Monthly Archives: November 2022

Family affair

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My mother-in-law loves to lecture me on the state of my house as if I don’t live with someone that she raised.

I’m two weeks older than my boyfriend so my favourite thing to do is say “when I was your age…” and then just describe whatever I was doing two weeks ago.

My son asked me if I would tell his Grandma (my MIL) how to cut strawberries the ‘right way’. No buddy, no I cannot. This is your problem now.

iMessage needs a “Sent with Attitude” option

You think you’re having a bad day? I’m shopping with my mother AND my mother in law.

I hope someone writes a children’s book about crypto so I can understand whatever the hell is going on with SBF and FTX.

Secret to a successful couples therapy is to send both the mothers-in-law to attend the sessions.

Half the age of the vines

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The grapes this wine is crafted from come from vines that are over 70 years old, bottled without filtration, when the moon is in the correct quarter.

As an appellation, Morgon is considered by many to be the most ‘noble ‘ of those from the Beaujolais region. What is more, a great Beaujolais with structure and length is said to “morgonne”. This celebrated Cru is the fruit of two factors :The Gamay grape variety (a black-skinned berry with white juice) and the very specific soil made up of decomposed granite and crumbly schist that it grows in. Deep garnet robe. 10 months in oak develops the red fruit aromas. Serious tannin structure and a complete, long finish.

There’s a lot of power and depth to this wine.

Picked for our anniversary. Rather than going out, it was a lovely stay at home dinner for two.

MORGON – MICHEL GUIGNIER CANON 2020

$35.99 regularly $39.99

12.5% Alcohol

UPC: 03760216570014

Our list would be better

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Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel List 2023

EAT

Umbria, Italy

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Fukuoka, Japan

Lima, Peru

South Africa

Montevideo, Uruguay

JOURNEY

Istanbul, Turkey to Sofia, Bulgaria

Nova Scotia, Canada

Bhutan

Zambia

Western Australia

Parque Nacional Naturales, Colombia

UNWIND

Halkidiki, Greece

Jamaica

Dominica

Raja Ampat, Indonesia

Malta

Jordan

CONNECT

Alaska

Albania

Accra, Ghana

Sydney, Australia

Guyana

Boise, USA

LEARN

Manchester, UK

New Mexico, USA

Dresden, Germany

El Salvador

Southern Scotland

Marseille, France

Hiding Evidence

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Husband: It’s so weird that the kids didn’t get any Twix or Reece’s Peanut Butter Cups for Halloween. Me: *wipes the chocolate from my mouth* So weird.

Our youngest made her own grilled cheese and, long story short, did you know that bread is flammable?

I wish my kids gave me the respect that they give their stuffed animals

Congratulations to my wife on the purchase of her one millionth candle.

[woman outside store] Her: I have two puppies for adoption, interested? Me: yes, but if I bring home another dog my husband will leave me Her: so both then?

My husband listens to me like he doesn’t realize there’s going to be a quiz later.

My son called the butter shelf in the fridge the dairy penthouse and there is no other name for it now.

Winter Reading

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I got mine at the Times Colonist Book sale about 15 years ago. In wonderful condition. I’ve read many, but certainly not all. Where do I begin my rereads?

Great Books of the Western World is a series of books originally published in the United States in 1952, by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., to present the great books in a 54-volume set.

The original editors had three criteria for including a book in the series drawn from Western Civilization: the book must have been relevant to contemporary matters, and not only important in its historical context; it must be rewarding to re-read repeatedly with respect to liberal education; and it must be a part of “the great conversation about the great ideas”, relevant to at least 25 of the 102 “Great Ideas” as identified by the editor of the series’s comprehensive index, what they dubbed the “Syntopicon“, to which they belonged. The books were not chosen on the basis of ethnic and cultural inclusiveness, (historical influence being seen as sufficient by itself to be included), nor on whether the editors agreed with the views expressed by the authors.[1]

A second edition was published in 1990 in 60 volumes. Some translations were updated, some works were removed, and there were significant additions from the 20th century located in six new, separate volumes.

Originally published in 54 volumes, The Great Books of the Western World covers categories including fiction, history, poetry, natural science, mathematics, philosophy, drama, politics, religion, economics, and ethics. Hutchins wrote the first volume, titled The Great Conversation, as an introduction and discourse on liberal education. Adler sponsored the next two volumes, “The Great Ideas: A Syntopicon“, as a way of emphasizing the unity of the set and, by extension, of Western thought in general. A team of indexers spent months compiling references to such topics as “Man’s freedom in relation to the will of God” and “The denial of void or vacuum in favor of a plenum“. They grouped the topics into 102 chapters, for which Adler wrote the 102 introductions. Four colors identify each volume by subject area—Imaginative Literature, Mathematics and the Natural Sciences, History and Social Science, and Philosophy and Theology. The volumes contained the following works:

Volume 1

Volume 2

Volume 3

Volume 4

Volume 5

Volume 6

Volume 7

Volume 8

Volume 9

Volume 10

Volume 11

Volume 12

Volume 13

Volume 14

Volume 15

Volume 16

Volume 17

Volume 18

Volume 19

  • Thomas Aquinas
    • Summa Theologica (First part complete, selections from second part, translated by the Fathers of the English Dominican Province and revised by Daniel J. Sullivan)

Volume 20

Volume 21

Volume 22

Volume 23

Volume 24

Volume 25

Volume 26

Volume 27

Volume 28

Volume 29

Volume 30

Volume 31

Volume 32

Volume 33

Volume 34

Volume 35

Volume 36

Volume 37

Volume 38

Volume 39

Volume 40

Volume 41

Volume 42

Volume 43

Volume 44

Volume 45

Volume 46

Volume 47

Volume 48

Volume 49

Volume 50

Volume 51

Volume 52

Volume 53

Volume 54

A Great start to mystery case #22

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Argentina is heralded for its Malbecs, but in the last two decades Cabernet Sauvignon has been drawing increased attention from winemakers there, and is now the third most planted variety. It is grown in the Mendoza region in the Andean foothills, especially in Maipú and Luján de Cuyo, at altitudes between 2300 and 3100 feet. Here the climate is continental, with hot summers and cold winters. It is very dry and sometimes quite windy, with runoff from the snow-capped Andes providing irrigation. These Argentinian Cabernets offer dark fruit, spice notes, full body and often a voluptuous style.

With over 1500 acres of vineyards, El Esteco is the most important winery in the CalchaquÍ Valley. An inhospitable but magical place, at dizzying heights of 1700 meters (5600 feet), that breathes life into extraordinary wines. A winery that seeks to surprise, to create distinct wines that highlight the unique characteristics of the CalchaquÍ Valley terroirs. The unique climate of this place manifests itself in the elegant profile of El Esteco’s wines, with colors, aromas and flavors accentuated by the sun and the altitude. These are wines with an indelible sense of place, wines which complement food rather than overpower, wines which are true to their origin.

This is a heady one. Rather intense.  Deep.  Very pleasant. Medium to full body, firm tannins and a beautiful, silky finish.

CABERNET CABERNET – EL ESTECO BLEND DE EXTREMOS 2018

$17.99 regularly $19.99

14% alcohol

UPC: 07790189043501

Make it safe for the Gurlz

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Since the 1970s, crash test dummies – mechanical surrogates of the human body – have been used to determine car safety.

The technology is used to estimate the effectiveness of seatbelts and safety features in new vehicle designs.

Until now the most commonly used dummy has been based on the average male build and weight.

However, women represent about half of all drivers and are more prone to injury in like-for-like accidents.

The dummy that is sometimes used as a proxy for women is a scaled-down version of the male one, roughly the size of a 12-year-old girl. 

At 149cm tall (4ft 8ins) and weighing 48kg (7st 5lb), it represents the smallest 5% of women by the standards of the mid-1970s. 

However, a team of Swedish engineers has finally developed the first dummy, or to use the more technical term – seat evaluation tool – designed on the body of the average woman. 

Their dummy is 162cm (5ft 3ins) tall and weighs 62kg (9st 7lbs), more representative of the female population.

So why have safety regulators not asked for it before now? 

‘A male decision’

“You can see that this is a bias,” said Tjark Kreuzinger, who specialises in the field for Toyota in Europe. “When all the men in the meetings decide, they tend to look to their feet and say ‘this is it’. 

“I would never say that anybody does it intentionally but it’s just the mere fact that it’s typically a male decision – and that’s why we do not have [average] female dummies.”

Several times a day in a lab in the Swedish city of Linköping, road accidents are simulated and the consequences are analysed. The sensors and transducers within the dummy provide potentially lifesaving data, measuring the precise physical forces exerted on each body part in a crash event.

The team record data including velocity of impact, crushing force, bending, torque of the body and braking rates.

They are focused on seeing what happens to the biomechanics of the dummy during low-impact rear collisions.

The aim is to make vehicles safer for women

When a woman is in a car crash she is up to three times more likely to suffer whiplash injuries in rear impacts in comparison with a man, according to US government data. Although whiplash is not usually fatal, it can lead to physical disabilities – some of which can be permanent. 

It is these statistics that drive Astrid Linder, the director of traffic safety at the Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute, who is leading the research in Linköping. 

“We know from injury statistics that if we look at low severity impacts females are at higher risk.

“So, in order to ensure that you identify the seats that have the best protection for both parts of the population, we definitely need to have the part of the population at highest risk represented,” she told the BBC.

Dr Linder believes her research can help shape the way cars are specified in the future and she stresses the key differences between men and women. Females are shorter and lighter than males, on average, and they have different muscle strengths.

Because of this they physically respond differently in a car crash. 

“We have differences in the shape of the torso and the centre of gravity and the outline of our hips and pelvis,” she explained. 

But Dr Linder will still need regulators to enforce the use of the average female she has developed. 

The average female dummy is Dr Astrid Linder’s life work

Currently there is no legal requirement for car safety tests for rear impact collisions to be carried out on anything other than the average man.

Although some car companies are already using them in their own safety tests they are not yet used in EU or US regulatory tests. 

Engineers are starting to create more diverse dummies, including dummies that represent babies, elderly and overweight people.

The average female dummy in Linköping has a fully flexible spine, which means the team can look at what happens to the whole spine, from the head to the lower back, when a woman is injured. 

US company Humanetics is the largest manufacturer of crash test dummies worldwide and is seen as the leading voice when it comes to the precision of the technology. 

CEO Christopher O’Connor told the BBC he believes that safety has “advanced significantly over the last 20, 30, 40 years” but it “really hasn’t taken into account the differences between a male and a female”.

“You can’t have the same device to test a man and a woman. We’re not going to crack the injuries we are seeing today unless we put sensors there to measure those injuries. 

“By measuring those injuries we can then have safer cars with safer airbags, with safer seatbelts, with safer occupant compartments that allow for different sizes.”

The UN is examining its regulations on crash testing and will determine whether they need to be changed to better protect all drivers. 

If changes are made to involve a crash test dummy representing the average female, there is an expectation that women will one day be safer behind the wheel.

“My hope for the future is that the safety of vehicles will be assessed for both parts of the population,” Dr Linder said.