TV Stand

Okay, so I told you a while ago that I hadn't put up any photos of the finished TV stand because Shawn had downloaded the photos to the living room computer (we have 5 computers total, so please do try to keep up). And he had. He also posted the photos on our website. Which I never knew about. Because he didn't blog about it. Like he promised. Welcome to marriage.

So, I shall post pictures here. Or at least the interesting ones. Shawn had me take photos of EVERY stage of the process except staining because he was going to do a step-by-step process blog. But then he got involved with listening to "The 4 hour work week" (or something to that effect).

This is what we had before:


Here is the stand, Pre-Stain (there are casters under/behind the feets):

And here it is in action:And of course the cats insist on going through the bottom center hole instead of either of the open side holes.

Unemployment Pay

Or "How it stops people from getting a job"

Okay, first off, being unemployed sucks. especially if you WANT to be employed. Secondly, this is not a blog entry about the people on unemployment. It is a blog entry about how, once again, the government is going about something all wrong (okay, not ALL wrong. Yes, I think the government should try to help people out who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own [i.e. layoffs]...but then, that may just be me and my whole 'bleeding heart liberal'-ness).

Here are the general rules for receiving unemployment benefits:
1. You meet minimum requirements for having worked at a place (that is, you worked for a certain amount of time, and earned X amount of money, prior to your termination).
2. You must have been terminated through no fault of your own (i.e. laid off--if you got fired or quit, you don't qualify).
3. a. You must be able to do your old job or a job similar to it (so...no long term disability)
b. You must be available to work (if you're offered a job, you must take it. If you don't then you no longer qualify for unemployment benefits because you could have been employed, you choose not to be).
c. You must actively be looking for a new job (prove you have applied for, at a minimum, a job a week).
4. Be a U.S. Citizen, or otherwise legally allowed to work in the U.S.

Now, I don't have problems with rules 1, 2, or 4. It's that darn rule 3. And not even the whole thing, just part B and C.

Of course, those parts are there to guarantee that people are actively trying to become employed, otherwise, people could just take advantage of the system.

Unfortunately, the side effect of these parts of the rule just make the people following them more picky about which jobs they apply for (because they don't want to be forced to take a job that they don't really want), and apply for less jobs over all (because "if I need to apply for one job a week, and I found two jobs that I'm qualified for and would like to do today...then I better just apply for one this week, and then apply for the other next week because I'm not guaranteed to find a job I'm qualified for that I want to do next week").

Funny part is, if they just got rid of one of those requirements, it probably would solve the problem...besides, it should be pretty obvious who actually is looking for a job and who isn't. But I'm sure the state governments don't have the capability of making sure that people are actually trying to find a job (mostly because this would require people to actually go through every application that someone has filled out and looked at what their old job was, and talk to the people to get a feel on if they're trying to find a job, or if they're just cruising by on welfare).

Math

Yay!

And all this really brings to mind is the fact that when my grandma was in high school ( in 1955), the boys took geometry and the girls took home ec.

My grandma and her friend refused to take home ec and lobbied the principal to became the first girls at their school to take geometry.

Naturally her cooking skills suffered because of this.

TV stand

I swear to god, I'm not lazy (okay, yes i am, but not this time!).

Amy asked that I put up a picture of our finished TV stand. And I want to, I really, really want to. HOWEVER. I am afflicted with this thing called "a husband" and he does not seem to understand that I am not as computer savvy as he, especially when it comes to Linux based operating systems (such as Handy Heron or Ingenious Iguana, or whatever forsaken version of Kubuntu I'm running now-a-days). He, for whatever reason, took pictures of the final product, and then put them on the computer in the living room instead of on the network-shared-photos-drive. And thus, I don't know how to get the final pictures.

Furthermore! He had me take photos of every step of the process (except staining, and that was because I had to help with that) so that he could blog about it on his blog. That hasn't happened yet. Naturally. I wish I could say I'm surprised, but I'm not. He's got more important things to do.

like installing Ingenious Iguana or Jumping Jackal or whatever forsaken version of Kubuntu I'm running now-a-days.

Update: He's actually reading The Pragmatic Programmer right now. For FUN. At least he's moved on from Linux System Programming and Linux Device Drivers. Which he also read for fun.

Eggplant Parmesan

We made eggplant parmesan with our Farm to Work Eggplant--This was the first time I've had said dish, and I quite enjoyed it.
Recipe from Elsie:

ingredients:
1 eggplant
a jar of spaghetti sauce (one of the normal sized ones should be fine)
shredded mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses
1 egg, scrambled
flour (for dredging)
salt and pepper to taste (mix in with flour)

directions:
peel the eggplant and slice into thin slices (about 1/4 inch thick or less). Place slices on a plate, sprinkle with salt, place another plate on top of the pieces and put something heavy on the top plate (you're trying to squeeze the water out of the eggplant slices). Set aside for 1-1.5 hours.

Pat eggplant slices dry with a paper towel. Dip slices in egg and then dredge through flour mixture. Fry floured eggplant pieces in oil on the stove. When browned, transfer to a paper toweled plate (to drain excess oil).

Get a baking dish (either 9x13 or 9x9), cover bottom of dish with spaghetti sauce. Place a layer of eggplant on sauce. Sprinkle with cheeses. Repeat layers until all eggplant slices are used. Top the last cheese layer with extra sauce and then more cheese.

Bake in a 350* oven for 15-20 minutes until cheese is bubbly.

Calling the 'Rents

So, Shawn's in the kitchen attempting to call his parents by using the voice command. And this is what I hear:

"Mom and Dad. Mobile. MObile. MO-bill. MOBILE! DAMMIT! Mobile. Mobile. MObile. Mo-bill. MOBILE! MOBILE, MOBILE, MOBILE! Oh Fuck you! Phone."

:::beep, boop, beep:::

"Hi mom."

Hulu

So I've become obsessed with Hulu.com this weekend and watched Underworld: Evolution, the entire first season of Sliders, and two episodes of The Baby Borrowers.

There are some things I've learned...such as the Underworld series truly is horrible, but I'll still watch it because Kate Beckinsale is a badass in those movies. I've learned that TV special effects in the mid nineties was deplorable...If you don't believe me, watch the beginning of Sliders' "Prince of Wails" and then tell me you think otherwise. Also, if you want to convince a bunch of teens not to have babies (which really, can we say that 18-20 year olds aren't old enough to be making their own life decisions?), you have to make them keep the baby for longer than 3 days.

Interviews

So I'm on an interview panel this week to choose a new person to work in our division, and we had our first interview on Thursday. The following is a conversation I had with one of my coworkers who is also on the panel.

me: Wow, Eduardo, you look good.
Ed: Well, it's for the interviews. Besides, I didn't wear this ALL day; I went home and changed during lunch.

me: HAHAHA
Ed: What? What's wrong about looking nice for the interviews?

me: Nothing. It's just that the only interview we have today is a phone interview.

Though, I guess really the joke's on me because I also dressed up...just not as nice as Ed did.

Movie?

Another work conversation (and I don't know why we were talking about it at work, instead of say...happy hour):

Sam: I was duped into watching "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" last night.
me: AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Sam: Not funny. I was duped! I thought it was a porno!
me: AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Sam: Seriously, with a name like "Sisterhood of the Traveling Panties" how could it NOT be porn?
me: Apparently you're getting confused. it's "Sisterhood of the Traveling PANTS." Not panties. Pants go OVER panties. See the difference?

Sam: Still...I was duped.
me: Yeah right. You know you wanted to watch it.

vacation

I've been back to work for two whole days now, and I already want another vacation.

Thursday Debacles

First thing this morning I hear the trash trucks coming down the street. So I did what any sane person would do and quickly put on clothes, stepped into mis-matched flipflops, and threw on my robe then booked it to the garage with sleep in my eyes and opened the garage door. Then, I grabbed the trash can, pushed it out of the garage in front of me and then looked up and down the street for the trash truck. It had passed our house and was down in the cul-de-sac. So I take off, running down the street, bath robe billowing behind me and I'm shaking my fist at the trash guys, while yelling "Come back here, you!"

They took one look at me and continued on their merry way.

Hunh. They must have thought I was like the crazy cat lady or something. So, I turn around, defeated, and walk lopsidely back to the house still pushing the trash can (I did, after all, have mismatched flip flops on). I wheel the can back into the garage and resignedly close the door.

Of course, this is when I wake up, and it's just in time to see the trash truck sailing on past our house. Sigh. Well, it's not like we really had any trash to go out anyhow.

THEN, THERE WAS THE BRISKET DEBACLE.

For whatever reason, we decided we would put off getting a brisket for the barbecue until the last possible minute...which, when you're smoking meat for anywhere between 10 and 15 hours, that means "the night before". Of course, it only REALLY is an issue if you decide to put off looking for barbecue meat until the day before a national holiday. A holiday in which EVERY SINGLE TEXAN decides it is their god-given-duty to smoke meat. But I digress.

At 9:51 pm we decided we ought to go grocery shopping. we arrive at the HEB by our house at like 9:59. And the parking lot is packed. We go inside, and the only brisket they have left is a poor little 30# packer's cut hunk of beef. Yes, that's a little much. So we go to the OTHER HEB by our house....Where they don't even HAVE any brisket left. And so, we make a last ditch effort at 10:30 to go to the Walmart. Yes. The Walmart. And they actually HAD brisket, and an ACTUAL selection of it as well.

So, lessons learned:
1. Do not put off buying brisket until the day before you need it.
2. One must absolutely, and without fail, follow rule one. Especially if it is the day before a national barbecueing holiday (labor day, 4th of july, memorial day, father's day, perhaps even possibly canada day)
3. Never discount the Walmart. They've always pulled through for us before.

Crazy Cat

Not only does this cat talk to us like we're supposed to understand what he's talking about, but he also drinks water funny. Though I guess it does prevent him from getting his head stuck in glasses...