Rudolph

Tonight. 8pm. CBS. Be there.

Chicken Stopped

I called for fried chicken delivery tonight. Here is the message I got...

(thick Russian accent)
"Thank you for calling Chicken Stop. We closing down. If you have something important to tell me, leave message"


Needless to say I am devastated. This is a dark day indeed.

H2O Woes

Something at work gives me an upset stomach almost everyday. At first I thought it was nerves. But I'm fully relaxed there now so I can scratch it off my list. Then I thought maybe it was the soup I was getting at lunch. But since then I have been getting all different things for lunch so scratch that.

Then I thought about it. The only thing I consistently have everyday at work is tea. But I have different teas. So I've decided it's the water. They have a water purifier machine but due to past experiences I know they are not the 100% pure drops of mountain spring water we think they are.

At my old company we had one of those nice water coolers. But someone saw a roach and killed it. Next day they saw another roach, and it wasn't coincidence that it was hanging around the same machine. The water cooler man was called and it turned out there were TONS of roaches and roach eggs inside the cooler! Needless to say they cancelled their contract with that company and got a new state of the art machine.

My new company does not have said machine.

I think tomorrow I will pick up some Evian.

When in Long Island...

Had a lovely time in Long Island for the Thanksgiving wknd. Tons of eating. Attempted to do the 3 M's (movies, malls and minigolf) but only managed to complete 2.

Thanksgiving day was a whirlwind of pots, pans and plates. I think we spent the entire day in the kitchen. The turkey? Well let's just say it wasn't as good as last year. And a little undercooked. The gravy? Same deal. But there were some highlights like pumpkin ravioli with butter sage sauce and butternut squash soup. And let's not forget the stuffing. Damn good. But I felt I missed the holiday because I was stuck in the kitchen all day and didn't really get to chat with people enough. But it was fun I must admit. It made me realize I'd NEVER want to work in a restaurant.

Played Hold 'Em after dinner with Shaina, Ira, Matthew, Gami, David and Who-The-Hell-Is-Phil. Full House Shaina whipped our asses in round 1. Round 2? It was down to Gami and I. Every round we went all in. And every other round one of us won. It seemed like it would go on forever. So much fun. But yours truly ended up winning the pot! Woohooo! Finally my day had come. It was probably the most fun I've ever had playing Hold 'Em.

Next day we took Gramma to see Pride & Prejudice. I really enjoyed it. I love period pieces. Keira Knightley is amazing. And so is that HOT guy who played Mr. Darcy. Then we stopped at Target where we loaded up on picture frames, a runner, some Christmas tree items and a few other things. I think Target is my favorite store. Ever. I wish there were one across the street from me so I could go there every afternoon.

Saturday was Ikea day. We got some AWESOME mirrors which look amazing in the apartment. We also got a nice green rug for the bedroom. But, alas, it doesn't work. Too dark, not big enough. So once again we will have to return it. We went to Ikea with the intention of buying these items and have them delivered next week. After buying them I went over to the delivery counter where I quickly learned that they don't deliver mirrors! WHAT? But we just bought 3 HUGE mirrors. So we ended up tying them to the roof and David's parents drove us into the city last night.

Scooby Dooby Doo! The Macy's balloon inflation

Fallen snow Thanksgiving morning
Fall colors outside the upstairs window
Butternut squash soup and green beans

The Thanksgiving gang

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

And now, a word from our great leader.

Meet Mr and Mrs Dumbass

S.A.

Hi, my name is Simone.

And I am a Starbucks Tall Sugar-Free-Vanilla-Soy-Latte addict.

Please help. I can't afford this.

Mmmm, Thanksgiving

I'm looking so forward to Thanksgiving. I will be making the turkey, my Opa's gravy and some mashed sweet potatoes. David's Mom will do the rest. I can't wait. I really would like to host my own Thanksgiving meal one day. But, alas, my kitchen is small and seating is limited.

David's Dad keeps Kosher so that means no butter, no sausage stuffing, no bacon. I saw an awesome recipe for turkey today involving sage butter that you rub under the skin and then it's stuffed with a cornbread sausage stuffing and then bacon strips are layed on top of the turkey! Damn that sounds good. But find a more anti-Kosher recipe you could not.

We will be brining the turkey again this year as is was a hit last year. So damn juicy. I think I will just stuff it with herbs..."parsley, sage, rosemary and....thyme" and rub it with canola oil and some salt n' peppa.

Can't wait for the pumpkin pie either. Mmmmm.

Goblet of Crap

Visually it was beautiful, best one yet.

Storywise, it sucked. All over the place. Nothing explained fully enough for those who don't know the book. Nothing meshed together. Boring.

Now the countdown begins for Order of the Phoenix. Surely they can't screw that one up.

It's here

My beloved Buffy has arrived. And it's all that I hoped it would be. Nice glossy box which opens up to a letter from Joss Whedon, a nice color booklet, and of course the DVDs. All arranged vertically to form a picture of Buffy and the gang.

I have been tracking it all week. Amazon shipped it yesterday but because I got the free 'Super Saver' shipping I wasn't sure how long it'd take. This morning I came in and saw a co-worker walking with a brown package. I thought it was mine. Even as she passed me by I wondered-was that mine? Why do I think a co-worker would take my package? I will tell you why...

Years ago when I worked at the now defunct Prism Communications I ordered a Snoopy Anniversary Watch from Fossil. It was to come in a collectible keepsake canister with a little Peanuts Anniversary pin. I tracked. I waited. It arrived. I went to the mailroom and asked for my package. "It's not here" I was told. Yes it is, I tracked it. "Nope". So I tracked some more and returned the next day to tell them it was signed by so and so. The guy then remembered that some old dude name Bob** has it. Why would they give MY package to someone else? They told me that his name was on the label. Yeah, I doubt that. Dumbasses.

So I went to Bob's desk and asked him if he accidentally (giving him the benefit of the doubt) took my Snoopy watch. "Nope, don't have it".

Oh sorry, ok. WHAT?

Went to the mailroom next day. Same story. So I went back over to Bob's desk and lo and behold, what was sitting on his desk but the keepsake Snoopy canister!

S-"Hi, um BOB, are you sure you didn't get my Snoopy watch package?."

B-"Nope"

S-"So then, um, WHY IS MY SNOOPY KEEPSAKE CANISTER ON YOUR DESK?"

B-"Oh this? This I got in the mail recently. But there was no watch"

S-"Um, THAT'S MINE!"

B-"Oh. Ok. Here you go."

S-And um, where is the watch?

B-Oh, there was no watch. But (opening his drawer and pulling out a Fossil CD case) you may want this too.

S-Yeah Bob, I do want it.

I ended up getting a new watch from Fossil but it was a fight. Apparently the weight of the original package shows that there was a watch in it. I eventually got a new watch from them, decided I didn't like it, and ended up returning it.

Now you know why I don't trust co-workers. Not dumbasses named Bob anyway.


**Not his real name. His real name is Asshole.

Happy 2nd Anniversary My Purple Monkey

Why oh why can't I be rich?

If I were rich I would buy this. I really would. What a work of art. Unfortunatley it doesn't come with Sean Connery. But it does have a smoke screen and revolving license plate!

James Bond Aston Martin DB5

This 1964 Aston Martin DB5 is one of four created for the James Bond films Thunderball and Goldfinger. It has a variety of equipment for both offensive and defensive use. This includes a pair of non-firing .30 caliber Browning machine guns that deploy from behind the headlights, and a wheel-mounted tire slasher. An oil-slick ejector squirts out from the left-rear light cluster and a smoke-screen system is located next to the car's exhaust.

The license plate revolves to display any of three different plates. The car still has its hydraulic ramming bumpers. In the interest of safety, the ejector seat has been replaced with a standard, non-ejecting passenger seat. RM Auctions would not comment on the car's estimated value.

Too early

What's with all the Christmas music playing everywhere? While listening to Lite FM on Saturday I hear the familiar sounds of Feliz Navidad. On Sunday while shopping at The Container Store they were only playing Christmas music. Every year it seems they start earlier and earlier. I think I saw my first Christmas commercial the day after Halloween. I love Christmas as much as the next guy but didn't they used to wait until Thanksgiving? Oh well, I guess I better download my Charlie Brown Christmas and get shopping.

Go Bloomberg Go!

Just finished voting. We saw Krista and cute little 6 yr old Ellie waiting to cast their vote. Ellie was so excited to get into the booth.

I must admit being there in the school waiting my turn brought back memories of when we were there last. On that horrible day last November. So horrible in fact, that I won't even get into it. Don't want to start crying again.

How many more years?

Autumn Sunday

Scenes from our Marathon Sunday afternoon in Central Park...
Fallen leaves
David with his first caught leaf
Trying (in vain) to catch leaves
afternoon boaters

The finish line

Wake up call

So today marks the third day with no hot water. That's right. And yes, I have found other ways to bathe.

Monday, not hot water. OK, I understand it happens from time to time.

Tuesday, no hot water. WTF? Now we're getting pissed. So I boil a bunch of pots of water and make myself a little bath. Of course, the minute I'm done the hot water does come back on. Bastards!

Wednesday, no hot water again? What the hell is going on? Luckily I showered at the gym last night. But I'm still pissed. Now I'm going to have to get angry at the Super/ landlord/ anyone in the street who annoys me.

In other news, the new job is going well. It's actually kind of slow and I found myself having nothing to do yesterday. But I know it's just temporary as it always gets busier towards month end.

Oh, but there is some wonderful news this morning. My niece Michaela just found my blog! She is the daughter of my half-brother Glenn who lives in Australia. I've never met my nieces so it's very exciting that she found me. I love this blog world of ours! And if you notice me, my brother AND my niece have all chosen the same blog template. Damn, we Launerts' are in tune with each other! ;-)

Hi Michalea and Alessandra!!