Four Random Things
Friday, July 10, 2026
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| Screen capture by the author. |
2. A recent post at GeekPress notes that $180,000 isn't a "living wage" in San Francisco, reminding me of my move, soon after the 2008 financial crisis, to Boston.
Still reeling from the sticker shock of moving from a three bedroom house ten minutes away from work in Houston for $1000 a month -- to an apartment the size of a matchbox in Boston for $3500 a month -- I would regularly meet people at biotech networking events who had just moved from San Francisco to save money!
On the positive side, since my wife needed to be within a short commute to the hospital for her residency, we were able to ditch our cars altogether since that part of town was very walkable and well-served by subways.
3. On long road trips, my wife and I enjoy listening to audiobooks. Unfortunately, our road trips are usually far shorter than they used to be, now that we're New Orleanians. A possible remedy for us might be The Escape Pod, a science fiction podcast for short stories. (Based on a cursory look, they seem to be in the 30-60 minute range.)
I learned about the Escape Pod by reading and enjoying "Why I Left Harry's All-Night Hamburgers," which I recommend.
And yes, each story is available for reading at the site.
4. If, as I do, you occasionally take a "liver holiday," you might want to peruse this article and discussion on what makes a good mocktail.
-- CAV
5 comments:
If you like mocktailes there are a few that I regularly drink and can heartily recommend:
First is a cafe shakerato. Not really a mocktail--it's a traditional Italian espresso drink in its own right--but it provides a similar ritual to many alcoholic drinks. You take a double shot of espresso (I make mine using a small moka pot), put it in a shaker with ice and a bit of sugar, and shake it vigorously for a while--30-45 seconds minimum. Then pour into a martini glass. It's cool, sweet, more dilute than espresso, and the shaking gives it a silky texture.
One tip: Use relatively fresh coffee beans. I get pre-ground beans monthly from a small roasting company, and they work great. Folgers does not work so well. You need the fresh oils to make the texture.
That small roasting company--Whiskey Morning Coffee--also has straight coffee that fits into this category. They age their dark roast beans in bourbon barrels, which imparts a bourbon flavor without the alcohol. It tastes exactly like you put a healthy slug of good bourbon in your coffee, but again, no alcohol. I don't recommend folks drink this while driving; it's legal, but explaining it to the cops is going to be difficult. But on a slow Saturday or Sunday morning it's an absolute delight.
The third is a sweet tea old fashioned. Basically make it as you would an old fashioned, but use cooled tea instead of bourbon. I've used a jasmine green tea for this, mostly because my wife likes it so we had a pitcher of it on hand, and it's pretty good. Lapsang souchong--a smoked tea--works as well if you want more smoky/bitter flavors.
can you give us the permanent link to the ongoing game itself? I was able to access today's game but once I did it it vanished.
Thanks for these! The sweet tea old-fashioned is particularly interesting as I am already a fan of lapsang souchong.
The link is https://18words.com/ .
After playing this again, I noticed that you'll need to reload the 18 Words game page to get a new game or play the archives.
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