NOVEMBER 2025
Sunday 2025.11.30
Making Videos
Sometimes I feel like I need to learn how to make videos again. It has been such a long time, there are steps I forgot.
On Friday, I started editing my latest video, Turkey and Green Bean Stir Fry. All went well until I got to the tasting clip. There was no audio. I checked. The batteries had died in my lavalier microphone. I used to always says, "Battery check, audio check" at the beginning of each clip while watching the camera's monitor. If I had done that when I did the tasting, I would have seen the audio was out.
It's not a tragedy. I took more sliced turkey out of the freezer to thaw. The stir fry was so delicious, I wanted to make it again anyway. So, on Friday afternoon I prepared the dish again and did the pickup. The video was uploaded to YouTube this morning. If you're interested, here is the link:
Christmas Present
I ordered my planned Christmas Present to myself on Friday. I wanted a better vacuum sealer. As I said a few weeks ago, I have a compact FoodSaver, but it only accommodates 8-inch bags and rolls. I have some that are 11 inches. I've been using it a lot lately for prepping meat for my stir fries.
The new sealer is expensive, $270. That's why I was waiting to buy it as a present. However, without any mention of Black Friday, I saw that the price was reduced 70% to $80. I ordered it. And I'm glad I did. During the weekend the price was reduced a little further, to $70, for Cyber Monday. That price, however, was for Amazon Prime members only. Non-members must pay full retail.
I just checked to see if the price had changed again. Amazon says the sealer is no longer available. However, this morning I received an email saying mine was shipped. I should have it by Wednesday, if not sooner. Phew!
Christmas Present 2
This month Costco has been selling Bose noise-canceling headphones for almost half off. Retail is $330. The sale price is $170. I'm a sucker for headphones. I love them almost as much as I love clocks. I bought them. It was easy to justify. I saved $190 on the vacuum sealer. And the Yosukata wok and accessories were given to me for free. So, I bought two Christmas presents for myself this year.
If you're the sort of person who likes to give presents, there is an Amazon gift list button toward the top of the lefthand column.
Weight
Nothing new to report. I'm still stuck on a plateau around 195 pounds. I should also admit I've been cheating a little and thus my weight went up by less than half a pound. Not tragic. On the positive side, I did all my planned exercises this week.
Wednesday 2025.11.26
Happy Thanksgiving
Tomorrow we will celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday here in the USA. I have nothing special planned; although, I found a fresh (not frozen) bone-in turkey thigh at the store to do a turkey stir fry. I bought frozen green beans (a LOT more expensive per pound than fresh) at another store. And I have some mushrooms in the fridge.
I'll do a video. If all goes well, I'll upload it to YouTube on Sunday.
I will probably watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Holiday Parade on TV. And in the little town of Mystic CT (where I grew up) the annual Christmas Boat Parade is scheduled for Saturday. I'll watch it on the internet.
My twin brother and I usually exchange happy holiday wishes a few times each year. Thanksgiving is a possibility. Christmas for sure.
Exercises
I continue to do my exercises. My arms need it most. I looked at myself shirtless in the mirror and my muscles looked like they needed a lot of work. I need the strength too. I moved my dehydrator out to the shed. It took three efforts to get it onto the top shelf. My arms are too weak to lift such a heavy package. However, it's done. And that leads to…
Shelf Space
I needed to clear some shelf space. Besides the sodium in the sauces I blogged about on Sunday, there is the issue of variety. I'm amazed at the number of possible sauces available for use in stir fries. I bought some low-sodium soy sauce earlier this week. Besides the sauces, there are the high-temperature oils — peanut, safflower, pure olive oil, corn, avocado, etc. Six oil squirt bottles were delivered yesterday. One of them will be used for Chinese cooking wine. All the bottles need to be shelved somewhere; so, I did some rearranging, thus moving the dehydrator out. And that leads to…
A Surprising Development
I'm discovering something about all these sauces I now have. I don't like them. When I first started making stir fries, I'd add a little soy sauce and a few drops of sesame oil to the meat I was cooking. To the vegetables I'd add a little splash of Mirin that was a gift from Duke. A little water and cornstarch made a simple sauce for the dish. If necessary, I'd season it with a little salt. And I really liked it.
With all that in mind, yesterday I prepared another stir fry, but I went back to my original recipe. I liked it, a lot.
Sunday 2025.11.23
A Special Thank You to Allan
Allan gifted me a pair of kitchen oil bottles from my Amazon Gift List (link in the left column). They arrived on Friday and I already have them labeled. The smaller one is now filled with EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) and the other is holding safflower oil, which is a high-temperature (510°F / 266°C) oil I like to use when making stir fries.
Thank you Allan for your generosity. You made my day!
Whopping Good News!
I blogged about the carbon steel wok I received from Yosukata. I love that wok. They loved the review I uploaded to YouTube and, as a result, they asked me to add them as co-authors on my channel. They will add links to my videos, increasing my reach. It's the first sponsorship I ever received.
It's the Little Things
Or maybe not so little.
The nights are getting colder. My heat came on. However, I noticed the furnace wasn't blowing air as well as it did in the past. Oh no! Do I need a new furnace? Can it be repaired? Maybe replace only the fan motor? Can I find a repair person to do the work without telling me, "I can't do the repair without bringing everything up to code," which is just an excuse to tack on thousands of dollars in extra charges.
Then I remembered the filter. I replaced it once before, a few decades ago. I opened the furnace and, sure enough, the filter was clogged with dust. I already had a spare, left over from the previous filter change. I installed the new filter and the furnace is putting out strong air flow again. Phew!
Calendar App
I am finding more uses for the calendar tablet I picked up from Amazon Vine (sometimes they offer good stuff). Now I am adding my exercises — legs on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday; arms on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Seeing them on my to-do list reminds me to get them done. Before using the calendar, it was too easy to forget, or procrastinate.
And While We're On the Subject of Vine
Amazon Vine continues to be a disappointing wasteland. I wish I knew the reason why. I asked questions on the internet and most responses say the program is undergoing some changes. I have seen the number of available items at nearly 126,000 in the past. Now I rarely see more than 20,000.
As I've said before, I can order really cheap stuff, and then discard it after I write the review. I'll stay in the program because occasionally, less often now, Amazon offers an item I really want.
Weight
There isn't much to say this week. I'm stuck on a plateau again — a little lost, a little gained. My weekly average went up by almost half a pound. I am beginning to wonder if stir fries are a way to lose weight. I checked the sauces I've been using. They're very low in carbohydrates, but high in sodium. So, perhaps it's water retention from the salt. Here are some sodium numbers, per single tablespoon of sauce:
Dark soy sauce, 1160mg, 50% recommended daily allowance
Fish sauce (Red Boat), 1490mg, 62%
Hoisin sauce, 260mg, 11%
Mirin rice seasoning, 140mg, 6%
Oyster sauce, 870mg, 38%
Tamari soy sauce, 940mg, 39%
Teriyaki sauce, 610mg, 27%
I haven't been checking my blood pressure regularly lately. This week I'll return to testing it daily. As for those sauces, less is better.
Wednesday 2025.11.19
A Modification
All modesty aside, I'm thankful I have a good brain, even in my old age.
I've blogged about my e-scooter. I love it, but it has one annoying design flaw. The port where the battery charger connects is at the bottom. I literally cannot plug in the cable unless I lie down on the floor. That ain't right. It took a while, but on Amazon I found an extension cable with the correct connectors at each end. At one meter (3.3 ft.) long, it's the ideal length too. After testing it with the charger (it works), I used cable ties to fasten it to the seat post, such that the extended jack is just below the seat. Now I can easily connect the charger when the battery is low.
And maybe worth mentioning: I arranged and secured the cable out of the way so that I wouldn't accidentally catch it with my foot.
Sauces & Oils
I've been blogging about adding stir fry ingredients to my kitchen arsenal. This week I ordered white pepper, oyster sauce, teriyaki marinade/sauce, sesame oil, and dark soy sauce.
As I said in Sunday's blog, I'm not a fan of smoking oil, regardless of the wok hei. Avocado oil has a smoke point of 520°F (271°C). I bought a 2 liter bottle at Costco for $25.99. It's $29.99 if bought online. I need some of those kitchen squirt bottles. If any of you are feeling generous, there are some in my Amazon Gift List (see the link at the top of the left panel).
I also bought some frozen broccoli because I wanted to make a beef and broccoli stir fry. I did that yesterday. Most of the recipes I saw required oyster sauce. I don't have that yet; so, I used hoisin sauce, which is a good substitute. My dinner was delicious. I'll make it again in my new wok when it arrives. That will be a video.
Weather
Today we are enjoying a brief respite from the rain, which is good because I need to get onto my scooter and do some shopping before it starts raining again tomorrow.
This latest storm was one of the better ones. There were no heavy downpours of rain, and thus there were no mud slides where I live. Instead, there were five days of steady, light to moderate rain, the kind of rain that saturates the ground. Future storms are more likely to drain into the reservoirs.
Although it's still a little early in the season (I don't expect to see significant rainstorms until after the Thanksgiving holiday) we are already at the halfway point of our water goal. We received nearly 50% of our "Normal Water-Year" rainfall.
Some details from the local news: The County of Santa Barbara is reporting that it's the wettest start to the rainy season in more than 125 years, with 9.5 inches of rain recorded so far down in the city — and 8 inches of that in November. Areas such as the San Marcos Pass, which always gets the lion's share of rain, saw 2.68 inches during the past 24 hours and a whopping 15 inches in the past week. Where I live, we got 8.3 inches from this storm. It is difficult to predict what the rest of the rainy season will look like. Previous years with wet starts turned out to be drier than average.
The Tomato Chronicles
The three clippings I started rooting are dead. I don't know what went wrong, other than the clippings didn't look all that healthy to begin with. They started to grow roots, but the leaves turned brown, even under a grow light.
What is Plan B? I might look for Early Girl tomato seeds and start them indoors over the winter. Otherwise, I will look for new plants in March.
Sunday 2025.11.16
Gift
It pays to reach out to some manufacturers, asking for free product to use in videos. And, it helps to have a well-established YouTube channel. I've been blogging about wanting a carbon steel wok for making stir fries. I contacted Yosukata, the makers of the wok I like most (after watching many review videos). They are sending me their their most popular 13½-inch wok. I am including the Amazon links so that you can see the products.
Also included will be a wok lid and some stainless wok utensils.
It is quite a generous gift. Naturally, I'll use them in cooking videos. Additionally, I'll do an unboxing video for My Kitchen Vlog and maybe perform the first seasoning. The wok is pre-seasoned; however, it will still need to be prepared for cooking, which probably involves scrubbing it well to remove the factory coating and heating a thin coat of cooking oil onto the surface.
However, I'm not a fan of heating oil to the smoking point. I found this on the internet:
Smoking cooking oil can potentially be carcinogenic due to the formation of harmful compounds during high-heat cooking. Heating oils to high temperatures can produce carcinogenic fumes, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and aldehydes.
I know about "wok hei," which translates to "breath of the wok." That smokiness is an important feature in some Oriental cuisines. If I need to cook with hot oil, I'll use one with a high smoke point, such as peanut oil (450°F) or safflower oil (510°F). Avocado oil (520°F) is a good, if expensive, option. A 2 liter bottle at Costco is about $30.
I wondered about Asian chefs who breathe that smoke all day. The National Library of Health published a study of Chinese food chefs. They reported a high incidence of lung cancer, especially in women, among the chefs studied. I won't be heating my wok until the oil smokes.
In Wednesday's blog post I mentioned getting a wok cookbook with 215 stir fry recipes. Meanwhile, I'm trying to increase my collection of bottled sauces.
Something New
I learned something new this week. I've been keeping a silicone cover on my induction cooker. The cover keeps it clean and I can cook through it. However, after several years of use, it was discolored in the center. I ordered a new one to use in my videos. Then I learned something new.
I can put a sheet of parchment paper over my cooker and cook through it as well. It's oven safe to 420°F (216°C). I never cook that high. I made another stir fry and it worked perfectly, as well as the silicone sheet I was using. I'll use the new sheet only in videos. For home cooking, I'll use parchment paper. It amuses me.
Of course, you would never put parchment paper on a gas stove or an electric stove. It would catch fire. Induction cookers generate magnetism, which produces heat inside the iron of the pan. Basically, the pan almost heats itself. That's why cookware made of aluminum, glass, and ceramic don't work on an induction cooker. The pan needs to be made of a metal that attracts a magnet, such as cast iron and carbon steel.
Rain
We have been enjoying some rain here in SoCal. It's a little early this year. I typically don't look for significant rainfall until after the Thanksgiving holiday. Thankfully, there hasn't been any serious issues where I live — no flooding, no mud slides.
We got more than 6¾ inches out of this latest storm (#4 of the season), and it's raining again today. We are well ahead of our "Normal-to-Date" average, 448%, and we're currently at 42% of our "Normal Water-Year" rainfall. The reservoir is at 76% capacity.
Weight
Nothing to brag about this week. I lost 0.4 pounds. Any loss is progress. I weighed 193.7 this morning.
Wednesday 2025.11.12
Scammed, Almost
I received a notice in the mail informing me my catheter prescription needed to be renewed for 2026. I gave it to a nurse in my urologist's office. She said she'd take care of it. Then I received a notice from Coloplast, the makers of the catheters, saying an order was shipped. I thought it was a scam to steal money from the elderly. I'm 74. Rather than simply a prescription update, was it an order for catheters, which I did not need?Two weeks ago I received a 90-day supply. My insurance pays for them, but they won't pay for two orders. If I had to pay for them, they would cost me nearly $2,000.
Thankfully, UPS notified me they were going to deliver an order from Coloplast on Monday. I rushed an email to customer service at Coloplast, telling them I would be refusing the delivery. I met the UPS driver. He's very nice. I gave his children a LEGO kit. He let me refuse the parcel.
Or was it a scam? Someone at Coloplast called me yesterday to see if I received my box of free samples. Uh-oh. I told her what I had done and she kindly said she would send another box. Actually, it worked out better. We talked about catheters and she mentioned some that might work better for me, but were not in the original sample box. The next box, which is scheduled to be delivered today, will have the additional samples.
Coffee
A few blog posts ago I wrote about buying Costco Kirkland Signature brand Columbian Supremo whole bean coffee rather than my favorite brand, José's, which the store didn't have. On Sunday I tasted the coffee for the first time. First, however, I examined the beans when I opened the bag. They looked a little dark roasted to me. Tasting the coffee, it was okay. It doesn't have the rich depth of flavor José's has. Instead, it tastes like coffee, but kind of flat. It even tastes a little burnt, which is the flavor I do not like in dark roasted coffee.
A little coffee digression: Dark roasting is a trick performed by coffee companies, such as the ones you see on almost every street corner in America. Burning the beans destroys the flavor. Therefore, to make a big profit, they buy the cheapest beans with the lousiest flavor and then dark roast them. Is it gourmet? Not at all. But the consumer who thinks s/he is drinking premium coffee doesn't know, because they are only tasting the burn, not the coffee. Eat burnt toast instead, if that's what you really like.
The next time I need to buy coffee, I'll look for José's. It's worth paying a little extra. In the meantime, the Costco product isn't bad. It will suffice. It's close enough.
Epiphany Moment
What is the best way to store whole bean coffee? One recommendation I learned online is to store it in sealed glass jars. I have those. Another suggestion is to vacuum seal the jars. Mine are "Ball" brand canning jars. I have a jar vacuum sealer, which works really well.
I was thinking it might also be a good idea to put a silica gel desiccant in the jar. You've seen those desiccant packets when you unbox something. They absorb moisture. I have a package of them I ordered back when I was into dehydrating and storing vegetables. At the time, I vacuum sealed them in a plastic pouch.
DUH! I have Ball canning jars; they're reusable. I moved my desiccants to a jar and vacuum sealed the lid in place. By the way, the desiccants are reusable too. Nuke in a microwave oven 7 to 10 minutes at the defrost setting.
As for the coffee, the jars are in the refrigerator.
A New Cooking Video
The last time I produced a cooking video was October, 2024. It has been more than a year. In Sunday's blog post I wrote about stir fries. I enjoy them so much, and they're so easy, I wanted to do a video about them. The element that makes them so easy is frozen mixed vegetables. I buy the big bags at Costco. The vegetables are already chopped and blanched (slightly cooked), eliminating the prep work.
Cook the meat and set aside. Dump a handful of frozen veggies in the wok, cover, and cook five to six minutes until crisp-tender. Add the cooked meat, flavor with some sauce, thicken the sauce with some cornstarch if desired, plate, and eat. It's quick, delicious, and healthy.
I shot the video Monday afternoon. I finished the editing during the evening. After having not done any video work in more than a year, I needed to learn the software again. It's tricky. The process is a little easier now because I don't need to create a recipe page for this website.
I chose to do chicken and vegetables first. The link is in the Recipe Archive.
I have pork and shrimp in the freezer. I did a shrimp and vegetables stir fry next, which I'll edit today. Beef broccoli is in my future, as is fish and veggies. I'd even like to try a stir-fry with cooked eggs — maybe scrambled and fried, then chopped up a little.
Meanwhile, I downloaded some e-books about stir fries. One has 215 recipes! That should keep me busy for a while. A goal of mine is to eventually assemble a playlist of stir fries on YouTube.
On Schedule
My digital calendar is a blessing. I schedule chores for myself, such as "Do laundry," and set them to automatically repeat weekly. I really appreciate having one chore to do at a time. In the past, I'd look at a pile of things to do and the task seemed so large and overwhelming, I couldn't find a way to begin. Now, one task at a time, and I check it off when done. Some items on Amazon Vine really are worth having.
Sunday 2025.11.9
Overwhelmed
I hope it's not an early sign of dementia. I'm trying to move my smoothie videos off of my SmoothieTube channel and onto my Mobile Home Gourmet channel. However, I'm having a difficult time getting organized. It seems too complicated.
I'm probably not approaching the task in the best way. I just finished moving more than 400 recipes off this website and onto YouTube. 45 smoothie videos shouldn't be difficult. One smoothie at a time. Nine are done, so far (I think).
What's a good way to get organized? I like a checklist. It took most of Thursday morning (that's how complicated the process can be), but I successfully created a checklist that should help me be organized. There are nearly 30 steps on the list. And all that is for just one video. That might explain why I am choosing not to do any new videos and instead simplify my life in retirement. Making videos really is complicated.
I'll test the new checklist later today. The next smoothie is Avocado Spinach Pear. Another green smoothie. I know of one fan who won't like that. At least it's a light green.
Gift
I received another gift this week. Duke sent me a bottle of "genuine mirin," a sweet rice seasoning that is popular in Oriental cooking. And not just any ol' bottle of mirin. No. He ordered the really good stuff — the Gucci of genuine mirins.
I never worked with it before, but it's actually very good. One taste made me think of flavoring sautéed vegetables.
I went out to the shed and brought my wok inside. I'll admit, I never used it. I hadn't even removed the labels. It was something I saw at Costco many years ago and I thought it might be useful in a cooking video. It's actually very useful. I like that it's made of steel rather than aluminum. It works on my induction cooker.
My first test was with some sautéed mixed vegetables. Delicious. I had some pork in the freezer for making sausages. I am currently not interested in sausages; so, in my next test I thawed the meat and made pork and vegetables. That came out delicious too. And I love using a wok.
Electric Scrubbing
I once ordered an electric scrubber to use when cleaning the bathroom. I stored it and forgot about it, but this week I remembered. The motor made cleaning the shower easy. There is a variety of brushes. The batteries inside provided plenty of power. Anything that makes an onerous task easy puts a smile on my face, like doing my laundry at home rather than lugging my clothes to the park's laundry room.
Christmas Present
With the arrival of November, I am beginning to consider my options for buying myself a Christmas present in December. I need a better vacuum sealer for foods. I have a compact FoodSaver, but it only accommodates 8-inch bags and rolls. I have some that are 11 inches.
There is a sealer on Amazon that I really like. I'll watch the Black Friday sales, or maybe post-Christmas sales, to see if the price comes down. It's expensive, but it's for Christmas. Why shouldn't I splurge for myself? Most of the year, I'm getting bargains on Amazon Vine.
Speaking of which, if I might be allowed a little digression. This morning I saw a set of drill bits on Vine. Last week I was looking for a couple bits, but I didn't have the perfect size in my small collection. The new set has 115 bits. I ordered it.
Another gift option is a carbon steel wok. It's another expensive item. As mentioned above, the wok stored out in the shed still had the labels on it. The pan was never used. Therefore, it has a pristine surface. It's a NordicWare wok I bought at Costco many years ago. It wasn't expensive. The nonstick coating will slowly degrade, even though I use non-metal utensils. The pan will eventually need to be replaced.
Finding a replacement will not be easy. Research wok reviews on YouTube. There are many of them. Which are the best ones? Why are some better than others? Or is selecting a wok merely a matter of personal preference? As one chef on YouTube said, the quality of the pan is important, but more important is your experience cooking with it. A pan you will really love to cook with is your best choice of cookware. I put a wok on my Amazon wish list.
After watching all those reviews, and feeling thoroughly confused, my current wok actually satisfies nearly all the best desired features. At about 4½ pounds, it isn't too heavy. The handle has a removable silicone sleeve, which stays cool. It works on my induction cooker. I enjoy using it. And, it's still new. Thankfully, I have plenty of time to procrastinate before I need to start searching for a replacement.
Advance Prep
I did not procrastinate on the food preparation task I planned for yesterday. I bought nearly eight pounds of boneless, skinless chicken thighs at Costco. Summer is over; so, outdoor grilling, although still possible here in SoCal (the temperature outside will be in the low to mid 80s today), my planned use for the chicken is for stir fries and stews.
With that goal in mind, I spent a lot of time cutting the meat into bite-sized tidbits. Then I portioned the meat into four-ounce vacuum-sealed pouches and stored them in the freezer. Thankfully, the Costco frozen vegetables I most like to use are already cut up and blanched, which makes stir-fries really easy — so easy, in fact, I'm thinking of doing a cooking video.
If the meat is thawed, I can literally go from wok to plate in under ten minutes. How's that for a quick mid-week meal?
Last Clock?
I might have finally reached my saturation point on digital clocks. As I have mentioned too many times in these blogs, I've been on a quest to find the perfect clock. I've tried many. Some have an LCD display; I prefer LED. Some do not mount on the wall. Some are too difficult to read. A few have gone in the trash when replacements arrived. On Thursday, yet another clock was delivered. When you walk around the house with a push pin and a clock, looking for a place to mount it, that might be a good indicator of "enough already."
It's almost at a point in which I can't look at a wall without seeing a clock. Okay, a few walls are devoid of clocks, but every room has at least one — even the bathroom because I note how often I cath.
Weight
My numbers were fairly good this week, about 1½ pounds lost, but I'm stuck on a plateau around 195. I'm hoping my meals of stir-fried vegetables will help.
Wednesday 2025.11.5
Boys And Their Toys
I added two new toys to my collection of too much stuff.
There was a digital calendar tablet on Amazon Vine that really attracted me. I keep very few events on my calendar each month, but I really like the idea of a to-do list that automatically repeats itself every week. I sometimes procrastinate on chores too much, and then they overwhelm me. Something that should require an hour or two takes most of a day.
Speaking of taking most of a day, the digital calendar was not easy to set up. There is a User Manual and it explains the basics, in small print (I needed to use a magnifying glass). I wished it provided more details, but I had to rely on my intuition to figure out some things. I started at around 3:00 in the afternoon and by 11:00 that evening, eight hours later, I understood enough to set up the tablet and use it. I like it.
The calendar will likely be used more for chores than events. I can set some items to repeat daily, weekly, monthly, whatever, and check them off when completed. Yesterday's chore was laundry. That's done (and it took all day). And I continue to really enjoy using my compact washer and dryer.
The other toy is the wireless webcam I mentioned in an earlier blog. I bought this item; it wasn't available on Vine. The camera is powered by a USB cable and adapter, which plugs into a wall outlet. A dongle is inserted into a USB port on my computer. With everything connected, I clicked the "Camera" item on my Windows Start menu and the video from the camera appeared in a window on my computer screen. The image can be as large as I want it — full screen if that's what I really want. It works well. Supposedly, Windows 10 supports up to four cameras.
The camera overlooks my back deck where I have my lawn jockey statue. No one messes with it, but I like monitoring it. The camera also helps me to see when the UPS truck is coming. I tied a green ribbon to the porch railing to wave in the breeze. It assures me that camera hasn't frozen, which they sometimes do, and need to be reset.
I have two other cameras that have their own monitor. They don't use my computer. One overlooks my side yard and the other monitors the front of my home. When they fail (two previous ones did), I'll replace them with a wireless camera.
One neighbor hates my lawn jockey, and she's vocal about it. I think some people wear their cultural sensitivities more as a fashion statement than a personal principle. The statue was in another neighbor's front yard for many years, and I never heard a word about it. Now that I have it, and I restored it, and it's now worth hundreds of dollars, it is morally wrong to own it. Whatever.
In past blogs I've mentioned my Door Cam. That's a wired webcam that monitors my front door. Nothing has ever been stolen off my porch. However, if I hear a noise up front (I spend nearly all my time in my office, which is at the back of my home), a quick glance at my computer screen tells me if there is someone at my door or if the noise is from something like a crow on the roof. It's more for convenience than security.
Some Numbers
I am seeing the statistics I was hoping to see when I started moving all my recipes from this website to YouTube. The number of visitors is way down, from 1,400 to 600 in October. Now, the pages most viewed are my home page (432) and my blog page (236). I am surprised, and pleased, that so many people read my blog. Thank you. That's gratifying, and it encourages me to keep going.
Vine
This week I completed my latest six-month evaluation period on Amazon Vine. I met the requirements to remain in the Gold Tier, which allows me up to eight orders per day and items of any dollar amount.
I might have seen the most expensive item ever offered on Vine since I joined the program — a turntable record player housed in transparent acrylic. It's expensive, $1,167.79. I wished I had a genuine need for it. It's beautiful. Alas, I no longer own any vinyl LP records. Over time, I eventually replaced them with CDs.
The Tomato Chronicles
This might be the last Tomato Chronicle for a while. The season is done for the plants outdoors. Only a small sprig of green leaves remained on the end of one vine. I cut the vines nearly to the soil. They were green inside; so, they were still alive. As I've said in previous blog posts, I'll keep the soil moist. Maybe new vines will grow in the spring.
The cuttings indoors are still in water and growing roots. In a few weeks I might be ready to transplant them to cups of potting soil.
I'll use the two-cup method. The inner cup will be perforated at the bottom and filled with soil. The outer cup will hold water. A stone in the bottom of the outer cup will hold the inner cup up a little for better irrigation.
Most of the videos I saw have those red beer cups popular at college parties. I have clear cups. That gives me two advantages. I can see when the outer cup needs water, and I can see how the roots are developing in the inner cup. When the roots start to wrap around the soil inside and extend out of the holes in the bottom of the cup, it will be time to transplant them to larger pots. I have three 12-inch pots ready for them.
Meanwhile, I read online I can bury a tomato in the soil and the seeds inside will eventually germinate and grow new plants. This morning I buried four of the small tomatoes that were still on the vine. Supposedly, it takes a long time for the skin and pulp to decompose before the seeds will grow. Spring is four months away. That might be enough time.
Sunday 2025.11.02
Happy Standard Time
Today most of the USA shifted from Daylight Saving Time back to Standard Time.
I don't mind the time changes. Other than having to manually adjust a few clocks, the change doesn't affect me. I go to bed when I'm tired and wake up when I feel rested.
Most of my clocks set themselves. Only a few require manual setting, like the clock on the stove. It only took minutes to get them all working correctly again.
Interruption of Utilities
Friday's loss of electricity never happened. I kept everything off all day. The little computer work I did was on my laptop. I stayed off the internet because my home's modem would disconnect if the power went off. But, nothing happened.
I was told by a neighbor (who likes to let other's know he knows everything) the park has different circuits. The electricity can be cut from one circuit without affecting the others. The electrical work wasn't a repair; the workers were doing some additional work for a new coach. It seemed like they were installing a 220 volt line, besides the regular 110 volts we all have. Whatever.
Vine
Amazon Vine is a little different lately. For the past year or so, Amazon would add new items during the early hours of the morning. Now, they're adding them in the afternoon. For the best options, it's good to watch closely. When new items start showing up, I jump in and look for my wish list items.
I wrote a very negative review this week. It was for a baby cam. You probably know about them. You put the camera in one room and the monitor in another. You can keep an eye on the baby, or pet, or your doddering old grandparent, whatever. The setup is usually easy. You plug in both components, they automatically link, and voila. You have live video. Mine didn't have one setting I needed, even though it was explained in the Quick Start Guide. After a couple hours of frustration, I disconnected everything and threw it in the box. It will go to electronics recycling later.
One big disappointment with Vine is the China stuff. For example, I ordered a digital clock (you know my constant search for the perfect clock). It wouldn't be delivered for four to six weeks. I can wait. But then I saw an identical clock that would be delivered in a few days. I ordered that one and canceled the former one. It was shipped yesterday.
The first clock's brand name was FYXGZZH. Literally! What does that tell you? The vendor is some Chinese company and the brand name is fake, only for selling their inventory of clocks, and then disappearing. Most items ship from warehouses here in the USA, but occasionally something ships from China. Delivery takes weeks.
Photographs
Nancy, a regular reader of this blog, mentioned she would like to see me include photos again. I stopped that practice because I wanted to make this website easier to maintain. However, pictures don't add a lot of work. I'll remove the photos when I put the blog in the archives.
I assembled a LEGO-fake haunted house for Halloween. I glued the kit together because I had built it once before. Assembling and disassembling LEGO kits can loosen the connections, making things fall apart easily. These made-in-China POS kits don't hold together well anyway; so, glue solves a lot of problems. When I am tired of looking at the kit, I'll either give it away or toss it into the recycling bin after I remove the minifigs I want to keep.
I don't have any kits with a Thanksgiving theme, but I do have one or two Christmas kits out in the shed.
Water Weight
This was a week for bloating, then for shedding excess water. During the first half of the week my weight went up by more than 2½ pounds. The it dropped 6½ pounds during the latter half of the week. Overall loss was only 4/10 of a pound for the week; so, it wasn't a highly successful week. However, yesterday I recorded my lowest daily weight, 192.4.
Much of the weight loss was due to a temporary loss of appetite. I wasn't hungry all day Thursday. I ate a cheese omelet before going to bed because I knew I should eat something. On Friday I wasn't hungry until well into the evening. I made a bowl of popcorn to enjoy while watching The Rocky Horror Picture Show, my favorite movie to enjoy on Halloween.
Yesterday, things started to return to normal. Dinner was a delicious plate of pan-seared mixed vegetables followed by a filet of steelhead trout.