F 1 D 0 -- 2001 11 25 at 12 30

The joys of shared accomodation.

I've been warned by a friend that
she won't have anything to do with
this any longer.  She hates all of
the petty side effects.

I'm starting to see it this way.

I've lost 4 bowls and some stainless
cutlery.  I had two pair of scissors
only last week.  And my cheese mill
has vanished.

Sigh.

Total value of petty disappearances?
About 20.00 - hardly worth a war.

Except I want to nail it before it
continues.  So I dunno. I hate wars.

I just saw Cathy.  She is interested
in a bedroom I have for rent here.
She had phoned me a lot over the 
last week.  I even got calls from her 
current roommate, confirming that she 
really was coming out this way.

She rushed the tour. I can tell when
someone is unhappy with the place, and
this girl didn't like it here.  I think
it was the two hour bus ride, but I cannot
truly say.  She works in the west end, and
we are in the east end of the city here.

After I finish writing this, I should 
do something active.  Maybe run the block.
I'd go to the gym if it were not so
lovely out.

This is the kind of fall time we look
forward to all year long.  It is about
60F outside.  Oh, there is a touch of
rain, but I like it.  

But there are some domestic chores I
have been neglecting.  So I'm wondering
if today is the day?  

I bought a Kensington WebCam device recently.
Don't buy one! Don't! Don't!

The price was only 30.00, but if it doesn't
do the webcam thing, then it is just a bad
digital camera, tethered to the computer.

This device requires NetMeeting, and takes
about two minutes to load. During this time
the computer is completely frozen. This is
Microsoft doing their efficiency thing.

I smell popcorn.  That is popular here. I bought
a 5 lb bag of it, and hardly got a taste of it.

That happens a lot. People here think that
if I buy something and don't use it promptly,
it is evil.  There are a class of things
I want to have around for when the mood hits!

Sigh, am I complaining once again? I'll stop.

I'm happy when they just use popcorn. It
is cheap and makes them very happy.

Caesar should have figured this out for 
himself. His expression would have been
"Popcorn and Television" when describing
entertaining the masses (he coined "Bread
and Circus" instead). 

Last night's contradance was good. Not amazing,
just good. I'm wondering if I'm tiring of the
genre, though?  What do I want from a good
dance?  Now and then I'm thinking it is a
waste of my time, but interesting.  So even
as I write you, I'm thinking I may start doing
other things on Saturday nights. I have a shortage
of useful nights, and this will go on with or 
without me.

Eddie did the door for me almost the
entire night. He's got an arthritic auto
immune disorder which has been crippling
him for the last two years.

He's back in business, now that he's
got some therapy which stops the problem.
But during the evaluation period, he had
so much trouble just getting someone to
accept his description of the story. 

Oh, in the last year, it was apparent. His
joints became frozen in a bent position, and
the skin became shiny with tension. But he'd
been seeking help when only he knew the problem
was there.

Which reminds me. I read in the Metro that
a Bio Tech firm in Israel has developed a
product which prevents the body from destroying
the beta cells in the pancreas.  I'll explain.

Everyone knows that diabetes happens because
you don't get insulin, and that happens in the
pancreas.  But the interesting thing is that
when they try to get the body to grow a new
pancreas, it resists.  The thing will grow
in a lab environment, but put the tissue into
a diabetic, and the body kills the important
cells.  So this is the problem of diabetes:
how to keep the body from doing the auto 
immune thing against its own pancreas.

This company in Israel seems to have found
an answer.  I think it will make money on 
this one.

Last night before bed I was determined to
cook something. But what, but what?

I took a roast out of the freezer, but
didn't feel like that.

I decided to try out mixing two creams
to create a new softer cream.  I read
this from Michel Guerard's "Cuisine
Minceur."  

Just mix a cup of sour cream with a 
cup of whipping cream.  Use it fresh
if you have to, but he recommends letting
it mellow.  Use it after a night if you
must.  But he thinks two or three days
is best.

(the recipes I share are simply things
I have read, and wanted to share with
you too. I will try them and write again)

After looking and saying, "nahhh" a few
times, I decided on making Garbanzo beans
from the dry ones.  It takes a while. About
2 or 3 hours!  But by 530am they were ready
for me to puree.

I've not tasted them yet. Oh, I ate the stuff
connected to the hand blender, but I want to
get a serving of it.  Have you ever woken up
full, kind of disinterested in food because
of that fullness?  I want to eat, but I'm not
hungry, in that empty way.

I want to eat before I leave, since I'll truly
experience a pang later. 

That's all I know.