Les Frijo

I used to be a coffee snob. It started because green coffee beans used to be available for a fraction of the price of roasted beans. In a wide variety as well. I would roast the beans and grind them every morning. It was fun to try all the different kinds of beans and roasting differences. Then green beans became just as expensive as roasted and it wasn't worth all the extra work anymore.

I've used the same french press as Anna's above for many years. I use the least expensive decent coffee I can get now. Go to would be Folgers 100% Colombian but even that has more than doubled in price on sale from what the regular price was a few years ago. So I'm no longer even that picky.

I pretty much do what the James in r ransom's video above does. Not usually waiting as long for the last step. For my taste I can make better tasting coffee with this method than any I can buy locally. My caffeine addiction is not that picky either.

Edited to include that I do not scoop anything off the top after stirring. I also second what r ransom says about only rinsing the press parts and deep cleaning only once in awhile. I always taste soap the first time after a wash no matter how well I think I have rinsed it.

If even one micro-nutrient is lacking things can be off even if everything else seems perfect. Unless I know I'm not lacking minerals I will do a dusting of a tested, paramagnetic rock dust of basalt or granite or both along with some biochar. Much less than whatever is recommended but enough to at least know there is some of everything needed in the soil. If I think it's dead dirt from chem-ferts or cides , I will add life back to it and nurture that life with chop and drop and no more chemag products. Then wait and watch and let nature rule.

Nick Mick wrote:Nothing in nature is random because nature is an active system that never stops. If a piece of land is destroyed or abandoned then left to the devises of nature it always follows a pattern as time goes on. Same goes for water habitats and all other ecosystems. Randomness seems to me to be a human construct.

This reminds me of this observation. There were some swamp white oak growing on my abused farm land when I bought it. I've noticed over the years when squirrels plant acorns and new trees come up that they seem to be perfectly placed and spaced. I could not have decided better where they should grow. I can't see the pattern that the squirrels are using but I can't say that there is no pattern either. Randomness seems a human construct to me too.

Leigh Tate wrote:Les, I've been thinking about this. The pattern may be the seasonal rhythm, i.e. the seasonal cycle. Deciduous trees, for example display a pattern of growth and dormancy, with new leaves and later falling dead leaves making a seasonal pattern.

That's my first thoughts trying to make sense of what I see and how it answers my question.

Leigh, You've brought up an interesting question that brings me to another thought or question.

In nature are there any static patterns or is change maybe the main pattern of all in nature? No patterns last that I can think of. Many come back on a regular basis some change into other patterns or go away within nanoseconds of forming.

Maybe human made patterns are the most random of all. At least ones that remain static.

I think the leaves falling off the trees and probably doing so each year around the same time fits one of the definitions of a pattern. I think that just because I can't see it doesn't mean it's not there. I suspect there is very little if anything that is totally random in nature. Either that or it is all random and we find patterns for our own purposes.

Man, Welcome and I'm rooting for ya!

Hear hear Thekla!

I don't feel like it's off topic at all. Unless a poll is meant for yes no answers only. I suppose it doesn't include "and why". but it seems like it's implied.

I think often times the simplest questions lead to some more complex answers.

Thanks Coydon. Cleared it right up for me. Appreciated.

I'm not worried about arsenic. Sounds like our bodies are much better at getting rid of it than say mercury or lead. However right now I have some "organic" "whole grain" brown rice. Says it's from Pakistan. I did not rinse it before the one time so far that I've tried it. It was almost inedible. Like some musty off flavors. Doesn't expire until 2027 according to the package I bought it in. I did end up feeding the last half or so to my worm bin. I will try making it one more time but will be washing it well first and see if there's any difference.

Coydon Wallham wrote:

John F Dean wrote:It seems that the FDA has a recommended arsenic limit for children of 100 parts per billion.  Even if we believe this, we still have to consider other sources of arsenic in our diet…such as the radish we pulled out of the ground, brushed off, and ate.  Arsenic is a naturally occurring trace element.

Brown rice appears to have 154 parts per million. So there is substantially more arsenic than the FDA would like.

Have you quoted the correct labels on your numbers? If so, it would take over 600 servings of brown rice to reach the FDA threshold...

I don't understand this.

Is my math right?

154 parts per million = 154000 parts per billion.

Where is the 600 servings number coming from?

r ransom wrote:Today's struggle was with a laser printer. It's forgotten some of the "language" and has trouble with some pdf formats.  It also refuses to share the error code or talk to the troubleshooting software made by the same company.

There is something about a printer fight that just saps the will to try anything.  A 4 second job becomes 140 minutes of agony.

I can sympathize. Delete and reinstall the printer drivers is my go to when that stuff happens.

I hope you got it figured out.