Something like your frozen entree (meal) is designed to heat and cook effectively and thoroughly over a specified time when placed in an environment at an identified temperature. Ovens will vary as to the amount of time they require to preheat to that temperature and with size of the space, the distance to the heating element may vary. These variables make it hard for the manufacturer to define how long to prescribe heating from a cold oven state. There is the possibility that you can develop hotspots on the container when heating from cold as the elements typically come on full blast until the desired temperature range is approached (and thereafter they just cycle to maintain the temperature setting). If you are cooking one that is in a non-metallic container (paper or plastic) the hotspot effect could create a fire hazard or release of compounds from the container into the food that you do not want.

Here we are again with how conditions can always be modified and best procedures determined with some experimentation. Expect some good and maybe some not as great results until you figure it out for your particular equipment and what product you are using. You can certainly come up with some alternative ways of heating these frozen meals.

I know my results with frozen pizzas (in the past) and even in dealing with U-bake pizzas like those available from take-out chains have caused me to modify cooking procedures to get better results than the regular instructions.

Was it Half-Cocked?

http://www.badlit.com/?p=518
http://www.dvdinmypants.com/reviews/H-N/halfcocked.php
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109975/

Do your whole beans smell like good coffee before you grind them, or do they smell like nothing themselves? If you can't smell anything, then even though they are from a new package, they are old and ergo tasteless. Starbucks roasts in just 4 places in the country, so who knows how long your beans sat on the shelf before you bought them? Also, the unidirectional valve on your vacuum pack may have malfunctioned, letting oxygen into the beans and aging them more quickly.

It's also possible that your grinder is generating so much heat as the beans are being ground that the beans are burned in the process. Do your grounds come out feeling hot? and do they smell like coffee then?

Basically, I'd try getting some nice, freshly roasted coffee that smells good in bean form. Then, start going from step to step in the process of making a cup of coffee and see/smell where that odor disappears. If the grounds smell strong before you brew, but the coffee is tasteless, modify your grind. If they lose aroma after being ground, check your grinder or borrow a friend's to see if that fixes it.

One last thing: if your beans smell fine after being ground but you're still getting weak, tasteless coffee, it's quite possible that you're not adding enough coffee grounds to your press. The amount of coffee/press used should be measured by weight (ideally) or volume, not "this is what my grinder cranked out in 15 seconds" as that amount can vary widely for numerous reasons. Add more grounds and try that--if it's too strong, add hot water to dilute. Don't just increase brew time, or you'll get bitter brown water.

"Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened."
Anatole France (1844-1924)

The essence of this sentiment, that is not explained in the brief and elegant words is to have a relationship, a recognition, a shared existence and high regard, a bonded trust with an animal.

I get the impression you realize the less than complete ideal environment your room provides, but you are willing to call it home when not otherwise involved in life. Perhaps it is not a great location to ask another being to call home all of the time. The place where you want to keep your possible future pet and the time you have to devote to it appear better suited to managing a healthy self-contained environment where an animal that does not necessarily bond with you as important, can live, solitarily or ideally with others of its own kind - like an aquarium. You become involved with having to gain the knowledge and procedures to design, set up and maintain a healthy and working biosphere where beings can live and coexist. It requires work and dedication. You gain the presence of animals that depend on your skill and dedication, and the movement and presence of an aquatic environment can be very relaxing and enjoyable for you. However, this is a situation that makes you more of an observer than a participant.

Having an animal that you can play and interact with suggests a much higher level of awareness. Such an animal that could interact with you when you are there would find a lonely existence all the time you are gone. A huge gauge of success in doing right by a pet is not for it to merely live, but to thrive, that is to prosper and enjoy life - to have challenges, surprises, tasks, routines, and the occasional treats that make one moment in life different from another.

You don't mention the relationship with the feline and canine residents of your house. My thought is to work to building a relationship with one of them. They presumably have a complete life there already, but one of them might find you to be the best thing happening when you are around. Then you will have that friend that will be happy to see you when you arrive and choose to hang out and interact with you when you are home.

One method to preserve them for cooking would be to simply freeze them. Wash and pat them dry and put them in a zip lock baggie, then put them in your freezer. Be sure to use them up in a reasonably short time for best flavor. You can chop or shred them before freezing if that is the form you will use to add them to a soup, or dish you are cooking.

For having fresh basil on hand I have a suggestion for you. Buy one or two basil plants at a local nursery or store with a plant department to grow on a window sill, garden window or deck. Nothing is as good as picking your own fresh basil leaves to put in what your are fixing for that meal.

They play in the Northern Pacific Hockey League (NORPAC).

Here is the story of their loss to the Oregon Spartans this year in the championship series (Cascade Cup).

http://norpac.pointstreaksites.com/view/norpac/news-59/news_45277

The last line reads:

"The Southern Oregon Spartans and Seattle Totems will both be heading to the USA Hockey National Championship Tournament in Rochester, Minnesota which will be held March 30-April 3"

Everyone should know how high paper burns at thanks to fiction- 451

I'm assuming you aren't heating the oven higher than that since plastic will burn at a much lower temp, and you're just trying to melt it. You'll be fine

The effect of the coefficient of thermal expansion for liquids and specifically gasoline appears from internet research to be less than 1.5% over a temperature range (rise) of 27° F. I suspect the difference in temperature between the liquid in underground storage and ambient air temperature is not that great and so the effect would be less than that.

Keeping your tank filled to its natural shut off point by the pump mechanism (so you are not overfilling it) will give you some savings if the price per gallon is increasing each time you go to add gasoline.

You would do far more for yourself and realize more savings in gasoline if you made sure your engine was properly tuned up, oil changed at appropriate intervals, air filters were clean, and that you maintained correct air pressure in your tires (this is a actually a big one).

The ultimate savings would come from reducing your use of your vehicle, combining trip purposes to conserve fuel use, and sharing costs by carpooling with others.

My short answer for you is that I don't know, I'm not an oceanographer and I haven't the foggiest idea how cyclones and weather patterns around the Pacific affect the Washington Coast.

I'll tell you this, however. Nobody is "surfing"-surfing in Seattle. There is a dedicated group of outdoorsy folks on the water at Surf Ballard, many of them are "Stand Up Paddleboard" or SUP enthusiasts. http://surfballard.com/ This form of surfing doesn't require any waves, which is good because there really aren't any on Puget Sound. The inland waters of Western Washington are too protected to allow any ocean breakers in through the Strait of Juan de Fuca and down Admiralty Inlet.

Westport, Washington in Grays Harbor County is the surfing capital of the Evergreen State however. There are some killer waves out there, and you'll find hardy guys and gals in wetsuits year-round. I'm told by my boyfriend, a Westport native, that the waves in the winter aren't typically the best, but lots of people like winter surfing in Westport because it's less crowded. Westport is a great place to visit, it's one of the last places left of what I'd call "Old Washington," where lots of people still make their living off the land, and the tourists haven't ruined it yet. If you've never been, it's definitely worth a visit. http://www.westportgrayland-chamber.org/

Also, Tofino, British Columbia on Vancouver Island is another nearby surfer's haven. Tofino is also a popular destination for storm watchers. I know Canadians who have travelled throughout Canada and swear that Tofino is the most beautiful place in their entire country. Might be worth a visit someday, http://www.gotofino.com/

Wide World Books and Maps in Wallingford should have copies of the British Columbia Recreational Atlas, a large format book covering the entire province. Or maybe one of the other equivalent atlases; there's one for just SW BC. None of them are as good as the DeLorme atlases for US states. Tear out the pages with the island on it. It's not going to be a whole lot better than the International Travel one, though -- I think it's 1:200,000, while the IT is 1:250,000.

I've looked at the IT maps, and I would think they'd suffice for cycling. Once you get out of Victoria, Vancouver Island is pretty simple. Alternately, you could print screens of Google Maps of the tricky parts to supplement the atlas or IT maps.

Best of all would be to buy the 1:50,000 topographical sheet maps from the Canada Map Office (the equivalent of our USGS sheets), but that's going to be expensive. It looks like Vancouver Island is covered by parts of seven different sheets, at $12 a pop, ouch. Wide World can order them for you, though. A cheaper way is to print them yourself, for free, but you'll have to figure out how to navigate the remarkably obtuse system here:

http://geogratis.gc.ca/geogratis/en/product/search.do?id=08F1CB77-F351-0F8A-EF30-CA081CA0CE61

I just got my last tattoo at the woman owned Damask Tattoo in Queen Anne http://damasktattoo.com/. The artist was Suzanna Fisher and she did an awesome job. The space is very comfortable and definitely woman friendly.

Wide World Books and Maps in Wallingford has everything you need.

There are no pictures of "foreclosures" as they are usually purchased "sight unseen" at The Courthouse Steps. Short Sales and Bank Owned property are pre-foreclosure or post-foreclosure, and can and will appear on any brokerage site.

I saw a rental property last week that had a wood floor in the 1/2 bath and a picture of the toilet, toilet paper, and a very gross stain directly in front of the toilet. No excuse for that one. When I went to the property, I would have to say the picture was an "accurate depiction" of exactly how it looked in person. :)

For an REO post-foreclosure, bank owned property, they don't want anyone claiming that anything was misrepresented. They want no after sale claims that they "didn't know" and they are often low priced "as is" sales, with no repairs to be made by the seller prior to closing. My guess is it is that type of sale and they are making it clear that the buyer will be taking it "as is" with these considerable negative issues.

Not all property sold is pretty, and not all sellers are willing to fix things. This sounds like a listing where they are making it clear that they are not going to be fixing anything, including but not limited to the many items they chose to bring to light in the photos.

The test is are the photos an accurate depiction of what the home looks like. Worse is when they photo-shop out the negatives. Truth is always best.

The answer lies pretty much individually with each shoe thrower.

http://www.snopes.com/crime/gangs/sneakers.asp

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoe_tossing

I did enjoy finding out that there is a term used by some for this: "shoefiti".

It's possible to make money but you have to be comfortable with the possibility that you will lose some or all of your investment. The main criteria of whether you should buy individual stocks is not whether it's possible to make money, but whether you are comfortable with the greater risk that you will lose the money you invest. 401(k)s, IRAs, and index and mutual funds also carry some risk, but because they are diversified the rate of return (and perceived risk) has historically been better; however nothing is guaranteed unless it's FDIC or NCUA insured.

There are many reasons rich people have a lot of money invested in the stock market - in general, they started out rich and can afford to lose the money; they can afford to hire a commission-based investment broker, who also has a personal interest in maximizing returns; they can buy many shares which provides more opportunity to make a profit at marginal gains; they can sell poorly-performing stocks at a loss to offset income; and the capital gains tax rate is much lower (max 15%) than the ordinary income tax rate (max 35%) at this time. The stock has to be held for more than one year to qualify as long-term for the capital gains tax rate, and it's possible that congress could change the capital gains tax regulations.

I think if you have enough money to max out your annual 401k and/or IRA contributions, and have 6 months of living expenses in a savings account that you can easily access, and have extra money that wouldn't break your heart if you lost it, and treated stock investing as a hobby instead of a potential income source, you could have fun with it if you are comfortable with the risk. I think E-Trade is a popular site for self-investors but I've never researched it - really they just advertise a lot so I've heard of them. I don't know anything about minimums or fees involved.

I will say that one benefit investing in stocks has over gambling is that even if you lose all your money you can use up to $3,000 of a net capital loss to offset your income on your tax return, which could potentially save you a few hundred dollars in taxes depending on your tax rate. So there is that one advantage over going to a casino.

First you need to be signed up on the national DO NOT CALL registry.
https://www.donotcall.gov/
Be sure to read through the website to thoroughly understand what kind of calls may still come through to your phone.

After you are officially registered for 31 days you should see a reduction in the number of calls you get. This, of course, does not stop the people that are willing to break the law and robo-call you with these bogus sales deals and other offers. If you can, get their phone number off of Caller ID (it may be a cloned or bogus number anyway), but be sure to register a complaint every time you get one of these. It is the only way that the data about these crooks builds up to generate an investigation and catch these guys.
https://complaints.donotcall.gov/complaint/complaintcheck.aspx?panel=2

If you want to read recent news about enforcement actions and reports generated go to this site:
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/donotcall/mediacenter.html

I am getting more of these over the last few months also, so you are not alone.

It is important to report every instance so that these folks are investigated, found and charged.

The important distinction here to make is that the retrofitting of your older brick building has been done to ensure the survivability of the residents not that the structure itself is going to be undamaged. That is, that the building will maintain enough structural integrity to not collapse in the event of a seismic event. Prior to the retrofit your building would have been termed an "unreinforced masonry building" (URM). These structures tend to crumble and fall apart with seismic shaking. With those fittings and cables providing tension and forces to keep the structure together during an earthquake the living spaces have a much better chance of maintaining integrity for the survivability of the people within. I would suggest your term of being "earthquake proof" is only applicable for minor to maybe some medium level events (some that would have taken the building down before retrofit). The very high scale of the possible events for this area are going to cause significant damage to many if not most structures that are of significant age.

Reutte covers the points about the strength and depth issues of quakes and how that affects movment. The point missing was that the Nisqually quake was centered some 40 or more miles away from Seattle. Liquefaction not only might cause some sinking but more importantly can magnify movement at the surface. There are many areas of Seattle built on filled areas that can experience this other significant effect of ground movement.

I assume you understand the how the magnitude moment numbers work, but for those who don't that magnitude 9.0 event will be 1000 times greater than a 7.0 event. (The 2001 Nisqually earthquake was eventually rated at 6.8.)
See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moment_magnitude_scale

This document is the report of a 2007 survey of URM buildings:
http://www.seattle.gov/dpd/news/URMfinalreport.pdf
It will not answer your question per se but you can get the scale of what possible damage is likely to be the result of a big event.

I assume that the specifications of the retrofit done on your building would be the best information to consult and should be available with some research. I would suggest contacting the Seattle Department of Planning and Development to start and see what you can find out about your building.

http://www.seattle.gov/dpd/

You could always try placing an ad on a local bulletin board or the local rag offering your services in a modest fashion. Were you thinking of buying a truck emblazoned with the company logo, or what? There's a big difference between the kid who mows your lawn and the guy who has a fleet of trucks. Perhaps your insurance agent would have some insights, as they've seen and heard it all---or should have! I'm not a lawyer, but I'm sure that whatever city you're in has plenty of permits and licenses they'll be willing to sell you. Sadly, I fear a lot of ivy owners think it's just grand. In other parts of the country that is certainly true. If you are VERY bold, you could do a door knocking at one of those houses with rampaging ivy and offer your services. This approach is unlikely to net you much cash, as it comes as a not-so-veiled insult.

Could it be Guaymas? That's a town in Mexico, on the Gulf of California. There were a few other Mexican destinations on that list. Guaymas isn't a big tourist destination that I'm aware of--at least not these days--but some of the Mexican resort towns that are popular now weren't as developed pre-1980 (when Hughes Airwest was bought out by Republic), so maybe it was more so back then.

The Webtender has a section called "In My Bar" that allows you to designate what you have on hand and then generates a list of possible drinks and their recipes.

Drink Studio narrows your range of possible cocktails when you insert your ingredients in a list.

Cocktail Builder does something similar listing how many ingredients are missing for named drinks and when you click on the name the full list shows up.

That's three possibilities to try out. 

Sounds like you're missing the sugar. I make a German-style mulled wine, called Glühwein, and it uses a bit of sugar to balance out the tartness. The recipe I use is: two bottles of cheap-but-decent wine (around 5.99 or so range); slice one orange, one lemon, mash them in the pot a bit to get some juice out; stick of cinnamon; a few cloves; perhaps also some allspice, and about half a cup of confectioner's sugar. Quite delish. (Optional: add a shot of amaretto or rum for an extra kick - "Glühwein mit schuss".)

I second slathering on a good cream/lotion and wearing gloves - during the winter I'll do this with cheap stretchy gloves as much as I can (like on the bus) and it really helps.

There are a lot of good creams to try - people like CeraVe moisturizing cream, which is usually sold in a big tub. It has hyaluronic acid (sodium hyaluronate) which I've found to be a really great moisturizer, although I haven't tried CeraVe. I had a hydrating serum with hyaluronic acid that I was using on my face and my boyfriend asked if he could use it too - turns out he was using it on his dry hands. He said it helped a lot but when I told him the serum was $20 for a tiny bottle he freaked out.

I got a tube of Eucerin Plus Hand Repair Cream, and we use that all the time - it absorbs really fast, so it's a great hand lotion to keep with you and put on whenever you can. It does have some AHAs, which will make your skin more sensitive to UV, so you're supposed to avoid sunlight or use sunscreen. I also use ShiKai's Borage Therapy hand cream; it's nice but does leave a greasy finish so I usually put it on when I can put some gloves on. Both of these are unscented, which I prefer because I'm sensitive to a lot of perfumes, and they're both available at most drugstores including Bartells.

I'll also layer a lot - I'll put on the ShiKai cream, let it sink in, then put something heavier and more occlusive on top, like Burt's Bees Almond Milk Hand Cream. The almond/cherry smell is pretty strong, so I'll probably find something else when that's used up. Something like a hand salve (Burt's Bees or Badger), Burt's Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle cream, or plain cocoa butter are also good for layering. You'll definitely want to put gloves on afterwards because your hands will be greasy.

The most important thing is to put a lotion or cream on after washing your hands as often as you can - that will help rebuild the skin barrier. Also try to make a habit of putting on lotion & gloves before and after work as a preventative measure.

you lucky girl!  i hope you're a size 2, because it's on SALE! there's a size 0 and a 6 here.  

that was a fun game!

I'm not an expert, but I don't think you can buy the house at this point. Whoever owns the house might still be able to get the house out of foreclosure, although I don't think that's likely with the bankruptcy. The institution that has the mortgage will have a lien and/or deed of trust, so they would also have to approve of any transfer of title to the property (if that's even possible). Also I think once the foreclosure process starts there are strict legal procedures that have to be followed.

It's possible that the people living in the house are not the owners - in King County you can look up info on property owners on the KC Parcel Viewer. Once you get into the property information you can click on "Property Tax Bill" to see the owners' mailing address (if they don't live in the house) and see if they're current on the taxes. If they're behind on the taxes, I'm pretty sure whoever buys the property would be responsible for paying the back taxes.

If the house does go to a foreclosure auction, I think you need to have the entire amount of your bid in cash & be able to prove it just to bid - you can't get a mortgage for a foreclosure-auctioned house. Plus there could be issues with the house, and you might need to pay back taxes or pay for repairs just to live in the house.That's assuming that you don't get outbid by someone else.

If the house is in fairly good shape and in a market that's not too bad the bank will probably list the house with a real estate agent and sell it that way. In that case you would be able to put an offer on the house and probably get a mortgage, as long as the house meets inspection standards for a mortgage.

I don't think buying a house in foreclosure is something you should do without a lot of money and good legal & real estate advice. If you really want to pursue trying to buy from the current owners, I think the best thing you can do is hire a real estate attorney to make the arrangements for you. I don't think a real estate agent would help at this point.

That is Miranda July.
She is listed in the cast of that episode (Season 2, Episode 6, Cat Nap) here:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2176773/fullcredits#cast

Then the clip of "She's Making Jewelry Now" is included as one of the 22 clips featuring her work under her individual listing:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0432380/videogallery

"Black Tie Attire", in modern usage almost always means tuxes for men. In more traditional times (or even particular places) it can mean just a black suit but really we are probably talking tux.

In Seattle it may very well just mean no jeans and t-shirts. I swear there is a different standard for dress here. Back in New York it would absolutely mean a tux or, perhaps, a very nice formal suit. No question.

White tie is much more specific and in all my advanced years of rubbing elbows I have only been to two white tie events.

Women can wear a fancy cocktail dress (VERY fancy and NOT AT ALL trashy!) or an elegant evening gown. Black tie for women does infer more of an emphasis on jewelry, however. Expensive jewelry. If you don't have it and/or can't afford it, borrow it or rent it. This is when you want to drip with diamonds. White tie for women would mean an evening gown only.

Unicorn headpieces are probably out but, again, this is Seattle so maybe if you go with a faberge-ish horn you may be OK.

If you can wait, feel free to, but it won't change the hardware compatibility greatly. While I can't *absolutely* guarantee Win8 compatibility, chances are the Win7 drivers will work just fine when you upgrade.

I'd at least make sure that the system is compatible with (and comes with) a 64 bit version of 7.

I had my grandmother's rings (+80 years old) resized at Ben Bridge. Both rings had a 20s-style design on the band portion, which had worn off from wear. I was having them made larger, so my concern was that they be able to reproduce the design on the new section and the lower part that had worn away. They did an excellent job - you would be hard pressed to identify the original versus new portions without a loup.

Service was great, and I would definitely trust them with other jewelry, if I had any other fancy jewelry for them to fix. There's a reason they've been around forever.

Hey, I am a bit of a lazy cook myself and buy the prepared pancake mix, but then I doctor it up a bit.

I buy the big 10 pound bag of Krusteaz Buttermilk complete mix at a big box club store. What is interesting to note is that they have changed the proportions of mix to liquid recently (it is now 2/3 cup water to 1 cup mix, lowered from 3/4 cup liquid) which would apparently not help your situation with the batter being too thick.

First I would suggest you fluff up the mix in a bowl before measuring out your one cup. The mix may be getting a bit too compacted and dense to work well with the measured amount of water you are using. Second point is to use as much water as you need to make the batter pour appropriately. Adding more water will not harm anything. Also, be sure to do the final mix up of your batter (wet and dry ingredients) when your pan and everything is heated and prepared to cook in. Then get pancaking!

I actually only use a half measure of the mix itself and substitute a variable mix of three from the choices of medium grind cornmeal, sorghum flour, garbanzo and fava bean flour, teff flour, whole wheat pastry flour to make up the other half. For liquid I usually use a half and half mixture of orange juice and water (sometimes other fruit juices, some need to be diluted so it isn't too thick). The end product is a much more interesting tasty pancake. Teff flour makes the batter a nice milk chocolate color and produces a hearty flavor (if teff is used alone, don't go half and half as it makes too stiff a batter). The orange juice gives it a nice tang.

It's smeared on the edges of things (curbs, park benches, railings, etc.) so that you can grind smoothly on that edge. That's why many stone park benches and retaining walls have bumps glued on--you can't wax over large bumps, and they keep people from riding on them. It's a pain in the ass to clean wax off of rough surfaces like concrete, hence those little bumps to prevent riders.

Go to a skate park and you'll see waxed edges everywhere. Ski wax is softer and thus works better, but I have seen broke-ass kids use candle wax for the same effect.