Jenn Dolari @dolari@driveinsaturday.org

Happy Valentines Day

I'll never get over how interconnectable Linux is.

So, not only is the house clean, but all the computers are de-crufted. The laptop and the living room PCs are now also running Linux alongside Windows. I figure why should my main PC get all the fun with Linux.

Yay.

My Valentine (me) got me (also me) some nice chocolates for Valentine's Day.

House is clean, I am clean, this feels a lot better.

Happy Valentine's Day!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPq5ISDcHGE

In better news, the office is now clean, and just needs vacuuming. The read bathroom needs sweeping and the toilet cleaned (ew) and the deep-clean will be done. I really needed it. I've been living in my own junkyard for a while now.

So the problem with the comal came from when the de-rusting gel I bought was seperated. That shouldn't have happened, but I bought the stuff from Amazon. WHo knows how long it was sitting on a shelf before it was shipped to me.

Everything else that went wrong happened because the gel seperated. But the rust on the comal is the same type as it was before today, it's just EVERYWHERE now. This weekend, I'm going to go to the Ace Hardware in town, and buy some of the de-rusting gel off the shelf. If it's still a gel, I'll try the de-rusting again. And I will check BEFORE I scrub down the comal again. If it's not, I'll return it, and ask for a fresh one.

I was worried that the worst would happen. And it did. And it messed me the hell up today. Maybe I'll be over it by the weekend, and if so, well, I can't make things much worse.

It's all seasoned up. Looks way worse than before. Will get it restored whenever things get better for me financially.

Reseasoning panic #4

I went ahead and removed the comal from the water/vinegar soak, washed it to an inch of its life to make sure all the vinegar is washed off, and it's now reseasoning in the oven.

I've made the problem a billion times worse. I had small little orange patches of rust. Now the whole thing is orange. I'm only reseasoning it to seal the comal to keep it from rusting any further.

Once I get a job, I'm going to have someone profressionally restore it, and then put it away for good. I rarely use it as it is, (I make tortillas maybe once a year because I'm diabetic) and frankly, it's better I just have a cheapie non-stick griddle for stuff like that.

I just hope I didn't ruin it.

Reseasoning panic #3 - I just noticed that the comal has a tiny crack through it, and that means instant retirement anyways.

I'm going to wait until midnight (12 hours) for the rust to flake off, but if it isn't coming off, I'm going to reseason it, put it away, and once I get a new job, pay someone to restore it from scratch.

Reseasoning Panic #2 - The water-vinegar bath seems to be making the rust problem WORSE. It's definitely more orange now, and the rust patina isn't coming off.

Beginning to think I need to give this to someone to fix and then just put it away where I won't ruin it. I don't want to be the one who ruins an heirloom.

Listening to the Vesna album while working (procrastinating) on the office. Here's another good one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rw-eFiBJ2ss

You know, I didn't think China was up to something, even when they started poking around Taiwan's airspace.

But the balloons over the US (who would come to their defence) and hearing about a balloon over Central America (which contain a few countries who still have official ties), have me thinking something is up.

I'm not so sure WHAT anymore, but at the same time, I'm not so sure about a non-invasion of Taiwan anymore....

Reseasoning panic #1. The rust removal gel wasn't a gel when I opened it. This wouldn't have been a problem if I'd found this out BEFORE I SCRUBBED clean the comal. And I didn't want to reseason it with the rust patches. But I couldn't just LEAVE it.

Found another de-rusting technique using water and vinegar, so the comal is soaking in that right now. Hopefully that will do the trick.

If not, I'll just reseason it with the patches and try again next year with de-rusting gel. And this time CHECK the gel before I start.

Sudden Instant Winter Advisory

About to re season my grandmother's comal. I'm actually terrified when doing this. This is a working heirloom, so I actually do use it to cook. But it's also incredibly old and I don't want to be the one who breaks this.

On top of that, when re seasoning cast iron, you do absolutely everything you're not supposed to to cast iron. Scrubbing with soap and water and everything.

It went well last time I did it other than not being able to scrub all the minor rust patches out. I'm hoping the rust treatment I have will take care of those patches this time.

Another reason I listen to these overseas radio is that I get to discover music I've never heard of. It was through Radio Prague that I learned about Manon Meurte.

This week they played the debut album of Vesna, who have a pop song in Eurovision this year. While the pop song didn't grab me several songs on the debut album, Pata Bohyne, were incredibly beautiful and actually got me to stop cleaning to listen.

Never heard of these folks before, but I very much want to listen to them now.

The full broadcast is here: https://english.radio.cz/broadcast-english-02122023-8774851

https://youtu.be/fRZYo9AljXQ

Most of the house has had a good deep cleaning. Everything but the office. Gonna work on the office tonight, but don't plan to finish it before bed.

Plan for tomorrow is to reseason the comal with some rust remover (it's not got bad rust or anything, just a light orange coloring, but I'd rather it be seasoned with no rust on it at all).