Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Just wondering...

...if anyone is reading this blog.

Sunday, December 28, 2008

A Cow Goes...

I would recommend watching to the very end to hear Levi help me read one of his favorite books.

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Sufganiyot Recipe

I've had many requests for this so I'm just going to post it here. This is from my fourth grade teacher- she gave my mom many recipes. I can't say that I liked her very much as a teacher but she had some great recipes.

These require a lot of time for the rising but the actual hands on prep time is not so long. It's best to make these on a day when you'll be home for a big chunk of time.

Here goes:

3.5 c flour
1 t salt
.25 c sugar

Mix together in a bowl and form a well in the center.

Then mix:

1.5 c warm water (not hot)
1 oz yeast (I use 2 T of dry yeast)
1 t sugar

in a separate bowl or cup. Wait until you see it start bubbling then pour it into the well and start mixing.

Add in:

1 egg
.25 c oil

Continue mixing until all the flour is mixed in. Knead for 1-3 minutes until the ball of dough is smooth.

Cover, let rise for 1.5 hours. Punch down, let rise .5 hour.

Roll out on board until 1/2" thick. Use .25 of the dough at a time. Cut circles with inverted cup or jar. Let rise again on a greased cookie sheet for another 30-45 minutes.

Drop into deep fryer (or a frying pan with oil). Fry 2-3 minutes until light brown (the color of cheerios). Turn over and fry 2-3 more minutes. Remove with slotted spoon. Drain on paper towels. You can fill it or frost it with whatever you want. I usually put powdered sugar on top and raspberry jelly inside using a pastry injector (Thanks mom!)

B'Tayavon!

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Monday, December 01, 2008

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

August Pictures

Tuesday, August 05, 2008

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Why does my fork smell?

I must admit that I've been feeling less and less guilty about not blogging lately. This is partly because most of the naggers *cough mom cough* have been no match for my guilt-repelling force field. But it's also because on those few recent occasions when I did blog, barely anyone noticed. I always wonder how people stay motivated to write when they have no evidence that anyone cares what they say. Call me needy if you must, but without comments I don't feel much motivation.

That is, until something comes along that is so perfect that it practically writes itself. That happened today. I advise anyone reading this to swallow your coffee/milk/orange juice/beer, unless you want said beverage to shoot out your nose. Far be it from me to judge you if you do, but consider yourself warned.

Every week, all employees get a mini newsletter with pictures and links to recent news items in the company and from around campus. Today, one of those stories was an inadvertently (I assume) hilarious item about a recent "green" initiative around campus. This thing couldn't have been any funnier if it was in The Onion. The title was "Why does my fork smell?"

It was referring to the replacement of all plastic cutlery, plates, bowls, and cups around campus with compostable versions (this is what happens when your company hires a "chief environmental strategist"). You may be wondering how on earth they make a fork compostable. Well to answer that question and more, here are some choice excerpts from the article, written in a Q&A format (with commentary in italics).



How durable is this stuff?

It'll get you through a meal, but, by design, it's supposed to fall apart shortly after that. "The term is compostable," Visvikis said. "It is going to break down more quickly than anything else." Compostable plates can go in the microwave, but don't overdo it. "You can't re-nuke it three and four times, but for a single use, the products do hold up," Visvikis said. The cups are technically for a single use, but "you might be able to get more uses out of it." He said they will break down with extended use. Also, make sure you don't leave a cup full of coffee on your desk. If you do, you might find a mess when you get to work the next day.

That's okay! Who would have expected a coffee cup to be able to hold, uh, coffee, right? That's a tough order for any cup, especially one made from corn.

Why does my flatware smell like that?
[...]
Yet, some concerns linger as employees notice the subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) differences between the plastic and polystyrene forerunners and these new corn- and bamboo-based products.

Yes, people with sensitive noses have found the flatware has a certain smell to it. "We found out that those people with high sensory capabilities tend to notice that," Visvikis said. "Others don't pick it up at all."
"High sensory capabilities"? No comment necessary.

Thankfully, the smell goes away when the cutlery is exposed to air, he said. "We're using all-new product that's just out of the box, so it hasn't had that chance to lose some of that scent," he said.

Oh, you mean that smelly fork just needs some time to air out, then it won't smell anymore? Hooray! Just like my gym shorts!

The cutlery supplier believes the odor will go away soon and that they will be able to put an odorless, tasteless product on the market within 30 to 90 days.

Yay, finally a fork that odorless AND tasteless! What will they think of next? A coffee cup that doesn't disintegrate when you put coffee in it?

Why does my spoon droop in my soup?

Heat makes the flatware pliable, but that flexibility has no impact on your food, Visvikis said. He said efforts to make compostable flatware are in their infancy, and that he expects improvements to come soon that likely will make forks and spoons sturdier.

I'm sorry our spoon is too weak to hold your soup. Please wait for the soup to cool. Alternatively, you can wait for our new and improved compostable spoons! They hold soup 50% longer and don't even smell that bad! Just picture the Earth smiling while you hold your nose.


Why do I need sleeves for my coffee?

The cups don't have good insulation properties, so you could burn yourself. The goal is to better insulate the cups, Visvikis said. "The commitment that we have from our suppliers is continuous improvement," he said. "We will go back and continue to identify what we see are weaknesses in the product." He said there may be other compostable flatware that holds in the heat better that Microsoft could switch to.

If you get burned, just think of it as a red badge of courage in the war for mother earth!


What's next?

Microsoft is continuing to look at ways to expand its compostable tableware program, including using compostable straws. "There is a paper straw out there that would allow us to continue down the compostable road," Freeman said.

I can just imaging the next Q&A article:

Why does my straw collapse when I try to suck liquid through it?

These compostable straws are good for the earth and therefore are not as durable as normal, non-corn-based ones. Please bear with us while we improve the straws. Also, the straws are a mild diuretic, so don't wander too far from the bathroom! Just think of mother earth giving you a big warm hug!


After straws, the goal is to chase down a compostable coffee cup lid, he said.

Oh, awesome! So that means after my cup disintegrates leaving a coffee puddle on my desk, I won't be left with that unsightly lid covering it. It just sits there and doesn't even disintegrate! What's the point?

On the side of the article they had a picture of one of our ethnically diverse employees drinking out of one the new cups. The caption:


New cups, bowls, and flatware used on campus since July 1 are made out of corn and bamboo, which means they can be composted and turned into a soil amendment.

Great, because my soil could really use some amending...

Some things are just too absurd to make up.
Ari

Monday, July 14, 2008

Tuesday, July 01, 2008

Monday, May 26, 2008

Monday, April 14, 2008

The last little piggy went "Wii Wii Wii" all the way home

Hey everyone, I just wanted to let you know that I'm still here and that every once in a while I feel guilty about the fact that I don't blog too often. Okay, maybe even a little less than "not too often." And after enough outpourings of guilt from enough people (I'm looking at you mom!) maybe my lazy behind can be persuaded to write a little before seeing you all over pesach. This way you can't lay on too much guilt when I see (most of) you soon.

Part of the reason it takes me so long to post is that I don't just post random daily events that are of no interest to anyone. Of course, I'm not singling out any other family bloggers *cough* but let me just give you a taste of what this blog would be like if I started mass-producing posts like some sweatshop blogger:

"Today I bought some jeans. I like jeans. Jeans are kewl. I have a fish. Swim fish swim! Dovid's apartment is homely."

If you thought that you'd rather see me post more just keep rereading that for a chilling look at what this blog could degenerate into. Scary.

So with that out of the way, here are some things that have been happening over here lately:

A new restaurant is coming to Seattle! Just kidding! Ha ha, made you look! But really there was talk about a new kosher pizza place opening up here, but it fell through at the last minute. Apparently the manager of the place fled with a boatload of unpaid debt. But for a minute there we actually thought we'd have a restaurant with no tofu or spongy cheese cubes or fake meat made from compressed mushrooms (motto: "tastes just like the real thing! You'd never know it's made from fungus!") or any other fungus or bean derivative. Real honest to goodness pizza. Made with products from living things with faces. But that dream is dead. I guess it was too good to be true. There is a silver lining here, though. My inside source at the Seattle Vaad has informed me that they are in talks with another restaurant that is interested in becoming kosher. This one is (drum roll...) a raw food restaurant! Yes, for all you people who thought that vegan food was sinful there may soon be a kosher restaurant where all those face-free veggies aren't even subjected to the horrors of cooking! When the news of this new place spreads I'm sure that hordes of new people will be moving to Seattle. Just think what it'll do to our property value!

Other big news in our household is my recent stint in the world of resale. It all started when Rachel and I started thinking about getting a Wii. For those of you who have been living under a rock for the past two years, here you go. Anyway, the main objections to the idea were 1) that it would cost a lot of money, especially once you factor in all the games, controllers, and accessories we'd need to buy and 2) I'd become addicted and spend all my time playing, possibly surfacing for food and/or bathroom usage. I did some research online and found to my surprise that people were still making money on reselling Wiis. I knew that Wiis were a hot item that were hard to get but I pretty surprised that there was still any profit to be made a full year and a half after the system was released. So I figured I'd give it a shot and maybe at least take care of the first objection to getting one myself. As for the second objection, you can ask Rachel if that has become an issue but at least I crawl out of my hole for periodic showers.

I hit the message boards on the internet where other resellers exchanged information to find out which stores were getting Wiis. At first I figured I'd buy one, see if I could sell it, and in the worst case scenario I'd just keep it since I wanted one anyway. I showed up to the store about 45 minutes before they opened and there was already a line, but fortunately they had enough for everyone in line. They gave out vouchers so we wouldn't all have to wait out in the cold. So I scored my first Wii. I sold it on craigslist for $325 after reducing my price a couple times (I paid about $275 including tax) so that was a pretty easy $50. So that's how every sunday for the next several weeks went: Woke up early, picked up Wiis, posted on craigslist. Rinse and repeat.

The annoying thing about posting on craigslist is that you have to contend with "flaggers." Craigslist is pretty open - it's not like ebay where there are rules and things are pretty well controlled. Anyone can pretty much post anything they want. But they have a flag link where anyone can flag your ad if they feel it violates some terms of use. Wii reselling ads are notorious for getting flagged and depending on what time and day you post your ad may get flagged within hours or even minutes of being posted. So if you want people to see your ad you have to be vigilant about reposting as soon as it gets flagged. It's pretty annoying.

So finally after selling a few I decided to keep one for myself. My goal was to pay for everything I bought for the Wii with profit from reselling, which I finally did after selling 8 Wiis. This covered the Wii itself, and all the accessories and games I've bought so far. Cheapness prevails! So I think the whole Wii-selling thing is over for me, and the market is getting worse as Wiis are getting easier to come by. But it was fun while it lasted, and I did get a "free" Wii out of the deal!

But the wildest part of this whole story is definitely the part where I mentioned to Abba and Pat that they should buy a Wii so we can all play when we're home. Of course, like many things I tell them to buy for me, both by asking directly and with subtle mind games and subliminal messages, *cough* house *cough*, I didn't actually expect them to buy it. So I was definitely surprised when Dovid called me asking where to find a Wii because he got the go-ahead from Pat to buy it. And now Abba's house has a Wii. And I'll be bringing my extra controllers when I come for pesach for some mad four-player tennis fun!

Speaking of Pesach, we are really looking forward to seeing almost everyone this year (sorry Mom :( but we'll see you Succos!). What we aren't looking forward to, though, is flying with Levi. He wasn't too bad on our recent trip to Chicago. We were lucky enough to have an empty seat between us going both ways. I guess that's the advantage of flying with a baby. The seat next to you instantly becomes the least desirable seat on the plane, so if there's only one empty seat on the whole plane you can be pretty confident it'll be the one next to you. Unless there's an even more annoying kid somewhere. On the way back to Seattle this past time we got to our 3-seat row and saw the third seat was taken. I politely suggested that the guy might want to switch, and pointed him to a nearby empty aisle seat. He declined. Then I sat down next to him with Levi in my lap and he was like, "you're holding him like that the whole flight?", with a look on his face that was roughly what I would have expected to see if a 600 pound sulfur miner with a contagious rash and bad breath who just won a bean eating contest was about to sit next to him. Needless to say he jumped out of his seat with the alacrity of Road Runner after a cocktail of steroids and speed.

So we got our empty seat in the end, which was really nice because Levi woke up about 30 minutes after take off when they loudly announced how high we were flying, which was much more useful to us than a peacefully sleeping baby. No, we'd much rather know exactly how high we were flying and have our demanding and cranky child awake for the next several hours. But luckily he did eventually fall back asleep - about 10 minutes before landing. Sigh. But with all that said it really could have been much worse. I guess we're lucky that he's usually happy as long as he's being fed. I wonder who he takes after?

So that is about all that's happening here. Sorry about my previous fake post. I hope I didn't get your hopes up too high, but maybe this one will make up for it. But did any of you actually download it to see the fruits of my labor for the past year? Please download it and report any bugs you find! See you all soon!

Ari

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Windows Search 4.0 Beta is available!

This news may not excite any of you, but this is the product my team has been working on for the past year. The public beta was just released today. Here's the link to the download site:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=940157

It works on XP and Vista (for Vista you need SP1 as a prerequisite, which just became available this week to the public).

So what does it do, you ask? Well, what doesn't it do! It slices and dices so fast you won't believe your eyes! Also it finds stuff on your computer. Mostly the finding thing though.

Ari

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Levi's Purim Costume

 
Posted by Picasa

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Another Levi video from Cham and Dov's visit

Sorry for the delay but our Internet was out for most of last week. Cham and Dov just missed the outage so their visit was well timed. Or maybe they sabotaged it before they left. Either way it's working now, so here's the video you've been waiting for. It may not be obvious from the video but Levi is watching a video of himself playing peekaboo and he's playing along with the video. You can't resist his cuteness!


Sunday, January 13, 2008