If There was No Aging

If there was no aging, then how would the evolutionary selection process work? The fitness of an individual would still depend on the same factors, but there would be more non-reproductive age individuals within the population. These non-reproductive age people, would have some selectable advantage if they were older, but perhaps, that advantage would dwindle as their age continued to increase. So, the evolutionary pressure for those people to survive would become less as they past a certain age. Especially with humans, there are means by which important knowledge and skills are transferred from generation to generation through various forms of technology and the like (language, books, apprenticeship). Maybe if there was no technology, people would live longer.

Shackburger

I finally had the shackburger at Shake Shack, a double actually. It was very good. My only complaint, a not insignificant one: No Onion!

Suzannianism

Suzannianism is an ancient Jewish sect which has as one it's core beliefs that there are no inanimate objects, that all things are part of the living, and that all things can be named, as one would name the kind of thing that most people recognize as alive. This can be viewed as an extension of life after death, in the sense that dead things, being inanimate, are also alive. Perhaps the best example of this is the extent that this is done, by members of the sect, in the case of cars. Somewhat apocryphal is the legend that, long before Abraham, his ancestors came to this planet from the planet Suzannia, where such was common practice. One wonders if the planet had many cars, and if there was a time before cars, say in the case where horse driven carriages were used, and if the spirit of the horse came to inhabit the carriage.

Packing Up Leftovers at a Restaurant

Sometimes, when I have chicken wings, the sauce has some kick to it, and sometimes it has less, even though I ask for the same thing at the same place. I don't subscribe to the old adage that more sauce equals hotter. It usually just means more vinegary.

In general, I prefer to pack the leftovers from my meal myself. Because whoever packs them doesn't pack everything. They make some kind of judgement about what I really want and what I don't want. Often leaving extra sauce that might take a few seconds to put in the box. When you want something done right, do it yourself. Who better knows what you want than yourself? Maybe they're afraid that if they give you the box you'll load it with other things, like ketchup, mustard, salt shakers, knives and forks. I suppose some people would do that, and I guess I get it. Don't make it too easy for them.

On the other hand, there's this one bartender that does a great job packing the leftovers. She puts little tops on the plastic cups for the leftover jalapenos, crushed red pepper, and the like, so they don't spill. So, there's an exception to every rule, as she does a better job than I would do.

Jalapenos and All

I buy a lot of jalapenos. Sometimes they're spicy, other times they're not. I store them in a bowl, with my garlic, outside of the refrigerator, on the microwave table. I usually buy about a dozen. They start to turn red after a few days. I've noticed that as they ripen, and start to turn red, that they become spicier. So, even if they aren't spicy to begin with, there is still some hope. I also like the flavor of the red ones. I wonder why they don't sell them when they're red, as they do red bell peppers.

I often saute them, and they lose a lot of their heat when I'm doing so. It is nearly impossible to gauge how much to put in to achieve the desired level of heat. Last night the level was too high and my stomach bothered me a bit this morning. I also find that if I use powdered chiles, or hot sauce, that my stomach bothers me less the next day for the same amount of heat. I believe this is because I don't taste as much of the heat that is actually there when I use fresh jalapenos, as compared to hot sauce, or powdered chiles, but my stomach feels the full brunt of it. So, if I want more heat, but I don't want the after effects I should probably use the latter.

Some people, I've noticed, refer to chiles in general as jalapenos. I don't have a problem with this, in fact, I find it rather endearing, though it can sometimes lead to confusion with the waitstaff at a restaurant, for example.

Finding Extraterrestrial Life

For posterity I would like to note that as science can't truly comment on the existence of life on earth, but only on what is physically observable that we as people correlate with life, which I assure you is not life, I'm pretty sure that scientists will find no life on planets other than Earth. It would definitely be surprising if they did.

I suspect though that they will not use a reasonable definition of life, but a mechanistic one, which most sheepishly accept, and state that they have found life, first the signs of it, and then perhaps life itself, while at the same time implicitly denying it's existence. Such is life...

I had chicken wings last night. Half barbecue and half hot, with the normal fixin's: crushed red pepper, pickled jalapenos, and blue cheese with celery applicators. Also, there were some Fish n' Chips, though they were not proper chips but french fries. I used some malt vinegar on them (and ketchup).

Confusing General Tso's

I had chinese food last night. It was pretty good. The fried pork dumplings were excellent, the hot and sour was better than the last time I went there. The Prawns in spicy garlic sauce were quite good, and I'm pretty particular about my garlic sauce. The General Tso's chicken was pretty good too, but I must admit that I'm a bit confused about it. This is a pretty upscale restaurant, as chinese restaurants go. It's near Rockefeller center, and it's a bit dear. I couldn't help but wonder when I was eating the general tso's about the chicken.

It was all white meat, and the flavor and texture was good, but it almost tasted like it had been cooked previous to being battered and fried. And the pieces were shaped a little like those in sweet and sour chicken which gives one pause. Normally, this suspicion of precooked chicken would not be a good sign. But I'm confused because the flavor was pretty good. It may be that I'm just trying to justify myself because I chose the restaurant. It's a Sichuan style place.

When I asked for extra red dried chiles on the side, they gave us not only the red dried chiles, but also these nice little red pickled chiles, which I had never seen before. He said he wasn't sure which ones I wanted... I said we'd keep them both.

I think it's a pretty good place.