I’m actually a big fan of both of those creators. One thing that’s struck me from their work is that not enough companies who are doing things the “right” way are actually taking credit for it.

There might be a couple of statements about the material, but not much. I think partially they want to make sure they have flexibility as supply chain issues come and go, but it provides cover for PE to come in and hollow out a product and keep selling it under the good name.

If they told you all of the little details that drive the cost and lead to the quality, the moment those things start disappearing from the postings, you would know something is wrong. Like a canary in the coal mine.

Not to get way too in the weeds, but GSM isnt really the best metric for quality (or warmth). I’m just a noob in all of this, but the starting staple length of the fibers, the processing (combing vs just carding), spinning (open ended vs ring spun), fiber diameter, ply, and twist, and knitting technique come into play. Then for some fabrics, you have treatments added after the fact, so you could have a 300 GSM fabric with 75 GSM of wax on top. You could even have multiple layers of fabric in the final garment.

I’d mostly just try to look at the GSM to compare between offerings by the same brand.

There’s not many companies like that for Americans to support tho, which is why it’s one of the few products I’ll bother to name or even being up on social media.

If you want some more companies like that, check my most recent post about the Crafted With Pride catalog.

After spending some time with it, I’ve come to the conclusion that there’s actually a lot of high quality manufacturers that have garbage websites and probably abysmal SEO. It shouldn’t matter, but it does. To be fair, I’ve mostly been looking at sites for suppliers, not necessarily the end products, though.

The problem with a lot of the architectural solutions taken from the past is that they rely on an open building envelope. Ventilation is great when it’s enough, but the moment you have to close off the building envelope to use mechanical air conditioning, those architectural features dont help. Swamp cooling has similar challenges.

Shading, however, is a really important feature that we are largely missing. Lots of eco-friendly buildings are designed with large overhangs over south/west facing windows to block sunlight during the summer and let it in during the winter. I think it would be neat to have a building that is designed to be slightly more “active” than that. E.g., maybe every equinox you deploy/stow a rigid awning structure, so you get even more light in winter and less in summer.

Most Americans know it’s all just tax money, but most dont know that the amount of healthcare taxes Americans pay (for medicare/medicaid that only cover the elderly, disabled, and poor) is actually greater than most countries pay for their whole system that covers everyone.

Turns out you gain efficiency at scale, and preventative care is so much more affordable.

Reminds me of “hill hill hill hill”. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torpenhow_Hill

It’s a little strange because I dont actually really know who the audience of the book is supposed to be. The main text seems aimed at people who would purchase the stuff, but the appendices seem aimed at people who would be producers. The content seems like something that a library should have, but it’s printed like a phone book with paper that probably wouldnt hold up to library usage.

I could almost see it as a “coffee table book” in a store that sells locally made, quality stuff, but that can’t be a very big market.

The problem is mother nature tears down giant trees that provide shade (and look nice), and then the city replaces them with crape myrtle, purple-leaf plum, Bradford pear, and a whole bunch of other non-natives that dont grow tall enough to ever provide shade, and dont have any other benefit.

To me, at least, jersey barriers seem like a temporary thing, something that belongs in a construction zone, but not the finished product. If I’m being nit picky, I want the separation to be low enough that a pedestrian can step over it, too.

Best case scenario is obviously grade separation and distance between cars and bikes, but in a confined space, I dont think these barriers are horrible. Maybe the best move would be full-height barriers at the ends, and these low ones in the middle?

I’ve never bought a jar of pasta sauce or pizza sauce, and it somehow perplexes people. It’s like 3 times the price of making it at home, and all I need to do to make it at home is open a can of crushed tomatoes and usually stir in some spices that dont even need to be measured. If I want to get really fancy, I might simmer some garlic and tomato paste in olive oil first, but still, it’s all just one saucepan with no measured ingredients, and it’s done before your pasta is done cooking, anyway.

If you have something that works for you, ignore me, but personally, I don’t like cans of diced tomatoes. Diced tomato typically has calcium chloride added. Without getting into the nerdy detail, the calcium prevents the tomato from breaking down. You dont want to open a can of diced tomato and find that it’s all turned into sauce.

When you do want sauce, you do want the tomato to break down, so any tomato product with added calcium hinders that. I like to buy cans of crushed tomatoes because that’s basically the same thing as diced but without the added calcium.

If you have something that works for you, ignore me, but personally, I don’t like cans of diced tomatoes. Diced tomato typically has calcium chloride added. Without getting into the nerdy detail, the calcium prevents the tomato from breaking down. You dont want to open a can of diced tomato and find that it’s all turned into sauce.

When you do want sauce, you do want the tomato to break down, so any tomato product with added calcium hinders that. I like to buy cans of crushed tomatoes because that’s basically the same thing as diced but without the added calcium.

Why the beeswax/paraffin split? Cost, performance, or just what you had laying around?

Same, honestly. I bet the authors (it’s literally just 2 people) have a hell of a nice spreadsheet that I’d like to get my hands on.

That’s a little out of scope: the catalog is all stuff you’d wear for the most part. There is a section for companies that make costumes, though, ranging from stuff you’d wear to a ren fair to serious re-enactor clothing.

There’s also a decent amount of leatherworkers who do sheaths.

I wish I had an equivalent resource for tools, because there’s still a good amount of small businesses making tools.

My mocktail approach is essentially all daiquiri format: 2 parts something with body or heat to 1 part acid to ~1\2 part sweetener.

The majority is often tea, or something with tannins. Ginger is really good since it has a “burn” like alcohol. Milk punches also work well for body.

I like acidifying various juices with citric and malic acid. Personally, I like to target lime acidity over lemon because I think malic acid has the sensation of more body.

Recently, I did 2 parts gunpowder tea to 1 part acid adjusted orange juice to .75 parts agave syrup.

I’ve never used any purpose made liquor alternatives.

I make stuff like pizza often enough where I want the cheese to be able to melt better. The starch/cellulose probably also effects how it melts into a sauce.

I actually dont ever buy pre-shredded cheese, mainly because it’s usually not good cheese to begin with.

Doesn’t matter, they both have the butyric acid smell since it’s an essential component of the style.

Parmigiano Reggiano has basically never spoiled for me. Since it’s aged, there’s not a lot of water for spoilage. The only cheese that I ever have spoil are really fresh cheeses.

if you want to sell pre shredded cheese, you have to use something

I wonder about this. If you just grate a bunch of cheese and stick it in bag, obviously, it will stick together a bit, but I wouldnt mind it if all I had to do is rub it between my hands to make it fall apart.

I dont need each shred to be completely loose. I would be willing to pay that little extra for grated cheese that isnt treated with the anti-caking agents. I want my pizza cheese to be a choking hazard.