Where is the brown fox?

This Pangram contains four as, one b, two cs, one d, thirty es, six fs, five gs, seven hs, eleven is, one j, one k, two ls, two ms, eighteen ns, fifteen os, two ps, one q, five rs, twenty-seven ss, eighteen ts, two us, seven vs, eight ws, two xs, three ys, & one z.

Don't try to predict the unpredictable...

... just learn to expect it.

Tomhouse Cookies

My variation on the standard 'tollhouse':

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 c (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
3/4 c granulated [white] sugar
3/4 c packed brown sugar
1 1/2 tbsp warm water (or milk)
2 tsp vanilla extract (must be real vanilla!)
2 eggs
2 c (12-ounce package) chocolate chips (I like the 'chunks')

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Mix flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl. I the mixer's bowl, beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla.  Add eggs and water to the mixer and beat well.  Add in the flour mixture gradually.  Stir in chocolate (this is best by hand).  Place 1.5" balls of dough on ungreased cookie sheet (cooling the dough down first helps here).

Bake for 6 to 8 minutes or until golden brown. Watch them carefully, because we are browning the outside of each cookie, while leaving the center a bit gooey.  Let them sit on the cookie sheet a minute or two to firm up, then move to wire rack to cool.

A change in the weather

Well, I have been sick for a week and a half now, and maybe that is what is making me pessimistic.  Or maybe because the weather has gotten very cold, windy, and rainy.  I am still unhappy with my job, and the interview I did has not called me back, nor have I heard anything from the other place I sent a resume.

I am not happy with humanity right now.  I think that the greater majority are not very bright.  And it is a situation that is unlikely to change, because it appears that most people either do not know how to think critically, or simply choose not to do it.  Most people see learning as a burden, rather than a useful and possibly recreational pursuit.  The world seems full of superstition, misinformation, mental laziness, and (in America at least) outright anti-intellectualism.

Or maybe I am just cranky.  Most likely the latter.  It could also be the elections coming up.  I was very active and up-to-date for the 2008 elections, this year I am just so tired of it.  I am going to vote, of course - I actually like exercising my rights in that regard - but it just seems really depressing this time around.  Maybe it is seeing all those candidates that deny evolution and climate change doing so well.  Ick.

Interview, &c

I actually went in for an interview yesterday, and it seemed to go pretty well.  I didn't get thrown out early, at least, which I take to be a positive sign.  The interviews themselves were 'large': in the first, it was with most of the team (five people), and the second was with four people.  I feels to me, at this time, that I could possibly get an offer, but again I don't think that they were put up anything near my current salary, which is at a pretty ludicrous level for what I am doing.

I have almost broken even on the Barnes & Noble 'membership' card that I got.  It was $25, but I have saved around $24 so far.  The question is, would I have bought the books if not for 'saving' money on them?  Perhaps not.  But I am enjoying everything so far, and one item purchased was a nifty little co-op board game, Castle Panic, which my five-year-old daughter can also play (with some help).  So, comme ci, comme ca.  But, the latest book I bought is pretty interesting: Physics for Future Presidents.  So far, I am only a couple of chapters into it, but I am learning a lot.  For example: the three major types of nuclear weapons are the uranium, the plutonium, and the hydrogen bombs.  The uranium bomb is easy to build, but the uranium fuel for it (U235) is very difficult to obtain, because most natural uranium is 99% U238.  It takes a lot of science, sophistication, and cash to separate the two.  Plutonium, on the other hand, is easy to obtain (spent fuel from nuclear reactors contain it) and easy to separate, but building a plutonium bomb is very difficult (it needs a very precise implosion as a trigger).  Hydrogen bombs require one of the other types of bomb as the trigger, so if you can't make those, you can't make this.  The bombs dropped in WWII were the first two.  The uranium version had never been tested, as the US had only manufactured enough U235 for one shot.  The plutonium had been tested at Alamogordo.

I really enjoy stuff like this.  I knew there were different types of nuclear weapons, but could not have told you the differences.  And I figured that the weapons used in WWII would both have been uranium, I guess because 'plutonium' just sounds more exotic? advanced? something.  So, now I know.  Other sections of the book include global warming, space exploration, and the like.  I am looking forward to finishing it.

Status

I interviewed for another company today.  The position sounds superb, but for two problems: I don't think they would pay anywhere near what I need, and I think I came across a bit 'hardcore' during the phone interview.  I usually get the interviewer laughing a bit more; this time, I felt a bit that she wouldn't mind the interview being over.  Ah well, I will find out in a day or two if they are going to bring me in for an interview.  In the meantime, I need to pick up the pace at my current job: all these daydreams of other employment have slowed me down.  It doesn't help anything that I have had a splitting headache all day.

The Rule of Uno Mas

Being prone to pattern recognition by the fundamental nature of my personality, I will posit this:

The Rule of Uno Mas

"If, at any time, you find yourself thinking or saying 'Just one more....', then quit immediately."

Examples:
"Just one more ski run before we quit."
"I'll have just one more beer..."
"Just one more pull on the wrench and that bolt will be tight."

Nearly every time I fall for Uno Mas, that is where the trouble begins.  I crash into the tree, I wind up too drunk, I pop the head off the bolt.  Watch it yourself - it happens more often than you would guess.

Corollary: "Perfect is the enemy of Good."  I didn't come up with that one, but it is along the same lines.

Mojito

 The Mojito and the Daiquiri share many elements in common: white rum, lime, and sugar.  But while the Daiquiri has a fairly well-known history, including the origin of its name, the Mojito may date back to a 16th century drink called 'El Draque,' in honor of Sir Francis Drake.  The name 'mojito' could come from an African word, from the mojo seasoning used in Cuba, or even from the Spanish word 'mojadito', meaning 'a little wet'.

In any event, the Mojito takes the basic Daiquiri and adds two important ingredients: mint and sparkling water.  In the U.S., the mint used is usually Mentha spicata, or spearmint.  In Cuba, where the Mojito originated, it is often 'yerba buena', an all-purpose word for various mint species, including the indiginous Mentha nemorosa or 'Cuban mint', or the fore-mentioned spearmint.  This was Hemingway's other drink, and they are still proudly served at La Bodeguita in Havana, where Hemingway wrote on the wall: "My mojito in La Bodeguita, My daiquiri in El Floridita".

My recipe makes a small pitcher, but I have found that one is never enough:

Juice of three limes (5-6 oz.)
1/2c superfine sugar (Baker’s sugar, NOT Confectioners)
8 or so 'sprigs' of mint
10 oz. of white rum (this is one drink where Bacardi white is just fine)
500 ml sparkling water (unflavored)

Mix the sugar into the lime juice.  Add the mint and 'muddle': that is, using a 'muddler' or a wooden spoon, crush the mint leaves.  Do not pound or shred them - you are simply opening them up to release the oils inside, so 'bruising' is fine.  Add the rum and mix well.  Add the sparkling water, mix, and fill with ice.  Serve immediately, in a Collins-style tall glass, with small sprig of mint as a garnish.

This is truly the most refreshing drink after a hot day.  The unexpected pairing of mint and lime is cool and savory.  I'll admit that before trying it, I never would have thought it would work.  Apparently, some bars in Cuba add Angostura bitters to cut down the sweetness, but I have never tried this and don't see it as necessary.

To many occasions, I have brought a cooler full of these, usually six or so batches made at once, and they always are gone before the beer.  I now get asked to bring them to events.  It's a great recipe, and has become my 'signature' drink.

INTP Humor

I was at Costco, looking at a stack of large coolers. I turned to the lady next to me and said, “Do you think you could fit a human body into one of these? I mean, if you cut it up first?”

I am sure that Costco wouldn’t mind if I never came back.

Yep.

Washing the dishes

Recently our dishwasher stopped working.  My wife called up Sears, but they said it would take two weeks to get someone out to look at it.  So we bought a drying rack at Target and I took on the task of washing the dishes.

I started with the stuff that had built up in the sink, and got a few items out of the unfinished load from the washer.  Hot soapy water in the smaller sink, rinse in the larger one.  My wife wound up putting the dishes away after they dried.  So that's how it went  - wash the new stuff and get a few more out of the washer until it was empty.  I wound up washing the dishes, by hand, several times over the course of two weeks.

And now, I miss it.  Isn't that odd?  I mean, I like the idea of loading everything into the machine, push the button and come back later.  Done.  But there was something about doing the work myself - the slowness, the quiet.  At one point, I was going to start the dishes but the wife and girl were in the room, squabbling and making noise - I shooed them out before I started.  It became 'my time'.  The smallness of the task - scrub the plate, put it in the sink; rinse them all; fit them in the rack - allowed me time to think.  It was almost better than lying down and thinking, one of my favorite activities.  Freer, maybe.

I have noticed in the past that I tend to think better when my hands are doing something.  Often, in a tedious meeting, I will start messing with something: a rubber band, my pen, my phone.  It seems to help me to focus better.  I don't know, but it seems like this might be an INTP thing.  Or maybe just a human thing.  Or maybe just me.

I would not have thought that I would enjoy washing the dishes.  I have done it in the past, as a chore.  This time was different though.  Chop wood, carry water.

Jubilante Agno, Fragment B

For I will consider my Cat Jeoffry.
For he is the servant of the Living God, duly and daily serving him.
For at the first glance of the glory of God in the East he worships in his way.
For is this done by wreathing his body seven times round with elegant quickness.
For then he leaps up to catch the musk, which is the blessing of God upon his prayer.
For he rolls upon prank to work it in.
For having done duty and received blessing he begins to consider himself.
For this he performs in ten degrees.
For first he looks upon his forepaws to see if they are clean.
For secondly he kicks up behind to clear away there.
For thirdly he works it upon stretch with the forepaws extended.
For fourthly he sharpens his paws by wood.
For fifthly he washes himself.
For sixthly he rolls upon wash.
For seventhly he fleas himself, that he may not be interrupted upon the beat.
For eighthly he rubs himself against a post.
For ninthly he looks up for his instructions.
For tenthly he goes in quest of food.
For having considered God and himself he will consider his neighbor.
For if he meets another cat he will kiss her in kindness.
For when he takes his prey he plays with it to give it a chance.
For one mouse in seven escapes by his dallying.
For when his day’s work is done his business more properly begins.
For he keeps the Lord’s watch in the night against the adversary.
For he counteracts the powers of darkness by his electrical skin and glaring eyes.
For he counteracts the Devil, who is death, by brisking about the life.
For in his morning orisons he loves the sun and the sun loves him.
For he is of the tribe of Tiger.
For the Cherub Cat is a term of the Angel Tiger.
For he has the subtlety and hissing of a serpent, which in goodness he suppresses.
For he will not do destruction if he is well-fed, neither will he spit without provocation.
For he purrs in thankfulness when God tells him he’s a good Cat.
For he is an instrument for the children to learn benevolence upon.
For every house is incomplete without him, and a blessing is lacking in the spirit.
For the Lord commanded Moses concerning the cats at the departure of the Children of Israel
            from Egypt.
For every family had one cat at least in the bag.
For the English Cats are the best in Europe.
For he is the cleanest in the use of his forepaws of any quadruped.
For the dexterity of his defense is an instance of the love of God to him exceedingly.
For he is the quickest to his mark of any creature.
For he is tenacious of his point.
For he is a mixture of gravity and waggery.
For he knows that God is his Saviour.
For there is nothing sweeter than his peace when at rest.
For there is nothing brisker than his life when in motion.
For he is of the Lord’s poor, and so indeed is he called by benevolence perpetually—Poor Jeoffry!
            poor Jeoffry! the rat has bit thy throat.
For I bless the name of the Lord Jesus that Jeoffry is better.
For the divine spirit comes about his body to sustain it in complete cat.
For his tongue is exceeding pure so that it has in purity what it wants in music.
For he is docile and can learn certain things.
For he can sit up with gravity, which is patience upon approbation.
For he can fetch and carry, which is patience in employment.
For he can jump over a stick, which is patience upon proof positive.
For he can spraggle upon waggle at the word of command.
For he can jump from an eminence into his master’s bosom.
For he can catch the cork and toss it again.
For he is hated by the hypocrite and miser.
For the former is afraid of detection.
For the latter refuses the charge.
For he camels his back to bear the first notion of business.
For he is good to think on, if a man would express himself neatly.
For he made a great figure in Egypt for his signal services.
For he killed the Icneumon rat, very pernicious by land.
For his ears are so acute that they sting again.
For from this proceeds the passing quickness of his attention.
For by stroking of him I have found out electricity.
For I perceived God’s light about him both wax and fire.
For the electrical fire is the spiritual substance which God sends from heaven to sustain the
            bodies both of man and beast.
For God has blessed him in the variety of his movements.
For, though he cannot fly, he is an excellent clamberer.
For his motions upon the face of the earth are more than any other quadruped.
For he can tread to all the measures upon the music.
For he can swim for life.
For he can creep.
=========
The most famous part of a much larger 1,200 line poem.  Written between 1759 and 1763 by Christopher Smart, while in St. Luke’s Hospital in London, where he had been committed for insanity. While confined, he was able to keep his cat Jeoffry, whom he doted upon.  Smart was released from asylum in 1763 and died in 1771 of liver failure while in debtor’s prison.  The poem was not published until 1939.

Headaches

While at my job, I occasionally get stabbing pains in the back of my head.  Deep headache pains.  With my hypercondriacal tendencies, my first thought is always that I am having a stroke, which, fortunately, turns out not to be true.(1)  But I rarely get these sorts of pains otherwise, and while sitting in a meeting earlier today, I had the thought that there is a layer of latent stress with this job.  Not knowing how to do things and feeling dumb all the time are taking a toll, I believe.  I am able to drop all of it as I drive away at the end of the day, and do not often think about 'work' when I am at home or trying to sleep.  But while here, I believe that I am subject to a lot of hidden stress. 
My brother-in-law, also looking for something different, feels that in his case it is simply the product that is failing to stir his interest.  If he were working on something that he had more investment into, more interest in, then he would be better off.  I am not so sure for me.  Certainly working on a product where I had some inkling, either of the process behind it (such as learning a game product for testing) or the notion how to test it (testing, say, a website that provides data that I am unfamiliar with, as I am pretty good with websites) would certainly help.  One or the other.  Here I have neither, and for a variety of reasons I just don't wish to stick around to find out.  My 'contract' is up in November, so I am targeting that date in the back of my mind to make a leap.
At least my bro-in-law has a point in that we each have a lot invested in this field, and could leverage that to a position that holds more interest.  Additionally, I have come to realize that I could happily be a bricklayer, if the other bricklayers all talked about philosophy and other big ideas.(2) 
Anyhow, I think I am going to update the resume, and start looking at job sites, just to see what is out there. 



(1) I think.
(2) This came up in a discussion on one of the INTP forums.  If the work were undemanding (mentally), but I could bounce a lot of ideas around while doing it, that might not be so bad.  I have found that when exercising if I have a distraction - a book, magazine, or even a baseball game on the TV - suddenly I have done forty-five minutes on the elliptical without even noticing it.  A job that allowed a similar distraction would not be so bad, I think.

I, INTP 9

Part 9

I came to a realization today, as to why I unsatisfied with my job.  And not just my job, but the profession that I am in. 

Currently, I am a software tester.  Software Test is concerned with WHAT.  WHAT is wrong here?  WHAT is out of spec?  WHAT will cause the users grief? 

My brother-in-law, a software developer (now manager), has often suggested to me that I should go into that field.  Software development is concerned with HOW.   HOW can I transform this data?  HOW can I make this result happen?  HOW can I design this interface to be more user friendly?

My problem here is that I am a WHY person.  I constantly ask myself that question.  WHY was this building designed this way?  WHY am I so angry about that news report?  WHY is a pint glass shaped like that?

I think that I am fundamentally mismatched with the field I have lived in for the past fourteen years.  I need a job that let's me figure out WHY:

    WHY does a resource appear here but not over there?
    WHY do people react the way they do?
    WHY was an artefact designed like this, but not like that?

What are some examples of WHY jobs?  I think that Research and Analysis are two very good places to start.  Research like astrophysics (WHY is the universe like the data we have?), Archeology (WHY did these people act in this way?), Geology (WHY are these landforms structured so?), Chemistry, Investigator, Psychologist.  Analysis like, well, Analyst (Systems, Business, Financial, &c), Statistician, Stock Broker, Physicist, Historian, Judge, Economist.  All these jobs seem to me to have WHY? in them, to one degree or another.

Beyond WHY, there is also an underlying creative aspect.  I used to be a Theatrical Sound Designer™, which allowed me the freedom to work independently and translate ideas into form.  Other examples might include:  Inventor, Photographer, Mathematician, Composer, Philosopher, Writer

Software Tester or Developer are both fields that have problems to solve; but the type of problems is different in each, and I believe at variance with my true strengths.  In some ways, I feel that I am wasting my talents here, and am capable of so much more.  But how to make that jump, in a practical way?  That is, how to pull off a career change in the real world?  How do you switch out the engine while you're driving on the freeway?

The Derby Daiquiri

This is an excellent variation on the basic daiquiri - pretty much, it's just the addition of orange juice.  The drink itself dates to 1959, when it was entered into a 'Rums of Puerto Rico' competition.

•     1 oz Orange Juice
•     ½ oz Lime
•     ½ oz Simple Syrup
•     1½ oz Light Puerto Rican Rum

Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

You can even make a pitcher and serve instead of those blasted mimosas.

I was a Zen Buddhist until I fell in a forest.

I, INTP 8

Part 8

Discovering that I am INTP, and that there is this wealth of like-minded individuals posting their experiences on the web, has been revelatory.  This morning, during my daily commute, I thought that it is like how it must feel to find out you were adopted.  Now, I can explain all these traits coming from my nature that were not bulldozed by my nurture.  It has made me want to explore this further, using those signposts found in books and websites and in the forums by those that have tread this path before.

And therein is a problem.  While I am daydreaming about wide open spaces, the high desert or the windswept coast, I suddenly find myself a couple of blocks from work with little idea how I got there.  My mind can sometimes go on 'auto-pilot', which is nice to know, but also a bit chilling when it happens. 

But even more to the point, when would I be able to do this exploration?  I would love to take two or three weeks and go somewhere, either stay at a hotel at the beach or set up a tent in the mountains (or vice versa, I'm easy) and just think and think.  Clean out some mental garbage, and get back to some of the basics.  I have already rediscovered a few of them, but it feels like there is more to be unearthed.

I wonder though, if there are not more influences in play.  My dislike for the tedium of my job, for instance, tends to make me a bit more anti-social.  Also, my age is such that it is possible that I am undergoing the 'mid-life crisis'.  Jung thought that this is a normal part of maturing:

• Confusion about who they are and where they are going.
• Questioning the choices they have made in their lives and the validity of decisions they made years before.
• Feeling a need for adventure and change.
• Afraid of not attaining goals they have set for themselves.

There is also a bunch of family/relationship stuff (resentment, anger, &c), but I'm not feeling any of that part of it.  That last one above is interesting, because I realized years ago that I simply had no goals in life, apart from remaining comfortable.  I guess my goal was always to have enough money that I didn't have to work, and could just chase whatever rabbits interested me.  I included that point in the list, however, to substitute for the vague feeling of 'I could be more.'  It is tied up with the second point.

I don't feel the need to buy a red sports car (way too impractical) and there's no way I would leave my family, two of the more typical symptoms.  Maybe my dissatisfaction with work and the tempting visions of the wide open spaces are all that it is.  But maybe this restlessness is an opportunity to make myself into something better.  Certainly, feeling more comfortable in my own skin would help.

If only I had the time and space to think about it...
heh.

What I'm Reading

When I was a kid, I would read five books at a time.  I would have five different books lying around, and switch between them as my interest moved.  Often, I would lose one for a while (or leave it someplace like inside the refrigerator), so pick up a different one and read it for a while, and so on.  I never needed to use bookmarks, because I could always find the exact paragraph I had left off - one sentence would be familiar, the next would not.  In college, when assigned a paper to write, I would check out every book that had something to do with the subject, read all this information, and then the night before write the paper in one draft, with all the books laid out around me for reference.  These essays were not works of high literature by any means, but they got the job done, and I generally got decent enough grades out of them.

Somewhere along the way I lost this habit.  I would peg it as during my first marriage, when I bent and bent and bent trying to be accommodating, and she took and took and took.  When we tried couples therapy, she stormed out twenty minutes into the first session, accusing us (the therapist and myself) of conspiring against her.  Yeah, that helps.  Anyway, I wound up seeing this therapist for a few more sessions solo, and that was very useful during that troubling time.  It was then that I identified some of the elements of my true nature that I had suppressed in an effort to make things work.  Given her increasing paranoia and anti-intellectualism, most of my 'thinky' things had gone.  Well, I was pretty busy juggling all the tasks(1) to do much more anyway.  One thing that I started doing again was the crossword puzzles.  I used to love the Sunday NY Times puzzle, the big hard one.  How satisfying to complete it!  I went through a big sudoku phase, and now am getting pretty good at ken-ken.

But I did not restart the massive reading.  I am not sure why, either at the time or in the intervening ten years.  Sure I read books, but truly, not a lot of them.  I haven't read science fiction or fantasy for many years.  Maybe it's because of the internet.  My sister tells me that Facebook is a big time-sink for her, but for me it is Wikipedia, following link after link after link...

So recently, watching my wife polish off one book after another, I was considering this, and I remembered how I used to read.  Maybe that's the key, I figured; maybe I had found my natural frequency of oscillation all those years before.  So I decided to try it out again.  Here is the current lot:

1. How To Ace Calculus: The Streetwise Guide
By Colin Adams, Abigail Thompson, Joel Hass

2. Show Me How: 500 Things You Should Know Instructions for Life From the Everyday to the Exotic
By Lauren Smith, Derek Fagerstrom

3. Your Brain: The Missing Manual
By Matthew MacDonald

4. SQL Queries for Mere Mortals(R): A Hands-On Guide to Data Manipulation in SQL
By John L. Viescas, Michael J. Hernandez

5. What Are the Seven Wonders of the World? and 100 Other Great Cultural Lists--Fully Explicated
By Peter D'Epiro and Mary Desmond Pinkowish

So there may be a theme here: all learning, no recreation.  I should be changing that soon, as my father gave me a copy of Coyote Waits by Tony Hillerman, and I am intrigued by the book Sophie's World by that Norwegian guy (although reviews say it is more of a philosophical text in disguise).  #2 is mostly graphics, #4 is for a class (I think that counts, I am reading it after all) and #5 is little lists that can be taken in bite-sized chunks.  The point is, I am keeping up with it.  Getting the groove back.  It's a good thing.

(1) Eventually, due to her drug use, I found myself doing everything except cook for her (I of course cooked for myself) and her laundry.  But all house chores beyond that, as well as all finances, repairs, shopping, cleaning, gardening, and income-earning were all mine.  She was healthy, capable, and able: she just didn't do any of that.

I think that Captcha is telling me something

Trader Vic Grog

Ask most people about grog, and those that have any knowledge of it will probably tell you that it is watered-down rum.  This is true.  Named for Edward Vernon, Vice Admiral of the Royal Navy, who sought to stretch the rations while reducing the incidence of drunkenness aboard his majesty's vessels.  Vernon was nicknamed "Old Grog" for the grogram coats he always wore.(1)  Eventually, sailors were also provided with a ration of lime to improve the flavor (water was stored on ship in barrels, and got pretty foul), which had the added effect of preventing scurvy (though the connection was unknown at the time).(2) 
Modern 'grog' recipes usually have a dark rum, fruit juices, sweetener (sugar or honey) and often cinnamon.  Below is the Trader Vic's simpler version:

TRADER VIC’S GROG

    * 2 parts dark Jamaican rum
    * 1 part fresh lemon juice
    * 1 part passion fruit syrup
    * 1 part fresh (unsweetened) pineapple juice
    * 1 dash Angostura Bitters

Shake all with crushed ice.  Pour the entire thing into a pint glass, or tiki mug.

For the Jamaican rum, the default choice would be Myers, but I encourage you to try using the Appleton Estate, which is not as dark but has a smoother mellowness.  Always use fresh squeezed juice for the lemons!  The pineapple works fine from a can, I have found.  This is an excellent drink to make in a pitcher and serve up when it's warm out.

(1) George Washington's half-brother, Lawrence, served on Vernon's flagship and lated named his Virginia estate "Mount Vernon".  So now you know.
(2) This is, of course, where we get the nickname 'limey' for the British.

Cogito, ergo redundam

Descartes's famous proposition "I think, therefore I am" is an excellent example of circular reasoning.  Merely saying "I think" proves everything behind the comma.

I, INTP 7

Part 7

Great INTP advice from this page

How to cope:
Just accept yourself for who you are. You’re “weird”?; then cool, you’re weird. You’re aloof? So what, you’re aloof. You cannot connect to people emotionally? So be it.
There’s nothing wrong with you are. You are you.
There’s something said in the Talmud I believe, in which someone was asking God about who he is…his essence, etc. The creator’s answer:
I AM WHAT I AM
so let go of any feelings of inadequacy or alienation–you’re a freak or disconnected or whatever–GOOD FOR YOU! Embrace who you are and good will come from it.
I discovered this through dancing my brains out at hippy festivals while on hippy drugs–not everybody needs to go on my path but we all would do well with a little self realization and acceptance however it comes about.
To be an INTP:
•    is to be interested in everything and nothing simultaneously
•    is to be good at everything but not great at anything–constantly the person in second place.
•    is to not want to lead but in the same light, do exactly what you want.
•    is to feel more intelligent than most people around you (for this reason, associate with smartypants and the world will seem saner)
•    is to be unable to express simple things like, “what I want is…”;
•    is to be what I call, “an antisocial socialite.”
[…]
for me, it really is that I do see all sides of everything and therefore cannot decide (and deciding is a stressful thing for me to do)…
•    it is to like everything and dislike everything at the same time, equally.

One year ago, nearly

Tiger Gingerbread

I am not sure if I found this on the web or in a book, but I have it listed as 'Tiger Gingerbread', and it is truly awesome, so here it is:

Tiger Gingerbread
1/2c cold water
2 tbsp ground coffee
1 piece fresh ginger, 1 inch long, peeled and coarsely chopped
1/2c unsalted butter
1c dark brown sugar (packed)
1/2c dark molasses
1 large egg
1.25c all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350° F.  Grease a 8" square pan.
Combine the water, coffee, and fresh ginger in a small pan.  Bring to boil, then remove and cover, letting it steep at least five minutes.
With mixer, beat together butter, brown sugar, molasses until smooth.  Filter the coffee mixture (or use mesh screen) and mix in.  Add egg.
Sift the flour, salt, baking soda and spices into the mixture, and beat until smooth. 
Pour batter into the square pan and bake until toothpick inserted comes out clean, around 30 minutes.  Cool in the pan five minutes before slicing.  Serve warm with ice cream (dulce de leche is incredible on this).

Sign

See, we can be funny.  And either self-deprecating, or self-depreciating, depending on whom you ask.

I, INTP 6

Part 6

The most interesting part of this to me, so far, has just been the fact that it’s not just me.  Somewhere between 1-5 percent of the population has the same quirks and nervous tics, the same detachment, the same fatigue of people, the same desire to think and think about things.

It’s funny, re-reading that sentence my first thought is, ‘if you’re so independent all the time, why does it matter to know that others think the same way?  Huh, Mr. Big Shot INTP?’  That’s a very good question.  I will just say that when I was reading the forums a couple of weeks ago, I came across a thread about INTPs not having the feeling of belonging anywhere.  I almost posted – just reading that thread made me feel like I did belong somewhere, that I had found ‘my people’.  It was a joy and a relief that I cannot yet explain (give me a couple of weeks to think about it…). 

My mother died when I was sixteen years old.  It was a car accident – I was there.  I had always figured (thought, assumed) that it was her death that made me clam up and retreat; that the event, the shock of it and its suddenness, drained my ability for high emotions, gave me a lifelong tendency towards sluggishness and melancholy.  I was always a thinker and a bit of a dreamer, but why couldn’t I ever finish anything?  Why couldn’t I connect with the people around me?

Over the years I have struggled with this, calling myself lazy (so that others didn’t have to), trying out time management systems or false enterprises of activities to ‘jumpstart’ myself.  I have learned how to small talk and complete the social niceties.  I have stayed clean and employed, and have never tried drugs (beyond alcohol, and that in moderation). 

My mantra of the last few years has been ‘no excuses’, and it has been good for me.  No one likes a whiner, and I was a whiner to end all whiners.  I am a much more rounded person today, through actively addressing my shortcomings, and with the love of my wife and family.  I am not so bad off.  Yet, I look back and think, what if I had known twenty years ago what I have learned in the past month?  What if I had been playing to my strengths, and intelligently mitigating my weakness, over all this time?

I can’t begrudge, though, any of my decisions, because without them I would not be where I am, and I am definitely happy with my life and my little family.  Except the job, but I can deal with that in the short term.  Good house in great neighborhood, freedom from want, freedom to do many things.

I am INTP.  I am the Idea Guy©.  I may be standoffish, aloof, and slightly misanthropic.  I may be a know-it-all and flaunt my excessively large and useless vocabulary.  Sometimes I float through life sideways.  But I am calm in a crisis, creative and far-seeing, tolerant and flexible.  I know who I am, and it makes me stronger.

Zoom!

BAK

I was out for a few days, visiting the folks, doing some financial stuff.  I learned a lot, which is good.  I have no head for money stuff - I just like to have some in my pocket.  I think that I have gotten better about it.  I don't just automatically spend cash if I have it.  I learned a while ago not to run to the ATM every day and draw out more.  And I am trying to get more use out of the possessions that I have, rather than buying more possessions.

Otherwise, just melancholy.  Foggy driving in to work, and then work itself.  I need a cup of tea and some sad music.  Hey, it happens, right?  I might as well enjoy feeling miserable for a while - I know it will pass.

Planter Tom

Planter's Punch is a Standard Rum Drink© the dates back to the 19th century.  It is a variation on punch, or punsch, a word borrowed from the Hindi for a drink made of alcohol, sugar, lemon, water, and spice (or tea).  The British were making their own variations on punch in the 17th century.  Pimm's Cup is a type of punch.
Wikipedia reprints a poem from the August 8, 1908 edition of The New York Times:

    PLANTER'S PUNCH
    This recipe I give to thee,
    Dear brother in the heat.
    Take two of sour (lime let it be)
    To one and a half of sweet,
    Of Old Jamaica pour three strong,
    And add four parts of weak.
    Then mix and drink. I do no wrong —
    I know whereof I speak.

Planter's Punch can have various fruit juices in it (pineapple, orange, lemon), but lime makes the simplest, most straightforward drink.  Starting with the 1-2-3-4 formula, I concocted the drink below.  Surprisingly easy to drink, a couple of these will drop you on your ass.

PLANTER TOM
1 oz fresh-squeezed lime juice
1.5 oz simple syrup (2 oz is too much - even the 1.5 oz makes it pretty sweet)
3 oz Captain Morgan Spice Rum (at first, I was using the Morgan's Private Reserve, but there seems to be little difference between it and the regular old cheaper stuff, so meh)
4 oz crushed ice

Shake all ingredients for 5-10 seconds, then pour into a pint glass.  Letting the drink sit for a minute helps.    Feel free to up the amount of lime to taste.

Navajo Night Chant (excerpt)

House made of dawn.
House made of evening light.
House made of the dark cloud.
House made of male rain.
House made of dark mist.
House made of female rain.
House made of pollen.
House made of grasshoppers.

Dark cloud is at the door.
The trail out of it is dark cloud.
The zigzag lightning stands high upon it.
An offering I make.
Restore my feet for me.
Restore my legs for me.
Restore my body for me.
Restore my mind for me.
Restore my voice for me.
This very day take out your spell for me.

Happily I recover.
Happily my interior becomes cool.
Happily I go forth.
My interior feeling cool, may I walk.
No longer sore, may I walk.
Impervious to pain, may I walk.
With lively feelings may I walk.
As it used to be long ago, may I walk.

Happily may I walk.
Happily, with abundant dark clouds, may I walk.
Happily, with abundant showers, may I walk.
Happily, with abundant plants, may I walk.
Happily on a trail of pollen, may I walk.
Happily may I walk.
Being as it used to be long ago, may I walk.

May it be beautiful before me.
May it be beautiful behind me.
May it be beautiful below me.
May it be beautiful above me.
May it be beautiful all around me.
In beauty it is finished.
In beauty it is finished.

‘Sa’ah naaghéi, Bik’eh hózhó

======
The Night Way, or “Night Chant”, is a nine day healing ceremony that dates to circa 1000ce.  It is only performed from October to January.  This is a small part of it; the entire ceremony take nine days to complete.

I, INTP 5

Part 5

While driving home last night, in that twenty-two minutes each direction that I get to be somewhat alone with my thoughts, it occurred to me that my lack of interest in the job is seriously affecting my performance of that job.  Not just my low energy, and following easy distractions (*cough* blogging), but also my ability to retain information.  None of this biz stuff is 'sticking' at all - I am continually faced with things I have no idea how to complete, which then feeds the downward spiral because I repeatedly feel like an idiot. And I pride myself on my ability to remember information.

So, thinking about jobs: what could I do?  If you take a look at the list of 'best' jobs for INTP, you find items such as: scientist, mathematician, college professor, architect, chemist, &c.  What do these have in common?  They all require training and specialized knowledge.  Which I do not have.  My brother-in-law, a programmer and development manager, and I had a conversation about this, because he is in the same sort of boat (I am guessing that he is some sort of E, maybe ENTP): changing careers at this point - truly changing to another, more interesting, field - would necessitate a huge hit, taking one or more years to complete.  Since we both have incomes that are vital, I don't think that is going to happen (outside of winning the lotto).  I could not take another job that paid less than, say, 70% of my current salary, so that bars me from finding some sort of entry or near-entry-level position and learning my way into it.  So, we're a bit stuck.  I asked him to think about it though, to consider that if maybe the two of us are unhappy with the computer field, would there possibly be something that we might do together?  He's a great guy, and I had a job in the same company as him before, I certainly wouldn't mind working with him again.  But would there be some sort of business venture, a company or a product, or writing a book, or some such thing, that we could complete?

When I mentioned this to my wife, she immediately shot it down.  Again, the problem with INTP communication, I think: I am talking in possibilities and ideas, but she always seems to think that I am making concrete plans.  No, my dear, I am not going to quit my job tomorrow and start chasing unicorns; but just being unhappy all the time is not doing me any good either.  I feel that with a bit of thought, it might be possible to come up with a solution, that is, something that I could do that would keep bringing in the necessary cash to keep the house and all that.  And be more satisfying.

Boardgame Buying Algorithm

From BoardGameGeek.  Might only be funny to the 'boardgamers' in the audience.  You guys, you know what I mean.

I, INTP 4

Part 4

My wife actually tried some of the online personality tests.  In four different tests, she got these results:

1. INTJ
2. ESTP or ESFP
3. ISFJ
4. ISTJ

I strongly suspect the reason for this is that she answered many of the questions how she thought she should answer them, rather than how she really feels about them.  I mentioned that I thought her either to be INTJ or ISTJ, and I went off to the sites to see what they say.  Each had elements of correctness (more so the ISTJ), but neither really nailed it, and she agreed with me on this.  She is not E, I am fairly certain, and she is so far over into being a J that #2 needs to be tossed out (she said, “That one was from the U.K.”, as if that was the only explanation needed).  So that leaves #3: ISFJ, eh?  I hadn’t really given it much thought, but it is possible.  Anything, as is said, is possible.
So, after reading through ISFJ, I am pretty certain this is her.  Much of it, when I read through and really think about it, fits.  So what does that mean?  Well, a quick check of the forums leaves me with the impression that we’re DOOMED.  Doomed I say!  Any relationship between those two types is bound to fail!  No communication, continual misunderstandings, doom on a stick!
Once again, though, a bit more research helps.  Checking around the forums, pretty much Every Other Type© has been proclaimed to be ‘completely incompatible’ with the poor old INTP.  Most were along the lines of: “My boyfriend of six years was a XXXX and he never understood me and we never talked and so we broke up and boo hoo.”  While I have no wish to belittle anyone’s pain (too late; just did), the overall impression I got was that a lot of people had relationships go south and then blamed it on the personality types involved.  From all over the Type spectrum.
Am I saying there is smooth sailing?  Of course not.  If she does agree that she is ISFJ, and we work within those frameworks, we now have given it a name(1), and can use that information, and knowledge of our own tendencies, and the habits of our partner, to build a stronger relationship.  But it still takes work.  I just now have a map to where my best efforts can be headed, where to compromise, and where to learn.  We’re great, so far (seven years) – and I think it can be even stronger, and want to make it so.
(1) It has been my experience that the first step in solving a problem is to ‘give it a name’.  That is, get inside it and define exactly what we are setting out to solve.  It focuses my mind and attention on the true nature of the problem, because left to myself I will be down every rabbit hole along the way.

I promised a picture.

Reclaiming The Daiquiri

The Revolution© starts here, it starts today.  And gentlemen in England now-a-bed shall think themselves accurs’d they were not here!

I am a Rum Guy©, having discovered that out of all the popular mass-produced spirits (whiskey, vodka, gin, &c), rum is by far the most interesting.  The variety of rum is astounding, from darks to lights, overproof, cachaças, aguardiente, and many others.  Each island in the Caribbean produces its own rum, and each has a distinct, recognizeable character.  Rum is made around the world, in Mexico, Brazil, India, Mauritius, Hawaii, Vietnam, and so forth.  It can be a bland stock mixer (*cough* Bacardi), or can be excellent for sipping (Zacapa 23-year).  It mixes with just about everything.

There is a problem though: the signature rum drink, the Daiquiri, is massively misunderstood.  This happens over, and over:

SERVER: Can I get you something to drink?
ME: I think that I would like a Daiquiri.
SERVER: I’m sorry, we don’t have a blender.

WRONG!  Damn it, the Daiquiri is not a ‘blended’ drink!  You want to cheapen it, like those corn syrup and artificial color tequila concoctions that most Americans think are Margaritas?  NO - the Daiquiri is shaken!  It has a long pedigree: the Kennedys drank Daiquiris in the White House; Hemingway spent several years subsisting on nothing but the drink.

So, we’re taking it back.  Spread the word, be a part of it.  Order in restaurants, and correct them when they are wrong.  Make these for friends - they are excellent on a hot afternoon (only the Mojito - properly made - can rival them).

It’s really a simple drink.  Nearly all Rum-based cocktails have four basic ingredients: citrus, sugar, rum and ice.  You can make a pretty good cocktail following this rhyme:

1 of sour
2 of sweet
3 of strong
4 of weak

That is, one part lime, two parts sugar (you’ll need to back this off some, or it over-powers), three parts rum, four parts ice.  Tweak up or down to your tastes.  All right!  Time for the Seattle Daiquiri©:

1 oz fresh-squeezed lime juice
3/4 oz simple syrup
2 oz fine light rum

Shake vigorously with crushed ice.  Strain into chilled cocktail glass.  Serve immediately.

Always - ALWAYS - use fresh lime juice.  Anything that comes in a bottle will make the drink taste chemically (I have had enough of these in restaurants).  Simple syrup is just a form of liquid sugar.  You can buy it (in the coffee syrups aisle), or make it like this:

1 cup superfine sugar (Baker’s sugar, NOT Confectioners, which has corn starch in it)
1 cup water

Heat in a saucepan, stirring until the sugar melts completely.  Will keep, refrigerated, for several weeks.  You can also, if feeling frisky, try substituting Turbinado sugar.  I would not use brown sugar, it gets a bit heavy and colors the drink.

For the rum, I suggest Cruzan 2-year white rum.  Bacardi white is very flat, and uninteresting, and should only be used if you are making these en masse (for a party or some such).  Cruzan is inexpensive, easy to find, and has a lot more character.  Others that I like are the Don Q white, and surprisingly, the Tommy Bahama, though it is over-priced.  You can try out amber or gold rums, which are mostly the same as the whites (at least, in the larger brands) but they will give the drink a very different, and not always pleasing color.  Save the dark rums for Grog or Dark&Stormy (or Corn&Oil!).  Whatever you do, NEVER go below Bacardi.  All that stuff (Monarch, Potter, et al) is on the bottom shelf for a reason.

When shaking the drink, don’t over-shake.  Five to ten seconds is enough.  When the top of the shaker freezes up, it is time to pour.  This allows the small ice chips to suspend in the drink, without the ice diluting too much.  And most definitely serve immediately!  The ice in the drink will water it down quickly (though, on the whole, not substantially).

Feel free to adjust the proportions up or down to your taste, or experiment with adding other items.  The classic ‘Hemingway’ Daiquiri adds grapefruit juice and maraschino liqueur(1).  If nothing else, give it a try - your friends will love them.
The Daiquiri also makes a great ‘rum tester’.  When I purchase a new rum I have not tried, the first thing I do is make a Daiquiri out of it to see what it is like.  You can quickly become familiar with the various styles of rum in this way (makes for a very pleasant weekend).

(1) This has nothing to do with maraschino cherries.  It is a rather nasty-smelling spirit out of Croatia.  I think they take whole cherries - pits, stems, leaves, whatever - and grind them up and make alcohol.  You wouldn’t ever drink it straight, but it adds a nice ‘high note’ to a Daiquiri.  I will often add a few drops to the recipe above to round it out a bit.

I, INTP 3

Part 3
So, OK.  I am INTP: heavy on the I & T, lighter on the N & P.  Now what?
Well, I went out on the Google and found every reference I could to INTP personality type: every article, test result, blog, forum, humor site, whatever.  I copied items into a huge Word document, formatted and cleaned them up (fixing the typos and grammar, of course), printed the whole thing out and put it into a binder.  I read through it again, congratulated myself on a job well done.  Then I gave it to my wife to read, but she has not done so yet.  I don’t blame her - it’s kind of overwhelming in that form.

So I pointed her at the short description at Wikimedia (http://en.labs.wikimedia.org/wiki/Myers-Briggs_Type_Indicator/INTP) to get the general sense.  I am trying to type her, figuring she is either a ISTJ or INTJ.  Definitely a some sort of ‘J’, which I think causes the occasional friction.  I wanted her to have a better understanding of my thought patterns, which are needlessly complex and difficult to explain.  Also, to let her know why I sometimes do that counter-intuitive (to her mind) whacked out sh!t that I do.

A couple of caveats: still, in the back of my mind, is the idea rolling around that this ‘typing’ may be only half a step up from Astrology (aha! the suspicious INTP comes out!).  Don’t think that I am rolling in a field of INTP-ness and that a couple of online tests can determine the keys to my ultimate fulfillment.  Also, I need to guard against the INTP Excuse©: copping out on whatever because ‘I don’t think/act/feel in that way.’  Right?  Oh, sorry honey, I didn’t get more chores done, because, well, I was just so tired from putting all my energy into my Introverted Thinking that I didn’t have anything left…  Load of crap.  No excuses.

So, after all that ‘research’, I decided to list some things that I have noticed about me during my frequent introspection jags.  I suspect that many of these are INTP traits, but just not often mentioned (though I saw some hinted at).  Many are most likely just me:

•    Sense of detachment, to the point of never feeling like one ‘belongs’, or that one is an alien or some such
•    Penny wise, pound foolish
•    Easily frustrated by objects that should ‘just work’ but don’t
•    Frustrated by people not acting in their own interests
•    Outwardly composed, with equanimity and self-assurance
•    Internally balanced: good self-esteem but low self-confidence
•    Prefers using the brain to using the back (duh)
•    Excellent mimic, sometimes unconsciously; taking the attributes of the group one is in
•    Hate to lose control (drugs, alcohol, etc)
•    Hates to look like a fool
•    Will not demonstrate a skill or action in public until it is completely mastered
•    Limited ability to ‘see the future’, that is, outcome of events (like human interactions, not like lotto numbers)
•    Is very ‘meh, take it or leave it’ (unless, of course, is a issue of logic)
•    Tweak and practice, over and over again, what I am going to say before I have the nerve to call and make an appointment to get our furnace fixed
•    Sometimes difficulty speaking or writing, because too many words crowd forward at once, or because the absolutely appropriate word won’t come
•    Very easily fall into melancholia (the forums mention this a lot, actually)
•    Upon discovering one is INTP, there is usually a great sense of relief – “OMG, it’s not just me”

100% Introvert? WTF am I doing blogging?

Saltless In Seattle

I am not on any sort of restricted diet, but I am getting to an age wherein I should begin thinking about lowering my sodium intake.  Sodium ‘hardens’ the arteries, making them inflexible and leading to high blood pressure and heart disease.  It is amazing prevalent in processed foods – take a look at the sodium content in a can of soup, for instance.  One of the worst offenders is canned chili, which I really loved to eat (with saltines!) but now I just can’t stomach the idea of all that salt.  So, to that end, here is a chili recipe that I devised that has very little sodium:

1.5 lb ground turkey or beef
1 lb ground chorizo  (this is a likely place for hidden salt, but if everything else in the recipe is sodium-less, we should be OK)
1 large onion
4 cloves garlic
.25c chili powder + 2 tbsp  (most commercial chili powder blends contain salt.  I have found that ‘organic’ chili powder (usually sold in bulk) will have little or no salt)
1 tbsp ground cumin
2 tsp oregano leaves
1 15oz can tomato sauce (check for low/no sodium – organics are usually a good bet here)
1c dark beer (lately, I have been using Sam Adams)
.5c masa (this is ‘corn flour’ used in making tortillas)
.5c water
1 can kidney beans, drained (again, check the labels for sodium.  Organics tend to have less (but not always)
1 can small red beans, drained (check label)

Brown the ground chorizo in some olive oil.  Transfer to stewpot.  In same pan, brown the ground turkey/beef, breaking it up.  Add the 2 tbsp chili powder while browning.  Dice the onion and garlic very fine.  Transfer the meat to the stewpot, then brown the onions and garlic in the same pan.  Add beer and tomato sauce to stewpot, and start over low heat; add spices to stewpot (remaining chili powder, cumin, oregano) and mix thoroughly.  When onions and garlic have cooked down, stir these into stewpot as well.  Let simmer on low heat for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Mix the masa and water in a cup, then stir into the chili.  Add the two cans of beans.  Cover and leave on low heat for at least 30 minutes.

This freezes very well (and tends to concentrate the flavor).

I, INTP 2

Part 2
I must admit that I considered the idea of ‘personality types’ much in the same way I look at horoscopes.  The test will ask me a bunch of questions like “Do the noises of a house settling disturb you?”, and then give me some vague output and fortune cookie predictions.  The tests were pleasant enough, and none were too long, and I wound up doing three or four different ones.

I was fairly astounded by the results.  Each one had given me the same type (INTP), and then the description of the personality type hit me square on.  I wound up spending half a day tracking down INTP information on the Internet - the pages of type descriptions, the theory behind the types, the forums, the humor, the self-help and advice – and I admit I was hooked.  I wish that I had known this twenty years ago – I think that I could have been a happier, more productive person all along. (1)

For those not familiar, here is a quick rundown of the INTP personality type (in no particular order):
Keirsey called them the Architects, one of the four ‘Rational’ types (out of sixteen total types).  Also known as the Thinker, Designer, Theorizer, Observer, or the Engineer.  Usually quiet and reserved, INTP spends a lot of time thinking, particularly about how things work.  Excel at finding patterns, connections, and inconsistencies.  They value intelligence above all, and do not understand decisions made solely on ‘feelings’.  INTPs would rather observe than interact, and are often seen as unemotional, uncaring, detached and aloof.   These, combined with a compulsive requirement for logic and precision often make them seem arrogant and argumentative.  The INTP starts more projects than he finishes – figuring it out was the ‘fun part’; executing it, not so much.  But when a topic of interest arises, watch out, because INTP will pursue it to the absolute nth degree.  Not very good with organization, INTP is sometimes seen as the ‘absent-minded professor’, wrapped up in his own head.  They are very independent and self-sufficient, and prefer to have lots of time alone. INTPs are generally very tolerant and flexible, and tend to treat everyone the same, including authority figures.

Unconventional, original, ingenious, complex, analytical; but also skeptical, self-critical, low-energy, abrupt, pedantic, with a tendency towards OCD.  Likes science fiction and fantasy, thinks great thoughts about the meaning of existence, generally very good with words and puns, a “jack of all trades and master of nothing”.   Very affectionate to those that can get close.  Hate to be ‘shown up’, and can be overwhelmed by anticipation of failure.  Eclectic, or eccentric, or just plain weird.

Often, Albert Einstein is given as the quintessential INTP, usually with some story about how he arrived at a party wearing no pants.  Other INTPs (supposedly): Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Adam Smith, Blaise Pascal, Rene Descartes, Charles Darwin, Carl Jung, and Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen (WTF).  Good careers for INTPs: scientists, computer stuff, mathematicians, college professors, architects, analysts, researchers, philosophers, archeologists.   INTPs are supposedly 1%-5% of the general (I am assuming American) population, and are one of the rarest types.

(1) Not that I am necessarily unhappy or unproductive all the time.  Many INTP are given over to melancholy and low energy, but in knowing that fact, it is easier to plan a strategy to neutralize it.

I, INTP

Recently, being dissatisfied with my job, I used the Google to see if there might be something that would make me happier.  It is annoying to me to read these people saying ‘Just do what you love and the money will follow!’, because no one is going to pay me for eating potato chips while watching SportsCenter.  But could I find something tolerable?  Something that would at least get me out of bed in the morning?(1)
I used to be a Theatrical Sound Designer©, which had its good and bad points:

GOOD:

• Mostly flexible schedules.  Tech week, when the dress and final rehearsals happen, was always *very* inflexible, but otherwise as long as I showed up with the tapes, I could work when and where I wanted.
• Interesting people.  Theatre people are the best, particularly the tech people; I met a lot of great actors as well.  Intelligent (for the most part), culturally in touch, quick-witted, creative.
• Autonomy.  I was in charge of my own space, schedule (see above), and work methods.  Again, as long as I showed up with the tapes…
• For the most part, working alone.  I liked this.  I could always go and chat with the costumers or the box office folks if I wanted some company, but very rarely did anyone bother me.

BAD:

• Exceedingly low pay.  It’s definitely a profession for younger folks who don’t know much better, and are not paying a mortgage.
• Some very long hours.  Tech weeks could be over twenty hours each day, for more than a week.  Again, not something I would easily survive today.
• Personalities.  I ran into my share of folks who were God’s Own Gift To American Theatre; little did they realize how much everyone despised them, no matter how talented they were.  Get over yourself.

So, when I got married (first wife), I decided that I needed something more stable, more lucrative - after all, someday I want a family (maybe) and a house, and so on.  Since I have always been good around computers, I began with that, and found a startup company willing to give me a shot as a Software Tester.  Fourteen-plus years later, here I am, having learned a few things, tried out being a manager(2), bounced around as startup companies were shot out from underneath me(3).

The job I am in now is, well….
Yes.  It is very well.  A stable company, good people, no drama, and the highest salary I have ever made.  Yet, it has nothing to turn me on.  The project is ERP (business and financials), for which I have zero zero zero interest; the people seem to have grown up in a different culture than I did, because I am constantly having to explain my references (except for baseball ones); I am interested in learning something more technical, using those skills I picked up in those (expensive) classes, and yet I am mostly doing manual test.  Plus, since they have never used testers before, I am sometimes left out of the communications loop, and then feel like an idiot in meetings.  I hate feeling like an idiot.

So it is paying the mortgage certainly, there is almost no external stress, but I am not very happy.  Hence, the job search.  And with a small amount of Google, I ran into the Meyers-Briggs several times, so, I thought I would go ahead and try it out.



(1) I am not a ‘morning’ person, and never have been, even in childhood.  I have noticed, however, that it is much easier to get up on a weekend morning, even if I was up late (or drinking heavily) the night before.  My body seems to know what a drag a workday is going to be.

(2) Not going to be a manager again.  At least, not unless I had more control over it.  If I had my own company maybe… but there is just so much *human* crap that a manager has to deal with (e.g., asking an employee to start bathing, because there has been complaints).  There is probably another blog entry about this.

(3) Am I some kind of dotcom Jonah?  Four startups, all of them now distant memories in the annals of American business.  Each was a great solution looking for a problem.  Again, would probably make a good blog entry some day.

WTF Facebook

I joined Facebook a year or so ago, because my sister convinced me that I should.  I invited a few people to be friends, from high school and college, and then many more ‘friended’ me.  I accepted many of these, though there is a large pile of requests languishing because I have no idea who they are - no memory of them whatsoever (tip for females: put your maiden name somewhere on your page, so the rest of us can figure out who you are).  I kept up for a bit, I uploaded a profile pic, I commented on a few things, I wrote some statuses (statii?).  But as time goes on, I see less and less value in it.  I don’t really much care that “so-and-so is at the ice cream shop” - why would I want to know this?  And I feel stupid pushing comments on other folks, when I update my status.  I just dont have anything to tell it.  I tend to only look at Facebook now when I get some sort of email alert that someone has ‘written on my wall’, or posted some old embarrassing picture of me, or whatever it is.  Why is this such a “time suck” for people?

Get Lucky

I am starting to think that Mark Knopfler is just putting out the same album over and over again.

Types of Brown Sugar

Brown sugar (light and dark) - This is the typical ‘C&H’ stuff that you get at the local foodporium.  It contains some of the surface molasses syrup: the dark brown variety contains more molasses than the light brown (duh).

Demerara sugar - Demerara is a light golden sugar, usually in large crystals, slightly sticky from the residual molasses.  Originally from Guiana.  It is very good in tea.

Muscovado sugar - sometimes called ‘Barbados sugar’.  Not often found in the U.S., it is very dark brown, sticky, and has a strong molasses flavor.  Good for oatmeal.

Turbinado sugar -Partially processed sugar, in which the surface molasses has been mostly washed off (often by steam cleaning).  It is mild in flavor and a good substitute for refined sugar (Sugar In The Raw is turbinado).

Raw sugar – This is essentially the product at the point before the molasses is removed.  It often contains impurities.

All brown sugars have a slightly lower caloric content than refined white sugar, due to the presence of water.  However, it can have higher calories by volume, because it packs tighter.