Somewhere East of Life

My most recent cooking experiment was a success. I finally managed to cook a successful batch of refried beans, although that was partly because my Mom was there to help me spice it up. I made some more flour tortillas to go with it, and we made ourselves some nice burritos.

They were actually pretty good. Mom even gave me a cooking compliment (every little girl's dream), "You're actually turning into quite the accomplished cook." *beams*

There was a downside, of course. When is there not? Well okay, maybe two downsides.

1. I made enough to feed the neighborhood.
2. I got impatient and didn't make the long version of the recipe. I made the refried beans in about three hours, rather than the six (or more) it usually takes. What is the difference you ask? There's a ratio in there somewhere for about every hour you cut out of the cooking time, you increase the amount of time you spend in the bathroom after dinner. o.0 It was not a pleasant night for me.

On the plus side, I had a great time cooking (even if I did somehow manage to use every pot, dish, and utensil in the house to do it). *big grin*

Zzzzzz...
Had kind of an odd day today. I didn't get much sleep last night, which means my pills didn't have much time to wear off before I had to get to work. My driver was funny about it though.

He said, "Someone is tired today."

I said back, "What gave it away? The eyes at half mast?"

He snickered a bit and shook his head, then answered, "No. It was the slurred speech."

LOL - kind of set the tone for my day. I actually did manage a nap though. About an hour before I had to get back to work.

I had to drive in today to drop off my time sheets (which normally I'd give to my driver to turn in, but neither of us had extra and we'd both run out).

On the plus side, I did manage to snag the last package of vanilla Zingers from the snack machine before I left. Score!

Near miss...
On the way home though I'd decided to treat myself to a bacon cheeseburger from the dollar menu at Wendy's.

Just as I'm crossing the intersection that's half a block away from my food, this guy coming from the adjacent street pulls right in front of me without looking.

I'm thinking, "Huh, I can't believe that guy just pulled in front of me. I bet he's drunk."

It happened kind of fast, and I didn't think to honk the horn, but I actually had to swerve all the way into the opposite lane to avoid hitting him. The people behind me slammed on their brakes. I swerved back into the lane just in time to turn into the Wendy's.

It wasn't until I was going through the drive through and four cars away from ordering that it hit me: Oh my goodness, I almost had a wreck.

Of course I came home with a Frosty on top of that burger. Chocolate always makes a person feel better, right?

I'm still a bit shaky. The dose of adrenalin was a bit delayed in hitting me, as you can imagine.

I know I've been promising a list of story recs for forever now. I've finally compiled one, though admittedly it was in an effort to bring a friend of mine to the dark side as it were. She's come to like the stories involving Severus and Harry, and this list was an effort to expand her horizons a bit.

She will only read completed stories, so this list is only those stories that are complete. The list is sorted by site.

( HPFandom.net )

( FanFiction.net )

( ForeverFandom.net )

( TheSilverSnitch.net )

LJ Coding Woes
I've been coding today. I had to sort out some messes with a Bloggish layout for txrabbit. The new customize wizard that LJ has been a bit of a booger. It does make things easier for those wishing to just copy and paste a layout and have at it. But you know me and my endless fiddling. Apparently the new system is fiddle-proofed. You fiddle with it and it just puts up a blank page and says, "Oh yeah?! Well take this!!! See how you like it now!!!"

...or something.

New Blogger Layout
I'll have to make myself a new layout soon. To make myself feel better before I do that, I hooked myself up with a new layout from carriep63's website for my Blogger - http://saifaifox.blogspot.com/. Though now that I've done that I might actually have to update the damn thing. *moop*

Stalling Now
Okay. Back to the drawing board. I'm actually only stalling on the one last image needed for miss rabbit's layout. I'm doing it now, I swear!

P.S.
I gave up on the hamburger bun recipe. However, I did find in my family's cookbook a lovely recipe for both potato rolls (which work great for hamburgers), and angel biscuits. Angel biscuits are an all time fav of mine. Thought I'd share the recipe for those that are interested:
( Angel Biscuits Recipe )

I've had the baking bug lately. No clue why. Just picked up a recipe book and started baking (and good 'ol cooking) one day.

I've tried tortillas, cakes, cinnamon rolls, donuts, biscuits, cookies, refried beans, and soups. All with varied levels of success.

However, I have found my nemesis: hamburger buns. They just don't turn out right.

Day One: Tried the recipe word for word. Thought something might be off. Discovered what was wrong after the buns came out like hockey pucks.

Day Two: Stubbornly tried recipe for a second time, this time with appropriate changes. Dough looked pretty good. Still didn't rise. Baked 'em anyway and didn't get hockey pucks. They're just really small and very dense hamburger buns.

My mother thinks I could use them to make miniature hamburgers.

I strongly suspect she's mocking me.

*goes back to the drawing board with a different recipe for hamburger buns*

Happy Birthday to fantomeq, vehiclesshockme, fitofpique, and eyezrthewindows!!! Hope you guys have wonderful days full of lots of things on your wish lists. :)

Question: Anyone remember that botched Navy SEALs operation from back in the 90s I think it was? There had been a US news crew that were on the beach waiting for the crew as they were coming on shore for some sort of secret operation. They was a big todo about lines crossed and all that. I was trying to track old new archives about it but couldn't remember the date, the news corporations involved, or the location of the operation. Anyone remember details?

Found a cool guy that refurbishes computer. Sells them within my budget. So far I'm very pleased. He was obviously very well educated in this field. I had a great time asking him about a couple hundred questions.

It's a rebuilt eMachine. The parts of that computer that tended to fail? All been replaced. Got a new power supply, new harddrive... um, forgot the rest. But it's clean and new and even has a fresh copy of Windows XP. Interestingly enough, even though the XP version is a Home edition, he didn't install the office suite (except for Frontpage). I did however get OpenOffice. It's interesting so far, but I haven't had a lot of time to play with it.

I did have a few backups, but not of everything. My poor mother didn't have anything of hers backed up. We're working on rebuilding those.

Today however, I've taken up residence in the computer share and am quite happily hogging said new computer. Mostly I'm installing my backups, installing my favorite programs (firefox, spybot, virus protection, irfanview, vlc, semagic, etc.). Ooh, and bonus? There's room enough on here to install my backup copy of Photoshop. Yay! *bouncebouncebounce* More manips, here I come.

Speaking of which, here's the request for help. I need an archive unpacker of some sort. I vaguely remember bunnyohare mentioning a freeware one to me once, but damned if I can remember what it was. I need something to unpack the rar files I've got my backups stored in (the ones with the number extensions). Any clue what I can use that doesn't cost me anything (and I hate WinRar, so that's out)?

Right. So, my computer crashed some time back. Y'all know this. I've been on my Mom's computer for awhile trying to save the money to buy me one since the ex is being a butt and isn't getting me the one he owes me. *grumblegrumble*

You know what's coming next, right? Mom's system crashed. The harddrive motor is out of commission. The tech said the data is only recoverable using some special data recovery service (like you see in TV). Only it's gonna cost us $900. We're going to save the drive out and see if we can do something like that at some point down the road.

Mom is buying a new system on Saturday. The tech guy had some refurbished systems laying about. We're trading in her old system and getting one that's about the same as the one of mine that had crashed.

I'm going to have to rebuild my data... again (yes, I had backups... but nothing from Mom's system because she had no way for me to do it). I've got my bookmarks saved, and that's about it.

*moop* Send more chocolate.

Completely forgot to mention this after I got back.  I actually had serve on a jury.  Yay me.  It was a two day trial for aggravated assault.  Was interesting process to go through.  The law is very specific about whether or not an assault happened, and if it did whether or not it's justifiable.

Everything I've ever heard about justifying yourself in court about these sorts of things?  Soooo not true.  LOL 

Wasn't a bad two days spent though.  If anything, it was like watching a live soap opera.

Friday: Make plans for weekend involving helping Mom with project at her storage room, shopping for niece and nephew's birthdays, and seeing a movie with new driver.

Saturday: Wake up feeling like death warmed over because of the flu.  Cancel all plans.

Sunday: Watch entire Lord of the Rings series in one go.  Send Mom out to buy birthday presents for niece and nephew.

Monday: Watch entire Star Wars series in one go.  Bonus?  No Jury Duty.

Tuesday: Jury Duty.



*sigh*  Murphy hates me so much.  He really, really does. 

*works on evil plot to take down the courthouse by coughing on everyone within range*

I went mad for cookies just a moment ago.

I remembered I had cookies left over from lunch.  Yummy chocolate chip ones from Long John Silver's made from "the cookie diva" (or so the clerk told me).  I had only eaten one.  I had two left.

Hey, I have cookies left over from lunch.  Mmm... that'd be realy good about... COOKIES!

My mom hears me yell but doesn't know what I'd said, so she comes running.  I blindly make a mad dash for the kitchen, pushing my mom out of the way as I pass her.

She kinda stumbles a bit and blinks at me blankly for a minute wondering what the hell has gotten into me before questioning me...

*blinkblink*  Wha...?

I run into the kitchen and spin a couple circles looking for my lunch bag.  I don't see it.  I dash back out and  run into the living room.  I stop and glance around the room quickly, eyes darting back and forth.  Somewhere in the back of my mind I realize I must look like I'm on the run for my life and I'm looking for the quickest means of escape.

I dash back into the kitchen and follow the same routine.  Eyes following every surface with rapid movements until I spot my prey.

There!  On top of the fridge HA!

By this point my mother has shook her head at me and escaped to the safety of her own room.

Of course, I don't find the cookies in my lunch bag.  I run around the house again from room to room wondering where the hell I put my cookies.  Finally I remember I tucked them away in my purse. 

*squeals and clutches bag of cookies close to chest*  Cookies, cookies, cookies.  Oh, how I love you my precious cookies.  *pets bag of cookies*

Mom came back out when she heard me yell out, yet again.  I finally told her the story at that point.  Between bites of chocolate chip cookie, of course.

Yes, she did guilt trip me about pushing her out of the way and made me give her one...



...which she didn't eat because her blood sugar was too high.



...and then left on the computer desk right next to me with strict instructions not to touch it.



*eyes the cookie longingly*

I got a happy accident.  It was rather like being chased around a Monopoly board by a rabid shoe and accidentally passing go (grabbing your $200 as you pass by, of course).

It might sound complicated, but it goes a little something like this...

( the background story )

( what they look like... if you're curious )

I got all three of these in the mail today.  o.0

( why this is an issue )

Mom says I should just not look the gift horse in the mouth and not say anything about it.  I do find myself curious though as to how this happened.  No chance in hell I'm sending the stuff back now.  I guess I'm just afraid that now I have one lifetime membership (under old member number), and a second lifetime membership (under new member number), and will continue getting requests for payments for this new membership.  Not entirely sure how to go about explaining all this to a service rep should I get another bill.  I guess all I can do now is wait to see if I get any more requests for payment from them.

Weird, weird, weird.

*shrugs and goes off to play with new toys*

Got a link of "The second annual Sunday Source Peeps Diorama Contest drew more than 800 sugar-filled entries from our readers" as featured in the Washington Post (link here) from my sister.  This was #37 of their list of best creations.

Got me a new driver.  I think I mentioned that I quit my route.  Had an argument with the driver they'd given the route to and just wouldn't take it.

Anyway, they took the route away from her and gave it back to me with a new driver.  She's just great so far.  We have a lot of fun together. 

She's a former marine.  She also reminds me a lot of the driver I had last year.  She moved to Idaho because of her girlfriend, ended up staying after her girlfriend cheated on her.  Still lives with said girlfriend along with the new girlfriend of the ex.

Bonus?  She laughs when she's stressed.  I can live with that.  I do much of the same.

Today was an early out for the elementary students.  We had lunch together at the IHOP.  It's amazing what a little neon green shirt (courtesy of the new driver) will do to take care of my little invisi-Saifai problem with the servers there.  Not sure if I've ever mentioned it.  I've got an invisibility curse with both Denny's and IHOP.  It's like once I enter the restaurant and sit down, they promptly forget I exist.

I'll be checking in now and then over the next week.  Spring break started for me today.  I got an entire week of freedom!

P.S.  Anyone got an unbiased (or at least biased on the POV of Nick or James) of the recent Buffy reunion con?  I've read a couple, and both were clearly humongo fans of SMG.  Still haven't gotten over her since Season 6 Buffy stomped all over my Spike (why yes, I can hold a grudge.  why do you ask?).  I've read a few comments on things Nick Brendon said and laughed quite a bit, especially over that Susan Lucci comment (ouch, but damn funny).  I'm curious to know what more banter went on between James Marsters, Nick Brendon, and maybe Seth Green.  Any links with transcripts of the infamous Q & A are muchly appreciated.

P.P.S.  I got me some jury duty.  I'm making plans of escape.  They gave me short notice too.  Hopefully they won't call me.  I sooo can't afford to be called to duty.  My employer doesn't pay for the time I'm gone, and you know I'll make just enough for a Happy Meal from the state.  Joy.

This happened just this past Friday.  I've got a new (if temporary) driver on my route.  We were discussing people we recognize on the radio, and the ways in which some of them try to disguise their voice in order to play pranks over the radio.  We agreed that some folks just have much more memorable voices than others and can't get away with that sort of thing (my previous driver included, whose impression of guy from Mexico from a radio commercial he heard sounds disturbingly like Watto from Star Wars).

What I Intended To Say:
I'm an audio person.  I will remember a voice or a sound much quicker, and with greater accuracy, than I will a face or a scent.  I love sounds, and because of that it's easy for me to pick up on and remember people's voices better than any other kind of recognition available to me.

What I Actually Said:
I hear voices.

::headdesk::

The driver let that one sit for a moment before he said, "That's okay, what is said on the bus stays on the bus."

Of course, I followed that right up with, "No, no, it's okay!  It's not like they answer me back or anything."

*sigh*  Some days it just doesn't pay to even get out of bed.  LOL

The coughing saga continues...
Couldn't have happened on a better day.  Remember that whole thing I had with the allergic reaction to the medication?  Right.  Well the dilemma continues.  My throat continues to bother me.  I've had a tickle in the back of my throat.  I've  had it since the muscle pains finally went away in late December.  I've got a persistent cough that just won't quit.

My doctor has no idea what's wrong with me.  He was just as dumbfounded at the violent reaction I had to the medication.  The continuing effects has him truly baffled.  In about a week or two if I'm still not better he's promised to send me off to a specialist to see what they think.

Last night my coughing took an abrupt turn for the worst.  The coughing isn't as persistent, but it hurts my throat now (as it didn't before), and I'm starting to lose my voice.

Goggles Ahoy!
I did visit my eye doctor yesterday.  Got new glasses.  They're the same style as before, the ones with the bottom half of the frame missing.  Got a dark red color this time that the assistant lady swears makes my eyes "pop".  We shall see.  Bonus, my eyes have gotten worse, but they're now the same power.  I'm gonna order me just a box of contacts for backup situations in a few weeks.  Yay me!

*does best Tom Cruise dancing in undies impression*
I had one of those internet geek thrill moments.  I found a new online store I didn't know existed before.  I can now entirely bypass my local church clothing store and order everything I need online.  Cheap plus free shipping equals one happy Saifai.  Bonus?  No need for a temple recommend to prove my membership *scowls at new security restrictions at local store*.

The Weasley twins have nothing on my students...
A couple of my students have taken it upon themselves to make my life hell.  The two students in question change from week to week, but the two latest culprits have been regulars on the list of delinquents. 

This latest fight is for the record books though.  This sort of thing could only happen to me it seems.  A student threw a snowball through an open window as be passed them on the road.  (which was open BTW as a result of a fight with said students because they'd figured out that open windows that let in cold air make me squeal and hide in my coat like a turtle).  Of course, those two brats took it as a sign to they needed to have a snowball fight.  Granted, they were miniature snowballs, but still...

The first one to get his retaliated with a belt after he ran out of snow.  Keep in mind here that I'm in the seat between these students.  Anyway, the one takes his belt off and looks over his shoulder to wait until the driver isn't looking, and then reaches over my head to attempt whipping the other student.  I try to take the belt away, and in the mean time the whipping victim goes on a hunt for more snow to throw.  The belt finally gets subdued, but now the shoes have come off and are being made into projectiles.  I take the shoes away and hide them under my seat.  Much begging and pleading later and the shoes are returned, but the hunt for more snow to throw has begun again.

*sigh*  They are so on my list.  There will be payback.  *rubs hands in glee and plots*  Nothing too serious I'm afraid.  Putting them in pink tutus and making them sing "I'm a little teapot" in the quad is out, I'm afraid.  I might be able to get them to sit in the front seat, together, and trade off on bus cleaning duty for a couple days.

I participated in lazuli_kat's Spander Christmas Cracker, as I mentioned before.  My day was the 23rd, but I wanted to give the folks at Excessant first grabs.  It's Christmas though, and I present it to the rest of you.

Yes, folks, I wrote fic.  Please, hold the gasps of shock on this most momentous of occasions.  LOL  Follow the link to it's home at Laz's site to read more.

Title: Home For Christmas
Author: Rhonda (saifai)
Pairing: Spike/Xander
Summary: Spike ponders the journey he's taken over the last severals years, and to the place it brought him home.

( follow the white rabbit fake cut... )

Sunday Funnies
Since it's Sunday and all, here's a funny story to cheer up your day about a Pastor and a kitten.

( The Pastor's Kitten )

Christmas Muses
In other news, my muses have made a surprise visit and I'm writing a Christmas Cracker story for  lazuli_kat's 12 10 days of Spander Christmas.  My day is the 23rd, so I'll post links to it when I'm done.

Health News
That whole thing with the allergic reaction to my meds continued when I discovered the pain I had from the event were actually muscle spasms.  All my muscles from the waist up to the top of my head was sore and sensitive for the better part of a week and a half.  I was stuck eating soft foods for about three or four days because my jaw and throat muscles were so stiff.  I'm much better now, and only vague sensitivity to those areas remains.

Let the festivities begin!!!
I went to the women's Christmas Dinner at church the other night and came back filled with Christmas Spirt.  Damnit.  So, I'm wrapping presents (damn you Fuzzywigs for not including the tag to the Webkinz I bought my nephew and making me go back to beg for it today), baking (back to the store to get the spray oil that doesn't include garlic... "Why do I keep smelling garlic on the banana bread?"), and decorating a bit (still looking for the baby jesus for my nativity).

Bah Humbug
I told my mother just now what I was writing.  She seemed to think that nobody would believe me that I had Christmas Spirit if I was snarking the whole time about what went wrong so far.  LOL - she just may have a point there.

Hope everyone's holidays are going well so far.  *big smooshy hugs all around*

So it goes a little something like this.  Thought I had a UTI.  Got meds for it.  One trip to the emergency room later, and it turns out I'm allergic to the antibiotic they gave me.  The doc at the hospital was convinced that wasn't it though, so he urged me to keep taking the antibiotics.  To help deal with the pain, he also gave me a prescription for some happy pills that are kinda like Vicodin. 

Mass amounts of hurling (should be an olympic sport) revealed that I'm also allergic to the Codeine in those pain meds. 

Yay me.  Got the different pain meds, and started taking the antibiotic again.  Yet another trip to the emergency room, and I don't care what the doc says... I'M FREAKING ALLERGIC TO THE ANTIBIOTICS!!!

OMGI'MSOSOREKILLMENOW

Went to my regular doctor today.  So could have avoided all this if I had went to this guy to begin with.  *whimpers*

Basically... I feel like like I've got the flu and strep throat, then have had my head put in a vice and then promptly inserted into a tin can (held in place of course with 10" spikes going through both ears) so that I can be strapped to a midieval torture device that stretches and compresses all my joints and muscles (what are those called?).  Oh, and then dipped in honey and sent out into the honey bee farming fields (which are incidentally right in the middle of poison ivy).

Owwie.

So.  I've been off work for like a week now.  Am way short on money, and it's only gonna get shorter.  Am thinking I'll have to get a weekend job or something.  Bah.

K.  I'm off to bask in the glory that is Darvocet.  *huggles the pain meds and calls them George*

   


Mobile Slash Center
There's a new toy out called the Amazon Kindle.  Dood.  I so want one.  Just think of all fics you could load on this thing!



They say that you can put 200 books or whatever on it.  You can also email word documents and photo files to it.  *smiles an evil grin and rubs hands in glee*

Nano: Imminent Failure
In other news, I'm not going to meet my goal for the Nano.  On the bright side, I've got a decent story fleshed out.  I'll be continuing on with it after November.

Turkey Day Food Adventures
Thanksgiving with my Mom was a quiet affair.  It was just the two of us.  We had all the fixings, just in smaller amounts.  We made Turkey/Chicken Gumbo Yaya (turkey broth with chicken bits so we could save the turkey for sandwiches) and plenty of sandwiches.  Speaking of which, I had my first hot turkey sandwich ever (open faced sandwich, turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy).

I made the Brandy Pecan Pie again.  It's become a favorite.  Last year when I made it there was too much booze in it.  I didn't cut down on the Brandy, but I did use half the amount of Bourbon Vanilla in it.  Probably could have done without using the Bourbon Vanilla all together, but it's all I had.  I'll have to post a recipe for it soon.  It was really good, and super easy to make.  Came out nice and chewy rather than the hard and crispy versions I'm used to having.

Wheeeeee!
I need to catch up with everyone here.  Have been AWOL for a month or so.  I've got a ton of recipes and fic recs to share.  Hopefully I can get those up in the next week or so. 

Hope everyone had good holidays.  *hugs all around*