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Finished the by now epic "make fried rice" project. It turned out well, if a shade shy of really authentic to take-out taste. I did greatly enjoy it, however. Ended up deciding to buy a wok to make it properly. I now have a wok. I added my own little flourishes, and it turned out pretty damned good. I ended up eating my entire batch in three massive plates... which is not surprising considering that it was my first meal of the day and it was almost 11PM by that time. But it was also damned good. I think it's something I'll be doing again in the future, as well as utilizing the wok for stir-frying.
Speaking of the wok, carbon steel (and cast iron, as well) is a pain in the ass to "season". Whatever coating came on the wok when I bought it (claimed to be "nontoxic, flavorless and odorless") burnt itself to the wok as I was trying to season it. Serious scrubbing (that is, everything shy of steel wool) was unable to remove the ugly brown stain. Other than looking ugly, it doesn't seem to affect it. So I'm just going to ignore it, like that ugly stuff permanently welded to the bottom of my stock pot.
Decided to take that trip back up to Vermont before gas prices get obscene again (and they're well on the rebound from that lovely $1.50 per gallon that they bottomed out at a few months back). I'm borrowing a thousand bucks from my folks in order to do so, since I have no idea if I'll ever be able to scrape up that much cash in one lump sum, and I don't want to do this all on my already taxed plastic. I'm not sure about all the details, but as I iron them out, I'll keep this updated. At the moment, it's looking like I'm going to take a week of vacation time, and see if Bill will bookend it with a couple of unpaid days off to allow me to keep a week of paid time for when Jacob comes to visit.
Got a statement from the Social Security Administration. Greatly amusing to read about how by 2041 SS will only be able to pay out an estimated 78% percent of what's owed. I really wish we'd just abolish this dinosaur already. Thinking it'll last longer than 15 years from now is foolish. Also amusing was my year-by-year "taxable SS wages". I made a career-high $24,000 in 2006, and I made $17,000 in 2008. Oh joy. A $7,000 per year drop. No wonder I'm feeling the pinch financially. That's something on the order of 20% less. Whatever happened to things getting better as you go along? Oh well.
Bought home some of the salvageable damages from work. I snagged a bottle of Creme De Casis with a cracked cap (anyone have any ideas what I can make with that other than a grasshopper?), about 1/3rd of a 1.75L bottle of Sailor Jerry spiced rum, 48 St. Brendon's Irish cream minis (which thus far have all proved to be coagulated), and a 1.75L bottle of Tenure polish vodka with a chunk of the bottle's shoulder chipped off. Crackhead actually had a good idea for once. Run it through a coffee filter to make 100% sure that all the tiny flecks of broken glass are gone, and it should be safe. That's missing about 250 to 300 mils that spilled out, but most of a 1.75 isn't bad. So, I picked up some coffee filters for a buck and change along with the wok tonight. Incidentally, those cheap bar-style pourers that we sell are quite nice. I got one for the Patron Pyrat rum, since its bottle is a pain in the ass to pour from, and I'm using it all the time now (the pour spout).
I had fun technically breaking the law, getting that cracked bottle of tenure home. Since I didn't want it anyplace where I couldn't control it and prevent it from tipping over during turns, it sat in my lap. With a hole in the side, covered with tape. I'm glad I'm paranoid since I passed two state police cars parked on the shoulder. I know that since the neckband seal was still intact, the hole in the side covered with tape, and I was stone cold sober, I might not have been charged with anything if I'd been pulled over... but why take the chance? Also, vodka dissolves the adhesive on packing tape. I knew intellectually that it's an organic solvent, but it surprises me the unexpected other uses it has, sometimes.
Have a bunch of housework to get around to tonight and/or tomorrow. Might clean the bathroom before I vacuum (since I can do that at night). But hopefully I should be able to check off most of what's on my list by Wednesday.
Moved the "to do" pile of crap from the living room into the bedroom. Okay, so I didn't deal with it, but at least I consolidated the "I haven't dealt with this yet" mess to a single, less-used area.
Still have pictures and long-promised updates to post here, but I'll probably try to make time for that tomorrow night after I get home.State Of Mind: accomplished What's Playing: Placebo - Allergic (To Thoughts Of Mother Earth) |
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I make a fair amount of excuses. But in the end, it really comes down to two things: time and money. I can budget both, but in the end, it always seems that money buys time. And I seem to end up having neither.
An example I've often used to explain this to people is if you're broke and have to make do with shitty and/or makeshift equipment. The crappier the stuff you're working with, the more you're going to end up fucking with it in order to make it work and keep it working. If you'd just spent money in the first place, then you'd have to spend less time fucking with it trying to get it to work. Time really is money, in a very real sense. And money can buy time.
I really wish I had more time.
I have the self-discipline to start working out at a gym, but I don't have the money to join one, nor do I have the time to visit one on a regular basis. I'm sure it will help me in feeling less like shit, but I just can't manage to have the free time to spend somewhere an hour a day.
I also wish I had the free time enough to pursue learning Spanish, as well as re-learning my handful of Russian. Spanish is something I can use everyday, and comes in handy here. Russian I just enjoy knowing. And oddly enough, there seem to be an oddly large number of people here that speak it. Apparently, St. Petersburg's name isn't entirely a coincidence. So it hopefully wouldn't atrophy from disuse like it did last time.
I want to do stuff with my life, but in the end it comes down to time and money, which are essentially the same thing. T=M, for all you math-crazed people. I don't see either becoming any less of a limiting factor.State Of Mind:  frustrated What's Playing: Ozzy Osbourne - Gets Me Through |
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I feel really shitty lately. I'm not sure why, it continues even on the days when I go out of my way to ensure that I get a full night's sleep. It doesn't seem to make a great deal of difference. I still feel shitty in the morning, just less so.
Not sure what I can do about it. I eat healthier than I was for a while, but it doesn't seem to help. I'm tempted to load up and go on another giant shopping trip (like I used to, bi-monthly, before I got out of the habit), but I really don't want to run up any more expenses. I'm not sure it'd even make any difference if I did that, either.
I think I'm actually becoming a sociopath. I find myself actively avoiding people, and staying at home at times when I think others will be around. It wouldn't bother me so much if I wasn't forced to deal with society's dregs on a daily basis to pay the bills, but after a full day of arguing with people about ID and having someone insist than "Henny VSOP is stronger than the regular" and other such painfully idiotic positions that I run into on a daily basis, I want to crawl into a hole and hide from the world. I used to make an effort to be sociable and try to spend time with other people, friends of friends and such. Hell, even fairly recently (a year ago or so) I was wanting to get out and meet people, make some local friends. I no longer have any desire to do that. I am perfectly content with my social circle being 1300+ miles away. They can come here, I can go there... but I'm not going to meet new ones. I have enough friends.
I got a rejection notice from Target the other day. Official "fuck off" notice. I'm debating if it's worth calling Eddie (my old ETL from 1476) and having him vouch for me. I don't know if that'll help. And even if it does, am I sure I want to go back to the company that I ran away from practically full-tilt? I know I need money, but I keep wondering if there's a better way.
I am sick to death of people telling me "be thankful you have a job", or if it's someone trying to console me (parents, friends) "things will get better". Of course I was able to geta job. Almost anyone can get a job, even in this economy if they lower their standards enough. As far as things getting better... I sure as fuck don't see it coming. I'm honestly starting to thank that it's not even possible for things to get better... only worse. As a general rule, mind you. Not even just specifically applicable to me.
I have several posts in the queue, but I haven't felt like working on any of them lately. And I also have several calls to make, as well as a bunch of photos to go through. Eventually, there will be the "visit" posts, but I don't know when I'm going to feel enough in the mood to sit down and pound out the last bits of those. I keep meaning to on days off, but those somehow always seem be consumed by laundry, sleep, and massive inertia.
I've made a large amount of progress with my (seemingly) eternal project: the MP3 dump. I'm down to just a week's worth of work. Well, straight through, that is. Mostly what's left is a Temptations discog, a few gigs of random music, and the complete Bach collection. After that's done, I'll have all of my music sorted, filed, and imported into my iTunes library. I'm already up past 55,000 songs, and 320GB.State Of Mind:  blah What's Playing: VNV Nation - Weltfunk (Unreleased) |
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Some highlights from today: I bought from the drawer a quarter from 1958 and a Honduran 50 cent piece (which someone mistakenly spent as a quarter). Quarters (and other denominations, to a lesser extent) with silver in them make a very different sound to my ears when dropped than modern copper-zinc ones. It's quite noticeable. An almost musical quality to it.
I really hate dealing with the public. We had some real gems tonight. Some people are so staggeringly ignorant that it makes my head hurt.
Played with some online backup services' free trials tonight. Looks like the one with unlimited storage for $4.95/mo might actually be a pretty decent deal. But uploading is slow. It wouldn't surprise me if backing up this machine's entire drive literally took days.
I think Monday I'm going to try to make home-made fried rice. I've been wanting to try for a few days now, but I've been getting home so late after closing shifts that I'd feel really bad about setting off the smoke alarm if I fuck it up. And it wouldn't take much. The smoke alarm in here is insanely sensitive.
I enjoy picking Bill's brain, trying to learn a little more Spanish as I can. I've learned a lot more just asking him questions (he speaks it fluently) and practicing what I little I do know. I told him, I already have the most important phrase down pat: "Mi espanol es no bueno. Habla engles, por favor?". I know the spelling and punctuation are mangled pretty badly, but I don't feel like spending ten minutes fishing individual characters out from charmap just to make the point. I enjoy learning Spanish by osmosis. It keeps the language center of my brain active, and it's been languishing for quite some time. It also enmeshes me further as a resident of the area. As I've said before... I like living here. In part because of the Hispanic people, so I don't mind being accommodating to some degree. It'll be a while before I can count change back in it (Spanish), but I already know how to ask for ID, if a card is credit or debit, and instruct someone how to use the debit terminal. I'm proud that I have an aptitude for picking it up by ear, as small a usable vocabulary as I have so far.State Of Mind: rushed What's Playing: Mötley Crüe - Planet Boom |
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Whoosh
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Jun. 30th, 2009 @ 06:06 am
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A brief update of substance before I hit the sheets.
I've been ignoring LJ in favor of my actual life (such as it is). I had the parents visit me for a few days recently. It was nice. Didn't get to spend as much time with them as I'd have liked, since I didn't have enough notice from them to take time off. Such is life.
I found out from Bill that the classes do indeed count as time and a half (and I verified this on a paystub). I don't know where Sherman got the idea, but it sure hit a nerve. I get paid little enough, I want to be sure I can milk it for all it's worth.
I have to go to two classes tomorrow (today, in a few hours, actually. Ugh!) and then to work a close shift. I don't mind the long day, but I do mind that I have to be off of the clock for a completely useless two hours in the middle of the day in order to prevent overtime. What the fuck am I supposed to do with two hours in the middle of a workday? It's not enough time to go home and do anything. I'm tempted to go out and have a late lunch at Sweet Tomatoes (across the street from where I work). But of course, that costs money. And I don't like to spend what I don't have.
I have more stuff to post about, but none of it's terribly important. I'll do a larger one of these (or at least one or two more with some actual substance) at some point during my time off over the next few days.State Of Mind: rushed What's Playing: Freestylers - Don't Stop |
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----------- More than $250,000 found on roadside -----------
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Police in Syracuse, N.Y., say an antique
shop owner found more than $250,000 in plastic bags beside
the street outside his business. David Jenks, owner of the
Syracuse Antique Exchange said the store was open past its
usual 5 p.m. closing time due to a charity event and he
discovered the bags of cash when he went outside to his car.
"I was walking out to my car for a clean shirt when I saw
bags of trash on the side of the road," Jenks said. Jenks
said he realized the bags were full of money when he
attempted to move them. He said each cash bag included
deposit slips from stores at Carousel Center. "It's the most
amount of money I've ever seen in my life," Jenks said. "I'm
so glad I was here tonight. I was happy to return the money."State Of Mind:  shocked |
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I was playing around with Google Earth last night while the laundry was in the dryer. I spent a lot of time looking at Florida's island neighbors: Cuba, Puerto Rico, The USVI, Jamaica, Haiti, Barbados, etc.
I never really realized just how close and large (in terms of land area) Cuba was. It seems a comparable amount to the peninsula part of Florida to my eye.
I've decided that if I ever get enough money to go somewhere on a vacation again, I'm going to go to Puerto Rico. It'll give me a chance (and excuse to) work on my Spanish, and the photos of the tropical beaches there are really amazing.
I like the idea of traveling to a US territory, too. Less hassle than true international travel, with a lot of the cultural benefits.State Of Mind:  bored |
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Too much bleach fumes tonight. I feel like I cooked too many brain cells.
Tried the new Seagram's Brazilian rum. It is not smooth enough to be drunk straight (in my view). And I gave it a genuine shot. Ended up mixing it with cola, where it was acceptable.
My drawer was short $20, which I located in the trash can after the final report of the night was submitted. Matt walked by it three times, and never noticed. I hate cash sometimes.
Turns out I don't have to be to that stupid meeting until Friday morning. So, 11hr day then. Oh yay.
Going to bed early, 'cause Mondays fucking suck.State Of Mind:  tired What's Playing: Slayer - New Faith |
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A thought suddenly occurred to me a short while ago. I'm going to essentially be doubling my income when I go back to Target. And twice my income is going to be just inside the range required to get a mortgage, using the numbers I've already established.
I called my father (the go-to guy in my life for financial advice) to ask if if that 2x-3x income requirement extended past signing the initial paperwork for the mortgage.
According to him, it only matters if you can keep making the payments once you sign your life away.
Good news for me. I might yet buy a home, even if I have to work two jobs to do so.
Also, I can use the additional income from working for Target again to kill off my accunulated debt before I apply again for a home loan. That will also help increase my appeal, I hope.
I might actually hold out hope that I can do this now.
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Work.... was.
Watched Fargo last night, then promptly went to bed after that was over. Slept a decent amount for the first time in quite a few days.
Bored out of my mind today, even though it was busy for a Sunday. Just... dull, and the spots between the dull were peppered with annoyance.
My phone got stuck in a reset loop today. So for the last few hours of the night, I didn't even have that to entertain me. Hard reset it after I got home, and restored the few things that had changed since the last hotsync. Didn't take too long, but it was pretty annoying
There's still something wrong with it, however. I suspect the problem lies in the browser's settings, since that's usually the app I'm using when it resets itself. Also, I found out why I can't open links in messages anymore. It has to do with the default browser not being set.
I think I'm going to fuck with it a little more tomorrow, which is one of my days off this week. I might back shit up, do another hard reset, and then see what's different. Might be a Blazer (browser) setting that's been over-ridden that can be fixed. If not, I might just start installing stuff from scratch. Probably would lead to a more stable device, too.
Read a bit more about the Palm Pre. I'm looking forward to upgrading my device, but not until I can be assured of there being software to replace all the things I do with mine.
No word yet from Fal on the parts from him for the server (new RAM). I'm waiting on him for those, and until I get them... don't hold your breath as to it's reliability.
Word on Target is that seasonal BTS/BTC hiring starts in early June, so that's when I'm going to apply there again.
Found (and promptly bought from the drawer) a dollar bill from 1963 in surprisingly good shape. 99% of the ones we see on a daily basis are from either 2003 or 2006. This one caught my eye because the ink on the back was a slightly different shade of green, and the scrollwork was slightly more intricate.
I hate Mondays. This is going to suck.
State Of Mind: rushed What's Playing: Crossbreed - Severed |
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Today it occurred to me while I was at work that I make just a little bit too much money to qualify for government aid... medical, food stamps, section 8 housing aid, etc.
I'm wondering if it'd be possible to take a pay cut so that I actually do make little enough to qualify for those benefits. My innate sense of pride says no, but the idea of actually having something resembling medical coverage might be worth feeling like a leech. Lord knows my sister's been doing it for ages.State Of Mind: creative What's Playing: Apoptygma Berzerk - Until The End Of The World |
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A detailed review of the financial assessment from my loan officer revealed to me tonight that realistically speaking, I'm not going to be able to buy a house.
It's my own fault, I asked her to prepare the estimate based on what I could afford to pay for rent each month... but apparently, banks don't like it when 4/5ths of your income goes directly to housing expenses. For the estimate of a $90,000 loan, I'd have to make $2,170 a month. I bring home about $1,050. Simple math dictates I'd only be able to qualify for about half that... and there are no homes that will sell for $45,000 that aren't in shitty neighborhoods. Except of course, possibly the foreclosures... which I don't qualify for since I'd be getting an FHA loan.
I really fucking hate being poor.
I'm half tempted to jump on 702 Penn ave and just fence it the fuck in and start carrying a gun. Then again, that doesn't solve the problem of it not being in a FiOS service area.
So, I see myself trapped here indefinitely. I'd need to make about twice what I do now to even really consider this seriously again. And I don't see myself making $15/hr any time soon. Hell, barring a fucking miracle, I don't ever imagine I'll make that much in my lifetime.
While this was the emotional equivalent of being kicked in the balls, I can only blame myself. I didn't fully read the pre-qual statement because I guess I knew somewhere in the back of my mind that something had to be wrong, and I didn't want to think about it.
Whenever I speak to my mother about this, she always advises me to "live within my means". It shuts her up real quick when I tell her that doing that would restrict me to living in a studio apartment and riding a bike to and from work for the next 30 years. While good advice in principle, it's depressing like few things in life are to think that the only way I'll be able to own a home is to wait until my parents die, and I sell off theirs.
Scratch one more dream.
(Reposted due to LJ's mangling of the text formatting)State Of Mind: disappointed What's Playing: Apoptygma Berzerk - Until The End Of The World |
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I've been giving a lot of thought to the home-buying process, especially since I found this one's price dropped down into the arena of what I could actually afford. The neighborhood seems a bit on the skeezy side, but the price... I could actually afford it. It would even be a pretty substantial drop from what I pay in rent now.
There's another home I also have a my eye on, though realistically, it's out of my price range. I really fell in love with it, though. It feels like home to me, and the neighborhood surrounding it is pretty nice. Props to Aaron (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) ak111) for suggesting using Google StreetView to scope the area out in detail before going there. I'm a bit disappointed in myself that I didn't think of it.
I'm waiting on my real estate agent to call me back and let me know if it will be possible to arrange to view the house on 702 Penn Ave on Tuesday, as I requested. It's annoying that some professions only work Mon-Fri. What the fuck is that about?
Played with Twitter some on impulse today. I don't know if it's just my OCD being enamored with small manageable chunks of data, or if it's the focus on the present ("what are you doing now?") but I like it. There's even a client for my phone, with is nice and quick (allowing for rapid updates). Check out my feed here if you're interested. Not too much so far, but if inspiration strikes me to update it as often as I think I will, there will plenty there soon enough.State Of Mind:  pensive What's Playing: The Prodigy - Ckaustrophobic Sting |
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Feb. 10th, 2009 @ 04:19 am
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I've been lax about posting for a while, but as usual when I'm not driven to post for a while, there hasn't been too much going on. Work was crazy for Gasparilla, and then practically flatlining afterwards. Wayne (our SWS rep) gave me a brand-new Captain Morgan Gasparilla banner after I told him I wanted the one we had hanging over our display of Captain after he took it down. Wayne rocks.
At some point, I'll attend some of the Gasparilla events. When I have more money and some free time. Whenever the fuck that might be. I've been told it's a hell of a party.
I'm starting to get back into collecting currency again. Old, odd, foreign, all that. I've been collecting $2 bills and the odd random coins that I run into at work, but I haven't added any new banknotes from other countries to my collection in a while. and I'd like to remedy this. I have a couple of Russian ones coming (they were cheap as hell, uncirculated 10 Ruble notes for $1US) and tonight I won my auction on something I've been after since the mid 1990s... a Canadian $1 bill. So, anyone I haven't already asked, if you can spare some coins and/or a low denomination note of your local currency, please do so. I'll reciprocate if you like.
I got the fan for my server's CPU today. Socket A CPU sockets are a pain in the ass. And the fingers, for that matter. I had to finally rip the power supply out in able to get enough leverage. At one point, I was using three screwdrivers, a pair of needle-nose pliers, some scissors, and a flashlight. Ugh. At any rate, the server's back up and running, so the FTP is accessible again to whomever might care.
I watched my God, The Devil & Bob DVD through the other day. Funny show, as enjoyable as I remember. Glad I splurged and got the DVD.
Also finished my current book obsession of the moment, Contact. Really compelling read, in a way few things have been I read Sphere. I didn't want to put it down until it was done. The movie does not do it justice at all. I'd discuss it more in-depth, but I don't want to spoil anything.
The Jimmy Buffett concert tickets sold out the day after they went on sale, and they're going for $200+ on Craigslist. So much for that idea, goddamn.State Of Mind: tired What's Playing: Weird Al Yankovic - I Lost On Jeopardy |
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My back's been bothering me since this past Sunday. Maybe since before then, but that's when it started to get really bad and started to affect my range of motion.
I have an appointment with my chiropractor coming up this Wednesday, I really wish I could afford to go bi-weekly rather than monthly (I'm sure I'd feel a lot better if I did) but right now even monthly is a financial strain.State Of Mind: sore What's Playing: Party107 |
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According to Heather (co-worker of mine) the nosebleed seats at the Ford Amphitheater aren't as bad as I was expecting. So I might well be able to afford to go see Jimmy after all. $29 for a ticket I can manage.State Of Mind: hopeful What's Playing: Jimmy Buffett - Mañana |
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Jimmy Buffett's Summerzcool tour will be swinging through Tampa on the 25th of April. Ticket prices at the previous venue ran from $29.00 (standing room on the lawn god knows how far back) to $129.00 and up (anything closer than the lawn). I can't afford that, but I really really want to go. This sucks.State Of Mind: disappointed What's Playing: Mind.In.A.Box - Leave |
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For a while I've made occasional mention of something little-known in casual conversation, the US $100,000 bill. The highest denomination bill ever printed in the USA, it's really an interesting piece of history. They featured Woodrow Wilson on the front (whom had been deceased a mere ten years at the time of printing).
Courtesy of MyInvestingBlog.com, here is an image of one of the 100k bills, along with some text giving a more full history of this note:
I've been fascinated by high-value US paper notes ever since someone gave me a bookmark made in the fashion (though false color and size) of a $10,000 bill. Some more information on the $500 through the $100,000 notes (as well as pictures) can be found on this wikipedia page. It's pretty cool stuff. And how many people know that the $5,000 bill has James Madison on it?State Of Mind: fascinated What's Playing: SWV (Sisters With Voices) - Right Here (Human Nature Remix) |
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Stuff
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Dec. 8th, 2008 @ 04:34 am
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Well, I managed to get rid of those electronics I wanted to recycle. The TV and the other crap is long gone. Good riddance, and I'm glad to have reclaimed my floor space.
The indian-sounding guy still wants the gum rack, and hopefully I'll be selling that to him on Wednesday.
I have heard "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer" no less than 25 times at work. The xmas music is really starting to take it's toll on the thin veneer of sanity I have.
Someone paid using an extremely old $2 bill at work. I immediately bought it from the drawer. It's a series C 1953. Been in circulation (or more likely someone's collection) for 55 years. It looks very different from the next-oldest I have in my collection, a 1978 note. The back is entirely different (an image of the Montecello instead of the signing of the declaration of independence), and part of the front is printed with red ink. At first glance, I thought it was a silver certificate, and those are rare as fuck and worth ridiculous amounts of money (because of the price of silver these days). Needless to say, I'm quite proud of that. It's one of the cooler things about working there, running into the odd cash and being able to collect some of it.
Fatphin (pyrophin) has not seen 2001: A Space Odyssey. How the fuck he managed that, I do not know. I made a "my god, it's full of stars" reference, and it went completely over his head.
I keep getting ideas for good posts to LJ that I never manage to remember until I get a chance to get to a device to post them. It's really annoying, and I have no one to blame but myself.State Of Mind: accomplished What's Playing: Strontium 90 (Police) - Lady Of Delight |
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I made over $25 on commission at work today. Normally, I don't get that much in an entire week.State Of Mind: tired |
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