Snooty Europhiles should be forced to crawl in penitence, by Boris Johnson, is quite a fun little article. I like this guy's style.
And I'll add, I heard about a month ago Estonia was moving forward with taking on the Euro. For real? Don't they see what's happening?!
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Sunday, December 05, 2010
Misadventure to the Beer Store
Stupid bus.
I stayed late at work Friday, till after six. I was supposed to meet somebody, but plans changed, so I went to catch the 6:15 #50 bus, which was lucky because it's the only bus I can take and it only runs every 45 or so.
I was out there by 6:10, because the Stupid #50 Bus has a propensity for earliness. Technically the bus schedule should be read +/- 3 minutes, but the #50 has no regard for punctuality, or the lives ruined by leaving bus stops without the people they should be carrying. At 6:25 I gave up waiting.
Instead of waiting a half hour for the next bus, I decided to hike to the beer store--make the most of my time, do something productive. It's not that far from work, fifteen minutes in the snow, but I wouldn't normally go after work because I'm always in a rush to get home. The beer store is a place that sells micro-brewed beer from the tap--it's the only Lithuanian beer I'll buy besides Gubernijos, and it's very good but also cheap: great combo!
I slip on the ice a few times on the way, without falling but with some strain on my left quadricep. The beer store is in a large shopping complex including a mall surrounded by other smaller buildings each with one or more shops or service business.
Finally I went into a farmers marker. There were a just a few vendors left. I went up to a booth with a woman and her son and asked them. "Yes," she said, "they're new location is right over there," she pointed, "but they haven't opened yet, they're still just moving in." Ugh. When the woman offered me some kvass instead I felt too defeated to say no. Then she offered me some bacon, and I ate two pieces before realizing that I'm a vegetarian this month. Oops. I felt bad for not living up to Ed and Moacir better--but, really, wouldn't you be caught off guard if somebody randomly offered you some bacon in that situation?! It's only my second active day of vegetarianism.
After that I walk to the closest bus stop and am pleased that the #50 bus is about to come. Five minutes later I give up waiting for it yet again. Stupid bus.
I stayed late at work Friday, till after six. I was supposed to meet somebody, but plans changed, so I went to catch the 6:15 #50 bus, which was lucky because it's the only bus I can take and it only runs every 45 or so.
I was out there by 6:10, because the Stupid #50 Bus has a propensity for earliness. Technically the bus schedule should be read +/- 3 minutes, but the #50 has no regard for punctuality, or the lives ruined by leaving bus stops without the people they should be carrying. At 6:25 I gave up waiting.
Instead of waiting a half hour for the next bus, I decided to hike to the beer store--make the most of my time, do something productive. It's not that far from work, fifteen minutes in the snow, but I wouldn't normally go after work because I'm always in a rush to get home. The beer store is a place that sells micro-brewed beer from the tap--it's the only Lithuanian beer I'll buy besides Gubernijos, and it's very good but also cheap: great combo!
I slip on the ice a few times on the way, without falling but with some strain on my left quadricep. The beer store is in a large shopping complex including a mall surrounded by other smaller buildings each with one or more shops or service business.
I'd never come from that direction so I wasn't sure if I was at the right place--there was no beer store. I called my special lady to ask, because the one time we'd been to this location together she was driving. I'm just not finding it, she thought. But no, asking around got me the truth: the beer store has moved about 80 meters to a different location. Where is it, exactly? Nobody can tell me. The information booth in the mall is closed. But I've come too far now to quit, so I just keep wandering around in the dark asking people if they know.
My special lady gave me the administrative phone number from the beer store website, which is supposed to operate 24/7. No answer. I talked to Auriukas, who lives close to there, but he just new that they'd moved not far and "on the same side." Hmm.
My special lady gave me the administrative phone number from the beer store website, which is supposed to operate 24/7. No answer. I talked to Auriukas, who lives close to there, but he just new that they'd moved not far and "on the same side." Hmm.
Finally I went into a farmers marker. There were a just a few vendors left. I went up to a booth with a woman and her son and asked them. "Yes," she said, "they're new location is right over there," she pointed, "but they haven't opened yet, they're still just moving in." Ugh. When the woman offered me some kvass instead I felt too defeated to say no. Then she offered me some bacon, and I ate two pieces before realizing that I'm a vegetarian this month. Oops. I felt bad for not living up to Ed and Moacir better--but, really, wouldn't you be caught off guard if somebody randomly offered you some bacon in that situation?! It's only my second active day of vegetarianism.
After that I walk to the closest bus stop and am pleased that the #50 bus is about to come. Five minutes later I give up waiting for it yet again. Stupid bus.
Thanks Time
As always we celebrated Thanksgiving on the Saturday following the holiday. That week I gave all of my students articles to read about the objectivist perspective on it.
We decided to do a smaller, more family oriented celebration this year, which we soon realized was a mistake when we couldn't invite everyone we wanted to. But everything was delicious:
- 16 lb. Turkey, freshly slaughtered and kefir marinated
- Gravy
- Cream of Pumpkin Soup
- Potato Dinner Rolls from my McCall's cookbook
- Roasted Carrots with Whiskey Glaze
- Sausage Stuffing
- Guacamole and fresh vegetables
- Potato and Bacon Salad
- Sauerkraut Rye Bread
- Fresh Pumpkin Pie 1 normal, 1 with whiskey mixed in
- Fresh Pumpkin Cake
The pumpkin cake was unplanned. I made two pies, but that only used up about two thirds of the batter! To use up the rest of the batter without a pie crust to pour it into I mixed in some flour and baking power, tossed in some walnuts, and baked it. It turned out really well, and it stayed moist for a whole week as I took a piece to work with my lunch each day.
The turkey was succulent. I'll be marinating it this way from now on.
The stuffing was the best part of the meal, as always. Well, maybe the gravy was better, but when combined they were unstoppable.
After dinner we played Oh Hell a couple times, then Octopus, then Tūkstantis, then we hit the sauna and the pool. The pool was frozen, so we went polar bear style. I'm not sure how it happened, but after jumping into the hole in the ice I had some scrapes on my legs. Very fun night!
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