RenegadeRider

I've been baking the no knead bread on a regular basis. It seems to be about two loaves a week, more or less. I recently tried a loaf with about 150 g of sharp cheddar cheese. It was amazing - even better toasted. This video shows me slicing the first slice. Wow!

A camera mounted on a peregrine falcon and on a gos hawk show some amazing flying. I recall seeing a video showing owls flying through dense woods in pitch darkness.  This is still amazing. Enjoy.

As you may know, I have been practicing baking no knead bread.  I think I have the system pretty well figured out, at least for here in Reno.  With the elevation of about 4500 feet the recipes seem to need some tweaking. The white bread most closely resembles to  me a fine artisan bread.  The most important criteria seems to be how wet the dough is (the amount of water).  Number two seems to be the nature of the container for the final proof (rising). this time I tried a loaf of regular white bread with parmesan cheese and black olives.  Although I deviated from the recipe the bread was outstanding.

We had a most enjoyable Christmas. Wendy and Khalil spent a few days with us and a great time was had by all. The way she roasted the turkey you would never know she was a vegetarian. I think there might be some latent killer tendency. Anyhow, we very much enjoyed their visit.

Did you know that I had been practicing with Photoshop.  And apparently, I have gotten pretty good. This picture of Dianne actually looks as if she is holding a snow shovel and I think that it appears quite realistic. Under orders from my cardiologist I bought her this shovel 3 years ago and she hasn't used it yet.  I either risk my own life or have to wait for entrepreneurial neighborhood kids to do the job.

From time to time I have been baking bread. For te most part it has been a resounding success. Sometimes the dough was a bit dry, but the end product turned out very well. It's pure dumb luck I guess. Today I tried challah, a Jewish celebration bread. Wow.! I think it was superb.

As I mentioned in the previous post, we traveled to visit the Oregon coast. It was shortly after a fierce storm and the ocean was very turbulent. This video of the waves crashing into the rocks was taken in Depoe Bay. Lest you think it was not wild, the same day a couple was washed off the jetty in Newport, OR.

Last week we visited my sister in Oregon. One day we went to the coast. I think these photos were at Lincoln City. A recent storm had left the ocean extremely agitated. It turned out to be a very pleasant day and we enjoyed our visit very much. I think Riley enjoyed it more than anyone else. He raced up and down the beach for all he was worth, chasing the waves and surf until he was exhausted. Dianne got a lesson that waves sometimes reach higher up the beach than the wave before it. The results are not visible in this photo. My sister, Joan, also brought her puppy, Duncan (AKA Galump - Galump) This island looks like some Chinese art.

See REReno's post on the election. http://rereno.wordpress.com/2010/11/08/nevada-and-the-election/

I spent a lot of time this week on a problem with a Windows 7 laptop. Somehow, the admin password had changed. No, we did not forget it. One day we could not get access. I was able to access the computer by booting into safe mode a few times. I also chose the last known good configuration and was able to get access again, but it didn't last for long. A day or two later the problem reappeared and the previous fix would not work. I explored some password crackers, but the information on the web was that they didn't work always very well on Win 7. I eventually found a solution that worked. It was called the Sticky Keys Trick. I pass this on in case anyone else encounters the same problem. Thanks to Michael at: http://4sysops.com/archives/forgot-the-administrator-password-the-sticky-keys-trick/comment-page-1/#comment-204534

We attended the Tea Party Express rally yesterday here in Reno. They are on a tour across America to defend freedom. Sarah Palin was the headline speaker and wowed the crowd. Afterward she signed autographs and granted interviews. Here is the Momma Grizzly autographing Dianne's tee shirt.

There's more about our trip to San Diego. Audio Books Again I found a selection of audio books at the library. This time, since Dianne was along for the ride, I let her select from my selections. She chose Double Cross by James Patterson. It was a cops/murder/mystery story, and one of the most gory stories that I have ever encountered. I personally saw little redeeming value. I wonder why we had to hear the whole thing. I can wholeheartedly recommend skipping this on entirely. I chose the next book. The choice was in part, decided by the length. It finished with about 30 minutes left in our trip. This was On The Wealth of Nations by P.J. O'Rourke. It was, if you will, a review of The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith. The wealth of Nations was one of the first works that explained that a nations wealth was created by its' citizens, and government can only get in the way. O'Rourke is a conservative and a satirist, and discusses Smith's book in an almost s...

Dianne and I drove to San Diego last week. We wanted to visit an old, dear friend who is experiencing some serious medical problems. For accommodations we imposed on my cousin and her kids. Actually, it was a great chance for a visit. It was a low tide. We went to the beach and explored the tide pools. We found a large octopus, among other things, and even saw the green flash at sunset. Wow! Then Mr "T" had to rest his eyes. Pizza dough worked perfectly. I took the opportunity to look up some former colleagues. It almost looks like I am still working. After all, it was a government job. I never had or work then either.

When my sister came to visit and to attend the Reno air Races, she brought along her puppy. He's just a little tyke, weighing aver 30 pounds at three months. If you wanna know more you gotta ask her.

We attended the Reno Air Races again this year. I think it now make four years that we have attended. Our friends come every year and we join them. This year Dianne bought a ticket at a dog agility event and - she won a season package for two including pit passes and reserved parking. Wow! There were five days of racing along with numerous air show events, including aerobatic performers and the Canadian Snowbirds. They all presented a very entertaining show. The races were very exciting, but high winds late Sunday afternoon and the final Unlimited Gold race was scrubbed in the interest of pilot safety.

This is cross posted at Http:/www.rereno.wordpress.com Do you think your privacy is safe while online? Better think again, unless you take steps to keep your information safe. This Wall Street Journal article describes the myriad methods of tracking all kinds of personal information about you and you browsing habits. They also have suggestions for specific actions for your enhanced security. To fully understand the article read the whole thing, including the links (on the left side). especially where it says "Dig Deeper". A Journal investigation documents the new, cutting-edge uses of cookies and other surveillance technology online. When you visit the nation’s 50 most popular websites, we found, an average of 64 trackers are installed on your computer. A dozen of those sites install more than a hundred trackers. ( Wikipedia installs none.) Many of these trackers are used to create rich databases of consumer profiles that can be sold to marketers and us...

When I recently visited San Diego I chose to drive. It’s a long grind, about ten hours each way and the route passes through the mountains and desert where radio coverage is sparse at best. Before the trip I visited the library to find audio books to help pass the time. I selected Liberal Fascism by Jonah Goldberg and “What Do You Care What Other People Think?” by Richard Feynman, the nuclear physicist. I began with Liberal Fascism because it was 13 CD’s in length and I would be able to listen to half of it southbound and complete it on the return home. It finished with less than 30 minutes remaining until I arrived home. I found the information that was presented to be astounding. The people in power have very little regard for following the laws and the Constitution. Their actions were always done with supposedly good intentions, but were often blatantly wrong. I highly recommend reading/listening this book.

Wow! Look at this.

I thought Europe was a country!