Notival

If I mow my own lawn, am I stealing a job from an illegal immigrant? Becaue that's what I did yesterday. And it took forever. Since it hadn't been mowed since before the wedding. But it is now done and looks very nice.

This weekend was mostly a time for getting stuff done around the house. We put so much off for so long because of the wedding that it was odd being able to finally do something non-wedding/honeymoon related. I feel like actual progress was made.

Hopefully we can keep it up. We finally bought a bathroom scale to see how hard we need to diet and exercise. And it was not as bad as feared, but not as good as hoped. But we have a scale. And that's a starting point.

And I'm sure she will tell all about it, but Ninsi had to go in for Jury Duty today, and was selected to serve. Go her. I guess.

Did we mention that in Italy, women can wear boots with absolutely any outfit, and that is apparently okay?

Is it wrong of me to especially enjoy going to Sonic on days where it is really cold or really rainy? Neither the cold nor the rain bothers me greatly, so I am not going because I don't want to get out of the car. I go because I seem to derive some perverse joy from making the carhops get out in the elements. Again, is that wrong?

I have shoes I have not worn in a very long time. No real reason other than I just don't normally wear brown shoes. I thought Id try them again today. It has probably been 3-4 years since I last wore them. Maybe more. I don't know. Long time.

I asked the Wee-Fay how they looked. She wasn't sure. "Maybe with a shirt." So I put a shirt on. (yes, I was already wearing pants). "Well, the shoes are dusty, and the shirt is wrinkled." Essentially, she couldn't tell me if the shoes were bad or not. So I wore them. If the worst someone can tell me about my attire is that my shoes are dusty, then I can live with that particular stigma.

My shoes:

Well, rather than have to answer this question many times individually, I'll try to answer it here once. "Spunti ala Carne" is a processed meat product Ninsi and I bought at a supermarket in Venice. Immediately after checking into our hotel, we went to the market to buy some moderate foodstuffs to carry around in the backpack so we would be able to snack during the day. We got crackers, a loaf of bread, some cheese, fruits, jelly, and Spunti.

Yes, I was hesitant to try it at first as well. But eventually, I got hungry and opened it, and put a cracker in. My first impression was that it tasted like bologna. If you squished a bunch of bologna into a small can. Then, upon eating more, I realized that it wasn't bologna at all. It tasted exactly like Vienna Sausages. exactly. And actully went pretty well with crackers. It was good enough that I eventually at the second can.

Spunti for me,
Spunti for you.
Enjoy a little Spunti,
In all that you do!

I have a Deep Fryer. It rocks. But as with any appliance, you must know what you are doing. Ninsi breaded some okra to deep fry. This is what we got:

Kids, don't try this at home.

Home today, Oklahoma this weekend. And that's about all I got.

I think next weekend we are going to Scarborough. Sometime in June, Ninsi and i will try to make it out to Shakespeare in the Park. They are doing 'The Tempest' and 'Midsummer Nights Dream' this year. We may try to make it out to each of those. At least once with the Squid since she will be here for most of the month of June and into July. The Shakespeare fest is an unofficial anniversary of sorts. It's roughly the time we started dating years ago. Of course, it's a rather vague 'summer' date, so we just randomly go to one of the shows when we can.

If anyone has ideas on how to entertain a 12 year old girl in a big city while I am at work, I'm open to suggestions, btw.

Ninsi and I looked at picnic baskets a couple weeks ago when we were in Target. They had a couple. Fun, they were. Vibrant and full of color. Actually, the crosshatching was so full of bright color it made my eyes bleed.

Fast forward to today, when my eyes are stable again, and I go online to look at picnic baskets. Thinking that it might be nice to have one before we go to Shakespeare this year. Apparently it is quite a hobby for some people. Picnicking. Several of the baskets are referred to as being designed for the 'picnicking elite.' Who are those people exactly, and what does that mean?

Ton of options. I learned that baskets primary come in a 2-person or 4-person variety. I rather like this one here, but it is more a backpack than a basket. I'm not sure than any basket is worth $200 though. But I'm not one of the elite, so I could be wrong.

Also, could someone please tell me why we add a 'k' to the end of picnic when we and the 'ing?' Are there other words with which we do that?

Animal Crackers. Everyone loves them.
We have them at work. The company buys them for us to snack on. For a long while, they would buy them in a large box in which were 30-40 indivually packaged bags of Animal Crackers. There were, I dunno, 20-30 crackers in each little bag. Like what you'd get out of a vending machine.

Eventually, we ate all the bags, and they ordered more crackers. This time, however, they are a different brand, and instead of bags in a box, it is just a large tub of crackers with a scoop. Unscrew the top, scoop out some animals, and go.

Seriously, these scoopable crackers? Not good at all. They don't taste very good, and what is worse, you can barely tell what you are eating. The old ones where by Austin, called 'Zoo Animal Crackers'. When I looked at those, I knew I was eating a polar bear, or a rabbit, or an owl. It was obvious. Enough detail that you almost felt bad biting the head off the turtle, but good enough, that it made you not care.

These new crackers, Stouffers? (maybe, I dont want to go look) lack artistry. There is no love in the design or recipe. I pick up a cracker, and I'm not sure if Im eating a manticore or a chiahuahua. There is one thing that has udders, so I believe it to be a cow. But what I also believe to be a lion and a billy goat also have udders. And the flavor does nothing to assuage help. There is no consternation, however, over eating what might be a fluffy happy bunny, because fluffy happy bunny looks like something from Dr Moreau's island.

Am I asking for too much in a cracker that is pleasing to both the eyes and the palette?

FJ has a new domain. Go show her some love. But she will not appreciate it, because last time I checked, her comments were completely fubared. So she won't know if you show or not.

We have a fully functional couch again. As well as a fully functional coffee table. The table was not disfuctional, but it did not have the glass top until yesterday, so it wasn't quite living up to its full potential. Now, however, it is fully realized.

Spent the weekend and Mother's Day with the fam in OK. Let me sum up the weekend this way:

My mom wants me to sell her house for her. (26 acres + house, interested?)
My uncle wants me to get him on American Inventor.

Had lunch with Zero and Reptile today. It was a bit of a long lunch since we drove over to Arlington to meet him. He's only on his second day at the new job, and we did not figure it was prudent to take a long lunch just yet. But it is a job with the city, so I'm sure that before long he will be able to leave for hours without being noticed.

Other than that, the day has gone largely uneventfully. They tend to do that when you have normal work to do. Only when things go wrong does the work day become something special. And I really do not look forward to those days in general.

I think part of the plan for Ninsi and I this weekend is to buy an elliptical. We have been working out most days. And that has largely involved DDRing. And walking a few miles, the past couple days. But the elliptical would be a low impact way of getting good cardio as well, so I think we'll do that. Try and get rid of about 6-7 more pounds by mid-Summer or so. I don't really want to change my eating habits, so I plan to just try doing so much excercise that I can't keep the weight on. Though, doing that much excercise might cause a enough muscle mass to form that I have a net loss of zero. I'm okay with that. Pounds themselves are not an issue. I am going for losing about an inch off the belly. So, this weekend, elliptical. Then a pound a week for a few weeks. Easy enough, eh?

Kidney stones make grown men go all fetal and weep.

Neko is ignoring me. I'm not sure why. I sent her half a dozen messages yesterday in response to the cold shoulder, because it was fun. And then it got boring. So I'm done with that.

Bought an elliptical online today. Going through the wal-mart online was significantly cheaper and easier than going into the local sporting goods stores. Much as I generally try to avoid wal-mart, when it saves me over $50 on a single product, I kinda have to go with it. Should arrive sometime next week, since none of the stores actually carry the one I want in stock.

Now we just have to figure a place to put it in the house, and keep the dog from eating it.

So, this morning, I was chatting with the Furious one, and got to talking to her about hot wings. Specifically wings from WingStop. And how I usually get the original recipe hot wings, but sometimes get a few of the 'atomic' wings. I think they are really my favorite, but they are almost too hot. You bite into one, and they taste great, and then suddenly, you mouth is en fuego. Oddly enough, the only thing that can sate this fire is eating another atomic wing. They are just that good. But so hot. So I don't get them vary often.

Talk about it with FJ though, made my mouth water, just thinking about it. So I think next time, I will have to order a few of them.

Then, as we are wont to do, we discussed chili because as you know, chili is the primal force that powers the universe.

Arby's for lunch. Something I have not done by myself in a couple of years. Since they got rid of the potato cakes. They long since brought them back, but I had already stopped going. So I think in two years, I went to Arby's twice, both times with Ninsi.

Today though, I went, and had a nice roast beef and potato cakes. And I noticed that every single person that worked at the Arby's was wearing a Dallas Maverick's shirt. All different. And everyone was female. Nothing wrong with that, it is just that you don't generally find a group of women that are all 100% big enough hoop fans to wear a team shirt. All on game day. So I decided it must be a company policy thing to support to Mavs. Good idea.

But my question is, do the girls each have to go out and buy a shirt themself? And does it serve as a possible uniform on non-game days? Or does the franchise buy a bundle of various shirts and each employee grabs one when they come on shift, and leave it when they go home? Who's responsible for these shirts?

Subway, well, I'm working on two years without having stepped foot into a Subway. Who knows what quandries will arise when next I return there.

For the sommelier wannabe in some of you. Cork'd Sign up. Be pretentious. Act snobby. It won't get you any closer to being a sommelier, though. That takes a fair amount of effort. And working in a restaurant with wine for at least five years before you can take the sommelier test. Being able to Mad Dog from Thunderbird won't cut it.

I usually take the stairs up the three flights when I come to work, and down the three flights when I leave the building. Occassionally, moreso lately, I will take the elevator. But I generally don't want to ride with anyone else. Today as I was coming back in after lunch, I thought of taking the elevator. But two people came into the building behind me. They were not close, but even if the elevator was already on the first floor, the doors would not be able to close before they made it on. So, instead of trying to keep them out of the elevator, I took the stairs.

Does that make me anti-social? At least I blog, most days.

We bought artwork in Rhodes for the living room. That was over a month ago. It has not arrived yet, so today, I called Visa and told them. So we've been credited with the purchase price and may or may not ever see the artwork. That may be the last time I try to ship anything from Greece, though.

The elliptical has arrived at the store, and so I now have a project for the evening beyond mowing the front yard. I'll pick it up after work and probably have to spend a couple hours putting that thing together. Ninsi will use it though. Probably be days before I even get a chance to play with it.

In the meantime, I'll mow, and weedeat, and try to decide if I really want to take the neighbor to small claims court or not for doing damage to my fence while putting up his wall, and for not cleaning up the debris and concrete on my side his wall created.

My position at Funimation was eliminated today. I am now unemployed.

Posting will be sporadic, at best, for a while.

I went to the bank today to deposit my last actual paycheck from Funimation. I kept out a little to pay for the movie tonight. And noticed that the in the tray behind the teller, where they keep all their coins, she had a few of the gold Sacajawea dollars. I like to use them for poker, but the banks do not usually have many on hand. So, I asked for them. It went something like this:

"Do you have any gold dollars?" (remember, I could see them clearly)
"No, but I have some with Sacajawea on them." (Same difference, but I let it go)
"Alright, I'll take those, please."

She then goes to her tray and starts to separate the Sacajawea dollars from the Susan B Anthony dollars, which I really dislike. And comes back to me with about fiftenn Susan Bs.

"No, I dont want Susan B. I want the gold Sacajawea dollars."
"Oh, I don't have any of those."
"What is that in your tray then?" - me pointing at her tray...
"Those aren't what you want, those are..." and she turns and looks in the tray, "Those are gold dollars, uh, like you want"

So she counts out eleven, but I only take ten because one of them was really nasty looking, and go on my way. But I want to know at what point in the conversation did I not make myself clear that I wanted the gold, or Sacajawea, dollars. Either one would have worked, or both.

Last time I go to that bank.

I have this policy about not drinking alone at the house, because well, it's just a policy I've had for a decade. But I swear to Dios, that were it not for the lack of fresh mint, I'd be out on the deck with a Mint Julep in hand. It just sounds better than a martini right now.