botte Piccola balsamic vinegar - this is perfect to eat with balsamic vinegar.

The little beggars disappear pretty quickly, though. I bought only four, but I see how a person could eat a dozen (starting with an empty tummy.) I could eat a dozen of these more readily than I could eat a dozen raw oysters.

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by: count @ Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 05:33:30 AM UTC

Yeah, they don't go far do they? (4.00 / 2)

I typically eat about 4 at a time myself, and try to limit myself to that as they go for $0.50* each here right now.  I could easily do a dozen, I think.  But a $6 dessert is kinda too rich for my blood these days.

I usually just eat 'em right as I cut 'em, standing in the kitchen over a plate.  But now I'm thinking I can make a pretty good 'salad' out of chopped-up kiwi, sliced apples and pears, and maybe even a bit of yogurt.  Ah ha!  Sounds like dessert tomorrow to me!  D'oh, and kiwi oatmeal too!  (looking under couch cushions for quarters, realizing my pull-out bed / couch can't hide change)

*Why are there no 'cents' signs on keyboards, and when did they disappear?  Were they ever there?  Were they on typewriters?

"The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks." - Christopher Hitchens

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by: JayinPortland @ Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 00:39:15 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

kiwi and goat cheese (4.00 / 2)

I bought more kiwis today, and goat cheese to go with them.

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by: count @ Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 00:55:34 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

More sugar, please, Ma (4.00 / 3)

Imperial Sugar Urges U.S. to Double Import Quota as Prices Rise

By Yi Tian and Debarati Roy

March 5 (Bloomberg) -- Imperial Sugar Co., the second- largest U.S. processor, said the Department of Agriculture should almost double its import quota to ease a shortage and cap escalating raw-material costs.

Bad weather in Mexico.

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by: count @ Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 06:00:06 AM UTC

Prius (4.00 / 2)

EPA estimated mpg is 48 highway, 51 city. Yesterday, my son used cruise control, round trip to and from work was 53.9 mpg on the expressway. Today we went for a drive, more city driving, average speed for the trip was 25 mph. We had three heavy people in the car instead of one. The fan was on, but without air conditioning. 53.2 mpg for the round trip.

I'm impressed.

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by: count @ Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 19:39:30 PM UTC

Wow. Not bad... (4.00 / 2)

Hopefully once all the safety issues are resolved, this will continue to grow in popularity. If one must drive a car, a hybrid's almost always a solid pick.

Act on Principles and make equality happen.

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by: atdleft @ Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 23:04:58 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I agree with you (4.00 / 3)

I don't think they make much economic sense if you only drive a few miles/day commuting, I'd buy a motorcycle for that. But for someone who drives a lot, I think the things would pay for themselves.

When I work full time contracting I'll put 500+ miles/week on my truck. Which is why I'm driving a little Chevy S10 instead of my big Ford F250. 10 mpg vs 20+ mpg, with a hybrid 50 or so. Way lower cost.

It's also another reason why I'm farming. I like my 50' commute to the barn. Feed stores are all pretty close, just a few miles. I'm always at work, but hey, it's a trade off....

If I had the money and I could find a used hybrid pickup that's what I'd get. Hopefully my little chevy will last that long.

Normal people scare me.... But not as much as I scare them.

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by: JoanneRigutto @ Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 23:58:30 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

economic sense (4.00 / 2)

It's questionable whether any 4-wheeler makes economic sense for someone who could walk to work. If a person will have a car, though, what is it about a Prius that would not make economic sense?

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by: count @ Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 00:41:23 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

I don't think Joanne meant that... (4.00 / 2)

When one's a contractor and/or a farmer, a truck is needed. Are there any hybrid trucks being produced yet?

Act on Principles and make equality happen.

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by: atdleft @ Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 00:58:52 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

GMC and Chevy (4.00 / 1)

GMC has a Sierra Hybrid and there's a Chevy Silverado Hybrid, both seem unreasonably expensive to me. Probably essentially the same vehicle? I don't know about other manufacturors. I think Toyota does not offer a hybrid pickup - yet.

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by: count @ Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 01:29:07 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

As far as I'm concerned (4.00 / 2)

all new vehicles are too expensive. I prefer to let someone else buy the new vehicle, loose several thousand in value by driving it off the lot, then I'll come in when the thing is a few years old, or more than a few, and buy it used....

Regarding your question about whether buying a Prius woudn't make economic sense, I was refering to how much it would cost to buy a Prius and operate it over a regular vehicle. I was talking more about operating expenses vs cost of purchase. Back when gas was so high, lots of people were talking about buying a hybrid because they could save money on gas. For what hybrids were going for brand new, you'd have to drive a lot of miles to make the thing pay for itself. However, if you were doing work like I do contracting, driving loads of miles, etc., a job you really can't do walking or riding the bus, then a hybrid would make good sense. Especially when you figure the mileage deduction that IRS gives you, around 60 cents/mile. You can make the thing pay for itself two different ways.

Normal people scare me.... But not as much as I scare them.

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by: JoanneRigutto @ Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 02:10:32 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

This is assuming, however... (4.00 / 1)

Back when gas was so high, lots of people were talking about buying a hybrid because they could save money on gas.

This is assuming, however, that high gas prices won't happen again.  I wouldn't want to be the one making that bet.  And I won't get into peak oil right now...

"The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks." - Christopher Hitchens

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by: JayinPortland @ Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 02:29:08 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Oh, those high prices will come back, you can bet on that (4.00 / 2)

The only reason oil is low right now is because the economy is in the tank and everyone is still poor, but it's starting to pick up as the BRIC countries are begining to recover, and oil is starting to inch up again. Which means that all of our food is going to go up in price right along with the oil prices. Personally I'm really looking foreward to paying $300/ton for hay, YEAH BABY!

But the point I was trying to make is that if you don't drive a lot, then buying a vehicle with 50mpg, if that vehicle is significantly higher in price than a regular fueled vehicle, it doesn't make sense. Just like my old Ford F250 - 10mpg loaded or empty. A ton and a half of hay in the back of that rig, all it would do is make the ride smoother.

If I hadn't been driving all over the place, around 500  miles/week, I never would have parked the thing. It's not just the fuel either, I can do all the work on that truck myself. Instead of paying a shop $80-$100/hour to work on the thing, I can do it all myself. I can't tell you how many things I've pulled and replaced on that vehicle, rebuilt the motor, new alternator, starter, change my own belts, very little electronics, etc. New vehicles you can't do very much to them, even disconecting the battery can fry things if you don't do it right. For newer vehicles, the days of the 'Shade Tree Mechanic' really are over.

Vehicles are heavy equipment, nothing more and nothing less. People buy them for different reasons, but in the end they're really just equipment. If a person buys a hybrid for looks, or to be trendy, or to be green, that's alright, but to buy it for economic reasons, then you have to run the numbers. That's all I was talking about.

Plus, with the hybrids, it's not just the gas you have to look at for fuel. How much does the electricity bill go up? If you're plugging in at work, then your employer is buying you fuel in the form of electricity, or is there a meter on that outlet?

Normal people scare me.... But not as much as I scare them.

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by: JoanneRigutto @ Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 16:41:35 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

No electrical cost (4.00 / 1)

The Prius is not a plug-in hybrid.

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by: count @ Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 20:33:33 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

ownership costs (4.00 / 1)

I guess it depends on what "regular vehicle" is in the comparison. For a direct side-by-side, the purchase price of a Camry hybrid certainly is quite a bit more expensive than a regular Camry, I agree with you there. Even the Prius is a little more costly than a regular Camry, and a Corolla is still cheaper, if a person would want a Corolla.

So, I'm not sure how an individual determines what makes economic sense. My son wasn't choosing between a Prius and a regular Camry. His other possible choice would have been a Nissan Maxima. Nice car, but the 5-year ownership cost is about the same as a BMW. Mileage is half that of the Prius, and it requires premium gasoline, whereas the Prius uses regular. The Prius makes great economic sense in that comparison.

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by: count @ Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 03:02:19 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Alright, let's try this (4.00 / 1)

If you spend so much money and drive so little that it takes you 10 years to recoup the higher purchase price of the hybrid, then as far as I'm concerned, that makes no economic sense. That's what I was talking about, and those were some of the numbers I could see back when the hybrids first started becoming popular when gas was around $4/gallon.

Also, for hybrids, and maybe for those little electric cars, at least here in Oregon when they first came out, the state was charging a huge up front fee to try to make up for the fuels taxes they were going to loose out on. I remember thinking to myself when they did that, "How typical, the state tries to encourage people to do the right thing and buy somehting that has extremely good fuel economy, and then they turn right around and levy a hefty surcharge on people for doing that".  

Normal people scare me.... But not as much as I scare them.

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by: JoanneRigutto @ Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 16:23:00 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

we agreed... (0.00 / 0)

Didn't we already agree about this?

If you spend so much money and drive so little that it takes you 10 years to recoup the higher purchase price of the hybrid

That's my Camry hybrid v. regular Camry example. I agreed with you. Please accept yes for an answer.

That example does not illustrate the choice my son was considering, however. My son considered the Prius as one item in a wide spectrum of available opportunities. A Prius is more expensive than a Cooper Mini. A Prius is more expensive than a Toyota Corolla. A Prius is much less expensive than a BMW, Nissan Maxima, or many other "regular" vehicles. Limiting the discussion just to Toyota nameplates, a Prius is toward the low end of the price range. Different people use different criteria to decide which of those choices makes economic sense for them.

Keith paid $23,000 plus tax and tags for a Level III package. I think he got good value for the money, compared to alternatives at that price. A downside is, Daryl Issa owns four of these machines.

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by: count @ Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 20:30:14 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Sorry (4.00 / 1)

I thought the Prius was a plug in. Does it charge battery(ies) solely with braking or some other system?

Normal people scare me.... But not as much as I scare them.

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by: JoanneRigutto @ Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 23:42:15 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Yes. (0.00 / 0)

Also, looking at the guages, it seemed to me the battery sucked power in when the car went downhill, even though Keith wasn't using the brake pedal.

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by: count @ Mon Mar 08, 2010 at 00:03:03 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Prairie Home Companion joke show (4.00 / 2)

ohmeohmy. This is Keillor's annual joke show. The jokes seem more awful than usual. Right now he's doing fart jokes.

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by: count @ Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 00:50:56 AM UTC