On the Propagation of Constraints

It is often amazing how propagation of constraints from one situation to another results in non obvious connections between various aspects of the human condition. A few minutes ago, and still now, my granddaughter Willow has been joyfully carrying around a little shopping bag in it with various items. She comes to me about once a minute to add or subtract something from her bag. She has discovered the utility of bags, and probably learned the concept from some older female in her family.

So, what has this to do with the propagation of constraints ? A woman depends, in part, upon her physical attractiveness to others for survival or simply to have a good life. That simple and controvertible fact leads to constraints on the clothes she wears. The clothes must be attractive and favorably display her figure. This leads to the subsequent constraint that women's clothes seldom have as many pockets as men's clothes. A notable example is that men's shirts usually have a breast pocket on the left side, usually absent on women's clothes.

Similarly pockets on women's skirts are usually inconveniently on the front instead of on the side where they would interfere with display of her womanly hips. The net result of this is that women carry purses for their item carrying needs. In men's clothes, the pockets are their "purses." A follow on example of the utility of carrying capacity is the ancient tradition of basket making especially used in hunter-gatherer societies.

And so it comes to pass that my female grandchild is having fun today having joyfully discovered the utility of carrying capacity of some sort, all constrained by her future need to be attractive with that need conveyed to her by the habits of some older woman.

Torrential rains and floods predicted for East Coast

This weekend's forecast predicts heavy rain and flooding. If the temperature were lower it would be another monumental snow storm. Most likely wind, rain and soggy soil implies a lot of trees blocking everything.

I prepared by buying a cordless chain saw. I have too much difficulty starting a fuel powered saw, so the lithium ion battery type seemed best. I had planned to buy a Makita brand for about $239 or so, but the unexpected nature of the storm mean a quick trip to Home Depot where only Ryobi brand was available for half the price. Ordinarily Home Depot carries Makita in other tools. The salesman kindly pointed out the need to also buy chain oil. Done.

The battery pack is charging now. Boy scout motto: Be prepared.

No Sunspots for 13 days

Twice this year the Sun has made a feeble attempt to resume the solar cycle. Both times the sunspots fizzled. We now have had no sunspots for 13 days.

I predict we are going to have a cold, cold winter. This past October was said to have been one of the coldest on record. The recent snowfall in Louisiana is said to have been the season's earliest on record.

Buy some long underwear. Stock up on wood as a backup for your regular heat. Buy a generator in case an ice storm knocks out the power. Propane generators are best because of the storeability of the fuel. I have the generator, but haven't done the electrical hookup.

Appliances for the Modern Home

How funny that Emily has blenders on the mind as I logged in to do a write up on them. Bicycle powered blenders sound awesome but if you can't fit one in your kitchen I have a suggestion for you.

Last night I made potato leek soup and to get it creamy I ladled about half of it into the food processor to puree it before rejoining it back to the pot. This makes a nice soup that is creamy without the necessity for any cream. Food processing hot soup on the other hand can get very messy. It is not exactly the right tool for the job. We went to Wal-Mart last night (shame) to get candy for the movie Valkyrie (so dull) and while Brian picked up some shells for shooting trap I picked up an Oster hand blender and chopper for $24 (it's $42 on amazon so it's economically difficult to boycott wal-mart).

Lona is a big fan of the immersion blender for smoothies so I knew it was just what I needed for tidy soup blending. They create this odd suction towards the blade which is at the bottom so nothing splatters. I am not sure how the chopper attachment works but it it does look exciting!

Since my resolution is to cook more/eat out less I intend to start giving my appliances more use. Some other appliances which are very clever and convenient are my kitchenaid mixer which is wonderful for kneading dough (I have a hard time kneading by hand because the counters are too tall and I have a ganglia in my wrist).

I received Kohls giftcards from Brian's Grandmom and Aunt so I got a large pot that came with two different sized strainers that can sit inside to make pasta and steam veggies without needing to pour out boiling water. It's pretty neat but I need to perfect the amount of water I add so as not to make a mess.

Guy also got a pressure cooker and canner recently so I'd be curious to hear if it is transforming his cooking.