blogginginging

i suck at it.

Ok updates. I had a lovely retirement party a few saturdays ago. People brought beer but people didn't drink beer. I have lots of beer. I have lots of dessert as well. Lots of dessert. Still. if you want ice cream or beer come over.

-OHIO-CHICAGO-
This was our last trip to Columbus to pick up my brother-in-law's stuff. The first day was crazy. We took a red eye to Detroit. If you ever visit the Detroit airport, a warning. They have a tunnel that goes under the runway to get to different terminals. The tunnel is a bout 200 yards long and 20 yards wide. There are moving sidewalks on either side and the walls are covered in panels of frosted glass. As you ride through, they're playing enya/yanni music and the lights behind the glass flash and change color. I was totally expecting to see oompa loompas paddling a large boat down the center of this tunnel.

Then on the way out of Detroit we took a commuter turbo-prop. While the ride was pleasant enough, my biggest thrill was getting off the plane and walking down the stairs to the tarmac. I couldn't help it. I waved like a celebrity when I was about to go down the stairs even though no one was there.

Our main mission in Columbus was to get three cars to a towing-lot in the south part of town. The drama was with the last car. It's a large sedan that had been lowered. The battery was also dead. We had to coordinate a towtruck and a police officer to meet us at the impound station so we could get the car. This wasn't some nice cement lot off of highway 99, this lot was a weed-infested gravel lot next to a construction site and railroad tracks with no other people nearby. It was also right at dusk when the tow truck arrived. So by the light of the police cruiser's headlights we attempted to tow the car. First problem, the car was so lowered that it couldn't be towed. Second problem, the battery was in the trunk. Third problem, we couldn't open the trunk using the trunk release or the electronic key because the battery was completely dead. Fourth problem, the key release on the trunk was jammed. But praise God, we were able to wiggle the key in and get the trunk open and get the car moving.

Everytime we hit a bump or i braked hard enough for the weight to shift to the front tires, I could here the tires rubbing against the wheel well. I think the car is a little too low.

baking completed

peach and blueberry cobbler.

btw, this is like 12 servings so if you want to come have some.. let me know.

Just say no to WoW

heh. Sorry Gar,
I'm doing my best to be productive. Housework, cleaning, yardwork and Guildwars when it gets to hot. I'm a lvl 17 Warrior/Elementalist of the sword/fire variety. My name is Char Siu Bao and I like long walks in the wilderness and smiting evil with my evil-smiting sword. On occasion I do quests that are beneficial to the people of Ascalon and am rewarded with new skills like ice bursts and better ways to kill large scorpion creatures.

To Do List
[ ]Find Auto Shipping Company
[X]Put up drapes
[X]Finish Downstairs moulding
[ ]Finish Attic moulding
[ ]Bake Something
[ ]Get rid of Morning Glory weeds
[X]Cook Dinner
[ ]Clean House
[ ]Buy Beer for Retirement Party

house husband day 1

Today was my first day as a house husband. I slept in late today, about two hours later than usual. Woke up and packed the wife her lunch while she was getting ready for work. The original plan was to work in the house, but it was overcast and perfect weeding weather. I cut the grass, trimmed the trees and filled two garbage cans with weeds. Four hours later I finished and came in to goof off a bit. I ended up cleaning the kitchen and cooking dinner. yay me. My other goal for today was not watch daytime tv. It's poison.

last days

it's my penultimate day at work. Over 6 years here. Hmmm .. bittersweet.

le bite

I haven't been to the Bite of Seattle in years, perhaps even half a decade. On Saturday, the wife and I decided to try our luck at this palatable gathering. Traffic to the Seattle Center was solid as expected, but we were able to find parking relatively easily a few blocks from Key Arena. A quick jaywalk and some frogger action and we were in food heaven... or so we thought.

Perhaps the years are making the memories sweeter, but I remember shelling out my $3 and picking up a small dish of salmon handed to me by Wolfgang Puck. OK, perhaps I didn't snatch the plate directly from Mr Puck himself, but he was definitely there, leering at people while his minions scurried about. I also remember a large number of recognizable and better known restaurants of Seattle participating.

This year it seemed that the list of participating restaurants wasn't impressive. There was a group of Thai restaurants that had banded together to form a somewhat impressive wall of peanut sauce serving booths. Beyond that, there were beer gardens and your normal carny-food; roasted corn, elephant ears and stawberry shortcakes. There was also a BBQ stand that had Seattle's *Best BBQ.

Another new phenomenon is the sudden appearance of small dogs as accessories. Follwing the footsteps of Paris and Britney, every third girl (mostly asian) seemed to have a malnourished dog the size of a NY subway rat. It makes me wonder what the future holds for these poor beasts. As the trends change or if these dogs hit doggy-puberty, will they do longer be desirable and left at home next to last year's Coach bag, trying to keep warm in the desolate apartments by huddling in the abandoned uggs.

*Best BBQ at the 2003 Bite of Seattle. Records show this was the only bbq at the 2003 Bite of Seattle.

the passion of the fruit

we made passionfruit blueberry tartlets today. soooo yum.

Green Tea Frappuchinos!

If you pick up a new Starbucks Green Tea Frappuccino expecting it to taste like macha you'll be in for a surprise. As the result of focus groups and blind taste tests done in the US, the Green Tea Frappuccino doesn't actually taste like green tea. In order to sweeten the taste and hide the green tea taste, they add a shot of melon syrup. You can ask the barista to hold the melon syrup if you like.

Just FYI if you've gone in and grabbed on and left thinking 'what the heck is this?'