My new iced tea setup

I've been an aficionado of iced tea for decades ... For making tea at home I've mostly been using this thing:

And since I've had some extended family members in mooching the tea supply I've been supplementing with these:

Both of these taste fine ... I like moderately sweet tea from my youth in the south, I guess.

But the Mr. Coffee plastic tea makers over time can pick up whatever kind of tea or other stuff you brew in them and just don't taste the same after a couple of years.

I had noticed in the restaurant iced tea that I liked best that this pattern held: metal tea makers/pots were fine, plastic ones that had been there for who knows how long, not so good.

We moved recently and I googled around for 'metal tea maker' and came up with this:

It works with a half-gallon wide-mouth mason jar:

And finally I got a spout lid:

Total cost for this setup was around $20 ... but should last forever without getting plastic polluted. (Maybe I'll have to replace the lid in 10 years ...) Also no electricity! Takes maybe 12 hours to brew sitting on the counter ... I have two of these and just swap them out and sweeten the incoming one and put the tube with new tea in the outgoing one.

I tried loose leaf tea for starts, but tea bags work just as well and are a sight easier to clean up.

Happy iced tea drinking to you ... I thought this was a revelation after 20 years of Mr. Coffee!

I've been neglecting superstar SF author Daniel Suarez ...

I've enjoyed everything Daniel Suarez has published the last few years, but his latest one may be the best yet:

Flamboyant billionaire Nathan Joyce recruits a bunch of adventurers and scientists to try out for his mission to mine asteroids ... The description of the tryouts and training and the mission itself with all its complications is just fascinatingly well done and not to be missed.

Five stars: money back if not completely satisfied on this one.

The first two I experienced of Suarez was this duology:

These two concern rich and recently deceased game developer Matthew Sobel, who's apparently left a complex computer-game type set of deadly traps for former employees and law enforcement personnel.

One of these, Detective Sargent Pete Seabeck, is targeted for especially horrifying treatment ...

The second book continues the story with a critique of modern society, and the way Suarez weaves the whole thing together I thought was just brilliant.

Five stars for both of these, too, but warning as they both contain scenes of extreme violence ... I'm actually going back to replay the audiobook of Daemon after finishing Delta-V this past week.

More on Ranked Choice Voting: Results from Maine 2018 and an educational video series

Ranked Choice Voting update:

Sore Loser Loses Again': Federal Judge Rejects GOP Lawsuit, Defends Mainers' Right to Ranked Choice Voting

The Republican got a few more votes than the Democrat, but not a majority. So ranked-choice voting kicked in and the two minor parties' voters second choices were overwhelmingly for the Democrat and he won.

The Republican then sued, to no avail. Full story if you want it ...

On to the best educational series I've seen: Politics in the Animal Kingdom by C. G. P. Grey ... Enjoy!

David Cameron's memoir is coming out, and his "fans" can't wait

Here he is, the man, the legend:

He has a book coming out: his memoir. The comments when this was announced:

• "The audiobook version should just have the sound of sobbing."
• "I presume the hardback version should be released without a spine."

... and more. Original from the New York Times ...

USPS receives UPS and FedEx packages, but NO HURRY!

The US Postal Service has been accepting UPS and FedEx packages for a while now, but my wife and I had never tried anything time-critical. We did on Friday, asking for a title company to send a UPS overnight package for Saturday delivery.

I first checked in at 9:30 or so; the envelope wasn't in my box. They said normal delivery was around 1pm, so I got back 1:30 ...

The person on that trip said they get so many envelopes and UPS packages on Saturday that they can't get them all sorted  and placed in boxes ... until Monday a.m.

I'm going back then, but let this be a warning ... don't expect timeliness on any UPS or FedEx envelope or package going to your PO Box!

Radiolab missing "Bliss" segment available here now!

Radiolab recently reran a 2012 segment entitled "Bliss" ... but without the final segment on psilocybin included!

I emailed Radiolab about this a couple of months ago and they finally responded with a link to the missing segment, and here it is:


My only remaining question: why cut this segment? I'm waiting on Radiolab's response to this question ... in the meantime, enjoy!

Why John Scalzi got $3.4 million for his next 13 books (in 2015)

The short answer: Tor, his publisher noticed that many people who bought one of his books went right back and bought all of them!

Sounds rational to me ... I've just finished his latest:

I found this one extremely satisfying ... even better than its predecessor:

These two (and a proposed third book) are set in an alternate universe where there are physical "flowstreams" that allow quick interstellar travel.   But what happens when a physicist predicts that these flowstreams, which are the basis of many civilizations including several space habitats that can't support human life without regular trade? Two very good novels, that's what ...

Try any of Scalzi's books; you can't go wrong!

An interesting interview with Scalzi is here ...