Bacon-wrapped Hot Dogs

Not Quite Epic Meal Time

After finally making it out to the store for some grocery shopping over the weekend and making a call to the management to get a tank of gas, it was finally time to do some cooking. While we were at the store doing the shopping it became clear how hard it is to start a kitchen from scratch. I mean we had nothing, no salt, no oil, no knives, no cutting board, nothing.

So after we bough a lot of cooking basics, plus some other flat basics: toilet brush, broom, surface cleaner, etc. We had run up a big bill and still didn't have enough ingredients to make an actual meal, so while we were waiting at the checkout I decided to make a run and grab enough things to make some hot dogs, bacon-wrapped hot dogs. They're simple to make but hardy enough to fill you up, so I decided it would be a good first meal to make.

Ingredients
• Beef franks
• Hot dog buns
• Bell pepper
• Onion
• Avocado

The first step is to wrap the hot dogs in the bacon. There isn't really a technique or style just try to cover as much of the hot dog with the bacon as you can. Once the hot dogs are wrapped up, place them on a skillet and cook them until the bacon and the hot dogs are cooked.

The Veggies Make it Healthy

After that's done slice the bell pepper and onions into strips. Cook the bell peppers first and once they start losing their firmness add the onions. Season the veggies with salt and peper and remove from the pan once the onions get a bit caramelized.

Once the veggies are done assemble it all together and add the fresh avocado on top.

Home Cooked Goodness

MG MS-06J Zaku II

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Booklet Cover

Well this model took me longer to complete than any of the others so far, mostly because I took a big Europe break in between construction but also because of the number of decals that this model has. The MS-06J Zaku II is a variation of the wider MS-06 Zaku II line which apparently is one of the most enduringly popular mecha designs in anime history.

The model is another 30th anniversary model like my RX-78-2. So far the only special feature I can see in these 30th anniversary models is more articulate hands, which end up being annoying to assemble. The Zaku also has some unique build features, mostly around the hoses, which are made from springs and plastic rings. The assembly of these was pretty unique while not being overly difficult.

Booklet Back Cover

Like I've said before, I haven't really seen any of the Gundam anime or manga so I'm not too sure about the storyline but I think the Zaku is one of the bad guys, although I could be wrong. The only reason I bring this "bad guy" possible fact up is because with the other models I would end up with one or two cuts from the detailing, however, with this model I cut myself at least four times, and while it could be due to me being clumsy I'd like to think it's because this model is evil.

Back View

The number of decals on this model was bordering on ridiculous and all it did was help me realize that I need to find out some way to make sure I apply them straight because I'm sure one or two are crooked, which bothers me. Also, there are a number of decals that you can't see in it's final assembled form. There is one radioactive sign decal that you can only see if you separate the top and bottom halves of the model, seriously, it's there.

Completed Model

Zaku looks a lot more different than the other models I've assembled. It might be due to the fact that the head isn't square and there are a lot more curves but it might have some storyline explanation so who knows.

Difficulty

As the gang leader decimated my party for the third time in "Dragon Age Origins" I was faced with a tough choice, go off and grind out some levels or drop the difficulty. Seeing as I was already playing on "normal" this meant going down to the dreaded "easy" not usually a high point for gamers.

However, the more I thought of it the more I realized that my inherent shame in dropping down in difficulty level was absurd. The real reason I was playing Dragon Age was because I had heard so much about the game world, the cannon of the story. In review after review they raved about the storyline, the level of detail paid to the characters, the breadth of choices you could make. So in stopping to think about it, I realized none of these things really had much to do with how good I was at the fighting part of the game, I wasn't really trying to "play" the game as much as work my way through the story.

I also discovered that there is no "easy" mode in Dragon Age, the level below normal is called "casual". This lead me to believe that the developers themselves knew there'd be different types of gamers playing their game and that they would be looking to get different things out of the game. While some gamers play an RPG in order to complete the game under "hardcore" difficulty; others, like me, are picking up an old game to see what they've missed, to see what the hype is about and don't really want to be bothered with grinding a character to twenty levels before being able to fight a minor boss.

This isn't the case in other games where the fighting is the point. I can remember trying to pass the airplane level in Modern Warfare under the hardest difficulty solely for the achievement it granted you. In most FPS shooters, the satisfaction of the game comes in beating the levels, doing the actual grunt work, therefore it doesn't make sense to lower the difficulty unless you're a continue away from throwing your controller away through your television.

So I guess what I'm saying is, yes I'm playing Dragon Age on casual but it's okay because I don't care that I leveled up my character and got him enough skill points to be able to defeat the evil uncle. I'm more interested with what's going on with the blight and to see whether the party will ever make it to the lair of the archdemon, oh and also with hooking up with the witch from the wilds.