A new year is almost year and I’m getting reminded to update my websites with the copyright years at the bottom…you know the Copyright 2000-current year.
Instead of manually doing this ever year, I decided to put in a snippet of PHP code to cover all my bases.
Here’s the code:
<? print(Date(“Y”)); ?>
Enjoy! And Happy New Year!
I found out that I was lacking a certain kind of sound on my guitar pedal board. I have a tuner, chorus, distortion, flanger, overdrive, and reverb pedal. I was looking into getting a digital delay and tremolo pedal next. Instead, I decided on getting the Line 6 M5 pedal. The two main reasons why I wanted to get this pedal was; my wife has the M13 and this pedal has over 100 built in effects.
Here are some specs:
Sound
Inputs/Outputs
Overall, this is a great pedal. The pros are that it has a lot of effects for a really great price. The only thing I don’t like about it is the size. I think it could be a little smaller.
References
Line 6
Here’s a template I use for Funeral/Memorial Services. The document is in MS Word format.
References:
Funeral Service Template
My obsession with Sanrio doesn’t stop at my Hello Kitty Cakes. In fact, Hello Kitty isn’t my favorite Sanrio character. I’m a big fan of Badtz-Maru…partly because we’re both born in April but there’s more.
Over the years I’ve watched Badtz-Maru go through a couple of cycles. He likes to travel, loves space, into chemistry, plays guitar, plays bass guitar, runs around in a crown and cape, and dreams of greatness. These are things that I’ve been doing for most of my life too. In fact, I’ll visit a Sanrio store just to see what’s he’s doing to see if we’re still in sync. I’ve been tempted to buy the Badtz-Maru bass guitar that they sell in the stores but it’s a little short for me. Instead, I decided to build a custom guitar of my own.
I’ve had a Squire Bullet for a couple years that has been collecting dust and I figured it was about time to put it to some good use. I haven’t decided on the electronics yet but when I do, I’ll feature this guitar in my music section. For now, it’s a glorified art project. Squire Bullets are famous for people buying them and then changing the electronics. Taking a $99 guitar and making it a $500 guitar. For a little history, the bullets before 2007 were made from plywood and the ones after 2007 are solid basswood. The one I modified is pre 2007.
Sanding down the original finish took a while. I wasn’t aware of the thick coat of clear coat. Removing the clear coat took a while.
Guitars are almost like artists’ canvass. After sanding, I used 80, 100, 160, 220 grit, I put on a layer of black and left it like that for a few days because I didn’t have a bigger plan. I ended up commissioning my brother-in-law to help me out with design. After a few hours of brainstorming, we came up with the design below.
He went for it and I clear coated it. The next step is to setup new electronics.
My plan is to throw in some Dimarzio pickups. Stay tuned.
I love summer because of the long days and short nights. The long days are great for tans and even better for gardens. Every summer, I’ll receive an email from a coworker that says, “Dear Edel, I have a bunch of ______________ from my garden, please come by my desk and get some.” I’m usually there about 30 seconds after it was sent.
This round, one of my coworkers brought a bag of rosemary. Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) is a woody, perennial herb with fragrant, evergreen, needle-like leaves. It is native to the Mediterranean region. It is a member of the mint family Lamiaceae, which also includes many other herbs.
After grabbing a few sprigs, I started to think about what I’ll do with it. I like to use herbs when they are fresh so I thought of using it in a baked chicken or baking it in some focaccia bread. I believe fresh herbs deserve fresh ingredients so I headed to the grocery store that same night. I looked at chicken, beef, and pork but I didn’t find anything worth the fresh rosemary (I did shop at midnight). Then I came across some really great looking lamb t-bone chops.
I decided to go traditional and put rosemary on some lamb.
Roasted Lamb T-Bone Chops
Ingredients
4 lamb t-bone chops
3 teaspoons chopped rosemary
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoons chopped parsley
2 teaspoons chopped sage
1 clove minced garlic
¼ cup olive oil
Method
Combine the rosemary, salt, pepper, parsley, and sage. Sprinkle evenly on the lamb chops and rub it into the meat. Add the garlic and rub it into the meat and bone. Put the chops into a plastic bag and add the oil. Let the meat marinade in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours before cooking.
Before cooking, take out the meat from the refrigerator and let it come close to room temperature as possible (about 15-30 minutes). Grill the meat until the internal temperature reaches 120 degrees–about 4 minutes per side. Now, let the meat rest for 10-15 minutes before cutting into it.
Notes
The question I usually get is, “Do I season before oiling or oil before seasoning?” I say season then oil.
If you have a chance to speak to the butcher, ask the butcher to leave a nice layer of fat on the chops. Then score the fat before marinating.
About 9 years ago, my 3rd IT job surprised me by telling me to make my own ethernet cables. Normally, I pick up a catalog and order but I guess making cables adds to my skill set.
Where to begin? Ask someone who’s done it before. I was given a hands on lesson. Then it was time to make one. I guess I’m a good fast learner because it worked.
Today, I don’t remember what wire goes where so here’s my documentation/guide on making your own.
Step 1. Cut off 1” of the outside wire to expose the smaller wires inside.
Step 2. Straighten the wires in the middle.
Step 3. Arrange the wires and work them back and forth until they stay in order on their own.
Step 4. Trim the wire.
Step 5. Insert into connector.
Step 6. Crimp.
Step 7. Test
Here’s how to arrange the wires:
References:
http://www.groundcontrol.com/galileo/ch5-ethernet.htm
WordPress 3.1.4 & Arthemia Premium are compatible. I always get scared when updating WordPress so I do a full backup of my files and the database right before hand.
At the same time, I clear out the next 3 hours just in case something goes wrong.
July 4 is coming up and I’m sure people will start to get their grills ready to cook up a feast. What kills me is that sometimes I’ll attend parties where the person at the grill clearly doesn’t know what they are doing where your options are burnt meat or raw meat.
I’m going to go over two styles of charcoal layouts that help me grill. First we need to talk about lighting. I like to use chimneys to get the coals started. This technique does not use charcoal lighter fluid. Some say they can taste the fluid in the meat. Tasting the fluid in the meat usually happens when you don’t let the fluid soak into the coals (when it says wait 15-20 minutes, wait). Also, as a warning, do not use the charcoal that has already been soaked in fluid such as Matchlight in starter chimneys. I mean, it works, but the chimney is not needed.
Secondly, what kind of charcoal should you use? I’m a big fan of wood coals. Wood coals, sometimes called lump coals, tend to burn hotter and faster than charcoal briquettes. The formulas I use when picking coals are: What’s in stock at the store and what am I cooking? “What am I cooking?” is the main question. I tend to use charcoal briquettes if I’m cooking chicken, pork, or fish. I use lump coal when grilling beef, lamb, or another meat that could use a nice sear. Oh vegetables…I like charcoal.
I’ve chosen two of my favorite layouts I usually do for grills. Here are the pictures:
I’m not sure what these are officially called but I call the one on the left, Warm/Hot. The other is Hot/Warm/Hot.
The Warm/Hot layout is useful when you want a quick sear on the meat but then need some time for it to cook through. I use this method when grilling chicken. I also like to use it when making Tritip.
The Hot/Warm/Hot layout is just like the Warm/Hot layout except it’s hotter in the middle. I use this layout when making burgers or steaks. This layout is helpful if you want that crispy sear and you’re managing thinner cuts of meats where you just need a few minutes before serving.
Whatever layout you choose, I always recommend creating a cool safe spot. This safe spot will save you from burning meats and gives you time to rest. I used to be full charcoal grill person…ask my dad. He used to laugh at me when I did that. Sure enough I had burnt meat.
Happy grilling!
I woke up this morning to breakfast in bed. The kids made me scrambled eggs, bacon, French toast, cheese, avocado, and bananas. Oh, and coffee too! The meal was great…mainly because I didn’t make it and because I saw the amount of time and energy that the boys put into making the meal.
I was telling someone that I was going to do two things this Father’s Day—fly a kite and make a bacon weave. I didn’t get to fly a kite this year but I did make the bacon weave.
I had to make good use of the bacon weave so I made it the foundation for my Father’s Day dinner. For dinner, I made rib eye steaks, mashed potatoes, grilled oysters, and stuffed mushrooms. I call it one of the meals I’d eat if I knew I only had 24 hours left to live.
Here’s my recipe for Mashed Potatoes:
Ingredients
3.5 pounds of Yukon
1 stick of butter (unsalted)
1 tablespoon of salt
Method
Boil potatoes with skin on until you can easily pierce it with a fork and then the fork comes out smoothly (about 30 minutes). Remove from heat, drain water and place back in pot. Add the stick of butter and salt. Mash…or whip using a mixer.
Tips
You can peel them for fancier mashed potatoes. Add white ground pepper for some heat. I don’t normally add cream but you can if you want to make them smoother.
There’s another technique that I do with Yukons if I have time. I don’t have measurements and requires a lot of butter. Just when you think you added enough butter…you need to add more. Here’s the method for really good mashed potatoes. Boil the potatoes with the skins on. When done, peel the skins off the potatoes and whip with some butter (just like above). Let the mixture cool a little and add room temperature butter. Whip it more. Then add cold butter and whip. Serve at room temperature.
Enjoy!
I was inspired by the guys at Epic Meal to make a bacon weave. Not sure if’ you’ve watched their show but they go through mounds of bacon. I used to take pride in the amount of bacon I could eat in a seating but after seeing a few of their shows I don’t even come close.
Back to the weave. A bacon weave is bacon that is woven like a mat…kind of like the paper mats you used to make back in grade school.
This round I used hand cut bacon from a butcher because I found a great deal. I recommend using the thin cut store bought brand. Here are some pics.
References:
Epic Meal
Welcome to the curated chaos of curiosity and creativity—brought to you by Edel Alon: maker, thinker, and hands-on problem-solver. This blog is part journal, part resource hub, and entirely dedicated to the art of doing. From culinary experiments and car tinkering to tech deep dives and DIY builds, you'll find stories, guides, reviews, and reflections designed to inspire, inform, and occasionally make you laugh (or at least raise an eyebrow). It's a celebration of learning by doing—with a few detours along the way.
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