What's on Your Grill?

Hamburgers and hot dogs seem to be the usual barbecue fare.  Or folks might get adventurous and add some skewered vegetables alongside them.

Try something different this time.  Roast peppers!

At this time of year, a variety of peppers or chilies should be fairly inexpensive owing to their abundance.  In fact, the pile pictured on my charcoal grill below cost about three dollars.  In case you can't make them out, the pile consists of:

• One Poblano
• Two Jalapeño
• Two red Cubanelle
• Two orange Cubanelle

The process is very forgiving, and you can leave them on and forget about them a bit and still get a nice result.

I like to put them on while my coals are still on fire, and I add kindling to maintain the fire.  Once they're black and squishy, I drop them into a paper bag, seal the bag, and let them steam in there own heat.

Then I go get the Impossible Burgers and steaks and put them on.  When those are done, I peel the black skin off the peppers and squeeze out the seeds.

The grilling takes the spicy edge off the chilies and leaves them sweet and mellow.

Dream: The Big Fake Sneeze

I’m sitting in my car in the middle of a parking lot. It is evening, and an old slushy layer of snow covers the asphalt. There are a few police officers dressed in yellow slickers methodically clearing away the slush using snow shovels. I think to offer to help them, except I realize they’re looking for something in the slush.

The parking lot is for a venue that I’m at to help organize a party. I think I should offer to park the hostess’ car, which is now the car that I’m sitting in. So I start it up a drive over to the edge of the lot and begin to head in to a space facing the street. As I apply the brake, I find that I cannot stop the car entirely. It continues to move forward onto the grass regardless of the extreme pressure I apply to the brake. I figure that the car will stop due to the incline of the grass, but even that has less of a stopping effect than I expect. “Huh,” I think to myself. “This is typical of these Subarus.” Eventually I do stop, and from within the car, I’m able to view the car from outside the driver’s side door. I see that the front wheels have gone beyond the curb and are on the grass. This is strange since I didn’t feel such a large obstacle.

I get the car backed up and somewhat straightened out, and then leave the car to go inside the venue.

The woman who has hired us (my brother is also part of the planning team) is not there. But her three daughters are there. Two of the daughters are twins, and the third, non-twin daughter is the most lovely of the three. But I greet them and tell them how lovely all of them are.

They are emceeing the event, and it turns out to be an event for my birthday. “Gosh, I’m the guest of honor!” I suddenly realize. So now everyone’s attention is focused on me. A great cloud of smoke emanates from the emcee’s area from a large amount of incense that was just lit. As it approaches and I smell it, I begin to have the urge to sneeze. So I decide to exaggerate the sneeze to epic, cartoon-like proportion. I start the “Ahh, ahhh, ahhhh, AHHHH, AHHHHHH...” with dramatic crescendo and fight to keep my eyes from fluttering closed. And I really expect that I will sneeze at the end of all this. But just before the very climax, the urge to sneeze diminishes abruptly, and I expel the most pathetic fake sneeze the world has ever witnessed.

“Drat, I’ve let everyone down,” I think to myself.

Wednesday Weigh-In 20190731

This time of year triggers Seasonal Affective Disorder in me. Sunrise arrives about a minute later each day; sunset a minute earlier. And the outdoor lights that run off a timer and that used to turn on well before dark are now turning on after sunset.

Waist = 38.25"
Height = 5' 7"

References:

1. Wikipedia BMI page
2. Balance Body Composition Bath Scale
3. Javascript must be enabled to view the data.

Wednesday Weigh-In 20190722

Allergy season is approaching for me. My diet is somewhat clean now. But I've been caving in to the allure of ice cream. So I need to be careful!

Waist = 38.25"
Height = 5' 7"

References:

1. Wikipedia BMI page
2. Balance Body Composition Bath Scale
3. Javascript must be enabled to view the data.

Wednesday Weigh-In 20190715

I gave away nearly all my 34" waist pants and shorts. At this point, I have to buy more because even the size 36" pants are too big.

Waist = 38.25"
Height = 5' 7"

References:

1. Wikipedia BMI page
2. Balance Body Composition Bath Scale
3. Javascript must be enabled to view the data.

Houseplants -- Outdoor Begonia and Geranium

Begonia and Geranium are classified as annuals by nurseries and garden centers.  However, they make excellent houseplants if given enough light.

As you can see below, I like to keep my flowering begonias and geraniums outside in bright sunlight when temperatures are well above freezing.  Then I bring them indoors during Winter and keep them in front of a South-facing window.

These plants are nearly like weeds.  They're easy to propagate by taking stem cuttings, and I've even managed to root leaf cuttings.  Geraniums tolerate neglect very well; some begonias, not so much.

Nurseries tend to heavily discount annuals in the Fall.  No normal person wants them at that time of year.  But SquarePegs are not normal -- we're happy to "adopt" a plant for a 90% discount.

Geranium in background; Begonia in foreground.  I've have this geranium for many years. The Begonia ("Bada Boom Mix") is new for this year.

Geranium from an old hanging plant, which most people would throw out in the Fall.

A Begonia that started out as a tiny, after-season discard. This is "Dragon Wing Red"

Moon Phase and Its Effect on Sleep

The article Evidence that the Lunar Cycle Influences Human Sleep was published six years ago, but I only just became aware of it today.  Nevertheless, I suspected as much.

I was diagnosed with Sleep Apnea in 2006.  But lately I feel there's more to my sleep disturbances than just cessation of breath.  Some days I wake up after a mere four hours unable to get back to sleep.  Other nights I'll sleep for six hours.

So I think it's ridiculous that health insurance companies will limit coverage for a sleep study to a single one-night study over the member's lifetime.  How can a single study capture all the variations in someone's sleep patterns?

Maybe this study and others like it will motivate The National Sleep Foundation to advocate for policy change.