Fri Ri & Tlip
Finished the by now epic "make fried rice" project. It turned out well, if a shade shy of really authentic to take-out taste. I did greatly enjoy it, however. Ended up deciding to buy a wok to make it properly. I now have a wok. I added my own little flourishes, and it turned out pretty damned good. I ended up eating my entire batch in three massive plates... which is not surprising considering that it was my first meal of the day and it was almost 11PM by that time. But it was also damned good. I think it's something I'll be doing again in the future, as well as utilizing the wok for stir-frying.
Speaking of the wok, carbon steel (and cast iron, as well) is a pain in the ass to "season". Whatever coating came on the wok when I bought it (claimed to be "nontoxic, flavorless and odorless") burnt itself to the wok as I was trying to season it. Serious scrubbing (that is, everything shy of steel wool) was unable to remove the ugly brown stain. Other than looking ugly, it doesn't seem to affect it. So I'm just going to ignore it, like that ugly stuff permanently welded to the bottom of my stock pot.
Decided to take that trip back up to Vermont before gas prices get obscene again (and they're well on the rebound from that lovely $1.50 per gallon that they bottomed out at a few months back). I'm borrowing a thousand bucks from my folks in order to do so, since I have no idea if I'll ever be able to scrape up that much cash in one lump sum, and I don't want to do this all on my already taxed plastic. I'm not sure about all the details, but as I iron them out, I'll keep this updated. At the moment, it's looking like I'm going to take a week of vacation time, and see if Bill will bookend it with a couple of unpaid days off to allow me to keep a week of paid time for when Jacob comes to visit.
Got a statement from the Social Security Administration. Greatly amusing to read about how by 2041 SS will only be able to pay out an estimated 78% percent of what's owed. I really wish we'd just abolish this dinosaur already. Thinking it'll last longer than 15 years from now is foolish. Also amusing was my year-by-year "taxable SS wages". I made a career-high $24,000 in 2006, and I made $17,000 in 2008. Oh joy. A $7,000 per year drop. No wonder I'm feeling the pinch financially. That's something on the order of 20% less. Whatever happened to things getting better as you go along? Oh well.
Bought home some of the salvageable damages from work. I snagged a bottle of Creme De Casis with a cracked cap (anyone have any ideas what I can make with that other than a grasshopper?), about 1/3rd of a 1.75L bottle of Sailor Jerry spiced rum, 48 St. Brendon's Irish cream minis (which thus far have all proved to be coagulated), and a 1.75L bottle of Tenure polish vodka with a chunk of the bottle's shoulder chipped off. Crackhead actually had a good idea for once. Run it through a coffee filter to make 100% sure that all the tiny flecks of broken glass are gone, and it should be safe. That's missing about 250 to 300 mils that spilled out, but most of a 1.75 isn't bad. So, I picked up some coffee filters for a buck and change along with the wok tonight. Incidentally, those cheap bar-style pourers that we sell are quite nice. I got one for the Patron Pyrat rum, since its bottle is a pain in the ass to pour from, and I'm using it all the time now (the pour spout).
I had fun technically breaking the law, getting that cracked bottle of tenure home. Since I didn't want it anyplace where I couldn't control it and prevent it from tipping over during turns, it sat in my lap. With a hole in the side, covered with tape. I'm glad I'm paranoid since I passed two state police cars parked on the shoulder. I know that since the neckband seal was still intact, the hole in the side covered with tape, and I was stone cold sober, I might not have been charged with anything if I'd been pulled over... but why take the chance? Also, vodka dissolves the adhesive on packing tape. I knew intellectually that it's an organic solvent, but it surprises me the unexpected other uses it has, sometimes.
Have a bunch of housework to get around to tonight and/or tomorrow. Might clean the bathroom before I vacuum (since I can do that at night). But hopefully I should be able to check off most of what's on my list by Wednesday.
Moved the "to do" pile of crap from the living room into the bedroom. Okay, so I didn't deal with it, but at least I consolidated the "I haven't dealt with this yet" mess to a single, less-used area.
Still have pictures and long-promised updates to post here, but I'll probably try to make time for that tomorrow night after I get home.
Speaking of the wok, carbon steel (and cast iron, as well) is a pain in the ass to "season". Whatever coating came on the wok when I bought it (claimed to be "nontoxic, flavorless and odorless") burnt itself to the wok as I was trying to season it. Serious scrubbing (that is, everything shy of steel wool) was unable to remove the ugly brown stain. Other than looking ugly, it doesn't seem to affect it. So I'm just going to ignore it, like that ugly stuff permanently welded to the bottom of my stock pot.
Decided to take that trip back up to Vermont before gas prices get obscene again (and they're well on the rebound from that lovely $1.50 per gallon that they bottomed out at a few months back). I'm borrowing a thousand bucks from my folks in order to do so, since I have no idea if I'll ever be able to scrape up that much cash in one lump sum, and I don't want to do this all on my already taxed plastic. I'm not sure about all the details, but as I iron them out, I'll keep this updated. At the moment, it's looking like I'm going to take a week of vacation time, and see if Bill will bookend it with a couple of unpaid days off to allow me to keep a week of paid time for when Jacob comes to visit.
Got a statement from the Social Security Administration. Greatly amusing to read about how by 2041 SS will only be able to pay out an estimated 78% percent of what's owed. I really wish we'd just abolish this dinosaur already. Thinking it'll last longer than 15 years from now is foolish. Also amusing was my year-by-year "taxable SS wages". I made a career-high $24,000 in 2006, and I made $17,000 in 2008. Oh joy. A $7,000 per year drop. No wonder I'm feeling the pinch financially. That's something on the order of 20% less. Whatever happened to things getting better as you go along? Oh well.
Bought home some of the salvageable damages from work. I snagged a bottle of Creme De Casis with a cracked cap (anyone have any ideas what I can make with that other than a grasshopper?), about 1/3rd of a 1.75L bottle of Sailor Jerry spiced rum, 48 St. Brendon's Irish cream minis (which thus far have all proved to be coagulated), and a 1.75L bottle of Tenure polish vodka with a chunk of the bottle's shoulder chipped off. Crackhead actually had a good idea for once. Run it through a coffee filter to make 100% sure that all the tiny flecks of broken glass are gone, and it should be safe. That's missing about 250 to 300 mils that spilled out, but most of a 1.75 isn't bad. So, I picked up some coffee filters for a buck and change along with the wok tonight. Incidentally, those cheap bar-style pourers that we sell are quite nice. I got one for the Patron Pyrat rum, since its bottle is a pain in the ass to pour from, and I'm using it all the time now (the pour spout).
I had fun technically breaking the law, getting that cracked bottle of tenure home. Since I didn't want it anyplace where I couldn't control it and prevent it from tipping over during turns, it sat in my lap. With a hole in the side, covered with tape. I'm glad I'm paranoid since I passed two state police cars parked on the shoulder. I know that since the neckband seal was still intact, the hole in the side covered with tape, and I was stone cold sober, I might not have been charged with anything if I'd been pulled over... but why take the chance? Also, vodka dissolves the adhesive on packing tape. I knew intellectually that it's an organic solvent, but it surprises me the unexpected other uses it has, sometimes.
Have a bunch of housework to get around to tonight and/or tomorrow. Might clean the bathroom before I vacuum (since I can do that at night). But hopefully I should be able to check off most of what's on my list by Wednesday.
Moved the "to do" pile of crap from the living room into the bedroom. Okay, so I didn't deal with it, but at least I consolidated the "I haven't dealt with this yet" mess to a single, less-used area.
Still have pictures and long-promised updates to post here, but I'll probably try to make time for that tomorrow night after I get home.