Merry Christmas

Very Merry Christmas to everyone!

Here is a free book
Cosmic Diary Anthology Released as a Free Book: Postcards from the Edge of the Universe (you can download the pdf at the link)

and a free audio rental
of Father Corapi's personal testimony (offer posted on this blog some time before, the offer still stands today)

first time

As far as I can remember, this is the first time that I've missed Christmas midnight mass. Gumby isn't feeling well. I asked if I could go to mass or if I need to stick around in case we need to call 911 emergency. Gumby said "I can't answer that." i.e. I don't have the go-ahead to go to mass. Since we are supposed to be in service of our neighbor, I'll miss midnight mass, stick around here tonight and go to one of the Christmas day masses tomorrow. Right now, I think Gumby is sleeping, which is a good thing.

video about Mary

From The Anchoress ... link was made known to me by a friend


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aU18v-tl8I&feature=player_embedded

gifting

Check out Monastery Greetings.  Per their website:

Monastery Greetings is the only catalog-based website that combines hundreds of religious and spiritual gifts from Abbeys, Convents, Monasteries, and Hermitages. Sales of their products directly support them.

Gifting for any day for any one, so even if they're not an option for Christmas, keep them in mind for any occasion.

Here are just a few others. This is not an endorsement. I have not tried any of these products and in fact, have not even browsed their websites.

Sinsinawa Dominican Sisters bakery and gift shop
Holy Spirit Monastery Gifts
Abbey Gift Shop
Cathedral-Basilica of St. Louis gift shop (in New Orleans)
Nuns gift shop (Mother Angelica's order)
Mystic Monk Coffee
MonksBread.com
Poor Clares bread and soup (pick up at their place in Canton, OH)

listening to...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OraPvMHwlpY
There ya go.
Ludwig van Beethoven - Sonata no. 17 in D minor, Op. 31 No. 2 1st movement

listening to...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okjfw5JudXM
per the YouTube uploading author:

Ludwig van Beethoven
Piano Sonata No. 17 "The Tempest"
3rd movement: Alegretto
played by Daniel Barenboim

This is a pretty clear recording, where the bass is not muddy. I might look for the 1st movement eventually.

Christmas decorating

I spent a lot of time trying to find replacement bulbs for our Christmas mesh light. No luck. I bought a string of all green lights at a local store in hopes of being able to use those bulbs, but it didn't work out. So I ended up just packing up the one mesh and did my best to drape the new string on the last shrub. I definitely doesn't blend, but so be it.

Yesterday I spent all afternoon and evening yesterday doing some Christmas decorating inside. It's just one room we're doing, but it took a while. What takes time is going up and down the attic, unpacking and packing (trying to find stuff and pick-and-choose among what was found). At one point I had to find the cat and remove her from the attic. The attic is unfinished and has blown-in insulation -- not a pleasant place lose things such as a cat. Our 4-foot Christmas tree is up and decorated. I know we're still in Advent and the Christmas stuff isn't supposed to be up yet, but I think God understands and wouldn't mind.

dead bulbs

We have four mesh light sets that I drape over the shrubs (for Christmas decoration). I put them on the shrubs on this past Saturday and last night when I turned them on, they were pitiful; some were on some were off in alternating sections. Today I stole good bulbs from one set and restored the other three. I have at least 15 dead bulbs. I'm sure I haven't found them all since the one sacrificial set is too stripped at this point for me to see what's working and what's not. They need to be 2.5V super bright green lights. I haven't found the right ones, but I've seen replacement bulbs priced at a pack of 3 for $1.39 or $1.99.  If I need to replace at least 20 bulbs, looks like I should expect to pay approximately $1 per bulb. So I suppose the best bet is to just buy a new set ... if they can be found.

the job search

Job searching has gotten more sophisticated. It is now recommended that you have Twitter, FaceBook, LinkedIn, Monster.com, CareerBuilder, and Dice accounts at minimum, and have a blog. So I have signed up for Twitter, I just finished Monster tonight, and I already had LinkedIn thanks to Natty.

My job search is evolving since I am getting training for a new career path. As I get more and more training for what I want to do, I can slowly better define what field and what specialty I'm heading to. This translates to quite a bit of maintenance on the profiles/accounts.

And after all that, the best bet to getting a job is networking. Kind of like dating maybe, where two people meet because they had a friend in common, or at least their friends had a friend in common.

Anyhow, I'll get to FaceBook, the blog (no, not this one), and Dice another time. I'll also need to update my profile in CareerBuilder. Then I'll need to study how best to use LinkedIn ... apparently there are "how to" of LinkedIn that I'm supposed to look at.

Right now I need to hit the shower. "Good night" to those on this side of the earth.  "See you later" to those on the other side of the earth.

plumbing woes

Monday I woke up and as usual made a trip to the bathroom. It was not a happy moment when I found that the toilet wouldn't drain. Still groggy, I attempted to plunger the thing. No luck. I had never seen a toilet so stuck that plunging didn't bring the water level down. After quite some time, I had to stop since it was trash day and I need to get the trash out.

As I went about the task of collecting all the trash, it occurred to me to check the other toilet. I remembered that once before both toilets had stopped and I became fast friends with a sewer auger. Sure enough the other toilet was stopped up too. So after finishing trash duties, I washed up and headed off to rent the sewer auger again. It unclogged the sewer and the toilets.  There were other problems though that left me a little unsure that the problem was solved. But the machine had done all that it can do, and I had to head off to class that afternoon so I returned the machine and just waved it off as "done."

Wednesday evening, sewage backed up into our tubs and shower. Ugh. We called for a plumber and he determined that we have root growth into our sewer line under the house. The plumber had tools to locate the point of root growth. The solution is to excavate and tunnel under the house to replace that point where the roots are growing into the pipe then backfill the tunnel (an almost $6,000 job). Until we get that done, the recommendation was to not flush toilet paper. We took the job quote and sent him on his way with $150 payment for his services. We will get the repair done as soon as possible, but certainly not this month.

Gumby made a multitude of phone calls later that night and also the next day. One advice was to get a root kill solution from the hardware store and flush that down the toilet when we retire for the night, leaving it to work in the sewer lines overnight. The other piece of extremely helpful advice was to use RV/marine toilet paper. They dissolve quickly (wipe fast!) and won't clog. I don't know my prices well, but I think they cost more than regular toilet paper. They were easily procured from a local Wal-Mart in the sporting goods department, $2.97 per 4-roll pack in one brand, $4.42 in another brand. The more expensive one is 2-ply, so I guess the cheaper one is single ply. I'm not sure what the plans are with regards to how long we'll be using this specialty toilet paper. We're just really happy that we can use toilet paper and we won't have to ask guests to not flush paper.

dinner dollars

turkey, 15lb                   $3.31
injectable marinade        $4.49
turkey oven bag             $1.79
mustard greens            $11.12
smoked ham hocks         $3.18
onions                          $0.70
yellow corn meal            $0.97
green bell pepper           $0.64
celery                           $0.94
baking powder               $1.32
chicken broth (3 cans)     $1.50
eggs (dozen)                 $1.58
sweet potatoes              $0.61
margarine tub                $1.98
jellied cranberry (2 cans) $1.96
dinner rolls (2 packs)      $7.98
pumpkin pie                  $3.99
cherry pie                      $5.99
whipped cream               $1.88

total (tax not included)   $55.93 USD


already had on hand:
nutmeg
cinnamon
vanilla extract
white flour
sugar
marshmallows
shortening
salt
pepper
carrots
gravy
cookware, dinnerware, etc.

I didn't totally wreck Thanksgiving dinner, but it is rated as "glad we didn't have company." Turkey and mustard greens were just fine. I flubbed the cornbread dressing and sweet potato casserole but they were still edible.

adjustments I will make next time:
1.  Do not rub salt on the turkey before roasting. It makes the turkey drippings too salty and can't be used for gravy.
2.  Actually use a recipe for the dressing instead of winging it. Use just a little poultry seasoning or none at all.
3.  Do boil the sweet potatoes instead of baking them. The sogginess from boiling is needed.  Do not put frozen marshmallows on the casserole; they won't "blow" and spread over the top.  Marshmallows need to be either cool or room temperature.
4.  Consider buying smaller baking pans since I'm not making large portions.  The large pans resulted in thin casseroles.

The carcass is currently simmering on the stove to make turkey stock.  Additional veggies for making the stock was less than $6.

Happy Thanksgiving to all

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

The cooking has commenced.  And I'm already worn.  I baked the cornbread yesterday.  The cornbread dressing is in the oven right now.  The turkey has been injected.  The yams are cooked, ready for me to start on the sweet potato casserole.  Mustard greens and turkey are slated to be cooked tomorrow.

the stray

It was probably the beginning of the year when I saw the stray dog. I remembered that it was cold. It was morning and I was leaving for work. The trash was out, but he didn't bother the trash. He was thin. He kept walking.


Some weeks later Gumby and I were returning late at night from a gocery shopping trip. It was cold, it had been raining but at this moment there was break in the rain. We saw that stray dog again. He was walking. We got the groceries in and proceeded to get food and water for the stray. We hoped we would see him. We looked down the street but he wasn't there. We left the food out for a little while but brought it back in since it had started to drizzle lightly. The next morning we looked again. Still no stray.


Months later (September?) I saw him again as I came home from morning mass (I was then and still am unemployed). I passed him up on the street on the way to the house; he was walking in the opposite direction. I parked the car in the driveway and got out to look down the street to see if he was there. No sight of him. As I walked in the house, I made a mental prayer to St. Francis and to St. Anthony that if they'd bring him to our yard, I'd take care of him. By that I meant that I'd call an organization to come pick him up so that he could be cared for.

It was trash day and I'd already put out the trash. Gumby reminded me that there were some wood debris from the previous week that I need to move closer to the trash so that it would get picked up. So I went back out to take care of that. Lo and behold, the stray was lying in the shade on the side of the house. Mentally I had pictured him on the front lawn when I did the prayer, not the side of the house. I would have never seen him had I not gone out to pick up the wood debris.

Gumby called the vet who advised us to call the county animal control. They come out the same day and they are a "no kill" shelter. We got two of the disposable leashes (to make one long leash) that we had from the numerous visits to the vet over the years. I tied him to the gas meter pipe on the side of the house, in the shade. We gave him a little food and water. He was extremely emaciated, had a severe case of mange, and other problems that made it difficult for me to determine that it was a male dog. A red nylong collar hung loosely around his neck. He didn't eat right away but when I checked on him later, all the food was gone.

I wasn't there when the county came to pick him up. They said whatever happens, it would be more humane than having the dog wander in the street and having to fend for himself.

Anyhow, that's my St. Francis/St. Anthony story.

two movies

Old news. I just forgot to post. We saw the movies Secretariat and For Colored Girls.

Secretariat is fun, family-friendly.

For Colored Girls is raw and poetic. As such, it will likely not win awards. However, I do believe the Academy will want to recognize it. Maybe it will win in the category for movie adaptation of a book.

doggie cot is working fine

I slowed down on the projects around the house. Partly because I'm tired, partly because the funds just aren't there, and partly because the weather doesn't permit much working outdoors. I washed the outside of some of the windows today. Only the windows in the back got washed. I started late afternoon, having ran errands earlier in the day; then I quit when it got dark.

The cot I made for doggie is working okay. The fabric stretched somewhat, resulting in sagging. After he had used it for approximately a week, I attempted to remedy the sag. I took the stitches out of one long side and stretched the fabric as tight as I could and re-stitched. Since the only thing keeping the fabric tight on the frame is a death grip by my left hand as I stitched with my right, the job had to be done quickly. I re-stitched with giant stitches from craft hell and the job went fast. I've discovered that part of the sagging problem is that the plastic pipes will bend. Oh well. I also think the bolt-on design would be better for taughtness than the sewn design.

Doggie has been using the cot for a while now and those giant stitches are doing just fine. I like that much of the dirt and loose hair that he sheds falls below the cot and he doesn't have to lie or trample in it. Also, when I do mop the crate, I can put the cot right back in and he can go in his crate without having to wait for the crate floor to dry. The cot has gotten dirty from the mud he brings in. I'll scrub and hose it off one day when the weather is good.

Update: 1/13/2011
The cot fabric has stretched tremendously. Also, the dog has managed to tear the fabric with his scratching. There is now a large hole in the cot. I am now in search of Dacron fabric locally. At least for the moment I'm thinking Dacron.

cake

Yesterday was Gumby's birthday. I took it upon myself to bake half a cake. I mean, how difficult can it be? I found a recipe that I can halve and it went okay. However, I don't have half of a 9x13 pan. I have a loaf pan. The cake didn't rise much and I do believe it got overcooked. Undaunted, I cut it in half: it will be a two-layer cake.

Then came the frosting. I could not believe how unhealthy the frosting is: loaded with butter and sugar. I couldn't find the sticks of butter I though I had; they must have expired and gotten thrown out. I didn't want to use shortening (Crisco). So I opted for a recipe that used only egg, sugar, and corn syrup. I don't know why we have corn syrup, but we do. I don't have a double boiler, so I used a smaller pot that I put into a larger pot. Our mixer is a hand-held one, so it worked okay. After more the seven minutes of beating that the recipe estimated, I still did not have stiff peaks. Worried, I put in a little cream of tartar. The last step was to add the vanilla extract. Oops, I spilled the extract into the frosting; no telling how much is in there. Oh well, mix it up anyways.

Then I piled it onto the "cake." Fortunately it did stick to the cake and not run. It wasn't pretty. After I finished frosting, I tasted the frosting. It was like marshmallow. I set the cake aside and started the clean up (lots of clean up when you're baking). To add to the comedy, during the clean up, I knocked over a tray that had small packets of condiments and a bulb of garlic. The garlic bulb fell onto a side of the cake.  I picked the garlic out and patched up the icing, but there's a chance some of the garlic papery shell is still there.

Gumby was game and tasted the cake. Gumby was okay with it, and liked the "fun" marshmallowy icing. Cake is almost gone (it was half a cake).

by the Grace of God

Now that I am unemployed, I have time to cook. It's been a while since I did such a thing. Lately "cooking" and "disaster" has been synonymous for me. Yesterday was a bad day. I made beef stew in the slow cooker, but misread the directions and had the cooker set on "high" instead of "low." It cooked for maybe six hours before I realized the mistake.


Then I made cornbread to go with it, but I think I was once again a victim of shortening that had gone bad. The only time I use shortening is to make cornbread. About the only time I make cornbread is to make cornbread dressing for Thanksgiving. I can't think too far back, but I know we've been out of town for Thanksgiving the past two years. It's likely that the shortening is several years old. I had baked a cake before with vegetable oil that apparently went bad. I didn't know that cooking oil can go bad. We don't cook much, so cooking stuff may sit on the shelves for several years.

Cooking is supposed to save money compared to take-out food, but it doesn't save money if the food ends up being inedible. The beef stew was ok to eat, it was overcooked but tasted fine. I re-did the cornbread this morning and Gumby was so enticed by the smell of cornbread that Gumby had beef stew for breakfast.

What was really bad about yesterday was that I caused an "almost accident" due to a lapse in good judgment while driving. I try to live my life without regrets, but I sure regret that moment of stupidity. It was only by the Grace of God that no collision occurred. It made me think about our need for God's Grace. We are like little children living this life. We're not very good at it, and like 3-year olds pouring milk from a large carton, we need some help. Our judgment is far from perfect, and God comes along and sometimes He helps prevent the mess; other times He helps us clean up the mess. Sometimes he keeps us from hurting ourselves; other times He soothes the injury. I thank God that He prevented the "big mess" of an auto accident yesterday, and apologize to all the drivers around me at that moment. I pray that God bless them all.
 
I thank God that the stew was still edible. All good things come from God.

red light cameras voted out

Looky there.  People have voted against having red light cameras, which were installed to improve safety for all on the roads.  What is the reason for the rejection of these cameras?  They think it's a scam, that there are mistakes, falsehoods--however you view it--regarding whether a driver actually ran the red light.  So they voted them out.

Now compare that to the death penalty:  sometimes it's a scam (prosecutorial misconduct), sometimes it's a mistake (wrong person convicted) and it costs money. But Texans like to hang on to their death penalty. Texas takes pride in killing off criminals in the name of justice. It would take an act of God before Texas will give up captial punishment.

That's just messed up.

reminiscing

Here in southern Texas, it is easy to forget the seasons. I'm reminded when I watch live TV (such as Good Morning, America) and see people wearing coats. It is October, after all. August marks autumn for me (due to some literary work I read in my distant past), so October should be pretty chilly.

As a little kid, we did spend a few years living in Jersey City, New Jersey. We were in an apartment complex. We lived maybe on the 3rd or 4th floor (I could be wrong, but it was definitely "upstairs"). We could see across the street out the front window. One rear window is in the bathroom, where you would have access to the clothesline: a loop of rope held in place by pulleys on our side and pulleys on the neighbor's side across the way. The other rear window leads to the fire escape landing.

On the side of us, just across the street is a school. I used to remember our New Jersey address but not anymore. School no. 6 on St. Pauls seems a very good possibility. That school just across the street is where I attended until we left New Jersey. I started in 3rd grade when we got to Texas, so I guess I finished 2nd grade there in New Jersey. If we go straight down that street, we'd get to a park; and the map shows that (Pershing Field Park). I remember passing that water reservoir and thinking it was the Hudson or some such big body of water.

Just next door to our apartment was a little store. We used to go down there and buy Bazooka bubble gum. We collected enough wrappers to get some prizes. One of them was a pinhole camera. Kinda cool but we would still need film and money to develop the photos. We were poor, so we might have used the camera one or two times.

For a while, we didn't have a car. So we did a lot of walking. Eventually, we did get a car. Parking was a slight challenge.

Anyhow, all this is to say that I have lived up north. I have seen the snow, which became slush. Schools had looong winter breaks (it seemed). Squirrels were fatter with fluffier tails than down south. Ice had to be scraped off of windshields. My father did have to deal with snow chains. The car battery sometimes was removed from the car and brought indoors. Long Johns were standard.

It was the late 70's. Elvis Presley died during that time, "Son of Sam" terrorized the area, Pope John Paul II was elected (though I know nothing of religion at the time), and the first "Star Wars" movie opened and swept the country (though we never did go to the movies), as did "Saturday Night Fever." As for fashion, please don't ever take me back to the 70's (*gag*).

re-work

I've been reworking a paint job after rust kept coming through. Consulting with a representative at Sherwin-Williams indicated that the latex primer probably did more harm than good. The recommendation was to strip the paint and start over. GEM rust killer was recommended. Thankfully I didn't have to buy a whole gallon of the stuff; they had a small pump bottle.

A medium wire brush on a power drill was fairly useless for stripping the paint. Sandpaper worked well, but after a few passes, the sandpaper was noticeably less effective than when fresh. I resorted to paint remover and a scraper, followed by coarse sandpaper, followed by medium sandpaper. It took maybe a week, working on and off.

Since both the rust killer and the enamel paint required waiting overnight after treatment, I needed a string of dry days (the project is outdoors). The weather here in Texas has been very dry, so I tackled the project. I've applied two applications of the rust killer and one coat of paint, relying on the rust killer to act as primer. Another coat or two of paint should complete the job.

11/17/2010 update: We had weeklong rain several weeks ago. Where the rust was heavy, some of the rust is starting to reappear through the paint. This area of heavy rust is a metal square tube, so I'm thinking the rust is inside the tube and it's continuing to rust inside on through to the outside.