What I didn't clarify was the rather pathetic compiler story.

Sadly VS2008 relies on a different version of the C runtime libraries than previous VS's (I think they all expect different versions). What this means is that if you compile your xll with VS2008 and try to deploy to a corporate WinXP environment, chances are the xll will fail to work.

I had an email from someone last week and that is exactly what he had done, and exactly the issue he came up against. I explained the situation and suggested he recompile with VS6. He later replied that he had compiled with DevCpp (A free open source C/C++ editor) and it now worked fine. (He was creating the Generic xll from the SDK)

Over time Microsoft have updated the C runtime libraries for performance, security and features. I think thats great, what I think is poor is the way they seem to expect application developers to distribute these updated runtimes for them.

This runtime issue used to annoy me in VB6, makes .net useless to me and now makes all recent Microsoft C/C++ IDE unusable (as compilers). Who decided that single file distribution was too easy and convenient and we should all be forced to use some convoluted installation system to get our apps to clients?

You can still use VS2008 as an editor, just use a real compiler to actually _compile_ your code, as MS no longer make compilers.

Anyone else caught by this?

cheers

Simon

Perception vs Quality = Who will Win the Battle?

Persepsi, Hmm.. Persepsi itu seperti semacam bookmark dipikiran kita atas sesuatu yang kita lihat, rasakan atau pengalaman yang kita terima. Atau secara ilmiah bisa dilihat diwiki ini.

Quality, Nah ini secara arti banyak sekali, namun jika diambil yang sederhananya adalah sebuah kesesuaian antara yang diberikan dengan yang diharapkan. Dam secara ilmiahnya bisa dilihat diwiki ini.

Secara ideal, sebuah produk yang memiliki Kualitas yang bagus harusnya memiliki Persepsi yang bagus juga oleh consumer, begitu juga sebaliknya. Kenapa? Karena jika mereka puas dengan kualitas tersebut maka secara otomatis otak akan mem-bookmark pengalaman ini dengan produk tersebut. Namun ternyata secara realita tidak demikian. Kita bisa menemukan produk yang biasa-biasa saja tapi dipersepsi lebih berkualitas oleh consumer. Wow, Kenapa bisa begitu ya?

Okay kita coba lihat beberapa kejadian dibawah ini:

Saat awal-awal adanya tawaran untuk iklan komersial di TV, TVRI dengan “alasan” agar TV-TV swasta bisa hidup dengan baik, memilih tidak mengambil iklan namun mengambil iuran dari mereka. Kenapa TVRI bisa bicara seperti itu? Karena secara kualitas siaran, TVRI memiliki kualitas penerimaan yang baik dan jelas, kemudian secara coverage, TVRI meraih seluruh hampir seluruh pelosok Indonesia. Jadi diatas kertas, para pengiklan sudah pasti akan memilih TVRI untuk tempat beriklan. Tapi apa yang terjadi? Ternyata Iklan lebih banyak berada di TV swasta yang punya banyak keterbatasan saat itu, mulai harus pasang decoder, penerimaan masih jelek hingga terbatasnya coverage sinyal. Aneh ya? (again) kenapa bisa begitu? Ternyata consumer mempersepsikan kualitas siaran TV Swasta lebih baik dari pada kualitas siaran TVRI. Hmmm…

Sekarang Kita lihat lagi case berikutnya, Aqua adalah brand air minum dalam kemasan pertama. Saat dilaunch pertama kali, hambatan terbesar mereka adalah harga sebotol Aqua hampir setara dengan 1 liter bensin. Dan saat itu kualitas air dirumah masih dipersepsi bagus oleh consumer serta terlebih lagi gratis untuk mendapatkannya. Apa yang dilakukan Aqua? Dia melakukan pembentukan persepsi yang baru akan kualitas air dengan membuktikan bahwa kualitas air Aqua itu sehat dan telah teruji secara klinis. Hasilnya? Orang mulai mempersepsikan kualitas Aqua = kualitas air sehat. Kalo mau minum sehat ya jangan masak air dirumah tapi beli Aqua.

Menarik bukan? Okay sekarang mari kita lihat lagi case ke 3 ini, Honda terkenal dengan Irit dan harga jualnya yang tinggi. Consumer mempersepsikan bahwa motor yang berkualitas seharusnya seperti Honda. Irit dan Harga Jualnya tinggi. Tak heran semua keluaran Honda di”lahap” abis oleh para rider. Namun, datanglah Yamaha yang mulai membangun persepsi bahwa motor berkualitas itu ga Cuma irit dan harga jual saja, tapi juga harus kencang. Moment ini didukung juga dengan prestasi global Yamaha yang sukses menjadi Juara Dunia GP 500 via Valentino Rossi. Ambassador ini memperkuat persepsi bahwa Yamaha itu kencang, dan irit itu semua motor sama, paling bedanya Cuma beberapa tetes J

What happening ya? Hmmm Ternyata persepsi Consumer akan kualitas itu sangat-sangat berbeda. Seperti defenisi diatas dimana kualitas itu tergantung apa yang menjadi Harapan yang diinginkan oleh customer.

Dalam Case TVRI, consumer mengharapkan bahwa TV yang berkualitas itu adalah yang punya Content siaran seperti yang mereka mau, sehingga walaupun secara technical quality TVRI itu diatas semuanya namun secara content perception, ternyata TVRI tidak berhasil memenuhi Harapan consumer. Resultnya Kualitas bagi Consumer adalah Persepsi atas content dari siaran.

Pada case Aqua, kualitas secara absolute berasal dari kualitas air itu sendiri. Dimana Aqua sukses membuktikan bahwa mayoritas air tanah itu tidak sebaik kualitas Aqua. Dan itu terbukti dari hasil klinis Aqua yang jernih dan tidak berbau. Secara technical, Kualitas air yang ditawarkan oleh Aqua mengalahkan persepsi yang menjadi kepercayaan masyarakat atas air tanah mereka.

Lain lagi kasus Honda vs Yamaha, Kemampuan Valentino Rossi yang berhasil menaklukkan kedigjayaan Honda di kancah GP 500, menjadi referensi bagi Consumer, sehingga saat Yamaha menjalankan Kampanye ttg motor itu harus kencang dan irit itu sudah semua motor punya. Kekuatan image dari Ambassador dan minimnya pembuktian secara nyata atas perbedaan tingkat ke iritan membuat persepsi kualitas consumer akan motor berubah dari hanya irit pindah pada factor kecepatan yang walau secara realita belum tentu hasilnya sama jika Rossi sudah tidak Yamaha lagi. Mungkinkah Yamaha masih bisa mengalahkan Honda?

Hmm.. Kualitas yang nyata ternyata belum tentu menjadi factor utama untuk menang dan Kekuatan akan persepsi yang sudah lama ternyata juga bisa digeser oleh kualitas yang nyata.

Challengenya adalah bagaimana meleverage Kualitas dan Persepsi sehingga bisa memenangkan persaingan. Pilih mana? Kualitas, Persepsi atau kedua-duanya?

Perception vs Quality = Who will Win the Battle?

Is something good just because we liked it?

In anime, much like in any other genre of entertainment, quality isn't very often linked to how entertaining the series in question is. For every Revolutionary Girl Utena I've enjoyed, there are twenty Outlaw Stars. Also, as in any other genre, the fan often tends towards a bent perception; that is, that because a person likes an anime, therefore that anime is good. However, this most often is an incorrect assertion, as the sheer plethora of crap will attest to - crap continues to be made in vast quantities because we, the viewers, eat it up.

However, quality itself does not always guarantee an enjoyable series. I myself have not seen Kaiba, but in speaking with others, I have learned that it is an anime which, while certainly of high quality, isn't exactly an anime which is enjoyed. Kaiba is a work of art in a sense, a piece of experimentation which is intriguing to view, but isn't the sort of thing you'd watch on a Friday night over beers. Something can be objectively good, yet lack in entertainment value.

However, to return to the idea of enjoyable anime not always equating with quality anime, I turn to Outlaw Star. Outlaw Star is a favorite example of mine because, after much though, I have come to recognize it as perhaps my favorite anime ever. Upon examination, this perhaps doesn't make much sense - after all, Outlaw Star is hardly cutting-edge, and posseses a myriad of flaws, perhaps most notciably of all its poor animation and stereotypical characters. And yet, it is the anime I have watched the most times - two full run-throughs in both the dubbed and subbed versions, for a total of four full viewings (and I am currently going through my fifth, albeit somewhat slowly). So, why?

Outlaw Star is entertaining, that's why. Ok, the characters aren't exactly anything new, and the setting isn't really groundbreaking. The plotline itself, while not totally lifted from other sources, is similar enough to not be a cause of excitement. But the somehow, it all works. Maybe its the execution, or maybe I just have crappy taste, whatever the reason, it's seriously entertaining. I wouldn't watch something this many times if it wasn't.

Ask anyone their favorite anime - how many of them name something that is, truly, of high-quality? and how many of them name shows like Mai-Hime, Zero no Tsukaima, or Vampire Knight? In that, you have your answer - we love the crap, as long as it keeps us engaged. And there really is nothing wrong with that - after all, I'm sure I love more low-quality anime than not, so I'm hardly one to judge. Also, anime is meant as entertainment primarily - yes, there are shows which come along to provoke thought, such as Serial Experiments Lain or Boogiepop Phantom, but the vast majority of anime exist solely to entertain, so entertain they must.

There is an allure in low-quality anime - for shows like Strawberry Panic, it comes in the form of cheap titilation for some and camp humor for others. For these truly bottom-of-the-barrel shows, there is somewhat more of an attraction, for trainwrecks are more fun to watch than something which drips in boredom. In considering boredom, we can see both high-quality and low-quality anime - slow pacing, after all, is simply not for everyone (I myself must admit that the old-favorite Yokohama Shopping Log to me was simply too slow, even as I recognized its merits), and slow-pacing can be a hallmark of both bad and good anime. We are more likely to forgive a fast-paced show its foibles than we are to allow a slow-paced show its own, and thus low-end anime become perennial fan-favorites.

However, as stated before, loving bad anime isn't a sin, and isn't anything to be ashamed of, just so long as one keeps in mind that just because they think Girls Bravo is great doesn't mean that it actually is. Is it entertaining to that individual? Yes. Does that make it good? No. But it doesn't matter as long as you're enjoying it, just don't try to tell me or anyone else that its high art.

For the record, my favorite anime are probably Outlaw Star, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Princess Tutu, and... Haunted Junction. Don't know what Haunted Junction is? I don't blame you, it's been out of print for years, and could easily be said to have absolutely no redeeming qualities. But I love it, and I don't care that it's crap - it was the first anime I ever viewed in subtitled format, and, looking back, I am absolutely horrified that I watched it as an eleven year old and would never, ever hand it over to someone under the age of fifteen. And if I did hand it over to someone older than that, I'd say, "Hey, this is crap, but it's really awesome... you should watch it."

A number of corporations in the USA have  also followed his lead and are now amongst some of the most profitable well run corporations in America. 

Here are the 14 points, and the 5 diseases to avoid, that are the heart and soul of the Deming management method. Read, learn and do, We are all way behind and need to catch up.

Recall that the keystone of the Demings management method is all about constant quality improvement which yields lower cost, lower pricing and better products as well as happier long term employees and long term business success.

These are the principles which must be followed to yield the results.

1. Create constancy of purpose for improvement of product or service. Rather then just making money  the        goal must be adjusted to achieve long term business success, creating more jobs through innovation            and constant improvement.

2. Adopt a new philosophy. Americans are too accepting of poor quality, we must reject mistakes and low         quality as being unacceptable low standards.

3. Cease dependence on mass inspection. Quality comes not from inspection and rejection but with                 improved quality production. Eliminating the cause of defects, is far more important then eliminating the     defects, once made.

4. End the practice of dong business with suppliers based on price alone. Its quality and a long term                 relationship not price alone that counts.

5. Improve constantly and forever the production and service system, this is not a one time goal.                       Management must constantly look for ways to reduce waste and improve quality.

6. Institute constant training. Teach employees how to do their job well. 

7. Institute real leadership. The job of a supervisor is to lead, helping people do a better job.

8. Eliminate fear. Employees are afraid to ask basic and important questions for fear of being wrong or             revealing that they do not understand the process or procedures so they perform poorly, rather then ask.

9. Break down barriers between staff areas, competing goals that are in conflict, not working as a team             as opposed to solving problems together. They should all be working towards the same goal...

10. Eliminate slogans. 

11. Eliminate numerical quotas. They take into account only numbers not quality, a guaranty of inefficiency         and high cost.

12. Remove barriers to pride in workmanship. People want to do a good job, and are frustrated when they         cannot, often misguided supervisors, faulty equipment, shoddy materials, stand in the way preventing           success. Eliminate these barriers.

13. Institute education and retraining to change the corporate culture and support the changes described.

14. Take action to accomplish the transformation. Everyone must be on board, management and                         employees, to successfully institute the changes discussed above, neither management nor employees         can do it alone without each others support and commitment.

The five diseases:

1. Lack of long range planning, breeds insecurity.

2. Emphasis on short term profits, undermines quality and productivity.

3. Evaluation by performance, merit ratings, or by an annual review of performance. These are devastating,       as teamwork is destroyed, rivalry is nurtured, performance ratings build fear, and leave people bitter             despondent and beaten.

4. Mobility of management, job hopping managers cannot embrace long term goals and cannot implement       the changes required if they are hopping from company to company.

5. Running a company on visible figures alone. The most important figures are unknown and unknowable,       like the value of a happy customer.

These are all huge concepts that require intensive review, discussion, understanding and yes deep systemic change in the heart and soul of our business leaders, managers and employees as we have all been doing it the wrong way for many decades and the bad habits are now deeply ingrained in our corporate culture.

We as small business owners have the opportunity to change directions and recast the mold.

Because we are small, we can make changes faster, fewer people are involved and communicating and implementing the changes described are therefore easier to accomplish.

However we must not underestimate the enormous difficulty in successfully implementing such radical change, it will take work and commitment and possibly a longer while then expected, but it is worth it as this model will work far better then the models we are following now.

America must change from believing that it can reduce costs and thus increase profits by cheapening the process as opposed to improving the quality...it seems as though we are doing it backwards now and must turn our businesses upside down to achieve the greatness we once had.

See previous blog entry on Demings most important strategy of all. Scroll down its the last entry.

Much of the materials captured here are from the book called The Deming Management Method by Mary Walton. Buy it, read it, study it, do it. Get the point.

The Deming management method has been controversial for decades and followed by some of the most vibrant and successful corporations in the world yet still challenged by many and finding it difficult to get real traction here in America as it is revolutionary and controversial and somewhat opposite our business mind set. He was all about changing the way management was done in America. He ucceeded in Japan but has had a much smaller impact here in America. We can learn much from his success and the success of those who followed his principles.

A hand full of leading corporations in America are following his lessons to some degree while the remainder of corporate America languishes under a false understanding of what works and what doesn't, making the classic error of sacrificing quality for cheaper and less effective standards believing this is how to reduce costs and increase profit while the opposite is the Deming truth.

Deming believed management style must change starting at the top and questions and challenges the way we work here in America, challenging the leaders of our biggest and best industrial giants to reconsider their approach and change.

He is credited with revitalizing the Japanese industrial machine which resulted in incredibly successful giants, such as Toyota, which was heavily influenced by Deming principles and is perhaps one of the best testimonials for the success of the Deming's theories. 

Here is the heart and soul of the Deming philosophy, a concept which if utilized in America by any business will propel them to greater success, greater profitability, happier employees and management and a longer term existence.

This is the Deming chain reaction:

Constantly Improve quality:

                        1. Costs decrease because of less rework, fewer mistakes, fewer delays, better use of                                         machine time, materials and employees, all of which yield higher productivity>

Which results in:

                        2. Capturing the market with better quality and lower prices, creating greater consumer                                     demand which yields long term business success and provides long term employment and                             more jobs.

Improving quality must be done at every level, at the supply side from your source, at the manufacturing site with better equipment, materials, procedures etc, with your production process, design, etc.

Ultimately customer satisfaction is the key to success and is determined by the level of quality which if always improving will result in long term success and greater profitability or failure and elimination if the customer goes elsewhere because he is not satisfied with your produts or services.

The way we achieve this is not by everyone doing their best which is the current standard in American management theory. If this were actually to happen, everyone would be bumping into each other, bottle necks and delays would be the rule and productivity would plummet downwards, were it is today.

It is a known fact that most small business productivity rates are between 30-40%...awful, and that's with everyone presumably doing their best.

What is important is everyone knowing what doing their best means, what it looks like and how to achieve it, together as a team, with the result being higher productivity and a greater quality production. Then once everyone knows what doing their best means they then apply their best effort to this new standard, a team standard.

Constant improvement is the objective, always satisfying the customer with better product at lower prices because increased quality will deliver this result.

Deming describes 14 points, and 5 deadly diseases which if taken together are the Deming method of management.

I will discuss these fourteen points and fice diseases in the next blog entry, for the moment, cogitate on the revolutionary principle that Deming builds his method on:

Constant increase in quality results in lower costs, greater profits and happier employees, yielding long term success and more long term jobs. Toyota has never laid of an employee for lack of work.

Think about this standard and how it can apply to your business ad then find ways to deliver the Deming method of management. 

I will discuss the how in  the next blog entry entited Demings 14 points and 5 diseases to avoid. scroll forward to see.

Power Systems, Power Quality, Power Electronics

Please Click here for the site

Dell, Intel and their partners announced this week new technologies that represent major leaps forward for mobility. The companies seem to have discovered the secret to making such bold leaps: Cut Microsoft out of the deal.

One technology involves enabling users to gain instant access to a laptop's e-mail, browser and other basic functionality -- without booting Windows at all.

The second technology enables an Internet-based message to wake a Windows PC from sleep mode. It's useful both for VoIP applications and for anyone away from their PC who wants remote access.

These new technologies are perfect metaphors for what's happening in the industry. In both cases, Windows is asleep while Microsoft's own partners give users what they really want. Read the full article on ComputerWorld.Com

Okay, so my reviews this far were no surprise to me since they're regular haunts. Rooster's is a new destination. I'd heard great things about it but hadn't gotten around to getting over there until today.

My initial impression is upscale and casual with very well trained staff. I expected quality food before I sat down. It's not surprising that Rooster's is such an impressive establishment. It's owned by Jim Noble who also opened the quite classy Noble's among other high quality establishments. One curious note, an entire wall is peppered with stuffed roosters which is only slightly creepy.

The menu is a la carte and honestly a little unclear although very broad. There's something for everyone. I had shrimp with a side of grits and started with a cheese appetizer and salad. Everything was perfectly prepared and presented. The portions were much smaller than most places that I end up at, which isn't a bad thing since there's ample food but at the price I did feel a little taken advantage of.

The cheese appetizer was a little different and interesting. The salad was good and lite. The shrimp was boarding on undercooked compared to most places I've had shrimp but it was good with a little butter and a little sauce on the plate. The grits were my favorite. Classic southern food prepared thick and sticky with corn and bits of Canadian bacon mixed in. Like everything else, it was surprisingly lite. The entire meal, despite it being three courses, left me feeling satisfied but not stuffed like so many other restaurants make it so easy for me to do. Due in part to the small portions but also to the way everything was prepared. This is definitely not a place that depends on an over abundance of butter and salt to make things taste good.

Bottom line for me is that this will be a rare occasion destination. It's a great place but at $50 after tip I personally can't justify it very often. In all fairness I could've made cheaper selections, but then again I wouldn't have gotten what I wanted. There are plenty of great restaurants in Charlotte where a meal can be had for less and many that I enjoy as much or more but if you're feeling frisky and money is burning a hole in your pocket you can't go wrong.

Pros

• Top Shelf Food
• Small portions unlike most places that over feed you
• Service so good it makes you feel like royalty or at least like Hall and Oates in their prime

Cons

• Price
• Portions are a little small for the expense
• Stuffed Roosters leering at you from the wall

Rating: Recommended

Since most of the forums I go to are sewing related & most people visiting my blog sew or want to so they know & appreciate the quality of handmade stuff.  What made me SO excited about selling this particular dress is the person who bought it told me how much she appreciates quality handmade stuff & how awesome it was that she could by this great quality dress for the same price as the nice looking (not great quality) dresses at Wal-mart.  I honestly don't know if I will ever forget that, but it inspires me to get more serious about making stuff to sell!

QCC (Quality Control Circle) là nhóm kiểm soát chất lượng. Đó là một nhóm từ 3 đến 10 người tự nguyện cùng nhau nhận dạng, phân tích và giải quyết các vấn đề về chất lượng sản phẩm, dịch vụ tại nơi làm việc. QCC hình thành tại Nhật Bản năm 1962. Hiện nay, khoảng 60 quốc gia trên thế giới đã triển khai và áp dụng mô hình này.

Mục tiêu của QCC là tôn trọng cá nhân; tạo ra nơi làm việc vui vẻ; phát huy tối đa năng lực của từng thành viên để có mối quan hệ giao tiếp tốt hơn; nâng cao chất lượng công việc; đưa các phương pháp quản lý hiệu quả vào nền nếp. Các bước hoạt động của QCC là:

- Thành lập nhóm: quyết định trưởng nhóm và tên của nhóm

- Chọn đề tài: nên xuất phát từ thực tế tại nơi làm việc mà tất cả các thành viên quan tâm; lựa chọn quy mô, phạm vi triển khai.

- Kế hoạch hoạt động: thiết lập mục tiêu, phân công trách nhiệm cho các thành viên.

- Đăng ký: Đăng ký kế hoạch hoạt động, triển khai đề tài với lãnh đạo doanh nghiệp.

- Tiến hành hoạt động: ghi lại nội dung thảo luận nhóm, lời khuyên và xác nhận tiến độ thực hiện; tạo môi trường thuận lợi cho hoạt động nhóm.

- Tổng kết và xác nhận kết quả: cần chú ý hoạt động này, sau đó đưa ra lời khuyên dễ hiểu, dễ thực hiện.

- Nhận ý kiến đánh giá và góp ý: tiếp nhận những lời khuyên từ mọi người để tham khảo cho những hoạt động tiếp theo.

- Hoàn thiện và chuyển sang chủ đề tiếp theo: phân tích lĩnh vực có thể cải tiến, gợi ý cho lần hoạt động tiếp theo và mục tiêu cần hướng tới của nhóm.

QCC không chỉ hướng tới kết quả cụ thể mà còn giúp thành viên nắm bắt các công cụ và phương pháp để giải quyết vấn đề về chất lượng. Nó có thể áp dụng cho bộ phận sản xuất, dịch vụ, quản lý kinh doanh và nghiên cứu phát triển. QCC không chỉ tạo ra bầu không khí tích cực, môi trường làm việc thoải mái mà còn góp phần nâng cao năng suất và chất lượng.

The research asks:

• what person-centred support means to people who use, work in and manage services;
• what barriers exist to making services person-centred; and
• how the obstacles might be overcome.

The report builds on new evidence from the national Standards We Expect project, bringing together for the first time direct experience in 20 areas of the UK. These include different service sectors and a wide range of service user groups. The report will be of value and assistance to everyone interested in social care, health and taking forward the new reforms.

In today's posting, I will take a look at a brand of Earl Grey tea, sold by Rishi, which is advertised to be both organic, and free-trade approved.

I'm a big fan of the Earl Grey varieties, as it is a good, potent black tea, as well as an aromatic (courtesy of the Bergamot citrus oils) and soothing tea. Earl Grey is not only applied to black teas, as it can be used with certain varieties of greens, as well.

I purchase my tea in loose leaf form, as I have found over the years that loose tea infuses better with the water, and freshness is a near guarantee when buying in bulk, especially with the popularity of Earl Grey. you can buy any tea in pre-bagged form (Lipton, Twinnings, TAZO, etc.), but I am a strong believer that bagged tea should only be used when you don't have the time to use loose-leaf. Leafed tea is simply so much better, in a matter of freshness and quality of experience.

Each variety of tea has different steep times, and leaf amounts that should be used. When using loose leaf black teas, I use one teaspoon of measured tea per 8 oz (cup) of tea, steeped for 4-5 minutes. I say "4-5 minutes," simply due to you may not be able to have a stopwatch on your wrist (I'm a bit picky on tea taste and bitterness, so I time it) to get the timing down just right. Also, a very important reminder about brewing tea, is the quality of water, as well as the heat of the water you are using.

Most black teas require a temperature of 210 degrees or more to properly infuse the tea. How do I know what 210 degrees is, without buying a thermometer? I've found, that a great rule of thumb is, if the water is boiling & bubbling heavily, you're good to go with black, with green, as it requires a far "cooler" water temperature to bring out the best flavor, is that once the water is steaming, and tiny bubbles are starting to barely kick to the surface, it's time to remove the kettle from heat/unplug from the wall*.

*I use an electrical kettle in my workplace, simply because I nearly burned my building down due to accidentally leaving my tea kettle on the heat, then taking a phone call. Safety first!!!

Water is very, very important. Think of it as using stale chips to enjoy chips & salsa. Who wants chewy, nasty chips? A good thing to do before you put the water to boil is to fill the kettle with enough hot tap water to be able to "swish" around, and basically give the inside a good swish-cleaning, let it sit a minute or so, and fill it with filtered water--tap water isn't the best simply because of its hard water properties. These tend to linger around in boiled tea water, not allowing for good infusion of the water. I use water fountain water here at work, simply because I used tap water once, and could notice the difference. Yea, it's that important!

Back to the Earl Grey:

In this picture, you'll see my trusted tea mug (16 oz, so I will use two teaspoons of leaves), my loose leaf tea bulk-bagged, and my infuser. I use a metal-meshed infuser, simply by preference--plastic ones are available, but I don't like how infusion stains the plastic meshing, plus the metal is a bit more hardy. I use a "basket style" infuser as opposed to a tea ball style, only because I couldn't find a reasonably priced tea ball that would support more than 1 teaspoon of tea, and provide proper infusion. I do have a tea ball, but only for 8 oz cups--which is rare for me.

Now, when I go to boil the water, I have a bit of a routine that I follow, which nearly guarantees me (short of me dropping the basket into the water after infusion, and losing all the leaves into the water) a perfect cup of tea, every time:

1. Clean out the kettle (hot water, swish, sit for a minute, swish again & pour).
2. Clean out mug (if dirty for whatever reason) and fill with hot water and let sit until water is done boiling. This allows for the cup to stay warm while waiting on the boiling water, as it will allow the mug to stay hot when infusing, as to not allow the tea to get cold before consumption.
3. Clean infuser with hot water, and dry with a paper towel.
4. Measure out tea (1 tsp per 8 oz.)
5. Fill kettle with filtered (or non-tap) water, and set to boil.

As you can see, with black tea, it makes the tea water a nice dark brown-ish color (yes, that is a binder clip holding my infuser to my mug) :

I steep my Earl Grey per the suppliers reccomendations, which call for a 4 minute infusion. After that, I remove the basket from the water, press a spoon to the leaves to get out any remaining water, and flavor it to taste--I do not use any sort of milk/dairy product, simply because it negatively effects the anti-oxidants that reside in the tea... I use about 1 tablespoon +/- of sugar, as I like just a little bit of sweetness. Stir in the sweetness (if preferred), set your basket aside, and enjoy your cup!

Early Grey (in my opinion) is one of the best teas out there... Mainly for its aromatic properties, but also its abilities to rejuvenate (I think they call that caffeine), and how it tastes, even when cold. A nifty trick that my father does when making iced tea, is to brew the tea with three bags per quart of regular black tea, and add one bag of Earl Grey, to give it an "late" aromatic taste on the palate.

Today's Earl Grey tea brand was Rishi, a brand that I have frequently purchased in the past, for its affordability and freshness. You can purchase it online here, or if you live somewhere near a natural foods store, they most likely have it in bulk! My mug is courtesy of Kim, who purchased it at a Starbucks mainly because of its size, me stealing her other mug to enjoy tea in, and her luck that it was on clearance.

Four requirements for the perfect cup of tea:

1. Good water.
2. A good infuser.
3. Fresh, quality leaves.
4. A big mug, full of personality.

Next posting I will venture into the wide world of green teas, as I have some gunpowder, and decaf mango green that I'm anxious to try, thanks for stopping by!

Sunday Service Times promotion at Watermark Community Church. Excellent video really. Good for a chuckle.

5:30 service video link here: http://www.watermark.org/services/services.asp
Other videos link here: http://www.vimeo.com/videos/search:watermark%20community%20church

It used to be called "Keeping up with the Jones's" and it has turned into "Knocking down the Jones's house and building a monstrosity where it stood, so we can look down on all the other Jones from our third floor balcony."

Lets define what a McMansion is.  It's a large home (usually larger than 3,000 square feet that is made using assembly line type construction.  They are typically built on large tracks of land, very close together by developers or built on top of lots in small residential neighborhoods that were once occupied by smaller better built houses.

• McMansions typically have a Brick or Faux Stone veneer facade to facilitate the illusion of quality and are surrounded on the other three sides of the house by cheap plastic siding. The roof-line's have many angles and slopes and require false attics and gables to achieve this design. The interiors are usually built with substandard material to achieve the lowest price per square foot while achieving the "biggest bang for your buck."

• The front of the house, many times, has plastic columns and a large entrance. The yard usually has a lack of mature trees, inexpensive plantings surrounded by excessive amounts of mulch and overuse of exterior lighting to increase its dramatic effect.

• They are built "cookie cutter" style because it is cheaper for the developer and easier for unskilled (and often times, undocumented immigrant) labor to build quickly.

• The people who buy these homes are often times, middle class folks who make the same amount of money as their neighbors, or "Multiple Families" (usually newly immigrated to the U.S.)  With the housing collapse, a disproportionate numbers of these type of home owners have had to foreclose on their loans.  These houses sit languishing and because of their cheap construction, falling apart.

This conspicuous consumption or lavish spending for the purpose of displaying wealth while maintaining social status is consuming our resources, hurting our environment, causing discontent with our neighbors and hurting our economy.

They are called many things, from McMansion to WalMart Home to Feux Chateaux.  The owners of these homes are usually mindless to the fact that the demolition of an existing home and construction of a new home in a small established neighborhood can actually lower property values of the surrounding houses.  Many times the new owners of these homes find that their welcome into the neighborhood isn't so friendly, so they barricade themselves inside their kingdoms while letting their lawns become overgrown.

Large tracts of these homes, place close together with little or no yards, cause erosion with the rain water sluicing through whatever lawns there are in an attempt to find the nearest sewer grate.  This high volume of water then that is not allowed to penetrate into otherwise green lawns, white waters through local streams and woods, dropping trees, destroying ecosystems and depositing garbage and children's toys washed off lawns, throughout our landscape and into our bays and oceans.

What can we do? Make developers answerable to you're local zoning laws.  If you see a McMansion going up in you're small neighborhood, call your local code enforcement office to determine if the builder has all his proper licensing.  If you believe that the construction crew is unlicensed or illegal, call the proper authorities.

Yes it's easy to blame Society, the new home owners, our capitalist philosophies, but it's really our own fault isn't it, for letting it go so far?

Thoughts?

Keep up the good fight,

Adam