Sinking Feeling

My kitchen sink has been draining slowly for a while now and has a stopper that has been stuck in it for years. Today it seems about 90 percent clogged so I put some drain cleaner in it. I'm using a bacterial drain cleaner that usually needs two applications so I'll have to see whether it clears. I'll probably never get the stopper unstuck, and I'm sure it's not helping with the slow draining issue.

I hope I won't have to call a plumber. I haven't had the best luck with plumbers.

SKP

My Godson was baptized today so I'm officially a Godmother for the second time. I didn't have to do to much at the ceremony. I thought I'd get to hold him during the whole thing, but I didn't.

I made some Cut-Out Shortbread Cookies for the party, but I didn't get a picture of them. Some were round and some were shaped like crosses. They were frosted white and sprinkled with pastel non-pareils. They seemed appropriate for a Christening.

HD Horror

I was watching tv today without my TiVo. I don't do that too often, but to see my HD channels in true HD I have to watch the live feed from the cable box to the tv. There is really a discernible difference between the non-HD and the HD channels. Recently, I've been trying to watch shows that are in 1080i resolution live or on my cable company's "On Demand" channels. Some shows that are broadcast in 1080i are of a lesser quality on demand. But for the most part, they still look better than the TiVo quality so it's worth the time and/or wait.
HD can be a little scary sometimes, like when there are close-ups of people's faces. The food network might want to invest in some better makeup since they love to show close-ups. The food looks great but the show hosts look horrible.

Can You Stand The Rain?

I had to get up early today to take my car into the shop for two reasons: one of my headlights was burned out and the underpan, also known as a splash guard, was damaged beyond repair. They changed the light bulb and ordered the part.
The underpan is just a big piece of plastic that sits under the engine. I first learned of its existence years ago when it fell off and one of the guys who was painting my house at the time reattached it with twist-ties since I didn't have the right size screws. My shop reattached it soon after, and I didn't think about it again until it started falling apart on my way to Marblehead. The underpan sagged for about a week before it cracked last Saturday and scraped the ground as I drove. The whole thing's been removed now, but I'll feel better when the new one is attached and my engine isn't exposed.

Dwindling Supplies

I keep using up stuff this week. Today I ran out of shampoo. Monday I ran out of contact lens solution. Sunday I ran out of trash bags and cat litter.

How does a person run out of so many odd things at about the same time? And why didn't I see it coming?

Too Early

I woke up this morning after a lot of interrupted sleep. Last night I fell asleep watching tv, woke up for a few hours, fell asleep again, woke up again very groggy and went back to sleep. By the time I woke up for good, it had been about 12 hours since I first fell asleep. This isn't so unusual except for the 12 hours part.

It's weird to get a lot of sleep even if it was interrupted. I don't think I had any coffee yesterday. Could that be why I was so tired?

Deep-Fried Goodies Part II

I went to Melt today and ordered a sandwich I've had my eye on since it was recently added to the menu. The Big Popper is filled with the ingredients of jalapeño poppers but not really. It has herb cream cheese, cheddar cheese, fresh jalapeños and the whole thing is beer battered and fried. It's topped with a sprinkle of powdered sugar and served with a side of mixed berry preserves. The sandwich is graciously cut in three for easier eating. Of course it comes with fries and the weird (and I think inedible) slaw.

The ends of the sandwich are better than the middle since the ratio of peppers to bread/fried breading is lower at the crust. I was shocked to discover the dipping sauce actually made the sandwich better since it is very sweet. It was so good.

I've been meaning to write a proper review of Melt on my main blog, but I never bring my camera when I go. Also, I usually order the sandwich of the month and that would make an odd review to rave about a sandwich that you can't order on a regular basis.

In The Cards

I work under the assumption that I possess certain things. There are things that I use all the time and think I have on hand like when I got to make a cake, I assume that I have sugar in my pantry. Or these might be things that I never use but guess are somewhere around my house, like I assume I have a protractor (although once I looked for one and didn't find it).

Today I was looking for a pack of playing cards. Who doesn't have multiple packs of cards around their house? Apparently me. I looked around my office for a while and finally found an unopened pack in my bedside table. Maybe I assumed I had cards because I play a lot of solitaire... on my iPod.

Fly Away

Is it my imagination or are there a lot of flies buzzing around lately? Perhaps I've been outside too much or too many have found their way into my house, but I seem to be annoyed by flies at an ever increasing rate.

Gee, I Never Noticed

I've been making chocolate chip cookies most of my life. I know the recipe by heart and can generally make a batch in under an hour, including clean-up. I made a few dozen today and as I was double-checking the list of ingredients, something struck me for the first time. The recipe calls for 3/4 cup each of brown and white sugars and 2 1/4 cups flour. The flour is three times the amount of one of the sugars, which means you could use just the 3/4 measuring cup for all of the dry ingredients except for those measured with a teaspoon.
I'm pretty sure I've never figures that out before. Der!

All Shapes and Sizes

I haven't done a lot of baking while it's been hot, but since I got a great recipe for zucchini bread, I've made it four times. Twice I halfed the recipe. Once I used butter instead of oil, which didn't go so well, especially when I tried to use my muffin top pan. Once I made it according to the recipe, but with a handmixer since I wasn't at home.
The first half batch made one loaf. The next batch made one loaf and a dozen muffins. The next batch made a dozen muffins and six muffin tops. The last half batch, which I made today, made six jumbo muffins. It might be the last zucchini baked goods of the summer.

Last Visit to the AV Room

I finally ran out of reserved movies at the library. Over the last few months I've checked out a lot of movies, most of which I reserved in advance so all I had to do was run in and get my stack of movies and leave. It was clean and easy, but I think I've been abusing my reservation rights. The last time I picked up a reserved movie I got some others that I didn't watch in a timely manner. I think August is too busy.
So today I returned four movies and checked out eight. These will be the last movies I check out for a while. From now on books only!

Roomba for One More, Honey

I broke my Roomba ban yesterday and today because it was too hot to sweep or vacuum. The Roomba spent most of yesterday charging, but I ran it in the dining room last night. Today I Roombaed the living room, kitchen, hallway and guest room. I charged it before each room because I hate when it quits before the room is done. Then when you rerun it, it does the whole room again so there is no point running it in the first place.

The only room left to Roomba is the game room since the rest aren't iRobot friendly -- too many obstacles. I might run it on the third floor one of these days to see how it does on carpet.

Westside, Schmestside

I was at Dewey's in Cleveland Heights today, which made me remember the one time I was at Dewey's in Lakewood. The pizza selections were identical, but the pop selection was different because on the eastside you can order red creme soda, but on the westside you can't. Why? Because they have Mr. Pibb instead.

It also reminded me of the last time I was at the Regal at Crocker Park and ordered a Cherry Coke. I was told that they didn't have Cherry Coke but they did have Mr. Pibb.

Is there some obsession with Mr. Pibb of which I'm not aware? I never drank the stuff when I lived in either Lakewood or Westlake, and I'm not starting now.

Pretty Produce

I got these mini sweet peppers and heirloom tomatoes at a farm stand/market. On the left is a persimmon tomato and on the right are some green zebra tomatoes. The peppers in between were just small yellow, orange and red peppers.

I feel comfortable shopping at these type of produce markets. It's sort of halfway between the chaos of the unregulated farmers market and the order of the sterile grocery store.

iPod Messaging

Testing to see if I can post something on here from my iPod touch. I bet it looks weird on a computer screen.
Here goes nothing.

Safety School

On the way back from Kelleys Island, the ferry was much less crowded than the one going over. Also, since we loaded on the opposite side of the boat, I had a better view to notice that the second level was a seating area for the pedestrians who didn't have cars to sit in. These were posted on the wall of the tiny room.

Luckily, I didn't have to follow these instructions or try to find the life preservers.

Kelleys Island

Kelleys Island is the largest freshwater American island in Lake Erie. My friends rented a house on the island for a week and generously let me spend some time there with them. I had planned to take the boat from Sandusky but wound up taking the Kelley's Island Ferry from Marblehead. It was a longer drive on land but a smoother, cheaper and slower (boat speed not time) trip on the water. Also, the ferry runs every half hour so it was convenient to get to the island without being tied to an infrequent schedule.

On the ride over, I followed the crowd and stood next to the cars loaded onto the ferry for the duration of trip. I was surprised that so many people got out of their cars and started their weekend drinking on the morning ferry. I guess that's island culture for you. I saw some beers and mixed drinks being enjoyed on the 20 minute ride. Nothing like cracking open a bottle of Crown Royal before lunch on a Friday. Maybe the Crown Royal was lunch.

Wish you were here!

Godson Duty

I've been watching my Godson about once a month since he was around four months old. He's a very well-behaved kid, and I like taking care of him. We spent a long time together today since his parents needed to be out of the house earlier than their typical time. We did the usual: read books, sang songs, played with toys, watched television, had some dinner and just relaxed on the sun porch.

I guess I should call him my Godson-to-be since he won't officially be my Godson until he's actually christened. Eh, close enough.

Beer Bread

I "made" this bread today, but it's from a mix. I'm not the biggest fan of "boxed" or "bagged" just add water/milk/eggs type of products. And yes, I have been known to shame people into not eating that obscene "log" of cookie dough. But, this was a gift from somewhere in New England, and it reminded me of the beer breads of old that I would bake before I was old enough to buy beer. Not that I bought the beer used in this bread. It was also a gift.

Halves on a Pie

There's a place near me that has a "Tasty Deal" on Tuesdays and Wednesdays -- a large pizza with unlimited toppings for $5.50. They have the usual offerings, but they also have "world" pizzas with fancy toppings like hummus and tandoori chicken. It's a good deal that I've taken advantage of exactly once.

I didn't remember why until today when I called and got put on hold for a few minutes. When the punk kid remembered to picked up the line, he (accidentally?) hung up on me. I guess I could have called back and joined the new queue, but I didn't. I think I'll stick with Dewey's.

Open Letter to Bad Drivers

To Whom It May Concern:

On my way home this afternoon, I saw three non-working traffic lights. As I approached the first, I slowed down and noticed that the other cars going in my direction continued through the intersection as if the light was working and green. Similarly, the cars in opposing traffic did the same. There were no cars on the side streets, but I stopped at the intersection, looked both ways and continued on.

At the second intersection, there was a car at the side street on my left. Although I treated the light as a four-way stop, only a few of the other cars did the same.

At the third intersection, most of the cars obeyed the correct traffic rule, but a few didn't. This was the busiest of the three intersections and would have benefited the most from licensed drivers acknowledging the rules of the road.

I can't help but wonder whether people fail to follow the safety rules because they know the rules aren't being enforced or because they are selfish? Are they thinking, "can't catch me" or "screw you guys"? Maybe both?

Love, Deitri
P.S. It would be nice if everyone also stopped for pedestrians in marked crosswalks. The last time I crossed at a crosswalk almost every car, including a police car, drove right through.

Not Again!

I saw an ant in the bathroom.


Again.


Tonight.


I have to work, or I'd call Terminix first thing tomorrow. I'll have to call Tuesday, for sure. Or maybe it was a rogue ant. I might wait and see if there are more tomorrow.

I Heart Vintage Ohio

Free peach from the Farm Bureau.

Tuppence a Bag

I won tickets to the performance of Mary Poppins tonight. I liked the stage show more than the movie, but then the movie is kind of annoying, isn't it?

The big songs were very big, but the rest was kind of dull. But the choreography was outstanding throughout. Better than most I've seen in the theatre. It was so good you might think it was choreographed by Kenny Ortega.

Swept Away

I've decided to use my broom more this summer since my electric bill was higher than it should be, and I blame my roomba since it takes forever to charge. I guess it could have something to do with running my air conditioner too, but I blame the roomba.

Beetle Street

Here are two of the Beetles that live on my street. There is another that looks remarkably like mine except for the fact that the other one has a squirrel bumper sticker, which I would never have because I hate squirrels. I like seeing the classic and new Bugs together in this picture. If only one was a convertible.

Bunny Watch

Nigel's been spending a lot of time in the window seat of the dining room. I think he's been watching the bunny that hangs around the house.

Baking Fallout

When I bake, I use a lot of equipment. I have three bowls for my KitchenAid mixer so I tend to use one for each thing I make instead of washing the same bowl for each step along the way. I also have three sets of measuring cups and five or six sets of measuring spoons so I can use a different teaspoon for dry ingredients and wet ingredients. I rarely reuse spatulas and mixing bowls either. It's no surprise that I'm always left with a huge clean-up. Almost everything requires handwashing so it takes forever. I love baking, but I hate cleaning-up after.

The last things I baked for a party yesterday were a cake with two kinds of frosting and cookies with yet another type of frosting. Lots o' dishes to do. I think the kitchen will be clean by next weekend.

Shoe and Tell

Some kid spilled cheese dip on my left brown suede sandal today so I sent him to my car to get my beach sandals. I put them on and realized the right one was torn. I wore them for a while but then the bottom fell off my right shoe, and it was unwearable. I was tempted to wear the right brown sandal and the left beach sandal but decided to send the kid back to my car to get my brown flip flops that I keep in the car for pedicures. Really, I should have picked the flip flops in the first place since they matched my outfit, and they are cuter than the beach sandals.

The beach sandals got thrown away. I have to see if the suede ones are salvageable tomorrow. I rinsed the cheese off but am not sure the suede survived the assault.

Summer Baking

I've noticed that baking with butter and shortening is easier when the weather isn't humid and hot. Baking with oil doesn't seem to be affected by the weather as much.

I think I need to learn more about the science behind baking.