Better eyesight = tough times for the navy

I love reading about the unexpected, quirky little side effects that seemingly innocuous decisions lead to. I remember reading about 10 years ago that now that women are allowed in the Navy, fresh water usage was doubling, causing problems on boats at sea. The initial supposition was that the new women recruits were using more water. Turns out it was the fellows who were content to be stinky before. They were all washing up to be more presentable to the ladies!

Looks like the Navy has another predicament. The NY Times published an article today about how laser eye surgery is messing up the navy's ability to fulfill quotas for some very important job categories.
Many top-notch candidates who couldn't pass eye tests were resigned to boat jobs instead of the more desirable fighter positions. Now those with less than 20-20 vision can have surgery to qualify to fly. Which makes for a shortage of candidates for less desirable careers on boats and submarines.

The Naval Academy missed it's 120 quota for sub school by 22 candidates. Furthermore "Last year, 310 midshipmen competed for 272 flight training slots. Of those, 104 had undergone laser eye surgery." Without the surgery, there would be 206 vying for the 272 slots, and the other 104 would have looked elsewhere in the Navy and Marine Corps.

I had RK surgery in 2000. I love it. I can wake up in the middle of the night and see what time it is. I can skinny dip without squinting. The procedure the Navy for pilots uses is a little different. The doctor sliced a flap on my cornea and folded it down to perform the surgery. Navy brass are concerned that the flap will pop open in high-G flights, so they grind the cornea down, which leads to a longer healing period. Ack!

Olmos Park Pharmacy -

Holy monstrous pancake Batman- Betty bought the Olmos Park Pharmacy! Or something like that... I just read in the on-line MYSA.com posting of tomorrow's Brian Chasnoff Express News article that Betty is now leasing the restaurant side of the establishment, now to be referred to as Olmos Soda Fountain. A tenant for the pharmacy side hasn't been identified, yet.

You might recollect that OPP was listed on ebay last year. Dodd, the seller and pharmacist, commented back then that he was ready to go fishing a bit. He bought the pharmacy 16 years ago. At the time, Betty had been behind the counter for 20 years already.

I'm really excited for Betty. (Her birthday is November 4th. Mark your calendar)

I know where I'm having breakfast tomorrow.

Hot Love and Buttercup

Lately, I have been listening to an addictive CD called Hot Love put out by San Antonio's Buttercup. Buttercup is the brawn behind Grackle Mundy at the Wiggle Room. Their music is goofy, jangly and makes me happy. And it rattles around my brain all day. Like I said, it's addictive.

I didn't know that NPR has a "Song of the Day", but today's song is Hot Love! They even have Hot Love track on-line for you to listen to. It will make your day.

Fresh fruits and veggies

I am a member of two neighborhood vegetable co-ops. It's great. $10 bucks gets me a big box of fruits & veggies every other week. So I end up with two boxes since I belong to two of them. I bought a used vita-mixer, which is a blender on steroids, and I blend up a lot of delicious meals. Some are weird, like the cabbage-cucumber gazpacho. Not so good...

This morning I had a cold grapefruit, strawberry, peach, orange, apple, and lime smoothie. Yum. It was tangy and delicious.

The Express News published an article about Chuparrosa Farm which is a local farm that is also a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). Members support the place financially, and enjoy the fruits of harvest and other benefits including delivery options and an occasional members-only dining experience at the farm.

CSAs and Chuparrosa are interesting concepts. My co-ops shop at the veggie wholesalers (Most of which are clustered around 1500 S. Zarzamora), so what I get is arguably the same as what I could buy at HEB. The Chuparrosa members have the benefit of shaking the hand of Robin and Peter Bowman who grew the goodies. Check out the article by Loydean Thomas. There is also an associated list of all the Farmers Markets around San Antonio sorted by day of the week.

Gang of Pour's Vinegar making page

I dabbled in vinegar making for awhile. Once I got things started, I could just add a little wine from whatever was left over in the bottle. That was some excellent vinegar... easy, too.

Gang of Pour - So, You Wanna Make Vinegar, Eh?

The Joys of Kefir

I started making Kefir a few years back. Kefir is very much like yoghurt, but it is much easier to make. There's no boiling, cooling and worrying about everything being perfect. Basically, you just dump more milk on top of the leftovers from the previous batch, cover and leave out a day or two. I enjoyed it becasue it tasted good and because it provided a hhost of probiotics including lactobacillus acidophilus, which is the main good guy responsible for making yoghurt.

If you are interested in Kefir or Kefir-making, visit Dom's Kefir in-site. He's like the J.S. Peterman or Charlie Papazian of Kefir. He balance the romance, the histiry, the art, and the science of Kefir. His site is overflowing with interesting stuff. And also how to get started.

I ignored my kefir for a couple of weeks and effectively killed it. I don't recommend that.

Here's just a blurb from Dom:

"Kefir is a refreshing cultured-milk beverage, which originated many centuries ago, in the Northern Caucasus Mountains. The word kefir is derived from the Turkish word keif, which loosely translates to good feeling or feeling good.

Kefir has a uniform creamy consistency, a slightly sour refreshing taste, with a mild aroma resembling fresh yeast. Kefir also has a slightest hint of natural effervescent zesty tang. There are an assortment of approx. 40 aromatic compounds, which contribute to the unique flavour and distinctive pleasant aroma of kefir.

Traditional authentic kefir can only be prepared by culturing fresh milk with Kefir grains. Kefir grains are not to be mistaken for cereal grains this is to say that the grain part of the name is a misnomer. Kefir grains, or kefir granules if you wish, are in fact a natural-starter or natural-mother-culture. "