Nouveau Ang Mo

Ingredients
30ml gin
15ml Cointreau
15ml Peter Heering (cherry liqueur)
5ml Benedictine D.O.M.
45ml pineapple juice
10ml freshly squeezed lime juice
20ml grenadine syrup

Directions
Add all the ingredients into a shaker with ice. Shake well. Strain into a glass with ice and a splash of soda water, Angostura Bitters optional. Garnish with a pineapple or orange slice and a cherry.

Today I made a left hand turn on a red light, just like a real Georgian!

... you walk through your house with an electrician to get an estimate, and 10 minutes later you're not only being called "Darlin," but you get a heartfelt, sincere, and completely non-slimy hug goodbye after scheduling the job.

That would never happen in the Bay Area. It was darlin'.

Today I got my teeth cleaned and then I went to Pooler, Georgia. My two morning activities had nothing to do with each other. I had absolutely no reason to go to Pooler but I had a full tank of gas, a vague inkling of how to get there, a freshly burned copy of the new Iron & Wine release in the car, and it was a fucking gorgeous day out for driving.

Roundtrip to Pooler, GA

So now I've been to Pooler, Georgia. Because I could.

This morning we hit 80 degrees and 98% humidity before 8AM.

The weather report for today is "dangerously hot" with heat index values up to 118 degrees. Oof. 

I had never heard the term heat index until I moved to Georgia. Here's a definition for the similarly uninitiated:

The heat index (HI) is an apparent temperature felt by the human body due to the combined effects of temperature and humidity. Most people understand that as the air temperature goes up, so does the heat index. But why does humidity play a role? It’s because the body’s perspiration cannot evaporate as well when the humidity increases. Therefore, the cooling effects of your sweat are reduced as the humidity rises, and your body is unable to cool itself naturally. Combine high heat and high humidity and you’ve got trouble!

Although it is convenient to use a single number (the heat index) to describe the apparent temperature your body feels, keep in mind that heat and humidity affect every body (and everybody) differently. Several assumptions are used to calculate the heat index. The heat index assumes that the body is:

• 5' 7" tall.
• 147 pounds.
• Caucasian.
• At 98.6°.
• Clothed in long trousers and a short-sleeved shirt.
• In shade.
• Walking at a speed of 3.1 mph.
• In a breeze of 6 mph.
• Not dripping with sweat.

If any of these factors change, e.g., more exertion, more clothing, and/or more weight, the heat index will change for that individual. For example, if you weigh 250 pounds, are wearing long-sleeved work clothes, and are working outside in the sun, the heat index value you hear reported on the radio is lower than what you are personally feeling.

Good to know! And for the record, today's forecast: Mostly sunny. Very hot and hazy. Near record highs around 100. Heat index values 110 to 115 this afternoon. West winds 5 to 10 mph. To think I was gardening in that sauna-like sweltering heat yesterday. Methinks today will be an "inside day".

Of course we're getting record highs this week: the Borogoves are incoming. We seem to always save the hottest weather of the year for their visits! Lucky them!

I have to repost this just in case folks miss it in the [this is good] area today:

VOX poster clippedwings shared her experience making bags out of plastic supermarket and trash bags from Make: Magainze's podcast. Make: creates a messenger bag using plans from another fellow online blogger, but the stronger fused plastic output from ironing layers of plastic bags together could be used for any type of bag construction.

I'm so making some! All I could think though when I was watching the YouTube video was "wouldn't melting plastic with your iron give off toxic vapors?" but I guess I can try it and see how it goes. If you don't hear from me again you'll know what happened.

Alligator!

Definitely a first for me.

This morning I woke up to a familiar sight outside my window: soft grey fog dancing through the trees. Familiar for San Francisco that is, not Savannah.

It's not fog, I discovered. It's smoke. The Okefenokee fires might be off the front page of the newspapers but they're clearly still in progress down South; a big lungful of smoke from my front doorstep confirms it. I wonder if this is what the LA folks got last week from the Catalina Island fire? It's weird to be so close to something so disastrous, yet basically removed and unaffected.