In Montana

Quick post to say I am back in cowboy-land and am simultaneously trying to juggle packing, moving, work, and figuring out why the financial aid office hates me so much.

The trip to Alaska was productive, and it was fantastic to see my friends and family again. I feel a little guilty that I didn't go fishing at all... but 1) I don't actually enjoy it and 2)I've been skunked the last 5 or so times I went. I think I just miss having fresh salmon.

The Omnivore’s Hundred

Here’s a chance for a little interactivity for all the bloggers out there. Below is a list of 100 things that I think every good omnivore should have tried at least once in their life. The list includes fine food, strange food, everyday food and even some pretty bad food - but a good omnivore should really try it all. Don’t worry if you haven’t, mind you; neither have I, though I’ll be sure to work on it. Don’t worry if you don’t recognise everything in the hundred, either; Wikipedia has the answers.

Here’s what I want you to do:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

In Alaska.

So after ~11 hours on planes I arrived with all my limbs intact.

Here it is a lovely 60 degrees, cool and overcast. It makes me realize I haven't really seen overcast in almost a year. In cowboy-land if there are clouds it's raining.

I am also mobile and will be in the valley running errands and visiting family Fri-Mon, and in Anchorage from Tuesday onward.

The only one piece of weirdness is although my phone works, I get two rings before calls go to voicemail. So if you call expect that and expect me to be calling you right back if I missed the call.

Only 7 toes to go!

Today I was over at C's house to give her a ride to the airport. While C finished getting ready I had let the dog loose to run around the fenced back yard.

Once it was finally time to go, I wrangled the dog who gave little yelp when jumping into the back of the car. A quick examination revealed a little blood on on of her toes.

Airport shuttle was completed and the dog was taken back to the house for a more thorough examination.

Seems that one of the toenails she had cracked doing a superman impersonation had been filled with blood and weakened. Somehow during her romp this morning she managed to peel the toenail back off the regrowing toenail stub so it was only connected by a thread.

The toenail underneath was, of course, grody and covered with month old rotting blood. However thorough cleaning revealed healthy nail and flesh beneath, but I'll still be keeping a close eye on it.

This would be the third toenail she's lost in 4 months... so only 7 more to go to complete the set!

Here's a bonus picture of her enjoying the afternoon sun.

Dumb Dog in Sun

Dumb dog part... 3? 4? 5? I've lost count...

So miss Cin has finally been showing sign of being on the mend, moving without any particular difficulty except when she's being lying/sleeping in one spot for some time. Even then the creakiness goes away pretty quick.

The toe on her front paw that she had over-chewed and then split on her recent swan dive appeared to have been healing well and miracles of miracles she stopped chewing them without me having to cone her.

However, tonight I was at ye lasses house for Kenpo review and afterward when we went out to visit the dog and she noticed dried blood on Cin's face... a quick inventory showed one of Cin's right rear toenails was twisted 180 degrees and covered in blood as was the portion of the deck she was lying on.

All I can figure is that she got the toenail caught between deck slats and did not extract in particularly graceful manner.

It still to well attached to hope it will just fall off like the dewclaw she chewed and the snagged on the rug when I first moved in here, but loose enough that it doesn't stay put when rotated back to where it's supposed to be.

I would take her to the vet if I had more then exactly $53 to my name, instead all I can really do is hope.

Oh and did I mention she reeked of manure? Apparently the local deer have been browsing on the much over-grown vegetable garden and Cin took this as an opportunity to apply some doggy perfume.

So she's got a serious limp again, and having trouble jumping; which meant I had to lift her into the claw-foot bathtub for her feces removal bath...

This is exactly the sort of stress I crave in my life right about now. No. Really.


*Update* Screwed up my courage and cut the nail off. Poor wee beastie would flinch and whine at every step and the nail caught. Looks like the nail was only held on at that point be the blood vessel which was thoroughly evacuated.

Vampires Beware.

Maybe about two months ago I made a batch of Alton Brown Firecrackers. Which are homemade spicy pickled baby carrots. Since my geek girl can't handle hot/spicy food I omitted the peppers and stuffed 8-10 garlic cloves in the jar.

A week later there were sufficiently pickled. They were fabulous. Sweet but tangy, crunchy with just a hint of garlic. She loved them and I loved them.

Then I forgot about them.

Today I finally got around to doing a Summer Fruit Pickle before the batch of pears and plums I had went wonky.

Problem was there was still 1/2 a jar of them carrots. I shrugged, saved about 1/2 for a snack and put the rest in a different smaller container.

I finally got around to my snack round 7ish.

They were still sweet, tangy, and crunchy; but the garlic flavor was anything but subtle. As a matter of fact the garlic flavor was so intense it actually caused pain. They were sublime.

As I write this 7 hours and two tooth brushing later I can STILL taste garlic.

Mystery of the flying nun... err... Dog.

*Cross posted to me other blog as well.*

So I came home from seeing the Incredible Hulk to discover Cinnamon the wonder dog in the yard. This was bit odd because I left her in the house when I left. Furthermore she was limping.

A quick interview with the downstairs neighbors revealed the following:

Apparently he was sitting on the front porch talking to his father on the phone when he heard a tremendous clatter from the eaves, he stepped out, looked up in time to see my dog finish climbing out the second story window, onto the eaves and then jump the ten feet down onto the cement walkway.

A slightly fumbled landing with a minor faceplant later she ran over to him excitedly. He didn't see any obvious injury and he put her in the yard while he called the landlord to see if he had contact info for me. I arrived mere minutes later.

My quick survey showed what appeared to be superficial damage, and she wasn't exibiting any pain as I poked and prodded. Nonetheless, I arranged for after-hours veterinary service and off we went to meet her new doctor.

Good news: Scrapes, split lip, minor contusion of the jaw, bruise on the eye, and maybe a minor sprain of two ankles. Not enough of sprain to do more then slow her down a bit.

Bad news: She's gonna be really sore and slow for the next two weeks at least but nothing the the strong doggy aspirin she was prescribed shouldn't take care of, and of course these sort of visits are not inexpensive.

When it rains it... WHAT??? HAIL!

So in addition to all the other fun and excitement, my computer with all my software and data files on it just died.

I'm typing this on my newer computer which I have yet to install Office, Photoshop, Sketchup, InDesign, AutoCad, etc... because They were allready installed and registered on the other (now dead) computer.

It looks like the power supply has gone, and it was the only Shuttle model to use non-standard proprietary connectors. It is also old enough that it is effectively impossible to order a replacement power supply for it.

There are lots of sites purporting to sell replacement power supplies for it, but it's actually the newer model with different (and standard) connectors.

It is also so old that using the parts that are probably still good (2.5ghz CPU, Memory, Video Card etc) I will have to buy a new motherboard and case. However, it appears that I basically cannot get reliable motherboards for the processor from my normal vendors.

I found a reputable vendor that carries a decent motherboard, but I'd be looking at spending $200 + shipping and hoping that when the power supply went kaplooee it didn't damage CPU, memory, video card...

Alternately I can go buy a normal replacement power supply, splice the ends onto the proprietary connectors and hope I don't electrocute myself.


Not a happy rabbit.

Physics ruminations

I really don't understand how my brain can go squirrelly when I try and figure out simple vectors, but like figuring out Newtonian motion (which requires vectors) just fine.

I mean I'm really struggling to grok the first two chapters of the physics text, but chapters 3 &4 are no problem.

Weird.


*Financial Aid Update*

There is none. The person I need to talk to wasn't in yet before class and was in meetings after class. I will stop by again after my physics test this afternoon.

Color me Mr. Crankypants Red.

So the unending saga of summer classes has sorta gone like this:

You have Full Funding.
No you Don't.
Yes you Do.
No you don't, but are getting WUE, find alternate sources for the rest.
Alternate funding source verified.
WUE canceled.
WUE reinstated
WUE canceled, and the plan administrator is MIA.

I'm already in hyper-stressed state as this semester is only six weeks long, and in fact my first Physics test is tomorrow and my first math test is Friday... so this sort of additional fun is greatly appreciated.

I am tired, stressed out, currently unable to sleep because of this and not at all prepared for tomorrows test.

In fact I have to be "up" in 4 hours to go to physics class.

Grrr.