{Not} Living Vicariously

Braving the elements

So I was lazy and didn't take my trash out last night. Foolish me. Since it was raining pretty steadily as I got up this morning. Usually I don't create that much trash and can skip a week if necessary, being single is good in that respect, but it was also recycle day for the month and that I can never afford to skip. I recycle a lot!

After getting ready for work, but not bothering with more than a ponytail for my hair, I pulled out the raincoat and went to work. The dog, being smarter than I, stayed indoors while I carefully pulled the trash and recycle bins to the curb. However, when I looked over at the pool trash can which was overflowing and decided to do the decent neighborhood thing and pull it out, she braved the elements to join me. Which is when the lightning decided to strike practically on top of us. I jumped and she definitely felt the electricity in the air. The cars driving down the street, splashing through vast puddles of water, well we were a sight by the time we got the pool trash can to the curb and then headed back indoors.

Then, since I have those new floors that are supposed to stay dry, and we were both dripping all over the place, I had to get a towel and mop the floors and us. And the power went out. Only briefly, but still. Try to dry a dog and the floor while it is dark outside since it is prior to 7 am. Usually storms don't bother Lindy at all, but I think she must have really been shocked by being outside with the lightning so close as she was definitely anxious when I went to leave. I tried to go through our standard morning ritual, but she wasn't having it. She just sat in the corner and shivered. Which is when I decided I could come home for lunch today and check on her. Having made that decision it was time to go to work.

Which is when the sky really opened up and the rain started to pour in a torrential downpour, practically painful it was falling so hard. Now I love the rain, but it seemed to me a foolish time to be getting in the car. However, I must work to earn money to buy kibble for the dog so I braved the elements and headed out the door. Getting into the car, I managed to spill my very tasty Hazelnut flavored coffee all over my pants (luckily they are also brown) and felt like a drowned rat. I live on a fairly steep hill as well, and make a left turn onto a fairly busy street. So I was extra cautious this morning making my way out of the neighborhood and heading off to work.

Shortly after moving here I managed to be in a car accident (completely not my fault according to all insurance companies involved) in very similar conditions at a similar time of day. I am thankful to report that no other idiots on the road this morning decided to repeat that incident. And by the time I got to the freeway, I had moved out of the severe storm cell and it was a normal rainy drive in to work. I still looked like a drowned rat heading into the building, but that wasn't a big deal. As the storm cell followed me and we had several "drowned rat" types entering the building for the next hour or so.

All in all, looking back, it was a comical morning. I just wish I'd started the day by taking the trash out last night!

Clarksville . . . a lovely place to visit

Part two of my saga. I had to take the day off work today and drive to lovely Clarksville to visit the closest Mitsubishi dealer for my recall and broken rear seat. The Service Engine Soon light decided to go away on its own. So the service people told me to not worry about it. Probably a loose gas cap or something. Well I had fiddled around in the engine making sure the air filter cover was on tight, etc. so maybe I did fix it on my own. However, I was correct in that I was not going to only have to make one trip to Clarksville for the current issues on my car. They were able to get the seat back into an upright (and I mean straight upright, not too comfortable to sit in) position and have ordered the part necessary to fix the seat. Then they took care of the cooling fan recall. But I will get to visit them again when the part is in for the final repair. Not that I have anything against Clarksville. But it is 60 miles from where I live and 70 miles from where I work. Not exactly a convenient spot to visit on a regular basis. I think I'm going to be car shopping within the next year.

At least the dog had a great day. We slept in a little, took a lovely 2 mile stroll this morning, then she napped while I ran my errands and put lots of miles on my car. After I got home this afternoon, we took another 2 mile walk and she is happily exhausted. And I burned some calories. So a good day. Plus I have berry couscous to eat. Yum!

why me?

WARNING! This is definitely a "pity party" post.

Sometimes I really hate being single. I understand being married isn't all champaign and roses. But at least there is someone to share the chores. When you are single, there is no one to share the everyday burdens with. Something goes wrong with your house, car, or health, you get to deal with it. Sometimes I get lucky and things go wrong when my parents are visiting and they get to help me. But not this time. Not only is the kitchen sink still leaking (I keep forgetting to call the plumber), but the back seat of my car is broken in the down position (not an essential to drop everything and get fixed, but does need to be done) and now my Service Engine Soon light has come on. Plus I have another recall on the car.

Since the closest Mitsubishi dealer to me is about 50 miles away, you might be able to tell why I'm not exactly looking forward to dealing with all of that. I had hoped that once I hit 60K I wouldn't have to go to the dealer (who I don't exactly respect due to their lack of customer service) anymore. However, since two of the three things wrong do require a dealer, I'm going to have to take a day and go. More complaining about the situation, I had my 60K done at the dealer, everything was taken care of. I just hit 72K, had my oil changed and my tires rotated, and have no other "big" items needing to be done. So the thought of the Service Engine Soon light actually being for something essential is making me nervous. Nothing I can do about it today, probably can't get in tomorrow (only having one dealer in the Greater Nashville area makes it difficult to get in for service), but hope to be able to schedule myself in for Tuesday? I'll be calling first thing in the morning that is for sure.

One thing is for sure, my next car will not be a Mitsubishi. Nothing wrong with the make, just won't subject myself to the dealer anymore.

Fantasy Epiphany

I've been trying to listen to an audiobook of one of Erin Hunter's Warrior Cats series and I have finally figured out why I don't like animal fantasy. I have never been a fan of animal fantasy. Sometimes I've even felt guilty that I didn't love Avi's Poppy series, Jacques' Redwall series or any of the other animal classics out there. I've picked them up over the years, but always put them back down again. (Okay, I will admit to a soft spot for Charlotte's Web and Trumpet of the Swan, but Stuart Little, not interested.)

So I decided to try listening to one instead and this was on my shelf. I put the first CD in and the narrator is doing a fabulous job. However, I keep turning it off. The plot isn't bad, but I'm just not interested in the story. Then it dawns on me. How am I supposed to believe that this group of cats has been able to create this complex society when they have no opposable thumbs? I can suspend a lot of disbelief. I am a fan of Science Fiction and Fantasy both. But when it comes to cats setting broken bones . . . well I just struggle. Maybe if it were about gorillas instead?

Anyway, luckily no one is forcing me to love animal fantasies. So now that I know why I'm not apt to pick them up, I'm not going to make myself either. On a side note, I'm not a huge fan of the Toy Fantasy  sub-genre either. I do really enjoy High Fantasy though.

This is how I know it is Autumn

I have been cooking, enjoying my new kitchen. I've had guests for dinner, and have plans to host some friends for brunch soon. When the seasons change from summer to autumn, my urge to cook becomes extremely strong. The Crockpot comes out, and meat becomes a larger part of my menu. There is just something so satisfying about creating a delectable home cooked meal. It helps that I A. like to cook and B. think I'm a fairly good cook. It also helps that I have friends who enjoy eating my cooking since some of these recipes make LOTS and leftovers can only be left over for so long before I am bored.

I'm also looking forward to stocking my freezer with lots of goodies in the near future. My partner in cooking crime is getting married in a few weeks and we have both been very busy these past few months. Her planning a wedding and me going through a kitchen remodel. So, my freezer is fairly empty. But soon, once we get past the next month or so, we can cook again. I'm already planning some new recipes for us to try.

Rearranging the kitchen so that I have an improved work flow has also been interesting. My mother did a lot of the unpacking and most things have remained where she put them. Since I grew up in her kitchen . . . her placement is logical to me. But a few things have been shifted around. Especially in the pantry. I'm still not quite finished, I feel like wasting space somehow. But it doesn't have to be perfect, yet.

And my last bit of kitchen news, the sink is leaking again. I'm going to have to call that plumber after all. I have no understanding why it leaked, then didn't, and is now leaking again. But wasting water is a bad thing so a call to the plumber is scheduled for tomorrow. Sigh.

Anyway, happy (almost) Autumn to all. I hope your color is gorgeous this year.

Disturbed sleep patterns

So I woke up at 430 this morning and couldn't go back to sleep. I finally got up and went on the back deck with the dog and some caffeine and we enjoyed the dawn. Therefore when I was exhausted this evening and finally gave up and went to bed at 8 pm, I thought I'd sleep through the night. How naive of me! I woke up at 1030 and after laying in bed for an hour . . . I've given up and decided to blog instead.

I've often said that I'm not interested in being an author, mainly because I would want to write fiction but I never have any creative ideas. I knew a girl in college, who dated a guy, who wrote this very interesting short story (science fiction in nature) that he said came to him in a dream. I read the piece (funny how that can be a recurring theme in my life . . . reading random people's works) and really enjoyed it. I wonder what ever happened to him?

Anyway, tonight I woke up from a most interesting dream. In fact, one of the reasons I laid there for an hour trying to go back to sleep is because I really wanted to find out what happened next in my dream. It has already faded so much that I wouldn't be able to get it down on paper (shame on me for not keeping the dream journal next to my bed fellow Anabo students) but it was definitely odd in nature. If it were to be written, it would probably be classified in fantasy/adventure. I had created something and was trying to escape the bad guys with my creation. But other than that, I can't tell you much about it.

Oh well. Not really much else interesting to say. I'm going to regret the interrupted sleep tomorrow, that is definite. Luckily, we have caffeine in life. And having said that, maybe the dog and I will go outside and enjoy the "nightlife".

Fillo Dough

This weekend I indulged in an annual tradition of heading over to the local Greek Orthodox church for their festival. I love the food, the atmosphere, the dancing, and the music. Some friends joined me for lunch and we had a great time. The weather was the best it has ever been for my trip. In years past it has either been pouring down rain or sweltering hot. This year we actually had a bit of a break in the heat, but the rain hadn't started yet. With a breeze, it was actually almost pleasant. Just because I'm enjoying the memory, let me tell you what I ate: spanakopita, a classic gyro, salata kai pita, and a melamakarona (spice cookie). I also brough plenty of baklava home to portion out over the next few days. I used to make baklava myself. However, it makes sooooo much and I just don't need that much temptation in the house. So, I bought enough to have some for the next week and will thoroughly enjoy it. I am thinking I should look for a recipe for the melamakarona cookies though as I don't have one and I really enjoy those as well. I can get baklava year round at the local Greek restaurants, but have yet to find this other cookie readily available outside the festival. So, reference question for myself, go find a recipe for melamakarona (and ask my Greek friend if I'm pronouncing it correctly). Anyway, I had a great food weekend, hope you enjoyed yours as well! Yum yum.

You know when you're a regular when . . .

I took Lindy out for a walk this morning, at our usual time. We haven't been walking much on schedule due to all the heat that we have been suffering here in Tennessee. But we have had a bit of a reprieve and so we were out at our normal "Saturday" time even though it was a holiday Monday. Not only were we out at our regular time but we did our regular route which is a two mile walk as opposed to the one mile I'd been cheating with regularly. When the dog is ready to get back in the car after a mile you know it is hot. Well, not one but two people whom I recognize but don't know stopped to say that they hadn't seen us out in a while, wondered where we had been, and were glad to see us. Isn't it nice to be missed . . . Actually, it was nice to have friendly people say hi. And that would be one way of knowing you are a regular.

Spy V. Spy

Some of you might have figured out by now that I enjoy a good spy story. After all jamesbondfan for an email address should give something away. James Bond movies, Mission Impossible, Jason Bourne, The Man Who Knew Too Much (both Hitchcock versions, although I agree with him that the 2nd one is better), I've enjoyed them all.

In books, I love Helen MacInnes' work; Mary Stewart is also very good. I also have read many Clive Cusslers, other Robert Ludlum than just the Bourne series, and Ken Follett to name a few. They are all fun to curl up with for an evening. In fact, I'd love to find some more romantic suspense like MacInnes and Stewart.

When it comes to television I have enjoyed Get Smart , The Avengers, and The Pretender (who isn't really a spy, but fairly close). So when USA Network started advertising Burn Notice I took notice. I watched the first episode with my parents while they were visiting a few weeks back. We enjoyed it, but weren't swept away by it. However, I have that dvr thing and it was set up to automatically record each new episode.

So when I was doing some busy work last week I decided it was time to clean out some of my recorded stuff and turned Burn Notice on. Over the course of the last week I've had myself a little marathon of Burn Notice and have now seen all episodes that have been out. It is a fun show. Still not the "best" show out there but worth my time investment so I look forward to new episodes coming back on after the US Open. Especially as I get to watch an hour long show in 45 minutes on my schedule. Love that dvr!