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keep your free pens 2002-10-08 My employer is having a benefits fair today, like they do every year, and usually I go to these things, but not today. I'm remembering all too vividly how crowded they are, and how they never seem to have useful information. One of my coworkers is planning to go, and she tried to get me to go with her, but the only reason she wants to go is because the vendors give out free pens and stuff like that. This coworker is really nice, but she gets on my nerves with her rapacious love for all things free. I think she'd be thrilled with ANYthing free--a sandwich bag full of bird shit, for example. If something is free, she's There, and it's not that I'm so wealthy as to disdain free things, but I'm not going to accept something Just Because it's free. It would need to be something I want or need, and free pens are plentiful in my job, what with the lenders that kiss our asses with things like pens and post-its and oversized novelty rubber bands. So I've got pens out the wazoo and I'd rather not waste an hour of precious web-browsing time with crowding through hordes of people for no real reason. My coworker cannot understand that, and I feel sort of annoyed at her, but I'm trying not to because what's the point? Probably I'm already a little edgy today, because that cake I made for my second-in-command boss's birthday didn't turn out right. The cake itself turned out, and the icing turned out, but the filling? Not so much with the turning out. It's a coconut custard filling, and I cooked the custard to specifications and then let it cool as per the recipe. When I went to assemble the cake last night, I found that the custard hadn't actually custardized; it was a bowl full of runny coconut liquid. I sort of froze up at that point, because I didn't know how I could fix it. There was the option of re-cooking it, but it needed to cool completely before assembling, and I didn't have that kind of time. What I ended up doing was ladling it between the layers anyway--not Too much because I didn't want the cake to be soggy, and then I assembled the whole damn mess. It looks gorgeous from the outside, but it's not going to be too delicious. I'm feeling resigned about it, but I wish I'd re-cooked the custard and just gotten up extra early this morning to assemble, instead of taking the easy and less-good way of "making do". Note to self: Next time be less lazy! Oh, but last night Francisco recooked the custard with leftover rice added and made a really good rice pudding. So I guess it wasn't a Total disaster. So okay, enough with the bitching. Boy went to school this morning dressed like a court jester. Boy and Francisco painted bright-colored designs on an old shirt of Francisco's and a new pair of longjohn bottoms yesterday afternoon to make the basic court jester outfit (the shirt is in a passable jester-y style). Added to that is Francisco's robe belt and a velvet jester hat I made Francisco in 1992, complete with bells. There's some social studies skit Boy needs this costume for (I guess I should've said that at the outset, yes?); it's not just whimsy on his part. He begged Francisco to pick him up from school so that he wouldn't have to ride the bus home, and behind Boy's back I was nodding and gesturing at Francisco to Please pick him up. If the kids on that bus will call him Cracker Boy in his normal clothes, think about how they could extend themselves on the subject of his costume. Francisco consented to pick him up--I'm really glad. I hope the whole skit thing goes well, and that Boy doesn't take too much flack for wearing his costume. You know how kids are. I'm worried. The doctor Boy saw yesterday didn't even test him for mono. They said we should give it another week before they test for mono. They tested for nothing, in fact, and when the possibility of West Nile was raised, they said he'd have a rash if it was West Nile. So what I'm wondering is, why did the doctor he saw the week before tell Francisco to bring him back in a week if he wasn't better? The doctor yesterday even dismissed Boy's low-grade fevers and said they didn't consider anything a fever unless it was over 100 degrees. And I'm thinking, what's the point of having 98.6 be a normal temperature then? A temperature in the 99's is definitely indicative of something, and all I can say is that doctor from yesterday should consider himself lucky that I wasn't there, because I'm really fed up with doctors lately, and I would've expressed my feelings to him. Stupid doctors. I'm seriously starting to think they don't know anything. Did I say enough with the bitching? I'm truly done now. Can I talk yarn for one second? Today I found my favorite yarn (to date) on this website for only $5.50 a skein. $5.50!! The link is to my favorite yarn, by the way; the Lamb's Pride. It may not look overly fabulous in pictures, but take it from me, it is Terrific. I used it to make a scarf for Francisco, and it has a gorgeous sheen to it, and also it has a great texture. When I've figured out the deal with sweaters, I'm going to get some of this yarn and make another one (another one in addition to the basic learning sweater I'm going to start tonight). So I have extra sweater-figuring-out incentive. Yesterday I got the beading book I ordered, and it's actually not the book I thought it was. I don't think I like it, but I'm going to give it a shot. Damn it. Also yesterday I got the new Metropolitan Home, and I still feel "meh" about that magazine. It's lovely, but it doesn't suck me in like it used to. I watched Pet Psychic last night, but not the whole thing. That alligator was Excellent. I also liked the gay cockatoo and those 2 guinea pigs. The one with the black and white face was cute enough to make me think about getting guinea pigs after all. For two seconds I thought about it before concluding NO. Re: pets, Francisco and I discussed dogs this morning while we were walking, and the whole "get a dog and keep it in your house in a crate when you're not home" phenomenon is really weird to us. Until a few years ago, I didn't know Anyone who crated their dog during the day. When I was a kid it was unheard of. What's with the crating of dogs? When did that start? I'd rather not have a dog than get one and keep it in a cage. I guess if a dog is in the pound waiting to be put down, being adopted and crated is a pretty good alternative, but otherwise it doesn't seem too ideal. No offense to anyone whose dog is in a box at the moment. I'm sure you have your reasons; I just don't know what they are. [just so we're clear, that wasn't bitching--that was commentary] Also this morning when walking, Francisco and I were passing a house when we heard the most hair-raising noise. It sounded like a pig screaming, and we stood still for a minute and then walked back and up a side street to try and tell where it was coming from. We determined the house and also determined that it was a baby of some kind. The shrieks increased in volume and intensity until they sounded like the Nazgul from the Lord of the Rings. [side note, I had to call Francisco to ask the name of the Nazgul, because he knows these things and I don't.] We got Boy's school pictures recently--they turned out pretty nice. They were taken before Boy decided he likes the hairstyle that involves combing all your hair forward and then mashing the bangs straight up into the air. He can make that work, but when his hair gets too long he looks like Ed Grimley. So yeah ,the pictures are him with normal hair and I'll have to go on a mailing spree to get them out to the loved ones. That's all for now. Love to all,
come over some time & see me - 2011-02-25 |
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