Blowing hard

Posted on May 19, 2011 by Frog

Last night we went out to dinner at a place that has been closed for over a year. It was located in the city and the landlord was a jerk who kicked them out. The landlord has since been convicted of fraud and sentenced to multiple decades in jail, so my using the word jerk really isn’t out of line.

Anyway, the restaurant has reopened in Northside and the food is still delicious. We had been in the space many years ago and I have to say they’ve done nice things with it by keeping the old character but livening things up with a beautiful tiled bar. The chairs are much more comfortable too. Yeah, it’s a weird thing to remember but I like a longish seat on a chair and if I don’t get it I keep that information tucked away forever.

Now, for the real reason for this post. A table of four sat down behind us and it seemed like things were going to be OK because they were interested in the wine offerings (a seriously good wine list) and sharing of appetizers. The group sounded very much like when we go out with our good friends. But, alas, that was not to last.

Because one of the women was a complete blow hard and at one point I really wanted to turn around and tell her to shutthefuckup. Here are some things she said and I suspect you’ll begin to hate her a little too:
I play for the symphony. I’m a principal. (to the waiter)
There was my $3500 saddle not strapped down to the horse. (to her companions)
The ceiling fan had to be hardwired into the house. (isn’t that generally how it works)
We had to work around his schedule but he was really cheap. (on getting an electrician to do some side work so they didn’t have to pay his employer)

Now, I know the electrical work isn’t really punch-in-the-face worthy, but after a good 20 minutes of her prattling on it was time for punching. Her dinner companions were pretty silent the whole time. The crap about being a principal in the symphony had absolutely nothing to do with anything other than showing off to the waiter who could have cared less. And, the $3500 saddle that was in jeopardy was just pretension. It had nothing to do with the entertainment value of the story.

When we got up to leave, her husband had a pained look on his face. I just smiled the smile of pity and kept on walking.

We have someone like that in our family and after awhile you forget that she’s a nice person because the wall of sound coming from her just makes you want to move away from her as quickly as possible.

Posted in Generic Thoughts | 1 Comment

Finally.

Posted on May 14, 2011 by Frog

When we lived in our other house we had a laminate counter top straight out of a 70s horror film. It was yellow and had at least one huge crack that ran from edge to wall and then there were the various other scars and general ugliness.

When we moved into the house we live in now, we both liked the kitchen because we could have a table and the pantry is amazing (under a set of stairs). The counter tops were cheap, nasty and rivaled the 70s horror film. The edges were sharp and the color some sort of white. I hated those counter tops.

See:

There was also this problem (hunks of caulk and a stove that didn’t go all the way to the wall):

The hunks of caulk were one thing, but when we dragged the stove out from the wall, I narrowed my eyes a bit. This is a problem we could have fixed 6 years ago. You can bet your sweet ass that it is now fixed–simply by cutting the wall board and stuffing the propane supply line into the wall. Gee, why didn’t I think of that? Wait. I did. Repeatedly. Sorry, better-half, but you know it’s true.

We dismantled the kitchen moving all the appliances out of the way so the counter top people could afix screws, brackets, whatever. We found a fork behind that stove that didn’t meet the wall. The family of dust bunnies now live in the vacuum and it’s too bad we couldn’t salvage the metric ton of cat food from under the refrigerator. Hey, boys, quit flinging the kibble!

Here are the new counter tops. Since the end of the world is coming on the 21st, I think I might just sit, admire and pet this new addition until the rapture or when the earthquakes and floods begin (or whatever doomsday thing is supposed to happen–what do I care, I have new counter tops).

Yes, the plumbing isn’t working yet. The sink had to cure and all plumbing work requires at least two trips to the hardware store–so far the better-half has only made one trip. We’re reusing our faucet from before and the dishwasher will go back into the space as soon as the plumbing is hooked back up.

But, you know what works? The stove. And, look how far back it ended up going once we were able to shove the propane line into the void in the wall (this is as far as the stove will go because of its structure, but I’ll take it):

Posted in House Proud | 1 Comment

Someone plugged you in, And sadly they clipped your wings

Posted on May 2, 2011 by Frog

Yesterday morning the better-half and I were making breakfast and I noticed Jim had brought in an animal. He had a bird and it wasn’t quite dead. The two humans just gawked and then decided that perhaps we should pick the bird up and put it outside. The better-half got on a glove and I was prepared to capture Jim so he wouldn’t follow the better-half outside.

Yeah, that plan wasn’t cool with Jim. Who took his bird, thankyouverymuch, and walked out to the porch growling the whole time. A deep growl to show us he was the king of the backyard. The bird was dispatched pretty quickly after that and Jim ate the whole thing. I ended up vacuuming a handful of feathers off the porch. The circle of life, indeed.

Yes, he’s the king:

Simon was out on the porch and could have cared less about the bird being killed and eaten. He wants you to know he’s a lover, not a fighter. Also, Purina One and the occasional Fancy Feast is good enough for him:

Our friends gave us a bunch of iris last year. Two are blooming. I love purple iris and they smell so good:

Our rose bushes in the front are beginning to pop. I know rose aficionados scoff at the miniature rose, but they are pretty and I don’t care if they aren’t some pedigreed rose from the ancient city of Rose or whereverintheheck. Pretty is good.

Our sage plant is also blooming. I fried a couple of sage leaves the other day. So good. I think the hummingbird that’s already around stops by the sage plant for a snack now and again. Let’s hope the hummingbird doesn’t become a snack.

Posted in Eating, Gardening | 2 Comments

Last night

Posted on April 28, 2011 by Frog

It’s the last night on campus for the semester. Luckily it is a beautiful evening…the school’s auto-alert system called me a few times in the middle of the night to tell me about the tornadoes in this part of the state. A lot of us in class tonight talked about how little sleep we got.

We’re all safe, of course, since we were all present in class. The news out of the rest of the South is just horrible and prompted a few of the international students to wonder if tornadoes are regular features. Apparently some countries don’t have them…I guess I slept through that part of geography class.

Now I need to figure out dinner and get the apartment ready for summer break.

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Another banner day in Paradise

Posted on April 27, 2011 by Frog

I just found out the woman down the hall had her wallet stolen off her desk. We have thefts every once in awhile and always at holidays. The victim says she forgot to lock up her wallet, but still who wanders the hallways looking for wallets? Especially stealing from a bunch of people who are LOSING their jobs?

And folks wonder why I have a bad attitude.

Posted in General Spleen Venting | Comments Off

Testing. 1 2 3

Posted on April 21, 2011 by Frog

I’m trying remote posting from my phone. If this works there will be even less worthwhile content and 50% more grammatical errors.

Bet you are as excited as I am.

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I forgot about handfuls

Posted on April 21, 2011 by Frog

This song is relentless in its catchiness.

Posted in Listening | Comments Off

One Day I’ll Get Back To Good

Posted on April 14, 2011 by Frog

This week my supervisor sent me two job announcements and encouraged me to apply. She also asked about the other two she knows I’ve applied for but haven’t mentioned since to her. What can I say, we’re really in the “oh, crap” mode now. And, yet, we’re still trying to get work done. Except for my co-worker who deserves a smack up-side her gnarly head.

I had a meeting on campus today and I have to say if your friend is wearing short shorts then you should not be outfitted in Uggs. Actually, that’s probably advice I’d give you no matter what. Those are some ugly shoes.

I’ve turned in my final project for the online class I’m taking. It’s been a very strange experience to completely experience an asynchronous environment for an entire semester. No discussions and no comments except when the GA hands out grades/feedback for assignments. Apparently, there is a group of students who prefer this way of getting course content. I do not like it. I hope my final project for the program will be to re-write one of these courses to make it more interactive, but also self-paced. A balance of the two needs.

Speaking of balance, we were talking about balance right? I got some CDs in the mail the other day. Yes, I download MP3s frequently, but have only downloaded 1 entire album before (Radiohead’s latest). There’s something about the case art and the act of physically holding the discs that we both like. Which, technically, I haven’t done since the CDs arrived on the day I left town. The better-half put the songs on our server so I can listen today. Technology is pretty awesome even if we are sort of doing things backwards. It’s all about trying to keep the fidelity of the songs high.

One of the CDs is this one by k.d. lang. She still sounds great after all these years. The new band is also a pleasure.

Posted in Generic Thoughts, Listening | 1 Comment

Because it’s Friday and because I found a Billie Holiday song

Posted on April 8, 2011 by Frog

When I worked for a bank, I sat for awhile in a narrow room that contained a scanning station and a very expensive, very cutting edge piece of equipment. I was in charge of that piece of equipment and aside from how cool it was and the killer views of the corner where there was a car accident a week*, there was nothing much special about that room.

I had a cheap radio in there and had a mix tape (back when the mix tape was a cassette) that I’d pop in every once in awhile. One day I put on some Billie Holiday. A co-worker came in and was astounded and really excited that I even knew who Billie Holiday was. We stopped talking and finished listening to the song.

* Seriously, 7th and Franklin in Richmond used to have a car accident a week. We’d all pile into the available windows to see what happened after hearing the crash.

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Short, Sharp, Shocked

Posted on April 7, 2011 by Frog

Lest you think all I do is complain about the work situation, fear not. I complain about other things. Here’s a list:

    The apartment neighbors coming home past midnight or waking up past midnight to attend to the kid who stomps. Seriously, they need to shut up.
    People who don’t realize it is, IN FACT, all about me.
    People who use all caps for no reason.
    People who “reply all” weeks after the conversation is over and the “reply all” wasn’t really necessary to begin with.
    People who don’t answer emails. I’m not asking the question for my health.
    Stupid people are stupid.
    People who answer a survey about a specific course and they tell me crap about courses I don’t even think we offer at work.
    The massive bone outside my apartment window. It’s like a brontosaurus fell down dead outside my window.
    People who make lists about one thing and then end up including work stuff even though she said she wouldn’t.
    The lack of bumper car bumpers on my car so I can push people out of the way.
    The lack of my car’s ability to puff up like a puffer fish so the moron drivers who cut me off will be able to see my displeasure. A little squid ink thrown in would be an excellent upgrade.
    Having to do math when I do not like having to do math.

Not cranky about this and I forgot his handsome face was in it:

Posted in General Spleen Venting, Watching | Comments Off