Friday the 13th has never been my problem. Saturday the 14th is ALWAYS my problem. This Friday I went to a local Mexican restaurant with one of my neighbors and was very favorably impressed with the chicken burrito and nachos that I got. Then we went to his apartment and watched Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It turns out they had an actual ending written, but ran out of money so the studio sicced the cops on them and shut down filming. That's when the old man/policemen bits were filmed, and the animated bits done. I love film majors, they're so full of interesting tidbits. For example, did you know that When Harry Met Sally was supposed to be a documentary of real couples, and all the segments with the couples on the couch are REAL?? It was always one of my favorite movies, and ever since I found that out, I've loved it even more.
Saturday I woke up grumpy and out of sorts, and decided to go check out Big Lots (a discount store). I had fun wandering around, and then stopped by Trader Joe's for a bottle of wine and some dates.
It was when I came home that disaster struck. I parked in my spot and realized I was too close to the Cadillac on my left, so I reversed out and made to pull in again. Now, the surface of the parking garage is flat, but the road leading up to it has a very sharp slope, so the easiest way to get up on to the floor is to hit the gas quickly. I did this, but was at the wrong angle and knocked my passenger side mirror off. I reversed the minute I felt contact, but of course, it was too late.
I realized I had no duct tape in the car, and knew I had none in the apartment, so out of options, I called my neighbor who was at home AND had duct tape. I should really bake him cookies or something. We managed to get my mirror affixed to the side of my car, and after a couple of anxious phone calls to Mom and Dad I managed to pull myself together sufficiently to start looking for body shops and quotes.
The rest of Saturday was spent grumping around the apartment and trying to fix my computer when it kept crashing. I'm blaming Firefox, so I've switched to Opera, and hopefully that set of problems will present no more.
Although, I'm really glad I have my parents and not someone else's. Mom's reaction was to sigh and say, not to worry we'd figure it out somehow. That almost made it worse, because I hate asking for more money on top of everything else they give me, but at least my car will be fixed soon - I can drive slowly on ordinary roads, but I refuse to go on a highway until it's fixed - and I can have a reliable vehicle again. But some parents I know about, like my friend Hilary's, remind me of how lucky I am in that department. Her father makes six figures, and yet he won't give her any money for college or living expenses because he's "broke". Considering all he has on his plate is his house, wife, and dog, I don't know what he's talking about. So she's taking out loans for undergrad, and has a ton of loans for veterinary school to look forward to.
Today I forcibly directed myself to Sam's Club (minor roads only) and bought two tongues for $15 (most tongues are $20 each) and a box of 60 Eggo waffles. The box of waffles cost $8, but in a supermarket a box of 10 costs $3.50. So 60 waffles in small boxes cost $21, for a total savings of $13. Not bad, huh?
Then I went to Albertsons, which has a decent selection, not quite what I'm used to from the ones back home, and got a few small things like butter, orange juice, bacon, tator tots and that sort of thing. That came to $18, so hopefully I'm setting a good precedent for my grocery costs.
I came home, parked very carefully, and unloaded all my groceries. Then I set to cooking my very first tongue. I called Mom first, and then according to her directions I put the tongue in the biggest pot I have(which is pretty small, I'm going to a discount store as soon as I feel I can afford it and buying a big one) along with bayleaves, allspice and a peeled and quartered onion. I left it to boil for 2 hours, but due to the small size of my pot it kept boiling over if I left the lid on, so I had to take it off and replace the water every so often so my pot didn't boil dry. Peeling it was really difficult, but I'm sure once I get used to it it'll get easier.
Eating it was definitely my favorite part.
I think I'm going to sit back and relax with a crunchie bar. I'm going through my South African loot way too quickly. But sometimes a candy bar a day is what's necessary to keep the depression away. And they're cheaper than Prozac!
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