Little Train Conductor

It keeps you busy, setting these little trains on the right track, but it's fun.

It's also serious work. Little train safety is top priority. You'd be surprised how many times I am clearing the track of snacks and the wondering Hello Kitty or Princess doll.

Rewarding fun work, I highly recommend being a Little Train Conductor.

Leftovers

What to do with leftover roasted turkey and mashed potatoes? Pasta dinner and twice baked mashed potatoes!

Prepare cheese tortellini, add pulled roasted turkey and Alfredo sauce, slow cook. Put leftover mashed potatoes in baking dish, add shredded cheese if you like, and bake in oven.

As with any dinner, it goes with out saying - or maybe should be said, have some salad and a fruit dish to round out your meal.

Music for a great leftover dinner should include: Grateful Dead, Railroad Earth, and Leftover Salmon.

tracking a tasty brine

Tasty Southern style brine:

Water
1c   sea salt
1c   brown sugar
1c   apple cider vinegar
2tbs black pepper
2tbs garlic powder

Fake Thanksgiving is a great time to try a new brine. Apple cider vinegar and brown sugar adds a great southern kick to a turkey roast. And what is Fake Thanksgiving? It's a floating fake holiday that usually lands sometime in Autumn, and is a great reason to roast a turkey for family and friends.

Thaw your turkey in the fridge. Put turkey in brine - submerge completely under brine. Some use a big bag, some use a big pot. Brine turkey in the fridge. Adjust brine time to size of turkey, 6 to 12 hours. Remove from brine, drain turkey. Now roast!

Music for Southern style brine and turkey roast should include Stevie Ray Vaughan, ZZ Top and Molly Hatchet.

Rain and Play-Doh

What do you do on a rainy day? Play-Doh

sand and water

Sand village

Work continues in the Sand village, though many have returned to school. Dedicated folks like Jack, keep sand building production going.

"Sure, some days are tough. Our numbers are fewer, and those that are here - seem to be my size, no bigger. But we keep going, you know, for the joy of sand building." - Jack, a Sand village regular.

Jack assures all, sand scoops and buckets will be in action!

How about Ubuntu Unity

Ubuntu Unity is based on Debian GNU-Linux. It's a friendly Linux distro that is easy to install and use. The live ISO, that you can burn to a dvd, can be downloaded from Ubuntu.

With trying any Linux distro, BACK UP YOUR DATA! Save your data to a separate drive. There should be no problem trying a Live ISO of Ubuntu Linux, this test run of Ubuntu Linux should not affect your current Operating System. Again though, to be safe, BACK UP YOUR DATA!

The Ubuntu Unity desktop environment is based on Gnome 3, an easy to use modern interface. Unity is a nice blend of new desktop interaction, with a nod to traditional desktop work flow. The left side bar holds your favorite applications, and the icons give indication of application functions - while applications are not in focus. The top bar provides easy access to system functions, and also provides information on those functions. Application windows occupy the majority of desktop space, and make good use of global menu function. You can maximize any application, have it fill the screen, and still have indication of other running applications not in focus - in the side bar. Pop up alerts, let you know of application function too - such as receiving email or an instant message.

Perhaps one of the nicest features of Unity, is Dash. Dash is a search function that provides you with information on data and applications. Simply start typing what you are looking for or interested in - and usually Dash provides the information before you can finish typing the search query.

Ubuntu Unity 12.04LTS is a Long Term Support distro, supported until 2017. There can sometimes be confusion on 32-bit Linux distro or 64-bit Linux distro. Most modern hardware, a couple years old, is 64-bit. If you are trying Ubuntu Unity, you will want to try Ubuntu Unity 12.04LTS amd64. amd64 is a nod to the company AMD, one of the first to implement 64-bit processing. Simply put, amd64 is 64-bit, most hardware with 64-bit capability should work fine with Ubuntu Unity 12.04LTS amd64.

Ubuntu Unity 12.04LTS is an incredibly stable, smooth operating system. A great Linux distro worth trying, friendly to those new to Linux and a powerful distro for solid production.