Imablog

Charleston Eats: Charlie's Grocery

2010-03-09T17:59:31Z

In the middle of the Radcliffeborough neighbourhood is a tiny little unassuming corner store called Charlie's Grocery. It doesn't look like much on the outside and it's the kind of place you probably wouldn't notice driving by.

I walked over there for lunch to meet fellow blogger Andra Watkins, who told me there were really good falafels to be found here.

Walking inside brought back childhood memories of being in the corner store dad used to run. Charlie's is a lot smaller than that store, but has almost the same kind of feel (I don't remember Dad selling wine or beer though). In the back of the store is a little lunch counter where you can place an order for a variety of subs or sandwiches, including the sought after falafels.

We placed our order, and about 15 minutes later walked out with falafel in hand. Along with a Diet Mt Dew, lunch was just over $5.

The falafel was pretty good. Warm balls of mashed chickpea, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers and sauce stuffed into a half pita.

Yes, oh so tasty. It's only a short walk from work, so it's definitely going on the list of nearby lunch spots.

Cliq: Almost month 2

2010-03-03T19:13:15Z

Aside from the area code, still don't remember the phone number.

Recently got a firmware update pushed down for the phone. Battery life is much, much improved. Now I can let it sit all day and it's only down to 90-95% battery from a full charge.

Word is the Cliq will be getting Android 2.1 sometime after April, which should bring some cool new features and capabilities.

The vibrating alarm thingy isn't very strong. Clipped to my pants, it's faintly noticeable and easily ignored when I'm distracted by something. Clipped to a belt I can barely feel the Cliq when it starts buzzing.

Would still like a decent calendar app. I've been spoiled by using Datebk for the past 5 years or so. Doing everything with Google Calendar is ok, but is lacking in a few areas.

Started using it as an e-book reader with Aldiko. Lots of free e-books available to download, and plenty of O'Reilly titles to drain my bank account. Uses the ePub format, which is pretty standard.

For now, still a high end PDA. I may even put some effort into remembering what the phone number is sometime soon.

Dog TCO: 5 years

2010-03-03T01:02:35Z

With Nala turning 5 and Simba turning 4, I figured an update to my previous Dog TCO post was in order. Here's the breakdown from 1-Jan-2005 through today.

In case you haven't bothered to click on the graph for the large version, some of the bigger chunks are food in blue (22%), vet in light green (17%), pet supplies in burgundy (20%), meds in green (10%), kennel expenses in yellow (13%) and other (11%).

There hasn't really been too much change from the last analysis in the way expenses are distributed. Food, supplies and vet expenses continue to be the biggest chunks of the pie at 22%, 20% and 17% respectively. The total for the past 5 years (2005-2009) is just over $22 300, or about $4 460/year.

I typically don't skimp too much when it comes to the dogs, so I probably spend a little more than most people do. They're worth it though.

Charleston Eats: Quyen

2010-03-01T01:27:37Z

Seafood Pho from Quyen.

Note to self: have them make it without the cilantro and onion next time.

Charleston Eats: Fish

2010-02-28T02:39:33Z

Fish has been around for a few years now, but tonight was my first visit there. Forgot to bring my camera with me, so I had to settle for the camera phone.

We started off with some of the steamed clams and the butternut squash soup

Mmmm, clams.

Triggerfish was the special for tonight, served with something resembling fried rice. My first time having triggerfish. A firm fish with a hearty mouth feel to it, but still mild tasting. The fried rice was good, although a little heavy on the soy sauce.

There was also vermilion snapper filet, served with coconut rice and a coconut based sauce. Very Caribbean island-y flavours.

Finally we finished off the evening with dessert: the chocolate malt souffle and the banana cake. The souffle was flambéd, but by the time the camera app started, the flames had disappeared.

Fish can be a little on the spendy side, but the food was excellently prepared and all of it was delicious. Definitely a place worth checking out.

Large cargo

2010-02-26T13:39:19Z

Yesterday I managed to catch the MSC Rita, the largest container ship to visit Charleston so far, as it was heading back out to sea.

It was definitely a large ship. Here it is passing under the bridge, looking through the salt marsh exhibit at the SC Aquarium and two layers of mesh screen.

Passing by the aquarium.

Not sure why the tug was spraying water, but it was doing it pretty much the entire way down the channel.

Ethereal

2010-02-23T13:26:32Z

Daytime fog presents such interesting photo possibilities and give a neat ghostly effect to things.

Happy Birthday Simba!

2010-02-20T20:19:17Z

Simba turns 4 years old today!

2 months old

4 years old

Charleston Eats: Sublime Pies and Cakes

2010-02-19T01:33:26Z

A few years ago I discovered the deliciously edible creations from Sublime Pies. Then back in 2008 or so, they moved shop and then disappeared for a while.

Now thanks to Judith Moore at Charleston Cookie Company, Sublime Pies are back!

I am quite happy to report that despite the hiatus and Charleston Cookie Company taking over the making of the pies (but still with Sublime's recipe), the key lime pies are just as delicious as I remember.

So if you're like me and have been missing your Sublime Pies, make the trip down to Charleston Cookie Company on James Island and pick one up. If you haven't tried one yet, you're missing out.

Do Hush Puppies make you mosey?

2010-02-15T23:15:38Z

Around here, most people think of these when you mention hush puppies

(Photo credit: Lela's Hush Puppies posted at myrecipes.com)

I'm not from around here, so I think of these

The shoes, not the dog. I just couldn't get Nala to move out of the way.

I was in need of new shoes a few weeks ago and picked up a couple of pairs of Hush Puppies on sale at Phillips Shoes. Once I got them broken in a little, they turned out to be pretty comfortable and living up to their reputation.

Saturday I wore them instead of my usual running shoes during my volunteer shift at the Aquarium and noticed something. I wasn't moving around as fast as I normally do.

I was moseying. I was ambling.

Now, I'm not exactly the type of person that's always rushing around from place to place like a mouse on speed. Far from it. As I was going about my routine Saturday, it occurred to me that I was just doing everything at a much slower, much more relaxed pace than usual.

Is it the shoes? Are they just that comfortable? Have I become 'south-ified' in my movements after being here for 10 years? Maybe I'm just getting fat and lazy in my old age?

The science geek in me has been thinking about how to go about quantifying the effect of the shoes on the way I do things and the pace I move. Maybe a more qualitative approach like a log or journal. The problem is that being aware of moving slower (or even just the perception of it) will introduce bias into any experiment I come up with.

I think I'll just observe and make notes for now.

Snowmageddon remnants

2010-02-15T21:41:21Z

People here seem to have survived the Big Snow of 2010 without nearly as much chaos as I expected. I think the fact that the snow didn't happen until late evening when most people were already inside help a lot.

Around downtown and my end of James Island, the snow was pretty much gone by noon the next day, except for a few shady areas.

These sad little snowman carcasses are pretty much all that remain from Snowmageddon CHS 2010. Even those are probably being slowly melted away by the rain we're getting this afternoon.

Approach for landing

2010-02-15T15:18:20Z

Center for Birds of Prey flight demo at Marion Square during SEWE 2010.

Charleston Eats: East Bay Deli

2010-02-14T01:51:05Z

Charleston Deli Dip from East Bay Deli

Winter Wonderland in Charleston

2010-02-13T12:10:03Z

a.k.a. Snowmageddon Charleston 2010

This is what I'd call the first significant snow I've seen in Charleston since moving here. It's definitely an event that people will remember for a while.

I'm supposed to be heading off to volunteer at the Aquarium and then at SEWE for Wild Heir Lab Rescue, but I'm kind of afraid to get on the road. Not because of the road conditions, but because of the way people around here will drive in them.

Almost makes me feel like being back home.

Snow dogs

2010-02-13T01:59:19Z

The dogs experiencing snow for the first time during Snowmageddon CHS 2010.