Soot Happens

KUpdate!

2012-02-01T08:00:00.000-05:00

I tried to start back to my paleo/primal diet at the beginning of the year, and it lasted for a little over half the month of January before we hit a snag with the finances. So, I was eating grains and other such foods I should be staying away from for the later half of the month as they were already in the pantry. As of this morning, I am officially back to the low-carb lifestyle. Also, as of yesterday morning, I am back to taking my multi-vitamin of choice.

Baked Scotch Eggs [Paleo Friendly]

2012-01-31T08:00:00.000-05:00

Time for another recipe post, this time for baked scotch eggs, one of my favourite paleo-friendly foods. I was initially taught how to make them by Pam Kohler-Camp of And Sarah Laughed Pottery, who is like a second mother to me. They are dead simple to make and can be altered to fit your dietary requirements… maybe… as long as you can still eat eggs, I'm pretty sure you can find vegan sausage out there, but I'm going to stick to meat.

Electoral College – The Last Bastion of State Power

2012-01-30T08:00:00.000-05:00

The Electoral College is probably the most debated aspect of our election process by those who are aware of its existence. You will find many articles and arguments on the internet calling for it's removal; I say most of these are by people who either a) don't understand why it exists or b) understand why it exists but believe in having a powerful central government rather than a limited one. Here you will find my views on the subject and some of my arguments on why we should keep the Electoral College, and perhaps strengthen it with a repeal of the 23rd Amendment, which, I am proud to say, was never ratified by my home state of Georgia.

2012 Goals

2012-01-16T15:27:00.000-05:00

Okay, stealing the idea for this post from Shawn Stratton's Blog and his post of the same title, I am posting a list of my major goals for the year (along with some of the minor ones). Like Shawn, I don't really do New Year Resolutions all that often, but I do set goals and swear oaths.

As the below goals get completed, they may be replaced with newer goals. This is especially true of the Health & Fitness and Professional goals.

What's Cooking: Steak & Onions

2012-01-11T21:42:00.000-05:00

Evening, folks. I'm going to try a new segment called What's Cooking, where I will share what I'm cooking, and how I'm doing it. I will also try to post pictures to a web album, so you visual people can get a better idea of what's going on.

Tonight's dish is Steak & Onions which is one of the things we do with the London Broil(Top Round) that comes as part of our package from the meat market. This is about as simple as we make it, as we always have onions in the house. Feel free to add mushrooms or strips of peppers to this dish, we do. This dish is a low-carb dish and is suitable for paleo/primal diets/lifestyles.

Cast Iron Skillets

2012-01-10T12:11:00.000-05:00

As I get back into my paleo/primal/low-carb diet/lifestyle after a break of a few months, which I realise now was a huge mistake, I realise I should do an article on cast iron cookware, specifically, the skillets that I use to prepare so much of my food. This morning, the small skillet was finally re-seasoned to the point that not a bit of egg stuck. So, I feel now is the perfect time to go over the care and use of cast iron skillets.

Spaghetti Meat-Sauce [Paleo Friendly]

2012-01-06T11:06:00.000-05:00

Greetings folks, I know it's been a while, so I thought I would post a recipe of mine. My famous Cheap & Easy Spaghetti Meat-Sauce recipe. It's not quite ‘from scratch’ as it uses sauce packets, making it easy for those of you getting started in your adventures in cooking. Keep in mind, this is a thick meat sauce (almost like a chili), and is hearty enough to be eaten alone for those of you on low-carb diets, such as Paleo or Primal.

The Goldilocks Zone in NE Cosmology

2011-11-16T06:14:00.001-05:00

We are currently searching for life on other planets by trying to first identify planets in the Goldilocks Zone, a region of space in a given solar system not so close to central star as to be too hot, but not so far from it as to be too cold.

Assume for a moment that there is advanced intelligent life out there, and such beings have visited Earth in the past and found primitive man. After working out a pidgin in which to communicate, early man asks the visitors something along the lines of why are you here? or how did you find us?.

A Scout Is Thrifty

2011-10-05T13:18:00.000-04:00

As a youth, I was heavily involved in the Scouting program and as a scout, I swore an Oath to, among other things, do my best […] to obey the Scout Law and keep myself […] mentally awake and morally straight. The Scout Oath is a personal one, it is not to the country, to BSA, or even to the troop. It is the scout's Oath to himself, and is "on [his] honor". As such, it is for the scout to handle should he break his oath. I have broken my Oath — parts of it, anyway; but to break a part is to break the whole. My honour demands that I rectify this breach, by taking the Oath once again, living by it, and making amends where I can.

This article is directed specifically at young men and women from ages in their mid to late teens, and generally to the population as a whole. With this article I hope to help you understand some concepts that I "knew" as a teen, but did not understand. Concepts I did not understand until well after my lack of understanding got me in trouble. Hopefully, you will come to understand these concepts and avoid trouble.

Handling Wrong-Doing and Debt

2011-10-04T11:25:00.000-04:00

Handling Wrong-Doing: A Look at Both Sides of the Line.

I have not posted here in some time, and as I was reading through some older works, I came across this which I felt needed to be shared. What follows is a piece I wrote as a facebook note under my T. W. Hrafn page, which I use for my creative works (poems, stories, etc.). However, as not everyone has facebook, I felt I should repost it here, where it seems much more fitting. Aside from this new introductory paragraph and some formatting differences, the body of the work should be largely unchanged. Spelling issues found when editing the formatting here were corrected on the original post as well.The original post may be found here.

At some point, each of us will wrong another, and another will wrong us. Very likely, several instances of both will occur. We may try our best to avoid wronging others, but it will still happen, and we have no control over others wronging us. What I present here is how I view the relationships that form when one man wrongs another, as well what I see as the only moral way to handle such situations.

Sanity Check

2011-09-18T10:50:00.001-04:00

I'm writing this from our motel room as I look out the window at the ocean.

Many people have criticised us for going on a week long vacation to the beach when they know we are trying to pay back debts and save for a house. To them, and any else who wonder why we would take such an expensive trip when that money could be going somewhere more useful: if you've been focused on something for a long while, especially something tiring, like debt repayment, you need to take a break from time to time. You need to take a sanity check to keep you focused and keep you from burning out. This vacation is such a check.

As I sit here, my wife reading, the waves crashing outside, I can feel my energy, and my resolve, returning, rebuilding, and restoring. When we return in a week, we will all be the better for it, and our efforts towards repayment, preparing and saving redoubling. The weariness has been fading from our faces, and we find ourselves telling the other We needed this.

If you find yourself getting burnt out, take a sanity check; not so much that it works against what you have worked so hard to do, but enough that you can find your stride again, and reset the pace you once kept.

Celestial Greetings

2011-09-13T09:08:00.000-04:00

Most mornings, I get up early, shower, cook, eat, and leave for work before sunrise.

Often I will greet the moon (if still in the sky) and the sun when I first spot them in the day (especially while driving); just a simple good morning, Máni/Sunna typically.

This morning, however, I had greeted the moon (it seems that the likelihood of greeting is directly proportional to fullness) as normal however, a quarter hour later, when the sun rose directly behind me, rather than my usual, quiet greeting, I bellowed out loud and strong Good Morning, Sunna! Hail! Hail the Morning! Hail the New Day!

I rather surprised myself with my greeting, but it felt right, and I knew today would be a good day.

Our Current Tax System

2011-09-01T14:44:00.001-04:00

The following was written as part of a comment on one of my facebook statuses. It concerns only my thoughts on the tax code (spending is a separate issue for another post).

Our current tax system is a horrid thing that is riddled with loopholes purchased by lobbyists, most for corporations or entire industries. Our tax system is fragmented into different kinds of taxation to benefit one group over another. Our tax system is set up in such a way that for taxes on earned income, the more you earn, not only the more you pay, but the greater percentage. Lastly, our tax system is set up in such a way that it is possible that through write-offs, grants, subsidies, etc. it is possible to "pay" negative taxes, and actually receive tax money instead of paying it.

Read more »

Emergency Funds

2011-08-17T13:24:00.000-04:00

Soot Happens, and when it does, you need to be able to clean up; often, the bigger the mess, the more expensive it is to fix.

Yesterday, Soot Happened to me. I was driving to work and a red HOT COOLANT message displayed on my dashboard. I had been getting periodic LOW COOLANT messages and figured it had just gotten too low and bad on me for letting it. So I purchased some coolant and popped the hood (note: never do this in that order). The reservoir was over full with murky coolant, so I took it to the mechanic across the street so they could take a look at it, and probably flush the system for me.Several hours later, a leak was discovered in the seam of my radiator, and the whole thing needed to be replaced.

I had just been paid, and I had already spent most of my check on paying bills and debts, but there was enough technically available in the account to cover the expenses, but more bills to pay before the next check arrived, some already scheduled.

Enter: Emergency Funds.

A Paleo Lemonade

2011-07-30T23:34:00.000-04:00

In an attempt to find a good "relaxing drink" to have other than water, I decided to make a lemonade sweetened with raw, local honey. It turned out quite well, so I thought I would share the recipe I used, as well as the adjustments I plan on making in the future. Read more »

Sharing Your Path

2011-07-25T19:20:00.002-04:00

Each of us follows a path, several paths, really. We all follow our own path when it comes to our beliefs: spiritual, moral, economical, kink, what products we buy – every aspect of our life. Typically, we wish to share our path with others, some religious communities require it. There are several ways you can share your path/beliefs/brand-loyalty/way-of-doing-things, in this post I will share with you how I choose to share. You don't have to follow it, but I hope you'll at least listen to my methods, and hopefully see some wisdom in them.

People Like Me.

2011-07-23T19:31:00.000-04:00

I prefer to spend my time with people like me. The more like me a person is, the more I like to spend with him, or her. I like to spend time with people who think like I do, who have similar goals, and see the world in similar ways. With Luck I found someone very similar to and she agreed to spend the rest of her life with me. There are still differences, but they are differences we live with.

Read more »

A New Pledge

2011-07-16T12:31:00.002-04:00

Something I came up with this morning:

I pledge allegiance to the Constitution
Of these united States of America,
And to the republic, which it defines
For the several States, joined in union,
To protect Liberty and Justice for all.

Feel free to share, as long as my name (J. Kenzal Hunter, Sr.) and/or a link to this page is provided.

Frugal Living 1: Personal Hygiene

2011-07-11T08:11:00.000-04:00

This begins the first in a Frugal Living series I would like to do. Very little in this series will be things I am not doing myself, with occasional comments about things I plan to do, but am unable to at the moment for some reason.

I would like to make a small clarification before I begin. I note a difference between cheap, inexpensive and frugal.

Cheap items are something of shoddy craftsmanship (ofttimes manufactured) that are often inexpensive.
Inexpensive items are ones that do not much money to purchase. However, a number of cheap inexpensive items need to be replaced, some, such as disposable razors, or razor cartridges, are designed for limited use and need to be replaced quite often and the small expense adds up over time.
Frugal items may or may not be inexpensive and are rarely cheap. Some can have a hefty up-front cost, but due to better design and craftsmanship, these items (even the manufactured ones) are made to last, and can often be purchased second hand, mitigating a bit of that initial cost.

So Much and So Little

2011-07-08T07:01:00.002-04:00

It has been a while since my last post, almost five years. In that time so much and so little has happened. So I'll hit the highlights. I would also like to apologise that this will not be as lengthy a post as I would like, as I must go to work soon, where blogging sites are blocked by the company firewall. I'm going to be arriving later than I would like, but with my flexible schedule, this is not a problem.Read more »

Sluggish Freelance

2006-10-27T23:48:00.000-04:00

Well, I'm finally a official freelancer.

I picked up a job this past Sunday, I've been working on it all week, and wow, I had forgotten how much fun coding can be. I also learned how exhausting coding can be. This is the first time I've ever had a coding deadline that I really had to put in effort to meet. I was actually kind of surprised of how long it took me to complete the job.

Well... complete the job as much as I could. I'm having to work through another guy who actually has access to the server. Unfortunately, he is often busy and so I can not always get what I need right away. In fact, a whole section of this phase of the project is on hold until some updates can be made to the server. Such is Life, I suppose.

Even with all the stress, I'm having fun and it pays well. I love the fact that with this job, I get to exercise some of my creativity in my coding.

As a side note, I've also added in a chatterbox to this blog. Have fun.

Soot Happens, Cleaning Must Follow

2006-09-26T13:35:00.000-04:00

It has been a while since my last update. Mostly because I haven't been getting any hours at the forge. Though it is time to pack up and move on, that's no reason to stop this blog. In fact, I find it a wonderful oppurtunity to transform it into something else. Rather than letting Soot Happens be a blog of my life as a blacksmith, I will use it as a window to show you how I am doing in life in general.
Read more »

Life Happens

2006-08-15T10:11:00.000-04:00

Sorry about the long time since my previous post, but life happens.

I have now made my first real knife. It started out as a piece of a spring. I flattened it out, formed a full spring-hilt from the remainder, after grinding, I hardened the blade, tempered it, then, after sharpening, I have a finished knife. (Pictures to come soon)

I've also made my first blacksmith puzzle. It's one of the standard two horseshoes connected by two small chains with a large ring in the middle that at first does not appear to come off.

I plan making more puzzles, and I'm currently on the lookout for for a book on making this kind of puzzle (known as "Blacksmith Puzzles", "Tavern Puzzles", and "Pub Puzzles").

Soot Happens, and so do Injuries

2006-07-22T21:13:00.000-04:00

Ok, since my last post, I have aquired a number of injuries, as is bound to happen in this line of work.

First, a burn on my thumb, from a piece of steel I had removed from the fire and set on the anvil while I stoked my forge. The steel was probabbly around 700°F at the time I leaned against the anvil and my thumb came down to rest on the hot metal.

About a week later, I was doing a forge weld, and the 2000°F piece I was hammering jumped out of my tongs and landed on my bare arm on the way down (I could smell the singed arm hair).

Two or three days after that, I was using the belt grinder, my hand slipped and I got a nasty papercut from 80 grit sandpaper being rotatated by a machine pretty quickly.

Injuries happen in this line of work, but I hope that I don't ever get quite so many, or so harsh, in such a small amount of time ever again.

But as we all know, Soot Happens.

Holidays and Photos

2006-07-01T21:52:00.000-04:00

Today started the mountain's 4th of July Celebrations. This means that things were extreamly busy. I had several folks take pictures and it reminded me to post a link to my pictures.

So, to get to the pictures of me smithing, just click here:
Smithing Photos

Also, if you have any pictures of me smithing, please send them to Ksavalon+SmithingPictures@gmail.com