Text 16670, 97 rader
Skriven 2007-06-11 11:59:11 av Ruth Haffly (1:396/45.28)
     Kommentar till en text av Glen Jamieson
Ärende: PICNIC TRIP 70609
=========================
Hi Glen,

 RH> We had to keep a hurricane "evac kit" in HI and now here.  Never
 RH> needed it in HI.  It was basically food, water, batteries, radio,
 RH> clothes, meds, type stuff we kept in a heavy duty plastic box.

 GJ> Those boxes tend to get raided when someone is out of batteries or
 GJ> similar.  Then they forget to renew them - until the next cyclone
 GJ> season reminders.

Actually, ours stayed pretty much intct. I'd check before the start of
each season and rotate out foods about ready to expire, adding fresh
stuff as needed.  I always kept a mental list of what we'd need to add
at the last minute kind of things (meds, clothes, etc) but never needed
to.

 GJ> their "strong room", where the family can sit out a Cat 5.  Houses
 GJ> these days are designed to withstand Cat 4, but with one room -

 RH> Sounds like the one room in our quarters (concrete block) in HI.  It
 RH> was too small for a bedroom, a bit on the big side for a closet and was
 RH> on the 2nd floor at the top of the stairway. We always figured it was

 GJ> Some Darwin houses are 2 storey, but the safe room is always on the
 GJ> ground floor - usually the laundry.  Those people who live in the

Our laundry area was just an alcove off the kitchen.  We figured this
upstairs room would keep us out of water should there be flooding; Hi,
as well as GA, has a pretty high wter table.


 GJ> older style houses which were lucky enough to have survived previous
 GJ> cyclones can retreat to the nearest shopping centre, where underground
 GJ> car parks serve as very effective shelters.

Very little of that either her or in HI but I can see where they would
make great storm shelters.


 GJ> poles attached to fire hydrants to show their location when covered by
 GJ> deep snow, so that snow plows can avoid them, show clever thinking.

 RH> All those things are somewhat of a help.  A pitched roof also doesn't
 RH> allow snow to build up on it for the most part; one of Steve's
 RH> brother's had to shovel off his roof after one of the storms this past

 GJ> I have seen un-pitched roofs in the north, where snow damage has
 GJ> occurred, bending and breaking gutters.  The "Tudor style" houses are
 GJ> better designed for dealing with snow.

And they fit the charater of the area better.  That style of house would
look funny in AZ.



 GJ> certainly appear to be very skillful and innovative.

 RH> Very much so!  Steve was wondering how much advance notice the
 RH> challenger chefs get before coming on to the show and if they've any
 RH> idea of what the "secret" ingredinet is supposed to be. Some seem to
 RH> have a bit of foresight as they bring kitchen tools and plating things
 RH> that would be appropriate to that show's secret ingredient but not
 RH> others.

 GJ> I have noticed that the "Chairman" in the Iron Chef show always makes
 GJ> his dramatic introductory speeches in Japanese, with sub-titles, while
 GJ> everyone else's voices are dubbed into English.  An American version
 GJ> of Iron Chef was shown here for a while, but it was light on cooking
 GJ> technique and high on personality pushing, and didn't last long.

OK, the original Japanese ones, we heard everything with a voice over. I
think it takes twice as long to say something in Japanese as English so
they would be talking long after the translator stopped.  I like the
American ones out now; some of the dishes look like they could be done
in the average home kitchen.  There are others that are still too
"frou-frou" for me to even think about. (G)



 RH> I'd love to have their pantry and cooking tools. (G)

 GJ> Yes - and the support staff!

Very much so!  I usually sous chef for Steve but he's not always around
to help me. Just having the couple of extra people is a big help in a
time crunched situation.

---
Catch you later,
Ruth
rchaffly@earthlink.net  FIDO 1:396/45.28


... Is this a Kodak moment or a Maalox moment?

--- PPoint 3.01
 * Origin: Sew! That's My Point (1:396/45.28)