Category Archives: Rancho Roly Poly

No, not the Baskervilles

Posted on October 31, 2016 | Comments Off on No, not the Baskervilles

It’s the Hound of the Puckerbrush, and there’re no moors of any type down there with Andy in dryland southwest Texas. Nor is Sherlock Holmes lurking about on this Halloween night. And, lucky for Andy, in all probability no clowns neither.

Just another good essay on life as an oil field gate guard with a new dog and a whole year’s relief from “a worthless harridan,” which you could look up in his search function. Libel suits are not my thing.

As for the clowns, they are one reason I’m not enthusiastic about handing out candy this year and will keep the porch lights off here at the rancho. Yes, there have been a few clown sightings hereabouts, not specifically in our neighborhood but in the general geography. If one of them is going to get shot, this will be the night.

The presidential fandango is purely weird enough. Let’s hope for no shootings.

Via MyOldRV

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Posted in Blogosphere, Rancho Roly Poly, Texana, The Culture

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White roses for the 1st anniversary of her passing

1stanniversary

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Posted on October 22, 2016 in Mrs. Charm, Rancho Roly Poly

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Amazon’s Prime Pantry? Maybe Not

Posted on September 20, 2016 | 1 comment

I’ve thought occasionally about using Amazon’s Prime Pantry food deliveries. But being just five minutes from an HEB makes it seem rather silly. Andy’s experience shows it could be more than silly:

“By the time it gets way off down here in the Puckerbrush a good half these cans are dented up and that box ‘o’ Pop Tarts looks like somebody been throwing a baseball at it.  Just the way it is I reckon since I never recall receiving one single Prime Pantry box that somethin’ wasn’t boogered up.”

Hmm. This obviously requires some more thought.

Via MyOldRV

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Posted in Blogosphere, Rancho Roly Poly

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Watch your dishwasher soap now

Posted on August 31, 2016 | Comments Off on Watch your dishwasher soap now

Could not figure out why the dishwasher leaked a big pool of water on the kitchen floor. Guessed it might be limestone buildup from our rather stony water hereabouts. So I ran a clean-up pouch through it on a normal cycle. No leaks, no problem.

Decided to try again with the dishes that needed washing. Went for the detergent pouches package and chanced to read the label on the front. Discovered the pouches were for washing machines. Yowza!

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Anderson’s winning debate team

Posted on August 30, 2016 | Comments Off on Anderson’s winning debate team

Mr. Boy is back to his school work, as a junior this year, with the added effort of Anderson High School’s speech and debate team. Had to buy him his first suit for this team’s competitions, which began last Saturday in the Lake Travis Classic at Lake Travis high school.

He and his partner won first in their division, Public Forum, arguing both sides of whether students should be allowed due process when school administrators decide to enter and inspect their lockers without their permission. The rest of the Anderson team also swept the field on their various topics and right into first place overall.

They’ll be at it again this weekend in Pflugerville. Mr. B. is sitting this one out because his partner is unavailable. As I understand it the team will be going at it just about every weekend for the rest of the semester but the participants will have to change their topics, and start over, every other month or so.

Somewhere Mrs. Charm is enjoying this, I’m sure, with the added advantage of being there.

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Posted in Mr. Boy, Mrs. Charm, Rancho Roly Poly

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Pyroceram versus stoneware

Posted on August 19, 2016 | Comments Off on Pyroceram versus stoneware

Globalization has changed many a once-famous American brand that is now made in China or Malaysia or even Vietnam to something less than its former grandeur. Cheaper, yes, but often not as good.

Corning Ware, however, took its hit back in the late ’90s when the company was bought out and its famous pyroceram cookware (made of the same stuff as rocket nosecones, the old ads said) was soon replaced with cheaper, and less resilient, stoneware. And made in China.

I discovered all this the other day when I dropped one of Mrs. Charm’s Corning Ware pyroceram casserole dishes taking it out of the dishwasher. It broke in half. Replacing it I soon discovered isn’t impossible but it takes more than a quick trip to the store. I went to three before giving up. All they had was the stoneware.

Old pyroceram Corning Ware is still sold, but only mainly in used versions. Amazon has them at new prices. The material is famous for not absorbing anything, hence a used casserole dish doesn’t carry any trace of the food that’s ever been cooked in it. Plus it can be swiftly moved from oven to freezer (or vice-versa) without coming apart—stoneware does absorb and it can’t stand rapid temperature changes.

If you have trouble believing that or anything else on this arcane subject, the above link is a great place to start. And the cooking blog below provides further illumination:

Via Cooking With Love.

UPDATE:  Corningware still sells the pyroceram product but in limited sizes.

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Posted in Blogosphere, Mrs. Charm, Rancho Roly Poly, Science/Engineering, The Economy

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Coyotes

Posted on August 11, 2016 | 1 comment

Not the human trafficers across the Texas-Mexico border called coyotes, but the animal kind. City of Austin is telling neighborhood associations the animal kind are becoming plentiful and to watch out for them wandering into yards in search of food and water. And then preying on small pets let outdoors.

“Haze coyotes when seen,” a city news release says. “And always supervise small pets when outside. Hazing keeps these adaptable animals wary of humans and less likely to hang around. Yelling, waving your arms, spraying the animal with a hose or tossing non-edible objects near it will encourage it to leave.”

Shoot. And I thought the Californicator invasion was the main thing we had to worry about.

Via City of Austin

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Posted in Bureaucracy, Rancho Roly Poly, Senor Gato, South of the Border, Texana

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