John Carlsen

I won't wade into the politics, but it's absolutely wild to see my alma mater plastered all over the NYT. I worked there while attending, so I've seen more of that campus than most students ever will.

Though it would be an interesting challenge to write a review in the style of Shakespeare (without AI, of course) but I think that's beyond my present skillset and vocabulary.

At least there's a thesaurus I could use.

But one can still dream about the veggie tray scenario, which is more relatable to us normals.

(Starting the day with a veggie tray does strange things to me. Sadly, you won't see this kind of writing happen in my reviews, the styles are incompatible.)

Incidentally, my more daring exploits as hobbyist cook tend toward molecular gastronomy. Knowing the science behind cooking really makes everyday cooking better.

(It also makes me want expensive kitchen I can neither afford nor have the space for.)

Yes, I just read that Ferran Adrià basically coined and popularized deconstructivism, which takes an avant garde approach to fine dining, so it was more likely an intentional way to view ingredients in a new way, similar to the precision of molecular gastronomy.

Or to paraphrase Juliet:

"O, be some other name! What's in a name?
That which we call a salad,
By any other word would taste as worthy.
So salad would — were it not salad called —
Retain that dear perfection which it owes
Without that title."

I wonder if veggie trays played any role in the development of deconstructivism? Maybe some chef got started in bland event catering (many do) and thought:

"Isn't this just a salad?"

Is Dollar Store Tech All Junk? I Bought 10 Gadgets to Find Out I picked up 10 gadgets, each one for $10 or less, from Dollar Tree, Dollar General, Five Below and Daiso. Here's what I thought of the budget-friendly tech.

It's been a while since I shared what I've been working on, so here's my latest article on cheap tech. This time around I visited dollar stores to see if anything's worth buying (and keeping). Most of the 10 products I got compared well with pricier alternatives but there were also a few duds.

Don't worry, they'd also tell product reviewers to boycott every major retailer, because capitalism bad.

While true, another sad truth is that sometimes great products are exclusive to one store. (Looking at you, Ikea smart home tech.)

Clarification: More suitable crops than alfalfa.

I meant to highlight how alfalfa, a crop that requires a ton of water, is a poor match for our state.

While I didn't explicitly mention non-agricultural industrial and corporate water use, these businesses should absolutely be as accountable as the rest of the population in desert states.

My point is we have so many options for helping our water supply and none of them should be "business as usual."

I know ranching and livestock are the main reasons for this, but even then we could shift more focus from beef cattle to hogs and poultry, which use much less water per serving according to the Water Footprint Calculator.

Even dairy cattle are more water efficient than beef cattle.

I'm obviously not against agriculture and I love having a local food supply.

But I'm really tired of broad calls for millions of Utahns to use less water when we could have a program in place to educate and help farmers find more suitable crops, particularly alfalfa.

A real solution would be encouraging agriculture that fits with our arid environment and updating archaic water rights laws that allow a tiny portion of the population to use as much water as they always have.

We're always urged to conserve water when residential (including irrigation) is less than 10% of the water used in our state according to the Utah Rivers Council.

Sure, we could stand to have fewer lawns in a desert state. BUT . . .

But man is this thing one of the most powerful microwaves I've ever used. Seriously I usually have to subtract 30 to 60 seconds when following cooking instructions (depending on the cooking time). Hopefully, I'll get another 15+ years out of it.

Though I haven't tested if my microwave will melt butter again without arcing since the magnetron isn't in the best shape. Even with knowledge of electronics, replacing the magnetron would cost more than a new microwave.

(Plus it's very dangerous and out of my wheelhouse.)

I replaced the waveguide cover in my microwave after putting it off for probably 15 years. I wasn't sure if it would fit since my exact part hasn't existed for years. Pretty happy with the result.

It's about time to rewatch YuYu Hakusho, one of the few anime that I always have time to go back to.

Regular Dr. Pepper is usually my drink of choice at most soda fountains and restaurants since niche flavors are rarer

But my tastes have changed over the years and now it's more like this:

1. Dr. Pepper Cherry
2. Mountain Dew Pitch Black - when available
3. Coke Zero Sugar
4. Wild Cherry Pepsi
5. Orange Soda (any brand but Sunkist), I'm also fond of the Cactus Cooler variation
6. Mountain Dew Sweet Lightning - KFC

To set the record straight my top sodas in high school were ranked thusly:

1. Mountain Dew Pitch Black
2. Pepsi Twist
3. Vanilla Coke

The only other soda I drank the most in high school is Vanilla Coke, which is fortunately still available.

I also do a passable Mountain Dew Pitch Black with my soda maker, but I'm still honing the recipe.

Anyone remember Pepsi Twist, the lemon flavored one? I practically guzzled that stuff in high school.

You can't get it anymore, but I've found that True Lemon packets can achieve a solid imitation. I usually do a single packet when it's a can or two packets with bottles up to 20 oz.

Unfortunately, we can't delay articles that long, especially if you freelance like I do, so please be patient if you find an issue with a professional review.

Better yet, contact the reviewer to share what you've learned and they'll usually be happy to hear your feedback.

The point in following up on this article is to emphasize that long-term testing really makes a difference. Some issues may not rear their heads until months after a one- or two-week test wraps up.

In contrast, Onsast temporarily stopped working after a while and I lost a couple of plants. I took the system down to give it a break—after a few months it's still functional. I'd still recommend it, but it's best for short-term needs rather than daily/weekly watering sessions.

Sancruz has performed more consistently long term and hasn't had any mechanical issues. It's still amazingly easy to program and the single-speed drippers are less finicky than Onsast's adjustable ones.

I actually expanded the system recently to include more plants during the summer months.