Author: Elaine

Dear AOL

Dear AOL,

I think it was so nice of you to send us that nifty plastic DVD case in the mail a few days ago. It didn’t take more than a few seconds to remove the stickers and the trash inside. I am not sure why you keep sending us stuff, when we have never been your customer, and are far outside of your customer target group, but the plastic DVD case was a winner. (I was about to write that you couldn’t pay us to use your service, but decided we are open to offers.) Anyway, thanks again.

Love, Elaine

Diminished

It has been decades since I was in an APA together with Anna Vargo, but I still remember distinctly my disappointment when she decided to drop out. I was distressed when I learned that she was seriously ill last fall, and grieved when I learned that she died last night. kinzel has a lovely tribute to a lovely person.

Horse Evolution

The Horse Evolution faq from Talk Origins discusses the evolution of horses: At this point in the early Eocene, equids were not yet very different from the other perissodactyl groups; the Hyracotherium genus includes some species closely related to (or even ancestral to) rhinos and tapirs, as well as species that are distinctly equine. [Note: the particular species that probably gave rise to the rest of the equids, H. vassacciense, may be renamed, perhaps to “Protorohippus”.]

Disabled Trackbacks and Pingbacks

I’ve disabled trackbacks and pingbacks due to receiving truly vile spam. I learned about it via PhotoMatt and immediately checked comments and trackbacks, finding some stomach turning entries which I immediately deleted. Evidently, Spam Karma has been updated to deal with trackback spam, so I installed it on both my weblog and Jack’s weblog. The trackback spam was sufficiently upsetting that I will just leave it turned off for a while, until I see if the Spam Karma fix works for other people.

Furnace Woes

Just in time for another cold snap, our furnace quit working again yesterday morning. The furnace guys worked on it an hour or so yesterday, consulting extensively on the cell phone, and when they left it was working. They are testing something for the next week or so, to see what the underlying problem might be.

I had planned on making Hot and Sour Soup last night before the furnace quit working, and it really hit the spot since the house was still warming up. I used a recipe that the NeonNurse provided in response to my request. I had always been intimidated by traditional Hot and Sour Soup recipes, but hers uses ingredients from standard American style grocery stores. Jack and I both enjoyed the results. I did skip putting in the shrimp, and will use less vinegar next time.

I am glad we didn’t put the space heaters away, though we haven’t had to resort to them again. It was two degrees Fahrenheit when I woke up this morning.