We spent $520 today to buy two airplane tickets (with new government-enforced $5 post-September 11th security fee!) to Massachusetts for Mother’s Day. Of course we waited until the last minute, so the total was about 150% higher than it should have been. Whenever I drop money on the opportunity to get into a metal coffin and go flying through the spacious skies at 550 miles per hour, I feel a bit torn. I don’t smoke, so I can’t say that I pay for cancer, but tonight, when I clicked the ‘submit’ button at southwest.com, I felt like one of those fools who buys the ol’ coffin nails by the carton. There’s something vaguely unnatural (in my opinion) about jets, but they’re just another one of those modern necessities, like gasoline and urban sprawl.
Work is a bore this week. I spent a large part of the day cataloguing the computers owned by the company, recording their specs, and then dreaming about my own new machine. My new Athlon XP 2500+ chip with bundled Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe motherboard (and 512 megabytes of DDR400, baby!). seems to be stuck perpetually in Rialto, California, where, two days ago, it was checked out of the FedEx Sorting Facility. I hope and pray that somehow it has made its way eastward, perhaps stopping in Vegas to throw a few rounds at the roulette table. It had better be damn close to crossing the Mississippi, or so help me… The lack of an update at FedEx’s normally reliable tracking site fills my head with images of a rogue truck driver playing Splinter Cell 2 on a wifi network somewhere east of SLC, laughing as he–and not I–explodes an enemy head like a grape.
Landlord woes have kept us between truly falling in love with our living quarters. There is a window beside Natania’s desk that is rotted to the point of open air circulation. You can reach through the gap with your fingers. This has been the situation since the first of August, 2003, when we moved in, and while seasons have come and gone, it remains much the same. We’ve seen snow flitter through the window, and now, wasps. And, frankly, we’re fucking tired of it. So as soon as I’m done here, I’m writing an email to our landlord, letting him know:
- Fuck him
- We’re terminating our lease
- We’re getting our deposit back
- And if he doesn’t like it
- Fuck him
- And we’ll also be sending a letter to our lawyer
Up the street from us, there is a converted mill property that was turned into condominuims back in the early 80’s. We would love a place there, as it’s still in College Hill, and still within walking distance of the university. We’re waiting to hear back on the pet policies.
I made chili tonight. It is the best chili I have ever made, and because of that, you need to make some for yourself.
Kick-Ass Chili
- A pound or so of ground turkey
- A whole mess of spices (allspice, cumin, nutmeg, cinnamon, chili powder, cayenne, freshly ground pepper)
- One can of black beans
- One big can of whole peeled tomatoes
- One can of tomato sauce and one of tomato paste
- Salt
- 2 medium onions and about 10 cloves of garlic
- Fresh chilis, if you got ’em
I didn’t do it this time, but it’s supposed to work: throw a whole messload of chili powder into the bottom of your saucepan/stockpot. Heat it on medium heat for just a bit of time, maybe a few minutes. Then add about two or three cups of water. Let the water boil, stirring to mix the chili powder. Drop the ground turkey in and stir to mix it up. Add the onions and garlic (use a garlic press for maximum results). Add the spices. Cinnamon is the best part of this, so don’t skimp. Two or three teaspoons is probably enough, but you may find yourself adding more because it tastes so damn good. Feel free to add more chili powder, too. Add the chilis now, if you so desire. Mix in the canned stuff and then stir, and make sure it’s simmering pretty well now. If you’re really hungry, wait about thirty minutes, throw some cheese and sour cream on top, and serve on spaghetti or rice (or nothing, if you’re a wonky low-carber). If you want perfection, simmer for two and a half hours, covered for the last hour or so, and then let it cool. Then refrigerate overnight. In the morning, skim off the fat (may be minimal, if you used turkey and not ground beef), and re-heat. Chili is always better as leftovers.
I have a cat in my lap, and she’s over the diarrhea, which makes it a much more tolerable experience. Later tonight at 11pm, there’s bluegrass music to be broadcast. For a week, I’ve written a page per day in the dryad short story. And tomorrow brings a paycheck, the first two “Freaks and Geeks” DVDs from Netflix, and maybe even a new CPU. Life can be pretty darn pleasant sometimes
Leave a Reply