Mark Brunnr

"To get people tasted up for the rocket mass heater ticket blitz,"

Is this a typo, or just a phrase I'm not familiar with? Is it similar to whetting ones appetite perhaps?

Clay's list of links above mentions food, specifically "food - in most cases you are on your own for food. There are community cooking options in Allerton Abbey, others possibly by special arrangement, and, in the winter, Taco Tuesdays with Paul in the Fisher Price House."

All the past events I've been to included 3 meals a day as part of the ticket price. Is that still the case for this event? If so, it might be helpful to update the referenced post to clarify that the "you're on your own for food" is more for people who come up to visit separately rather than as part of an event.

I thought this was an important note as someone might read the previous linked post and expect they also have to bring and cook their own meals, and might pass without ever realizing the actual situation.

I like the clarity of the button text, it makes it quite clear that it defaults to a monthly description so there's no confusion about that. I would suggest having the buttons default to a one-time purchase, and have the lower link be in bold with a "subscribe for a X% discount" and showing the price drop/difference. So the user is encouraged and rewarded for clicking the subscribe link, versus it being the default to subscribe and risking the user take offense at a perceived "gotcha". But if your metrics show that more purchases are for recurring subscriptions, then I'd leave it as-is but mention above the buttons that most people subscribe. That should minimize the risk of a perceived up-sell.

Within the 'What's Pie', 'Build Up Your Pie' blurb, it mentions earning pie by getting enough apples. Didn't that option go away several years back? Or is there a one-time threshold of apples that gets you pie that this refers to, rather than getting pie for every X apples?

If you find joy in playing an instrument, then I say increase the joy in your life by getting one! If instead you find it more of a "I'm bored, that looks interesting", then I would wait. I tend to fall into the second option, so I try to wait a while before a purchase or see what alternatives are out there or if it was a passing thing. But if you know it's what you would enjoy learning (and prepare for a learning curve if this is your first stringed instrument), don't wait any longer as every life can use more joy in it. You'll increase your own joy, as well as those around you (after you learn a few notes ).

paul wheaton wrote:

Anne Miller wrote:I have not grown sunchokes because some folks say they cause gas.

I have heard the same thing.  And I have learned three very important things:

THING-1:   I have eaten sunchokes about 50 times and had gas only once.  But it was sooooo good, I ate way, way, way more than i should have.  

THING-2:  my understanding is that you need to build up the ability to thoroughly digest sunchokes.  Start small.

THING-3:  apparently, if you harvest after the first hard frost, there will be less digestive issues.

Thing 2 is true for a variety of veggies with fiber, our guts need to build up the proper bacteria with regular feeding to better digest said veggies.
Thing 3 is true with other starchy foods, for example if you cook up potatoes and then chill them in the fridge, some of the starches become resistant starches with a significantly lower glycemic index (yay for those with diabetes!), which could also be the mechanism that benefits sunchokes. Chilling and/or reheating helps potatoes, perhaps sunchokes too:


For warmer climates I'd vote for sweet potato, otherwise regular potatoes if colder. There are varieties which have more vibrant flesh colors like purple, which provide more antioxidants too, but I'm not sure how they compare for planting and forgetting. But a person could visit their site once to plant several crops with a similar harvest date, then  come back months later to harvest what they want to store in a root cellar for example.

John C Daley wrote:

I would be guessing the douglas fir are around 40 feet tall, maybe a little more, and were at 12-14" DBH.

What does this mean please?

DBH means diameter at breast height, usually the spot where you determine the thickness.

I've used several Willow Feeders (WF) over several months living on the lab, as well as various events over several years. Most of the time there was no unpleasant smells, I think once or twice I could smell an odor out of 100+ uses. In those cases, either someone didn't use enough cover or the pile of poo in the can became steep and required a little jostle of the can to get things to settle, so the cover material can cover it all. Otherwise the cover material slides down the steep sides, leaving the poo there a bit exposed. A solar powered fan was added which addressed that while the sun is out, as well as a flag that pops out when the door latch is closed, so others can see if it's occupied without walking up the slope to call out. I found the instructions in the WFs understandable, and the lights on a timer made it easy to use when it was dark outside.

Fence Pro Las Cruces wrote:This is such a neat idea...I'm a fence contractor and I wouldn't have thought of it. Everyone had great suggestions to add. Makes me want to go back and do a few things differently for some customers whose fences I've built and repaired at my fence company. Keep the great ideas coming!

What changes would you make?

I grew up with Skyline Chili, which is normally poured over spaghetti and topped with cheese. It has a little cinnamon and cocoa powder in it, and I made my own vegan version:

1 cup TSP (textured soy protein) crumbles, pre-soaked  in 1 cup hot water for 5 min;

1 chopped onion

1 can tomato sauce

1 can diced tomatoes

1 cup dry kidney beans, soaked overnight

1 Tbsp chili powder or taco seasoning

1/2 Tbsp Cumin

1 Tbsp minced garlic

1/4 Tsp cayenne

~2 cups water

1/4 - 1/2 Tsp cinnamon

1/4 - 1/2 Tsp cocoa powder


I cook the beans in the Instapot first, usually 8 min on high pressure and then let it release, and drain. Then add the beans and everything else back and saute in the Instapot for 5-6 min. During all that, I'll cook up 8 ounces of fusilli to the side, and mix it in when it's all done, then dish that out into multiple servings.