Baba Ghanoush

Been pretty busy around here lately but not much in the way of projects to report on. Unless you count my adventures in the kitchen, that is. I made up a batch of Baba Ghanoush using one of the eggplants from the garden. Probably the last one from the garden, since something trimmed off a few of the little eggplants and some of the pea vines - definitely going to have to fence the garden next year. I've only had Baba Ghanoush once before so I can't really compare it to anything I've had but it tastes good to me and it's pretty simple to make.

I picked up some pvc tubing to make a quasi-greenhouse over one of the Square Foot Garden boxes. I'm going to try and get something rigged up before the first frost so I can keep my peppers producing a while longer. If that works out, maybe do one more so I'll be ready next spring.

I did a little machining for a project they're building at the college. Nothing much to it, cut a piece to length, face, and then turn it to the proper diameter. Since they don't make things, tools and machinery are in pretty short supply at the school.

Likewise the power supply cabinet that goes along with the shaft and pulley job in the previous photo. I brought in my chassis punches for this job. The HVAC lab or maintenance people might have had something that would have worked but I don't see this as a regular occurrence, so no biggie. It is interesting the difference between college and high school teachers, however. A high school shop teacher thinks nothing of running to the hardware store for a couple of nuts and bolts or something similar. Many a professor, however, seems to think that someone else needs to do all the fetch and carry. As a lab tech, my job is to do whatever needs doing in the lab, obviously, but there's a discernible attitude with a few of them. Good to be king, I suppose.

Going to work on the Ducati case today. It needs a little welding and a broken bolt removed. I started on it the other day by attempting to mill off the top of the broken bolt. Someone had started repairing it before it came to me and they had either center punched it off center or started drilling it off center. Anyway, the bolt is so hard I couldn't cut it with a HSS end mill. It's almost like it's an EZ-Out stuck down in there rather than a bolt. I ordered a couple of carbide end mills and drill bits both to do this job and replenish my stocks. Hopefully, this won't end up as too big an ordeal.

Days are getting shorter and fall is in the air here. I put on some warm clothes the other morning so I could ride the Suzuki to work. Imagine my surprise when I went outside and found it to be only 40 degrees. Wasn't quite dressed for that but the day time temps have been most pleasant. I need to take advantage of it and get outside and do a little running. I'm scheduled for a stress test the middle of November and I'd like to do well. How many people "study" for a stress test? Hard to shake that Type A personality. I'm curious as to what the results are going to be what with the changes in lifestyle I've made. I'd be real pleased to find out the stents aren't closing up - be even more pleased if I found the changes were reversing the effects of the heart disease. They say it can be done. Maybe the secret is more Baba Ghanous. Find out in about 6 weeks.