More cooking less nuking

I'll probably always love my Microwave. It became a main vehicle as far as feeding myself after getting divorced back in '93, and has served me well ever since. One comment I'll never forget in that time came from my friend Ed, who said, "gee Rog, it's a shame you're getting divorced. Now you'll have to learn how to order food."

Well, fortunately I did have the requisite food-ordering skills to carry me over into bachelor life. As it turns out, Domino's was a staple of our married life diet, so I just continued to utilize said skills, only in a 'single' capacity. . But as far as anything else, I did rely too much on the instant convenience of "puncture, heat 3 min, rotate, heat 1 more min, serve".

Unfortunately I have a stove that needs replacing, but I do have burners that work. And a skillet and several pots. So I'm rediscovering these old culinary vessels. I never was any kind of master chef, but before the days of microwave I could prepare some basic meals.

So I'm relearning a few things, re-acquiring some basic skills long forgotten in the E-Z convenience of the microwave. For one thing it's healthier. For another, there's something to be said in taking time to prepare, and thus enjoy, a meal. And finally, there are certain food items that just get lost in translation no matter what you do.

Eggs. And potatoes. The nuked version of either usually makes you feel like you're on the Amtrak. And thus not only do you get shitty food but you paid way too much for it!

So as resolutions go, this one--more cooking, less nuking--seems do-able. Note that I said less, not none. Given the very human proclivity towards backsliding(definitely my proclivity), I want to cut myself at least a little slack here. But yeah.

Thus far it's just been bacon and eggs. But then again, most of the contents of my refrigerator at this juncture involve that tell-tale initial puncture--the one that precedes heat n rotate. And serve. In other words, all nukeables. So the next trip to the grocery store will yield far more cookable items. I'm on a roll.

Okay, sorry for that one...

Twilight Zone Revisitied

The Twilight Zone Collection I'd originally ordered(see earlier blog)turned out to be a real stucke auf sheis. About half the DVDs froze on you, and of course always at a critical part of the story, usually the unveiling point as far as that twist in the road which characterized the series.

TVDVDmania is I the name of the outfit. Well, they may have a different name by now...

Family Video(or actually CBS.com)has a much better product. Well, DVDs that aren't copies. Everything works--that's all I ask for!--plus there's more background information and commentaries by some of the stars. Burgess Meredith, Martin Landau, Jonathan Winters and Bill Mumy to name a few. Mumy is actually my age(b. 1954). Sounds like a cool person from the commentary- one of the few kid actors whose life didnt' end up in the shitter.

The Jonathan Winters narrative is pretty good too. And nutty in a few spots, as you might expect. I've probably seen every episode of Twilight Zone at this point, but there's still a lot of extra stuff to check out.

A bit pricier than my original purchase, but then these DVDs aren't copies. And I have an address to send back to(plus local outlets to work through)if something goes wrong. Well you do get what you pay for. Let's hope anyway.

Konsumer Konfusion

Some of the food products you get at the grocery store these days have some confusing directions. I just discovered a breakfast/lunch delicacy, a sort of omelette affair, whose microwave instructions are a bit vague.

It says cook 2 1/2 minutes, rotate 1/4 turn, then cook an additional 30 sec to 1 1/2 minutes. I'm fine with the cooking directions, but why do I need to rotate 1/4 turn? And which way do I rotate?

Well being a delicacy(at least for the moment)I ended up fixing two of them, so I tried rotating a different direction each time. There's no clearcut benefit to rotating in between cooking sessions, but you do get a slightly different perspective as far as where you're facing in the room and thus what you're taking in visually- seeing more of a particular wall in the kitchen, or seeing more down the hallway.. And so you may perceive the room differently as far as what you consider most important, least important.

You also use different muscles when you're rotating 1/4 turn in either direction. More tricep it would seem. So I can kinda see a benefit there as well as from a visual, feng shui standpoint. I must say though, my rotating a quarter turn in between cooking sessions didn't seem to impact the food itself. But I suppose I benefited in other ways. I just wish they'd be more specific in their directions.

Another day, another bite

The woes continue in computer-land. My usual avenues of expression are either blocked entirely or fraught with potholes. Much of the time I have to just back out and re-enter(hmm, that sounds sexual, even though I'm the one getting fucked here), but I'm learning to navigate a bit through these choppy-ass troubled waters.

A nice partly sunny Keester Day. I'm sure somewhere--well really lots of somewheres-- kids are finding Easter eggs and holiday merriment is being had. For me a mild Sunday afternoon with a fucked-up computer but enjoying the day nonetheless.

Seems like most of these 'second tier' holidays like Easter we celebrated on behalf of grandparents, and once they were gone, kinda dwindled to never-get-around-to-it. And on behalf of the kids. With neither in the picture at this juncture it ceases to be a fixture.

There. That sorta worked. So, a quiet day at home for Roger U Roundly. The 'first tier' holidays--Christmas and Thanksgiving--are still celebrated, regardless of the existence of those on either extreme end of the age spectrum. But Easter is often well-spent just enjoying the partly sunny skies. And the partial good humor that comes from a truly moderate day.

Well as days go, a solid C+ or maybe even B-. I try to grade on the curve, as far as that goes.

Life is a shit sandwich and every day is another bite

Ah the vicissitudes of life! My computer is malfunctioning of late, moving slower than smoke off a turd if at all. Can't get on and pontificate from my News page, so here I am at Roger U Roundly. This blogsite seems to be my one avenue of expression until I get this thing fixed.
I recently purchased a defective set of DVDs(or would one say set of defective DVDs?), and noting their unplayability on my DVD player, have tried them here in the computer. Maybe this is my fuckup as far as my computer now malfunctioning. Ahh, shit!
But these things can and will be fixed, so no big whoop as it were. Speaking of defective DVDs, the place NOT to buy from is TVDVDmania. At least not the Twilight Zone Collection. But it would figure from the low quality of the TZ that their other such collections would similarly suck wind.
I must admit I get somewhat outraged when things just plain don't work--particularly when I've plunked down money for it. A discounted price, but gee now I know why!

Might have inherited this indignation as far as that goes. One memory, one which my brother and I still laugh about on occasion, is from a family dinner at Howard Johnson's. I must've been 13 or 14, which would've made my brother 9 or 10. It was a pretty bad meal, apparently my Dad's portion in particular. He left no tip, just a note: your food is swill.

Swill. What a great word! I may laugh about it, mainly the almost flaming indignation my Dad held toward the kitchen staff at HoJo's, but I certainly understand the sentiment, having just received the audiovisual equivalent in my Twilight Zone Collection.. And with it, no small degree of indignation.

Just as you'd figure, the episodes freeze right at a crucial point in the story. So you have to get up and reset everything, losing your hardon in the process. So to speak.

Life can indeed be likened to a shit sandwich. But it is also very much like the Monty Python TV announcement:
"We interrupt this program for three reasons:
1)to irritate you
2)---
3)--- "

I don't remember reasons 2 or 3, but that first one is sufficient. Of course it's my own subjective experience, evaluated subjectively,but it does seem that my life, when it does go wrong, does so in just the way that'll piss me off the most!

So I have a less-than-functional computer and some less-than-functional DVDs(which may, I'll admit, have cause this mess). I've had many less-than-functional things in my life, be they appliances or relationships. Sometimes I could even say my life is swill.

But as for today, right now, it's a beautiful sunny day out there. I'm gainfully employed, with most of my hair and teeth. Got enough food and supplies to keep three critters going for at least the weekend. And at least this blogsite works. Though I guess I'll find out when I try and post this fucker. So I could do worse. Happy Keester.