The Jay-Blog

Thanksgiving in the People's Republic

We had a quiet Thanksgiving at home this year.

Previous years, my vegetarian spouse and child have accused me of "stinking up the house" by baking a turkey in the oven. Not wanting to spoil their fun, this year I opted for a poussin (spring chicken), which I prepared on the grill on the deck. I stuffed the bird with leftover couscous, chopped onion, and fresh pepper.

This is one tiny bird, exactly one pound. I could only fit a couple of tablespoons of stuffing into it. The birdie came out delicious, as did the wild rice and butternut squash that accompanied it. Note diminuative size:

Alas, the vegetarians did not fare as well. See that orb above the wild rice in the photo below? No, it's not a haggis. Or a baked apple, some new kind of squash, or a vidalia onion. Go ahead, take a guess.

It's a Tofurkey. A "roast" of tofu textured to resemble turkey and stuffing. Everyone agreed: it is an abomination.

Tofurkey sur le plat.

Austin pondering, "Should I spit this out?"

The next day we did our part to help the American economy: we joined the mobs at Fry's Electronics. By the time we arrived, the parking lot was full. Police were directing traffic. Inside, the line to check out extended along the walls about half way around the building.

Fry's is a Silicon Valley institution, an electronics supermarket for nerds. There are aisles devoted to hard drives or answering machines or surveillance cameras or computer cases.

Austin had written Santa early that he wanted a faster computer for Christmas. Fry's shoppers sometimes buy computers. More often, they make them. Austin's pal Nick joined him to advise on specs and pricing.

Austin bought a fast chip, a motherboard, a 160 MB hard drive, and a quiet case with power supply for about $400. He plans to scavenge the videocard, keyboard, mouse, and what-not from his former computer(s) and a CD burner from one of my old machines. Voilà, a newer, faster machine. I remember the days not so long ago when it was considered daring to pop the case on one's computer. Time flies.Comparing motherboards.

Spam

It ticks me off when self-righteous Spammers tack lies like this to their detritus:

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It is, of course, Spam.