h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

It's going to be Almost Summer here this weekend. I'm looking forward to a lot of doing nothing... and also admonishing the landlord to get around to checking that the A/C unit is switched on and operational- it doesn't shut on when I switch the thermostat over. If I wind up in the ER with asthma because of lack of A/C, he'll be getting the bill.

Meanwhile, K and I have both had insane weeks at work, mainly due to staffing changes. K's immediate supervisor, the logistics manager (K does all the scheduling for ordering raw materials, production, shipping and receiving) has given notice and either this week or next is her last. Meanwhile, we've had a minor staffing change at my office which left us short-staffed for the last week and a half. I've also volunteered to assist our payroll manager while she's on leave for the next six weeks. So I've been keeping fairly busy at work as well. Nothing I can't handle- just more consistently busy than usual and little or no down time during the day.

So I am SO looking forward to a nice, peaceful weekend of going nowhere and doing nothing of consequence other than a little laundry and some basic house tidying.

I've also been at a loss as to What To Cook lately. It's not so much that I'm bored with cooking as that I'm not particularly enthused about eating, in general, and K hasn't been too forthcoming with requests or suggestions. I'll be looking for more warm-weather ideas, though- we definitely don't like to use the oven when it's warm and the A/C is on. I'm thinking I may finally spring for a toaster oven, though...

We've got some good movies lined up, too. We've got Werner Herzog's "Fitzcarraldo" from Netflix (we've both seen it, but not for a while), "O Lucky Man" and "Morgan" from our favorite indie video shop, and a live-action DVD production of "Hogfather" that I ordered from Sendit.com. Have any of you seen it? It looks fun, and it was definitely one of my favorite Discworld books.

Isn't it funny how you see a subject title on here & think "ah ha, i bet that's X"

Yup, 'twas PC!

Well, let's hope you have a peaceful weekend & that the rentsucker sorts out the AC.

Food stuff; hmm; i always find once the weather is warmer, you naturally eat less anyway, i tend to just keep salad veg in, make up some potato salad or pasta salad & add cheese & bread. But since it's "end of month blues" today i foraged around & experimented with leftovers, this Quiche type thing works, adapt according to what you've got lying around. I ran out of normal white flour, but had chick pea flour, & cornflour, so just hoped for the best & it's fine, tastier than usual pastry. All amounts are totally approximate!

"Zendevil End of Month Quiche"

precooked/frozen then thawed:
carrots & courgettes
pasta type sauce (tomatoes/mushrooms/onions/garlic etc)
2 eggs
grated cheese

Pastry:
half cup white flour
half cup chick pea flour
quarter cup cornflour
3 or 4 blobs margarine
salt

Rub marg into flour, add cold water, roll out...you may need extra flour if it's sticky. Place in a pan on baking paper. Mix the other stuff together, save some cheese to go on the top. Bake at about 200° electric for about half an hour.

Works well warm or cold, goes well with salad. When cold it's solid enough to carve up & put in a lunchbox or picnic thing.
Yoda likes it too!

Bon appetit!

zdt

I never met a quiche I didn't like. I'll try this one soon- it's generally still quite a bit cooler earlier in the daytime and I can whip up a quick quiche on a weekend morning without any problem. I'm trying to remember what kinds of veggies we have to hand...

for the idea!

O Lucky Man: Wait until Malcolm McDowell pulls back the sheet on the hospital bed.

Ooh: spoiler!!!! Naughty Ed!!!

*slaps Ed's wrists soundly*

zdt

Actually...Have I got the right Lindsay Anderson? Maybe I'm thinking of Britannia Hospital.

I presume we've all seen 'If'?

I've seen 'O Lucky Man" and "If...". but not "Britannia Hospital", yet. So I think you may be thinking of the latter... though I haven't seen "O Lucky Man" in several years. It's coming out on DVD soon. So is "If...". I've already pre-ordered that one; a couple more months to wait, though!

We'd rented "If..." a few months ago, along with "The Deep End". This weekend we also have an old personal favorite of mine (and I also loved the book), "Johnny Got His Gun".

Such a lot of uplifting films for a weekend!

PS- a couple of recent new blog type things here: http://opheliapayne.blogspot.com/

Went to see "Grindhouse" yesterday afternoon. Oh. My God. What a fun three hours that turned out to be.



I'd had high expectations anyway (in spite of the fact that Mr. Tarantino managed such shite as "Kill Bill", he has been involved in the distribution of some great old flicks on DVD).

In addition to the two great features, some little touches were added for those of us who share nostaglia and affection for the old grindhouse theaters. The appearance of grainy film stock, "missing reels", dummy film trailers (for some hilarious-looking flicks), and even the swirly-colored intro bit that recent DVD releases and some indie theaters still use... all great fun. Both films managed the low-budget feel of the old "exploitation" and cheesy action flicks, in spite of the big-name actors and what have you.

The first feature, "Planet Terror", was an over-the-top, gory to the point of silliness (as with most aesthetic violence- part of its charm), all-around fun zombie flick. All of your stereotypical characters appear- the go-go dancer with a heart of gold, the hick cop, and then some- and there's even a 24-hour diner and a military base. We laughed out loud all the way through.

"Death Proof", the second feature, was your tough chick flick, with a killer car chase and a whole lot more. It quite literally had me squirming in my seat- and that doesn't happen that often!

This one easily gets five stars, two thumbs up, and my recommendation. I can't wait for a DVD release- this is definitely going to be added to the personal collection at the first opportunity!

What did I do?

I put up a big gazebo. The person who bought it hadn't bothered checking the measurements, nor measuring the lawn, and it *just* fits.

I volunteered at Oxfam for a couple of hours, pricing the books with a big pricing gun thing. I got to tear up a Bible .

I dug chickenshit into the garden. As one does.

I strimmed. (strum? stram?)

I recovered some big, metal gates that a neighbour was removing with an angle grinder.

Poop had seen people making pasta on TV, so I got out my pasta mangle and we made some on a table under the gazebo. I had mine with potatoes and asparagus - I'll blog the recipe when I have a moment.

Hmm...that's got a nice rhythm to it: "I put up a big gazebo/ For sheltering under/ The sweltering sun..."

Lawdy, were you productive!!

The gazebo sounds nice. I can't be bothered with yard work, so I've never lived anyplace with a large enough yard to warrant a gazebo. K's parents have one in their backyard, though, and it is nice to sit in a shady gazebo on a warm afternoon.

I'm not a fan of eating out of doors, in general, but we had a pleasant little pizza dinner there several weeks ago. It wasn't too bad.

To me, a 'yard' means something different. In the environment I grew up in, the yard was the concreted area at the rear of a working-class house, typically containing an outside toilet.

And these days it means Jamaica.

And over 'ere, a "garden" is a space set aside in one's yard where the flowers or vegetables grow.

The backyard at my first apartment was all concreted over. The landlord there couldn't be bothered with lawn care and all that, either. Never had an outside toilet, though.

I have a nice little deck on my apartment.

Those can be quite nice- and useful! We have an enclosed back porch, which isn't quite the same thing, especially as we no longer have a storage unit in the basement and have to store all of our surplus crap out there. Oh, well. Once we buy a condo we'll probably have both a dedicated storage space and a little balcony. Not that I won't be afraid to go out on it.

It's storage space we're missing - and how! The builders forgot to include any cupboards when they built our house. We do have small shed, though. I cleared most of it out a couple of weeks ago, and now it's almost useful!

I'm pretty sure that what you all call cupboards are what we call closets, here- and we're short one of those because the one in the hallway has the furnace in it. We've got one in each bedroom, and a small pantry in the kitchen (to which I added some removable shelving, doubling the storage space). We've got eight cabinets in the kitchen- short on those, too, because of the dishwasher- and most stuff fits in those. I do have to keep my wok and a few odd items on top of the cabinets and fridge, unfortunately.

We don't have a linen closet in the bathroom, either, which was an adjustment... but I use the drawers in the built-in hutch in the "dining" room for towels and sheets. It's not like I have formal dinnerware or silver or anything.

Definitely, when we buy, I am going to look for decent closet space!

Where at the stage where...you know those number square games? The ones where you have to slide numbers around to re-arrange them in the right order? That's pretty much what it feels like whenever we have to get something out of the small space under our stairs...or to allow our gas and electricity meters to be read. Except the puzzle is three dimensional. And the 'squares' are unusual shapes. And tangled up in an impenetrable arrangement of coathangers and electric flex.

Actually...in Scotland, a cupboard/closet is a 'press'.

Where? phonetic typing. We're.

"Press"- I'll try to remember that!

Getting things out of the cabinets, and our bedroom closet, isn't quite as bad as your situation... but getting things in and out of the spare bedroom closet is like playing Tetris. I was pulling out some summer clothes (to rotate them into our bedroom closet, with the idea of moving the winter stuff into the spare one) and a stack of boxes up on the shelf above the clothes bar all fell down on me. You have to pull everything out just to put one or two things in. Argh.