Tag: postaday

Relaxing Sunday

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"That Tongue" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/100 sec, ISO2500
 “That Tongue” Cedar Park, 2017

こんばんは。How’s it going?

Sunday is my sleep-in day. But I don’t really sleep much later than I do during the week. The main difference is that I don’t need to wake up, so there’s no stress on Sunday mornings. 😄 It’s great.

This evening I grilled burgers 🍔 for the family, and since I had time I decided to grind the meat for the patties using our Kitchenaid rather than buy pre-ground beef. I think it makes the burgers taste so much better, and it is supposedly less risky health-wise to eat beef from a single animal, rather than hundreds of different animals, which is the way regular ground beef is made.

Today I bought a chuck roast, with bone-in because it was a reasonable price and the amount of fat looked good. Before grinding it helps to cut the beef into 1-inch cubes and put them in the freezer for 20 minutes so they just start to freeze. It goes through the grinder easier this way. I also put the meat-grinding mixer attachment in the freezer.

"Essential" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/100 sec, ISO1600
 “Essential” Cedar Park, 2017

I decided to use the charcoal grill instead of our gas grill to make sure we have the maximum flavor. The last time I made burgers, I didn’t press the patties together as tightly, and they sort of fell apart on the grill (and on the bun). This time I made them firmer, and also oiled the grill nicely using cooking spray. These two adjustments made a huge difference! The burgers held together nicely and didn’t stick at all to the grill. 😄

For toppings, we had the usual lettuce, tomato, and onion, but I also prepared jalapeño, habañero, avocado, Hatch chile bacon, pickle slices, ketchup, mayo, and mustard. For cheese, we had cheddar and Monterey jack. As you can see, there was a big variety of things to choose from to build your own burger!

I went for everything of course. 😝

"The Works" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/90 sec, ISO3200
 “The Works” Cedar Park, 2017

Today’s first photo doesn’t need an explanation, does it. 🐱 BTW, the cats just turned 1 year old! Time flies.

I hope you had a nice weekend!

おやすみ

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Saturday Snapshots

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"What's Goin' On?" Austin, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/5.6, 1/125 sec, ISO400
 “What’s Goin’ On?” Austin, 2017
"Peace, Love, and Woof" Austin, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/5.6, 1/140 sec, ISO400
 “Peace, Love, and Woof” Austin, 2017
"Out of Order" Austin, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/5.6, 1/20 sec, ISO3200
 “Out of Order” Austin, 2017

こんばんは。How’s it going?

For tonight’s blog post, I’ll just leave you with three photos of things that caught my interest while I was downtown this morning.

I hope you had a nice Saturday!

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New Watch – Seiko 5

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"New Seiko 5" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/100 sec, ISO640
 “New Seiko 5” Cedar Park, 2017

こんばんは。Howzit?

One of the things that I am guilty of collecting are watches. I love them! I must have owned about 15 of them during my lifetime, and yesterday I had a total of 6. But now, that total is 7 because I just got a new one – a Seiko 5 model SNK809. It’s my first Seiko and also my first “Mechanical” watch. I love it!

I had to Google the difference between “Mechanical” and “Quartz” watches, and during my research, I found out that mechanical watches (no battery) are preferred by the traditionalists while battery-powered quartz watches are preferred by the more practical people. The Seiko 5 is an Automatic mechanical watch, which means that you don’t need to wind it to provide power – the kinetic movement that is generated by just wearing it will wind up the spring. It’s very cool! I love not having to worry about a battery.

The downside of this type of watch is that if you don’t wear it for a couple days, it will stop running, so you’ll have to reset the time if that happens. Fortunately, just a few shakes of the watch will “wind up the spring” and it will start running again. Also they are not as accurate as a quartz watch, but losing or gaining a few seconds a day is acceptable to me.

There’s definitely an allure to these purely mechanical watches. There’s a smoothly sweeping second hand instead of the quartz “stepped” movement, a nice ticking sound (like the show 60 Minutes), and the transparent back allows you to see the moving pieces. They are certainly more charming than the cold “soul-less” quartz watches. At least according to most watch aficionados. 😄 But I think I’d agree with that. I get the sense after reading the forums that people form more of a bond with their mechanical watches vs quartz models.

"Seiko 5 Display" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/100 sec, ISO2500
 “Seiko 5 Display” Cedar Park, 2017

The Seiko 5 is considered a decent entry-level automatic watch. I bought mine for about $53, which is a real value. Build quality is excellent, but the band that comes with it is regarded poorly. I ordered a “Nato” band which will arrive in a couple days so we’ll see the difference. Honestly, the stock band seems ok, if a little rough. But since almost all the watch otaku say to replace it with a $10 Nato, I figured there must be something to that.

Like I mentioned, watches are one of the things I like to obsess over, cameras being the other. There’s a watch shop near my parents’ house that I have to visit whenever we are in SoCal. I haven’t bought a new one since 2011, so I have been overdue!

I hope you had a nice day!

おやすみ

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🍕 Happy Pizza Day!

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"Pepperoni Please" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.6, 1/125 sec, ISO4000
 “Pepperoni Please” Cedar Park, 2017

こんばんは。How’s it going?

I don’t know how long this has been a tradition, but today is National Pizza Day! Perhaps it is the brainchild of Pizza Hut or Dominos, but whatever the origin, it’s time to celebrate! 🍕🎉

Tonight we had two pizzas, both pepperoni, but one was thin crust, and the other was a rising crust (both from frozen). Koa and I preferred the thin, while Mariko and Bay went with the traditional crust. But I’m pretty much a fan of all types of pizza. 😝

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In other news, I was listening to ZARD today, which is one of my favorite bands/singers. It has been almost 10 years since Sakai Izumi passed away, so it’s a sad occasion, but I still enjoy her music a lot.

One of my favorite tunes is “今日はゆっくり話そう”. Please give it a listen, preferably loud 🎸🔉🎵, and check out my favorite songs page! 🎶

I hope you had a nice day!

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Easy Cooking

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"Egg on Rice" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/5.6, 1/45 sec, ISO3200
 “Egg on Rice” Cedar Park, 2017

こんばんは。How’s it going?

This evening, Mariko had to work. but she prepped some food for me to cook up for myself and the kids. Thankfully the dish just involved cooking some eggs in the pan, and pouring over rice to make a simple but delicious donburi.

The egg mixture had some sugar, shoyu, surimi, and peas in it. We also put a little Sriracha on the final dish to taste. おいしかった！

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By the way, in my regular blog posts, I don’t write about politics too often, but today I wanted to say that I actually called my Representative’s office and voiced my displeasure about Trump using his office to comment on his daughter’s business. These things get me so riled up! I don’t want my tax money to go towards his bank account, but that’s what is happening. Just like I don’t want my tax money to pay for religious schools (ugh DeVos!), I don’t want my money used to fill Trump’s family coffers.

Give “Building An Autocracy” with David Frum on Think a listen to find out more.

Anyways, I usually try to keep my politics to my Twitter feed, and if you are interested at all, you can find me at @barron.