The Kitchen Front by Jennifer Ryan is the March selection of the Left Coast Culinary Book Club. This is a fictional book set in World War II Great Britain with a story about for women. The story is about a cooking contest and the women’s role in it where each person has their own reasons for entering and winning.
I think that this is the first work of fiction that we have actually read. It is definitely a genre and subject matter that I would have never considered if I would not have been part of the book club. Despite the format, it is not a long read at a little over 400 pages.
The contest that the book is about is a cooking contest that uses war rations effectively. As things go along, we also learn that it is not simply rationed items but also non-rationed items and wildcrafting is also permitted. So, said another way it is making recipes with what is available when certain items are strictly limited.
For context, the book starts out with what is included in rationing for one week for one person.
4oz bacon or ham
meat to value of 1 schilling (2lbs mincemeat or 1 steak)
2oz cheese
8tbls butter
3 pints milk
1 cup sugar
4tbls jam
2oz tea (15-20 cups)
1 egg (plus powdered eggs equal to 12 once a month)
3oz sweets or candy
I think that you will agree with me that the above is not a lot of food. Notice too that it is largely meat, fats and sweets. Apparently things like fish or flour were not actually rationed. These would be items that could be obtained locally or not used in the war effort and not have to be imported due to the German blockade.
What is super cool about the book is that there is frequently a recipe at the end of the chapter. These would be the creations that were entered into competition or something based on the context of what was happening in the story. I didn’t do this but you could eat along with the story if you chose to do so.
I’m not going to give away the story but it ends like a Hallmark movie. Which by my book is better than a Lifetime movie. It’s ok to sometimes get lost in the feelgood story.
End Your Programming Routine: I think that you can tell that I liked the book by how I was writing. Honestly, I didn’t make any of the recipes. Not for any reason other than I mostly read a lot of on the plane or away from home. Of course the subject of thrift, survival and resourcefulness are the subjects that speak to me. Other than a bit of a campy ending, I enjoyed the journey.
Join me on our road trip recap. I talk about our trip as well as some of the trips that we have done. We had a great trip and there are so many things that we could have done you have to pick and choose because of limited time. This is tips and tricks for inspiration of your own trip.
End Your Programming Routine: This was likely our last full family vacation. So, we did it with gusto. I wouldn’t say that we spared any expense. Someone on our trip that once you start to see some red rocks, they all start to look the same. I don’t disagree, so I would advise to make some variety in your trip, not just looking at red rocks. I have been thinking about a small RV for my wife and I to travel. Maybe that is in our future?
It has been a long time since I actually read this chapter. My plan was to stub out concepts weeks ago but as you know I have been a little busy. So, I skimmed through it a couple of days ago to refresh my memory on what happened. Doing so, my inference was confirmed that this is a powerful chapter.
When you read this chapter you get a lesson in how to manipulate a population. It makes me wonder how many people have read this book and yet either forgot or ignore what happened. One headline I read said 11 million copies sold. Surely a portion of those went to libraries or schools where they were read over and over again. The reality is that 11 million over 75 years is not really that many in a country that has 300 million people. Maybe people have just not read it?
There are at least three main things that happen in this chapter. The first one happens when Napoleon sick’s the dogs on Snowball. This is the one that is the most covert and significant. It is mentioned earlier in the book that the puppies were removed from the rest of the animals and educated. It is this act that we need to learn our lesson. Isolation and indoctrination is the tactic.
Do you want to know what Drag Queen Story Hour and gender fluidity have to do with Animal Farm? That would be isolation and indoctrination. Create laws that ensure kids are in school, then start pushing doctrine to move the status quo. It won’t be long until the entire population is numb to insanity and we can no longer say A is A. My kids are within a presidential election of being full fledged adults. They are already a product of this environment because it has been normalized within their lifetime.
The second concept is repeat a lie long enough and it will become the truth. How many people believe that if you put a frog in boiling water and slowly turn up the heat that it will eventually boil to death? We have heard it our whole lives, but it simply is not true. That is a small and innocuous example but there are others.
This is a common tactic in politics today. For instance, elect Republicans and they will repeal the healthcare mandate or lower taxes. No they are not, no they are not, no they are not; repeat after me. My tax bill has gone up by tens of thousands of dollars a year since the Trump tax cuts. I have heard from others that theirs actually went down. But that is a segment of business owners and that is who got the benefit of the tax cuts. By twisting the facts, there were tax cuts implemented but it was for a certain segment of voters at the expense of the rest.
This plays out in the book by Napoleon campaigning against Snowball with plans to build the windmill. Napoleon was dead set against the project, even peeing on the plans. But as soon as Snowball was chased off the premises Napoleon immediately adopted the project. What is the truth here? What side can you really trust? I think this leads into the next concept.
There is something called The Iron Law of Bureaucracy. There are individuals committed to the mission (Snowball) and those that are committed to the institution (Napoleon). Eventually, those committed to the institution will take over running it, forever. This is the reason why I cannot get behind democratic socialism because it just keeps moving to totalitarianism. It is just a matter of the speed.
End Your Programming Routine: I suppose that this last concept is where I struggle the most. I am always a mission oriented guy and it seems like it frustrates me when I can’t change the organization. Intellectually I have been aware of the Iron Law of Bureaucracy but it is so difficult for me to internalize and accept. I feel like it is unjust and just grates me the wrong way. I suppose that just accentuates my need to work outside of systems.
I was returning my rental car at the Des Moines airport and a car caught my eye. It was a Buick Enclave. I thought that it was a nice looking vehicle, I even did a double take to see what it was. Little did I know that when I flew into Portland and picked up my next rental, I would end up with a Buick Enclave for our road trip rental.
There was a lot to like about it. It was AWD which would come in handy in our snow covered road driving. It had a third row so plenty of room for four and the overstuffed luggage. I didn’t look under the hood, but I felt it had adequate power for the the 80MPH speed limits in the west and a 21 gallon fuel tank had over a 500 mile range. That is a good thing when you want to go or you are out in the middle of no man’s land desert. The seats were comfortable enough to drive for twelve hours a day if we had to.
You don’t spend all that time in a car and not find some things that you don’t like either. The controls were confusing, I still didn’t figure it all out after a week. We were trying out Android Auto and it worked pretty good until the last couple of days and we had consistent connection issues until we gave up on it for the last couple of days. Last but not least, the heating/cooling system we never figured out. It was always too hot or too cold. I specifically did not like the tiny back window and the small amount of clearing the little wiper performed.
Despite all the good things, our overall assessment was not to buy and the reason was ultimately the glitches left an unsatisfactory taste in the vehicle. I want to say that we are at a point that we expect the fundamentals of a vehicle to work. Adequate power, adequate economy, adequate comfort are accepted as baselines for any car. But if you cant get the heat right or settings always go back to a default set, it is kind of annoying.
I think everyone that has bought a car has had some form of buyer remorse. A couple of miles of test drive is just not enough to get a feel for certain aspects of the car. I remember when we bought our Navigator, we were literally leaving the lot and the parking sensors started going off. We drove back to the dealer and they smiled and said the deal is done. Since they were no a Lincoln dealer, there was not a lot they could do. We still have occasional gremlins that go off and don’t know why.
Taking a car on a road trip is a perfect test of a vehicle. You really get intimate with the features and capabilities. We are thinking of upgrading from the Navigator since it seems to be on it’s last legs. There sure are a lot of $50,000 cars out there which equate to a lot of payments over a long time. I would hate to decide years of obligation in 15 minutes.
Our current choices are weighted toward the Hyundai Tucson and the Ford Explorer. I have driven the Tucson several times but not the recent Explorer. I sure would consider renting for a weekend to see how I feel about each one. Ideally, you would also want to consider typical use conditions as well.
What I mean is that it is unrealistic to test moving 18 sheets of plywood if that is never going to happen because I have a pick-up for that. In software, we have a 95/5 rule. If something happens in the 5% window, it is worth considering the cost and complexity for coding the edge case scenarios. Or said another way, I am not going to buy a fifteen passenger van on the off chance that I will have 14 friends to haul one time. It makes no sense. So start by doing what you normally do and consider the edge cases on a specific basis.
A long time ago, we purchased a Ford Expedition. We had that about two years before we traded it for a Dodge Caravan. The justification was that it was lower so my wife could take her grandparents around. I think that happened a couple of times while we owned the vehicle (and the Caravan lifecycle is a story for another day). That was actually a poor financial decision for a false justification.
But here is a marriage tip, my wife should be able to have any reasonable vehicle. It turned out that with young kids the mini-van was much easier in and out. We had three extra seats that the Expedition didn’t have and we acquired some extra kids (another story for another day). The lower roofline was much easier to load kayaks which she did multiple times a year. I think it worked out alright despite the false premise to begin with.
End Your Programming Routine: As of late, we have had some pretty good longevity with cars. I think that we went through nearly thirty before we were aged 40. I have owned my pickup since 2003 and we bought the Navigator in 2012. Sure, I wish I still had the Mustang but that had to go for financial practical reasons. Neither vehicle is ideal in every circumstance. But, as I get older and smarter I want to make sure that I can live with the quirks if I end up paying $800 a month for six years.
I have been doing a little watching of Seinfeld lately. This podcast is something like that, it is all over the place but actually going somewhere. I finished my book on the plane and I didn’t have a specific topic that I wanted to talk about. I did what I sometimes do and that is start writing. My topic was a phenomenon that often happens to me after business travel all week.
End Your Programming Routine: It is a very strange feeling to come home and feel like you don’t belong. I think that it is always a mental issue, nobody says or does anything otherwise, it is just the way I feel. It usually changes in a couple days and things are back to normal, but it is how it is.
I am back from my vacation. I did survive my business trip. I have more travel in the hopper, but I need some time to catch-up both here and elsewhere. I have half done podcast outlines, chapters read and articles stubbed out so it is not writer’s block or lack of desire but that I need time to catch up here and elsewhere in my life.
It is funny how life goes. Often taking a vacation causes more more work to catch up. I suppose it is the break that allows the energy (or perception) to double your time and output to catch back up? Definitely while on vacation I was switched off, barely a thought was given to work here or elsewhere.
I am going to talk more about the mindset in my next podcast, likely this week. But for now, take a vacation yourselves while I get myself re-organized and reengaged with this machine.
Weird, the very same image I used on the other posts ended up rotated 90 degrees in the Word Press library. I have no idea why or how because I didn’t even take the photo in that orientation nor did I edit it. I tried to rotate it in Word Press but it said that it couldn’t access the meta data and therefore edit. The only thing that I can see different is that the first three embeds were done at once and this one was two weeks later. Anyway, keep an eye out for technical gremlins.
This chapter has Farmer Jones and his buddies riling up each other to take back the farm. The humans march on the farm and “The Battle of Cowshed” ensues. Despite having weapons and gumption, the animals beat back the humans. There is one casualty, a sheep is shot and killed by Jones. This whole chain of events inspires and solidifies the animals to their cause and their dedication to it.
In this short chapter, what is being laid out is the celebration of war and the resulting ceremony. I think that these events are crafted into propaganda as unifiers toward the entity. Said another way “aren’t we so proud that we defeated our enemy”. To a small degree, the United States does this but then other countries like North Korea have built a calendar out of it.
Military celebration seems to be a central theme that autocratic regimes have adopted probably because they don’t have much else to celebrate. I think it is because they desperately try to shed other traditional trappings of culture and religion in efforts to solidify power absolutely.
The title “Animal Hero, First Class” is created and bestowed to the fallen sheep. Once again, eliminate old beliefs and build new ones. A hero that dies for the cause becomes a martyr in the situation. By awarding a title, this act helps legitimize the leaders of the movement.
Honestly, I can’t think of one actual US holiday that is based on a military victory. I am familiar with what is called VE day or Victory in Europe Day which is a named day on the calendar, but not a holiday. There may be celebrations or events in combination with the date, but it has limited recognition.
There are two actual holidays that have military origins. This would be Memorial day which was originally the ending date of Battle of Antietam in the Civil War and Veterans day which was originally Armistice Day or the ending of World War I. I would say in either case, they do not celebrate a victory.
This is not to say that we are better than Animal Farm, but it is a different kind of spirit. For those that actually participate in the American ceremonies, I would say that they lack the exuberance of celebration in favor of a somber remembrance. That being said, celebrating victory, service or sacrifice fills the same role, solidification of the might of the nation.
End Your Programming Routine: Orwell is a complicated guy. I thought that he had spent time in the USSR, but upon further research I was wrong. Apparently his politics were leftist however his anti-communist business associates were what inspired him to write Animal Farm. On one hand, I don’t see the two going together. But on the other, people involved in politics and business are all about getting theirs. Create laws that eliminate competition no matter what side of the dichotomy you are on.
As badly as I want this, it is not going to happen today. My original topic was going to be electricity preparedness. I ran out of time to get the necessary photos last week before I left. As a fallback, I thought I would find some internet images but I spent all my free time trying to get my podcast published.
As an alternative, read a book, listen to a podcast or do some other stimulation to change your programing. It is always good to get another perspective even if it is contrary to your own. If you don’t periodically challenge your beliefs then how do you know that they are still valid?
I remember that when I was a freshman in college, a friend asked me that if I was drafted, would I serve? At that point, I was fresh out of my programming in Boy Scouts so of course I said I would because it was the right thing to do. Today, I would almost assuredly have a different answer. Don’t get me wrong, I still love my country, but my perspective has changed. I love what it could be, not what it is.
That change in opinion came around because I kept challenging myself on what the implications were for believing or supporting one side or the other. As an example, the ‘Trump Tax Cuts’ has at least tripled my annual tax obligations. I have heard from others that it was a huge benefit. My financial position was based on the old rules and now with new ones I am at a severe disadvantage. From my perspective, this was a tax increase.
Fine, I know how to eventually move to take advantage of the new rules. But how can a party that supposedly has a platform of tax cuts create tax increases? Easy, it is because they don’t really stand for tax cuts. They stand for saying what they think will appeal to a wide group and create new rules by which they will benefit. Now I am teetering into being angry at bad guys so I will leave it at that.
I’m going to keep this short (it think). When my son borrowed my dad’s welder, we had to power it. What had been extremely variable as long as I have known is the electrical connection. Researching ranges and clothes dryers, I know that the male end of the connector is very variable (can I say ‘male end’ anymore). As far as I know, you pick the male plug to match the female end of the plug in.
Getting back to the welder, I bought a new plug-in to match my dad’s welder. But, now my son bought a welder and it did not match what my dad’s was. He wanted me to change it to work, I had a different idea.
What I choose to do was make an adapter. In this case, it was an adapter and an extension cord. Because the welder had a ten foot cord and my outlet had another ten feet, it was beneficial to add another 10 feet in between. I happened to have ten feet of 10/4 cable from one of my annual apartment remodels.
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I guess my point is that if you have a 220V appliance and you have a connector that doesn’t match, maybe the solution is to make the appliance match the female end rather than make the equipment match. Using this approach, then I think that you will have several adapters to make your equipment work.
If you don’t know as well… and four conductor cable contains two hots, one neutral and a ground. When this protocol was established, it was two hots and a neutral, no ground. In these days, a ground and a neutral are the same place. But, when there is no officially termination of the ground, it gets deleted or cut from contact and ignored.
End Your Programming Routine: I suppose what I am saying is that if you are wiring 220V, you have to figure it out. Don’t make a concrete commitment, make it something that you can roll with. That means, make an adapter, not just change the plug-in but change the adapter. From a safety point of view, ground is better but don’t worry if you have proper wiring, especially at the panel.
As the title says…. Back when I was putting the major pieces of my office together, I had a problem and an idea. I also had some options. I have a cabinet that I removed from the apartment that I wasn’t sure whether I was going to paint and install it back in the apartment or what. The thought crossed my mind to put it back into my office.
Ultimately, I chose to do something different. I was going to build a sliding drawer that fit between the legs of the couch and under it. This drawer was on casters. I made measurements and did the quick woodwork to build this,
As I was taking out all of the items to install my sofa table, my son was preparing for a correspondence math course test. I left the drawer out while I took a break and he continued to work. As I was making breakfast, my wife said “Did you build that, it is amazing”, Of course, I had no idea what she was talking about because it was out of context.
At first. I thought it was my sofa table. I had been talking it up to her and I was proud of my work. But, she said no it was my drawer. I was a bit dumbfounded. I built this on a whim and it had been installed in office for months.
She said that I could sell these things. People would buy them for under the bed storage as an example. I had no idea. This was a solution to my problem, not necessarily a market problem. She said that I could have a booth at a flea market or something like that. And, her friends would like things like this.
I had no idea nor was this my intent. I suppose that is the way of the world. Entrepreneurs that are successful channel this accident into something successful. I myself haven’t done anything with this, nor do I know if I will. That being said, it doesn’t mean that I don’t recognize opportunity,
End Your Programming Routine: I would love to be my own boss, I just don’t know if this is the right place. Knowing what I want, riskier people might jump on this idea. I just know if this is the way to go. I suppose that keeping it slow, I can see where it goes. Let me know if you want one.
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