Ghostface is buried in a snowdrift in Green-Wood Cemetery. He’s seen better days.
Tag: Photos
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Remember to Clean Your PC’s Air Intake
Due to the noise my workstation makes during AI inference, I keep it on the floor under an adjacent desk. Down there, it’s in the shadows. So, I was a little surprised how dusty the front air intake was after being in operation just a little over a month. It probably says a lot about how bad the air quality is in my apartment despite running three HEPA air cleaners in a roughly 600 square foot space. I know that it would be better for the PC to be up off the floor–on the desk, for example. Unfortunately, its noise and disco lights on the CPU fan and white light on the NVIDIA RTX 3090 make this an undesirable choice. I’ll have to remember to vacuum it every two weeks or so, and I might add a foam sheet behind the front grill to help catch more dust before it goes into the case and lands on the components’ heatsinks and fans.
I’m reminded of The Crafsman‘s “Don’t Forget Your Dust Mask.”
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Vegetarian With a Kick: Mexican Style Rice and Bean Bowl MRE Menu 14
Yesterday, I enjoyed MRE Menu 14: Mexican Style Rice and Bean Bowl from Case B. After teaching one class and spending an hour in the library archives pulling materials for a graduate student from the City Tech Science Fiction Collection, I was ready for some sustenance before teaching my evening class. This MRE hit the spot!
Menu 14 includes the following items clockwise from the top left:
- Carboard Sleeve
- Mexican Style Rice and Bean Bowl Entree
- Pretzel Nuggets Honey Mustard & Onion Flavor
- Crackers
- Peanut Butter
- Beverage Pouch
- Water-activated Heater
- Spoon
- Crushed Red Pepper
- Chocolate Protein Drink Powder
- First Strike Nutritious Energy Bar Cran-Raspberry Flavor
- Accessory Packet (Coffee, Creamer, Sugar, Artificial Sweetener, Salt, Moist Towelette, TP)
I tried the rice and beans before adding the crushed red pepper, and I liked the flavor as is and saved the pepper for later. I didn’t try any of the sides of this MRE, because I also brought some dessert from home. I’ll mix-and-match the sides with other MREs in the future.
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Canned-Style Comfort Food in MRE Menu 18: Beef Ravioli in Meat Sauce
Last week, I brought MRE Menu 18: Beef Ravioli in Meat Sauce (from a 3/25 inspection date Case B) to work so that I could have dinner quickly between my first class followed by office hours and then my evening class. I was so hungry that I didn’t take pictures of the contents. Suffice to say that it was tasty and filling, and I saved some of the sweets for later.
Menu 18 included these items:
- Cardboard sleeve
- Beef Ravioli in Meat Sauce entree pack
- Italian Bread Sticks
- Cheese Spread
- M&M’s
- Water-activated heater
- Accessory Pack (gum, matches, coffee, sugar, sweetener, creamer, and TP)
- Carbohydrate Electrolyte Beverage Powder: Fruit Punch
- Spoon
- Recovery Bar, Salted Caramel Marshmallow Crisp
- Tabasco Sauce in Glass Bottle
The Tabasco Pepper Sauce was the real prize in this MRE. I haven’t received a Tabasco Sauce bottle in years from the many cases that I’ve purchased. Apparently, they had been removed for about a decade before being re-implemented shortly before the MRE case this menu pouch came from was produced. So, I should have some more Tabasco to look forward to as I work my way through this case!
For my dinner that night, I ate the Italian Break with Cheese Spread and the Ravioli in Meat Sauce. The ravioli remind me of miniaturized Chef Boyardee in a pouch instead of a can. I saved the Recovery Bar for another day–maybe a long hike. I’ve already enjoyed the M&M’s mixed with some peanuts and raisins for trail mix.
While MREs’ main function is ready nutrition, its morale function via its nostalgic, tasty, and sweet contents can’t be understated.
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Working on the Millennium Falcon
While the Millennium Falcon is prone to problems and breakdowns, Han Solo never gives up on her. There’s a lesson there about how we treat and take care of all of our technology.
