Cheese Tasting 2: St. Albry vs. Tomme Crayeuse-Ar

On tonight's cheese tasting menu are St. Albry and Tomme Crayeuse-AR, two ripened bries from France. I was a bit worried about these two, their smells are quite strong.

I first tasted the Tomme. I was expecting an overly strong taste based on it's smell, but it is very creamy and smells stronger than it tastes. With Cracker: excellent. With the Membrillo: Very good. The sweetness of the membrillo and the strong flavor of the brie are a great pair. With Dark Chocolate: Too bland. Neither flavor stands out.

St. Albry's has a 'stinky cheese' smell. However, its taste is also more milder than the smell; it is stronger than the bries I am accustomed to. It has a woodsy flavor. With cracker: OK. I could only eat a small amount of this cheese if it was only served with crackers. With Membrillo: Not as good as the membrillo/tomme combination. With chocolate: surprisingly good! I recommend this combination, quite a complex taste. It would be a nice desert, though, you could only eat a small amount. The smelly cheese taste contrasts well with the creamy dark chocolate. At the end of the tasting, the Albry starts to get too strong for me to enjoy.

Throughout the week as I sampled the St. Albry, it become more and more acidic. The taste was felt on the sides of my tongue. The more I ate, the less I liked it. However, it continued to be very edible with dark chocolate, and this is the only way I could enjoy it.

Comparing the two, the Tomme is more creamy and milder. After tasting the Albry, the Tomme's more delicate flavor is lost. I don't recommend serving these two together. The Tomme was overall a better cheese. But, I recommend the Albry and dark chocolate for an interesting combination.

Stop & Shop's new 'Personal Check-Out Tool'

I went to Stop and Shop yesterday to get my weekly groceries. I discovered they are testing out a new 'personal check out tool:' a handheld device which allows customers to scan their own groceries as they shop, then instantly put them in their shopping bags. At the end, you scan your Stop and Shop card and pay using a machine- no interaction with a cashier. There is no need to put the groceries back on the conveyor belt and have the cashier scan them in. The main objective for Stop and Shop is to cut down on employees, which is only my assumption and not what I was told when given the personal scanner.

I was skeptical at first, since I'm fonder of human interaction at the grocery store and being greeting by the cashiers at the end. But, in reality, Stop and Shop in my experience isn't known for their friendliness, at least not compared to the overly personal Whole Paycheck, ahem, Whole Foods.

So, I took the hand held scanner and went about getting the things on my list. The hardest thing was scanning the fruits and vegetables. I had to place each fruit/vegetable on a digital scale, look up the product number, enter it in, enter in the number of items, and then print out a barcode- in the form of a sticker that I then stuck on the fruit/vegetable. I then needed to scan the barcode. It took a few tries, because when it asked for the number of items, I entered 1, but then there would be a delay, so I would press 1 again, which would then turn into 11. After pressing 'clear,' the whole system cleared and I would have to find the product number again and start over. But, after 3 tries, I became an 'expert.'

Thankfully I know my fruits and vegetables, but, I can imagine someone grabbing an unknown product that they wanted to try and having a difficult time identifying it. Perhaps in the future, there will be smart scales, which would know what the fruit/vegetable was without you having to type in the product number. Or, S&S could go the Trader Joe's way and have everything pre-packaged. Which, I would very much dislike. Another, easier solution, would be to go "old-school style" with the fruits and vegetables section, and have someone there to weigh them and put bar codes on them for you.

One of the things I liked about the experience was that I became very aware of how much things cost and how much my total bill was at all times. Also, I liked carrying the device around, it was nicely designed, and it made the shopping experience seem like a game.

The checkout experience went surprisingly smooth. I was always afraid of those self-checker isles. But, all I had to do was to scan the 'end checkout' bar code, scan my Stop and Shop card, and select 'Debit card.' The rest was the usual experience of sliding my card in the slot and entering my number. I also found that since I partook in this experience, I was giving $3 back.

While I was shopping, I imagined how easy it would be for someone to steal food using this method. I was only told a random search may happen after checkout (which didn't end up happening). Perhaps in the future, everything will have RFID tags, so the store would know if you did not scan a product.

Another future problem is that there was only one electronic scale. If many people were shopping with the personal scanners, their would need to be many of these electronic scales. I could imagine waiting in line to use one and being really annoyed.

There wasn't a smiling cashier to wish me a good day, but, there usually isn't. I bring my bike bag instead of using paper or plastic, and most of the time I end up having to repack it anyway. So, this definitely saved me some time. Afterwards, I stopped by Whole Foods to pick up my specialty items (goat cheese is surprisingly cheaper at Whole Foods than S&S) and got my weekly dose of smiling bakers, butchers, and cheese makers.

Cheese Tasting 1: Artisan Garretxa vs. Manchego Raw Sheep's Milk

The Artisan Garretxa is smooth to bite. I sliced it thin, and the rind gives an interesting, moldy cheese taste, which is actually quite good. It's quite mild, apart from the rind. It is a almost white, which you can see in the picture on the right side of the plate.
With Dark Chocolate: Good
With Membrillo: Ok. The consistency wasn't a good match with the mebrillo, the smooth texture did not provide enough contrast. Taste was ok.
With cracker: Good.

The Manchego is slightly harder than the artisan, more similar to a parmesan with a crumbly texture. It is a darker yellow color (bottom of picture). The flavor was stronger, and dry. Perhaps 'nuttier.'
With Dark Chocolate: I was surprised, it was very good.
With Membrillo: Very good. The cheese is harder than the membrillo, and I like that contrast.
With cracker: Ok. A bit too hard.

Overall, they were both great cheeses. I was surprised at how well the Manchego went with chocolate, since it has a stronger flavor. I would imagine more people would like the artisan, since it was milder. But, I prefer to the Manchego. However, I could imagine the artisan going quite well with a ham sandwich.

Ok... The cheese isn't THAT bad

About a year ago, I posted my belief that the cheese in the U.S. isn't very good. Please forgive my ignorance- I am from Montana, where the grocery stores have a very limited selection and that had tainted my views. Just last month, it took some effort to find Mascarpone cheese in Kalispell, MT, but, we eventually found it.

Now that I am living in Boston, and have access to Whole Paycheck, I mean Whole Foods, I have realized that there is a very fine variety of cheeses (imported and local) in the U.S., albeit for lots of cash. Since I am very fond of cheese, I have decided to splurge and buy a different kind each week from the local WF.

I will post my opinions of cheese here in my blog, mostly so I can remember which was which. This will also ensure at least a weekly post, which, since my last one was almost a year ago, is quite a commitment for me.

I miss Cheese

I miss quite a few things in Australia. One, which is ranked pretty low on the list, but is still on the list, is cheese. The U.S., at least in Montana, doesn't have any good cheese. I used to spread ricotta on my toast in Australia, and it's really good with a little honey too. I tried that here, and it was pretty disgusting. And, little known to Americans, CHEDDAR CHEESE IS NOT ORANGE. It's actually a cream color. In the US, annatto is added to create the orange color.

Recent Books & Movie Review

Since I haven't posted a blog in almost a year, one of my New Year's Resolutions is to get in tune with the online world and blog more. A summary of recent events: I just got back from Australia where I lived in Canberra for a year. Now I'm hiding out in the wilderness of Montana. Besides the always entertaining company of my family, I've been reading and watching movies.

Last night I finished "The Confederacy of the Dunces." Very easy read, I found myself reading about 40 pages a night, and I'm not usually a quick reader. While my favorite books are about revenge and drama (I love the Count of Monte Cristo), I found this book entertaining but somewhat lacking. Or, perhaps the better adjective is annoying. A few of the characters, including Ignatius (main character) and Mrs. Levy and Trixie, really got on my nerves. I think that is what kept me reading, the hope that these characters would change for the better. I don't want to sound too negative about this book though. I really liked the character Jones, very funny. The dialogue is colorful, and the characters each have a very unique personality. Read it when you have time.

Last night I also watched "Dogville." A very strange film, I was not expecting it to be completely filmed on a stage-like set. Very drawn out. The main character Grace (Nicole Kidman) showed two extreme personalities. For most of the film, she is an overly docile young woman, who forgives all cruel acts committed against her and somehow manages to remain a character who could be described as 'sweet, innocent, naive.' But at the finale of the film, she goes to the direct opposite, and while still speaking in a whisper-like voice, she becomes the most savage and cruel villain. The second main character, a young man that Grace depends on to be her friend is also an interesting character. He is so focused on the psychological and social aspects of the town from a scholarly point of view, that he shockingly is able to ignore the injustices and crimes happening right in front of him. If you are able to sit through a 3 hour film, and stomach or look away from a few very disturbing scenes, this film was interesting in portraying how terrible acts can be blamed on circumstance rather than face-up-value of morality.

A week ago I went with my family to the current Disney film "Primeval." This was not my choice, nor do I recommend anyone seeing it, even when it comes out on HBO. It was a Hollywood pre-manufactured script of good looking, stoic main character who is a top-notch journalist and his black-bestfriend-who-is-the-sole-funny-character fly to Africa to save the world from a large crocodile. Their small group consists of good looking journalist-woman-hoping-to-move-up-the-ladder, a crocodile expert who thinks crocodiles are more important than humans since the world has more humans than crocs, and a 'skilled' hunter. Interestingly enough the 'skilled' hunter who actually possesses knowledge about living in wild Africa is one of the first to die. The main character and woman, while they hale from NYC, are able to outlive bullets from terrorists and the jaws of the beast, to peacefully fly back home hand in hand. Please Disney, don't do this again.

One a happier note, "Little Miss Sunshine" was very enjoyable. Any film that gets all the main characters on stage to do an awkward dance is definitely worth watching.

Traveler's Insurance

There's nothing more "heart-warming" than buying health insurance, especialy when reading over the long list of things the provider won't cover and being reminded about the prospect of losing limbs and death. I'm in the middle of my trip overseas- in Australia. Back in November when I was buying my travel insurance, I trusted the policy found on the website of my graduate school, quickly bought the plan, and forgot about it. Then last week I got hurt playing basketball and had to go to the emergency room (I'm ok now). I didn't have my insurance information with me, and now I'm stuck trying to get a claims form. Which, you would think, shouldn't be too hard. Except, when the number the policy form says to call is actually a personal phone number of a man who gets really grouchy when all these people are calling about insurance claims. The next number I tried was an auto-insurance company, and the next number I called, which the form said to only call if you are within the U.S., was all auto-mated and asked me to leave my name and details after the beep. Where is the empathy in that! Medical insurance is a personal thing, and should be handled by actual personell who listen to your problems and concerns.... ugh. I tried the website, but it didn't exist.

Anyway, the point of this is to save you the hastle when you get hurt in a far away country. I luckily only bought health insurance from this company (AIG) for half of my trip. Today I purchased a new plan, and while I have not had to use it yet, I feel a bit more comfortale that my needs will be met. When getting traveler's health insurance, here are a few things to check for.

• Does the insurance company have a WORKING website?
• Does the medical coverage suit your needs? Be sure to read the policy.
• Are there multiple contact options, not just a phone number, but also fax and email?
• Is there an agent you can personally contact?
• A good thing to investigate is the cost of a trip to the emergency room in the country you are visiting, take this into consideration when deciding on the amount of the deductible. For example, my Australian vist to the e-room was $130. If the deductible is 100, it might be a better idea to pay a little more to cut the deductible down to either $50 or even $0.

The plan I just bought is through Liaison SRI. Again, I haven't used it yet, but I'm really glad to know they actually have a working website and there is an actual agent I can contact with questions and problems. Also, the premium was very affordable, even with a zero deductible.

Next time you travel, don't take traveler's insurance lightly and be sure to find a provider that will actually answer your calls instead of giving you a voice recording.

Shuffles make you Healthy

So... is this advert renting ipod shuffles for $1.35 and claiming it as 'health coverage'? Strange advertisement for health insurance, since it really had nothing to do with an ipod shuffle. But, I guess it got my attention.

the big day

Today I leave for Australia. I'm currently at SFO, waiting for my flight. My Grandpa gave me a ride to the airport. We talked about a LONG trip he made when he was about my age. He flew from the east coast of the U.S. to Hawaii in March of 1945. The plane could only go 500 miles before it needed to be refueled, so you can just imagine all the stops it had to take before getting to the west coast. From San Francisco, he got into a plane that had a huge extra gas tank. The plane had to be stripped out of practically everything, making it light enough so that there would be enough gas to fly across the ocean. The plane ride from San Fran to Hawaii took 18 hours! Today it takes around 5. My flight to Sydney from LAX is taking 14.5 hours. God Bless Technology.

Horns of Affordance

After reading Norman's "Design of Everyday Things," I wondered what he would have to say about the doors at my parent's home in Montana. The front door has a very uniqe door knob- it's an elk horn. I've often seen people ponder how to open the door, so it isn't user-friendly for the novice user. However, for the expert user, I think the horn works well. The horn has great affordance, and has a nice solid feel. My hand fits perfectly around one of the points, and there are multiple points you can grab to open the door. And, don't worry, an elk was not harmed in order to make this door, the horn was found in the woods.

What to do with the ol' CHI bag....

Today I frantically searched the net to find a laptop sleeve that would actually fit my computer. Yes, I bought my laptop back in the stone age, aka August 2004, and it's really really bulky. I couldn't afford the sleek G4, so I went with the Compaq, which has a 17'' monitor, and is 2 inches thick. Yes, 2 inches. All the "extra-large" laptop sleeves I could find weren't large enough to fit my 2 inch brick. So, I decided to make my own laptop sleeve. This sleeve has layers. The innermost is a really soft old t-shirt. This t-shirt is then surrounded with "egg-cart foam patches". The next layer is fake sheep-skin. And the final layer is my CHI bag from the conference in Portland. I re-sewed the bag, to make it fit over the sheep skin more snuggly. The sheep-skin flap has a strip of velcro on it to seal it shut. The sleeve fits my laptop perfectly, and I think all the padding is going to work well.

Plead for Accessibility

Growing up with my step-dad in a wheelchair really opened my eyes to how non-accessible our world is. This weekend my family and I went on a short trip to Missoula, MT. First, it was nearly impossible to find a hotel room that had a room with a roll in shower. The only room we found was at the Wingate Hotel, and this room only had one queen sized bed. I guess this means that Wingate believes that people in wheel chairs either 1) don't have families or 2) travel alone or at most with one other person. As I sat at the desk in the hotel room my step-dad could not get around me to access the adjoining bathroom. The room is small, but if the people in charge of organizing the room would have sat in a wheel chair and rolled around the room, they might have considered putting the desk in the corner, instead of right next to the door. My complaining, could go on, like how the restaurant parking lot didn't have available handicap parking, but, my complaining would take up a lot of space. I'll keep my message simple, there is a major need in our world to make services and environments more accessible, and I hope designers can all keep that in mind.

Free Workout Log

After searching the net for a free workout log, so that my friend Carol and I could be long-distance work out buddies, I came across Stanford Merv's site: http://merv.stanford.edu/Workouts. It's a very simple interface, and there's a few features I wish it had, like the ability to link to my friend's workout log, or a 'cheering section' where my friend and I could add notes to motivate each other, but the site does the job. I like that it totals my miles ran, and I like the calendar outlook. I also like that it has a 'report' feature, so I can graphically see my progress. Good work Merv. If you are interested in my workouts, visit: http://merv.stanford.edu/Workouts?name=shannyk43.

Grizzly Tracks

Yesterday, while running down the dirt road near my house, I came across some large tracks in the mud. Looking closer,I realized they were a Grizzley bear's tracks. These tracks were no more than a day old, and could have been made the same day. There are reportedly dozens of bears roaming around my parent's home in Montana, but it's been a couple years since I seen one. I always bring my dog Frisbee with me, but since he is such a friendly dog, I'm not sure if he'd protect me or just try to play with the bear.

Mobile Phones help African Farmers

I love reading about how technology is helping people out. Cell phones and the web in Africa are doing just that. Manobi has given out hundreds of free cell phones to African farmers and fishermen, allowing them to check updated market prices and demand, and allowing them to interact directly with the sellers. Previously, farmers would have to travel to far away markets to sell their goods, with the risk of losing their harvest to the hot sun. The new virtual trading ability on their mobile phones lets them sell directly from their small farms. Not only is the technology boosting farmer's profits by more than 30%, but it is letting them compete with the larger farms. To learn more, visit: http://www.digital-lifestyles.info/display_page.asp?section=distribution&id=2361.

Word Color!

I just came upon this fun download. The app lets you type in a word, it then uses Google image search to pull up the top nine pictures, calculates the average hue, and then outputs the color. It's pretty cool! Only bad thing is that 'shannon kay o'brien' isn't a very pretty color... The site can be found at: http://douweosinga.com/projects/wordcolor.

Sweet Shop

A couple days ago, I went to Phillipsburgh, MT, to watch my brother play football. The town is practically a ghost town. One of the few shops in the town was the "Sweet Palace," which has been there since the early 1900s. When I walked into the store, I felt like I walked into the past. The shop was alive with music from the 40s, pink lights and antique white ceilings were a wonderful touch. The environment was very welcoming. The employees knew the locals and greeted them by name. They were super nice and gave out tons of free samples. It was the best candy store I had ever been in, and their chocolate truffles were to die for. Their site is at www.sweetpalace.com. Not the most elegant site, but that candy and chocolate is worth the buy.

Soap N' Suds

Wow, talk about a store where everything and everyone gets clean...

When the User is a Bear....

Researchers recently did a study on bear-proof garbage cans. In order to test 30 different types of garbage cans, they gathered up a group of bears with rap-sheets of breaking into people's garbage, and tested how well the garbage cans resisted the claws and teeth of the bears. To pass the test, the container had to keep the bears from reaching the food inside for at least 90 minutes. As I read this article, I was envisioning running a Think Aloud user study on these bears.. "as you try to rip open the lid Mr. Bear, please keep growling aloud"

Dolce Farniente

I'm currently reading "In the Bubble: Designing in a Complex World," by John Thackara. The author makes an interesting point that the English language doesn't have any positive words to describe "doing nothing," we only have negative words, like, "loitering." On the other hand, the Italians have "dolce farniente" which means "sweet doing nothing." I think humans need to have time to do nothing to really come up with worthy thoughts and ideas. I am naming my blog 'dolce farniente' because I anticipate lots of worthy thoughts and ideas will be created here.