12/28/09 09:14 - 22ºF - ID#50675

Trader Joe's

Today I exchanged $20 of my hard earned money for:

Dried Mangosteens
Olives stuffed with garlic
Olives stuffed with jalapenos
Olive Tapenade spread
Italian Grapefruit Soda

I love Trader Joes

Permalink: Trader_Joe_s.html
Words: 29
Location: Buffalo , NY

12/15/09 07:58 - 31ºF - ID#50571

Byron Brown

My blog post about Byron Brown is a little more amusing than Joshua's.

My mom and I did the City Hall tour and during the tour you get to go into the Mayor's office. It's a large room with 2 or 3 office rooms inside that room.

Byron Brown was in the main office area. He stopped and greeted my mom and me. And my mom stuck out her hand right out and said, "Hi Byron, how are you."

I couldn't stop laughing for the rest of the day that my mom was on first name basis with the mayor.

Permalink: Byron_Brown.html
Words: 98
Location: Buffalo , NY

11/21/09 06:26 - 47ºF - ID#50362

Known to me as another

There is an artist played on the Top 40 Country radio stationa whose songs I enjoy but I don't really know much about him.

I got a chance to watch Country Music Television and saw a couple of videos by this artist. Turns out he's African American. Not exactly a common occurrence in Top 40 Country. I was intrigued and he looked familiar to me.

So I googled him. He was the lead singer from Hootie and The Blowfish - who I only knew as Hootie... and I now know as country singer Darius Ruckers. And I like him. Huh.

Permalink: Known_to_me_as_another.html
Words: 98
Location: Buffalo , NY

11/18/09 06:07 - 56ºF - ID#50339

Twilight

If any one is interested in the first book in the Twilight Series, I'd be happy to give it to you.

I picked it up to read when I was down sick out of curiosity and because I LOVED Anne Rice's Vampire series. It paled in comparison to Anne Rice's stories...

So I don't really want it, but I really hate throwing things away if someone else would like it, so just give me a holler.

Permalink: Twilight.html
Words: 76
Location: Buffalo , NY

11/16/09 11:50 - 41ºF - ID#50319

Who got who?

I've been a supervisor of staff for almost 5 years now.

One of my favorite staff scenarios is the following.

Me: I need you to (fill in blank with reasonable request, i.e show up to work on time).

Staff: No because of (fill in with BS excuse).

Me: Sorry, but I still need you to do it.

Staff: I'm going to quit.

Me: Ok. Are you going to give me two weeks or quit on the spot?

Most of the time it's a bluff. During the rare occassion when they actually quit, so be it.

I had a variation on that theme recently. A staff person quit on short notice, actually no notice, without really identifying a reason other than not liking the job. And did not give notice really to me, but to the HR dept. According to my other staff their reasoning went as follows:

My supervisor made a request of me. It made me unhappy. I'm going to quit immediately regardless of if I have a new job lined up or not. That will show my supervisor.

Really? That will show me? The staff actually screwed over their co-workers because they had to pick up the slack. And me, well, I still have a job and benefits, so ya know...I'm really hurting in comparison.

Permalink: Who_got_who_.html
Words: 218
Location: Buffalo , NY

11/03/09 10:48 - 47ºF - ID#50208

The flu sucks

If you have it, go home.

If someone else at work has it, make them go home.

The flu is flying through my workplace at an unbelievable rate. Clients, staff, everyone is sick. I've never seen so many people get it so quickly.

Permalink: The_flu_sucks.html
Words: 43
Location: Buffalo , NY

10/25/09 07:30 - 49ºF - ID#50115

Polenta Marinara

Slices of polenta layered in a pan
Layer of marinara
Layer of parmesan cheese
Layer of mozzarella cheese

Repeat layering until pan is full
Bake at 350

And you get...

tinypliny writes at 09:55:41 10/25/09 - Comment #52421: Wow - so this is basically a corn-based lasagna! Brilliant!

janelle writes at 09:49:34 10/25/09 - Comment #52420: Polenta is made from cornmeal cooked in water. I use some chicken broth in addition to water; vegetarians could use a veggie broth of course.

1lb of cornmeal or 3 and 1/3 cups.
Bring to boil 8 cups of water/veggie brother. Slowly pour in the cornmeal while whisking quickly until it's all mixed in. It will be thick. Let it simmer for 45 minutes.

Rinse out a 9x13 glass baking pan with cold water and pour polenta into the baking pan. Put in fridge for two hours to cool.

Now it's ready to use however you want. For the recipe I made, you slice the polenta into 1/2 inch slices.

tinypliny writes at 09:24:39 10/25/09 - Comment #52419: Wait, is that a thing without a nervous system... just checking.

tinypliny writes at 09:23:01 10/25/09 - Comment #52418: We want the recipÃ© for polenta!
We want the recipÃ© for polenta!
We want the recipÃ© for polenta!
We want the recipÃ© for polenta!
We want the recipÃ© for polenta!
We want the recipÃ© for polenta!
We want the recipÃ© for polenta!
We want the recipÃ© for polenta!
We want the recipÃ© for polenta!
Drool Drool Drool Drool Drool!

mrmike writes at 09:20:08 10/25/09 - Comment #52417: Looks great

james writes at 09:13:10 10/25/09 - Comment #52414: Oh my god that looks delicious.

theecarey writes at 08:07:45 10/25/09 - Comment #52409: Oh, this looks so good, Janelle. I usually buy the tube stuff, which may still work just for a small serving, but I like the idea of making polenta to be able to make a larger batch. Yum!

janelle writes at 08:03:30 10/25/09 - Comment #52408: I made my own. I've never tried the store brand stuff. I guess it would be convenient to be able to slice off a small piece to fry or bake. But I think for this recipe you need a lot and it would be less expensive to make your own.

heidi writes at 07:40:01 10/25/09 - Comment #52407: Wow, that looks awesome. Did you make your own polenta or use the sausage-tube prepared kind? I saw two different flavors at the coop last week and was awfully tempted.

Permalink: Polenta_Marinara.html
Words: 33
Location: Buffalo , NY

10/25/09 02:11 - 52ºF - ID#50106

Scharf's restaurant

I went with a group of people to Scharf's restaurant. It's a German restaurant on the east side in the Schiller Park area.

I don't know if others on estrip have been, but if you haven't been and would like to try some German food, it was fabulous. We went on a Saturday night for their Oktoberfest menu which largely offered variations on weiner schnitzel.

I had zeuegner schnitzel which was weiner schnitzel in a creamy sauce with strips of red and green peppers. And I shared a potato pancake with someone. Best potato pancake, ever!

They had a small selection of German beers in bottle and on tap. Not a large selection, but the ones they had were good.

I highly recommend and would be happy to go with anyone who wants to give it a taste!

Permalink: Scharf_s_restaurant.html
Words: 144
Location: Buffalo , NY

10/19/09 07:29 - 49ºF - ID#50056

Babies!

After several hours of classes; background checks; fingerprints; and a few hair pulling moments....(e:drew) and I are about to become foster parents.

And we need babysitters!

Yes, I realize, we don't even have children yet, but we are already looking to find a way to pawn them off on other people....

But we would like to find a babysitter soon, because any babysitter for our foster children needs to fill out a background check form and do fingerprints. And all of the aforementioned needs processed before we can leave children alone with said babysitter.

We have one potential babysitter lined up, but I would like to find a second. So I am hoping to work my (e:strip) connections to find someone who is 21 or over; able to pass a background check and fingerprints; and willing to be a regular baby sitter for a little pocket money (i.e. twice a month or so)....

Any takers??

Permalink: Babies_.html
Words: 158
Location: Buffalo , NY

10/05/09 07:59 - 54ºF - ID#49937

Sticky Door Quick Fix

We've had a sticky door in the back hallway. You have to turn the handle with your right hand while pounding the upper left hand corner with your left hand. Hardly convenient for a fire emergency and deathly for anyone under 4' trying to get out in the event of a fire.

Found a quick fix on line. Where the door is sticking to the frame, hammer a 16d nail into the frame. The force of the hammering the nail in drives the frame away from the door. I used three nails in the frame and it got the job done. I can now open and close the door without pounding it!

Permalink: Sticky_Door_Quick_Fix.html
Words: 112
Location: Buffalo , NY

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