Thursday, November 30
Today is Erica's 14th birthday. We called her this morning to wish her a happy one.
This morning when I woke up, instead of getting ready for work I logged in from home and worked here for two hours. I got more done in those two hours than all day yesterday, and I still made it in by 9:45. I need to do that more often. I don't have a problem with self-motivation when I work at home, so it's really more efficient.
Tuesday, November 28
Hee hee! Last week we sabotaged one of the computers of Eby, a support technician who is going to another job within the company next week. We took a screen print of his desktop, then saved it as his wallpaper. Then we took all his desktop icons and hid them in a folder. Then we slid his taskbar to the right, and put it on autohide. So he could click on his icons, but they wouldn't do anything. Anyway, he noticed, but since he had another computer, he ignored it. Last night we did it to his second computer. He rebooted ten times until he started right-clicking on the icons, which brought up display settings, which showed him the wallpaper. Slowly, it dawned on him.
Play this trick on someone you love.
Monday, November 27
This might hurt your eyes....sorry.
Sunday, November 26
Ed has taken to completely plagiarising my site. First he was copying and pasting, and finally, just asking me to do it for him. Just today, though....hopefully. He did post a page of his own, though; pictures he took at the neighborhood farmer's market (open every day).
We fit so much in yesterday that I forgot to mention dinner at Cosmo Cafe, where Sonny Boy Terry was playing. Cosmos, which I've mentioned here before, is kind of a Knight Spot/Six Pence place, except with a space theme and great live (and free) entertainment. And excellent burgers and chili, and even better martinis. It's on Heights Boulevard, so very close, and since it's a restaurant, we can take Erica there to see bands. She wasn't too impressed with the blues, but we told her it was good for her.
We put Christmas lights on our house today. People in our neighborhood decorate early, so we felt some pressure. We put icicle lights along the gutter, and fake green swags with lights along the porchrail. Fake because Ed claimed they didn't have real greens here. Turns out they do (much like we do get fall foliage, though he told me we didn't), but the fake looks fine. He made a run to K-Mart to pick up more icicle lights, and came back with mesh bush lights for the two junipers in front. He got blue, and I was aghast, but it actually looks good. We're going to put gold bows on the porch; I wouldn't have picked this color combo myself, but I like it. Ed even put lights on the back of the house. This picture also shows a little bit of the rock wall bed we built on Friday. It did feel odd hanging lights in T-shirts, as neighbors mowed their lawns, while the oranges ripen on our next-door neighbors' tree. We're having Indian summer, and yes, the leaves are changing color. Not as brilliant as in the Adirondacks and Pennsylvania, but yellow and red just the same.
Saturday, November 25
Happy Birthday, Mom!
We drove to Galveston today, meeting Bob and Linda Millan, Ed's friends. We had lunch at Wilie G's, on the bay. We celebrated Erica's birthday, which is the 30th. We had great weather, so we could eat on the deck. In the background of the picture is the Elissa, the tall ship based in Galveston, and an oil derrick. It is Texas, after all!
Next we went to The Strand, the restored shopping district of Galveston. I bought a model of an Ameria's Cup boat from the 30's to build. Then we went to Moody Gardens, a new complex with an aquarium, a beach, a rainforest and an IMAX. We went to the aquarium. We got there late in the day, so it wasn't crowded, which was very nice. Next, we happened completely by chance to catch the Christmas Parade of Boats. A fun day. Erica leaves tomorrow morning.
Friday, November 24
The cheesecake was fine. The dressing was fine. Everything turned out well. We didn't have a tornado, and we found the lid to the coffee pot, which we lost the day we moved in. We just hadn't needed enough tupperware before to find it hidden under the tupperware lids. Here are some pictures. Today I am going to learn how to use my camera properly. I keep taking huge pictures which I have to reduce, undermining the quality.
Thusday, November 23
Our travails so far:
1. I realized today that I fogot to put the cream in the
cheesecake. Should be okay, though, right?
2. Ed is doing a chestnut, pear and sage dressing. We're cutting it tight,
but kind of on schedule. Then he realized that the recipe called for roasted
chestnuts. We do not know how to roast chestnuts. But we figured it out.
3. Ed asks me which of the two herbs he bought is the parsley, and which
is the sage. He holds up parsley and ....dill. So now we're having chestnut,
pear and rosemary dressing.
Happy Thanksgiving! We are getting ready to cook a few more side dishes. We're having Ed's friends Brian and Laura Moline, their four-year-old daughter Drue, and Brian's mother for Thanksgiving. I'll take some pictures and post them later.
Tuesday, November 21
I wrote yesterday's entry yesterday, but forgot to post it. Which means I don't really have to write anything today, right? Good thing, because it was a boring day.
Monday, November 20
I am working this week (I get Thursday and Friday off). Ed is shopping and planning for Thanksgiving. So we got into that bizarre reverse situation where he is calling me at work telling me that he has cleaned out the refrigerator, and which towels should he buy? He would love to be a housewife.
Erica found out through AIM (AOL Instant Messenging) that a boy from her school was killed in a car accident. She wants to be at school to take part in the grieving (mostly rubbernecking), but Ed thinks it's best that she's here so she doesn't get caught up in the hysteria. And actually, she isn't upset, and the friends that she's chatted with are more interested in who's going with who, anyway. So he's probably right.
Sunday, November 19
We all went running today. Then we drove Erica past the Beer Can House. Then we went to see Men of Honor. It was good. Then we went to Lupe Tortilla for dinner. Doesn't sound like we accomplished much, but I did finish hacksawing the fireplace grate out. And Ed bought a lava lamp. And he played with his truck, which was a gift from one of his college friends. He made me take a picture of it. I wouldn't normally link to it here, but it also shows the margarita salt holder Linda made which broke; I thought she might like to see that I fixed it and we use it.
Saturday, November 18
We had Buffalo wings for dinner last night. We had Buffalo wings for lunch today. We are not having Buffalo wings for dinner tonight.
More hacksaw fun! We finally bought fake fireplace logs (they're handpainted porcelain) for our gas fireplace. The fireplace we have has a built-in grate, which we did not like. So I'm halfway through chopping it out. It was more involved than I thought, since I lost the piece I chopped off under the floor of the firebox....I had to go through contortions to get it out. I'm sure there will be a happy ending, though, hopefully in time for Thanksgiving.
Erica arrived this afternoon. We're all too tired to go
out to dinner, so we ordered Buffalo wings pizza and are staying
home watching the Syracuse football game.
Friday, November 17
Fun link of the day: Guess the Dictator and/or Television Sit-Com Character v2.0. Instead of pretending to be a sitcom character, answer the questions as yourself to see which sitcom character it thinks you are. Disclaimer (dad): it's only fun if you've watched sitcoms. (It guessed I was Gina Kincaid from Beverly Hills 90210, and Ed was Are you Mojo Jojo from Powerpuff Girls. I played for Ed, but answered honestly).
We had a Thanksgiving dinner at work today. Despite the wonders of tryptophan, I managed to stay awake until 6PM (and actually, I'm still awake, believe it or not!). I worked late every day this week, but not under pressure; I was just getting a lot done. And Ed was travelling. I worked all day today on an elegant Javascript solution to something that was stumping me, only to realize in the end that because I had overlooked one possible stupid user trick, I'll probably have to hack it into an inelegant solution anyway. Oh, well.
Thursday, November 16
I'm watching the local news right now -- they've reported a news helicopter crash in the River Oaks neighborhood of Houston, rupturing a gas line. (don't know if the link will still work tomorrow). River Oaks is the rich neighborhood here (oil sheiks and such). I think the house that the helicopter hit was actually a hair salon, though, so hopefully no one was there. Just wanted to let you know that this is not our neighborhood (although it is on my way to work) in case it's on the news there.
There was a health fair at work today. I had a chiropractic exam, where I learned that my head isn't quite sitting on top of my spine right. Also, I have muscle spasms in the right side of my neck, but none in the left side. Apparently, I should be having headaches, but I'm not.
I stopped in the mall after work. The Galleria is attached to my building by a skyway, so I actually go there at least three times a week for lunch. I decided to go shopping today. It's a very chic mall, with Louis Vuitton, Gianni Versace, Baccarat, etc., as well as the usual stores. It looks nice, now, all decorated for Christmas. This is the skating rink, with a Christmas tree in the middle of it. This is where Tara Lipinsky used to skate; I didn't even realize she was from here. Legend has it (and it's probably true, since it couldn't have happened very long ago), that her routine had a "hole" in the middle of it because she had to plan it around the Christmas tree.
Wednesday, November 15
It is hard to put a value on cotton until it is harvested.
Variations in quality, color, staple, and strength all affect price.
Cotton is subsidized twice in the United States. Farmers get a subsidy
to grow it, as it is not worth in the market as much as it costs to grow
it. Exporters get a subsidy as well, since the initial subsidy makes it
too expensive to sell in the world market.
The two biggest cotton growing states in the United States are Arizona
and California. This is because of the ready availability of cheap water.
"What?" you say, "Arizona and California are dry, drought-prone
states!". Yes, that's true, but farmers in those states receive subsidized
water, making irrigation nearly free.
A bale of cotton is about 500 pounds, I think. Cotton sells for about
65 cents a pound, on average, I'm pretty sure. A truck of cotton is worth,
um, I forget. I'm getting sleepy now....you probably are too. Sweet dreams
of cotton.
Tuesday, November 14
I got my permanent crown this morning. I didn't even realize they had put it on - I thought they were still getting it ready. Suddenly, the assistant said "All done!". I didn't think it would be that easy.
Tonight we went to Houston's for dinner. I learned many facts about cotton, which I will relate tomorrow. Right now I am too tired. Good night.
Monday, November 13
We stayed up too late last night. This morning when the alarm went off, Ed announced that he was "working from home". The rat. Although he did actually wind up working. Just to be nice, I took a shower in the newly functional guest bathroom shower so he could go back to sleep.
I had seafood gumbo and crawfish etoufee for lunch today. It was the real thing, and very good. I actually like crawfish much more than shrimp, because it's small and soft, and usually nicely seasoned. To think I used to catch the things under rocks!
Sunday, November 12
NEWS FLASH! (No, Nico didn't try fish) After six months of trying (I am not making this up), we finally successfully installed a shower curtain in the guest bathroom. That's after two failed adjustable rods, drywall anchors and a hacksaw. Ed was so excited that we did it that I took a picture.
Also we went shopping today. We managed to spend $345 at Michael's. If you notice Ed's attire in yesterday's and today's shopping photos (he's wearing shorts today), you can get an idea of the wild weather swings we're having. In fact, my rain lily bloomed.
Saturday, November 11
Amazon has a sense of humor.
We went shopping today. First we shopped for rocks. Then we shopped for shoes.
Thursday, November 9
I just heard on the news that they found a bag of 250 ballots today at the high school I voted at. They are going to add them to the total, but they have to get a court order to do so. Wonder if my ballot was one of them? The next item on the news was about electronic voting, which our county should get by next year's elections. Yay.
By the way, the Palm Beach ballot looked a lot like ours, although ours weren't 'butterflied' like those were. As I said on Election Day, it is very hard to see what you've punched, since the template you place over the ballot is thick and doesn't let you see through to the card. I don't have any doubts that I voted correctly for the major offices, but for the smaller races, I'm sure I either missed some or double voted. Luckily, it was never confusing as to which hole went with which candidate. I can't believe so many places have this punch system.
I woke up today with stomach flu, but had to go to work to do two things. I was able to leave by 11. I'm feeling better, but tired. Ed is in Dallas tonight; he told me his schedule for the next two and a half weeks - he'll only been at work one day. He's going to Dallas again, Memphis or Nashville, and Mexico, then Erica comes.
Wednesday, November 8
I finally get a chance at my computer! Ed is getting too Web-savvy - we need to get him (and me) DSL.
It's fairly cold here today, suddenly. I am wearing my red wool alpine sweater. I love it, but others are whining.
I forgot to mention yesterday that my polling place is Dan Rather's alma mater high school. Don't try to go to any of the links; they don't work. It's an interesting-looking old high school, about six blocks away, but...the schools here are really bad. In Texas, Gov. Bush implemented standardized testing when he came into office. Since then, the curriculum for all public schools consists of passing the tests. Students aren't taught to think, just to pass multiple-choice tests. It's like the Regents exams, but worse because that is all that counts here. Regents exams didn't count anything toward your course grade. Here, that is your grade. Teachers are promoted based on their students' scores. Funding is granted based on these scores.
Most people I know here with kids send them to private schools. No one sends their children to public schools if they don't have to,.
Tuesday, November 7
Well, I'll be. I voted for the first time in Texas today. I was appalled to see the method used here; paper ballots that you punch with an awl. You can't see what you punched, and it's possible to accidentally punch more than one choice since you're going through a template. I thought voting machines were archaic - just be glad you have them, those that do. Then you walk over to the Ballot Can and drop your ballot in. The Ballot Can has the words "Ballot Can" stenciled on the side with spray paint. Made me think this was not the actual Ballot Can, but a fake Ballot Can set out to trick us into throwing our ballots away. It reminded me of news footage of elections in Third World countries.
And in the end, I knew my vote for President didn't even matter. I wish I still lived in a swing state. But I'm not saying who I voted for. I did vote not to try to get the 2012 Summer Olympics in Houston. As I read somewhere this week, that would be the 2012 Very Summer Olympics.
After voting, Ed and I went running. An old man (coot) walked out of an old house and said, in a sing-song voice "Ah, going for a jog, eh? Jogging on Election Day." What does that mean? Sometimes I wonder what I'm doing here - it seems so modern and old-fashioned at the same time.
Monday, November 6
Flocks of geese have been flying over all evening. And it did cool down today, so it feels a little fallish. We have been thinking of getting sea kayaks to use along the coast. There are a lot of migratory and native birds there. This weekend we might go to a regatta at the Houston Yacht Club. A woman at work sails J22's with her husband, and invited us to watch the regatta and get to know the different fleets, and to go sailing sometime. (David Hasselhoff's sister, not to drop names).
Sunday, November 5
I am watching a show on the History Channel about George Dasch, a Nazi saboteur who lead a plan to blow up Alcoa plants in Illinois, Tennesses, and yes, Massena. He was not successful. What I found interesting in searching for a site about this event is that the results (I searched on Operation Pastorius and Alcoa) also turned up a reference to Penn Brewery, whose brewmaster is named Tom Pasturius.
Another drizzly day. I did squeeze in a quick mow of the front lawn, and managed to plant the Mexican redbud, finally. We wanted to go to Kaldi Cafe for breakfast, but it was packed so we tried a little place close to downtown called Fox Diner. Sorry, that's all their site is right now. It's a tiny place that doesn't look like much from the outside, but when we went inside they had a brunch buffet that looked (and was) great. Bagels, lox, fancy grits, paella(!), salads, meats, migas, and southern desserts like you wouldn't believe. A great find.
We did some errands, too. Every Sunday we go to Whole Foods Market for Sunday dinner fixins. This is an organic, hippy type store that 'grew up' into a large grocery store with great meat, fish, produce, prepared foods and bulk foods. Even bulk honey. They always have lots of samples to taste. I got some pralines and cream granola today. Mmmmm.....
Saturday, November 4
The bad thing about living here is that you have to keep mowing your lawn even after daylight savings time ends. I could do it now, but it's raining. It's supposed to rain tomorrow. It's supposed to rain next weekend. I guess I'll have to come home from work someday this week to mow. Lawns do go dormant here, but Ed wants me to overseed with rye grass so it stays green all winter. I haven't decided yet if I want to.
Friday, November 3
This is the recent work of Ms. Tiffany Greer. For those from Institue of Ideas studying the referral log, I am her cousin Susan in the States. This is just my personal website for my family. Hi, Tiff.
I think part of the reason we had so many trick-or-treaters on Halloween was that we had Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. The kids all said "Wow, peanut butter cups!". Later, on our second trip to the store, we got the tiny ones. Some of the kids after that still said "Wow, peanut butter cups!", but others said "They're the tiny ones....". I'm suspecting that the word had been spread that we weren't handing out cheezy hard candy. I always get peanut butter cups because I like to eat the leftovers, but of course we had no leftovers.
And to be honest, part of the reason we had so many kids is that we have some very poor neighborhoods not too far away. A lot of the later kids were very young, driven by their parents, but obviously not having much luck near their own homes. So we were glad to give them peanut butter cups. Next year we'll just buy many, many more.
Thursday, November 2
Ed has started his own weblog. He won't be updating it more than a couple of times a week, and a lot of the time he'll be talking about the same things I have, but you still might find it interesting. I particularly like the story of how he got a table at the restaurant in San Francisco.
Wednesday, November 1
Lost in yesterday's excitement over trick-or-treating was the tale of my crown (the dental kind). I had a temporary put on yesterday. Because of my high tolerance to novacaine, I elected to have laughing gas as well. It was my first time trying it. It would have been a bizarre enough experience on its own, but remember, it was Halloween. The office was playing spooky music, and everyone except the dentist was wearing costumes. It felt like I was hallucinating, but it was real.
Anyway, my gums hurt so much today that I came home at lunchtime to take a painkiller, then slept most of the afternoon. I'm feeling better now, so will try to get some work done.
And FYI, election day is Tuesday, and Tuesday only.
