I did eventually get the drawstring back into Dad's sweatpants; the problem was getting it out again. I tried tweezers, a needle and of course my fingers, but I just couldn't get a hold of the blue fabric... next to the blue fabric, covered up by... blue fabric. I spent hours on this idiocy over a couple of days, feeling like the biggest stumblebum ever. My friend Gypsye offered crocheting needles, which should have worked, but honestly I had no confidence that I would be able to do that either.
Today I had a brainstorm and went to a fabric shop (House of Fabrics, 1312 Main Street) with the idea of getting a curved needle to pick the darned drawstring out and get it finally out of the dang hole. The nice lady behind the counter said, "safety pin." All I needed was a safety pin and I could feed it the drawstring all the way around and get it out again no problem. I had brought the sweatpants in the car and more or less begged her to do it for me. She did with speed and grace in a couple of minutes. She would have done it for free; I asked her for a price and she said, "Whatever you'll give me." I felt bad that it was only $2-- but I did give her an enthusiastic recommendation on Facebook, and here. And am much relieved!
Monday, September 30, 2013
Sunday, September 29, 2013
Pins, needles moving at least
The pins and needles and/or numbness sensation in my left leg is moving down nearer the foot/ankle. I think it's reasonable to guess that something in the broky foot is impinging on a nerve somewhere. I believe that the condition actually called "pinched nerve" is another one that's very painful; this is more like a hit nerve, as in what we call the funny bone. It's not in any way painful and the broky foot no longer feels in any way broky. Maybe a little bruise sensation toward the heel, but there is definitely a distinct improvement since I went back to the old boots. So yay (and go figure).
There is also progress in the situation that I can't tell you about. Well I can tell YOU; just not the entire Internet. But things should return to what passes for normal fairly soon. Further yayage!
Knife issues continue. Apparently what I was calling a utility knife is actually a chef's knife. Apparently further, I got very lucky five years ago finding a $1 knife I could actually use. I'm on my third new knife, and my third mostly useless one. So probably I'll have to shell out. This seems ridiculous since I'm only using it to chop or otherwise cut onions, avocadoes, cucumbers, carrots, celery or turnips. Not really difficult stuff, which is why I kept the old dull one so long. But there you go.
There is also progress in the situation that I can't tell you about. Well I can tell YOU; just not the entire Internet. But things should return to what passes for normal fairly soon. Further yayage!
Knife issues continue. Apparently what I was calling a utility knife is actually a chef's knife. Apparently further, I got very lucky five years ago finding a $1 knife I could actually use. I'm on my third new knife, and my third mostly useless one. So probably I'll have to shell out. This seems ridiculous since I'm only using it to chop or otherwise cut onions, avocadoes, cucumbers, carrots, celery or turnips. Not really difficult stuff, which is why I kept the old dull one so long. But there you go.
Saturday, September 28, 2013
Drawstring
I'm washing a set of Dad's clothes for him, basically a set of sweats. The drawstring came out of the bottoms and is proving all but impossible to get back in. I could of course straighten out a coat hanger, tie the drawstring to it and feed it around the waistline, but I'm not sure I can do it without tearing anything. Nor am I sure I can straighten a coat hanger with my bare hands.
This is likely to take a while, so although I apologize for such a dull blog post, I'm fairly distracted by this hard, boring task.
There are, however, two slightly more interesting items to mention. I've been bumbling around for 5 years now with a utility knife that I bought for $1 at BiLo. It stopped being sharp after maybe 6 months, so bumbling is the word. I went to Dollar Tree for another $1 knife, but failed to notice that I had selected a carving knife. It isn't the worst carving knife in the world, but doesn't hack it (literally) as a utility knife. Being the master chef I am, it's right back to Dollar Tree!
The other thing is that the lentil hoecakes (or fried lentil polenta) turned out great except that all the flavor went byebye. I put in cumin, cloves, garlic, an entire onion, Tabasco AND Crystal hot sauce. Where it all went I don't know, but I wound up with pleasant-tasting hush puppies, more or less. I'll know to put in more next time!
This is likely to take a while, so although I apologize for such a dull blog post, I'm fairly distracted by this hard, boring task.
There are, however, two slightly more interesting items to mention. I've been bumbling around for 5 years now with a utility knife that I bought for $1 at BiLo. It stopped being sharp after maybe 6 months, so bumbling is the word. I went to Dollar Tree for another $1 knife, but failed to notice that I had selected a carving knife. It isn't the worst carving knife in the world, but doesn't hack it (literally) as a utility knife. Being the master chef I am, it's right back to Dollar Tree!
The other thing is that the lentil hoecakes (or fried lentil polenta) turned out great except that all the flavor went byebye. I put in cumin, cloves, garlic, an entire onion, Tabasco AND Crystal hot sauce. Where it all went I don't know, but I wound up with pleasant-tasting hush puppies, more or less. I'll know to put in more next time!
Friday, September 27, 2013
I'm inventing lentil hoecakes
Maybe I said it already; maybe I didn't. Trader Joe's had organic polenta by the tube. Being to the best of my ability a non-GMO person, I was thrilled to see this. (To receive the organic label in the US, you can't use GMOs.) But I had no idea what to do with polenta. However, being a big hushpuppy fan, I thought I'd like to try the very similar hoecakes and went looking for a recipe. Turned out that if you follow the directions on the package (slice the polenta, fry in a pan), you've pretty much got hoecakes. Tried it, liked it. But still...
The problem with using pre-prepared polenta is that it isn't exactly busting out with flavor. I tried adding salt, pepper and hot sauce, but most of that wound up sticking to the allegedly nonstick pan. So I wound up with pleasant, but boring, fried cornmeal mush. I still liked it, though.
This time, I bought yellow corn meal grits. This brand isn't labeled "also known as polenta," but some are. At the moment I'm cooking 1/2 a cup of red split lentils (well it started as 1/2 a cup) for added protein. Later I'll do a cup of yellow grits. What I was missing in fried polenta according to a convincing blog post I found is baking it in the oven before frying. So I'll try that, too. And I'll mix in a sauteed vidalia and a teaspoon of Trader Joe's crushed garlic and probably a great deal too much Tabasco sauce. I've already added cloves and cumin to the lentils because I'm a hippie.
This time, if a lot of the hoecake sticks to the pan, at least there will still be flavor inside, I hope. Anyway, we return to: How bad could it be? If all your ingredients are good, your fiascoes are likely to be minimal. Or at least interesting. This is only my second time trying to cook with my new castiron skillet. My egg this morning leads me to expect that a LOT of hoecake will be on the pan when I'm done. But hope is the thing with feathers, so let's get flying!
The problem with using pre-prepared polenta is that it isn't exactly busting out with flavor. I tried adding salt, pepper and hot sauce, but most of that wound up sticking to the allegedly nonstick pan. So I wound up with pleasant, but boring, fried cornmeal mush. I still liked it, though.
This time, I bought yellow corn meal grits. This brand isn't labeled "also known as polenta," but some are. At the moment I'm cooking 1/2 a cup of red split lentils (well it started as 1/2 a cup) for added protein. Later I'll do a cup of yellow grits. What I was missing in fried polenta according to a convincing blog post I found is baking it in the oven before frying. So I'll try that, too. And I'll mix in a sauteed vidalia and a teaspoon of Trader Joe's crushed garlic and probably a great deal too much Tabasco sauce. I've already added cloves and cumin to the lentils because I'm a hippie.
This time, if a lot of the hoecake sticks to the pan, at least there will still be flavor inside, I hope. Anyway, we return to: How bad could it be? If all your ingredients are good, your fiascoes are likely to be minimal. Or at least interesting. This is only my second time trying to cook with my new castiron skillet. My egg this morning leads me to expect that a LOT of hoecake will be on the pan when I'm done. But hope is the thing with feathers, so let's get flying!
Thursday, September 26, 2013
Rocket science
As I've mentioned, I bought a great pair of hiking boots, they wore down a bit, I bought the same brand and model again and the new ones didn't work out. As I haven't mentioned, I still have the old ones. So, rocket scientist that I am, it took me this long to figure out that maybe a shrewd move would be, I dunno, to go back to them. Not a lot of down side to the move either, since the newer ones are almost as worn down as the older ones now. I swear, I must be some kind of genius! (The really dumb kind, but still.)
Did it work? I dunno. I seem to be walking less flat-footedly in them. My left foot feels significantly less broky. There's still a bit of numbness in the left calf. There's also a slight pain in the right calf that I don't remember from either set of boots. Maybe I should wear the old left boot and the new right boot. Now that would be rocket science!
Dad and Margaret are still doing OK with motel life. The designers of the building were just flat insane. The handicapped parking is all at the left end of the building. Meanwhile on the inside, that's where all the efficiencies are. The one-bedrooms are completely the other end. Two-bedrooms are in between. As there are three entrances, they need handicapped spaces by all three. I don't think anyone would anticipate that all handicapped guests would want efficiencies. But there you are. Dad and Margaret frequently have to walk farther than they would like. But so far they're handling it with aplomb, and the exercise should be good for them. If they decide they can't hack it, we can always move them to an efficiency. Only drawback is that the TV is perpendicular to the sofa, so they would get cricks in their neck watching. Anyway, it's otherwise a nice facility and we really like the staff. Knocking on wood and crossing all fingers and toes that all continues to go well!
Did it work? I dunno. I seem to be walking less flat-footedly in them. My left foot feels significantly less broky. There's still a bit of numbness in the left calf. There's also a slight pain in the right calf that I don't remember from either set of boots. Maybe I should wear the old left boot and the new right boot. Now that would be rocket science!
Dad and Margaret are still doing OK with motel life. The designers of the building were just flat insane. The handicapped parking is all at the left end of the building. Meanwhile on the inside, that's where all the efficiencies are. The one-bedrooms are completely the other end. Two-bedrooms are in between. As there are three entrances, they need handicapped spaces by all three. I don't think anyone would anticipate that all handicapped guests would want efficiencies. But there you are. Dad and Margaret frequently have to walk farther than they would like. But so far they're handling it with aplomb, and the exercise should be good for them. If they decide they can't hack it, we can always move them to an efficiency. Only drawback is that the TV is perpendicular to the sofa, so they would get cricks in their neck watching. Anyway, it's otherwise a nice facility and we really like the staff. Knocking on wood and crossing all fingers and toes that all continues to go well!
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Knock on wood-- so far, so good
Dad and Margaret seem to be enjoying their motel vacation. Eating out for practically every meal, and Dad seems to be eating a lot more. This is no reflection on Margaret's cooking; just moving around enough to get out to the car and back and in and out of restaurants is more exercise than he's had in ages and seems to be improving his appetite. So I'm a little stressed, but they seem to be having fun.
Meanwhile, my latest air mattress seems to have repaired my back, or anyway banished my back pain. The odd stuff going on with my left leg still continues though. My latest idea (or an extension of the previous idea) is that the sporadic pain in my left foot which I have for years called my broky foot might really be a broky foot. I wonder what a stress fracture in the foot is like? The pain is very minimal and fairly infrequent; the same is true for the sensation in my left calf. The latter sometimes seems to be trying to turn into a cramp. Terry's suggestion that I see a physical therapist is a good one, but maybe seeing a neurologist or a podiatrist would be an even better idea. I'll try to fit it into my busy schedule, or maybe I dunno finally get some different boots. I stress again that there's barely any pain at all; it's just all a little odd.
Meanwhile, my latest air mattress seems to have repaired my back, or anyway banished my back pain. The odd stuff going on with my left leg still continues though. My latest idea (or an extension of the previous idea) is that the sporadic pain in my left foot which I have for years called my broky foot might really be a broky foot. I wonder what a stress fracture in the foot is like? The pain is very minimal and fairly infrequent; the same is true for the sensation in my left calf. The latter sometimes seems to be trying to turn into a cramp. Terry's suggestion that I see a physical therapist is a good one, but maybe seeing a neurologist or a podiatrist would be an even better idea. I'll try to fit it into my busy schedule, or maybe I dunno finally get some different boots. I stress again that there's barely any pain at all; it's just all a little odd.
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Heaven for smart people
Maybe it's just me, but all I would really want out of an eternal paradise would be for everything to be explained to me. Or not everything, but just how all my relationships went kerplooey. Or rather my potential relationships. Unfortunately, once they stop being interested in you, they retroactively were never interested in you. And they're emphatically not interested in talking to you anymore. So there's no way to know.
To extend the concept, though, a Heaven for smart people where everything is explained sounds like a sound basis for a religion. I mean, explaining the unexplained has always been the basis for religion. Unfortunately, when you get down to it, most or at least a great portion of the explanations come down to "The Lord works in mysterious ways." So why not go one step further and say, "The Lord works in mysterious ways and will explain it all to you when you get to Heaven"? It makes at least as much sense as anything going. Probably wouldn't be as profitable as Scientology, but what can you do?
To extend the concept, though, a Heaven for smart people where everything is explained sounds like a sound basis for a religion. I mean, explaining the unexplained has always been the basis for religion. Unfortunately, when you get down to it, most or at least a great portion of the explanations come down to "The Lord works in mysterious ways." So why not go one step further and say, "The Lord works in mysterious ways and will explain it all to you when you get to Heaven"? It makes at least as much sense as anything going. Probably wouldn't be as profitable as Scientology, but what can you do?
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