friends

[

mood

so hungy...

]

I hope I work Wednesday evenings next semester like I do now. Fred gave me a different schedule for this week and I finished at two, with four hours to kill before writing group. I could have gone home and done laundry, but that's a lot of driving to go back to Dublin, especially in rush hour. And there is quite literally nothing to do in San Ramon so thus far it's been a very entertaining three hours. Went across town to Comcast and paid my bill, then went across town again to have a small lunch at Whole Foods (three pieces of inari sushi plus yogurt: five bucks) because I figure I'll get something bigger and tastier at Panera.

Gramma was awake about the whole Time so I didn't get much of a chance to eat anything besides a piece of toast with peanut butter which is okay because I didn't feel like eggs and everything else in the fridge was meat or something scary and Chinese. Of course I started looking at restaurant reviews on Yelp because I was bored and hungry and there's no better treatment for hunger than reading about food. Turns out there's a restaurant near Randall's that serves Chilean food so I may have to drag him there this weekend instead of our usual Indian or Japanese fare. I'm so hungry right now I'd even eat an empanada with pino (beef, onions, raisins, and sliced hardboiled egg) even if I get sick afterwards.

Sitting in Borders now; going from one box to another. I like how here at least I can just in a chair in the cafe and not get any looks because I'm not a customer. It's not helping my intense hunger though, sitting amongst sugary coffee drinks and baked goods swimming in excess oil and corn syrup. Mmm...

Kind of wish I went to the nasty looking Chinese fast-food place next to Comcast now. I'd have gotten way more calories for the same amount of money. Alas, I've eaten way too much instant udon this week and my sodium levels are probably through the roof.

Tonight I may make tortilla pizzas. No work tomorrow means I can stay up late and eat copious amounts of food. Hooray!

Database Provider of Choice

[Dec. 22nd, 2009|11:54 am]

Nigel has another UTI. Oh joy of joys! Started yesterday when we caught him straining to pee a few times as well as squeaking while licking his little weewee. We're off to the vet's this afternoon for more antibiotics and then I should probably wrap up my Christmas shopping, pun not intended; beef up Mary and Mei's gifts, and find something for Celia because I feel like I should get her something. No idea what to do for Fred and Hui sadly, Hui especially since she gave me a couple of cute bracelets she got while on her annual trip to China as well as nice slippers last Christmas. Bleh.

The weekend was crazy busy and fun and there was hardly any staring at Randall's head while he worked! Impromptu pizza and video games with Nick and Lena on Friday, Patrick's Christmas brunch with all kinds of crazy people followed by gramma on Saturday, and Lauren and Ceri's potluck on Sunday. I went on a little cooking spree to get ready for that and I hope it didn't annoy Randall's landlady too much. Saturday night I started up some applesauce in the slow cooker for Randall (there was confusion about its final delicious destination) but I slept late and it started to burn. Came out a bit watery too for some reason, maybe because I made it with Fuji apples. Sunday morning I made daifukumochi (and dear god is mochi sticky) and a mock meat stir fry for the actual party. I went a bit heavy on the sauce for Randall's liking, but the "meat" was amazing. I need to buy fake meats from 99 Ranch more often, though I think I'll stay clear of the mock fish. That just doesn't seem right for some reason.

Sometime soon I really need to finish cleaning out my Toshiba to give to dad. He owes me money for paying our condo's HOA dues because they sent the bill to me instead of our tenants this month for no apparent reason, and I'd like to have the computer ready for him when he pays me back before it's time for me to write the next rent check. Since I have Thursday and Friday off I might do it then.

Part of the Art Director

[Dec. 17th, 2009|12:40 pm]

[	mood	\|	bored	]
[	music	\|	Gramma snoring	]

Last night's write-in was tons of fun, and I'm so happy I went. Mike has other (unrequited) love interests in his life, so I needn't worry about him feeling weird since I ignored him over Randall on Match.com. Except for us, everybody else is in their 30s and 40s, and they're all geeks. We poked fun at Twilight and Harry Potter and then I got completely lost as the topic moved on to Transformers and Star Trek and Mike asking somebody else, "So what was your first Trek?"

I was a bit annoyed when I got home though because I felt like making a lazy dinner but didn't have the ingredients or creativity (or desire to do lots of dishes) for a lazy meal. Originally I was going to make a couple of pizzas out of tortillas, but I discovered that my tortillas were moldy. D'oh! So I decided to use bread instead, the way mum did sometimes for hora de once when I was a kid. So I get the bread, cut up the cheese, open a pack of soy salami, and open up my can of tomato sauce and find a nice fuzzy layer cultivating itself along the edges of the sauce. Blegh. I didn't have the patience to boil some water and make pasta with butter, much less put together a basic cream sauce for something heartier, so dinner ended up being sami with mayo and mustard on white bread. Mm.

Equally Intense and Satisfying Journey

[Dec. 16th, 2009|02:57 pm]

[

mood

pleased

]

Ladeda... sitting on the floor at work. Not many other jobs where I can sit around all day drinking coke and eating noodles while the client sleeps. I did sweep and clean the kitchen a bit, so there's my productivity for the day. I also made instant kitsune udon which was surprisingly good; there was enough for both me and gramma, never mind the fact that gramma can eat one or two tiny bites and decide she's full. She still hasn't touched hers though, or even really stirred since I got here almost three hours ago.

I'm probably going to another write-in at Panera in Dublin tonight. The ML from NaNoWriMo hosts a group of interesting characters, including Creepy Mike, that meet every Wednesday to write. Lots of fun, especially since it's such a diverse group of people and they're all geeks. I miss being in a club and going to meetings, so maybe this will be a nice new trend that I don't need to spend much money on. I still really miss hula and hanging out with my sisters and Katsue, who apparently has vanished off the face of the Earth. I'll try sending her a card and see if she answers. Or if she's even still alive. It's been almost a year since her husband died...

I'm feeling quite restless at the moment. It's nice to sit here in the quiet, but I don't know what to do about gramma. She's only had a little milk today and that was hours ago, and if she sleeps all day she'll be up most of the night. But at the same time, it's hard and infuriating to stimulate her since her attention span is gone. I wish there was a TV channel that showed a bunch of fish swimming by all day with the time in one corner. That's the kind of thing you can leave on for hours and be easily amused with when there's no time or room for a real fish tank. Nice and bland and not too noisy, but just stimulating enough.

One Thursday You Will Be Dead

[Dec. 13th, 2009|07:11 pm]

[

mood

sore

]

Hanging out at gramma's, sitting in the side room at the dark while she's digging around looking for "it" with Randall going back and forth between asking her to look for "it" tomorrow and fiddling with his Palm Pre </product-placement>. When gramma is looking for "it", things get just as frustrating as when she's angry or lecturing us about not allowing unwelcome guests into her part of the house. But in this case, we have no idea what "it" is and we never learn: "What are you looking for, gramma?" "Well it was supposed to be right here!" "What is?" "My... my uh... what are you looking for? What do you call it when I thought it was supposed to be right here and now it isn't. Look under the bed." "Already did, gramma".

That's why I'm sitting in the dark in the other room now. Tomorrow I'm stuck in this madhouse until eight. At least it's another $30.

Birthday went well. Nice and low key, just as I like it. Went to La Mediterranee for dinner and had a nice quiet evening with Randall and the rats. Got a cute pair of socks with mouses from Eni. And my application for City College is in the mail.

I'm starting to feel a bit cranky; think it's because of student loan stuff that's due this week and because I'm very restless and cold. Also, gramma just makes me feel unduly angry sometimes, but what other job lets me sit and do nothing (besides study, if my cards are lined up right) while the client sleeps all day?

Also, my knees are still really sore from the marathon. Especially the left one. That probably doesn't help my mood.