My hands

Okay, I gotta say this, and I'm not ashamed to admit it. I work in an office. I sit behind a desk all day. My hands aren't really subjected to much abuse, other than the looming threat of carpal tunnel syndrome from typing all day.

Occasionally, we need to get out in the field to log water wells. Typically we will drop a reel of measuring tape down a well, sometimes as deep as 1500 feet. To extract the tape back up, we have to manually pull it up. Lifting 1500 feet of tape isn't as easy as it sounds. For one, all of the tape, plus the equipment attached to the bottom, weighs about 30 pounds at the very bottom, Imagine, one foot of tape might only weigh a few ounces, but multiply a few ounces by 1500 feet and you get.... well, you get something pretty heavy!! Plus there's an $8000 probe at the bottom of it that weighs about 8 or 9 pounds.

The second problem is that since the tape goes into water, the tape is slippery. And there are rocks all over the tape from where it hits the sides of the open hole portion of the well. So basically you are gripping REALLY hard to not let it slip, but gripping the little rocks as well.

Now, being that I'm a guitar player, I really try to take care of my fingers. Having said that, ten years ago I almost sliced off my fingertip with a cleaver (that was the last time I used a cleaver), but that's another story for another time.

Anyway, after a day of pulling tape (it's really only about 30 minutes of pulling that you're doing in one day), here's what my hands looked like:

Amateur plumbing, part II

I finally received the correct parts for my shower control valve from Kohler. Whereas the last time I had a really funny moment of high pressure water shooting out at me because I neglected to turn off the main property valve, this time all went well. However, being as lazy as I am and also slightly more cockily confident, I once again didn't turn off the main property valve.

Fortunately there are valves at the supply lines right at the fixture, so I turned them off there. I can't say I didn't have a slight bit of fear when removing the mix valve though.

Now the constant drip of the leaky valve is gone, though now my wife says that it's kind of weird not to be able to hear the leaky drip.

Kettle corn

Sometimes when we're in downtown Honolulu, we drive to this vacant parking lot where a concession is set up to sell kettle corn. If you're not familiar with kettle corn, it's popcorn with sugar added.

I've always wondered when the sugar was added to the popcorn as it's cooking, because if you add it too early it will burn, and if you add it too late it will clump up or it won't melt. My uncle recently told me to add it at the very end of the popping.

Typically I make popcorn in my wok. First I coat the bottom with vegetable oil (or sometimes for a treat I add bacon drippings, if I have them). Then I turn the heat on and add the raw kernels and cover it. In about 3 minutes it starts popping, and I shake the wok to redistribute the kernels. You need the cover on because the first kernels will pop out of the wok. But after most of the popcorn is popped, the volume of the popcorn will keep popping kernels in. At this point, you open the lid and add sugar, at about twice the volume of the oil you added. If you let it sit for about a minute more, the heat inside of the wok will caramelize the sugar. After that, you open the lid and add salt.

My kids love this! If I make too much in the afternoon, they will fill up on it and not eat dinner!!

Next I'm going to try a healthier alternative with olive oil, but I'm not sure how it will taste. I also have an olive oil based margarine that I want to try.

The Dollhouse is just about finished

No, it's not another project for my daughter's class or something. It's the Fox series "Dollhouse", whose series is about to come to an end after just two seasons.

This show was my first introduction to a Joss Whedon series (his claim to fame was Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and judging by what I know about his other shows, this one was different in that it was more science fiction than horror/fantasy. The premise is that there is a huge corporation who is experimenting in neuroscience and has perfected a way to wipe a brain clean, and imprint it with a new personality. The "Dollhouse" is an underground lab in L.A. who rents out their "dolls", or people who have come to the corporation more or less voluntarily to have their brains wiped for 5 years, for various "engagements" (for the most part prostitution).

The initial development of the show was slow and focused on individual "engagements", but there was always a psychological / physical threat. As a result, the series got off to a slow start. But as the show progressed, it took a thematic turn to a blend of The X-Files and The Matrix, with a little bit of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. While the acting in the series was bland at best, the storyline was continuously intriguing and complex.

The series wrapped up rather nicely with some very unexpected twists and turns, one of which was almost in a Darth Vaderian "I am your FATHER" moment.

I'm bummed that this series has come to an end, but like a good movie I enjoyed seeing it through. If you haven't seen this show and get a chance, download a few episodes on iTunes and you'll be hooked. It really starts getting good in the middle of season 1. Or better yet, pick up the series DVD. We just bought season 1 and will probably buy season 2 when it comes out.

Nitrous Extreme

Nitrous Extreme players (cyan uniforms) going for the ball

My new soccer team is well into our season. Being that about 30% of the kids in our age division went on to select teams, our division has lost a lot of the really skilled players, or the kids who didn't want to travel the island to play.

Despite the thinning of the pool that our teams are made of, we have a great team with a lot of talent. As usual, I see that there are the bigger kids who are good at muscling in, as well as the smaller faster kids who can drive the ball up to the goal.

We lost our second game this weekend, but we lost by a smaller margin than the previous, and the players are really starting to gel. Overall it looks like it's going to be another fun season, despite the fact that the kids couldn't choose one name for the team (hence, Nitrous Extreme).

My contest guitar arrived

I finally received the guitar I won from the online guitar playing contest. Though the pictures on the contest page showed a translucent dark red guitar, I was surprised to see they sent me a green one.

This green one is a special limited edition - only 60 were made. Initially though, I didn't like the color, and the shape seemed like a warped Les Paul.

The abalone trim seems a bit over the top for a rock guitar.


But on the plus side, look at the carve on the back of the neck where it joins the body - the upper fret access is really good for a set neck, Les Paul styled guitar (yes, I am guitar geeking out here).


And it is made REALLY well. Super high quality construction and some premium woods, from the mahogany back to the quilted maple top. And after I did some set up on it, it plays like a dream. So whereas I was planning on selling it before I even received it, now I will keep it and play it. Schecter is one of the few pretty big guitar brands that I've never owned. Plus it's a nice "trophy" for winning the guitar playing contest, and how can I complain about a free guitar?

Thanks again Sam!

On Saturday afternoon, I went over to my neighbor Sam's house to ask for some rosemary from her herb garden. She wasn't home, but her husband told me to go around back and help myself. Sam was the neighbor who had brought over the screwpine (lauhala) leaves that I used a couple of months ago to make Thai chicken.

Last night (Monday), we were totally wiped out from a hectic four day weekend, and I wanted to make a simple dinner. Using up all of the leftover ingredients I had in the fridge (chicken breast, basil, eggplant, onion) and a few things in my pantry (yellow curry paste, coconut milk, chicken stock, fish sauce, sugar), I decided to make a Thai yellow chicken curry.

In the end, it turned out good, but it was missing something. I spooned some out and was about to start eating, when the doorbell rang. I wondered who it could be, since I spoke to my mom earlier and she didn't hint at coming over, and my son's friend never drops by after dinner.

It turned out to be Samantha, my neighbor with the herb garden. She brought over some kaffir lime leaves.


Considering that I make curry maybe four times a year, and she drops by our house and brings various herbs maybe two or three times a year, you can see the chances of her bringing the missing ingredient in my curry, at the exact moment it is perfect to drop it in, as being about a one in a million chance.

So I added the kaffir lime leaves, stewed it about two minutes more, and then it was perfect.


Thanks again Samantha!!