Harimad

Longtime readers may remember how happy I was to finally find a set of nesting glass bowls with lids, by Anchor Hocking.

It has been a sad week for my experience with this company.  The lids - despite being warrantied for 5 years as microwave safe - warped and cracked.  I wrote the company, who told me the lids were not made by Anchor Hocking, were not included in the warranty, and included a list of special care instructions such as don't seal the lid before using in the microwave.  You know me, then you know I kept the warrany information.  Further, one of the sets was sitting, still sealed, in the attic as back up.  I checked all of this material.

None of this was in the Care & Use Instructions!!!  (Can you tell I'm pissed off by this?)

Not that lids weren't made by Anchor Hocking, not that lid use required special care as specified in the email[1], and most certainly not that the lids weren't covered by the 5 year warranty.   I informed the company of this and required they fulfil their warranty; we'll see what happens.  After the first email I don't have much hope that this will be resolved easily but my strength is the strength of 10 because I have the right on my side.


[1] The C&UI said only the following (emphases as in orginal) "PLASTIC FOOD STORAGE COVERS are designed for microwave ovens. Not intended for conventional oven, stovetop, broiler or toaster oven use. Freezer, refrigerator & top rack dishwasher safe."


ETA, 20 April: the lids arrived, all 4 sets of them. Since Anchor Hocking is a lying liar that lies and tries to welch on its warranty when it comes to lids, I will be treating them as not microwave safe.

The fact that NCAA has ruled out shutting down the football program tells me that the sanctions will not be severe.

My idea of severe is:
1) Shut down football team for as many years as Penn State or its people knew about Sandusky and decided not to report it. This would be at least a decade.
2) Allow all athletes (not just football) to transfer to another college, to play for the new college and not to be redshirted.
3) Any scholarship athlete who transfers, takes zer scholarship with ze, paid by Penn State.

If Penn State dares complain what about innocent students whose education is affected, the response is that the university's concern for innocent students is suspect - what about the innocent students who were sodomized and abused?


ETA: Despite the lack of death penalty, even I would characterize the sanctions as severe. The idea that Penn State would prefer the death penalty is quite attractive to me.

Depends on how they are counted.
- There are about 190 full members of the UN.
- There are approximately 210 country-like entities in the world; this includes places such as Puntland, the Vatican, Taiwan.
- One could go by how many countries one's own country recognizes.

Lousy question.

I have in my hands a 4oz. jar of sauce that's missing half it's label. What is it? Here are the clues:
* It's a slightly yellowish orange.
* It's apparently manufactured by Marius Renard, cuisinier en Provence.
* The remaining label is in French; based on my recent travel I could have bought it in France or Quebec.
* The texture is very thick and uniform, similar to a mixture of cornstarch and water; it probably over-emulsified in the year-plus since I accidentally opened it.
* It tastes surprisingly like lobster and nothing like garlic.
* A quick search of the main ingredients yielded no useful information (ie, all hits were variations of mayo; I do not like mayo and would not [ETA: knowingly] buy mayo).
* The ingredients are:
- sunflower oil
- tomato paste, 11%
- water
- vinegar
- egg yolk, 6%
- garlic, 2%
- sugar
- salt
- emulsifiers (? epaississants)
- soy protein
- xanthian & guar gums
- cayenne color
- saffron

ETA: maybe someone bought it for me?

Or what we used to call a Stupidly Simple. It's based on a series of recipes for jazzed-up brown rice from April 09 Cook's Illustrated. All amounts and instructions are approximate. The brand names make a difference. Uncle Ben's Minute Rice is the only even half-way decent quick brown rice out there; Goya's canned black beans are head-and-shoulders above the rest; and so on. You could make this without convenience foods but then it wouldn't be quick and easy. Including chopping the onion this took me about 5 min work and 15 min total.

MOROS Y MULATTOS

Ingredients
olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 cube chicken stock/broth/bouillon (don't use crystals, they're very poor quality stuff)
1 c. water
1 c. Uncle Ben's Minute brown rice
15 oz can Goya Black beans
1/4 c. chopped cilantro (it's OK to have stems as well as leaves)

Instructions
In a 2 qt pot, heat enough oil to cover the bottom of the pot.
Over low heat, add onion and saute till light brown.
Meanwhile, add cube to water, bring water to boil, stir/crush/whatever till the cube dissolves.
Add water and rice to pot, cook according to box directions.
Meanwhile drain and rinse beans.
When the rice is done (including the resting time), add beans and cilantro.
Mix well.
Add hot sauce if you like it hot.

We used to mock the Soviet Union for classifying street maps and arresting people who took photos of bus stations. Now we do the very same thing.

We won the Cold War, dammit, what are we doing imitating the vanquished enemy?!?

Actual TV ad:
"[So and so]. Too corrupt even for Congress. Paid for by [Such-and-such] for Congress."

What my brain translated it to:
"[So and so]. Too corrupt even for Congress. Vote for me instead, I'm not quite as corrupt."

ETA: added "I'm not quite as corrupt." It seems this implication is more in the presentation than the text of the ad.

Copy this sentence into your livejournal if you're in a non-same-sex marriage, and you don't want it "protected" by the bigots who think that gay marriage hurts it somehow.

from mmegaera: When you see a Bujold quote, post another Bujold quote in your LJ, and see how long we can keep it going. Such riches to choose from...

"Oh. So *that's* what integrity looks like."

Gives me shivers every time.

My house needs some major maintenance work. There's nothing terribly wrong, just that parts need upkeep or have reached the end of their expected life.

But first some background:
The house was built in the mid-1950s. It's mostly brick, one corner is siding; we think it used to be a porch. The roof is newish asphalt shingles and in good shape. The house has been well maintained. We plan to live here for decades and take the long view about costs and benefits. The upfront costs of good materials and good workmanship will pay off.

There are three things on the list.
1. One siding corner needs to be replaced (only the lowest planks are going but better to do the whole job at once). I want to rewrap and insulate that corner while we're at it.
2. The large swathes of the wood trim under the gutters is rotting and all of it needs to be repainted.
3. Other bits of wood, such as the panels under some windows, are rotting and needs to be replaced. (The windows themselves are fine.)

The various contractors have suggested different materials. One says Hardiplank for the siding but not trim since Hardiplank is tricky to work with. Another says Never Rot for siding and trim. A third mentions PVC and/or Spanish cedar. Since everything that takes paint is being redone at once I'd like the paint to match, but we're talking two or three different materials here.

I'm starting from scratch on this. I am not handy, I do not come from a handy family, I have no background. How do I evaluate the different recommendations? What sources can you suggest to me so I can educate myself? What do I need to learn, and where do I learn it, to oversee the job adequately?