never overcook meat again - _guaranteed_

i can't recall how many pieces of quality meat (beef, pork, chicken) that i've ruined by overcooking on the grill, range and in the oven.  i'm an amateur cook at best and perhaps I lacked the skill to use my seemingly snail-slow mechanical thermometer (30 sec to get a 50% accurate temp.  yikes!)    

a friend has been using the Thermapen ($89*) for years and highly recommends it.  at first i was skeptical given the cost (8x the cost of a basic thermometer) but once you try it and get laser-accurate temp in <4 sec flat, you'll never go back! 

my buddy justified the investment sorta like this "how many pieces of good meat do you need to ruin" before you buy one? =)

Check out the reviews.  #1 rated instant-read thermometer by Cook's Illustrated/America's Test Kitchen

the "power" of Polartec® (aka fleece)

most people have experienced some type of fleece/polar fleece/polartec clothing in the past. Polartec is truly spectacular given the insulation it provides for so little weight.  it was invented in the 80s by Malden Mills and evidently Time magazine called it one of the great inventions of the 20th century.

to me, it is one of the most amazing materials i've ever used.  imagine a recycled polyester fabric that is warm, ultra lightweight, ultra quick drying (nearly dry straight out of the washer) and still provides insulation when wet.  i can't stop raving about it. :)

altho I did have my trusty polartec jacket, i had always wanted a blanket however paying $60+ was a little pricey.  one day a buddy told me that I could polartec sheets online, direct from the mfger at ~half price.  now i could make my own blankets.  WOW!  jackets were cool but blankets are equally incredible.  check out the store.

think about polartec sheets, almost as light as air and of pure warmth   

so if anyone ever wants to check out my collection of polartec jackets (100, 200, 300, thermal pro Regulator*...) or blankets (100-300 + "Regulator-like.") let me know. :)

ADDENDUM: 

my favorite fleece items:

• polartec 300 blanket - for those cold northern cal nites - a 300 does wonders.  super warm.
  
• polartec 200 blanket - medium weight for most of the year
  
• my cookie monster blue Patagonia R2 jacket - Regular R2 provides comparable warmth as polartec 200 but in a animal hair finish.  
  
• North Face Denali polartec 300 jacket - semi-retired but it served me well over the years
  

  *Regulator - Patagonia exclusive fabric which they developed w/ Malden Mills

madoff, investing, data + putting your eggs in one basket

looking at stuff happening these days reminds me of the idiom

"don't put all your eggs in one basket"

it's certainly a simple saying but it does make a lot of sense cause if anything happens to the basket, there go all your huevos.

this actually applies very well to life.

on investing

with the madoff scam, I feel bad for those who lost so much, and for some, their life savings.  for the rest of us,  we should diversify across multiple places to invest.  a basket here and a basket there.  don't give all your money to a single investment entity.  or invest in a single stock.  or deposit all your cash in one account. (yes FDIC does insure but banks do go bankrupt...)  seems simple enough but it does take work.

on data storage: 

so the same applies to your precious data (personal docs, financial, priceless photos, videos).  backups are HUGE because hard drives (HDDs) aren't indestructible.  re: the demise of your drive, it's not a matter of IF, but a matter of WHEN.  i personally backup onto inexpensive, dedicated external USB HDDs (they are only on when i backup.  remember cali is earthquake country!) and also upload my photos to the net. (Flickr for me, Smugmug for others).  remote backup is key as your home is only one basket.  a friend recommended an automatic $5/month/computer remote encrypted backup service called backblaze which i'm considering cause manual backups take time/discipline.  finally for laptop users, it's even more important to backup given theft is a growing problem.

BKM: don't put all your investments/money/data/anything of value into one basket

I'll end w/ this bit of humor. :)

in search of _efficiency_

Each day, it seems there aren't enough hours to do everything I need to do.  If I could magically increase days to 25, 26 or even 30 hrs, that'd be fantastic.  Short of this, I've been trying to become more efficient, to do more in the time that I have.  But alas I'm human and make more mistakes than the average person, resulting in less than perfect execution.   So I've come up w/ a few things to  increase efficiency given my flaws.

BKM 1) Don't Procrastinate (with a twist): 

Many people know Thomas Jefferson's quote: "Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today."  unfortunately I love to procrastinate.  To give myself some leeway but still follow this adage, I give myself 3 chances.  Basically if I see something I need to do, I can put it off once, twice and the 3rd time I JUST DO IT!  This actually works pretty well.  Sometimes I challenge myself to do it on the 2nd time so I don't use up my "reserve" chance.  Give this twist a try and see what it can do for you.

BKM 2) If you forget to do "something," don't just do the "something."  do the "something" + "something else."

More often than not, I forget to do something.  I might finish washing dishes and head upstairs but forget to turn off the light.  When I'm upstairs and realize the light is on, instead of just going down + turning off the light, I try to do something else.  Maybe I bring dirty clothes down to the washer.  Or I bring down dirty glasses to put in the sink.  After, I turn off the light.  VOILA - i actually gain more than i lose.  Building upon this, I might then bring up a glass of water for Jo.  How's that for advanced technique? ;)

   

do-it-yourself home improvement projects...

When it comes to house projects, i'm a big fan of doing stuff on my own, as long as the risk of having to call in the experts for more $$$ is manageable.  as our house is relatively new, I haven't had to do much.  A while back I did however decide to build a small paver stone (brick) patio, with the help of a real good friend of mine.  It did take a bit longer (i estimated 1 weekend :P but it took 4, yes four) however ultimately it came out fine.   I was certainly humbled and deeply appreciative for all the help I received from friends.  :)  I learned that it is virtually impossible to estimate the amount of time for a project if you've never done it before and are learning on the job.  

BKM: the best way to learn a new skill is to practice where it doesn't matter so when it does count, you already have some experience!

the other day I noticed that the local Home Depot offers various home improvement clinics (laying tile, repairing drywall...).  

Check out your local Home Depot's and see what's being offered!

the "real" patagonia...

Torres del Paine National Park, Chile (wikipedia)

This spring, Jo and I are heading off to a "big trip."  We've both been to Asia and Europe and we want to do something challenging and off the beaten path.   We figured we would put our poser Patagonia clothing to real use by heading to it's namesake and doing some trekking.  We'll be going to Chile which is ultra-narrow (avg ~109 mi wide) and super-long (2,672 mi!) to see deserts, mountains, lakes and glaciers, followed by hitting the Inca trail and Machu Picchu, Peru (wikipedia)

Fortunately for me, the itinerary is set thanks to Jo's incredible trip planning skills. When I say incredible I'm really not boasting. (She literally plans complete itineraries/transport/accommodations in 2x real time, finishing the bulk (80%) of trip planning in 1 week. 

We're now getting our gear (more later) in order and doing some training by hiking Mission Peak in Fremont (2.8 mi 1 way, 2200 ft elevation gain), although most of the terrain is ~flat and on some local trails w/ packs.  Stay tuned for more!

"TO" aka technical outwear

i'm a big fan of clothing with utility and practicality.  gimme technical outerwear aka TO (think clothes for hiking, camping, climbing, skiing) any day over those fashion brands.  i may be a major poser since i ski once a year, have only car-camped a few times in my life and spend most of time in very non-threatening, climate controlled enviros BUT if i can get good deals on TO at the same price or cheaper than fashion clothes, I'll take it!  

Big makers of TO include Patagonia, Mountain Hardwear, Marmot, Smartwool, The North Face (more so from the old days)...  My favorite now is Patagonia whereas I started off w/ TNF, and dabbled some in Mountain Hardwear and others.  (more later on what brands I like for what items...)

TO is typically made of high tech fabrics such as Polartec, quick drying nylon/polyester, polypropylene, waterproof/breathable fabrics (GORE-TEX, proprietary ones).   The coolest thing about TO is how these clothes perform.  Imagine a fleece jacket offering incredible warmth for its feather-like weight, the ability to insulate even when wet and ultra-fast drying (nearly dry when you pull it from the washer).  Or a nylon/polyester shirt which wicks away sweat and dries really quickly.  Finally, a baselayer long sleeve top made of ultra fine New Zealand Merino wool, which wicks away sweat, resists odor (i've been told you can wear it 1+ wk with minimal smell) and keeps you at a good temp in a wide temperature range.  Wow!

popular TO brands:

the beginnning...

I've finally finally decided to start blogging after years and years of not.  my wife jo has been the biggest inspiration to me, since she's been a dedicated blogger since she was old enough to surf the web.  and so here marks the beginning of my random musings about my hobbies and whatever.  but mostly i'll prolly write about more practical life-focused things which i call BKMs (aka best known methods - finding the most efficient/easiest ways to do things in life/at work) I encounter since it's been a growing interest for me the last several years.  (stay tuned for a dedicated BKM site which a buddy and I are working on!)

note: that i do write in the emily dickinson style of no caps and strange punctuation...,,,,===  so hopefully you're good with that.  :)

mikee