Gasoline experiment revisited

While using my car for a lot of short trips recently, my gas milage fell below 30 MPG.  This really concerns me because I am still paying nine cents per gallon more than I need to.  I am hoping the MPG will rebound with the change in driving habits back to my regular schedule.  Of course, it could also be damage from the Waldo Canyon fire we had here in Colorado Springs.  Maybe my air filter just needs a good dusting.  I'm going to have to go on line to see where the air filter is and see if I can clean it or replace it on the cheap.

The body wants what it wants.

After several failed attempts to adjust to one of the polyphasic sleep schedules, my body decided it wanted to do the work for me.  What has basically happened is I started listening to my body for what it needs, and it decided it wanted to sleep when it was dark out.  Right now, I am sleeping from about 1 a.m. to when the church's CDC opens around 5:45 a.m.  During the day, I sometimes need a nap but not always.  I am feeling a little dizzy all the time on this schedule.  Of course, that could be because I am now downing three bottles of generic LifeWater per day.  This could be Vitamin B poisoning.  All I know is I am sleeping at a regular time and am accomplishing at least one major task and/or goal per day.  It is hard to argue with the body.

Gumdrops from gelatin, a conclusion

After making four batching of "gumdrops" using gelatin-based recipes, I have come to the conclusion that these are not going to produce true gumdrops.  They are simply various stages of jigglers and gummy candies.  I am, therefore, abandoning the gelatin-based gumdrop recipes and moving on to the pectin-based recipes.

A soap by any other name . . .

As any good frugalista would know, Suave is probably the least expensive soap-like product in the U.S.  That is why I decided to give it a try.  However, I have had a few odd reactions to Suave products.

First, I have some sebaceous cysts on my face and head.  When I use Suave, these cysts become inflamed and painful, eventually requiring drainage.  I do not know why this happens with Suave soaps.

Second, believe it or not, I seem to be suffering from chronic constipation that is associated with when I started using Suave.

The particular line of Suave I am using is Suave Naturals.  To monitor what might be causing these reactions, I decided to purchase the next least-expensive soap.  This happens to be the Kroeger brand at our local King Soopers supermarket chain.  I am going to create a spreadsheet (Google Doc Spreadsheet) to keep track of the ingredients of the soaps I use.  In this way, I hope to determine the offending chemical.

Netbook-to-Tablet project

In a previous issue of Popular Science magazine, I came across an article on how to convert a netbook to a tablet in five steps.  Since then, my mind has raced around wanting to do this project.  Well, I have taken the first steps.  Here is a link to the article.

Once I got that information, I went out to eBay to search for inexpensive netbooks.  I was kind of surprised to see I could get a new netbook for under $40 on Amazon.  Hopefully, I will get one for even less on eBay.

It will be about a week before I update this project again because I have to wait to get a netbook in hand.

Gumdrops, second batch, part 1

Since my first attempt at gumdrops was a minor disaster, I reviewed the recipes I made my concoction from.  There was only one recipe that did not boil the gelatin, so I decided to make an attempt at that recipe without making any adjustments, except for size.

I cut the recipe in half so as to not waste too much sugar.  I put the gelatin in a spouted measuring cup and proceeded to boil the sugar on its own.  The sugar came out nice, but working according to the instructions, the boiling syrup got up to only 210°F.  I added this to the prepared gelatin in my glass cup, added color and flavor, and poured this into the pan.  The original recipe says it makes 24.  However, this half-batch filled 24 molds and had some left over.

I am also testing methods of removing the gumdrops from metal molds.  One mold I left alone; the other I sprayed with cooking spray.

Now it is just a matter of waiting 24 hours to see how they solidify and if I can remove them without much damage.

How much does a cup of sugar weigh?

I really hate using measuring cups.  They are so often inaccurate.  One can overpack things like flour or sugar, and the companies that make measuring cups do not issue guarantees of accuracy.  That is why when I work with recipes, I prefer to convert everything to dry weight measurements.  One reason my gumdrops may have failed is the sugar was inaccurate.  To eliminate that type of problem in the future, I need to know how much a cup of sugar weighs.


According to the sugar packaging, 1 tsp. = 4 g.  If we multiply this up, 1 tbsp. = 12 g., 1/4 c. = 48 g., and 1 c. = 192 g.  However, using my stainless steel measuring cups, I find 1 c. = 210 g.  According to answers.com, 1 c. = 200 g., right smack dab in the middle of the two.  According to the C&H Sugar website, 1 lb = 2-1/4 cups.  The conversion is 1 lb = 453.59237 grams.  Divide that by 9 to get 50.3991522 grams per 1/4 cup.  Multiply that by 4 to make a full cup, and the total is 201.596609 grams per cup.  Therefore, the 200 grams is a more accurate approximation than the weight listed on the sugar packaging.


What all this means, then, is I can convert recipes by 1/4 cups.  If a recipe calls for 1-1/4 cups of sugar, I can weigh out 250 grams and have an accurate input.

Eating After Exercise

While trying to figure out the schedule for my 4-hour body eating plan, I came across some information on what to eat after exercise.  The basic consensus seems to be take in liquids but also take in carbs to build muscle glycogen and some protein to help absorption of the carbs.  A ratio keeps being mentions of 4 grams of carbs per 1 gram of protein.  The liquid should be enough to replace what was lost during exercise.  One must weigh oneself before exercise and then again after exercise.  This is the amount of moisture lost through sweating.  The recommendation is to drink 20 ounces of fluid for each pound of weight loss.  As for carbs and protein, the most appealing suggestion to me is to eat a 9" banana and drink chocolate milk.  This is what I have now made my after-exercise snack.  When combined with 4-hour meal plan I will still be able to afford all the food I need during a week.

Figuring out a 4-hour diet

The 4-Hour Body eating plan is fairly simple, but I have to try to figure out how to make it work with homelessness.  The basic schedule is breakfast, lunch 4 hours later, smaller lunch 4 hours after that, and dinner 4 hours after that.  Exercise should be finished 1 hours before dinner.  Plugging this into my desired sleep schedule (see polyphasic sleep), dinner would have to be about 8 a.m.  This puts the small lunch at 4 a.m., lunch as midnight, and breakfast at 8 p.m.  All except dinner, then could be eaten at the church I clean overnight, leaving only the after-exercise dinner to deal with.  That actually isn't so bad, because the church has a full kitchen.  The problem lies in storage.  I basically need to buy groceries daily, make a pot of something I won't mind eating 3 times, and having time to clean up the church's kitchen when I am done.  Chili comes to mind, as that would include a protein, a legume (beans), and vegetables.  I'm just wondering how expensive it is going to be to buy each of these every day.  A couple cans of beans and a bag of frozen veggies should be inexpensive enough, but buying meat individually each day is going to rack up the costs.  I need to research high-protein chili recipes to determine if I can make a pot of chili every day with the money I have for groceries.

Oops.  I just started adding this to my 4-Hour sleeping plan, and I have a conflict.  I sleep from 11pm to 2am, so I cannot eat at midnight.  I need to completely rethink my scheduling.

The Y is open until 9:30pm.  If I exercise at 8pm, shower at 9pm, leave at 9:30pm, buy groceries, make chili at the church and eat by 10pm.  That would put my sleep at midnight-3am and my naps at 6:30am, 2:30pm, and 6:30pm.  This is smack dab in the middle of my school classes.  I've got to come up with another solution.

Anal retentive research into rock candy

Well, my anal retentive mind has turned now to rock candy, and boy, this subject is more involved than I had thought it would be.

Rock candy means different things to different people.  In fact, rock candy was not originally what we perceive it to be.  Rock candy was originally poured into pans, much like a brittle or a toffee, although rocking (the process of growing sugar crystals) was used to create rock candy fruits and flowers in the 1700s.  The oldest printed recipe of rocking onto threads appears in the 1901 cookbook, The Candy-Maker.  The recipe even states there are special kettles with holes to pass the thread through.

This is the rock candy we know:  Sugar crystals grown on a wooden stick.  In researching how to make this simple confection, I have found it is not only not that simple but there is no exact foolproof method of doing it.  Every recipe/procedure I have found for making rock candy differs from the previous.

Basically, to make rock candy, mix water and sugar, hang a medium (wooden stick or string) in the mixture, and allow time for crystals to form.  Everything outside of that varies depending on who has written the recipe.

The temperature of the water varies.  Most recipes have the water boiled.  One actually calls for a temperature of 170°F; another goes all the way up to 265°F.  The majority have the water boiled before the sugar is added, while a few create a syrup by boiling the sugar with the water.

The amount of sugar used varies.  The most used ratio is two volumes of sugar to one volume of water.  However, I have found recipes with 3:1 ratios and 3:2 rations, as well as recipes in which the instruction is to "continue to add sugar until no more will dissolve."  After the dissolving, a few recipes suggest straining the sugar into the jar.

Some recipes call for pre-sugaring the stick before putting it into the sugar solution; others say this is not a necessary step.

As for color and flavoring, this part of the process is all over the place.  One video I watched has the color added before boiling the water.  Other recipes add color right before adding the stick.  Still another view is adding color after the crystals have formed for 1 week.

Where to keep the jar is another area of disagreement.  Some say to keep it out of light and temperature fluctuation, while another puts the jars in direct sunlight to help with the evaporation process.

With all these variations, it is going to take me some time to come up with my initial procedure, which I will post in my next rock candy post.

Yawn . . .

Today's Polyphasic Sleep Progress:

I lay down for the 1:30pm nap.  All went well, until the alarm went off.  I was so proud I got up with the 2pm alarm that I rewarded myself with another 30 minutes of sleep.

The 5:30pm nap was similar, but the extra sleep was less reward and more oversleep.

Just tried the 11pm 3-hour sleep.  It was very fitful and not restful at all.  I am not hopeful for getting up after the 5:30am nap later today.

All in all, though, I have to say I am happy with today's progress.

David Brinkley quote

"A successful person is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks that others throw at him or her."
--David Brinkley

Polyphasic sleep progress

On Thursday/Friday, I had a fairly successful polyphasic sleep day.  Well, at least more successful than my other days.

I started with my 3-hour sleep period from 11pm-2am.  I slept fitfully, but I did get some sleep.  I even dreamed of sleeping, which was quite odd.

My first of three naps was to be at 5:30am, but it got postponed to 6am.  Unfortunately, I ended up sleeping about two hours instead of the 30 minutes.  At least I got the nap into the schedule.

The second nap was at 1:30pm.  I got to sleep on time and actually woke up with the alarms at 2pm.  This was a perfect sleep.

The third and final nape was at 5:30pm.  Although I got to bed on time, I did not have the willpower to get out of bed when the alarms went off.  The snooze button is my new enemy.

Although I would have liked to get a second day of this sleep schedule, I needed to work from 7pm Friday night to noon Saturday.  This really threw off my attempt.  I will try to get back on schedule again on Sunday/Monday.