Back That Shit Up

You think that I am going to talk about data storage backups, don’t you? WRONG! (Though you should do them regularly to minimize your loss in case of catastrophe.)

For the past few nights I’ve been backing the Jackmobile into the carport to facilitate easier loading of items like laundry and Goodwill donations. Pulling straight out of the driveway has been pretty easy (note to self: You MUST cut back those holly bushes this year!) except for this morning when I managed to not see (hey, it was very dark!), and then run over a medium-size limb which had fallen sometime last night. I seriously doubt that the Jackmobile incurred any damaged, but the sound of the crunching was a startling way to start my day.

Jambalaya Means Never Having To Say You Are Sorry
I arrived home last night after getting a hip massage and back cracking to start my batch of jambalaya. I cut and cooked, following portion directions loosely in order to use up the produce I had on hand. I also decided to try a different cooking vessel, damn, this may have made a good maiden voyage for the new Lodge dutch oven — oh well, things probably would have stuck inside of it. Since it’s been some time since I’ve whipped up a batch of jambalaya I couldn’t quite remember how high I cooked the concoction for its final thirty-five minutes. The answer was lower than the setting that I actually used last night as the resultant pot had a good amount of burned rice on the bottom. Who doesn’t like a wee little bit of burned-rice crunch in their jambalaya, right?

It was far from my best batch of jambalaya, but it wasn’t my worst either. Guess what I’m having for lunch today. 🙂

Oh, Miss ITP-Reader Betsy, we forgot to take your gefilte fish out of the refrigerator last night. Let me know when you want/need it and a delivery can be arranged. For you, I’ll do it at cost — next-to-nothing.

In The Darkness Of The Morning
I didn’t know how “cool” it would be to just drop my donation items off at Goodwill but when I passed by and saw that someone had already done the same (including a couch which appeared to suck up some of last night’s rain) I decided to get rid of my items while it wasn’t raining.

There is a new office building being constructed not far from my office (yes Virginia, the economy seems to be recovering very slowly) so I was pleased, but not surprised to see a food truck (aka a “roach coach”) parked near the Goodwill. As I unloaded my goods I thought about stopping at the truck to see what they offered, but to my dismay they were gone by the time I had unloaded the car (which took no more than five, ten minutes). Dangen!

RealiTV Update: Top Chef Masters — Speaking Of Roaches…
Last night ITP-Reader Betsy and her pups came over sporting an entire collection of Jewish foods (including the aforementioned gefilte fish) to watch Top Chef Masters. Oh me of not Hebrew faith (Betsy’s not either, not that there’s anything wrong with that.) I cooked up a non-traditional Passover jambalaya (I was about to say it was kosher, and then I remembered that it contained andouille sausage. HA!) which is what we ate instead.

Luckily we had our fill of food intake completed when last night’s Quickfire Challenge of cooking with insects and bugs started. None of the dishes prepared for that challenge appealed to me (I guess I’m just not a hardcore foodie), but I was impressed with cheftestant Suvir Saran (Wrap?) who followed his Hindu faith (Jesus Christ, when did this blog get so much religion?) by not killing the worms. Instead, he served the worms in a jar with a mini-blowtorch next to it in case the judges wanted to pick and execute their own horned worm. Suvir wound up on the bottom two for his decision, but that was okay by him.

The night’s Elimination Challenge had the cheftestants serving up a nine-course tasting menu in the name of charity, or something along those lines (Have I mentioned the wine consumption that occurs during Top Chef (and Masters) nights?). While the cheftestants had their run of the kitchen for food preparation there were a few “twists” (read “c’mon, let these people cook already!) tossed their way

• During prep the water to the kitchen was shut off. One of the chefs was super clever and fetched ice from the freezer and melted some for his needs.
• During prep the cheftestants were told that the dinner service would start thirty minutes before the previously stated time.
• During prep the cheftestants were told that there would be no service staff, so in addition to preparing the food they’d have to serve it.

I don’t know if the imposed limitations had anything to do with it, but honestly, none of the dishes looked that appetizing — including the soup which won the night’s praise (Soup? Really?).

In the end there was a 66.6% chance that one of the cheftestants that I like would be told to pack her knives and go home. Instead, the producers satisfied me by kicking off the one dude in the elimination lineup.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – okay, though I have much concern
Current Music – silence so that there are few distractions
Website Of The Day – Okay Kindle Heads, this one’s for you eReader IQ. This may be of value to Nook users but I haven’t done that much investigation into the service (shocking, I know).
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Morning Weigh-In – not checking because I’m afraid to know

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 0.0 miles
Wheel Mileage – 0.0 miles
Pushups – 0
Situps – 0
Stairs – 0 flights

Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 0 (0)

Vegetarian Days – 3
Carnivorous Days – 17

Marta Rides To Work – 0
Bike Rides To Work – 0

April Goals
– “Completely” recover from the bike crash
– Not to get sick for the entire month
– Not get fired from my job
– Run at least once
– Lose two pounds
– Go out on a date with someone else
– Read an entire book, specifically The Mole People: Life In The Tunnels Beneath New York City

2011 Goals [will be a little more fluid than in past years]
– Reduce my weight by 25 pounds based on the my weight as measured on February 1st
– Completely read the book Daily Negations which I received as a Christmas gift.
– Run Sharpened Stone as a real business — one which does not get penalized.
– Save $500 for the sole purpose of donating to charitable organizations of my choice
– Attend at least one professional photography workshop
– Enter no fewer than three photographic competitions / gallery showings
– Ride in no fewer than five 50 mile or 50K bike rides
– Run in no fewer than two one half-marathon
– Submit at least one application under the name “Sharpened Stone” to Apple’s iOS store

The Unmeasurable
– Continue backing up all data, including the off-site storage
– Become a proficient programmer in Objective-C
– Do not create a solution for something which is not a problem
– Eat smaller portions

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]