The last in 2011 MMP

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
41

I’ve seen his fish system, up close and personal. The only things necessary to complete the scene are a couple of Jacob’s Ladders and a hunchback running around yelling “It’s alive! It’s alive!”

Peed, you only need 3 leading Bs in my nick. It’s a semi-acronym for Black Belt Bobbio. How I got it is a long story most here know already, so I won’t [del]bore to death[/del] regale the crowd once more. I’ll send it to anyone who wants it via PM, but y’all are SOL iff’n you want my buckeyes.

I think I’ll hie myself to Wally*World for a proper double boiler, and try once again with half the amount of chocolate in the pot.

42

Pervert!
:p;)

43

We’re really in a mood to share today, aren’t we? :smiley:

44

You’ll need to come check it out after the new sump/filtration system is up and running - it’ll all be in the basement, with a couple of pipes running upstairs to circulate the water. All the noise and mechanical stuff will be out of the living room - all that will remain up here will be 2 silent cooling fans and the power heads. I think it will be impressive.

In fact, that reminds me I’ve been meaning to invite your and your spousal unit over for dinner. We’ll work that out after our cruise.

45

sorry - skimmed - kinda foggy today. (me, not the weather)

Bobbio - Alton Brown suggests putting the mixing bowl on a heating pad - that way there’s no risk of the chocolate seizing from water droplets.

46

'Tis Monday only in the first-day-back-in-the-office sense. Hurrah for long weekends!

'Tis Mouesday, so I declare. Feel that disapproving :dubious:-ish frown coming over your face? Yes, exactly. (I’m sorry. I’m in a terribly unfunny, very punny mood today.)

'Tis also Casual Week down here in this little corner of the financial district, so I get to wear jeans today. Yes, this is exciting.

VunderBBBobbio, if that double boiler doesn’t work out, the microwave is probably the easiest way to go. Dump the chocolate in a bowl, heat thirty seconds, stir, repeat until satisfactory. Trick is to make sure the bowl is completely dry going in, and don’t cover it. As other wiser ones have mentioned, even a small bit of water + melted chocolate = seized chocolate, which is clumpy and grainy and nigh unsalvageable.

<Yearend Ramble>

2011 has been quite a year for me. I’ve laughed 'til I ached, cried to exhaustion, hurt and been hurt. I’ve made work-related advancements. I’ve toppled off a plane, changed residences twice, and hosted a holiday dinner for the very first time. Less transient but no less significant are ongoing goings-on with Mr. Chord. We hit the one-year mark back in June, and the crazy headlong rush out the starting gate has settled into the solid realization that I could probably survive a handful of decades with the man. (Ssshh…don’t tell him.)

So, no last-minute plans. The year will end with whatever work projects I can fit in around my sniffling and stuffy-woozy spells (an additional, if accidental, gift from over the weekend), plus some apartment homemaking projects and a small alcoholic get-together with pleasant people. A good end to a solid year.

</Yearend Ramble>

47

Surely there’s a story to go along with this?? * hint hint*

My spousal unit finally got out of bed a little before 11. We’re both showered and dressed to bum around the house. I’ve got a load of towels in the washer, I cleaned up the kitchen, and I’m listening to the cats fight - Taz wants to play, Ziva wants to be left alone. We need a third cat to play with Taz, right? heh -the sound you hear is my husband threatening divorce. :wink: He seems to think 2 cats is one too many. I think 3 would be just about right. He’s such a poop sometimes.

Heard back from my former boss - we’re meeting at a pasta place at noon tomorrow. That’ll give me plenty of time to go to the credit union then run by WalMart for critter chow. And if I have time to kill, I can just wander the aisles, since it’s right across the street from the restaurant.

It’s raining and ick out - a good day to knit and watch Netflix, methinks!

48

I’m bored. Lookin’ through files is booooooooooring! Havin’ presentable files is, however, good. I guess. Or maybe it matters to just me. :smiley:

I am also plannin’ my traditional New Year’s dindin. This year I have decided on beasttloaf for two reasons. One, last year it was fried chikin so I need sump’n different. Two, I don’t wanna fry chikin and beastloaf is easier to make. Plus also, I did order a Mennonite ladies German Chawklit cake to serve so what more could they want. Oh and I plan on servin’ the traditional black-eyed peas, collard greens, rice (must serve black-eyed peas over rice), N.O.T. sallit and cornbread.

Ain’t I just pitiful!

49

We’ve never had any New Years traditions, food or otherwise. Maybe we can start one. Rice Krispy treats? hmmmmmm

50

Well, it could ensure crunchy goodness all year long! :smiley:

51

And it’d make my dentist happy, too! :smiley:

52

Well it would just be all win-win then! :stuck_out_tongue:

53

Count another vote for the Rice Krispies Treats!

Naw, it was nothing so dangerous as “toppled off a plane” might suggest. I went tandem skydiving last March, and while I suppose the regular euphemism is “jumped off a plane,” there wasn’t much jumping involved. There was a bit of scooting forward on one’s butt, a brief but unnerving moment of trying to plant one’s feet on a narrow mid-air platform, some rocking back and forth by the instructor strapped against one’s back, and then a great big SWOOSH as the plane is suddenly no longer there. So – toppled.

(There is a funny story attached to that experience, though. The instructors at the dropzone that we went to really liked their jokes. In the pre-drop safety talk on the ground, one of them stressed how important it is to “arch” your back once you’re in freefall by explaining the alternative…slowly and completely deadpan:

"So if you don’t arch, we’re going to start to flip around in the air. At that point, all I can do to keep myself level is unstrap you. Now, once you feel those straps loosen, arch your back and I can buckle us back together again. If you still don’t, then I’m just going to to have to open the parachute without you.

“But that’s okay, because we’re also going to give you one of these.” And he held up a whistle that hung around his neck. “Once you see the trees rushing up at you, you take this” – he brandished the whistle – “and put it to your lips” – he demonstrated – “and blow as hard as you can. And Don here will catch you.”

At which point a heavyset balding man with a big white beard, khaki shorts, sunglasses, and a large butterfly net slung over his shoulder jogged by.)

That day was a major highlight of the year. Hell, of the decade. I’d do it again in a heartbeat.

54

Moooom, maybe if you kept the third cat IN the aquarium?

Swampy, there’s sumpin i don’t unnerstand. You’re making the exact same menu for New Years as you did last year, except you don’t wanna fry chicken, 'cause you did that last year? :confused:

I’m sure I remember someone on the Food Network saying that if you get water in your chocolate, you can fix it by putting in more water. :eek: I know. It doesn’t make any sense to me either, but what have you got to lose at that point?
Of course, the best, most reliable, way to melt chocolate is to leave it in the pocket of your favorite, and most expensive, coat. You’re welcome.

Well, I’m thouroughly sick of this year, and am quite ready to get on with a new one.

Later.

55

I hab a code. Phoukabro minor and I came down with the same cold within hours of each other. It was bad enough that he was willing to drink alcohol, which never happens. Couldn’t sleep last night, because I’ve also GI symptoms, can’t breathe properly, and couldn’t stay warm. However, phoukabro major was kind enough to go to the pharmacy and get decongestants and lovely tissues with lotion.

Christmas was . . . interesting. I worked my tuchas off as I’ve never worked my tuchas off. I ended up doing all of the shopping for my parents, so I knew what everyone (including myself) was getting. I wrapped all the gifts, put the tree up, and helped bring down the Christmas decorations. Unfortunately, we didn’t get most of them up, though at least the tree was decorated.

Then, I made Christmas dinner all by myself. Usually Dad does it, but he’s lost more and more abilities, and just can’t track all the tasks that go into putting a dinner together. So, it was me. Me and my ADD medication. There was a bone-in, spiral cut glazed ham, a roast turkey breast, homemade mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, ham gravy, and stuffing, and some Parker rolls that I almost destroyed but managed to salvage at the last moment (hint: read the directions the night before, not two hours after you put the ham in.)

Dad was a fussbudget, decided he was hungry, and went to get “a bite” while I was still cooking. Well, “a bite” very clearly must have been a sit down meal, because it took him nearly an hour and a half to get back. Just as I served dinner. Muahahahahaha. He had no choice but to partake and make polite noises. The phoukabros and Mom were very complimentary.

The poor puppy, Lil Miss Rowdy, was soooooo heartbroken, though. When we all sat down at the table, she jumped up into Dad’s lap, ready for her plate of ham, turkey, and trimming, and Mom picked her up, took her upstairs, and closed her in the bedroom so we could eat in piece. Poor little girl thought she’d been naughty!

She’s been getting small pieces of ham and turkey the last few days to make up for it.

56

My tradition of late has been prime rib since it’s just the three of us! But this year I got a boneless rib roast for only $20. It looks fabulous! We’ll have baked NOT and steamed broccoli with cheese sauce. Mmm…

So I cleaned Dad’s rooms. His bedroom is easy, but his sitting room was icky. So much crap sitting around. I threw out a bunch of old papers and stuff, dusted everything, and moved furniture to vacuum, and vacuumed the drapes. It smells lemony and good!

In a minute I’ll get dressed - yes, I’m still in my jammies! - and go to the store for victuals. then I’ll come home and clean/reorganize the fridge with all the Christmas leftovers to make room for more stuff. :wink:

VBob - it wasn’t perverted until she hit the little plastic hammer on my kneecap and I hollered bad words! We were done at that point. :slight_smile:

57

We’ve never had a New Year dinner tradition but youse guys have given me the idea and I think it’ll be the perfect time to cook that huge turkey breast that I bought on sale ages ago.

58

**Petrichord **- Many many years ago, my sweetie decided he wanted to try skydiving. So we drove somewhere out in the boonies to a school where he had some lessons and practice hanging from some lines. He’s a pretty big guy, and there was one other big guy there, so they had to share the single large jumpsuit. This becomes important later.

The time to jump came and my sweetie got first go with the big jumpsuit. It wasn’t a tandem jump but a static like jump, and he had a receiver in his helmet and an instructor on the ground to talk him down. He was having a blast flying his chute down, but the instructor guided him to a landing about a quarter mile away from where we all were waiting. Honestly, I have no idea why he did that. My poor husband had to gather up his chute and haul it across the field. He was not impressed. But he took off his suit and gave it to the other big guy, then waited his turn for his second jump.

As an aside, a good friend of ours who was a photographer and a videographer had come along to record all the fun and games.

Big guy #2 came back and gave the jump suit to my husband for his second go. But **FCD **decided this time that he knew what he was doing, so he’d fly down himself and ignore what the instructor was telling him. All was going well and he was lined up to hit very close to the target. At that point, the major brain fart kicked in. He reached out, toes pointed, to hit the target. No PLF (Parachute Landing Fall) - instead, his feet hit the ground, and he went face down like a cartoon character. I thought he was goofing around, and his friend continued to film. Big Guy #2 was going “You didn’t damage the suit, did you?” And all this time, my husband was lying on the ground in agony.

Turns out he’d broken his leg - I had to take him to the ER, and a couple of days later, he had surgery to put a couple of screws in his right ankle area. That was his little “topple”. He never jumped again, which suited me just fine… And much as I’d love to fly a chute, there’s no way I’m leaping out of an airplane to do it.

hmmmmm - turkey breast in the rotisserie sounds like an excellent meal plan. I’d do a whole turkey if I could find one under 12#. I loves me some turkey!

PS - just got an email that the shirts I ordered have shipped. YAY!!!

59

Yes. Yes it was.

I have to start packing today. I do not look forward to it.

Also, if Hokie Friend doesn’t stop making grand pronouncements about The Only Way Culinary Boy Will Get Better I will snatch him baldheaded. Which would be a trick since he is already baldheaded. He finally backtracked a little today when I got snippy with him and admitted that maybe the way that worked for him won’t work for everyone.

On the good side, my friends Sassy Chica and Clown will let me move in with them for a while. The only condition is that I have to go to church on Sunday. I’ll give their church a try, but I’m really looking for another Lutheran church. Maybe even Whiskeypalian. :eek: Shouldn’t be too hard, the campI used to go to as a wee Lutheran is in the same town they live in. It was nothing like the website when I was there.

60

My sister hates me. She bought a Mr. Bill doll, just about the only character I don’t like but never told anybody about, for my dog. For four hours I listened to ‘Oh Nooooooo!’ in the car. For many more hours I’ve heard ‘Oh Noooooo!’ in my sleep and around the house.
I always hated Mr. Bill and now I have a reason.