Oh yummmmm!

27 04 2007

I just discovered Rouxbe.com (pron. ‘ruby’)! Wow!

To just say that Rouxbe has online videos of food preparation would be doing this very professional and beautiful site a disservice. At the moment, all the recipe and ‘drill-down’ videos are free, but soon a subscription model will apply – some $50 US per year or $99  for a lifetime membership.

As of today, there are already some 80+ videos available that take you through each step of the cooking process for a recipe, from preparation to final presentation. In addition, there are as some 100+ free ‘drill-downs’ which describe ingredients you may have heard of but don’t know what they are, or that demonstrate various cooking tips and techniques.

You will need headphones/speakers to get the most out of these *gorgeous* videos.

Yummo!


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Categories : Food & Wine

If I was a Klingon…

24 04 2007

Today, on one of my tech writer lists, someone posted a link to this website where the rules of Klingon tech writing are documented.

In case this list ever disappears, gets moved, whatever, I’ve reproduced it here, with thanks to whoever put it together! (My favourite is #4.)

Klingon Technical Writers
The top 16 things likely to be overheard if you had Klingon technical writers working on your documentation team:

  1. Klingons do not sit in meetings, we take what we want and kill anyone who opposes us!
  2. Certification?! Taking your head and putting it on a pike in my office is all the certification I need!
  3. I will return to the homeworld and my documentation will arise triumphant in the STC Documentation Gauntlet, leaving all others drowning in their own dangling modifiers. It will be glorious!!
  4. Not returning my review copies by the agreed deadline is a declaration of war. Indeed, it is a good day to die.
  5. These software specifications are for the weak and timid!!
  6. This version of Word is a piece of GAGH! I need the latest version of Framemaker if I am to do battle with this manual.
  7. You cannot really appreciate Dilbert unless you’ve read it in the original Klingon.
  8. Indentation?! I will show you how to indent when I indent your skull!
  9. What is this talk of “drafts”? Klingons do not make document “drafts”. Our documents escape, leaving a bloody trail of SMEs in its wake!
  10. Passive voice is a sign of weakness. Its elimination will be quick.
  11. Proofreading? Klingons do not proofread. Our documents are purified with pain-sticks which cleanses the documents of impurities.
  12. I have challenged the entire Marketing and R&D team to a Bat-Leh contest! They will not concern us again.
  13. A TRUE Klingon warrior riddles his document with bullets, leaving it to beg for mercy.
  14. By changing the layout of my manual, you have challenged the honor of my family. Prepare to die!
  15. You question the worthiness of my grammar? I should kill you where you stand!
  16. Our users will know fear and cower before our suite of manuals and online help! Ship it! Ship it and let them flee like the dogs they are!

Comments : 3 Comments »

Categories : Business/Work, Technical writing

Balingup Small Farm Field Day

23 04 2007

A friend and I drove to Balingup (about 20 mins away) on Saturday morning to go to our first Small Farm Field Day. We got there just after 10:15 and it was already crowded. Just to put the size of the crowd into perspective, Balingup is a small town of around 800 people and some 10,000-15,000 people attend the Small Farm Field Day!

Balingup Small Farm Field Day

There were heaps and heaps of stalls with all sorts of things to see, taste, and buy – small farm machinery, animals (Lowline cattle [cute!], miniature horses, alpacas, chickens, puppies…), local food and wine, local clothing and crafts, a ‘food hall’ area, a stage with bands playing all day, native and exotic plants, etc. etc. It was a gorgeous day and quite hot.

Lowline bulls

For lunch we sampled two varieties of lamb -my friend had a roast lamb and gravy roll from The Lamb Van which she said was the most delicious she’d ever had, and I had a lamb kebab/souvlaki with hot chilli sauce from the BBQ Lamb stand.

Roast lamb and gravy roll from The Lamb Van

For more photos from the day, see pages 9-11 in this photo album.


Comments : 2 Comments »

Categories : Life stuff

Wondering who you all are…

21 04 2007

I’ve been writing my blog for just over a year now, and in that time I’ve written over 200 posts.

The thing that fascinates me most, though, is who my readers are. I know some of you: Suzanne in Tasmania, Char in Massachusetts, Craig from Melbourne now in Seattle, Karen in Denmark, TFP in Western Australia, Whitney in Connecticut… But who are the rest of you? I average between 20 and 50 hits a day on my blog, but less than one comment a day, so somebody is reading something as I’ve had over 5000 hits since I started last March (2006). And some of you are reading regularly as I average between 10 and 20 feed readers per day too.

Now, some of those hits can be explained by the randomness of people finding me via search engines when they are looking for the “best blueberry muffin recipe” (that post alone is my ‘top performer’, with nearly 2000 hits as at this morning). But not all.

So who are you, my regular (and not so regular) readers? Curious minds want to know…

 


Comments : 3 Comments »

Categories : Blogging

Smart wizard?

16 04 2007

… I don’t think so!

David Pogue, the NY Times technology guru/columnist had something to say about the complexities in setting up a home network, but really it was a rant about the overblown “Wizard” he was faced with when trying to install some Netgear hardware.

One reading his post, it sounds as though everyone from the developers to the lawyers had input into the Wizard – everyone, that is, except the tech writer or “user experience” (UX) expert! An hour of the tech writer or UX person’s time could have dramatically improved this Wizard… such a small price to pay – and much cheaper than lawyers!


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Categories : Business/Work, Technical writing

Update on quilt workshop

16 04 2007

I had a lovely weekend doing something quite challenging, yet at the same time, meditative – quilting. We had about 11 ladies at the workshop, held by the delightful Michelle from Raggedy Stitches. The photo below is of the almost completed quilt top, with backing and wadding attached with pins. Not bad for two days – especially considering those origami-like things in the middle were very time-consuming to fold. Oh, and it rained buckets yesterday, which we were all delighted with. Maybe some of those dams will start to fill up now…

My quilt (unfinished)

Completed Mayflower quilt

Completed Mayflower quilt (added 30 May 2007)

Folded flower detail

Detail of 3D folded flower (added 30 May 2007)


Comments : 1 Comment »

Categories : Life stuff, Quilts and fabric stuff

Bank makes good

13 04 2007

Back in February, I wrote about the stuff up our bank made with the Settlement on our house. Long story, short – I wrote a letter of complaint via our Mortgage Broker, the bank contacted me last week, and we got the valuation fees refunded this week. Tristan at the bank admitted they sat on the formal documentation for over two weeks without doing anything, which is what caused the delay. So, as a matter of good faith, they were refunding the fee.

It’s nice to know that sometimes a large enterprise admits they were at fault.


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Categories : Business/Work

Giving something back

12 04 2007

I make good use of sites such as Wikipedia and EatingWA (a Perth/West Australian restaurant reviewing site), so thought it was time to give back and contribute to both. My efforts to date have been very modest – a few restaurant reviews, and some editing of the Bridgetown, WA entry on Wikipedia – but I hope to contribute more, especially editing typos in Wikipedia! I use my “sandgroper14” identity for both.


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Categories : Life stuff

Quilt Workshop

9 04 2007

I’m off to a quilting workshop this coming weekend. I haven’t done any quilting in ages so it will be nice to do some with a group of like-minded people. It’s local too, so I don’t need to travel more than 5 minutes to get there – very handy in case I forget to take something and need to dash home!

A lady from Perth is coming down and we’re making a “Mayflower” quilt – see under Quilts and Bags on her website (http://www.raggedystitches.com/), page 2. I’ve usually done my own designs, so I don’t know how I’ll go with this… And it’s got flowers!!! Those who know me well, know that I’m not into lace and frills and flowers (unless the flowers are in a garden or a photo).

So I think I’ll make the quilt and leave the flowers till last. Maybe I won’t put them on, or just put them on loosely so I can remove them later. I’ve picked out my fabrics – lots of deep maroons and greens and creams. And no florals!!


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Categories : Life stuff, Quilts and fabric stuff

Comfort Food 10: Lamburgers

9 04 2007

Our local butcher, Greg (Bridgetown Meat Supply, near IGA), makes these delicious minced lamb patties with cheese and mustard. I flatten them out into burgers and cook them up with a slew of onions and fresh chilli if I have it – I cook them so it’s like they’re BBQ’ed – then slap them inside a really crusty bread roll with a good smear of a yellow mustard seed and chilli spread, a slice of cheese, thinly sliced tomatoes, cucumber, and lettuce. Yummy!

Lamburgers


Comments : 2 Comments »

Categories : Food & Wine

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