Sarah Welcome Guest | Login or Register

Last week, Danny told me a story about his friend’s experience with overseas tech support. Danny’s friend, let’s call him Bob, was filling out an online form and was having trouble submitting it. He called the help line and got a support tech based in India. After explaining his problem, the support tech very thoughtfully told him to “Do the needful.”

When Bob asked for clarification, the guy transferred him to his supervisor. I guess he didn’t “do the needful” as was instructed.

Last weekend was pretty good despite the fact that it was busier than I had anticipated. On Saturday, I went to the second part of my knitting class. Everyone showed off what they’d completed so far and then we learned how to purl, make stockinette stitch, and make ribs. Right now, I’m working on a steel blue wool ribbed scarf for Danny. It should be finished right about the time it starts getting warmer around here.

Speaking of the weather, it has been really wet and cold for the last week. We had a severe thunderstorm warning and a tornado touched down in south San Francisco - very unusual.

On Saturday night, we met Danny’s coworker and his girlfriend for a movie. The documentary “Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill” was showing at the theater by our apartment. I liked the film even more than I thought I would. Go see it. You’ll like it.

On Sunday, I went to church *gasp*. I’ve been wanting to find a Unitarian Universalist church in my neighborhood since we moved here. I went to one south of where we live, but I didn’t like it that much. The one I went to on Sunday was much smaller and more comfortable. I’ll probably go back this week for Easter Sunday.

When I got home, I woke Danny up and we went out for a late lunch. I also dragged him to Michael’s to pick out some yarn for a scarf.

Since the weather was so yucky, we spent the rest of the evening at home: me, on the couch with my knitting and in the kitchen making supper, and Danny on the computer playing halflife 2.

The next morning, I woke up with a stomachache. I think it was from eating too much rich food the night before.

After emailing my boss, I took some antacid and went back to bed. I slept very late. It was glorious.

I guess my weekend wasn’t too exciting but that’s ok. I got a lot done and had a lot of quality “couch time.”

Now that I have your attention, let me explain. Lately, I’ve been keeping track of what I eat. I’ve found a cool website that has almost every kind of food imaginable listed along with its fat and overall caloric content. I’m trying to stay within a certain calorie range and this gives me a general idea of which foods are really fatty/carby, and which ones aren’t as bad for me as I had originally thought.

As for buffalo milk, I came across this when I was looking up the ingredients in a salad I ate last night at Chili’s. They have a salad that has a sliced, fried chicken breast on top with a little buffalo wing sauce. I look up all of the ingredients and, when I get to the sauce, I look up the word “buffalo.” This is what I get:

Milk, indian buffalo, fluid
Game meat, buffalo

Ewwww…Ok, I can handle buffalo meat, but buffalo milk? Yuck. Now, I realize that a cow isn’t that different from a buffalo and that I actually DO like goat milk, but seriously, buffalo milk? I might as go out and milk a deer or something. That idea is just so foreign to me.

Now that I’ve grossed you out, I can tell you that I went to the Chili’s website to find the caloric content of that salad, but since that salad is not part of their “low-calorie options” it was not listed. Whatever. It’s not a big deal. And now I get to imagine back in the day, American Indians roaming the plains searching for a nice, fat buffalo to milk and make some cheese or perhaps a milkshake. Mmmm…and yes, you knew it was coming….

GOT MILK?

Despite the fact that I consider myself a cosmopolitan girl working in the city, I have recently become addicted to more domestic endeavors. I’ve always loved cooking, but it was such an ordeal to get the ingredients, cook the food, and then clean up afterwards that $5 chinese takeout or pizza usually came home with me after work.

Lately, I’ve been trying to eat healthier and it seems that everything healthy and appetizing is more expensive than I would prefer. I can always grab a salad, but seriously, who wants just a salad for supper? Not me. So, I’ve been cooking chicken, steak, homemade meatballs, and various soups and veggies.

The veggies are easy. Every Sunday afternoon, there is a farmer’s market open about four blocks from my house. I walk over there and spend about 20 minutes picking out some broccoli, asparagus, beans, fruit, or whatever else is easy to cook. It is also really really cheap (compared to the grocery store).

I then go to the store and grab some meat. This is a little more expensive, but frozen chicken breasts and lean ground meat aren’t too pricey.

I then go home, pan fry the meat with olive oil, steam the veggies, open a bottle of wine and voila - a fairly healthy homecooked meal.

Even though Danny doesn’t always eat what I make (pumpkin soup anyone?) he does like my chicken and broccoli or green beans. I have to admit that it is very satisfying to cook for another person and then watch them savor their meal.

Aside from cooking, I’ve gotten into knitting. In fact, I’ve become addicted to it. Granted, I’ve only knitted a really simple scarf so far, but it is easy, I can work on it on the train, and I have something pretty to show after a week’s worth of work.

It is also a great time-filler. Danny has been going to computer stores a lot lately to price parts. I used to follow him around while he did this, but I would get bored and I know he felt rushed. Now, I go in with him, find a comfy place to sit, and call my friends or work on my knitting. I’m perfectly content to sit for an hour or 45 minutes while he shops.

I’ve tried knitting on the couch, but I’m much less productive because the cats think my hobby is a new game. Once, Boomer even chewed through my yarn! It is possible to knit with them around, but I spend half of my time removing them from my yarn ball. I even knitted a little swatch for them to play with, but they are only interested in the work in motion.

Despite the distractions, I have completed my first scarf. It is a long, skinny, burgundy scarf that I can wrap and rewrap around my neck a few times. Once I weave in the ends I’ll post some pictures.

I was so proud when I finished it last night, but then panic set in. Ok, not really panic but I realized that I would have nothing to work on while riding the train home the next night. I could read, but I’d rather be playing with my yarn and needles. I grabbed my car keys and drove over to the craft store to get some supplies. I got some “bargain-bin” yarn in a nice color that should make a pretty decent scarf. I have some other projects in mind, but I need to figure out exactly what I want them to look like before I dive in. This scarf will keep me busy until then.

On cats: why do they want to jump in my lap when I sit on the toilet? Every morning, I go into the bathroom half awake and I’m greeted by a purring kitten on my lap. Of course, they dash out as soon as I flush. Fun times.

This morning, I literally had to sprint to the train. I thought I was on time, but I heard the horn blow only seconds after I had locked the door behind me. I walked half a block to where the guy waiting for his carpool could no longer see me, and then I broke into a run. I was carrying my purse, a shopping bag with my lunch and some other stuff, as well as a big honking backpack containing my laptop. I was also wearing my high-heeled boots.

I don’t have far to run, but it seems like an eternity when you see everyone deboarding and you know they’re about to shut those doors. They must have seen me hauling because the doors closed right after I climbed on board. Whew. The next train would have come 20 min later and stopped at every station; not fun.

I’m really outta shape. I work out, but I rarely sprint with an extra thirty pounds of stuff on my back, much less just propelling my own weight.

Maybe that should be my workout everyday: haul ass to the train station and then spend the next two minutes or so catching my breath. I could map out an obstacle course and get a few hurdles in there too.

Nah, that would suck.

Here are some pics of my new haircut. It is neither drastic nor shocking but I like it. Also, I bothered to blow dry it this morning so I thought it would be a good time to take some photos. Here I am mugging in front of my bathroom mirror.

Yesterday, I told you how I was going to be slammed with car repair bills. I did end up having to pay a lot, but surprisingly, the bill was exactly the amount they quoted me; no more, no less.

I haven’t cooked much lately, so the other day I looked up recipes for things I haven’t made before and decided to try them. On Tuesday, I stayed up late making my first batch of raspberry truffle brownies. They are SO good and incredibly rich. I’ve only been able to eat three so far.

For dinner, I cooked a steak that I had preseasoned over night. Next, I boiled a couple of potatoes and had Danny prepare some fresh green beans for steaming. I also started fixing the green peppercorn sauce for the steaks.

I mashed the garlic potatoes, steamed the beans, finished making the sauce, and also threw on a chicken breast for Danny since he doesn’t eat steak. Aside from me overcooking my steak just a little (I like it rare), everything turned out tasty. I’ll have to work on the sauce, but it was good enough for me.

We sat down with our fancy dinner to catch the latest episode of america’s next top model. Chic to the maxxx.

After owning my car for three years, it is finally time for some expensive repairs. My CV joints on both axles are bad, so they’re replacing the axles (they come with new joints and boots). This description is about as technical as I’m going to get. I also need two new tires. I found all of this out when Danny dropped off my car yesterday to get the oil changed. I knew I needed new tires but it’s just one of those things I don’t think about unless the weather is crappy or I’m taking a road trip.

When Danny took my car in, he warned me that this place always calls him and says “well, you need to replace x, y, and z.” I told him to just get them to do the oil change and we’ll think about the rest. When we found out that the axle replacement would cost $$$, we decided to try another mechanic just to compare prices. The guy that looked at it today told us the same thing and quoted me prices that were roughly the same. I would take it back to the original guy, but I want all of this taken care of now, especially since I have to work in another office tomorrow and driving will be required. Since I can’t drive a standard, I can’t take Danny’s vehicle.

I’m glad my car didn’t get screwed up or break down, but I’m bummed that I have to take care of this now. Diana is coming to visit this weekend and I was hoping to have some spare money to spend going out. I’m not flat broke, but funds will be tight until I get paid again on the 15th.

I forgot to mention it last week, but the new season, or “cycle” as they call it, of America’s Next Top Model premiered on UPN last Wednesday. I don’t know why I love this show so much but I do! I have to admit though that it has gone downhill since the first run I watched (season 2). For some reason, the girls they picked this time (how do I say this nicely?) don’t show much potential. Perhaps the idea is “look how we can turn these fuglies into princesses!” If that is the case, then they have a lot of work cut out for them.

Ok, some of the girls are pretty, but there are several that are downright trashy. Oh yeah, and the pics on the website are very deceptive. Watch one episode and you’ll see what I mean.

I can’t really complain because it IS reality tv on UPN. They seemed to have had much more focus in the beginning. The first season I watched was about making the girls look good in front of the camera and now, it seems like they want to see who can hold out the longest in a series of ridiculous situations. Example: jumping on a trampoline wearing a dress and bright-red eye makeup. As someone in the forums so tactfully put it, “It has become model fear-factor.”

I had one of the best weekends I’ve had in a long time. I feel relaxed but I got a lot done. The best part by far was the weather. It was in the upper 60s and sunny.

It rained most of last week, so I was glad that the sun came out on the days that counted. I started a trend on Saturday by getting out of bed and going jogging again. Now I’ve done it for two Saturdays in a row and I have to keep it up.

After that, I went back to the house, got cleaned up, and went over to the knitter’s studio down the street from my house. They have classes for different skill levels, so I signed up for the intro to knitting class. There were two other women there with me: Gretchen (mid-40’s) and Jennifer (mid-30’s). Our teacher looks a little too much like Martha Stewart, but she is awesome. She went at just the right pace and was there to help us when we got to a part we didn’t understand. I’m just impressed that she showed us how to start, add to, and end a knitting project. I came home after that two hour lesson and started knitting a scarf right away. Since then, I’ve decided that what I have of my scarf so far will work better as a dish towel or dustcloth, but I used this project to make plenty of mistakes and then try to fix them. Today, I started scarf number two at the correct size and with far fewer mistakes.

My teacher emphasized that we should not get too attached to our first scarf because we were going to make a lot of mistakes and it might end up looking pretty goofy. After giving us this information, I tactlessly asked, “Ok, where’s the bargain bin?” Apparently, there is no bargain bin at the store but there are plenty of inexpensive cotton yarns to choose from. I picked burgundy. I sure as hell wasn’t going to buy some cashmere for a dustcloth.

So, I’m officially a knitting dork. Hopefully, my blog won’t become a testament to knitting, but I’ll keep you posted on it as well as other endeavors.

Oh yeah, the cats like my knitting as well. I haven’t let them have access to my ball of yarn yet, but they seem to be much more fascinated by the little knobs on the end of my needles than anything else. I think that if I can learn to knit with two kittens batting at my hands, I should be fine.

As for yesterday, Danny and I went to SF for brunch and to do some shopping at Amoeba music. If any of you have been to Cheapos in Austin, Amoeba is like this only huge. I could have easily spent 3 hours in there looking around, but it was pretty crowded so Danny and I got a few CDs apiece and then took our booty across the street to Golden Gate park for a leisurely stroll. I love huge parks because even if it is crowded, you can manage to find plenty of space for yourself. The most interesting thing was listening to the impromptu drum circle that formed at the bottom of one of the hills. It reminded me a little of Eeyore’s birthday except without the copious amounts of nudity and B.O. Happy times!

After returning home, I got back in the car and drove over to Oakland to attend my book club meeting. The woman hosting had gotten a lot of really good Indian food take-out, so we gossiped, drank wine, ate Indian food, and put thoughts of the upcoming work week out of our minds.