I'm working on a publication for my wife. I can't say more because it's really hush-hush (nuclear secrets, you know). We decided to print it on 5.5"x8.5" paper, which the astute among you may recognize as a half-sheet of US Letter size paper. We just didn't need a larger size (atoms are pretty small). The hard part was getting OpenOffice.org to double up the pages.

My first try was to change the page to Landscape and create two columns. That worked, but the page numbers got messed up and I couldn't find an analogous "column number" field. That's a problem because we use automatic tables of contents and indexes extensively.

Title: Alton Brown's Gear For Your Kitchen
Author: Alton Brown
Published: 2003 by Stewart, Tabori & Chang
ISBN: 1-58479-296-5

If you're a fan of Good Eats, you'll dig this book. But be careful. It's not a cookbook, so if that's what you're looking for you'll be disappointed. Instead, it's a book full of what A.B. recommends for your kitchen. Quite a bit of it you could guess at from his show. Some of it is straight out of the show, actually. I guess he can only have so many opinions.

I was quite intrigued by his recommendation for how to get rid of extra hardware. First step is to move everything to a single spot. As you use things, put them away. Eventually you find what you use and what you don't. Well, it's a little more involved (read the book!) but that's the gist. I just can't see myself doing that, though. I did suggest it to my wife, but she was not interested. How could we get ride of the ice cream maker we've only used once in the 6 years we've been married?

In the mail the other day, I got a letter from Wells Fargo which is where I have my checking account. That's not unusual. They try to sell me stuff pretty frequently. This one seemed pretty good on the surface, prizes just for using my check card, even up to $250,000. Wow!

Then there's the fine print. "PIN-based purchases are not eligible", it says. Think about that for a second. When you use your PIN, the transaction is handled just like with an ATM. The card issuer doesn't take a cut. But when you use the Visa network (or its peers), the merchant (the person who sells you goods) pays a percentage for the privilege of working with Visa, usually about 3% of the total cost.

So it makes complete sense that Visa and card issuers like Wells Fargo would want you to make more Visa transactions. It make them more money. But considering the low probability of me winning one of these awards, I'd rather use my PIN and save a couple bucks for my local vendor.

Title: The Great Tomato Book
Author: Gary Ibsen
Published: 1999 by Ten Speed Press
ISBN: 1-58008-048-0

This year was the first that I've had my own garden. If you would have asked me 10 years ago if I would have planted tomatoes, I would have laughed in your face. But my wife has convinced me of their virtues over the years, so we decided to plant 12 tomato plants. The harvest wasn't quite as large as I had expected, so I turned to the library for assistance.

A few weeks ago I went to Jackson, WY to do a router upgrade. It had to be done late at night so I stayed at a hotel. You know what that means: Food TV! We don't have cable, dish, etc. at home (and prefer it that way), but I do miss Food Network some times. That night I saw somebody make risotto. It didn't really look that hard, so I determined to try it after I got home.