Another gray, rainy day

It was a rather dismal day spent doing jobs around the house and running errands. I worked on editing Dad's Korea photos and got 20 free prints from Walgreens of edited India and Korea photos.

Mail call:
Pet magazine from Purina
E-week
$20 rebate
Chadwicks
$18 from bestmark
almay coupons
book from Title Trader (A Regency Invitation to the House Party of the Season
Investment Co prospectus

DVD project:
West Side Story

Movies watched:
Sideways - from the library. A Very Weird Movie - I wouldn't recommend it.
Phantom of the Opera - from the library. I hadn't seen it before and found the scenrery and costumes quite spectacular, but the libretto fairly repetitive and the storyline a bit confusing.

Drizzly day

Today was warm and mild, but overcast. The temperature in Reedsburg reached 50 degrees, which was indeed welcome even if the sun refused to come out.

The giant crocuses are about done, but the snowdrops are still going strong and the yellow crocuses are about ready to bloom. Daffodils have budded out and should be a show of yellow very soon.


Ned has spring fever and is on the lam in the great outdoors. Shortly after he eloped, it started to rain in earnest. I hope he is enjoying his impromptu shower - he is a very dirty cat!

Mom's book Death among the Willows came in the mail today.

Dad came over this afternoon to help fix the broken window in the garage. He got it out of there and we took it to the glass place for repairs.

He also looked at my proposed arbor area, and said he has some treated lumber posts and beams we can use to make it, as well as some wire fencing material for the top.

I will start moving some of the indoor plants outside, if it clears up. The datura is infested with bugs I can't seem to get rid of, and I think putting it outside would do it a world of good. Likewise for the cannas.

Survey payouts:
$40 in the mail from air freshener product test
$4.15 from 3 different survey companies in my paypal.

DVD Project:
Mystery Science Theater 3000: Operation Double 007
Mr. Holland's Opus

Marketplace:
Computer book from the library giveaway sold on Amazon for $7
Roots set is up to $20 on Ebay

Overcast Wednesday

This is Ned after one of his computer-licking episodes. He appears guilty, and rightfully so! Not long after this, he licked the camera and the phone. He has a real thing for plastics.

In books today:
I read Joanna Maitland's A Penniless Prospect today, which was surprisingly good and free of most of the regency cliches. There was a kidnapping and an escape by setting fire to the bedchamber and rappelling down the wall on bedsheets, with the hero improbably coming to the rescue and then having to be rescued by the heroine while all the baddies burned, but no book is perfect.

Marketplace:
poetry book
Soapdish
Hope Floats

Mail Call:
bank statement
junk

DVD project:
The Rock
Inspector Gadget

Surveys:
One $15 from BI. I am really disappointed in this company this year due to the lack of invitations and I delete every one of their referral emails.
$22 payout from Survey Spot

Snowdrops

Today I worked until 11 am. I had some lunch of leftover crab cakes and potatoes when I got home, and then I went over to Mom and Dad's house to look at a horse trough Dad had offered me to grow strawberries in. I looked at Dad's horse trough offering and gave it a thumbs-down. I took instead a large plastic tote that I can fill with dirt and cut some holes in the side with a knife. That should make a fine strawberry tub. Dad has been hard at work collecting JUNK and his place is worse than ever. I went upstairs in the garage, looking for containers I could used for gardening. The loft is filled with raccoon poop and it's very nasty there. You have to wade over many dead radiators and other unidentafiable things to even get the garage door open. I took some bricks for making a raised bed and also some plastic buckets from Dad's mountain o'junk for putting bean bushes or cucumber vines in.

Dad also offered me a blue plastic barrel that might be suitable for some type of composting system. It's not very sightly, but we could spray it paint black. I will put Avinash in charge of developing a new composting system, which is a very appropriate activity for an environmental engineer.

Dad was just on his way down to Madison, due to a distress call from Katya-Kate. Her friend, the one who was an abused spouse, had left her husband and was staying in a little apartment without any furniture in it. Dad was donating one of Heath's chairs to her, not that he doesn't have any chairs of his own to donate. Her car was also having issues again and so Dad leapt to the cause.

I gave Suki a little walk. She was very perky and playful, but tired quite easily halfway up the road. I brought her in for a drink and she went into the closet.

Dad had left a pan of cabbage something cooking on the stove and burnt it. It's a good think I came over because I think he would have gone to Madison with it on, otherwise.

Mail call:
nothing but junk, junk, junk. I chucked it all in the recycling bin.

Book update:
I finished Carola Dunn's Tudor Secret. The characterization was very satisfying, but unfortunately the plotline featured the requisite smuggling and espionage theme. Also, I felt it was poorly named. I kept waiting for the Tudor Secret to appear and there to be some plot connection to historical Tudor times. The only Tudor feature was a Tudor rose motif in clothes and jewelry. Also a Tudor ring supposedly featured a sphinx design, and I do not believe that the Tudors traveled to Egypt at all.

In the evening I worked on scanning Dad's old photos from Korea. They are badly deteriorated and need Photoshop fixing.

I made a "poppy seeded bloomer" loaf from from bread recipe book. It turned out nicely, which is satisfying after its 8 hour prep time.

Supper was a sloppy joe. Avinash made dal and rice.

Sunny Sunday

Sunday was cold and nippy, but the sun was out and the temperature climbed above freezing with the sunshine. We had some Bagels Forever bagels and cream cheese for breakfast. I worked until mid-afternoon as usual. Lunch was grilled cheese and mashed potatoes.

When I got home, I pulled the row cover off the daffodils and tulips out front so that they could get the benefit of the sunshine. It's not supposed to go below 32F in the next week, so I'll leave the row cover off and hopefully they won't get frozen and wilt.

Pet update:
Rowena worked on destroying one of her favorite toys, the disposable plastic gown tie (see photo). Fortunately I have an endless supply of them from the clinic! Ned also indulged in a little undignified play with the tie.

Garden update:
The giant crocuses are still blooming. I have lots of tulips and lilies coming up.

Dad and I have tried to brainstorm a container to use for planting strawberries this summer. He has several barrels, but they are ex-industrial barrels and who knows what used to be in them, and they are plastic 1 cm thick and might be took hard to cut with my little jigsaw. He has some steel barrels (also probably hard to cut) and an old galvanized metal horse trough. I thought I'd go take a look at the horse trough maybe Tuesday and see if it was suitable for patio gardening.

DVD project:
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Brain that wouldn't Die
Laws of Attraction

Marketplace update:
Mom brought me a bag of ROOTS videos to list online. I posted them on ebay and we shall see what happens.

I sold two of grandma's cups and saucers for $16. They were Steubenville's Adam Antique and both nice, but they didn't belong to a set so I thought I would free up some more space in the china cabinet for some of her other dishes.

Avinash brought home some remainders from the library book sale, two quite new computer books that appeared to be unused. I listed them on Amazon and already sold one to someone in California for $6.

Evening news:
Avinash and I watched an old movie, Roxanne. It's the Cyrano de Bergerac story, sent in a Rocky Mountain town in the mid 1980s. The costumes, hair, and soundtrack really brought back memories of high school!

Supper:
Cajun crab cakes - I made them with the can of crab meat I have gotten at Yue Wah. It was really finely shredded, but that was ok for this recipe. They were a little soggy, so I added besan and they turned out to be quite tasty!

Caesar salad

Avinash made chat again.

Fudge grahams

Errand Day

Yesterday both Avinash and I were off, so we ran all of our errands. I mailed out several packages at the post office: two to NYC, one to Tazmania, and one to Savannah. It was mostly gaudy Grandma jewelry that was being shipped out to happy customers who like bib necklackes and a lot of beads.

I also sold another one of her necklaces on ebay for an astonishing $46. I liked it ok, but found it uncomfortable and I didn't really have an outfit it looked good with. I'm much happier to get the $46.

Next week I plan on listing some of Grandma's big gaudy earrings with beads and dangly things on them. I think they will sell well too, and without one earlobe I sure can't wear them.

Then we went to Baraboo to get some groceries. We got three boxfuls at Aldis, a few remaining items at the Evil Empire, and then a few freebies at Viking for good measure. Pictured above you can see Ned in his customary stance after we bring home boxes of groceries. He has to check out every new box we bring home - sniffing every inch and sitting in it for a while and looking foolish.

For supper, we made chakkarpe dosai with shallot sambar.




Then we watched a rerun of Con Air, which Avinash had never seen. You can't beat it for the typical big-budget Hollywood action thriller for the requisite car chases, big explosions, poor Southern accents, medical inaccuracies, and so on. Nevertheless, it is fun to watch.

Today I haven't gotten a lot accomplished. I have worked on my DVD project:
Hope Floats
National Lampoon Xmas Vacation


Mail call:
three packages of underwear for a product trial (pays $15!)
bank statement
junk

I balanced the checkbook (off by $200, for some reason) and went to the library book sale. They just wanted to get rid of stuff and I brought home a regency.

I also sold a ratty old romance novel on amazon. I contacted the buyer to make sure she was ok with its worn condition, and she said to go ahead, so I'll ship it on Monday.

Also the lady who won all the Iditarod VHS tapes on ebay won a book I had listed on ebay, so I'll get a box together to go out on Monday.

This afternoon I will pull out all the old utility bills and try and figure out the problem with the bank account. I'm pretty sure it's one of the local utility EFT payments.

Garden update today:
Foxgloves are up
also okra seedlings
the zucchini seedlings are getting really BIG!
peas, garbanzos, chana doing well
one tomato plant has also sprouted.

No sign of impatiens or peppers yet.

Tonight is the last night it is supposed to freeze in the forseeable future. I'll pull the row cover off the daffodils tomorrow and let them get some more sun.

Signs of Winter, Signs of Spring

Today started out on a dismal note. Not only was it cold, windy and gray outside, but also snow was falling when I got up and continued thoughout most of the day. There was no accumulation because the ground was above freezing, but the skies were dark and leaden the entire day. If it had been above freezing, we would have gotten a thunderstorm. Fortunately, or unfortunately, due to the fact that there is no window in the hospital pharmacy, my spirits could not be further depressed by the uninspiring weather conditions.

I had a long day at work, the highlight of which was my chicken chimichanga at lunchtime. That is the one dish the hospital cafeteria does really well. It has a lot more flavor than their usual offerings. Tom had a doctors appointment in the afternoon, so I had to work late. Fortunately work was easy and I didn't have any political issues, confrontations with coworkers or customers, or other tricky challenges.

I got my creatinine done today in preparation for my CT next month. I calculated my own creatinine clearance at 63. It sure goes downhill fast after age 18! It's not much different from last time, though, so at least it's stable.

I stopped at the post office to mail out my amazon package, and the ATM. I really wish there was an ATM that accepted deposits at the hospital or at my bank. I guess I'm the only customer in Reedsburg who actually needs to deposit anything via ATM.

I didn't get any movies at all converted today. I did, however, sell one book on amazon and one of grandma's bib necklaces on ebay. This one had a brand name stamp on it, and sold for an astonishing $46! I sold about 10 or 15 other pieces of hers, and the most I've gotten for them is about $9 for a set. It quite amazes me what you can get for items on ebay if somebody really wants it.

The Pet update:

Ned started his bouncy-bouncy routine this morning at about 4 am. He jumps up on the bed in a very jarring and energetic manner and generally makes himself obnoxious. I kept shoving him off and he kept bouncing back up like a rubber band. I think it happened about 12 times before I had to get up - I can't really recall except that it was way too many.

Rowena was also slightly obnoxious by playing with her puffy ball last night. She can't play with the ball without talking to it in a special voice she uses just for puffy balls and also bugs she is planning to kill and eat. She picks up the puffy ball and carries it around so some other location - only she knows why - and then talks and bats it around some more. This afternoon when I came home from work it was lying on the Persian rug next to several deposits of cat vomit. I don't know if it was just too exciting to play with the puffy ball after breakfast, or what. Avinash and I were just talking about how fortunate we were that the cats had not thrown up lately - I guess that was a bit premature. They used to do so almost every day, so I guess the new fancy food agrees with them more.

Mail call:
unicef ad with a nickel in it (kept the nickel)
gazania collection ad
more investment company annual report. Fund up 4%, nothing spectacular
paperback book from Title Trader

It's been a quiet evening. Avinash came home late. He is now watching The Last Samaurai dvd before it's due at the library tomorrow.

Several of the seeds I planted last weekend in plastic cells and peat pots have sprouted, which is very exciting. I am always quite amazed when something I have planted actually grows instead of sitting there like a rock in the soil. (Those are cucumber seedlings in the photo!)

So far, seeds that have sprouted into leaflets are:
Mesclun Lettuce
Summertime Lettuce
Cucumber
Zucchini
Peas
Garbanzo beans
kala chana

I took a chance on the garbanzos and kala chana. The seed packets at the store are so expensive, and we have a vast quantity of dried beans and lentils in the cupboard. So I tried planting several trays of the dried beans as well as the purchased seeds from Jungs. So far, so good! I also planted some rajma, but they haven't done anything yet. I thought the pulses might be radiated, since they come from Turkey and India, but apparently they are still viable.

Hopefully I will not kill them all and we will see some kind of crop this year.


Dinner tonight:
Avinash had chat with kala chana and potatoes, raw tomatoes, puffed rice, and sev.
I had potato soup, toast, and some cocoa.

That's all the news from here. I'm looking forward to a day off tomorrow.

Wednesday news

Not much news today. I had a mind-numbing 3-hour meeting this morning, where I had to present several studies and reports to the Patient Care Council. I left a large pile of work at 11:30 when my shift was over and came home.

I worked on my VHS-conversion project some more.

Today I did:
Mona Lisa Smile
National Lampoon’s Vacation
National Lampoon’s Vegas Vacation.

Avinash sent me a link to a very funny short entitled Call Center. Take a look if you get a chance!

Book update:
I didn’t get anywhere on my Evan Marshall book today. Hopefully I’ll finish it tomorrow – I have several other library books I need to get a start on!

Pet update:
Ned demolished Rowena’s examination-gown plastic string toy. I’ll have to get another stash of those for her at the clinic tomorrow.

Rowena spent the day laying pretty low, but she did have an episode of playing with / talking to her puffball while we were cooking dinner. She meows to it just like it were a kitten, which is very comical.

Ned watched some fish tv this evening and then sat next to me on the couch while we watched National Geographic Explorer on PBS. He alternately purred, kicked, nibbled, and licked my fingers, which is par for the course with him.

Rowena spent her evening dozing on the cat tree and sitting on my lap.

Mail call:

Just some Imitrex coupons today.

I sold one of mom’s old graduate school books on Amazon today.

Supper:

Chakkarpe dosai with Coconut chutney
Pom juice punch

Hello World, here's my blog!

I plan on posting updates here for my family and friends about life on Vine St. I'll try and update it daily, but it probably won't happen on workdays. Nevertheless, I'll make an effort. :)

Things are quiet here today. I'm off today because I have to work Wed and Thu this week. I haven't gotten a lot accomplished besides archiving a few of my old videotapes to cds (I'm doing my entire collection, which is a very time-consuming process).

Today I did:
Noises Off
The Russia House
Hitchhiker's Guide the the Galaxy
Along Came Polly
I was going to tape Vanity Fair on the free HBO preview, but as usual, I am Eastern Time Zone impaired and I turned the tv on halfway through it. HBO should really have a time zone selector on their website.

Book update:
I'm reading Evan Marshall's Missing Marlene. It's a mystery, the first one in a series. If it's good I'll get the rest from the library.

Pet update:
Ned has been sleeping on his pink blankie the ENTIRE day. He hasn't moved a whisker.

Rowena spent the morning either on my lap at the computer or in her house. I gave her a little catnip for a midmorning snack and she played with something visible to her (I'm not sure if it's real or imaginary!) under the dining room table for a while. Now she's back in the cat house.

I had no idea when I bought it that Rowena was going to be the cat who liked the cat tree, nor that she would spend 20 hours a day there!

Mail call:

One check for a necklace sold on ebay. It's going to NYC.

One check for $5 from Pinecone

Phone bill. Talking to my parents 15 miles away for 51 minutes cost $20, which seems HIGH. I'm going to have to try and use onesuite more for these calls.

a prospectus from one of the investment companies that they feel compelled to send out periodically

sample of vitabath shimmering body lotion

Family Circle (I haven't had time to read the last one yet)

On Wisconsin! magazine

some NWA junk

and a bonanza of catalogs: Foster and Smith, Chadwicks, OneCall

I walked to the post office to mail out three Amazon items, and on the way back stopped to deposit my paycheck and at the library for some interlibrary loan items I had requested online that had come in. I love the South Central Library system!

Lunch:
Turkey meatloaf from the freezer
Creamy potato soup
yum!

Then I paid bills (credit card - the yearly tax preparation bill being most of that) and reconciled the cc account on Quicken. It's a lot harder now that Quicken has been "enhanced" so that you cannot download credit card transactions directly into Quicken. Also UWCU has not fixed their cc site so that this can be accomplished. They said last year that they were aware of the problem and were working on it, but nothing's been done yet.