2021-02-14 – Jason Clock's Blog

2021-02-142021-02-17

Diabetic (Keto) Shopping

So it’s been 3 months since I was diagnosed a diabetic and I generally have by blood sugar under control. When testing my blood glucose I have a general idea if it’s high or low based on the viscosity of my blood.

Yes, that was a totally random discovery that is not at all related to shopping. Back on track. I’ve found that carbs really do throw my blood sugar out of whack so I do tend to gravitate towards foods high in protein, low in carbs, and whenever possible, low in fats, especially saturated.

One of my favorite foods as a child seems to be a great fit for a diabetic. Cottage cheese! I put cottage cheese on pretty much anything. I used to put it on pizza to cool it off…. similarly hotdogs too.

My brother and I called it “chips and cheese” growing up and we always had a barrel of tortilla chips to dip. Now that I am responsible for the purveying of foods to include payment, I travel across the city to save more than 50% on this protein packed favorite!

Aldi

While I didn’t have stores near me growing up, I saw them when biking in The Netherlands, and a German colleague raved about it and Lidl.

The closest store to me is about 3.5 miles away in NE DC and while I should take my own bike, I have been using the electronic assist bikes from Capital Bikeshare to get me there in under 30 minutes for $1 each way. This is pretty good considering I take city streets the entire way.

Shopping Box?

Since I’m on bike with my messenger bag I don’t take a cart inside the store, nor do I usually have a quarter to release on to begin with, I grab a medium sized thick cardboard box. I normally get several cottages cheeses at the bargain price and need a sturdy box to make it through the store. It’s too bad they don’t have baskets, but maybe it’s an issue with theft or more likely since I haven’t seen them at any of the locations I’ve been to in search of “wicked grove” hard cider which sadly I have given up, but is much smoother than Angry Orchard, believe the reasoning may be the same model that Frozen Yo uses. Give them a large cup and charge by weight. It takes a lot of self control to not spend $15 on the tart deliciousness. 🙂 Give them a shopping cart and they will fill it up! No baskets at Costco either now that I think about it. Sometimes you need a flatbed there.

Back on task…. Generally I’m able to get everything into my bag, but as I’ve discovered additional items, or those with exceptional value, I end of needing to strap a box onto the bike rack paying extra care to avoid the terribly maintained streets and planned speed calming humps.

Shopping list

Cottage cheese $1.59 for 24oz!
Prosciutto $2.69 for 4oz
Hot and spicy pork rinds $.95 for 3.5oz
Raspberries for $2.29 and occasionally $1.25 🙂
Blackberries
Pears
Luncheon meats and sliced cheese
Italian sausage and brats
Scallops for $5.49 a pound!

Special purchases

So there are one time buys on presumably overstocked items from mainstream companies, but the above list is what I normally go for. I didn’t find black or raspberries today which are particularly good for diabetics or those conforming to a keto diet, but I did get strawberries for $1.29 a pound which is very good considering they don’t seem to be in season now.

Another random find (that I should not have purchased due to carb content) was Bacon Habanero pretzel chips or “slims” legally. There was Parmesan Garlic in addition to the usual sea salt and everything varieties. I will have to say the generic pretzel chips don’t have the consistency of the mainstream brand, but I did taste the bacon flavor, but could have really used more habanero.

Speaking of snacks that really pack a heated punch, mainstream manufacturers are really stepping up the heat from Chex mix and Bugles to Doritos. I normally laugh at the warnings on the packaging, but heed these warnings.

2021-02-142021-02-14

Jason Clock’s Clock #1

Perhaps this comes as a surprise, but with a last name “Clock” I have had some timely jokes over the years from people asking me for the time or expectations of punctuality which I do try to be.

Now that I have a functional website again, it’s time to start a new category. Wait for it…. yep, Jason’s clocks.

I have a fair number of clocks to one day display in a soundproof room dedicated to them :). For now I just have the noisy electronic clocks on a 12 hour cycle so I don’t have to set them each day. Thankfully there is no AM or PM designation on these.

The entries that follow are in no particular order though I will try to give some context on when I acquired them and if known, the date and country of manufacture. If there are any clock aficionados out there, please help by fact checking and filling in missing information if possible.

Clock #1 W. German Cuckoo Clock

Acquisition

July 2018 in Columbus Ohio at an auction house / consignment boutique. I was visiting some friends and found this in a rather large antique store on final sale. I believe I paid roughly $30 for the clock as it was subsequently marked down as if it were a floor model in a retail furniture store lowered every few days until someone decided it was worth it. This process seems very equitable with the most profit going to the seller, but eventually selling. Like online auctions where there is an option to buy it now or place a bid, or offering a lower price, waiting for the price to drop to what you are willing to pay may result in you missing out.

Description

Based on some websites it seems that this clock was made after 1970. Based on the “W. Germany” designation on the face I would think it was fabricated before the unification of Germany in 1990.

The clock requires the metal pinecone weights to be raised each day. Each hour the door above the analog clock opens and “cuckoos” once for each hour with a single “cuckoo” on the half hour.

Current Usage

I will have to admit that I use this clock for some background noise and since I live in a small apartment, with no way to have the bird go to sleep at night, I stop the clock when sleeping. While I cannot look at the clock for the time, it does remind me every passing hour (and 30 minutes) on days when I’m at home. Unlike many, I continue to go into work during the pandemic so I don’t go “Cuckoo.”

Upcoming

For next week I’ll move from this novel and touristy clock to a more contemporary one from the Museum of Modern Art in NYC.

2021-02-142021-02-14

It took only 2 years…

There are some times when having a lot of data can be discouraging as well as daunting. This happened when I went to Disney World where I used a camcorder (with a tape) and told myself I would just take still images from the video for photos. In a way this would have been like Apple Live Photos where I could take the “shot” at any time. I don’t recall when that was, but I still have the tapes and never made a photo album. Sadly I never looked at the footage after.

A friend taught me in the last few years to stop taking so many photos and just make memories in my head so that I can enjoy the experience and not have my face in the viewfinder the whole time. Though those who take photos with a tablet….do look a little odd, but they do create a TV for those behind them so as not totally blocking the view.

So when I went to The Netherlands with my mother for my 40th birthday I told myself no photos. This time though instead of holding a video camera, I mounted my GOPro on my bike helmet and recorded the entire trip. Well, I didn’t quite have enough memory cards to capture the entire bike trip in 1080p.

I ended up with approximately 240GB of video with each 12 minute segment around 2GB each. I planned to share it with the others on the trip, but the longer I put it off, the less priority it took and at some point I had given up since the expectation to have shared the videos had passed. I didn’t have then, nor do I now, have enough storage space online to host all of the video clips which covered all of the time we were moving on the 6 days of biking during the trip.

Additionally after not having a functional website for 3 years, I decided to simplify it by not hosting a separate photo gallery and DVD catalog, which I at the time would take requests to let friends borrow from my extensive movie collection. I opted to save on hosting and go with just a WordPress site.

So here is the blog and here is a link to the videos page: https://jasonclock.com/videos/

I posted videos of some interesting parts of the trip which include bicycle infrastructure, navigational mistakes, animal life, and of course windmills and ferries! I have a bad habit of yelling “Ricola” in tunnels and well, there was a great opportunity so that video is posted as well 🙂 Hint: Day 6 video 1.

Enjoy!