zen.org Communal Weblog

Today’s adventure: make dinner.

Sounds easy. Wasn’t. Cause as I sit in my comfy couch this afternoon, I see happy Vera walking by. She pops in, says, “I’m going to the doctor to see if I need stitches.” She *sliced* her thumb on a ham tin. I mean sliced (dude, if you’re squeamish, please don’t look. I warned you). Like, I’m never using a key to open any of those silly kinds of cans ever. She didn’t believe that she needed company, but I convinced her otherwise. Thank god, too, cause we were there for like 2 hours waiting. Then they finally saw her, had her put her finger under the taps, and then *glued* it shut. GLUED. /shakes head. I had that in the back room….we coulda avoided the 2 hour wait!

So after she let me to go Tesco to get the few things I needed for dinner. Basically leeks, since it’s chicken and sweet leek pie. Now, this is a Jamie Oliver recipe, and it’s one we’ve done before (tho no comments written in the book, so that should worry me…), but it takes forever. First you have to skin and debone the chicken legs (thank you for teaching me technique, Alton Brown), then cut up the leeks, carrots and prep the thyme. (Does anyone else get thyme all over the place when they strip the leaves? I got some in my hair.) Then cook for 15 minutes, add wine (we used apple juice instead, as I had no vino), water and soymilk, and boom. Stir, and bubble for 45 minutes. Then put in pie dish and then top with puff pastry.

Sounds easy. Can take a while. Was it good? Ummmmmmmmm….yeah. Filling. Hopefully the puff pastry will last til lunch tomorrow. We’re having a massive leftover lunch, since almost every plastic container (and that’s saying a lot) is being used right now.

P decided that he wanted to make something from the leftover puff pastry. So we did. All together now…awwwwwwwwwww.

[tags]altonbrown, cooking, jamieoliver, vera, p[/tags]

The grave was shallow and short, but the cadavers would fit. I dumped the bodies in as the sleet fell. Though hidden in the wood, this late winter burial was not hidden by the leaves that will start to grow within a month. My heart beat speeded up as a car swished away on the near by road. I started shoveling dirt over the bodies. Was covering up the sins of a friend worth this? A glassy eye stared up at me, it had to be the last part that was covered. I packed the top of the grave and covered it with some leaves and sticks, hopefully the sleet would turn to snow and give it another cover. Another car.

Earlier that day I was trying to fix my computer, my USB ports seem to have stopped working. Retrieving a needle nose from the junk drawer in the kitchen I saw them out of the corner of my eye. There lay the bodies in the back room, as the killer slept snuggly up in the bedroom. The head was missing from one body, a glassy eye of the mammal stared at me.

After disposing of the bodies, I returned to the back room. Feathers and fur where around the room. Marvin had brought in a dead baby rabbit before, and a torpid squirrel, but this was a full grown rabbit, nearly his own size! It must of been sick, bird flu? Stupid cat.

There was still Daphne, I would have to throw out the rug if she knew about it. All evidence had to be covered up. I vacuumed up the evidence, emptied and cleaned the out Dyson canister. The only thing left is to confess my sins. Daphne never reads my blog…

Dad has an article in today’s San Diego Union Tribune. It’s about geomythology: how myths may have some truth in geological terms (like Atlantis). It’s really interesting reading, but I like the part where Dad says “Five years ago, I couldn’t do this without destroying my career.”

[tags]Floyd, science, newspaper, press, san diego, work[/tags]

Visit my webcam at:

http://www.zen.org/~sven/webcam.html

When posting this it’s pointing at very interesting location, my back yard, and currently updates every 60 seconds. The camera is hooked up to my laptop which has a wireless connection, so long there is a plug around I can put it anyplace within range. Don’t expect it to be up 24 hours a day.

My question is, what should I point it at? Please post any ideas you have, no matter how silly. Some of my ideas include:

• Where the cat often naps.
• The cat door, see if he brings any critters in.
• Main Street, where speeders often get pulled over.
• The stove: “What’s Sven cooking?”
• The TV. Would that be legal?

I don’t expect anybody but me to watch it in the long-term. I just thought somebody might think of something clever.

The TRUCE Guide to Toys was a really excellent read for me. I might not agree with everything, but I sure learned some stuff, and got a few good ideas for presents…

Zoë was sitting in her high chair eating bananas and Zōe’s O’s, Mom was upstaris getting ready for work. It comes Marvin, up from the cellar, holding a full grown squirrel in his mouth. Like all of us, Marvin has been away from the house since July first, plus this year has been a bumper crop for acorns and walnuts. No predators, abundant food, my squirrels have become fat and torpid during our sabbatical. I pick up Marvin, still holding the squirrel, and took him down to the back door. Whent back up to close the bacement door, and back down to open the back door. Marvin was still sitting by the door, but no squirrel. I propped the door open and found the squirrel hiding under the bacement stairs. I went for a broom to sweep it out, again he was gone. Ten minutes or so later I closed the door and went to work, I hope the squirrel got out.

For the day Marvin in stuck to the bacement, where his door to the outside is. Hopefully Marvin will be the only mammal larger then a mouse in the bacement when I get home.

UPDATE: When I came home last night the squirrel was still in the bacement, now freely roaming the woods. Ok, he was pretty sick, probably infected by Marvin’s bite. Poor squirrel. Sorry PeTA, I tried to make Marvin an indoor cat, but he got mean and started biting people. I tried all of the hints you gave on that page, he hated it. Marvin is just a mean, impatient cat.

余艾蕾, Zoë, Marvin and I have moved back into our house yesterday! There is no front porch, and there is one room that isn’t really usable yet, and the kitchen is still a mess, and we have no cable or Internet access, and most of the yard is still grassless, and there are still some widow makers up in the trees, and the siding needs painting. Apart from that, er thoes, all is well.

余艾蕾, Zoë and I are back from San Francisco. Well, we have been back for almost a week now, just been catching up with things. Zoë is still on west coast eating time but on east coast sleeping time, she had a great time at the bay area. She saw the sea lions at Pier 39, dipped her toes in the Pacific Ocean at Stinson Beach. By far the highlight was Zoë meeting my In-Laws. 余艾蕾’s parents where so happy, by the end of the week Zoë was very comfortable with them.

Now, back to the daily grind.

Since Riley got his corn rows progress has started with our house. After today it should be water tight, and by the end of the week it should get shingles. Then we can get electricity turned on again. I have never felt such a need to vacuum as I feel when I go in my house at the moment. I’ve even thought about bumming power off the neighbor.

Knock, knock, knock. Fred opens the door, “Sven, how can I help you?”

“Fred, I need to borrow some power,” says Sven holding up a Pyrex measuring cup.

Rubbing his chin, “I think I have some in the cupbord, come on in.” We walk in to the garage and Fred opens up the cupboard. “Hmm,” he hums fingering through the jars and bottles “coal, wind, solar, hydro. Nope, sorry, I have some raw ingredients but I haven’t made any of them into power yet.”

“That’s ok Fred, thanks for looking.” I should be getting power back next week.

“So,” continues Fred, “when are you going to return that planetesimal movement I lent you last year?”

“I have to go, see you later Fred.” Sven slips out the front door.

Zoë has reached a major milestone. No longer can I put Zoë down and turn auround, and then assume she will be in a foot of where I put her when I turn back. If I really zone she could end up in the dining room.

I did, however, follow her around a little and she found some specs of dirt I would of never found without her. Thus helping with the house work.