Jimbo's Journal

I like Pringles. Apparently, so does my cat. I actually have know this for a while. I gave her a couple Pringles crumbs and she ate them. But just now I had a stack of four on the coffee table. She came up and grabbed one in her mouth and took off with it. She quickly dropped it because she didn't have a good grip on it because she had tried to "sneak" up and grab it. So I got the Pringle back. I gave her a little piece.

Based off of Rachel Ray's Cowboy Spaghetti:

Ingredients

• 2 pounds spaghetti
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, 1 turn of the pan
• 8 slices smoky bacon, chopped
• 2 pounds ground Italian sausage (I used one hot, one mild)
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 5 to 6 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 teaspoons hot sauce, eyeball it
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 (14-ounce) can, chopped or crushed fire roasted tomatoes
• 1 (8-ounces) can, tomato sauce
• 8 ounces sharp Cheddar
• 4 scallions, chopped

Directions

Heat a pot of water to a boil. Add spaghetti and salt the water. Cook to al dente or with a bite to it.

Heat a deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add extra-virgin olive oil and bacon. Brown and crisp bacon, 5 minutes, remove with a slotted spoon. Drain off a little excess fat if necessary. Leave just enough to coat the bottom of the skillet. Add beef and crumble it as it browns, 3 to 4 minutes. Add onions, garlic and stir into meat. Season the meat with hot sauce and cayenne pepper. Add crumbled bacon to mix. Cook 5 to 6 minutes more then stir in tomatoes and tomato sauce.

Serve with spaghetti. Adjust seasonings and serve up pasta in shallow bowls. Grate some cheese over the pasta and sprinkle with scallions. Garnish with crisp bacon

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I honestly cannot believe that this won. I was worried if it would even be edible. It also took me a LOT longer than it should have to make because of my ineptitude in the kitchen. I finally tried a non-sample portion last night and I thought it was good but not nearly as good as my chili. ;-) I generally prefer a thicker sauce. Incidentally, I accidentally didn't double the amount of tomato sauce in the recipe like I doubled most of the other ingredients.

I really had a good time Saturday. Thanks to drmagoo and wife for hosting and thanks to annieover and R for carpooling. All of the food was fantastic.

BEWARE: Possibly TOO MUCH INFORMATION within

( Medical stuff.... )

Went over to Rockford last night to have dinner with some family, specifically my cousin who is here from Thailand.  Chinese buffet.  Talked with my cousin a bit more about vacationing in Thailand (next spring?), but ..... well, I'm closer but still uneasy/unable to commit.

I woke up this morning around 4ish to go to the bathroom.  I could tell I wasn't going to be able to fall back asleep, so I sat in my chair and watched the first two episodes of Supernatural season 4.  As the second episode was finishing, my alarm went off, so I got up and showered.  I went back to my chair and, of course, almost immediately fell asleep.

Now I am really tired and can't get into the groove here at work (not that this is all that unusual).

I heard this on the radio the other day .....


The best part is that the guy repeats the entire order back to them.

I didn't sleep very well last night.  I don't think it had anything to do with the beer I had at dinner.  It may have had more to do with the fact that I had come home and my cat, who didn't like that I had cleaned the crap out of her litter box, and decided to pee on the couch, a fact that I didn't realize until it was too late.  (Nice run-on sentence, huh?)  So I was kind worried that she'd do it again, etc.  

Anyway, I woke up about 3am-ish (?) and my mind immediately reminded me that I had a software "meeting" today.  These things just stress me out WAY too much lately; I feel such a weight on my shoulders, responsibility and extra word ( wasn't this supposed to help me make things simpler and easier?).  So I basically lay around restlessly until the stress (and nature) made me repeated get up to use the bathroom.  Repeat until 5:30am, when I finally got up.  Needless to say I felt pretty crappy from stomach-upset and lack of sleep.  I really felt like calling in sick, but .... duty calls.

The "meeting" actually went fairly well.  Better than usual, maybe?  I went out to lunch with Scott, the software guy, and we went to Panera.  We met a friend of his, who is apparently also in purchasing.  He works at a MUCH larger company, which is part of a HUGE corporation, similar to one I used to work for.  It was somewhat gratifying (no offense to him) to hear that others have had similar bad experiences in the corporate world.  He seems to think he is about to be laid off, and much of the workforce is being outsourced to Mexico.  At least I never had to deal with that specifically.  We compared experiences a bit about the obligatory 3% annual increase demands, being treated like a number, etc.  I kinda wondered if this was someone I should try to plug for more information and contacts, but I didn't.  I am still largely intimidated in these situations by someone who is older and more experienced.

Before the lunch conversation, I place my order and the total for the bowl of Forest Mushroom soup and a drink came to $6.66.  The soup was positively divine.

I grew up Catholic, but I am in remission and don't practice anymore.  So since I don't observe Lent, can I still partake in Fat Tuesday?  Hell YES!!!  Donuts!  Actually the guy who brought them in called them "punchkeys," which I guess is spelled Pączki.  This is new to me, even though I am 1/8 Polish.


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Aside: I really need some new and more relevant user icons.

If I have my dates correct, I haven't had a drop of soda of any sort in almost 4 weeks.  I haven't honestly noticed any difference.  I haven't lost weight or seen a big upswing in my mood or anything.  But that's ok.  I know it's not good for me so I'll keep keep up the no-soda for a while still.  I do miss it a bit though.

And now for something completely different: A reminder to all that Dollhouse begins this Friday on Fox at 8pm (Central).
 

Thank to everyone for coming out on Saturday.  I had a great time and hope everyone else did too.  I still get quite overwhelmed in hosting, and AGAIN noticed that there was so much food that I never put out.  I don't think anyone was wont for food, but I wish I had put more out and didn't have SO much left over.  ;)

I am really grateful that most of us still get together as frequently as we do.  Granted, I wish we got together more, but I think we do a pretty good job of staying in touch.  I think we've developed somewhat of a decent rotation for gatherings.

Tonight: Watch 3 hours of LOST and eat sausage sandwiches.   Mmmmm.....

The weekend was pretty crappy.  First, there was the water heater incident on Friday, which, combined with the weather, screwed up a couple of things, like getting my drivers license renewed (leaving only Tuesday to do it before it expires).  Saturday I decided to be somewhat social and go out to my parents house.  I got some last minute shopping done with my dad before mom got off of work.  Then we went out for Chinese buffet.  Then it decided to really start snowing in earnest.  I watched the "football game" which left me angry.  The wind and snow got so bad that it created blizzardlike conditions and whiteouts.  I had little choice but to stay at my parents' house.  Not prepared, I had to sleep with my contacts in.  All of this made me increasingly impatient and frustrated, and I finally made it back to my place mid-afternoon on Sunday, tired and cranky so that I didn't accomplish anything.  Now back to work.  Yay!!!

Friday: Went out to rev_hp_meyers's house for a dinner get-together. Had a good time. Met some new people. Ate good food. Played some new games. Thanks for the invite.

Saturday: Well, Friday after the party, but it was technically Saturday. I went out. That made two weeks in a row, as last week I went out to a bar. I was by myself and it was rather boring, but, hey, I made a bit of effort.

Sunday: My Cowboys won! 'Nuff said.

Here's the letter to Roger Ebert that I was talking about (probably incoherently) on Saturday night.  Luminousx said that I had mentioned it before (and apparently forgotten completely about it - possible, I guess).  It's dated 10/30/08, which would then require that Ebert printed it previously or that I heard it somewhere else.  Maybe this "experimental scientist" has been on a crusade and sent his story elsewhere.

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081030/OPINION/613186340

 

I received this message on the blog, but it obviously fits no known topic. The author is something of a mystery: "R. Crutch," no city, no e-mail. But I felt it necessary to share with you. RE

From R. Crutch:

Whenever I get a package of plain M&Ms, I make it my duty to continue the strength and robustness of the candy as a species. To this end, I hold M&M duels.

Taking two candies between my thumb and forefinger, I apply pressure, squeezing them together until one of them breaks and splinters. That is the "loser," and I eat the inferior one immediately. The winner gets to go another round.

I have found that, in general, the brown and red M&Ms are tougher, and the newer blue ones are genetically inferior. I have hypothesized that the blue M&Ms as a race cannot survive long in the intense theater of competition that is the modern candy and snack-food world.

Occasionally I will get a mutation, a candy that is misshapen, or pointier, or flatter than the rest. Almost invariably this proves to be a weakness, but on very rare occasions it gives the candy extra strength. In this way, the species continues to adapt to its environment.

When I reach the end of the pack, I am left with one M&M, the strongest of the herd. Since it would make no sense to eat this one as well, I pack it neatly in an envelope and send it to M&M Mars, A Division of Mars, Inc., Hackettstown, NJ 17840-1503 U.S.A., along with a 3x5 card reading, "Please use this M&M for breeding purposes."

This week they wrote back to thank me, and sent me a coupon for a free 1/2 pound bag of plain M&Ms. I consider this "grant money." I have set aside the weekend for a grand tournament. From a field of hundreds, we will discover the True Champion.

There can be only one.

Had a good weekend.  Thanks to luminousx  for another fun party.  Stayed up until ......? Dunno - 5am?  I don't know.
I spent Sunday (after I drove home) just mainly sitting around.

This morning I got up, showered, sat around for a few minutes and left for work.  About halfway to work, I realized that I had never changed the time on my alarm clock.  So I was an hour early.  I stopped at McD's and had a S.M.Egg meal and read some of my book. 

Now I'm tired. ...... again/still(?)

doo....dooo.... dooo..... WAH-wah!!! (*PAC-Man noise*)


So, I tried to make some treats for luminousx 's party Saturday. I found a picture of the Flying Spaghetti Monster made as a party treat. Yesterday I had an EPIC fail, by trying to incorrectly melt white chocolate. Afterwards, I found the actual recipe and learned that they were supposed to be made like rice crispy treats. It still didn't turn out very well. Better, but not well.

Here's what they're supposed to look like (click for full recipe):


Here's what mine turned out looking like (click to enlarge):


Way too hard to form into a coherent shape once the marshmallow "glue" starts to harden.
Anyhoo, not the worst thing in the world.

OK, not really.....

Over at the Culvers VoteCustard site, I am offered the choice between Reese's E. Buttercup (I guess his running mate is Hot Fudge) and Heath Toffeebits (with Caramel). 

Well, obviously the former is the far superior candidate, but how can I, in good conscience, vote for it with that obvious association they have made?!?!?!

The horror!!!!   Whatever shall I do?!?

With all the rain we had last weekend, my favorite hot dog joint, Gene & Jude's Hot Dogs in River Grove, was flooded by the Des Plaines River.

( Flood pics )

Went downtown Friday night. luminousx and I went across the street to the German-American Fest and grabbed a bratwurst (mmm) and beer. Good, though not unexpectedly overpriced. We hung around in one of the tents for a while where the band was surprisingly good. Saturday morning we headed over to North Avenue Beach for Red Bull Flugtag!!!! What a blast that was. I only wish we could have been a bit closer, so I could get better video. I think it would be a total blast to participate in one of these. Some day maybe .... Afterward we caught up with lifepart3 and gr82live, hung out for a while and then went to Hopleaf for dinner.  Mussels and sandwiches and stuff.  Really good, but again, I don't know about the price.  Maybe I'm just not finicky enough to tell the difference between really good mussels and mediocre mussels.

Sunday I sat around the house and watched football stuff while trying to familiarize myself with my new cable.  My Cowboys won!!!!  That automatically rates a good weekend.  So in addition to Friday and Saturday, it was a VERY good weekend.

I did get video of most of the entrants in the Flugtag competition.  I'm going to attempt to splice them together somewhat cohesively and then post the video, but I don't know when I'll actually get to that.

The "bad" part of the weekend is that my desktop computer seems to have finally died.  It sometimes boots up and sometimes doesn't, either way then going to a "blue screeen of death,"  But not the normal one that I'm used to, instead one which refers to an (overloaded??) buffer.  I knew this was coming but still .......

Yesterday I got a sub from Subway.  Soon after I began feeling unwell.  So immediately the hypochondriac in me thought of the most recent incarnation of the salmonella scare involving (now) jalapenos.  Anyway, I went home and took a "nap" for a couple hours.  Of course this caused me to not sleep very well; I woke up a half dozen times, at least.  So now I'm tired.