Monthly Archive: August 2009

Meatloaf and peaches

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Mon. August 31, 2009

Nothing too deep or introspective tonight. Instead I’ll end the month of blogging with some pictures of what I ended up cooking this evening. As I was trying to figure out what to make, I was really aiming for something simple. My mind was taking stock of the meats I had in the freezer, and somehow my mind settled on the ground beef. Immediately I knew that I wanted to do a better job on making meatloaf, in comparison to one that I’d put together maybe a week ago. This time I had the recipe off of the onion soup mix box. I had done that recipe in the past so I knew that it worked. Hell, I was sure that anything was better than the mishmash recipe I tried cobbling together before. So, all right, I had one item. I knew that I needed some sort of vegetable or fruit item. Again, my mind was scanning what I had in the fridge. I don’t know why, but my mind settled on the peaches I decided to buy last Tuesday. Instead of just cutting them up I kind of wanted to bake them. I wasn’t sure how, but after a quick Twitter consultation I decided to bake them with an oatmeal and brown sugar topping. I took a quarter cup each of brown sugar and oatmeal and mixed them with 3-4 tablespoons of margarine. I smeared that on quartered peaches.

I put the meatloaf in the oven first since its cooking time was about 70 minutes. The peaches were only supposed to take a half hour or so, so I just put them in with the meat with 30 minutes left on the timer. The result was that both turned out be absolutely awesome. The meatloaf was just right, although, I think it might be even better if I added something a little bit sweet to the mix like relish. The peaches were perfect. I knew that they’d do well with something creamy. All I had in the freezer was coffee toffee ice cream from Greg’s Ice Cream. I knew that’d be a perfect match, and I was absolutely correct. Holy crap, that was an awesome dessert.

So, I’ve got leftovers to last for a few meals. In the case of what I had made, I really don’t mind having leftovers at all. It’s all that good.

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Solitary

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Sun. August 30, 2009

As I was planning to live in my own place, my mind went over so many different scenarios and possibilities. Understandably so, right? Admittedly though, one of the things I totally didn’t anticipate was the levels of alone-ness that I’d have to deal with. I guess I’m a bit hesitant to use the word “lonely” because that tends to have an air of desperation, know what I mean? Anyway, I’m realizing that I need to be more active in seeking out social contact, because it sure isn’t going to just fall into my lap. My work sphere is a separate entity. My running sphere is a separate entity. When I’m not involved with either, that’s when I’ve been feeling a little bit down. Friends are busy and kind of at a distance. Lately, I’ve just had to rely on keeping myself entertained.

I’m sure there are people that are going to tell me that I’m hardly the only one having to deal with this; I’m not the first and I won’t be the last. Even more people are going to tell me “so what are you going to do about it?” I don’t know. I’m not expecting sympathy or anyone to feel bad about it. I’m just feeling a little bit down right now. It’s true: as much as I’m a homebody I need to find better ways to occupy my time. As long as I don’t afford myself time to think, then I won’t feel this level of emo. I’m too old to have to deal with such crap, know what I mean? Move on!

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Tomorrow’s early start

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Sat. August 29, 2009

Yup. Late again. I blame the fact that I have a 7:30 start on Sunday morning. We’re running 18K. You know, for the past few half marathon clinics that I’ve gone through, we’ve never tried doing the early start like this. We usually stick to the 8:30 start time. Inevitably though, we end up running right through to some point before noon, and by then the heat is unbearable. Of course, with the cooler weather we’ve been having it’s not as big of an issue. Still, I kind of appreciate the fact that we’re starting earlier. It means that we end earlier as well. It means though that I have to leave my place before 7. Baaaaaaaaah.

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The occasional free meal

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Fri. August 28, 2009

I’m currently reclining on my couch, reflecting on the fact that my shirt smells like pot roast. No, I didn’t cook pot roast in my condo, although, I’m more than capable of making an excellent roast. Perhaps sometime soon I want to experiment with making pulled pork. Anyway, no, I smell like pot roast because that’s what my mom had made for dinner. My aunts from New York have been visiting for the week, and this is their last day here. As such, my mother decided to do the roast. She called me earlier today to get me to come over for dinner. Well hey, why not? It’s not that I was looking for a free meal, but I just wanted to spend time with my extended family while they’re here, you know?

It’s not the first time I was called over for dinner. On Sunday I went over there for dinuguan which was really great. It’s been a long while since I’ve had that. I was sent back with some stew leftover stew which I’ve been downing every now and then. I was also called over on Wednesday because they were barbecuing a lot of food. As tempting as it was, I passed on that meal because I couldn’t justify the trip over.

So therein lies an issue, no? How often is too much? I love my family dearly, but I don’t want to be heading over to my parents’ place so frequently. As much as they’re not that far away, it still takes time and effort just to head over. After a long day of work it’s not unreasonable for me to want to just relax in my place, right? Also, I don’t want to risk becoming reliant on free meals. Yeah, I seem to be responsible when it comes to cooking, but if I keep getting free meals and leftovers where’s the incentive to put the effort in?

OK, so I don’t want to seem like I’m complaining. I’m not at all! I’m just saying that I shouldn’t lose sight of my independence. Makes sense, yes?

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Missing the heavy beats

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Thu. August 27, 2009

Yeah, code launch happening tonight. I’m actually in office, and I suspect I’m going to be here until well past midnight. The one thing about this new office is that I’m kind of missing the heavy bass that we used to experience in the old place. If you recall, the old office had a popular nightclub down below, and it wasn’t uncommon to get loud music playing late into the evening hours. OK, so I’m not saying that I actually enjoyed having my monitors shake from the bass, but more that it was all just part of the experience. Here, it’s just pretty silent. Besides the sound of fingers tapping on keyboards, the collective hum of the vents and fridges is kind of creating this whole white noise effect. The din isn’t intrusive, but I’m sure it’s loud. All we have is the condo across the street for entertainment. I dunno. As I look out the window right now I can see straight into someone’s living room. Think it’s creepy to be watching? Well it’s not like we’re spying if the blinds are wide open, know what I mean?

Man, it’s going to be a long night.

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Leaking down two floors

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Wed. August 26, 2009

Yesterday I touched on the fact that something bad happened at the condo the other day. I’m really trying to get everything done correctly. I’m doing my best to make sure that my experiences here are good ones, right? Still, with so many good things going on, I guess something was bound to happen to get my head out of the clouds.

So, yesterday while I was at work I received a call on my cell. Turns out it one of the building’s head builders. After exchanging greetings with her, it was obvious that something was up. When she told me that there was a problem with my suite my heart sank.

What could have gone wrong?
What did I do?
Did I do something irresponsible?

In just a few brief moments so many scenarios played through my head. After some thought though I was able to narrow it down to a few probable causes. When the builder explained, my fears were confirmed. Apparently the fridge water line was leaking. The resulting water had gone down two floors. Fuck! Due to this, they had to enter the suite and shut off the valve to the fridge water line. That in itself didn’t bother me at all. I mean, it’s a good thing that they went in to prevent further damage. I asked how bad it was and they said “Oh, it’s bad. I mean it went down two floors.” At that point I just became muddled and couldn’t concentrate. I’ve been doing my best to be a good neighbour. The fact that something originating in my suite had caused the issue just about killed me.

When I regained some clarity of mind, I asked her what the damage was like. She said that there was some water damage on the wall behind the fridge. Most likely I’d experience some swollen baseboards. Fine. Nothing that can’t be addressed, right? I asked about the damage downstairs. She told me that fortunately the damage was only to the corridor. Nothing happened to any of the suites below mine. Thank GOD. Since it was just to the common areas, it meant that I wouldn’t have to cover any repairs. Still, I felt kind of bad knowing that the fuck up was on my head. After the phone call I went straight back home from work to survey the damage. I didn’t think it was horrible, but you could tell that something happened behind the fridge.

What went wrong? Well, if you recall, a bunch of us worked together to connect that line a few weekends ago. The first time we did it I didn’t tighten the nuts enough so it kind of splashed all over. We shut off the water and I tightened the hell out of the nut. Hells yeah, it was secure. When we opened the valve, there was no spraying at all. I was satisfied that things were secure, so we pushed the fridge back. At that point we had every reason to be self-congratulatory. I mean, wow, connecting that thing was actually pretty cool. From that point though, I must have moved the fridge back and forth a couple of times. The movement must have loosened the copper pipe connection, thus spraying all over. Thing is, I didn’t even know there was an issue. There was no hissing. There wasn’t a big huge puddle on the kitchen floor. No, there was nothing. How would I have known unless I became paranoid and checked behind the fridge a few times? And in doing so, wouldn’t that make the problem worse? Bah. I don’t know what happened, and I’m sure I will never know. Anyway, that’s a lesson learned, isn’t it? The builder told me that I should get a plumber to come in and connect it. They would know how to make it all entirely secure. Well after the fact, of course, I’m inclined to agree. I completely recognize that the problem could have been a whole lot worse. So, I’m glad knowing that this episode came to pass with minimal effects.

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Texting can be deadly

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Tue. August 25, 2009

I’m going to give the condo related posts a rest today. It’s perhaps a little bit too bad because something big and bad happened today. I’ll save that for another day though; I need to vary the topic here now and then.

Instead, for tonight you get this video. It’s a CNN analysis of a British PSA warning people not to text and drive. What’s so special about such a PSA? Eh, well, it’s remarkable for its incredibly graphic nature. I mean, seriously, this is something that may leave a mark on your mind. After watching it, I had to just take a break because it was a bit much. I wasn’t emotional, but I was jittery.

I guess all I can say is: judge for yourself. You have been warned.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o54ikTsaLsE

And if that doesn’t convince you to not text and drive…well, I’m not sure what will.

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Keeping it clean

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Mon. August 24, 2009

It was expected that this day would come. My aunts from New York are over at my parents’ place, visiting for the week. And of course, they wanted to come over to the condo as a group just to have a look at my new digs. Today, as soon as I got home from work I rushed to get the rest of my place in order. I’d done a fair bit of cleaning the night before, but there was still a good amount of stuff that needed to be put away. I swept, scrubbed, tidied, or stashed away anything that was out of place. Really, if I’m being honest, that was kind of a tough task. I mean, I don’t necessarily have a lot of free storage around here yet to be able to make things look perfectly orderly. When moving to a new place, how often does someone make storage a top priority? It’s rare, isn’t it? Usually, appliances and furniture come first. Anyway, I still managed to at least fake a sense of being orderly. The condo has never looked this clean. Actually, that’s not true: I’m sure it was much neater before I moved in. For the purposes of my example though, that doesn’t count! No matter what, I wanted to at least show my family that I’m making the effort for them.

Yeah, sure, it’s just family, right? They’re very much aware about just how messy I can be. It wasn’t uncommon for them to make comments about just how easy it was to start a fire in my room if they wanted to, or how there weren’t any places to step on the floor. Sure, there’s a bit of hyperbole to those statements, but it’s all grounded in truth. Yes, I acknowledge that I did a piss-poor job keeping my areas clean when I was with my parents. It’s not like I was expecting them to take care of any of it for me. No. I think I probably didn’t take any pride in keeping things clean over there. In contrast, consider this place that I got with my own money. I sure as hell don’t plan on letting this place become a sty.

Did I accomplish my mission? From what I can tell they were impressed, though I’m sure they were just happy to see my place. I didn’t want them to go away thinking “yeah…Jason hasn’t changed a bit.” I mean, I really am changing. I think my maturity levels are moving along nicely. The added responsibility of maintaining a place has probably worked wonders on me, and why not, right? I think I’m now past the quarter-life crisis thing. I can worry and angst about various things, but ultimately I know that I have to perform. That’s the way the world works.

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