📅 August 2006

From my latest craigslist correspondent:

Hey Lisa.

Camping with my family is such an impossible thing to imagine that I
had to just laugh when I heard you say that.

I have played around with mixing software: protools and performer, but currently am going to tape. i'm looking around for a computadora to record on, but kinda dreading the process: hours in manual madness when i just want to make music. have to do it, have to do it, i'll do it tomorrow.
(old wall of voodoo song.)

i'm sticking to my resolution to go to a different cafe every day.
kind of a comment on how many cafes there are in this hood. now i'm starting to write reviews. i've included my notes for your boredom.

okay, gots to get to work.

have fun with the fams.

josiah

- Muddy's [24/Valencia] (I bring my own cup) 20 oz for 1.35, best,
strongest, the benchmark

- Ritual [21st/Valencia] 12 oz. 1.75, weak/watery, pretty bad, over the
top social scene "Who wants to get dressed up just to go get coffee." - Overheard on the street.

- Phil's [24th Folsom] 12 oz. 3.00 plus 1 dollar tip: hand made
(individual drip) excellent/strong, if it weren't for the price and the distance this would be the one. Great funky hippie scene.

- Starbucks [safeway on market] (forget howmuch, not very good)

- Out of the Way [22nd/Bartlett in the mall] (2 week old place) "2.98"
plus 1; hand made, okay/weak, but nice place full of plants and good
hippie/latin vibe, but this place will fail.

- Little spot [23rd and Folsom] 1.50 for 12 oz. surprisingly strong,
Virginia recommended this joint cause it's fair trade coffee. Excellent for price/caffeine.

[reprinted without permission]

It turns out my last tetanus shot was in 1991. So I'm already living on borrowed time.

Seems like some other crazy things have happened. Oh yeah! I ran into someone I used to work with, like, 10 jobs ago back in Boston. I was at this Irish Pub with Larry to see his friend Mark's band play, and Beth was there with a friend who Mark had just moved in with. Freaky! I checked out her web site and it's like we've been living these parallel lives. If you've ever had one job that launched you on a particular path and everybody there later hooked everybody else up with the next job, you might know what I mean. Not to mention all the other hooking up going on. ;-)

What else? Oh yeah, this one contractor came in and asked me if this was a former crack house. Maybe it is, but that comment did not endear me to him. I get enough crap like that from family and friends, I don't have to take it from someone I'm going to pay to haul away the four layers of debris-encrusted carpet I just tore out. (Ok, my family and friends are pretty diplomatic to my face. But I know that's what they're thinking!)

Anyway, I wasn't sure I liked this guy, but he was here and ready to go. And when I asked if he had a shop vac he said I could borrow it, so that clinched it. I ended up buying my own girl-size shop vac later, but it would have taken me approximately 7.5 more years to suck all the crap out with just mine. Might as well just break a few more mirrors while I'm at it.

p.s. - wow, I just read everybody else's posts and realized just how boring my life is, considering getting a tetanus shot is one of the highlights. Oh yeah! I forgot to mention, my friend Beth also volunteers for the Marine Mammal Center, the same one where Kolby [inlink]twisted,11[/inlink] was rescued oh so many posts ago!

I went up on my roof today. I've wanted to for a while. But since you need a 14' ladder (which I don't have) to access it, today was my first chance.

Luckily I had anticipated the possibility enough to have my camera ready when the roofing guy asked, "do you want to come up?"

Confronted by the ladder, I wasn't so sure. But my previous intentions bolstered me enough to say yes. And once I was up the ladder, sheer momentum (and Victor's outstretched hand) got me past the scary moment of stepping sideways over nothingness to make that last step onto the roof.

Going down was not so easy. Stepping up over nothingness when you're almost to solid roof is one thing. Stepping down over nothingness to maneuver onto a ladder rung is quite another. I tried to talk Victor into moving the ladder down far enough so I could go down over the top of the ladder instead of doing the mid-air sideways maneuver. He didn't go for it.

For a minute I thought about having the fire department rescue me like a cat in a tree. But they probably would have left me there until I got hungry enough to come down on my own. That's what I would have done.

I made it! And I even have pictures to show for it.


My place is right on the fringe of downtown. You can see the dome of City Hall on the right, and the Transamerica pyramid on the left.


Downtown is impressive, but I really like the view of some of the neighboring Victorians.


Oh yeah. I discovered another tenant innovation. I should probably figure out how to work this since this will be my bathroom when my family comes to visit next week.

OMG. My step-mother Jean is so organized.

Hello Everyone,

I would love your help with a project that may be fun for you also. I am compiling a pictorial recipe book. An outline is attached. It is meant to collect your favorite recipes that bring back memories of shared times with friends and family. Ideas for menus, great parties (for kids and adults), holiday traditions and decorations. Anything you would like to pass on to each other and future generations is what I am seeking. I hope to also include pictures and some bio info.


A Collection of Recipes, Family Fun Ideas, Decorations, and Holiday Traditions from Friends and Family
including pictures and a little history about the people, places and items submitted

Purpose: Produce a journal of family and friend's recipes and traditions to pass on to grand children and interested family members and friends.

Process: Most likely a two or three step process. First, collect the contents; second, do a draft and insert photos; third, have the first printing done by Christmas, 2006.

Timetable: August-September- collect information
     October-November-design and production
     Early December-finalize first printing and run off

Outline of Possible Ideas, Content:
Favorite Recipes with notation as to who submitted, who they are, a picture of the person or how or when the recipe is best used. Example: Lemon Meringue Pie- Mom Alden's recipe with a picture of her and how she used to make it for Sunday dinner, usually with Chicken Fricassee'. Include recipe for Chicken as well.

Holidays-
Family traditions, menus, recipes, decorations
Example: Alden Family Thanksgiving- Pop Alden wrote a humorous account of the Pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving along with a Blessing which I have. This will be included along with other memories of "Alden Thanksgivings", traditional menu and some favorite recipes.
Example: The description of the Wist/Olsen family tradition of a Danish Smorgasbord including the story of rice pudding and the nut.

Decorations: How to make something special-centerpiece, wreath, candles....anything unique.

Celebrations-
Celebrations worth remembering and sharing. Ideas, recipes, menus, decorations for Birthdays, Anniversaries, Super Bowl, 4th of July etc.

What I am asking for: Send or e-mail what you would like to share. Or, send your phone number and I will call you. I can scan and return photos, or accept them over e-mail. I will format everything. Things may be handwritten.

How to reach me:
         email: so&so@blah.net
         address: Misty Cove, SC
         phone: 864.555.5555
         cell (Verizon): 864.444.4444
(I love that she mentions the carrier so you know whether you get mobile-to-mobile minutes. I for one appreciate that.)

come to think of it - how many days did it take? Don't answer that.

Thanks for the encouraging words @libertad ! I could use them!

Wish I could fly you out here to help me. But if suburban Buffalo is too far to be enticed, I'm guessing I can't afford to entice you here. Or maybe I can't afford not to?

Anyway, two more pix:


Fluffy, we hardly knew ye! Unless you're the one who peed on my carpet. In which case we knew ye way more than we wanted to.


By chance I took a look inside the oven today. Guess they didn't do much baking!

No horse or cow, but I believe I see a camel.

Description of Problem:
I can't get a dial tone any more. I rebooted everything and I have an internet connection, but no dial tone.

Best Time to Call Back:
RIGHT NOW!!!

The title came to me while I was trying to decide whether to risk dying from PFOA or LDLs when making my omelette this morning. I take inspiration wherever I find it.

There is so much to catch up on, but still no time. Anyway, I responded to a craigslist posting, and who might the poster be but [inlink]twisted,260[/inlink] Stevil! Small world. We're going to see Soul Asylum on Wednesday.

So much more to say! I wish I could do my title justice. Oh well, maybe next time.

My upstairs tenants have moved out. They left me a few momentos to remember them by. No where near as bad as I expected though. I'll probably give them their full $200 security deposit back.


Coal (?), broken glass, paint and other debris along the front stairs


For some reason they kept a bail of hay in the bathroom rafters. I'm not sure why they would do that, or why my bathroom would have rafters.

I just spent the morning doing a first pass clean up, and pulling up two layers of carpet. There's still 1 layer left in most places. You can't imagine how gross it is. But the good thing about carpet and linoleum is, it doesn't really matter how gross is it, since you're going to tear it out anyway.





Same thing with painting walls. I wonder if I should save any of these phone numbers? I'll get a shot of Fluffy's epitaph now that I've cleared off my digital camera. Fluffy rated a spot over the fireplace.

Don't worry @paul I will have this all cleaned out by the time you get here. Although probably not by the time Dad and Jean get here August 30. They want to spend two of the seven days they're here working on the house. I know it's futile to argue with them, and I could use the help. But I better get the gross stuff done before they get here.

It's not all bad. The layout is way better than the middle unit, which really should be the first floor for one big unit, but I can't afford that.


Living room upstairs, should look like the middle unit [inlink]twisted,292[/inlink] some day.

Just don't go into the kitchen.

Canaries, that is. And us delicately constituted Californians.

Seriously, I found this article somewhat alarming.

In just two or three minutes of preheating, your (Teflon) pan will give off fumes that can make you sick. Each time you use medium to high heat on an empty pan, the surface on Teflon-coated and other nonstick cookware breaks apart and emits a toxic chemical called perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, according to the Environmental Working Group, a Washington, D.C., organization that investigates issues of environmental health and safety.

Avian veterinarians have known for decades that Teflon off-gases are a leading cause of death among birds, and estimated that hundreds, perhaps thousands, of birds are killed each year.

Like the canaries that were used in the coal mines, birds act as an early warning system for humans. The EPA recommends that bird owners avoid cookware and heated appliances with nonstick coatings completely. Perhaps everyone should be heeding this warning.

In January 2006, DuPont agreed to an EPA plan to phase out PFOA by the year 2015.

I'm not going to throw out my teflon quite yet, but I am going to take the following precautions (at least until the next environmental hazard comes along).

If a recipe calls for preheating an empty pan, either put the oil in first anyway, use a stainless steel or cast iron pan, or get someone else to cook it for you and stay far away from the kitchen. (Ha! Just kidding about that last one.) Also good advice from the article - never preheat teflon on high, and make sure your kitchen is well ventilated. Also, keep pet birds out of the kitchen.

Great, one more thing to worry about.

It has been a crazy week. I wish I could go into details, but here are some highlights.

Biking into work on Thursday, (well, actually it was biking home from a sleepover in Alameda Wednesday night, which would have positioned me quite advantageously for my ride back into work on Thursday (assuming a borrowed change of clothes), EXCEPT for the fact that my ex-boyfriend, Mark, had borrowed my car the day before and parked it in a Thursday 8a.m. street cleaning zone. (NOOO!!!!) So I had to bike to BART at 6:45 am, BART into the city by 8am, move my car (after finding my spare set of car keys AND my car), then shower, change, and BART back to work. Ok, I know I've lost you by know.

But one of the interesting things I encountered was "Project Homeless Connect" at the Bill Graham auditorium when biking back into work on Thursday. What is "Project Homeless Connect" you say? Glad you asked.