Tereza Okava

Nancy Reading wrote:I think rather than 'what do you do for work', 'what do you like to do when you're not at work', might give more insights into someones personality.

I was just thinking about this!!
I recently read a suggestion saying that instead of the usual "what do you do" that it is so much more meaningful for both people when you ask "what do you do for fun". Everyone loves to talk about what they enjoy, and as humans we look for connection, it is a nice way to have a positive interaction. Plus the whole bonus of avoiding the minefield of work-related conversation.

these guys found my bokashi barrel and turned it into a BSL barrel. They are voracious (here in my corner of neotropical south america) and break down my kitchen waste very quickly, adding their own contributions.

this is not maps per se (he calls them "data poems") but very interesting ways of looking at data.
Some are very smart (the air quality) while others are practically unintelligible (the UFO sightings one). but creative and worth checking out.
https://dr.eamer.dev/datavis/poems/

Barbara Manning wrote:For me, the biggest change to my coffee routine was when I started adding chicory to the coffee. I don't measure, and I don't grind the coffee daily. I have espresso beans from Segafredo Zanetti Espresso (an Italian outfit, doing business in Japan). I have a 10.5 oz Chock Full of Nuts coffee can that I use. I grind about 8 oz of coffee into it. Then I add about 2 oz of ground chicory. I stir or shake to mix the coffee and chicory before I pour it into the can (which sits in the 'fridge). The coffee lasts about a month or a bit more, depending on my travel schedule.  I find that the chicory mellows out the coffee. It's still rich and fragrant, but the bitterness and any other "off flavor" is gone.

I missed this when you posted it, can I ask how you came upon this blend, and how you determined the quantities?
I had chicory coffee ages ago while traveling, and I can get chicory here (large Adventist community that eschews caffeine). We occasionally get sub-par coffee and this seems like a good way to salvage it.
(I save my persnickety criticisms and voluminous praise for tea and fruit, mostly. Coffee, I'm not particular and generally when i want it it's mostly to dunk cookies in.)

how lovely, Nancy!!! here we grow them outside, my neighbor has an enormous one (waist high, at least) that flowers profusely every year. Mine never has, although I'm thrilled just to have one growing outside. Admittedly, I neglect it, but they're a succulent, they don't want pampering-- do they? gulp... I asked her what the secret was and she said it must just be love. <3  

when you make candied ginger and juice the peels for cooking. then you take the pulp from the juicer to make a bug spray for the garden. plans within plans!

Nancy Reading wrote: you could cut just above the knee and insert a tube of fabric of a slight contrast - go for a double thickness front or a pocket for knee padding.

this is a great idea. this pair of pants is constructed in an interesting way, the front panel of the leg is one piece but the back is separated into two panels that meet just behind the knee. I thought about extending it there, but decided to just take the easy way out at the bottom specifically in case I later want to take these pants apart and give them a double knee.
(yes, I have a five-year plan for this pair of pants. I REALLY like them.)

It's really no big deal, and you'll figure it out easily.
Zoom works through a web platform, they'll send you a link via email or text that you click on, it takes you to the platform, you enable your microphone and camera and then the call starts, it's easy peasy.
Facetime has its own app on the iphone, it's like a video calling service between iphone users (I think only iphone but i'm not 100% sure).
Both involve each user having a camera and their mic on, sometimes with zoom if the connection is bad you might disable your camera to use less data.

Regardless of whichever you have, if you have wifi, you can disable your phone's data connection and you won't use a penny of your phone allotment (most plans will give you minutes of telephone calls and then a quantity of data, usually measured in gigs or GB, and then maybe a number of text messages).
It sounds confusing but you'll catch on super quick.

i don't use an iphone, but if it's like android you should be able to change your settings to only use wifi when wifi is available, thus saving your data. you may be able to limit your data use to certain programs automatically.

facetime is a video program, minutes would be for telephone calling (no video).

i can only get whole dried corn (to make nixtamalized corn and then corn masa for tortillas, etc) at the feed store. my only other whole grain corn option is popcorn, which won't work. the feed store corn makes great masa and we're still kicking.