Mrs.J

2 hours ago, vastateofmind said:

As always, looks AMAZING. I'm not a tremendous mushroom fan, but I'll bet it tastes good with that mix. The snap peas look soooo mouthwatering. Never heard of the meifun noodles, but they look awesome, especially with the other veggie/protein mix here. Geez, Mrs. J, if you don't already have your own cooking blog, channel, etc. -- you really should.

I am an introvert so I have issues going big with things. But am happy that I can share here. And yea the Meifun noodles are a new one for me. Brown rice noodles kind of like angle hair pasta. And the nice thing about stir frys is you can add the veg to your liking. So could just leave out the mushrooms. 

1 hour ago, toolsheds said:

Looks really good!  Made pulled pork tonight in the crock pot with some homemade spicy raspberry BBQ sauce.  Yum :-)

Oh we are having pulled pork nachos tomorrow. Made pulled pork last week and had enough left over. That BBQ sauce sounds good!

40 minutes ago, rclab said:

Good evening Mrs J. It doesn’t matter, as long as your the one making it. As always .....

Awe thanks! Chicken stir fry with Meifun noodles. Nice change from rice. 

What am I making today 

2 hours ago, vastateofmind said:

Great perks! And yeah, avoiding any commuting days is a huge win in my book...especially when trying to plan for, or prep, weeknight dinners!   

Absolutely. Can't imagine making a DC-WV commute on a regular basis, but the trade-off is living where you and @Mrs.J live -- both beautiful areas away from all of the urbanization. My wife and I considered a move to Leesburg or just west of there many years ago, but I ultimately didn't want the commute from there and telework wasn't an option back then.

I currently live only six miles from my job at Belvoir, however, with a ramp-up of in-fill residential/commercial development and many extra traffic lights added in recent years, what used to be a 15-20 minute commute a decade ago, turned into (typically) a one-way 30-40 minute commute just before the pandemic shutdown. I mean, that's just a ridiculous amount of time to traverse six miles, IMHO.

Yea we many times thought of moving closer to Rockville. But I just cannot get past the built up environment. Even Frederick to a point in areas is getting built up. We live in a neighborhood on the SW side. Very close to 270 and 70. But as it stands we still have many fields around us. Could change, but hope that by the time it does with both Miss J's in college we will downsize. I want a tiny house Mr. J is still not sold on it. 

23 hours ago, wxtrix said:

i bet they do. happier more productive employees are more likely to stay.

in fact, the ability to telework at competitor's workplaces is going to be factor in retaining good employees.

He says that he will still go in but would like the opportunity for a couple days of no commute. His office has a sweet kitchen with a chef and there are work out facilities in house. Also a giant theater that they hold meetings in.  

21 minutes ago, mappy said:

Also, working from home. Definitely going to be pushing to be more WFH than in the office when this is all over. I won't mind going in a couple days a week, or for meetings that must be done in person, but not full time. There are so many benefits to WFH, for those that can. 

11 minutes ago, wxtrix said:

oceanwx’s boss has gone 100% virtual and has moved out of the area to take care of aging parents. we’re hoping he can do the same so we can move to the Keys sooner than we had planned.

his company had been 100% opposed to letting the engineering group telework; after a month the director said it was there to stay.

Mr. J's office always said there is no way to allow them to work from home with security issues. But last April they made the decision to get all employees out of the building and home. They all had to go down during scheduled appts and get their work stations. Then everyone was sent an encrypted router, I believe that is what it is, to hook up to their home internet. His company just got acquired by Microsoft and they have told his company that when the pandemic is lifted is when they will open up the office. I am hoping though that seeing that it has worked out this past year that they will give options to do some WFH. It has cut our gas filling in half and is nice to have him home for an actual dinnertime. Which in the past was some days where the girls and I would eat and he would eat when he got home. 

Just now, WxUSAF said:

@Mrs.J with POTUS’ announcement last night, I’d expect phase 2 in MD by April 1.

Thanks! Yea I saw that when @nj2va posted the Garrett Co info. 

One thing I am trying to find out is because I am still on Tamoxfin, a drug for BC to remove Estrogen to lessen the chance of re-occurrence, if that is considered "cancer patients currently in active treatment." Of if that statement means currently in Chemo and or Radiation. I had Radiation 5 years ago so that part of my treatment is done. But I am still on the Tamoxfin. 

No eating out inside or outside for this cancer survivor. Hoping that MD gets the ball rolling and moves into phase 2 soon. Yesterday was not a good day for me seeing other friends in other states with underlying conditions getting their shots. I am genuinely happy for all who are able to get shots, just frustrated at the process in MD with immunocompromised persons. 

My arm has been waiting and I have equipped my phone with all the apps and notifications to get in line. I have debated jumping state lines for shots in states that are vaccinating people in my category. I may start asking you all for your zip codes so I can branch out if my area is tough to get an appt. Know of someone who drove over to Easton for theirs. I have an EZpass and will do a day trip if needed. Hate driving the Bay bridge but will white knuckle it for a shot  

Slept with the window slightly open last night. Woke up this morning sneezing. It's grass pollen season. 

Out of no where just had a huge gust of wind blow in. Lasted for about 30 sec and now everything is calm again. 

67 out. Kid went on a trail ride so I have this to look at. It is fantastic out! 

I just love the emails I get from my solar system. Today will be a full charge up for sure!

Moroccan meatballs with polenta. Total gluten free meal. 

2 hours ago, vastateofmind said:

I love the combined "comfort" and utility of your workspace, @Mrs.J...along with the upgrades you've shared here. I hope it's working out well for you.

Our Son #1 moved out two years ago, about a year after he graduated from college and decided to go into Army Officer Candidate School (go figure) -- which provided us the chance to have our first dedicated guest room in our small-ish home. Son #2 graduated in December 2019, lived/teleworked with us during most of 2020 and just moved out to Arlington about a month ago -- and Son #2's vacant bedroom provided me the first opportunity EVER to have my own dedicated home office, which couldn't be more timely as I'll likely be teleworking 90% or more of the time for the last few years of my career. I'm on Cloud 9.   

   

It is so nice to get your own space. I have spent the last 17 years only ever doing for the rest of my family. It has taken me this long to be ok with doing for myself. 
 

Your office space looks great! And like that it is it’s own room. 

So being an artist I like to have an organized work space. When we moved to our current home 11 years ago it was my opportunity to have a studio finally. Well I got a table that worked but had to settle for hodge podge storage solutions. I finally decided to do something for myself and revamped my studio. Liked the table top but not the legs. So ordered new metal legs and it looks like a different table. Also got low profile storage units that hides all my supplies. Artists are all different and some need chaos around them to work. Being a perfectionist I am an Artist that needs order. I have finally achieved that. And with my studio down in the game room it all works together. Just need to find a chair now. 

8 hours ago, vastateofmind said:

Hey, @Mrs.J -- do you happen to live near a Wegmans? I was browning some peppers/onions for taco salads last evening and took a closer look at this bottle's label. It's Weggy's Basting Oil...sunflower oil, garlic and herbs...says on label that it's gluten-free and vegan. (Couldn't remember if you mentioned switching to vegan or not.) In any event, this stuff is nectar of the gods....we use it numerous times weekly, for browning/basting a variety of meats and veggies, great stuff. I can only imagine the amazing things you could do with it in your kitchen.   

I do have one near me. Will have to look into that. Thanks!!

Ok so question here. Need to decide if I want to put shoes back on the pony next week. If we are done with snow and ice will get them put on. Otherwise will have to wait till April. My gut says we are done but want to get a second opinion. 

13 minutes ago, vastateofmind said:

Thanks, all, for the helpful details on solar systems....especially for the app screenshots, @Mrs.J. Very interesting to see how you can even get a panel-by-panel report on efficiency. It's an option that's always intrigued me in our current home as it faces due south...so we obviously get full/blasting sun on the front/top of the house all year long (when it's shining). Due to wind damage, we just had our entire roof replaced last summer....plus we're probably going to move in the next 1-2 years....otherwise, I'd look into this a bit more seriously for our current house.

Defiantly keep it in mind. A full facing south is the best but if the percentages work out with cost vs. benefit than other orientations can work also. We have even considered putting more on the back side, west facing because new data has come out saying that a percentage of west facing in the evening you can benefit from. Also if still available there is the Fed tax credit of 30% of system purchase price. We also got a grant from MD for $1000, not sure if they are still doing that. And at the time there was a push to get solar into counties in MD that did not have a good showing of solar. So we applied for and got a $500 grant from Frederick Co. 

One thing that is cool about watching our grid during the day is the panels on the top that have less production early on around noon have full production. Our house gets 80% of our energy from our panels. It is not 100% because of our orientation but anything over 50% and they will put it up. And the panel by panel report is because each individual panel has its own Microinverter. Some systems only have one for the entire system. We have had a couple Microinvertors go bad over the years. The company we got installation from monitors the systems also and they know when there is an issue. They let you know they will be out, you do not have to be home, and will replace the microinverter as it is under warranty. We worked with Astrum Solar BTW. A local MD company down in Annapolis. 

10 minutes ago, toolsheds said:

I don't think that any HOA in Maryland is allowed to deny any solar panel request.  I'm on the HOA for my neighborhood and that was my understanding, so we rubber stamp the requests if the homeowners do submit a form.  

 

No they are not. We unfortunately at the time were still dealing the the builder as the neighborhood was not yet built out enough to turn it over to the community. So my neighbor and ourselves defied the rejection and with the State Law on our side went ahead and put up our systems. The builders reasoning was that it detracted from the aesthetics of the community. AKA they did not want anything going up that would what they think stop people from buying in my neighborhood, which is just plain crap! Had the guy in charge of our neighborhood actually send an email where he stated that it was ugly for potential buyers to see. We informed him that because of the state law, that aesthetics were not a reason to not allow us to put them on the front of our home. 

Another neighbor went ahead and took them to court and won. And because of him winning my neighbor and I got our approval after the fact. So for about a year we were in non compliance. Now there are at least 8 other systems up on houses on our side of the neighborhood. 

1 minute ago, mdhokie said:

This is some great advice. If the break even isn't less than 10 years these days, your roof might not be ideal for solar. Or your power consumption might be higher than normal and the money would be better spent on house sealing/energy improvements. I wouldn't worry much about roof replacement either since most companies these days are familiar with the process of removal/reinstall. Obviously if you are 25 years in on a 30 year roof, you might want to look at getting a new roof prior to solar install..

I helped my mom through the process and we ended up with Tesla due to the powerwall battery storage and integration with the Tesla app. She also had to have it approved by HOA but they didn't raise a fuss. The new style panels and skirting really make it look like part of the roof line. She will go most of the summer (4-5 months) without using a watt from BGE due to the battery storage. Then 3-4 months she will be net positive (put more back into the grid than used), and the remaining couple months she uses the credits built up during the summer. At the end of the year she gets a check from BGE for the excess sent back into the grid. Her primary driver was also environmental but the savings will add up over the life of the panels (30 years).

 

Those new panels look great! Yea my friend has the Tesla battery as they live in rural VA and a BOLT so they can charge it overnight of the battery. It is something we seriously are considering to add to our system. And awesome for your mom going solar!

44 minutes ago, vastateofmind said:

Bringing over from obs thread. I've seen what looks like older solar systems on several roofs in the neighborhood over the years, but know nothing about them (nor whether those neighbors have been happy/unhappy with them). Legit question though -- realizing that installs vary based on the size of the roof/home, do solar panels add a lot of extra weight to your roof? Or have manufacturers slimmed them down a lot over the years?

@vastateofmindWe went solar back in 2013. And I agree this winter has been the worst. But overall we have saved a ton having them. Also we contract SREC's to Potomac Edison so what we don't use goes into the grid. Get a check every year. But the reason we went solar was more of a conscious decision for the environment. We own our system, there is a company that you can lease from but you do not get the tax benefit at install. And your rates are just discounted. But if you cannot put out the up front costs it is a good option. We were told that our system would pay for itself after 6 years. And it has. Also as the roof is covered it extends the life of the roof material. And if the roof needs to be replaced the company we went with will come out take everything down, and reinstall after the roof is finished. We went with American made panels as they are black. Korean panels were cheaper but have a green tint to them and with the lame HOA excuses of looking "bad" the black panels look more like a roof. 

You need to get a reputable company to come in and they will design a system that fits your roofs specs. We have 27 panels on the front of our house as that faces South the most. Had a fight with the HOA about that one but won in the end as there is a law in MD that local power companies with lines in the state need to every year have a certain percentage of renewable and they count our house as commercial so that counts.  I will snap some shots of my system on my app that monitors it daily and put it up for today. 

We have an East West facing Townhome and it is loaded with windows on both facades. Chose it for that very purpose as the main level has a bank of 5 windows across the front. So it allows me to not have lights on till much later in the day during the spring, summer and fall. Summer I hardly have any lights on at all till well after 6pm. Our friends got a battery back up and we have thought about that also. As because we are still part of the grid when power goes out even though we have panels our power is out. This protects the linemen working on the line issue as if our panels were live that would not be good. 

Shepard’s pie with lamb and gluten free flour. 

1 hour ago, vastateofmind said:

Sending off meteorological winter with what's probably the final pot of "traditional" chili for the season. Household tastes switch over to white chicken chili and other "lighter" soups as we head into spring. Also (and sadly, for some of you), there are indeed a couple dashes of Old Bay and many dashes of Frank's Red Hot in thar...

YUMMM!

I just put in a Shepard's Pie with ground Lamb to send winter packing. But the English do not use Old Bay so wanting to be traditional left it out. 

27 minutes ago, toolsheds said:

I usually just make them without a recipe.  I use mayonnaise, Old Bay, Jumbo Lump Crab Meat and occasionally I'll add bread crumbs (but not always).  I use a ladel to scoop them and place on the cookie sheet and broil them until they are golden brown. 

I don’t make them enough so keep recipes on hand. One thing I will have to try though is pork rinds. Since I am newly diagnosed gluten intolerant I recently made some fish cakes. Substituted plain crushed pork rinds for bread crumbs. Wow that is a well kept secret of Paleo eaters. Amazing flavor. They have gluten free Panko, but Pork rinds are cheeper and worked great. Going to try them in my meatballs next week. And serving over polenta instead of pasta. 

3 hours ago, nw baltimore wx said:

 

I just had a crab cake sandwich from Box Hill (don’t want to quote all of @Stormfly’s last post) and though I like them a lot, the bun is too large. It takes away from the crab cake. I like G & M’s crab cake a lot, but the Olive Branch that used to be used to be here and moved up 140 a ways is really good too.

Tim Buk Too in Hanover used to be good too, but I haven’t been there in awhile.

I need a good recipe from @Mrs.J for all the crabbing we do.

I have a couple good recipes. Getting ready to crash but will put them up in the morning.