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Jun. 19th, 2017 10:32 amThis weekend has been interesting. Actually, it's been boring. Blessedly boring! No trips out! No obligations! No last-minute disasters! No crises that miraculously macguffin'd their way into our life!
As a result, I got to enjoy a Saturday of absolutely NOTHING to do. Along the way-
-Another big spider found its way inside. Out you go, enjoy eating the insects! (I should probably break out the black duct tape and start checking for more holes)
-We took a walk on Saturday that was spurred by Pokemon Go but ended up becoming a visit of the town hall and the school nearby. There's apparently a camping summer program back there and a mess of trails I've never known about. The playground there is also really new: they have this rail slide thing that looked so cool but I am way too weak in my upper body to enjoy, which really annoys me because it looks so fun!
Gaming
I finally have honed my oneness with the Animal Crossing. I have caught those damn tree insects and filled the museum with my captives. I have tamed the mighty Dorado and have him displayed for amusement amongst the lucky Arowana and the rebellious piranha, and the mortgage has now shrunk to a tiny thing in such a way that I wish I too, in real life, could tame my debts with such passivity. For I... am mighty!
Yeah, actually, I'm just saying that I finally am getting a hang of the game.
Planting
The garden is sprouting more. I took some photos of the outdoors as I weeded out the sprouts. I bent down to do it before, but then I realized that one foot and ample ankle pressure can uproot almost anything on new mulch. Pulled the plants, and then buried the mulch over them to let the heat kill them out. Or maybe I made them root deeper. I guess we'll see soon enough.
Journey (no, not the band thank god)
On Sunday, Michelle realized she needed a bra, and the yellowing of the plants in that planter made me wonder if I should get some proper nitrate source and we noted the fan has a flimsy pull chain, so we needed to go out. Since we relaxed at home all day, we drove to Plattsburgh. I didn't bring my gear bag with me this time, but did slightly regret it as the insane heat of the weather opened up and exhibited the fierce summer sun. 90 degrees over here. I can only imagine how people even survived Father's Day in triple degree heat.
By the way, today seemed to be filled with discounts for dads, which I thought was odd. I joked occasionally to Michelle to call me a dad.
We stopped for ice cream where a brown poodle rushed to the counter between my legs. Ever imagine a fluffy pillow being shoved between your legs (not in a crotch-shot sort of way)? That's what it was like. The owner apologized, but I thought it was adorable. Yay, surprise pupper!
So coast driving, a trip to Bed Bath and Beyond for washing bags for "intimates," then Lowe's for some plant food, fan pulls, and denatured alcohol for stoves. We spent several minutes on this because there's denatured alcohol and this "green" denatured alcohol for cheaper. Michelle felt sure about using the regular one since it says "burns clean for stoves" compared to the green alcohol which just "burns clean." I was inclined to the green one because "green" alcohol means that it's likely going to be mostly ethanol instead of partially ethanol. Several minutes looking for the MSDS for both finally found the green one to be mostly ethanol, a bit of methanol, some sort of fatty acid, and vinegar. I went with that. We could work with the regular one, but one thing I remember from my camping days that I liked about ethanol is that I can clean my dishes with it as an alternative in case we run low on water and I don't have to worry as much about the absorbed toxins as much as I do with methanol.
We had spare time because of course we did, so we went to Target. Because Target is a rarity in our neck of the woods, that's why! It was honestly because we wanted to get some more walking done and that was it. So why was I almost walking home with an upright food slicer?
Michelle found a purse that is larger than the one she has (she said she wanted something that could hold more for longer trips) and is more rustic looking, although it also means that she won't be wearing Coach, which she seems to get a lot of compliments for. I also ended up finding a huge series of Lego knockoffs that are specifically geared towards the Yankees: the perfect birthday gift for my brother! Bought them all, that'll save me a gift idea four months later. Also, peanut butter because...
cooking
I wanted to make pad thai because we haven't had a noodle dish in awhile and I wanted to use up some more old produce.
-boil out some rice noodles
-Bake some frozen popcorn shrimp
-Mince ginger
-slice onions
-Throw in two ounces of oil, heat low
-Throw in ginger and onions and some red pepper flakes, immerse
-Throw in half a stick of butter because that's apparently not enough oil, sigh
-in meantime, put in three tablespoons of chicken stock, two tablespoons garlic powder generous helping of fish sauce, quarter cup of soy sauce, three spoonfuls of honey and mix. There's supposed to be turmeric too, but I almost never use the stuff
-Throw in sliced kale, slivered jalapenos, some leftover pulled pork, sliced mushrooms, fry until cooked to nearly done
-Make hole in mix, throw in three eggs, stir and try to scramble and don't swear to self if it COMES OUT GRAINY DAMN IT I KNEW I SHOULD HAVE USED NONSTICK INSTEAD!!
-Ahem, anyway throw in rice noodles
-Pour in sauce, mix
-Top with peanut-oh damn it. "Michelle? Have you seen the peanut butter?" "I can't seem to find it." "Darn, I thought we had some."
-Throw in pumpkin seeds and hope it makes a decent substitute (it doesn't)
-top with baked popcorn shrimp
For the record, it still came out pretty decently despite that.
Anyway,
Now I can make more peanut-based recipes again. Chunky should be good enough for this.
The drive back came with warnings of thunderstorms. In fact, the weekly outlook is nothing. but. thunderstorms. And to think I was worried about not watering my plants.
We are literally racing against the storm as we try to make it down from Plattsburgh back into VT. We get hit by one part of it as we approach Burlington and the pelting is like a giant car wash on high power. No car handles this readily and a string of cars blink hazards as they brave against the spray and traffic crawls to 35mph.
Michelle is tempted to pull over or take an alternative route, but I assure her that the formation is going to pass us if we move quickly enough. Ten minutes of the washer and highways that are flooding quickly, and before you know it we're back to a spray and then the air that hits our windows with bugs instead of rain. So much for the clean car.
We make it back ahead of the storm and we sleep to a night of a quiet fan breezing into our skin and the drumroll of a relentless rain.
Today is pretty quiet for me. No complaints here thus far. Hence why I am writing yet another long post.
Photos
-to come. This post is too long.
As a result, I got to enjoy a Saturday of absolutely NOTHING to do. Along the way-
-Another big spider found its way inside. Out you go, enjoy eating the insects! (I should probably break out the black duct tape and start checking for more holes)
-We took a walk on Saturday that was spurred by Pokemon Go but ended up becoming a visit of the town hall and the school nearby. There's apparently a camping summer program back there and a mess of trails I've never known about. The playground there is also really new: they have this rail slide thing that looked so cool but I am way too weak in my upper body to enjoy, which really annoys me because it looks so fun!
Gaming
I finally have honed my oneness with the Animal Crossing. I have caught those damn tree insects and filled the museum with my captives. I have tamed the mighty Dorado and have him displayed for amusement amongst the lucky Arowana and the rebellious piranha, and the mortgage has now shrunk to a tiny thing in such a way that I wish I too, in real life, could tame my debts with such passivity. For I... am mighty!
Yeah, actually, I'm just saying that I finally am getting a hang of the game.
Planting
The garden is sprouting more. I took some photos of the outdoors as I weeded out the sprouts. I bent down to do it before, but then I realized that one foot and ample ankle pressure can uproot almost anything on new mulch. Pulled the plants, and then buried the mulch over them to let the heat kill them out. Or maybe I made them root deeper. I guess we'll see soon enough.
Journey (no, not the band thank god)
On Sunday, Michelle realized she needed a bra, and the yellowing of the plants in that planter made me wonder if I should get some proper nitrate source and we noted the fan has a flimsy pull chain, so we needed to go out. Since we relaxed at home all day, we drove to Plattsburgh. I didn't bring my gear bag with me this time, but did slightly regret it as the insane heat of the weather opened up and exhibited the fierce summer sun. 90 degrees over here. I can only imagine how people even survived Father's Day in triple degree heat.
By the way, today seemed to be filled with discounts for dads, which I thought was odd. I joked occasionally to Michelle to call me a dad.
We stopped for ice cream where a brown poodle rushed to the counter between my legs. Ever imagine a fluffy pillow being shoved between your legs (not in a crotch-shot sort of way)? That's what it was like. The owner apologized, but I thought it was adorable. Yay, surprise pupper!
So coast driving, a trip to Bed Bath and Beyond for washing bags for "intimates," then Lowe's for some plant food, fan pulls, and denatured alcohol for stoves. We spent several minutes on this because there's denatured alcohol and this "green" denatured alcohol for cheaper. Michelle felt sure about using the regular one since it says "burns clean for stoves" compared to the green alcohol which just "burns clean." I was inclined to the green one because "green" alcohol means that it's likely going to be mostly ethanol instead of partially ethanol. Several minutes looking for the MSDS for both finally found the green one to be mostly ethanol, a bit of methanol, some sort of fatty acid, and vinegar. I went with that. We could work with the regular one, but one thing I remember from my camping days that I liked about ethanol is that I can clean my dishes with it as an alternative in case we run low on water and I don't have to worry as much about the absorbed toxins as much as I do with methanol.
We had spare time because of course we did, so we went to Target. Because Target is a rarity in our neck of the woods, that's why! It was honestly because we wanted to get some more walking done and that was it. So why was I almost walking home with an upright food slicer?
Michelle found a purse that is larger than the one she has (she said she wanted something that could hold more for longer trips) and is more rustic looking, although it also means that she won't be wearing Coach, which she seems to get a lot of compliments for. I also ended up finding a huge series of Lego knockoffs that are specifically geared towards the Yankees: the perfect birthday gift for my brother! Bought them all, that'll save me a gift idea four months later. Also, peanut butter because...
cooking
I wanted to make pad thai because we haven't had a noodle dish in awhile and I wanted to use up some more old produce.
-boil out some rice noodles
-Bake some frozen popcorn shrimp
-Mince ginger
-slice onions
-Throw in two ounces of oil, heat low
-Throw in ginger and onions and some red pepper flakes, immerse
-Throw in half a stick of butter because that's apparently not enough oil, sigh
-in meantime, put in three tablespoons of chicken stock, two tablespoons garlic powder generous helping of fish sauce, quarter cup of soy sauce, three spoonfuls of honey and mix. There's supposed to be turmeric too, but I almost never use the stuff
-Throw in sliced kale, slivered jalapenos, some leftover pulled pork, sliced mushrooms, fry until cooked to nearly done
-Make hole in mix, throw in three eggs, stir and try to scramble and don't swear to self if it COMES OUT GRAINY DAMN IT I KNEW I SHOULD HAVE USED NONSTICK INSTEAD!!
-Ahem, anyway throw in rice noodles
-Pour in sauce, mix
-Top with peanut-oh damn it. "Michelle? Have you seen the peanut butter?" "I can't seem to find it." "Darn, I thought we had some."
-Throw in pumpkin seeds and hope it makes a decent substitute (it doesn't)
-top with baked popcorn shrimp
For the record, it still came out pretty decently despite that.
Anyway,
Now I can make more peanut-based recipes again. Chunky should be good enough for this.
The drive back came with warnings of thunderstorms. In fact, the weekly outlook is nothing. but. thunderstorms. And to think I was worried about not watering my plants.
We are literally racing against the storm as we try to make it down from Plattsburgh back into VT. We get hit by one part of it as we approach Burlington and the pelting is like a giant car wash on high power. No car handles this readily and a string of cars blink hazards as they brave against the spray and traffic crawls to 35mph.
Michelle is tempted to pull over or take an alternative route, but I assure her that the formation is going to pass us if we move quickly enough. Ten minutes of the washer and highways that are flooding quickly, and before you know it we're back to a spray and then the air that hits our windows with bugs instead of rain. So much for the clean car.
We make it back ahead of the storm and we sleep to a night of a quiet fan breezing into our skin and the drumroll of a relentless rain.
Today is pretty quiet for me. No complaints here thus far. Hence why I am writing yet another long post.
Photos
-to come. This post is too long.
