cheap thoughts.

I may have mentioned the lack of greenery up in this bitch lately, it's having some interesting side effects. Not the least interesting of which is that, bulging with redundantly hopeful optimism, I actually clicked on the "Monetize" button in my Blogger Dashboard the other day to see if that was the solution to our financial distress. Alas, no.

+++

Interesting side effects. For example. Ten years ago or so, I used to be what you might call a professional computer geek, during which time I became accustomed to having (at least one of, sometimes two or three of) just about the fastest and best laptop(s) that money could buy, replaced every 9-12 months with a faster and better one or two or three (weren't my money).

Somewhat naturally I think, when I left that job to become a pro bono web developer top secret music distributor ridiculous bohemian musician non-professional geek, I still thought I needed a serious laptop. I was a "power user", right?

A synonym for "power user" is "spoiled mutha". As my personal technoweenery recedes further and further into the gaping maw of Time, my old habits are dying. Instead of buying the biggest (figuratively speaking) laptop I can buy, I'm now looking for something that

1) works when it arrives at my house
2) won't break or otherwise disintegrate like the mostly shitty Dells I've owned so far this millennium (my most recent Precision M70 excepted...you were a really good computer, M70!)
3) is cheap

So when the M70 decided to put itself out to pasture this summer, I decided to experiment with the other end of the scale and go minimalist. In the photo above you see Mara's Acer Aspire 5720Z from last year, a normal-sized PC laptop (also remarkably inexpensive), and just below that, my new Aspire One D250 BTk, which is smaller than just about any of our cookbooks and weighs about as much as How to Cook Everything.

And? It cost €300 and does just about everything the €2000 M70 did by the end of its lifetime (minus the flickering screen and overheating). It runs XP, which is great for those of us who want their audio software to work, and it doesn't have a CD or DVD drive, which is interesting, but on the other hand....it's so tiny!!!

Is very nice, I am recommend.

But: am I ruining the global economy by spending less (don't answer that, it's a trick!!!)?

+++

Last night I made enough chili to last us a week, which I never do. We both thought it was a good idea to have done so. Sorry about my sentences. Here's a brief note on proportions for Miss Mara's future reference:

500gr dried beans

enough water to cover by three inches

3 bay leaves

1 tbsp epazote

3 cloves garlic

1/2 onion

3 cans tomatoes

1 beer

3 anchos

1 chipotle

1 tbsp pimenton

2 tbsp chile molido (or double the amount of anchos)

3 tbsp cumin

4 cloves garlic

1-2 tsp roasted garlic paste

a healthy amount of black pepper

500gr beef?

2 red bell peppers

1 onion, chopped

butter for sauteeing

+++