And what happened to peace on earth” — Willie Nelson
John A. FlemingAugust 16, 2023, 2:06 PM
I have more thoughts on peaceful means of deligitimizing and then replacing a government that has shown it deserves it. I just realized that insurgents and COIN try to do the same thing, as do the adherents of Alinsky. It’s all about winning the hearts and minds of the people.
The tyrants try to keep the people in a thought bubble, lest they discover there are viable alternatives. Alinskyites attempt to make it personal, they want to delegitimize the government leaders and replace them with themselves. They too don’t care about gaining consent, for them it’s a hostile takeover, replacing one set of *paths with another.
No, I think I’m looking for a means of demonstrating that the government wields illegitimate power, and the solution is to remove both the wielders and the powers. Unfortunately now, the wielders will not peacefully give up their captured powers.
It is the 21st century, we have means of communicating and finding each other, and the signal cannot be stopped. They tried mightily to stop the signal these last three kung flu years, all they could do is delay it. Their communication platforms look fair and feel foul, and only the dullest do not learn that the platforms serve them not.
So the citizen’s acts have to show that the powers the govies wield are not fit for purpose. That the wielders are incompetent at best, and are more likely too corrupt, and no longer will the citizens be willing participants.
The good people are leaving the blue hives. The military cannot recruit. Public approval of the organs of government decline continuously now after a long period of stability. No one, I believe that, no one anymore trusts that the elections are free and fair. It has been a trope for quite some time among the conspiracy-minded, red and blue, that 2020/2022/2024/… will be the last election. What if it has already happened, but not in the way that people think? There is no functional difference between not having an election due to some claimed super-exigency and the incumbents carry on, versus a sham election where the incumbent or party-chosen heir always wins. In the last election, I reviewed the “reported” “final” numbers for my Congressional district. I live in a regional blue hive. Every voting precinct in the district went a minimum of 2/3 for the incumbent. I almost think that’s not possible, surely there are enclaves whose ethnicity and culture are an indicator of their politics.
—
Well, as you can see, I have lost all civic faith, and I now carry a working hypothesis that all practitioners of government, from City Hall to the Federals, either are or are captured by the *paths. I think about and put into action those things I can do given this hypothesis.
John A. FlemingAugust 16, 2023, 10:13 PM
There’s an interesting article at Zerohedge: San Fran Doom Loop Walking Tour. There’s a couple of illuminating videos. One, an urban jogger gets shot at, the other a young woman recounts the latest outrage inflicted upon her by a feral denizen.
In both of those videos, it’s clear that the victims voted for this. They will never admit it, their motives are pure and noble, it’s all the fault of those icky Republicans that their ideals have not been realized in practice. It’s somebody else’s fault, never theirs, and never the fault of the criminals that they support.
Eventually they will have had enough, and move away. But they will never withdraw their consent. And they will take their destructive voting patterns and ideas and try and transplant them wherever they end up.
You would think when it gets this bad, that the peaceful residents of SF would be ripe for a preference cascade away from their current governance model. But it will not happen. When they are in the hive, they cannot go against it. While in the hive they will ride it all the way to Hell and then some more before they admit to themselves that they and their ideas are the source and cause of all the evils that afflict them.
Some day, when it gets bad enough in enough of the blue hives, somebody will be able to make the case and initiate the preference cascade. But by then it will be too late for some. Some must collapse completely that the others finally get tired of being hit daily by the barbed-wire cluebat, and start publicly hanging the drug dealers and running the drug users out into the howling wilderness.
John, Very well said. The part about “In both of those videos, it’s clear that the victims voted for this. They will never admit it, their motives are pure and noble, it’s all the fault of those icky Republicans that their ideals have not been realized in practice. It’s somebody else’s fault, never theirs, and never the fault of the criminals that they support.” is spot on. They behave like a bunch of addicts. Alcoholics, who attend AA meetings are taught that if you want to know the problem, look in the mirror. If you want to know the solution, look in the mirror.
Bob ClarkAugust 17, 2023, 2:27 PM
Thank you ghostsniper!
John A. FlemingAugust 17, 2023, 5:04 PM
The hits just keep coming. First Maui, now SoCal is gonna get a hurricane up its keister this Sunday-Monday. Florhidians are like “pfft, that’s not a hurricane hurricane, the cool SoCal waters will knock it down to a tropical storm or depression before it gets there”. We shall see if LaLaLand has been keeping up with its infrastructure maintenance, the LA basin gets wind sometimes (Santa Ana’s), and rain sometimes (winter Pacific storms), let’s see if they can handle both at the same time. Nuisance will probably go on vacation to Florida.
NoriAugust 17, 2023, 7:37 PM
Hurricane Hilary! One L,so she’ll be less destructive than Madame Clinton.
She’s slowly snaking up Baja’s west coast,gathering strength. Watching closely;storms like this bring much needed rain to our gasping AZ desert,but winds plus water dumped fast & furious can be brutal.
SoCal will get the most forceful gobsmacking,judging from current models.
Expect Newsom is having his “Climate Change” blathergab being prepared.
AnneAugust 18, 2023, 10:11 AM
As a young teenager, we drove out to Joshua Tree National Park one lovely Sunday afternoon (1960?) A sudden rain storm had hit south of our drive, but we hardly had any raindrops at all. After a few minutes of mini-shower I looked out the passenger side window at a wall of water rushing toward us! It turned out that the “vehicle” my date was so proud of actually did go as fast as he had promised! That wall of water was so close it took my breath away–it was either that or the acceleration factor! 🙂
Second item for today: Kitchens.
For 12 years we lived in a small one bedroom apartment. The kitchen was one-half of a Pullman style. I used to feel pitiful because it was so small and had a metal sink–not a clean bright white porcelain sink. During those years I was completing a degree in hospitality management and had to spend one semester cooking in the university kitchen. In one lecture we were introduced to the various standard shapes for kitchens. One of which was the Pullman shape. It is long and narrow with work spaces on each side. To be correct if you stand between the two sides and stretch out your arms you should be able to reach either side. At the time I thought that would be a horribly confining design. I thought I would prefer the square. Little did I know then how wrong I was!
We then moved into a larger condo with a small multisided kitchen. It had been designed to squeeze between the dining room and living room. Not much square footage. The nice metal sink was way to deep for me! Whoops–hadn’t thought about my height! The very sophisticated and very tall counter-depth refrigerator was a horror show. About half of the refrigerator was over my head– in order to make up the interior space that had been lost because of the lack of depth. I had to poke my head into the refrigerator and look up through the glass shelving to find where things were!
Finally, we got to the idealized new three-story home. It was huge. There were just two of us so we rattled around looking for each other most of the time! BUT, AH HA this was the supposedly good part–A GREAT NEW KITCHEN. Stone floors and countertops, everything shining metal. So much walking room. A large square with an island. You had to hike between refrigerator and counter space, same with the big island–it was a walk to the sink! I discovered the difference between carrying things between places and just moving things. We were only there for about three months when I realized that so many of the things I had always wanted were not as great as had been advertised! The stone floors and counters were so LOUD. The distance between Point A and Point B was more of a hike than a cooking move!
Finally, we arrived here. The kitchen is that “Pullman style”. No extra spaces or roundabouts, islands, etc. I love this dang thing! Two steps here, two steps there and I am wherever I need to be. Ohh, and that lovely white divided porcelain sink–that is a bit of a nuisance. You really have to scrub away at that thing to keep it looking nice. But, the all-white appliances are a joy–they are not reflecting light in my face and looking desperately in need of an all over polish most of the time– as do those metal appliances!
The floor has a slip-proof, man-made tile of some sort–love that security. Our bathrooms do not have this type of flooring and they are scary! To make a long story short–the Pullman kitchen was designed to function–not for looks–not for ego. It is brilliant. Hard items like metal utensils, porcelain plates, and stainless steel pans make a HORRIBLE CACOPHONY of sound! Really disturbing if what you are doing is focusing on your work–cooking.
ghostsniperAugust 18, 2023, 10:55 AM
Nice, the way you described all of that Anne – I could picture all of it.
I am the general “cooker” in our household and it has been this way from the beginning, mostly because my wife doesn’t like to. She does like to bake though, and during the winter holidays she does quite a bit.
When I cook, there is a place to the right of the sink and to the left of the stove, where I do 90% of my food prep. Being right handed it works out good. I chop veg’s and drop them in the pan to the right and drop the cut-offs in the sink to the left for later disposal. Our sink is a large single bowl white porcelain Kohler, Dorcy model, that is 8″ deep. My big complaint is that at 6′ tall, countertops that are 36″ tall are about 6″ too short. My lower back starts to hurt because I am slightly bent over to reach the stuff on the counters. Next house we will have 42″ high base cabinets like my workbenches in the workshop that I can stand at comfortably all day.
I’ve designed thousands of kitchens for other people and some of them have won awards. From a users perspective most of them were dysfunctional because of some of the things you mentioned. Seems the “work triangle” was thrown overboard back in the 80’s and it’s been a long downward slope ever since. Seems the common theme any more is, “Bigger is Better”. From a contractors perspective “Bigger is Costlier” and more money in his pocket. The net result is a kitchen that looks fetching in the glossy rags but ends up not being used to it’s full capacity because it is too difficult. It’s a chore having to carry stuff back and forth to the fridge when it’s way over there, or you have to walk around 1 or more islands or peninsulas. Same with carrying a pot of hot pasta water from the range to the kitchen sink. Distance matters. And it looks good in the magazines and TV.
In all things architectural I try to find a balance between form and function, that is, highly functioning and efficient spaces that have stellar curb appeal. High performance does not need to have a high cost. Remember, good design is not expensive, it is priceless.
One more thing. Something that irks the hell out of me are the people that have every one of the their portable cooking appliances displayed on the counters 24/7 to where there’s no useable counterspace left. Clutter is ugly and people that have cluttered kitchens have disorganized lives. Do you really need constant access to that $400 stand mixer?
Our kitchen is large, about 16′ x 16′, with 10′ ceilings. The cabinets are satin white cottage style and go all the way up to the ceiling with double crown at the top. The counters are white Corian 2″ thick and the backsplash is satin white raised metal panels. The appliances are white GE. I installed 3 different types of lighting when I gutted that kitchen about 8 years ago. It is white, Bright, Uncluttered, and seems almost surgical and hygienic – just the way I like it. On the counters are 3 things. A white microwave over there and a Keurig over there, and over on the other side of the kitchen is a large white pierced Corian bowl, that I made, full of fruit. Other than that, nothing but open countertops ready to go to work. It would probably look boring in a designer magazine but fir 8 years now it has been performing at it’s utmost. Is it perfect? No. But for me it is dam close. I could eliminate about half of it and still be able to function 100% in it. The next house we live in, you can rest assured, the “heart of the home” will be smaller, more functional, more cost effective, and still look very nice. Bet on it. By tomorrow, the things I design today will look obsolete, because I am constantly improving and moving forward.
AnneAugust 18, 2023, 10:14 AM
As a young teenager, we drove out to Joshua Tree National Park in the southern California desert on a lovely Sunday afternoon (1960?) We heard on the radio that a sudden rain storm had hit south of us, but we hardly had any raindrops at all, after just a few minutes of a small mini-shower I looked out the passenger side window at a wall of water rushing toward us! It turned out that the “vehicle” my date was so proud of actually did go as fast as he had promised! That wall of water was so close it took my breath away–it was either that or the acceleration factor! 🙂
Second item for today: Kitchens.
For 12 years we lived in a small one bedroom apartment. The kitchen was one-half of a Pullman style. I used to feel pitiful because it was so small and had a metal sink–not a clean bright white porcelain sink. During those years I was completing a degree in hospitality management and had to spend one semester cooking in the university kitchen. In one lecture we were introduced to the various standard shapes for kitchens. One of which was the Pullman shape. It is long and narrow with work spaces on each side. To be correct if you stand between the two sides and stretch out your arms you should be able to reach either side. At the time I thought that would be a horribly confining design. I thought I would prefer the square. Little did I know then how wrong I was!
We then moved into a larger condo with a small multisided kitchen. It had been designed to squeeze between the dining room and living room. Not much square footage. The nice metal sink was way to deep for me! Whoops–hadn’t thought about my height! The very sophisticated and very tall counter-depth refrigerator was a horror show. About half of the refrigerator was over my head– in order to make up the interior space that had been lost because of the lack of depth. I had to poke my head into the refrigerator and look up through the glass shelving to find where things were!
Finally, we got to the idealized new three-story home. It was huge. There were just two of us so we rattled around looking for each other most of the time! BUT, AH HA this was the supposedly good part–A GREAT NEW KITCHEN. Stone floors and countertops, everything shining metal. So much walking room. A large square with an island. You had to hike between refrigerator and counter space, same with the big island–it was a walk to the sink! I discovered the difference between carrying things between places and just moving things. We were only there for about three months when I realized that so many of the things I had always wanted were not as great as had been advertised! The stone floors and counters were so LOUD. The distance between Point A and Point B was more of a hike than a cooking move!
Finally, we arrived here. The kitchen is that “Pullman style”. No extra spaces or roundabouts, islands, etc. I love this dang thing! Two steps here, two steps there and I am wherever I need to be. Ohh, and that lovely white divided porcelain sink–that is a bit of a nuisance. You really have to scrub away at that thing to keep it looking nice. But, the all-white appliances are a joy–they are not reflecting light in my face and looking desperately in need of an all over polish most of the time– as do those metal appliances!
The floor has a slip-proof, man-made tile of some sort–love that security. Our bathrooms do not have this type of flooring and they are scary! To make a long story short–the Pullman kitchen was designed to function–not for looks–not for ego. It is brilliant. Hard items like metal utensils, porcelain plates, and stainless steel pans make a HORRIBLE CACOPHONY of sound! Really disturbing if what you are doing is focusing on your work–cooking.
AnneAugust 18, 2023, 12:53 PM
Glad you enjoyed it! I agree with you about counter top equipment. HOWEVER, I do enjoy and use my equipment frequently, so I have made sure to keep everything else put away, I don’t have decorative items. Dang I hate clutter. One of the things I love about this kitchen is this: I can wash and put away as I go! I refuse to wash good knives and utensils in the DW and with the way this kitchen is laid out it is easy peasy to run a soap brush over the item rinse it and lay it down close to where it belongs. Come back later and put it away. Same with pots and pans. Finished emptying them–spray hose them and get most of everything off before I even get to the table! Love that when we come back in with dirty dishes the counters are pretty clear and all we have to do is spray hose the dishes and put in the dishwasher, finish the pans by hand and we are done. My DD and SIL like to cook have gotten to be pretty fine chefs. However, one evening I couldn’t stand it anymore, I broke from my role as a silent elder and proclaimed firmly “cooking with someone else in the kitchen is a DANCE–like a waltz. What you two are doing is a GD BOXING MATCH! I think they got it! 🙂
Best,
A
ghostsniperAugust 18, 2023, 1:15 PM
Early on I told my wife, “I cook alone, now GIT!” I have over the top ADHD and distractions have been my lifelong bane. I only know one way – laser beam focus in a small area. So my wife stays out of the kitchen while I am working on another masterpiece. lol After 39 years we have each other trained to suit.
By the way, people that claim to be excellent “multitaskers” really mean they are incapable of focusing. Rather than do one thing right they do many things half assed.
AnneAugust 18, 2023, 2:11 PM
I agree with you on the subject of multi-tasking! I can do it, but nothing comes out as good as it could’ve if I had kept my focus!
AnneAugust 18, 2023, 2:14 PM
I agree with you about multi tasking! I can do it, but nothing comes out half as good as it would’ve if I had kept my focus on one thing!
Real World Address for Donations, Mash Notes and Hate Mail
Gerard Van der Leun
1692 MANGROVE AVE
APT 379
Chico, Ca 95926
Green Pants Interior by Klahn
Who Am I? by Carl Sandburg
My head knocks against the stars.
My feet are on the hilltops.
My finger-tips are in the valleys and shores of universal life.
Down in the sounding foam of primal things I reach my hands and play with pebbles of destiny.
I have been to hell and back many times.
I know all about heaven, for I have talked with God.
I dabble in the blood and guts of the terrible.
I know the passionate seizure of beauty
And the marvelous rebellion of man at all signs reading “Keep Off.”
My name is Truth and I am the most elusive captive in the universe.
Duty, Beauty, Liberty, Country, Honor, Family, Faith — Plus a few simple easy to follow rules for guys
Men saw the stars at the edge of the sea
They thought great thoughts about liberty
Poets wrote down words that did fit
Writers wrote books
Thinkers thought about it
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
Many’s the road I have walked upon
Many’s the hour between dusk and dawn
Many’s the time
Many’s the mile
I see it all now
Through the eyes of a child
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
[Chorus]
Lost dreams and found dreams
In America
In America
In America
Lost dreams and found dreams
In America
In America
In America
And close your eyes
Leave it all for a while
Leave the world
And your worries behind
You will build on whatever is real
And wake up each day
To a new waking dream
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
[Chorus]
Change, change come over
Change come over
Talkin’ about a change
Change, change
Change come over, now
Change, change, change come over
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I see my light
See my light
See my shining light
I see my light
See my light
See my shining light
Gerard Van der Leun
Comments on this entry are closed.
urban hyro-giggle-iffyx
“And the bewildered herd is still believing
Everything we’ve been told from our birth
Hell they won’t lie to me
Not on my own damn TV
But how much is a liar’s word worth
And what happened to peace on earth” — Willie Nelson
I have more thoughts on peaceful means of deligitimizing and then replacing a government that has shown it deserves it. I just realized that insurgents and COIN try to do the same thing, as do the adherents of Alinsky. It’s all about winning the hearts and minds of the people.
The tyrants try to keep the people in a thought bubble, lest they discover there are viable alternatives. Alinskyites attempt to make it personal, they want to delegitimize the government leaders and replace them with themselves. They too don’t care about gaining consent, for them it’s a hostile takeover, replacing one set of *paths with another.
No, I think I’m looking for a means of demonstrating that the government wields illegitimate power, and the solution is to remove both the wielders and the powers. Unfortunately now, the wielders will not peacefully give up their captured powers.
It is the 21st century, we have means of communicating and finding each other, and the signal cannot be stopped. They tried mightily to stop the signal these last three kung flu years, all they could do is delay it. Their communication platforms look fair and feel foul, and only the dullest do not learn that the platforms serve them not.
So the citizen’s acts have to show that the powers the govies wield are not fit for purpose. That the wielders are incompetent at best, and are more likely too corrupt, and no longer will the citizens be willing participants.
The good people are leaving the blue hives. The military cannot recruit. Public approval of the organs of government decline continuously now after a long period of stability. No one, I believe that, no one anymore trusts that the elections are free and fair. It has been a trope for quite some time among the conspiracy-minded, red and blue, that 2020/2022/2024/… will be the last election. What if it has already happened, but not in the way that people think? There is no functional difference between not having an election due to some claimed super-exigency and the incumbents carry on, versus a sham election where the incumbent or party-chosen heir always wins. In the last election, I reviewed the “reported” “final” numbers for my Congressional district. I live in a regional blue hive. Every voting precinct in the district went a minimum of 2/3 for the incumbent. I almost think that’s not possible, surely there are enclaves whose ethnicity and culture are an indicator of their politics.
—
Well, as you can see, I have lost all civic faith, and I now carry a working hypothesis that all practitioners of government, from City Hall to the Federals, either are or are captured by the *paths. I think about and put into action those things I can do given this hypothesis.
There’s an interesting article at Zerohedge: San Fran Doom Loop Walking Tour. There’s a couple of illuminating videos. One, an urban jogger gets shot at, the other a young woman recounts the latest outrage inflicted upon her by a feral denizen.
In both of those videos, it’s clear that the victims voted for this. They will never admit it, their motives are pure and noble, it’s all the fault of those icky Republicans that their ideals have not been realized in practice. It’s somebody else’s fault, never theirs, and never the fault of the criminals that they support.
Eventually they will have had enough, and move away. But they will never withdraw their consent. And they will take their destructive voting patterns and ideas and try and transplant them wherever they end up.
You would think when it gets this bad, that the peaceful residents of SF would be ripe for a preference cascade away from their current governance model. But it will not happen. When they are in the hive, they cannot go against it. While in the hive they will ride it all the way to Hell and then some more before they admit to themselves that they and their ideas are the source and cause of all the evils that afflict them.
Some day, when it gets bad enough in enough of the blue hives, somebody will be able to make the case and initiate the preference cascade. But by then it will be too late for some. Some must collapse completely that the others finally get tired of being hit daily by the barbed-wire cluebat, and start publicly hanging the drug dealers and running the drug users out into the howling wilderness.
John, Very well said. The part about “In both of those videos, it’s clear that the victims voted for this. They will never admit it, their motives are pure and noble, it’s all the fault of those icky Republicans that their ideals have not been realized in practice. It’s somebody else’s fault, never theirs, and never the fault of the criminals that they support.” is spot on. They behave like a bunch of addicts. Alcoholics, who attend AA meetings are taught that if you want to know the problem, look in the mirror. If you want to know the solution, look in the mirror.
Thank you ghostsniper!
The hits just keep coming. First Maui, now SoCal is gonna get a hurricane up its keister this Sunday-Monday. Florhidians are like “pfft, that’s not a hurricane hurricane, the cool SoCal waters will knock it down to a tropical storm or depression before it gets there”. We shall see if LaLaLand has been keeping up with its infrastructure maintenance, the LA basin gets wind sometimes (Santa Ana’s), and rain sometimes (winter Pacific storms), let’s see if they can handle both at the same time. Nuisance will probably go on vacation to Florida.
Hurricane Hilary! One L,so she’ll be less destructive than Madame Clinton.
She’s slowly snaking up Baja’s west coast,gathering strength. Watching closely;storms like this bring much needed rain to our gasping AZ desert,but winds plus water dumped fast & furious can be brutal.
SoCal will get the most forceful gobsmacking,judging from current models.
Expect Newsom is having his “Climate Change” blathergab being prepared.
As a young teenager, we drove out to Joshua Tree National Park one lovely Sunday afternoon (1960?) A sudden rain storm had hit south of our drive, but we hardly had any raindrops at all. After a few minutes of mini-shower I looked out the passenger side window at a wall of water rushing toward us! It turned out that the “vehicle” my date was so proud of actually did go as fast as he had promised! That wall of water was so close it took my breath away–it was either that or the acceleration factor! 🙂
Second item for today: Kitchens.
For 12 years we lived in a small one bedroom apartment. The kitchen was one-half of a Pullman style. I used to feel pitiful because it was so small and had a metal sink–not a clean bright white porcelain sink. During those years I was completing a degree in hospitality management and had to spend one semester cooking in the university kitchen. In one lecture we were introduced to the various standard shapes for kitchens. One of which was the Pullman shape. It is long and narrow with work spaces on each side. To be correct if you stand between the two sides and stretch out your arms you should be able to reach either side. At the time I thought that would be a horribly confining design. I thought I would prefer the square. Little did I know then how wrong I was!
We then moved into a larger condo with a small multisided kitchen. It had been designed to squeeze between the dining room and living room. Not much square footage. The nice metal sink was way to deep for me! Whoops–hadn’t thought about my height! The very sophisticated and very tall counter-depth refrigerator was a horror show. About half of the refrigerator was over my head– in order to make up the interior space that had been lost because of the lack of depth. I had to poke my head into the refrigerator and look up through the glass shelving to find where things were!
Finally, we got to the idealized new three-story home. It was huge. There were just two of us so we rattled around looking for each other most of the time! BUT, AH HA this was the supposedly good part–A GREAT NEW KITCHEN. Stone floors and countertops, everything shining metal. So much walking room. A large square with an island. You had to hike between refrigerator and counter space, same with the big island–it was a walk to the sink! I discovered the difference between carrying things between places and just moving things. We were only there for about three months when I realized that so many of the things I had always wanted were not as great as had been advertised! The stone floors and counters were so LOUD. The distance between Point A and Point B was more of a hike than a cooking move!
Finally, we arrived here. The kitchen is that “Pullman style”. No extra spaces or roundabouts, islands, etc. I love this dang thing! Two steps here, two steps there and I am wherever I need to be. Ohh, and that lovely white divided porcelain sink–that is a bit of a nuisance. You really have to scrub away at that thing to keep it looking nice. But, the all-white appliances are a joy–they are not reflecting light in my face and looking desperately in need of an all over polish most of the time– as do those metal appliances!
The floor has a slip-proof, man-made tile of some sort–love that security. Our bathrooms do not have this type of flooring and they are scary! To make a long story short–the Pullman kitchen was designed to function–not for looks–not for ego. It is brilliant. Hard items like metal utensils, porcelain plates, and stainless steel pans make a HORRIBLE CACOPHONY of sound! Really disturbing if what you are doing is focusing on your work–cooking.
Nice, the way you described all of that Anne – I could picture all of it.
I am the general “cooker” in our household and it has been this way from the beginning, mostly because my wife doesn’t like to. She does like to bake though, and during the winter holidays she does quite a bit.
When I cook, there is a place to the right of the sink and to the left of the stove, where I do 90% of my food prep. Being right handed it works out good. I chop veg’s and drop them in the pan to the right and drop the cut-offs in the sink to the left for later disposal. Our sink is a large single bowl white porcelain Kohler, Dorcy model, that is 8″ deep. My big complaint is that at 6′ tall, countertops that are 36″ tall are about 6″ too short. My lower back starts to hurt because I am slightly bent over to reach the stuff on the counters. Next house we will have 42″ high base cabinets like my workbenches in the workshop that I can stand at comfortably all day.
I’ve designed thousands of kitchens for other people and some of them have won awards. From a users perspective most of them were dysfunctional because of some of the things you mentioned. Seems the “work triangle” was thrown overboard back in the 80’s and it’s been a long downward slope ever since. Seems the common theme any more is, “Bigger is Better”. From a contractors perspective “Bigger is Costlier” and more money in his pocket. The net result is a kitchen that looks fetching in the glossy rags but ends up not being used to it’s full capacity because it is too difficult. It’s a chore having to carry stuff back and forth to the fridge when it’s way over there, or you have to walk around 1 or more islands or peninsulas. Same with carrying a pot of hot pasta water from the range to the kitchen sink. Distance matters. And it looks good in the magazines and TV.
In all things architectural I try to find a balance between form and function, that is, highly functioning and efficient spaces that have stellar curb appeal. High performance does not need to have a high cost. Remember, good design is not expensive, it is priceless.
One more thing. Something that irks the hell out of me are the people that have every one of the their portable cooking appliances displayed on the counters 24/7 to where there’s no useable counterspace left. Clutter is ugly and people that have cluttered kitchens have disorganized lives. Do you really need constant access to that $400 stand mixer?
Our kitchen is large, about 16′ x 16′, with 10′ ceilings. The cabinets are satin white cottage style and go all the way up to the ceiling with double crown at the top. The counters are white Corian 2″ thick and the backsplash is satin white raised metal panels. The appliances are white GE. I installed 3 different types of lighting when I gutted that kitchen about 8 years ago. It is white, Bright, Uncluttered, and seems almost surgical and hygienic – just the way I like it. On the counters are 3 things. A white microwave over there and a Keurig over there, and over on the other side of the kitchen is a large white pierced Corian bowl, that I made, full of fruit. Other than that, nothing but open countertops ready to go to work. It would probably look boring in a designer magazine but fir 8 years now it has been performing at it’s utmost. Is it perfect? No. But for me it is dam close. I could eliminate about half of it and still be able to function 100% in it. The next house we live in, you can rest assured, the “heart of the home” will be smaller, more functional, more cost effective, and still look very nice. Bet on it. By tomorrow, the things I design today will look obsolete, because I am constantly improving and moving forward.
As a young teenager, we drove out to Joshua Tree National Park in the southern California desert on a lovely Sunday afternoon (1960?) We heard on the radio that a sudden rain storm had hit south of us, but we hardly had any raindrops at all, after just a few minutes of a small mini-shower I looked out the passenger side window at a wall of water rushing toward us! It turned out that the “vehicle” my date was so proud of actually did go as fast as he had promised! That wall of water was so close it took my breath away–it was either that or the acceleration factor! 🙂
Second item for today: Kitchens.
For 12 years we lived in a small one bedroom apartment. The kitchen was one-half of a Pullman style. I used to feel pitiful because it was so small and had a metal sink–not a clean bright white porcelain sink. During those years I was completing a degree in hospitality management and had to spend one semester cooking in the university kitchen. In one lecture we were introduced to the various standard shapes for kitchens. One of which was the Pullman shape. It is long and narrow with work spaces on each side. To be correct if you stand between the two sides and stretch out your arms you should be able to reach either side. At the time I thought that would be a horribly confining design. I thought I would prefer the square. Little did I know then how wrong I was!
We then moved into a larger condo with a small multisided kitchen. It had been designed to squeeze between the dining room and living room. Not much square footage. The nice metal sink was way to deep for me! Whoops–hadn’t thought about my height! The very sophisticated and very tall counter-depth refrigerator was a horror show. About half of the refrigerator was over my head– in order to make up the interior space that had been lost because of the lack of depth. I had to poke my head into the refrigerator and look up through the glass shelving to find where things were!
Finally, we got to the idealized new three-story home. It was huge. There were just two of us so we rattled around looking for each other most of the time! BUT, AH HA this was the supposedly good part–A GREAT NEW KITCHEN. Stone floors and countertops, everything shining metal. So much walking room. A large square with an island. You had to hike between refrigerator and counter space, same with the big island–it was a walk to the sink! I discovered the difference between carrying things between places and just moving things. We were only there for about three months when I realized that so many of the things I had always wanted were not as great as had been advertised! The stone floors and counters were so LOUD. The distance between Point A and Point B was more of a hike than a cooking move!
Finally, we arrived here. The kitchen is that “Pullman style”. No extra spaces or roundabouts, islands, etc. I love this dang thing! Two steps here, two steps there and I am wherever I need to be. Ohh, and that lovely white divided porcelain sink–that is a bit of a nuisance. You really have to scrub away at that thing to keep it looking nice. But, the all-white appliances are a joy–they are not reflecting light in my face and looking desperately in need of an all over polish most of the time– as do those metal appliances!
The floor has a slip-proof, man-made tile of some sort–love that security. Our bathrooms do not have this type of flooring and they are scary! To make a long story short–the Pullman kitchen was designed to function–not for looks–not for ego. It is brilliant. Hard items like metal utensils, porcelain plates, and stainless steel pans make a HORRIBLE CACOPHONY of sound! Really disturbing if what you are doing is focusing on your work–cooking.
Glad you enjoyed it! I agree with you about counter top equipment. HOWEVER, I do enjoy and use my equipment frequently, so I have made sure to keep everything else put away, I don’t have decorative items. Dang I hate clutter. One of the things I love about this kitchen is this: I can wash and put away as I go! I refuse to wash good knives and utensils in the DW and with the way this kitchen is laid out it is easy peasy to run a soap brush over the item rinse it and lay it down close to where it belongs. Come back later and put it away. Same with pots and pans. Finished emptying them–spray hose them and get most of everything off before I even get to the table! Love that when we come back in with dirty dishes the counters are pretty clear and all we have to do is spray hose the dishes and put in the dishwasher, finish the pans by hand and we are done. My DD and SIL like to cook have gotten to be pretty fine chefs. However, one evening I couldn’t stand it anymore, I broke from my role as a silent elder and proclaimed firmly “cooking with someone else in the kitchen is a DANCE–like a waltz. What you two are doing is a GD BOXING MATCH! I think they got it! 🙂
Best,
A
Early on I told my wife, “I cook alone, now GIT!” I have over the top ADHD and distractions have been my lifelong bane. I only know one way – laser beam focus in a small area. So my wife stays out of the kitchen while I am working on another masterpiece. lol After 39 years we have each other trained to suit.
By the way, people that claim to be excellent “multitaskers” really mean they are incapable of focusing. Rather than do one thing right they do many things half assed.
I agree with you on the subject of multi-tasking! I can do it, but nothing comes out as good as it could’ve if I had kept my focus!
I agree with you about multi tasking! I can do it, but nothing comes out half as good as it would’ve if I had kept my focus on one thing!
article perhaps of interest-
https://alphanews.org/author-of-new-book-on-marxism-in-schools-says-us-in-national-danger/
-I know we know this.
aside, the graphic above might be the interior of the Keith Haring Memorial Culvert.