I miss my bicycle

I started with the seeds from last years plants, pulled them from fresh peppers and laid them out to dry for a few days. Once they dried, I placed them in a small container with rice to absorb any moisture. When I was ready to plant, I placed the seeds in a dish filled with water to let them soak for 24 hours. I did make the mistake of going in and fishing the seeds out with my fingers and placing them in the water with my fingers. This was done without gloves. I realized real quick that it doesn’t matter how long the seeds have sat, they still retain their heat!

After the seeds soaked, I placed 2 to 3 per container. I also placed a warming pad and a grow light about 2 feet above the container. The location for the container gets 4 to 6 hours of sunlight. Within a few weeks I had sprouted almost every seed! Next year I’ll stick with one seed as all I really need is one plant.

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I moved in to the city and commuted through the city for a few years, still doing the same thing, sitting in traffic, a creature of habit. I developed my bad habit for not deviating from my route and sat in the never ending line of break lights. I eventually stopped driving to work because my car was a piece of junk and was not consistent. I rode my bike through the city to work for a little over two years. Riding a bicycle through the streets of Baltimore actually forced me to learn to deviate and change my route based on traffic and weather. Over the course of the two years riding my bicycle through the streets of Baltimore, the biggest change I had come to learn was that all-in-all the city is not that big. It’s big in terms of physical size but when you start to look at the structure of the city and how things connect, its a very simple layout and a very easy city to traverse.

I’ve moved back to the county after getting married and am back to commuting. The drive is definitely much worse than riding my bicycle to work. I miss riding my bike, not just for the ease of the commute but also for the health benefits. It’s also cheaper and easier in terms of parking and traveling through the city. Time and effort I save through the year riding my bike makes up for a few days of getting caught in the rain or snow.

The point of this post is to emphasis that being stuck in a traffic rut is not healthy mentally and physically. This does nothing but cause mental stress and frustration as well as force you to sit in frustration.

So I started leaving the city through Martin Luther King Blvd, taking it to rt 295 and then taking that to 695 where I would then get on route 10 south bound to get home. My commute in the mornings takes me a half hour to forty five minutes. My commute home can be upwards of an hour and a half. I have a feeling that this is due to most people coming in a little later, working through their lunch, and then all leaving at the same time. The problem with taking rt 295 to 695 is that there is only one on ramp to 695 east and the line will queue up because of traffic on 695 east as well as people trying to skip ahead of the line. I dealt with this for a few months but started to find that it was extremely tedious and frustrating.

I changed my route to taking MLK to 95 south bound and then taking 695 east. This was a little better but I still got caught up in the mix with 295/695 and the horrid merge structure. On a whim I decided to give Rt 2 a shot. The tricky part with Rt 2 is that its a lot of lights and local streets. Fortunately the light structure on Rt 2 is much better than the traffic on the highways.  I leave out of the city on Russel St and then get off right at M&T Bank Stadium, where MLK and Russel St. merge. I follow the side road down and then under 295/Russel St. on to W. Ostend St. W. Ostend St. will take you through Federal Hill and eventually to S. Hanover St. which runs straight in to Rt 2 Ritchie Hwy. Taking Rt. 2 Ritchie Hwy all the way down to the Broadneck Peninsula is one option but then you deal with a lot of lights. The alternative is to get on Rt. 10 from W. Ordnance Rd. which will bypass a lot of the lights and then eventually put you back on Ritchie Hwy.

My routes will continue to change as traffic patterns change. I really wish the merge on to 695 to 295 was better. My commute and sanity would be much better if I could just get to route 10 easily. It is not easy though, there are constant frustrations and traffic build ups that have no reason. Maybe some day state highway will improve the 295 to 695 exit, until then enjoy queuing up!

Sen. Barbara Mikulski - Still waiting for a reply.

Information about SOPA and PIPA and why it matters can be found here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SOPA

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PROTECT_IP_Act

EDIT 1.24.2012

I’ve received a response from Sen. Mikulski to which she basically responded that she understands the needs for stronger laws preventing piracy. She also understands that PIPA may not be the best way.

Thank you for writing to me about copyright law. It’s good to hear from you.The PROTECT IP Act (S. 968) would give the Department of Justice (DoJ) authority to identify and take legal action against websites that market counterfeit or pirated goods.  Illegal downloading of movies, TV shows and music is a real problem that harms industries, kills jobs and hurts our economy.  We need strong copyright laws to protect the creative property of artists, and it is important that these laws be followed.  However, I share your concerns about this bill.  We need to make sure that the solution isn’t worse than the problem.  Any efforts to strengthen the protection of copyrighted materials must be well planned, avoid unintended consequences, and must not stifle free speech or innovation.There are a number of provisions in the bill that I am concerned about, particularly language affecting Domain Name Servers (DNS).  Legislation as wide-ranging as this needs a more open and thorough review from all sides of the debate.  I am pleased that Senator Leahy — the author of the bill — has said he is open to changes to address this and other issues.  The current language in the bill needs to be improved before I could consider supporting its final passage. S. 968 has been passed out of the Judiciary Committee and is awaiting action by the full Senate.  Knowing of your views is helpful to me, and I will keep them in mind as Congress continues to debate this issue.Thanks once again for writing.  Please let me know if I can be of assistance in the future.

Sincerely,  Barbara A. Mikulski United States Senator 

I have a user at the place where I work who was having an issue with their Comcast provided Internet and phone services. She had called them because all of her phones were dead, but her Internet was working. First off, I thought that the phone system by Comcast was a priority service for 911 purposes? I guess not? Finally the tech showed after the user had no phone service for a weekend and then proceeded to tell the user that they needed a business line in order to use VPN. This struck me as strange since we have a large number of users that use VPN to access our system here at work. I asked her to call the tech back so I could talk to him to find out more information. Before I even had a chance to ask him my question, the tech decided to reprimand me, telling me I did not know Comcast policy and how I could even question him if I did not know Comcast policy. I did not even have a chance to question him! I finally asked for his name and all he would tell me was his first name, would not give his last, or any additional information to use to contact Comcast about this, and then hung up.

This is why I am happy with my Verizon FiOS! Hell, I was using DSL and Satellite TV before FiOS because I have always had poor service with Comcast!

Having signs of discontent of this magnitude among a countries citizens is a sign that there are problems. Just because they all don’t have a single voice doesn’t mean that there are plenty of issues at hand. This is a melting pot protest where all those involved can freely voice their discontent without having to be herded like cats after a single cause.

Having two ghost pepper plants that have produced about 50-100 peppers a plant has proposed a few challenges, namely: what do you do with so many peppers?!

Today I decided to do a pepper jelly.

First off, if you’re not familiar with ghost peppers, they are one of the hottest peppers in the world. I got two little seedlings from a friend and figured I’d give it a shot growing them. Turns out they love the sun and weather here! The ghost pepper, or Bhut Jolokia, reaches about one million on the Scoville Heat Units scale. In comparison, the habanero is around three hundred thousand at its hottest. When working with a ghost pepper it is always important to wear gloves, have a well ventilated area, and in some cases a mask and eye protection is a good idea. I can’t stress how important the gloves are.

To start the pepper jelly I needed a few things, first was a recipe. I always start my cooking with a base recipe. This is a recipe that doesn’t have a lot of flare or uniqueness. The reason is that I want to try to add my own personality to the recipe, if it succeeds. After some Googling, I found a pepper jelly recipe from Paula Dean which was very basic and specific. From this recipe and from my own adjustments, these are the things I needed.

• 3 – 8oz (1/2 pint) canning jars with lids and tops
• 3  2 ghost peppers, the redder the hotter
• 1 2 medium, fist sized, orange
• 3/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 3 cups sugar
• 2 ounces pectin
• small food processor. I used the magic bullet which had a real nice small top for this kind of processing
• rubber gloves, medical latex or non-latex gloves work best.

All of these ingredients were obtainable from Grauls, the local super market near me in Cape St. Clare.

I started the recipe by getting two large pots out. I filled one with water to a level that would cover the tops of the jars. I removed the lids ( the part with the silicon seal) and the tops of the jars, placing the tops (this is the metal circular piece) and the jars in to the water and turned the water on to boil*.

*Watch the pot through out the process, you want a steady boil, you don’t want it to boil over.

The order of which you do this is important only in respect to clean up and lessening your chance of getting the oils from the peppers on or around you.

1. Take the orange and slice it in to quarters, remove the skin and save for later.
2. in a small food processor squeeze the orange, being careful not to get any pulp in it pulp is fine, it should blend out.
3. next cut the orange peel in to strips as wide or thin as you want to make them. I put one peel in each jar and then put a few in to the pan that we’ll later boil the ingredients in to add flavor.
4. Next, carefully cut your peppers down the middle and remove all seeds and/or veins. This is where a lot of the heat is so if you don’t want crazy heat, remove seeds and veins. I removed the seeds and kept the veins.
5. put the halves in to the food processor along with the squeezed orange juice.
6. Depending on your food processor, if it doesn’t have a complete seal, put the food processor on blend and cover with a towel. This will prevent the ghost pepper from permeating in to the air and causing any discomfort.
7. At this time take the apple cider vinegar and the sugar and mix them in to the empty pot, bringing it to a near boil. You want the vinegar and the sugar to become a liquid. Careful of it boiling and bubbling.
8. When the pepper and juiced orange is fully blended, pour it in to the sugar and vinegar mix, stirring regularly.
   * It’s good to have a fan and a window open if you can as the steam from the mixture, combined with the ghost pepper, can cause discomfort when inhaled.
9. At this time its recommended to turn the heat down on the jars and lids and remove them, draining them. Put tops in to the water and keep it somewhat boiling, you want to do this for about 5 minutes to sterilize the jars.
10. Continue to stir the mixture till it looks completely mixed, maybe a few minutes.
11. Remove the mixture from the heat and immediately combine the mixture with the pectin, stirring it in.
12. Place the liquid, with either a funnel or through spoon, in to the jars. You can take the orange peel and place it in the jar if you wish. Be careful as the jars should still be very hot.
    *Leave about a quarter in at the top of the jar when filling it
13. Wipe any excess spill from the tops of the jars
14. place the tops and lids on to the jars and place them back in to the water and bring the water to a boil
15. Proceed to boil based on the proper time for your altitude
16. After the proper time, pull the jars out and place them on the counter to cool. You should hear the lids pop about 10-15min after they’ve been pulled from the water, meaning the seal has been made.

This is my first attempt at Ghost Pepper Jelly. I have no idea what the flavor will be like or how hot the jelly will be. I’m

going to let the jars sit for a week and then see if I can work up the nerve to try it. I’ll follow up with results!