Categories
Misc

Cinnamon Rolls

I tried Chris’s Cinnamon Roll recipe and got it about 80% correct. In the end it made up tasty cinnamon rolls that didn’t look like cinnamon rolls due to a misunderstanding on my part. [They’re also a little salty, but I’m not sure if that was due to incomplete mixing or if there’s just more salt than I expected.]

My mistake really butchered their appearance. Basically, the key oops was to roll the whole thing together into 1 giant roll. I think that’s because the mark, cut, and roll as jelly roll sentences were reversed. Below is how I’ll try to do it next time. [Basically, I’ll roll 12 individual rolls, each like a jelly roll. Last time I rolled one big roll then had to split it into 12ths. They didn’t look right at all.]

3. Turn dough out on lightly floured surface. Knead 8 to 10 times. Roll into rectangle about 1/3 inch thick and 12 inches long. Spread the remaining cinnamon mixture over dough rectangle. Sprinkle currants or raisins over top. Mark first, then cut into 12 slices. Roll up as for jelly roll. Place cut side down in muffin pan.

Thanks for a good recipe Chris! It made a disaster out of the kitchen, but that’s easily remedied with a sponge and water. We stuffed ourselves on the misshapen things… I can’t imagine how irresistible they’ll be when they look right.

Categories
Misc

David and Nicole begin taking over the world

They have already recruited their first minion, Dakota. It’ll take a few years of intense training before they deploy judo chops, but they’ll soften us up with the cute first.

A cunning plan, really.

Categories
Misc

Alleluia

After wrestling with AT&T Friday night (where she was told that our “connectiods must have reset”), we got direct connection to the net back up, but the wireless routers still wouldn’t work. After a frustrating struggle on Saturday morning where the wireless setup still wasn’t working, Jennifer stumbled on some “AT&T only” advice from someone who’d gone through it themselves.

The trick was that instead of setting up the connection as PPoE (which it was), AT&T forces you to set it up as DHCP… and after the setup fails switch to PPoE. Somehow, it worked, and we have internet at home again.

Categories
Misc

A quick note

Just a quick FYI; I spent most of last week (and all day Friday and Saturday) fighting off a nasty cough/fever– it looks like I’ve finally emerged victorious, though there’s a bit of a cough trying to linger. Meanwhile, for a little longer than that, we’ve had internet connectivity problems at home. Jennifer spent a lot of time (and even more patience) working with AT&T on Sunday, but their test didn’t find anything. It’s quite frustrating, and will be more so before we get it resolved.

Jennifer has done a great job taking care of me, but I’m eager to return to more normal life.

Categories
Ancient Links Misc Politics Trips

Stuff and things

Chris’s landlord experience makes me suspect this is true.

A comic Dad will appreciate: Dog washing, and a gloomy story lost in the convention coverage: crackdown and intimidation of protesters, the reporters speak.

I guess it’s time to dress this place up. Thanks for linking to it Chris! 100 Excellent Free WordPress Themes
Zombie cinema, an RPG like board game?
A cool tick icon

On wanting friends close; she captures it perfectly.
Streetcars: what they do and what we wish they did.
If we plan on traveling to England, this post has a lot of advice.

Sarah McLachlan is putting out two new songs. U want me 2, sold via Netwerk or itunes.
Don’t Give Up On Us
is coming soon
River is one I don’t recognize and should investigate…

Obama’s legislative accomplishments, if you’re curious or have bought the “he’s an empty shirt” attack.

Categories
Fresno Gift Coordination Politics

Parking Downtown

This is sparked by some interesting history and background on parking in Fresno from Jerry Duncan on Mindhub.

Subject: [MindHub] Downtown Parking Reality 101

There has been some discussion going on recently regarding the cost of parking downtown. For those interested in learning the reality of how it really works, I offer these comments.

First a little history. Before the current administration took office in 2001, parking downtown really was a mess. There was a serious shortage in the number of spaces (there were only 5,680 stalls total in downtown) and what little the City had was filthy and unsafe. The structures were covered
in graffiti and none of the elevators or escalators worked. The parking meters on the streets had been removed and replaced with two hour of free parking (supposedly to bring people back to downtown). When I attended then State Senator Jim Costa’s Downtown Task Force meetings on Downtown
Revitalization in 2000, we found out that this “free” parking was being used primarily by downtown employees who would park on the street, leave work every two hours and move their cars.

The number one complaint we heard then about downtown was that there was no parking and they were right. In addition, parking rates were so low that no private parking structures could be built because they wouldn’t pencil out. When the current administration took office the downtown parking problem became one of our first priorities for downtown. As Chairman of the Fresno Redevelopment Agency, I worked very hard with the Mayor to develop a plan to solve this problem. We knew that without an adequate supply of clean, well maintained and affordable parking, the revitalization of Downtown Fresno would never happen.

The execution of this plan over the previous seven years has resulted in some pretty remarkable results. First, since 2001 the City has added 3,600 additional spaces of parking downtown in parking lots and parking structures. Did you know the new Convention Center parking structure cost
almost as much as the baseball stadium?

Second, because we raised overall parking rates to a still very competitive and reasonable level building private parking structures now made economic sense and 2,900 new stalls have been added by private companies. It is important to note that these private parking structures were the first ones built downtown in over 40 years and didn’t cost the taxpayers one cent.

There are currently 12,180 parking spaces available in downtown Fresno (an increase of 115% since 2001). Of the 12,180, 4,280 are privately owned and 7,900 are operated by the City of Fresno.

The parking fund, which operates as a separate cost center, is currently running a $5 million deficit which is currently being subsidized by all the taxpayers in Fresno, even those who don’t come downtown. The recent increases are part of a 10 year plan to try to break even. It has been the
City’s objective to reasonably pass on as much of the cost of providing parking downtown to the people who actually use it.

Even with the increases, Downtown Fresno is still one of lowest cost places to park in North America. Don’t believe me, look here: link.

It was interesting to me that someone suggested we place parking meters in other shopping areas around town to raise money. The reality is that unlike Downtown Fresno merchants, those merchants who are not located in downtown are paying for their customers parking. The cost of providing “free” parking to their customers is passed on by their landlords. If you shop at any shopping center outside of downtown, you are paying for the cost of the parking when you buy something because the business owner is passing on this cost in the price of their goods or services.

If the cost of lower parking is that important to the business owners downtown, they can provide their own parking (it is a requirement of development everywhere except downtown Fresno) or form a parking assessment district to raise funds to lower the cost of parking in city lots. I’m sure
the City would be willing to look at reducing the parking cost by the amount they raise.

Jerry Duncan

Recent semi-related links:
Livable streets report
Street design goals
Thinking about parking (DC)
Gas and the suburbs
Midnight oil
Suitcase bike
CA High speed rail analysis

Categories
Ancient Links Misc Roleplaying

Link clutter buildup severe. Initiate dump.

Talking about 4e’s second round of errata.
Cool fillable, pickable character sheet
Power Cards, character sheet, etc. links for 4e Dungeons and Dragons–
Levi’s Metasystem is up on Fang Langford’s wiki. Cool!
Via Greywolf: Quick cheap minis: 1, 2, 3.
Directed scenes: with a cool example.
Mini poker chips (for 4e conditions)
4e animal stats
ancient maps
Updated location for Maximum Game Fun
Encounter Formula: Challenge (combat, social, puzzle or other) + unique element (memorable NPC, fighting on a rope bridge, etc.) + a way to advance even if the party fails (although perhaps with penalties) = a successful encounter.
Points of Conflict: Self contained 4e encounters, ready to drop in.

Recent Alignments discussion:
(look for forge: Anti-pattern discussion)
http://theverbingnoun.blogspot.com/2008/07/obligatory-alignment-post.html
http://beneaththescreen.blogspot.com/2008/08/good-bad-and-neutral-cont.html
http://beneaththescreen.blogspot.com/2008/08/alignments-good-bad.html

Short stories– The First Commandment by Gregory Benford and The Sky is Large and the Earth is Small by Chris Roberson

End of life planning
: Sobering, a good checklist

Look for: Whitney Design Retractable 5-Line Mini Dryer ($10) for easy energy efficency

WATDH
Omnivoracious (books blog)
Land of Nu stories
A nasty practice: Not just earmarks, but skimming earmarks.

Cool quick reference about major states in the world today: Rising Powers
Stolen Pixels (webcomic)
Beyond Protocol and MMO/RTS game.
Sounds tasty; Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

Categories
Misc

The Cinderella Pact

This book was written before The Sleeping Beauty Proposal and doesn’t link to it at all. There are familiar elements, but there’s a different hunky guy to fall for this time.

I enjoyed it– it was another quick read. It wasn’t as compelling, likely because the formula was more apparent (probably because this was the second book I’d read). Noticing the formula derailed unconscious reading a bit. Still, the friends who struggle together against their bodies and society work very well and feel like three real people, as do their relationships. Nola’s little shadings of truth (and bigger lies) are interesting… though it does feel like a strange theme in both books. I guess I’ll read the third when it comes out and see if its lead is honest and gets ahead despite it, or if she also cooks up some crazy deception.

Categories
Ancient Links Misc

Just upgraded to WordPress 2.6

It was pretty painless– even though I made a foolish mistake, it didn’t slow things down at all. So far, this seems like a great platform.

An unfortunate side effect is that the themes (affecting how it looks) haven’t caught up to the new version– hopefully, I’ll find a good one soon.

Categories
Fresno

Olive Press found and a discussion of improvements

Thinking about parking: A DC blog discusses how dedicating fees to local improvements instead of the transportation fund gains a lot of support from local businesses, etc. The article also includes a discussion of how to set fees in congested areas and more.

On a happy note: The Olive Press (which closed on May 1) is now open and serving lunch inside the 2039 Ultra Lounge. Unfortunately, the waitresses don’t seem to have made the transition.