this and that - oregon sep 2014, part 1

In the absence of a better title, I resort to this catch all "this and that". This is more of a photo album than a blog post.

eat, drink, play, and sleep - aug

August has not been that good for windsurfing. There were about 7 days of really good days.

eat, drink, play, and sleep - jul 2014, part 2

July has been a good month for sailboarding in the Gorge this year. Last week I took a trip there for 4 days and sailed 3 out of 4, all with the same 3.4 sq. m sail. Actually there were a few sessions in which the 3.0 sq. m would be better match.

westfalia james cook freunde

A few weeks ago, Peter contacted me that he is on the way from California en route to Oregon. Peter is the founder of the German forum dedicated to Westfalia James Cook - James Cook Freunde. The couple is traveling the United States in there sleek 2012 model Westfalia James Cook. I had invite them to come by my place to meet and have a meal while they were still in the East coast.

brunnhilde's enhancements to combat solar gain

A camper is like home, you want to make it as comfortable as possible. More important than home you want to make it energy efficient. Thermal performance is one area that can never be overemphasized.

road trip - spring 2014, part 12

This is the twelfths installment of the series of post on a road trip during the spring of 2014.

road trip - spring 2014, part 13

This is the thirteenth installment of the series of post on a road trip during the spring of 2014.

summer dinner party - 2014

I held a dinner part for 4 guests a week ago on Sunday. Choosing between Western and Asian cuisine my out of town guest chose Asian.

eat, drink, play, and sleep - jul 2014

I didn't start my first sailboarding trip this season until the week after July 4th. I should have started in June. June being much cooler can have a lot of big wind days. The down side is the frigid river water from the mountain snow melt.

a generic brand video

came across this noteworthy video

dyson vacuum cleaner for brunnhilde

Brunnhilde and I took a month long road trip from Portland to Louisiana in the spring. It is the longest road trip Brunnhilde has ever taken.

minced pork stuffed bitter melon

Unlike common western palate most Asians prefer vegetable with dark green and less than tender leaves. Most of these have a hint of bitterness and typically more chewy, or more fibrous. For vegetable that is bitter, bitter melon has to be one that is most unpalatable to those unaccustomed to Asian vegetable. To be honest I have not eaten bitter melon that many times. Bitter melon is believed to be one of the most healthy vegetable (ok, it is really a gourd) and some believes it deters or retards cancer growth.

this and that - oregon july 2014

I have a late start in sailboarding this year. I didn't start until the July 1st. I should have started in June as there were many good days here. Often is just my personal inertia and having very old and tired gears contributes to my late start.

roasting coffee at home

Sometimes I feel like Robinson Crusoe in that I try to do everything myself. When I started to get serious about preparing good cups of coffee I didn't think that I would ever bother to roast my own coffee. I invested in semi-commercial espresso machine and grinder. I was buying craft roasted coffee typically for between $12.50 to $16.00 a pound a few years ago. Out of curiosity I order one half pound of green coffee together with my usually supply of espresso roast. The bag of green coffee was left on the shelf for a long time.

an dong market 安東超市 - part 2

While I have written and mentioned my favorite Asian grocery store before I didn't have the photos I want to use in the blog posts. I really like this store and I would hope with my posts would help the exposure of this wonderful and yet under-recognized Asian grocery store on the East side of Portland, Oregon.

masterpiece mystery - endeavour

I just found out in time to catch the episode 1 of series 2 of the Masterpiece Mystery's Endeavour, beginning tonight.

pining for a vacuum bag machine - part 2

I have been deliberating of buying a vacuum bag sealing machine on and off for a long time. I have not purchase one due to my skepticism with common household small kitchen appliances. I have began making my own sausages and more recently smoked salmon. Making sausages (cured meat in general) and smoked salmon are much more work than preparing a meal. You want to make a big batch for the effort to be worthwhile. It also cut down waste as well as lower cost through the economy of scale.

needles

Today I went to the lab to have a sample of blood taken for my physical.

haitink conducts mahler's no. 3

In the past few days I could not have enough of this performance. I played the recording many times over.

a robin family

It all started in mid March. There is this robin keep flying into the clerestory windows of my living room. I was very puzzled with its strange behavior.