More squirrel industry news

Furthering FP’s historical squirrel research:
Delaware Weekly Advertiser and Farmer’s Journal; January 31, 1828; Issue 20; col B

Mr. A.S. Bugbee, of Northampton, has contrived a method of turning to account the natural activity of the common grey squirrel. “He has,” says the Northampton Post, “a common cylindrical cage with wire bars, about three feet in diameter, to the axis of which, (four feet long) are connected some small brass wheels which move the machinery of a coffee and pepper mill. Three squirrels are usually employed in the labor of this novel tread-mill, though we have seen a single one turn the wheel with apparent ease. The power of each squirrel in the wheel is estimated by Mr. B. at sixty-five pounds, and in an hour they grind a pound of coffee, pepper, allspice, &c. The expense of the machine was about $300, and the cost of the subsistence of each of the little laborers is about two cents a week.”

Provident Living

Sometimes, when you look at information on being prepared for emergencies, you notice a certain, shall we say, Utah flavor to some of the information. So if you want to go to the source, check out Provident Living. I think some of the tips may be based more on scripture than practicality, but I really can’t argue with the family home evening.

I hate the burning, but I don't mind the swelling

From the description of a propane space heater:
“30K BTU Blue Flame Prpane Space Heater makes supplemental heating fast and easy. Built in Oxygen Depletion Sensor for unparalleled safety. Can easily be operated during power failure. Cool touch cabinet keeps you far away from burnt concerns.”

Wow, I hate it when I burn my concerns.

Dzur Review

Dzur, Brust. Yes. Brust uses a couple devices in this installment near the limits of what they’ll tolerate, aggravated by my belief that the parallel construction (device one) seems to exist only to help justify the weak tie of the action to the title (device two). That (minor, really) distraction aside, this is a Vlad Taltos novel, in more of the classic mold than we’ve seen in several books. As cranky as I’ve become of late, I still enjoy Brust’s writing.
I remembered his ties to the so-called "Pre-Joycean Fellowship" and dug around to find out what that’s about (when I last considered the question, rec.arts.sf (pre-split) was my sole source of info; things have changed somewhat). Finding this old post of Brust’s has yet again brought home the realization that I’m not looking for straight-forward storytelling so much as I am looking for writing in service of the story and the characters. If your story needs trickery (and you’re good enough to pull it off), you must get tricky. Zelazny is, after all, a hero of mine, too.

Is Muslim the new gay?

I’m amazed at the amount of unvarnished anti-Muslim bigotry that’s being thrown around. I suppose it’s likely enough that these nutcases would say (or are saying) the same thing about the openly gay members of Congress, and it’s just not getting as much play, but I can’t help thinking there’s a new bottom rung on the ladder.

StormBlog 2006!

Since we live in an area with a minimum of grisly murders and appalling scandals, local news has to make due with storms to whip themselves into a frenzy. I have yet to tune in to find out what this storm has been named.

Consumer Corner:
The recommended products for your several days without power are:
1. small radio with speaker and headphone jack, runs on AA batteries
2. small flashlights, run on AA batteries
3. novelty battery-operated white LED Xmas lights, run on AA batteries
4. Light Wedge white LED book illuminator, runs on AA batteries
5. a whole bunch of AA batteries

Your optional purchases:
iPod
Nintendo DS

Craft Corner!
You can make a hot water bottle out of an empty 2 liter soda container and some hot water! You can also make a tasteful and warm non-itchy hat from a pair of tights!

Recipe Corner!
It turns out you can fry Pilsbury Toaster Strudel when only your stove is working.