Power outage and other info

This morning we had a power outage, thankfully after the hair drying and coffee brewing and refrigerator opening and closing. At first, we thought it was city-wide, caused by the rain we had in the early morning (it wasn’t that big of a storm). Then we though perhaps a tree fell down – we have huge eucalyptus trees all over, but it hadn’t been that windy. I don’t know what we were really thinking, perhaps we were just excited because of the rain and the power outage. As we went outside, we saw a truck stopped down the street, explaining what had happened. He stopped at our house (it was our neighbor, I guess he had driven around to see what was going on?) and said that an SUV had flipped over and taken out the transformer at Metate Lane and Pomerado Road, effectively cutting off our power and out exit route that way. I had to go down Community to get out of the neighborhood. So, we lost power because a big truck flipped over. I’m not sure how that happened, as the roads weren’t that wet… maybe he was taking the turn to fast. I hope they fix it before I get home. We have bulgogi and rice to cook and eat with sesame oil dipping sauce. If we have no power, we’re hooking it up to T’s car using his power inverter.

(edited to add: it turns out this is a sad story as the driver did not survive and two children were pulled from the car. NC Times did a news blurb.)

There is your morning news. Here is some more information that people seem to be looking for, some of which I think would be useful to know:

• “cleaning mounted animal fur” – When I brought my deer head and antelope head home from the swap meet, I wiped it down with a pet cleaning cloth and then vacuumed the loosed fur up using the brush tool. T cleaned the glass eyes with a Q-tip and 409 cleaner. I also applied leather conditioner to some of the exposed parts of the ear, as they were dry and cracking.
• “malted milk trader joe’s” – To my knowledge, Trader Joe’s doesn’t sell malted milk. This probably means it’s laden with preservatives and other funky stuff that Trader Joe’s doesn’t approve of. But, it’s really good stuff for turning into ice cream, sprinkling over vanilla ice cream, or mixing into cookies. You can usually find it in grocery stores next to Ovaltine, Nesquick, and the powdered milk.
• “linkery coupon” – The Community Magazine is available in the Hillcrest/North Park area that offers 2-for-1 coupons for various restaurants, extending to the downtown area. The Linkery is one of those restaurants periodically in the magazine. If you live in the area, you usually receive it in the mail. If you don’t, you can subscribe to the magazine online for $12.
• “ice cream cardboard pint containers” – I buy these from Smart & Final. They are plain white pint containers and you have to buy one sleeve of containers and one sleeve of lids, but it works perfectly for storing homemade ice cream. Better than the plastic Gladware and such. I highly recommend these.
• “tax added on gratuity” – Some restaurants add a gratuity tax if the “gratuity” has automatically been added (large parties, special menu, etc). Legally they can do this because once the gratuity is non-voluntary it becomes a service charge, which is taxable. However, you’ll notice some restaurants don’t add it on, while others do. Thee Bungalow does not; Rockin’ Baja Lobster does. I think it’s a petty extra charge to the customers and I don’t like to see it on my bill.
• “best couch to have around pets” – Some people think leather is the best couch to have with pets, but I disagree. Unless you are cold-hearted with ultra-disciplined dogs, your dogs will be up on that couch, potentially leaving scratches on the leather. You could argue that fake leather couches would be the answer, but who really wants that as a couch? I have found that microfiber couches are a godsend, especially if the cushions can be pulled off and the covers are removeable (i.e., washable). The microfiber is an easy material for cleaning up spills, just wipe, spray, and clean. For bigger messes, take the cover off and throw in the wash and air dry. If you can’t remove the cover, a household steam cleaner will do a great job. Best of all, you can easily vacuum fur off microfiber without having it stick too much to the couch. Most fabric couches will require work to get fur off them.
• “nothing bundt cakes” – A lot of people seem to be searching for this, which makes me happy. Our San Diego location is at Scripps Poway Parkway and Pomerado Road, next to Japan House and Yanni’s Bistro. Go get a mini bundt cake for a treat, they’re really cheap!

Thus ends my information sharing. Go forth and shop, eat, and clean.