My good friend with the kitty powers called me after work to tell me she had to put her 21 year old cat, Doogie, to sleep.  He broke his hip jumping down from something and was already too weak (he'd been losing weight for about a month before this) to survive any kind of surgery to repair it.  She stayed with him (and her mom stayed with her) while he was put to sleep.

Doogie was a big grayish tabby like my Max.  He loved to sit on people - in their lap, on their chest, on their neck - and was just the biggest ball of love.  Watching movies with him around was kind of difficult, though, since someone invariably mostly saw a big kitty face while he sat on their chest or neck, purring merrily.  He liked donut holes, though he didn't get them much (except when he stole them), since sweets aren't good for kitties.

She found him in a Circle K when she was a teenager.  I met him when I met her, years ago.  Doogie was a wonderful kitty and I miss him. No life is ever long enough, no matter how long, happy, and full.  :(

Okay, cooks of my friendslist, I could use some cooking advice.  Again.

I've had really good tofu in things from restaurants - mainly soups and stir-fries, but when I cook it at home, it's always kind of meh.  Are there any tips or tricks I'm overlooking?  Really awesome stir-fry recipies I should be trying?  Extra yummy marinades?  I know there are people on my friendslist who regularly cook with it.

All advice is much appreciated, as always. :)
 

I walked down to the bagel shop, even though it was cloudy, since it's going to be cloudy for oh, the next week or so.  When I came out of the bagel shop, lightning forked across the sky, thunder rumbled...and it began to pour.  Needless to say, I was soaked by the time I walked the five blocks home.  But still... when does it ever actually do the lightning, thunder, downpour thing?  Besides today, of course.

Yesterday evening I went to a meetup group that goes to local restaurants.  We went to a new Sri Lankan restaurant which proved to be really good.  (If it weren't all drizzly out today, I'd be tempted to walk down there and get some dinner takeout.)  I'm still hopelessly shy, but at least I'm working on it.  And finding yummy food.  A definite bonus.

Paperwork on the new job is underway.  I need to try to find some more work pants, too.  *sigh*  I hate clothing shopping.  It shouldn't be so hard to find pants that fit at the waist, it really shouldn't.  I guess I'll hit the thrift stores and hope for some, oh, decade old clothes that are magically in good shape.  I suppose what I really need is to be rich enough to pay someone to make me pants until the styles change again.  (Provided they don't change to something even worse.)

And that is my exciting life.

Now...do I cook or wander off in the rain for more yummy Sri Lankan food?  Decisions...decisions...

I know there are people on my friends list (possibly everyone on my friends list) who know more about cooking than me.  So I'm going to ask for cooking advice.  I'd like to be able to cook rice, but at Colorado Springs elevation (6,000-7,000 ft) it takes forever, especially if I try to cook brown rice.  It also tends not to come out that great.  Should I get a rice cooker?  A pressure cooker?  Is there some trick I'm missing?

Googling suggests I might want to try sauteing brown rice before cooking and/or bring the water to a boil with the rice already in it.  However, Colorado Springs may be high enough that I need to invest in either a rice cooker or a pressure cooker to get consistantly good rice in a decent amount of time.  Does anyone have some experience with this?

Thanks all.

What I would like this Earth Day is good, clear information on green choices. There seems to be a decided lack of that, despite the increasing interest on the part of people everywhere. Most of the books I’ve read on the subject have serious problems and I’m reluctant to put my faith in incomplete or questionably acquired information.

Is our rush to convert everyone to compact florescent bulbs really a good idea given how poorly it’s being handled? Compact florescent bulbs seem to be a good idea, energywise, but there is the little matter of having to engage in extra careful clean up should one break, not to mention the fact that they have to be disposed of as hazardous waste. Worse, many people are now using them with no idea that they’re not supposed to throw them in the trash and no idea that clean up of a broken one is a bit more extensive than “vacuum up the broken bits.” (Which may not even be a good idea.) Are children, pets, and uniformed people going to suffer for the good of the many? Is that an acceptable trade-off? Oh, sure a few pets or infants get mercury poisoning, but, look, our energy use is down. I’m not okay with that.

If we really have decided that compact florescent bulbs are the best choice for the environment. If the studies comparing them to incandescent bulbs were thoughtfully and accurately done – and not too closely tied to some corporate interest – then we need to make sure people are aware of the risks and handle them properly, not just rush to get them into as many homes as possible.

Are front loading washers really the way to go? I’ve heard some suggestion that they break down more frequently (and they are more expensive to fix, not to mention being more expensive to buy), and I’ve heard that their rapid spinning may actually be a problem in some houses. My limited experience with them suggests that they take smaller loads of laundry, which would seem to be a problem for the idea that they’re more energy efficient. We can’t compare energy use load to load if the loads aren’t, in fact, the same size. But I can’t seem to find any studies comparing the energy to wash the same volume of clothing in front loading and top loading washers. The current wisdom is that front loaders are better, but the facts seem hazier than that.

The same problem applies to the question of whether it’s really better to use a dishwasher as opposed to hand washing your dishes. Do the comparisons take into account the building and disposal of the dishwashers? Do they take into account that a person would have to own more dishes and cookware to use a dishwasher at maximum efficiency? Do dishwashers still come out more energy efficient if a person has a solar hot water heater? Does it matter that some of the studies seem to have been sponsored by dishwasher manufacturers?

Energy efficiency in anything that uses energy is a good idea, but are some of these energy saving tips merely a shifting of the responsibility onto the consumer, or worse, a co-opting of the green movement by business to sell us more stuff? Will we look back on some of today’s green choices the way we look back on the Volkswagen Rabbit? (Oops, diesel wasn’t really the way to go.)

I don’t know. And I can’t find information that meets my (rather high) standards. I’m tired of looking through green books that tell me to use the internet rather than the public library for information with no explanation of why the internet involves less energy use. (Are they assuming one drives to the library?) Or to replace my old television now because, as a pre-digital set, it will someday end up in a landfill. (Don’t digital sets break eventually, too?) Or to buy a laptop rather than a desktop computer. (But you can upgrade desktops much easier than laptops. Was that taken into consideration?) 

I want to live greenly, but I want to do it right. I recycle. I use reusable grocery bags. I try to give away or sell anything I don’t want that someone else might. I do try to buy locally (though organic may outweigh that, depending). I try not to be a thoughtless consumer. Is it too much to ask for good information on more complicated options?

I bought a cheap bookcase a few years back that proved to be so crappy it couldn't support the weight of a shelf of paperbacks without bowing.  I finally got some replacement shelving tonight, figured out how to put it together by myself (the directions claimed it was a two person job, but I am clever), and now have non-bowing shelves.

I also took the time to reorganize my home entertainment stuff so I don't have to detach my DVR to use my DVD player.  (My VCR's tuner failed, so I can't connect the DVD through it anymore...at least I think that's what's happened.)

Now all that remains of spring cleaning/organization is to go through my books and make sure I don't have anything I don't want lurking anywhere - and buy a few more magazine boxes for my magazine collection.

I am organized!  (for certain values of organized)