snacking

I have enjoyed snacking on these: Nabisco yogurt pretzels, Nature Valley chocolate granola thins, Blue Diamond wasabi & soy sauce almonds. I don't necessarily need the yogurt pretzels in 100 Calorie packs, but that's how they come. The granola thins are really crumbly so I typically devour one as I stand over the sink. They also come as peanut butter granola thins, but I haven't tried those. The wasabi almonds have a little (just a very little) kick and is just something different. I also enjoy sweet potato fries and would recommend that you get them when offered on the menu. Enjoy!

hand lotion

Hand lotion for around $1 USD. I like it. Not too heavy, not too light, non-greasy and works well enough. I wash my hands frequently and this lotion is what I use when my hands cry for lotion.

It'd be nice to give to homeless people, but the tube is not sealed and they'd be leery, I think.

best online Catechism of the Catholic Church

The best online Catechism of the Catholic Church is Hosted by Saint Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in Mississippi. It is searchable, includes the index, and also has mobile device formats. May you enjoy!

Gopher reacher repair

Several years ago I bought a Gopher reacher tool. I think it was around $20 USD, from either the grocery store or Walgreen's.

In a very short time (I'm guessing in a matter of weeks) it broke at the bend pivot. The pivot point was all plastic construction. Not wishing to discard it after so little use, I bought an aluminum angle from Ace hardware in the neighborhood. I used a hacksaw to cut the angle to the length I wanted and also to cut the notch to straddle the pivot. Several photos are included to show how the splice was made. I used some sort of industrial glue to glue it onto the Gopher. That worked out just fine. The Gopher no longer folds but that's okay.

Eventually the cups on the Gopher fell off. The problem was that the threads on the cups were plastic (see photos of the black cups). I tried to patch it up a few times with whatever household glue I had. Eventually I lost a screw and attempted to replace it with a screw I had in my scrap collection. Finally I lost the other screw as well and it sat unrepaired.

Thanks to a reviewer on Amazon, I was clued in to Arcmate. They offered replacement cups (the blue ones in these photos) with free shipping. I just received the cups today and the Gopher is repaired and ready for service once again. The cups aren't exactly as pictured on their webpage; there is no fancy shoulder on the bolt side of the cup. they should still work fine, though.

Home Depot had a reacher that I considered, but it felt too heavy and the angled pick-up end could be a problem in tight spaces and is difficult to maneuver at any other than the ideal angle. We lost the remote to our old stereo set. It has a large cylindrical dial for the volume. With the reacher I can grab that dial and rotate to adjust the volume. That sort of rotation would be very difficult if the pick-up end were angled.

Reachers are fun to use. I'd recommend that everyone have a reacher in the house. There are a variety of reachers on the market so you have options.

Cheers.

information overload

Job hunting is one huge information overload. There is a glut of free advice for the job hunter.  Here are some broad categories to name a few:

Tools and advice for ...
   1. determining a career path
   2. how to go about finding a job
   3. writing a cover letter
   4. writing a resume (one for machines one for when you actually are invited to submit a resume to a real live person)
   5. preparing for a phone interview
   6. preparing for an interview
   7. how to use the internet for the job search
   8. how to network

And each of the above has its own bucket of research. You have to research the company, the job and you have to research yourself. Cover letters and resumes should be geared towards the specific job you're applying for. You'd have to pick through your past and communicate experience befitting the job.

If we're supposed to have prepared answers to interview questions, how about if the company would send us the questions at the time the interview is offered and say, "Be prepared to answer these questions."

Sometimes the advice is inconsistent among the various experts, and a choice has to be made as to which opinion you'd go with.

With all this glut of information, the HR folks are expecting us to know this stuff. We appear completely dufus, careless, or ignorant if we fail to do what is "basic." (Duh, surely you are prepared to answer basic questions such as "What motivates you?" and "What is your greatest weakness?" and "Where do you see yourself five years from now?" and so forth.) With all this required research, application and practice, it's no wonder that it may well take over a year to master the game and get a job.

The professional side of me says I understand. The softer side of me says I might not want to be that wound-up, polished, ambitious candidate for a high-pressure company who is unforgiving to a little mistake.

In the meantime, I'll march on and pray that God grease the skids and help me to land in the right place.

random thought

There used to be a television commercial that asks, "Do you snore?"

It seems to me that you wouldn't know the answer to that question unless someone tells you.  How else would you know whether you snore in your sleep?

Happy New Year

Happy New Year 2011 to all!

Up until a year ago, I didn't do new year's resolutions. After hearing my spiritual advisor comment, "aim for nothing, get nothing" I figured I can give it a try. Last year's resolution was to finish reading one book. I did that, finishing The Shack and just recently, a career-related book.

This year I will try for two resolutions: eliminate the word "stupid" and eliminate profanity from being issued forth from my mouth.  I think today I've already broken both, but I will try again tomorrow. My dog is not stupid, he's ornery. And it's not "f--ing NO" but perhaps an "emphatic NO." Kinda hard when you live with someone who just won't take a simple "no" for an answer and I have go banannas and yell and curse before the message gets through. And then I get the "why are you yelling at me" response. We'll see how it all works out.

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.