JUNE 2019
Sunday 2019.6.30
Consolidation Project
Done and dusted, all the tools put away.
The new hard disk drive, a 4TB Western Digital Caviar Black (my preferred HDD), arrived on Friday. It was a quick and easy process to initialize and format the drive. Nothing fancy. Then with the drive ready to use, I backed up all the videos I put on Blu-ray blanks, setting aside a second backup. That done, the drive was removed and placed on my office bookshelf for storage and use later, as needed.
I should probably mention: the computers I built have a docking station in the top. I can insert a bare bones hard disk drive into the dock and the computer will recognize it. Then it's ready to use. This is how I do my weekly backups.
Not only do I feel much better organized now, I cleaned up some space in my computer and on my office bookshelf. I also put aside some YouTube projects I don't intend to pursue further (but I have the backups, should I change my mind in the future).
Rethinking YouTube
In previous blog entries I wrote about discontinuing my support for some of my YouTube channels. I have eight channels and I was regularly uploading to five of them. I decided to let go of three channels. They weren't generating enough interest. One is my Keto Vlog. I'll keep my keto blog page on this web site, at least for a while.
One question I learned to ask about my YouTube ideas is: What would be the longevity? This issue presented itself when I tried to build a channel I called Vlogging the News. I enjoyed that one because I enjoy researching the news. I like to know what's going on, especially when leaders in government are obfuscating the facts for some reason (usually their own corruption). However, for how long will a news story be pertinent? 24 hours? 48? Each video I did was watched a few times, then after a day or two it was never viewed again. It was old news.
This thinking about longevity came up again after doing the Unusual I Ching Meetup I wrote about on Wednesday. I got to thinking, what if I started yet another YouTube channel titled "Ask the I Ching"? People could ask a question in the comments section below a video. I would choose an appropriate question and do a video of my asking the oracle and discussing the answer, along with any possible interpretations that might be needed. I thought it could be a fun idea. However, then I asked myself the question: "What would be the longevity?" How many times might a question/answer video be viewed? Not many, I decided.
The success of my Mobile Home Gourmet channel is that a video I did five, six, or more years ago is still viewed. People search YouTube for recipes like scalloped potatoes or fish & chips. Those videos have longevity. I'm not making a living on YouTube, but I earn enough to make my efforts worthwhile (when I feel like making the effort).
And so I dismissed the "Ask the I Ching" idea. Besides, I will turn 68 years old in July. It took nine years for Mobile Home Gourmet to reach its current level of success. Can I wait another nine years for another YouTube channel to become popular? Maybe, but do I want to?
My Kitchen Vlog
My Kitchen Vlog is the other channel I will continue to support on YouTube. There are several reasons for this.
- I can talk about anything I want, even the evil neighbor and her noisy dogs (she's moving away and I can hardly wait). I've done unboxing videos, assembly videos, product reviews, even some crazy ideas like why I don't believe time exists in space — really, I don't.
- They don't cost me anything, except a little time* and effort. But when you enjoy doing something, it doesn't feel like effort.
- They're easy. I sit. Maybe I have a cup of coffee near me on the counter. Now that I own a teleprompter, I have my script in front of me rather than trying to think from an outline in my head. And because I have a knack for doing vlog videos all in one take, editing is as easy as choosing the beginning and the end, and creating a few titles.
And so, life is a little simpler now, and I feel I need that at my age. There is still more to do in the shed, reducing some of the clutter. There are more things to donate to a local charity thrift store. And with less to do with videos, and even cooking, I feel less pressured by deadlines. There is something to be said for a stress-free retirement.
* My use of time here refers to "cultural time," which means it has human origin. We created time to measure motion, whether it's the motion of the sun through the sky or the speed of our vehicles. You can't have "60 miles per hour" without hours.
Wednesday 2019.6.26
Cycling for Seniors
Someone asked me recently why I hadn't done anymore videos of my travels on my Pedego e-bike. Mostly it is because I pretty much did all the interesting areas in my part of California. Traveling, especially long distances and staying overnight, can get very expensive. The channel is not popular enough to monetize to help pay the expenses.
With one exception, most videos have been viewed only 80 to 150 times. The one exception is the ride I did through the campus of the University of California Santa Barbara. That is still popular, currently at 682 views and climbing.
Have I given up completely? Maybe not. I haven't deleted any videos (like I did in my on SmoothieTube channel). If some idea for a local ride comes up, I might video it. Otherwise, the channel if pretty much dormant indefinitely.
Stranger than Fiction
An odd thing happened on Sunday. I get notices from the Meetup organization. A self-help book club was meeting to discuss the I Ching. I don't read self-help books, but the I Ching intrigues me. I've been consulting it, off and on, since my college days.
I had never attended any of these book meetings; so I thought it might be a good topic to ask the oracle. It gave me hexagram 46, which has the image of pushing upward by effort, like a plant pushes itself upward through soil, rather than the passive rising of a bubble through water. By making the effort, I could succeed. So I went to the meeting.
I brought my book, stalks, and coins with me. They thought I was some sort of authority on the book, which I made a point to discourage. I have only casual interest, and more for entertainment rather than any belief in the oracle. However, I know how to seek an answer. They requested that I ask the book about the meeting. The same hexagram came up, 46. The odds of that happening are 1 in 64. But I do believe in random coincidence without attaching any special significance to such things. However, it was odd. It was so odd, I vlogged about it.
Finally, the Consolidation Project
Monday morning I finished moving my cooking video archive files to Blu-ray blank discs. Five full boxes fit comfortably into one, with room to spare.
Late yesterday evening I completed the other archives — Cycling for Seniors, My Kitchen Vlog, SmoothieTube and My Keto Diet Journey. With the exception of My Kitchen Vlog, I consider those projects mostly dead, or at least indefinitely dormant. I say mostly because if the YouTube channel should suddenly experience a sudden surge of popularity (not very likely) I can always revive the videos. The backups are good to keep.
There is one little piece remaining. I ordered a new hard disk drive to store a redundant backup of those video projects. When that arrives and the backup is done, that will put these videos into my history.
Sunday 2019.6.23
Summer
Friday was the first day of summer. It has finally arrived. I grew up in New England and therefore I loved summer as a child. It was time off from school and the best weather for playing outdoors (although I enjoyed sledding and ice skating in winter too). Here in SoCal summer isn't as important, but I still enjoy it.
As planned, I'm enjoying a slower-paced summer schedule. Cooking, as I said in an earlier blog, is on hold while I consume the abundance of foods in the freezer. I'm not even shopping for meals, except to buy vegetables to go with the meats I have stored. Besides barbecued chicken from two grilling experiments (one of which was videoed) there is raw chicken, raw beef, beef chili, shrimp, and who know what else I might uncover as I dig around in there? I might even find a duck or a rabbit.
Besides the frozen foods, I still eat a lot of broccoli and therefore I still make Cream of Broccoli Soup or Cheddar Broccoli Soup regularly, almost every week. Many days I'll heat and sip a cup of soup for lunch. I made more Cheddar Broccoli Soup on Wednesday afternoon.
I like not needing to cook. The idea behind my Minute Meals program was to put food on the table quickly and with the least amount of effort, and with the least amount of cleanup. Preparing a recipe in a cooking video can sometimes take hours. I can heat up a Minute Meal in minutes. I think that's one reason why the Instant Pot is so popular. Set it up and walk away. Do something else while waiting for dinner to be ready. My next Instant Pot video will probably be Chicken Piccata.
Speaking of Something Else…
I continue to work on my project of condensing my cooking video archives. I'm working on box five of five now, the last box. I should be finished this today or tomorrow. Then I'll work on my other archives (which have been woefully neglected), such as the videos for My Kitchen Vlog.
Analytics
I've been digging deeper into the analytics of my SmoothieTube channel. In Wednesday's blog I put out a plea to my fan base to help my channel reach 100 subscribers.
One YouTube analystics page tells me that nearly 82% of the views are from nonsubscribers. How do I get some of those to subscribe? This week I published the video that has the plea at the end of the video — "If you have not already done so, please consider subscribing to this channel." Net result: 0. I don't want to become too heavy handed at begging for subscribers because that can drive some viewers away. I've heard from those people. I really only wanted to get to 100 by the end of July. After that, I don't care.
I did try another method. YouTube offers a branding watermark feature that I can add to my videos. Some YouTube afficionados claim it can increase subscribers by up to 500%! The mark appears in the lower-right corner. Getting a Subscribe image from the Internet, I added it to all my videos. Nothing changed.
Accepting Reality — It's Time to Simplify
I'm taking a lesson from my archive condensing project. Simplify. I woke up yesterday morning knowing what I needed to do. The number of subscribers isn't important, except for getting that custom URL. Watch time is everything. Other than two popular smoothie videos, the channel isn't setting any records.
My Mobile Home Gourmet channel has nearly 30,000 subscribers, but each video accumulates a total of fewer than 700 views during this time of year, and according to YouTube analytics, 91.5% of the views are from nonsubscribers. The number of times most SmoothieTube videos were watched during the last 90 days was less than 5. They do well when uploaded, then the interest tapers off to nearly zero. I started deleting those videos, more than two dozen so far (and still going). The more popular ones I'll eventually move to my Mobile Home Gourmet channel. Then I'll delete the SmoothieTube channel.
All the smoothies recipes on this web site no longer have a link to their YouTube video. I'll leave the recipes.
And, finally, I decided I want to simplify further and keep only two channels — my Mobile Home Gourmet channel, of course, and My Kitchen Vlog, which is fun to do (and costs me nothing). I'm still debating what to do about My Keto Vlog.
Wednesday 2019.6.19
Windows 10
I worked through the process of updating my Windows 10 operating system this week. As many of you already know, I have two desktop computers, which I built myself. This one, the one I'm typing on right now, is where I edit my videos and web site files. I don't upload from here. I copy the files to a flash drive and then transfer them to the other computer for uploading. That computer has access to the Internet.
This computer, because it holds my body of creative work (besides the backups), is kept semi-permanently off the Internet to protect it from viruses or other malware that could damage my files or, worse, take them hostage. I get warnings saying my virus definitions and anti-virus software are out of date, but I ignore those. Without a connection to the Internet, the probability of getting malware is as close to zero as makes no difference.
This week I updated my operating system because Microsoft started distributing their semi-annual features update. I don't use most of the features. The one I like is Shift-Windows-S to draw a box to capture part of my screen image to the Clipboard. I use that a lot.
One feature I never use is the wallpaper function to display a picture as the background on my monitors. I've been content with the default Windows graphic since I built my computers in late 2015. However, the latest feature update has an ugly default wallpaper graphic. And therein lies another reason why I like having more than one computer.
After doing a little research, I learned where Windows stores its wallpapers — C:/Windows/Web/Wallpaper. Computer 2 (I name them 1 and 2) hadn't been updated to the new OS yet; so I was able to take a copy of the former default wallpaper and transfer it to the updated Computer 1. Then it was a simple process to choose the old default as my new default. Happy.
The one downside to feature updates is that they take a very long time to install. I started Computer 1 before going to bed, letting it work while I slept. I got up once during the night to restart the computer to finish the upgrade; otherwise, I let it update itself unattended. Computer 2 was a little more work because it hadn't been updated in six months. More steps were required. The upgrade took about 90 minutes. However, oddly, it didn't install the ugly default wallpaper.
And, as usual, I learned something new. Pressing the Windows key while pressing the Period key opens up the emoji window. I wondered how people were able to incorporate those into the comments they leave on my YouTube videos. Now I know.
Business Cards Panic
I'm agonizing a little over my SmoothieTube channel. I need to acquire at least 100 subscribers to qualify for a custom URL on YouTube. I currently have 85. That's important for a couple reasons.
- A custom URL rather than a random string of letters and numbers would make it easier for people to find my channel.
- I have a credit with a business card printing company that expires in mid August. I want to use that credit to print cards before it expires, but first I need the custom URL.
I've been trying to upload smoothie videos more often, hoping that might encourage more people to subscribe. I even swallowed my pride by adding a "Please subscribe to my channel" plea at the end of my latest video (not published yet). So if you have a wide circle of friends on the social media sites, please spread the word. Ask them to watch one of my smoothie videos and then click the Subscribe button that appears at the end of the video.
Sunday 2019.6.16
Happy Father's Day
Last month saw the celebration of mom. This month is dad's turn. Buy him another necktie.
Grilling On Hold
I needed to put a stay on my grilling adventures for a while. I have quite a supply of cooked chicken in the freezer for my Minute Meals.
Cooking Videos On Hold Too
I decided to repeat the summer schedule I enjoyed last year, publishing a cooking video every other Sunday. This is my slowest time of year. The revenue, what little of it there is, is down about 75% from December. That's normal. It will start picking up again in September. Meanwhile, I think I'll devote more time to smoothies and other beverages. Summer seems like the perfect time to enjoy cold and refreshing drinks. And I'm seeing an increase of activity on my SmoothieTube channel.
The Silver Lining
There is a new law here in California. I imagine other states must have something similar. To fly by any domestic carrier or enter some federal facilities, I need a California REAL ID style driver's license. It verifies my identity in ways that, I guess, my regular driver's license does not.
Among the documentation I needed to supply was a certified copy of my U.S. birth certificate. I have one, issued in 1956, embossed with the official seal of Webster, Massachusetts (where I was born) and signed by the Town Clerk. That wasn't good enough. Evidently I need something more official, providing more information, such as the names of my parents, etc. My 1956 certificate was good enough to get a passport (now expired), but evidently the DMV is more important than the federal government.
I was able to renew my standard-issue driver's license, which I did, but I didn't qualify for a REAL ID. What's the silver lining?
I hate to fly. I really do. If I never needed to step onto an airplane again, that would be fine with me. So now I have an excuse. If a close family member should pass away on the East Coast and I am expected to attend the funeral, I can say, "I can't fly. I don't have a valid ID." If someone I know up in Oregon tells me to come up to visit, I can't fly.
In these days of the Internet, I might be able to request a better birth certificate online. I'll look into it, maybe. I actually like the idea of being prohibited from flying. Mine might be a flimsy excuse to some, but if I can keep both feet on the ground for the remainder of my life, I won't complain.
SmoothieTube Expanding
I was in Costco yesterday, by design. I knew the Vitamix road show would be there for several days. A pleasant young woman behind the counter (she really was very nice) made, among other things, a fruit infused drink, sort of like flavored water. It was simple. Water, ice, strawberries, a couple slices of lime, and some sweetener. It was delicious. But there was something different — she used a new kind of blender jar.
It's called a Vitamix Aer Disc Container. It doesn't have blades like the conventional jars. The Aer jar has a disc thing instead. What does it do?
It sort of extracts flavors from the fruits and infuses it into the water without chopping up the fruit much. You get a colored and flavored liquid, close to water, but with enough flavor in it to taste good. Most of the fruit stays behind in the jar.
I didn't buy the jar right away (it's $100 at Costco); instead, I went home and thought about it. Finally, deciding I could use the jar in my videos — SmoothieTube as well as Mobile Home Gourmet — I went back to Costco and bought the jar. I should probably also add it was easy. I live only a few blocks from Costco. I can walk there.
For my first drink I used water, ice, strawberries, a couple lemon slices (from my neighbor's lemon tree) and two packets of stevia (keto friendly). You can probably imagine the beverage. It isn't thick like a smoothie; it's watery like lemonade. But it has better flavor. I could taste the lemon and the strawberries. It would be a perfectly refreshing drink to enjoy on a hot summer day, maybe add a sprig of mint from my neighbor's yard for flair.
Wednesday 2019.6.12
Grilling
With the addition of a lot more firewood, I'm starting to get into grilling again. Last year, if I remember correctly, I bought my grill and firewood toward the end of the season. Although grilling season is actually year-round here in Southern California, I expect the videos to be more popular during summer months in other parts of the world.
My latest grilling adventure was using a cast iron skillet on my grill. A little explanation might be necessary. My Weber grill's grate has a round removable center, which is to accommodate other accessories from Weber. One is a cast iron griddle, which gave me the idea to use my 12-inch Lodge skillet. It fits perfectly.
So a friend and I cooked chicken drumsticks around the perimeter of the grill and toward the end of the cooking time we cooked our vegetables in the skillet.
I also made a barbecue sauce for the chicken.
This experience is leading to other ideas. My wok fits in the opening too. I'd like to try cooking some stir fry, such as shrimp with vegetables and noodles. I can't eat the noodles on a keto diet, but it would make a good video.
One piece of hardware that I wished I had was a lid for that skillet. I have glass ones, but I was concerned about the intensity of the flames. At times the heat was over 500°F (260°C). I went onto Amazon and found a Lodge cast iron lid for $27. The information said it also fits the Lodge deep skillet pan that comes with its own lid, which I also looked at. It sells for $40. I figured it was a better deal to buy the deep skillet. For $13 more I would get the additional pan; so I ordered it. I think it might work well for braising.
Vlogging
At the request of some fans, I did another political vlog video this past weekend. Doing those vlogs is not easy because no sooner do I get a script written, the news changes. They also have a short life span. A cooking video I did several years ago might still be popular on YouTube, but a news vlog loses its pertinence in 24 to 48 hours. I try to generalize more, to increase the term of interest, but it still doesn't add much longevity.
Meanwhile…
I'm setting up to do another Kitchen Vlog today. In the past I discussed how I make fire starter briquettes from junk paper (those ads we get in our mailboxes every week). When doing more research, I saw that some people make them out of corrugated cardboard boxes. I might have mentioned it before. I want to demonstrate making those briquettes.
Sunday 2019.6.9
The Drought is Over
During the runup to the local elections last year I spoke with someone who was running for a seat on the local water board. When asked about the reservoir, he said all our water comes from wells. The reservoir is reserved for the state's water allocation system.
This week we received another newsletter from the district. On the front page it says, "The majority of your water comes from Lake Cachuma." Several wells were also used throughout the past year.
The important notice was: "Significant winter rains in 2019 lead to a 100% Lake Cachuma allocation and the suspension of mandatory water restrictions." With those restrictions gone, I can wash my coach again. It needs it.
Enduring Another Little Scare
Yesterday morning a window opened in my web browser, warning me my computer was locked by Microsoft for one or more of several reasons. One was an illegal copy of the Windows operating system — a lie because I bought my fully legal versions of Windows 10 from Best Buy. Another possible reason was that my computer was sending viruses to others — another lie because I'm very careful about using my virus scanning software; my computer is clean.
I was warned not to close the browser window or shut down my computer. Instead, I should call an 800 number for more instructions. I shut down my computer. When I restarted it I ran a virus scan and no threats were found.
I was 90% confident it was a scam, but there is always that little bit of doubt in the back of my mind: What if the threat is real? The 90% was good enough. I did some research on the Internet and it turns out these scams are quite common. The authorities shut them down, but they pop up again as soon as the perpetrators get another 800 number. My computer has been working flawlessly.
Reading
If you have followed my blogs for a while, you know I read books. I started reading Michael Wolff's new book, Siege: Trump Under Fire.
I like books because they provide all the extra information the TV news never reports. Even the news web sites can't give us the whole story. One incident struck me as important: Someone (unnamed) very familiar with Trump's business dealings, was subpoenaed to appear before two of Mueller's investigators to answer questions. At the end of the day he said he felt shocked — not by the questions asked but by how much the Mueller investigation already knew.
Not in the book: Nancy Pelosi explained to Jimmy Kimmel one reason why she doesn't want to impeach Trump. If the House votes to impeach, it would then need two thirds of the Senate to approve, which would never happen. When Trump is no longer a sitting president, he can be indicted. However, his legal defense team can argue he was already tried by the U.S. Senate and found innocent of all charges. He can't be tried again for the same crimes because that's double jeopardy, which is a violation of the Constitution. And that's why Trump wants the Democrats to impeach him. The Senate would exonerate him and he would not be in legal jeopardy when he leaves office, likely in January 2021.
Wednesday 2019.6.5
Enduring a Little (?) Scare
One of my friends called me on Monday to say someone was using my Facebook account to message him, asking for money. My friend is tech savvy; so he was able to determine the source coming from Nigeria. He said he'd report the scam to Facebook. Meanwhile, I called my ARAG identity protection service to let them know my personal information might be compromised. They put a credit alert on my account.
As for Facebook, I never use the social media site anymore. I created an account for promoting my YouTube videos and this web site. It never did any good; so I stopped. I should have deleted the account a long time ago. I started the deletion process on Monday afternoon.
Grillin' and Chillin'
A neighbor offered me all his white oak firewood, some of which is split and some isn't. The wood is well seasoned, very hard and therefore good for grilling with plenty of heat.
Many of the pieces are too large to use in the grill. However, I bought a small economical electric chainsaw and used that to cut small pieces I call "chips." Those are in the buckets. It takes a while to get the wood burning, but once it gets going it burns for quite a while.
I invited a friend over for grilled chicken and pan fried broccoli and onions. How to pan fry on a
Weber grill? Mine has a removable center grate. The hole in the middle is perfect for my cast iron skillet.
The chicken was grilled around the perimeter and the broccoli and onions were cooked in the skillet. That grill grate, by the way, soaked in a solution of degreaser and water overnight and was then scrubbed clean the following day. It looks like new. As for the foil, at the end of last summer I tried to clean my grill and it was very difficult. I decided to experiment with foil this year. I'm still experimenting.
As for the chillin', I opened a bottle of syrah and we sat around the grill waiting for the cooking to be done, sipping our wine contentedly. It was a very satisfying afternoon. I didn't take any pictures because the exercise was also an experiment. We plan to do it again, with a few adjustments (don't get the skillet so hot) and do a video for my YouTube channel.
Sunday 2019.6.2
What a Difference a Shampoo Makes
To be honest, I was keeping my expecations low regarding the Bissell Big Green Machine carpet shampooer. There was no reason to. It works well.
On Thursday morning I did the large area rug under the dining room table. The part under the table didn't look dirty. It was the area around one side of the table, where the rug gets the most traffic, that I didn't think would ever come clean. It did.
Now, granted, I don't overhaul truck engines on that table. I don't even eat there very often — I mostly carry my plate to one of the desks in the office. However, the high traffic area looked awful. It cleaned up well. I'm very pleased with my purchase.
Meanwhile, Thursday morning the office chair mats arrived by UPS. I was surprised to see they were rolled up and boxed for shipment. I followed the directions, placing them outside in the sun to warm up. Still, they were difficult to unfurl. Despite that challenge, I like them. They will protect the carpeting and the hide an area that was a little worn from my office chairs.
On Friday the new stack of Blu-ray blanks arrived; so I'm back to my archive consolidation project. I also received the six "double walled glass mugs" I ordered. The next time I make Cheddar Broccoli Soup I'll portion it into those mugs for refrigeration. I really enjoy sipping that soup out of a mug when I'm feeling hungry.
Cooking for One?
I'm thinking of expanding my Mobile Home Gourmet channel to include videos of "Cooking for One" recipes. These would be simple and quick recipes or procedures for those who want to put food on the table in minutes after coming home from work, or for retirees like myself who live alone and don't want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen. And, with summer coming, these quick meals might be a good option for warm days when we might not want to be in a hot kitchen for more than a few minutes. The first of these videos, Grilled Lamb Chop, is linked on the bottom of the Home Page in the Advanced Viewing section.
Instant Pot Revisited
Yesterday I returned to my Instant Pot, this time preparing a Spicy Chicken Stew adapted from my Keto Instant Pot cookbook my Maria Emmerich. I say "adapted" because her recipe called for two pounds of Italian sausage meat, the equivalent of eight sausage links and only two chicken thighs, about 12 ounces. Spicy Chicken Stew or Spicy Sausage Stew? I cut the recipe back to 1 pound of sausage meat.
The aroma that soon filled my home was very enticing. I was reminded of days when my mom prepared her spaghetti sauce from scratch. She wasn't a great cook, but there were several foods she made well. I still make my Marinara Sauce the same way she did, but I use a blender for convenience (something I learned in an Italian cooking course).
I would definitely make this recipe again, maybe adding it to my Keto Recipe binder in my kitchen cupboard; however, next time I would use two sausages (or half the recommended sausage meat) and four large chicken thighs. This stew didn't taste of chicken, but it was delicious because I really like Italian sausage.
Another thing I would change is I wouldn't use any cayenne. It does weird things to me. I get jittery like I've been drinking too much coffee. It takes a few hours for the side effect to go away. Thankfully I didn't have any difficulty falling asleep last night.