Back in B-town .. actually, I've been back for a little while. Had a great time in the UK despite the constant drizzle and thousands of autograph seekers who heard I would be in the area, and wouldn't let me have a moment to myself.

Some pictures can be found by clicking the blue words in this sentence. They're in reverse order so the beginning is really the end. Wow, that was nuanced.

Leaving for sunny* Edinburgh tomorrow evening; will get there sometime Saturday afternoon (local time). Should be a fun trip.

*actually sunniness not expressed or implied.

I have decided that I have to stay in a haunted hotel while in Edinburgh. Anyone know the names of any good ones?

the more haunted, the better.

Ben decided about a week ago that he must make pork hock soup. After driving all over town last weekend, trying to find a place that sold pork hocks, we found a butcher shop that we thought would sell them. Since it was closed, Ben came back early the next morning and bought four pork hocks.


Here they are cooking in a pot. Gotta cook them for 20 minutes before adding any vegetables.


Ben lectured through most of the meal preparation about how good it was going to be. Here he's lecturing about how he's going "all out" by making rice to go with the soup.


However, the preparation wasn't without its hangups. Ben can't remember whether he has to chop the cabbage or not. He consults the laptop for answers.


Of course, this uncertainty didn't stop the lectures from growing more and more animated. "YOU'RE GOING TO COME CRYING TO ME - YES - 'CAUSE ALL OF YOUR FEARS, ALL OF YOUR NIGHTMARES HAVE COME TRUE - I HAVE MADE THE BEST DINNER OF YOUR LIFE."


Finally, here's the soup. Probably not the best meal of my life, but not bad at all. The okra makes it.

Sandwich tip : putting Sriracha hot sauce (in liberal amounts) on your sandwich makes it a LOT better. So far I've only tried it with turkey and mayo, but Ben says it's good with mustard too. I also don't see why it shouldn't be good with other kinds of meat, as well.

Try it now, thank me later.

The interior doors to the halls in Eigenmann, where my office is, are equipped with RFID cardreaders for unlocking the doors after hours. I recently found out that the stairwell doors are as well. The card reader module is off to the side, so I never noticed it before. And all this time I thought I was out of luck if those doors were locked.... I even walked down to the first floor one time because I thought I was locked out.

the more you know...

Yesterday was my birthday, celebrating 23 years of excellence. There was dancing in the streets.