we decided to replace our stove...but soon found that finding an ADA Compliant (disability accessible) free standing stove in our price range was not doable. Actually the disability access requirement was so basic we were surprised we couldn't find it: we needed the oven controls on the front of the stove not on the back. from there, we needed it to be a freestanding gas range. it needed a glass window so I could look inside without opening the door. and it needed to have burners that were closed so food would not fall into the flames.

slide in stoves have all the controls on the front but no backsplash. Our stove is freestanding so it needs built-in a backsplash/rim (as well as side panels - most slide in stoves don't offer these as optional add-ons). This put us in the price range of real cheap stoves (no glass doors with open burners and doors with flimsy knobs) and the real expensive stoves. in the end it came down to 4 models and 4 models only. I ended selecting the higher end one because it had continuous grate burners (across the entire top of the stove) which meant I could slide the pots on and off the burners while seated in a wheelchair.

And all the while I kept thinking... I am glad we had an emergency fund, but at this rate .... well let's say that termites and wood rot repairs weren't what we had in mind this year. Followed by my second thought: I don't really need an accessible stove - it's not like I am in a wheelchair. before the practical side reminded me: yet. your hip went out earlier in the year.

We did consider repairing but I already was having problems with some of the broken controls on the old stove and it was impossible to clean, so the broken igniter just pushed it over the edge.

[A Dreamwidth post with comments | Post a Dreamwidth comment| How to use OpenID]

The uploading continues apace. I am almost ready to stop for the evening and maybe try to write. Or something. I miss writing. It's been days since I did any. Sigh.

I was uploading a lot of the codas I wrote in season 2, when I was still in the first flush of fandom love, and wow, season 2 was good for codas. I think I wrote at least one (sometimes more than one) for almost every episode. I miss that, too.

*

Tonight for dinner I made a roast loin of pork. It was very tasty. I combined garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, and basil in about a tablespoon of olive oil (for easy spreading), along with a couple of teaspoons of brown sugar and a large splash of vanilla (for years, I wouldn't tell my mother about the brown sugar and vanilla, and she couldn't replicate the taste. Heh.). Rub that on, top with a few pats of butter, and then cook until the internal temperature is 160°F. It was very tasty and juicy and good.

*

This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/100853.html. people have commented there.

OMG I hate this blinking Mastercard ad, a tumbler does not cost £4, an energy saving light bulb £6, or a reusable plastic bag £1 - if that's what you're spending on stuff you're going to need the damn card. Or alternatively, shop sensibly.

Sorry, I'm not ranting today it was just that that advert came on just as Semagic opened!

Today I have:

Bought some cards to send out in the next few weeks.

By the way, thank you to whoever has sent me a gold wrapped package and card, I don't know who you are because I want to save the package to Christmas day and I can't open the card without opening the package. So just - thank you - and I'll thank you properly on Christmas Day.

Been charity shopping and bought some steampunk-able trousers.

Looked for wellies for Sprog. Failed. If her feet were two sizes smaller or larger we'd have been fine but they aren't so we weren't.

Bought a surprising number of pairs of knee-high socks. I'd love to buy tights but given the combination of both my height and my weight, plus my refusal to pay more than about £2 per pair of tights means I just can't get any. Ah well, tights are annoying anyway!

Dropped my boots into Timpsons to be re-heeled. (And completely failed to remember to pick them up again - whoops?!)

Had my contact lense check-up - everything's fine

Picked up a prescription (don't ask - way TMI)

Received through the post a) an appointment for an ultrasound (which luckily falls on one of the days I'd already booked off work, though I do slightly resent the loss of the planned lie-in) and b) a battery for my (old skool, actual film) video camera which we're going to use at The Steampunk Soiree in about a fortnight (oh God, it's in a fortnight, I need to plan outfits big time)

Eaten a very nice pasanda and rice takeaway and watched Strictly Come Dancing ... mmm, mellow evening ...

What's American Thanksgiving without some football talk?

Title: The Third Saturday in November
Author: justhuman
Rating: PG-13, with mentions of bondage
Genre: Slash
Category: Established Relationship
Characters/Pairings: Tony, Tim, Tony/Tim
Spoilers: Mentions of SWAK. Timeline is sometime in S4
Warnings: None
Summary: Tony explains to Tim what being a Buckeye means to him. In SWAK, Tony and Dr. Brad Pitt (not the actor) aren't just filling in a little back ground and giving Kate something to gripe about. They're alluding to one of the great sports rivalries - Michigan Wolverines and the Ohio State Buckeyes. The 13-13 tie mentioned in SWAK was the 1992 game.

Word Count: 2128
A/N: Many thanks to djmicheals and lookithaslegs for the holiday weekend beta. I did a bunch of editing based on their comments, so don't blame them ;-)
Disclaimer: These characters belong to DPB, CBS, Paramount, et al. HBO is owned by very rich people, ruling me out completely. No copyright infringement is intended.

( The Third Saturday in November )

I don't really care about so much about the plots on White Collar. They just keep giving me tasty OT3 stuff and I'm content.

I've spent most of the day uploading stuff to the AO3. It allows me to feel productive when I can't write. I have too many goddamn stories, though. angelgazing pointed out that I will never be done uploading because I write faster than I upload. Though possibly this is no longer the case. I don't know. I have been having my usual late autumn/early winter problems getting motivated. Since the archive takes so long to upload, I am also rereading some favorite stories (I don't have to pay as close attention to rereads - I can skim and skip and be interrupted without losing anything, 'cause I've already read them before). I keep getting errors, unfortunately, which is slowing things down even more.

Technology is not my friend.

I know lots of people are excited by tagging their stories in all sorts of ways, but I am doing what I find useful and that's it. As long as I get the characters/pairing on there, and maybe if it's a casefile or an episode tag, that's about the extent of my interest. Maybe if I upload my HP stuff, I'll split the Remus/Sirius out by era, like I have it in my tags on LJ, but mostly I don't care about the tags. *hides*

Also, I wish there were a place in the profile to link to a warnings policy, and that that link could just automatically be included on every story. Because I am just using the "No Primary Warnings Apply" which isn't the same as "no warnings needed" but 99% of my stuff is "no warnings needed" and I'd like to be able to say that somewhere, since it isn't a choice on the warnings field. I guess I could make it a tag, but I never think of it. I wish it were automatic.

Hmm...

***

This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/100505.html. people have commented there.

OK, things I never think about. I'll hold up my hand and say that I never think about the origins of Thanksgiving on its day. In the five years I've lived here, I've seen it as a day of thanks, a harvest celebration with a culturally specified date. My knowledge of the history of the day and what it may signify actually comes, ironically, from Wednesday Addams' monologue in Addams Family Values. However, just because I didn't grow up here, or never heard about it in elementary school, doesn't mean that I shouldn't have done a little more considering.

Luckily, the angry black woman did it for me: The “myth of thanksgiving" linkspam

Today I have mainly been in a *really bad mood*. I wish I knew why, today was no worse than any other this week/month ... I'm just very *argh* right now. (And rather wanting to cry and/or other bad things.)

So here, have a whole bunch of my pet peeves (and sorry that this is pretty much the opposite of Thanksgiving):

People who don't recycle. I'm sorry but stop throwing cans and plastic and paper away - how hard is it to remember to recycle them?
Relatedly - companies/offices (including my own) which have no recycling policy/facilities - we're trapped in one place eating and drinking and doing paperwork, please give us the ability to recycle our waste
Bullies - I'm surrounded my people who bully others in a variety of ways and it's very very frustrating not being able to shake them and say *do you not see what you're doing?!*
People who park in the bus stop space - where do you think the bus is going to stop to pick me up if you're in the middle of the available space, I'm not standing here for the good of my health you know
Very nice people who are narrow-minded bigots. So annoying in several levels.
People with a sense of entitlement and/or the very childish attitude that life should be 'fair' - it's like communism which is a perfect system if people were perfect but we aren't so it isn't.
Gender biased everything.
People who say 'I hate Christmas' but who refuse to change how they celebrate Christmas because that's not how things are
More broadly - people who hate the situation they are in but refuse to change the situation (this one I'd better clarify, I know some situations are unchangeable but some are. For example I work with someone whose mother is ... odd ... and there's rarely usable food in the house, but my colleague doesn't go and buy her own food she just goes hungry and then complains. She's 25, it's perfectly possible for her to get a bus to the supermarket, or to walk, and to buy food. But she doesn't.)

... sorry. Tomorrow I'll be merry.

Thanksgiving for me was almost two months ago, but I want to tell you: I'm thankful for my new computer!

More about this when I'm back from work. Almost the weekend! Whee!

Happy Thanksgiving to those who are celebrating! Happy Thursday to those who are not. I hope everyone had a lovely day, regardless.

My day began with BACON and PIE and ended with FOOTBALL and PIE, and in between there was stuffing and homemade cheese macaroni and turkey that was actually moist and tasty (!!), and more family shenanigans than you could shake a stick at. My brother was in rare form tonight, and basically had the whole table in stitches for most of the meal. Mostly at my expense, but eh, that's not new. and unfortunately, the Giants are capping off the day by sucking like unto a hoover, but I am too full and sleepy to care too much.

I am thankful for my family, my friends - including you guys - my health, and my job. Man, a year ago at this time, I was a week away from being laid off. I'm still a little freaked out by how that went, still anxious and lacking in confidence sometimes, but I'm so glad I found a new job quickly, and one that I mostly like, for people and an organization that I like. (I'm also grateful that I have tomorrow off and I don't have to use a day - it's one of our holidays. Mmm...sleeping in...) I'm grateful I have health insurance and can pay my rent and that I have an apartment I love.

I'm thankful for fandom, not just because of all the great stories to read and the feeling of having people who get my excitement about various shows and characters, but because of all the great people I've met and become friends with, who've made my life richer and better and more fun all around.

*hugs*

And also, I am thankful for PIE, and I would share some with you all if I could.

***

This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/100175.html. people have commented there.

The pumpkin was good, but there are 4 other offerings that I still need to try once dinner stops filling me up.

So far we've had Grannie Jeckle with only glimpses of Gannie Hyde. The glimpses have been directed at other people...so far

I've sent off a Thanksgiving themed NCIS fic for beta. Coming soon.

Sends good vibes to tejas hoping that her connectivity is soon restored.

*watches Giants game*

*pets* media_junkie New house that she can't move into, and by halftime she's probably run out of velcro referee to throw at the TV.

We had our aging stove cleaned on Tuesday in advance of Turkey day. It worked fine last night....but this evening the gas is no longer flowing into the oven. Gas Bar-B-Que to the rescue! Thank goodness there was enough propane in the tank. We've never roasted a whole bird on the bar-bi before but it went well with the improvised metal roasting pan out of aluminum foil. Of course it meant xlorp had to sit outside in the dark tending the grill while I waved to him from the kitchen from time to time.

The cats were not amused. I am, however, hoping that we might get a new stove out of all of this. The one that came with the house was very cheap and doesn't heat very well.





[A Dreamwidth post with comments | Post a Dreamwidth comment| How to use OpenID]

I love to bake.

I don't know why I prefer baking to making actual meals, I don't have much of a sweet tooth really, will almost always pick crisps over chocolate, but I love to bake. Possibly because I resent meals and being hungry, and baked goods are a *treat* and therefore fun. I like being able to take stuff into work and feed the masses (did I tell you? entire tray/dish of brownies gone by 11am a few weeks ago - gannets the lot of 'em) and make people smile and enjoy the food. But it's not important food, you know, if people don't like it it doesn't matter because I'm not feeding them a meal which has to get them through a third of the day, whatever it is I make it's *extra* and fun.

I have issues, I'm aware.

Whatever! I make several standard recipes:

Lemon cheesecake - this is a very very simple recipe which I've posted once before here and I love it because it is very very adaptable.

Dark chocolate brownies - this recipe here. I have much appreciation for this site, it breaks down recipes in a way I understand. And this recipe is, say it with me, very very adaptable. I have added all sorts of things into this one, not sticking with nuts (though I've done nuts) but lots of different fruit, sometimes all at the same time! Last time I made them I had dried cherries, raspberries and strawberries in there - yum. I'm thinking of trying it nearer Christmas and taking out the vanilla essence and adding in some blackcurrant brandy.

I used to make some simple cookies (a Jamie Oliver recipe) but I've gone off them recently and am planning on experimenting with different cookie and biscuit recipes a bit in the New Year.

I also used to make a (forgive me German speakers for mangling this spelling) Marmorgugelhupf which was a ring cake marbled cocoa and rum cake with pale sponge with lemon rind/juice with a lemon icing which was a complete devil to make and I loved. But I lost the recipe.

My problem now is that I don't know the basics, and the science. For example I've just made some chocolate fudge (using trulybloom's recipe - thank you (ps had to leave the marshmallow out as I can't get it here - sorry)) and now I'm wondering - if I leave out the chocolate do I need to add something else or will the sugar/butter/evaporated milk 'be' fudge in their own right? If I leave out the vanilla essence and add some blackcurrant brandy instead will it do something fatal to the consistency? If I use caster sugar, or light brown sugar instead of the granulated which I had on hand what difference will it make? (I have a feeling the only answer is experimentation and some very sugar-rushed colleagues.)

But I would like, somewhen, to find a good explanation of the balance of ingredients required to make cake, or fudge, or biscuits, because the more I play the more I risk complete failure and if I don't know what I did wrong then I can't put it right and play even more.

And I like playing with baking!

From the Guardian's Science section:

Whales save seal from Orcas

The throw away line near the end of the article is what really interests me - they speculate that the seals are triggering the whales' maternal instincts in order to protect themselves.

Um, what? How? Is this a testable hypothesis? And if it is, could I please me involved in the research? (It's not too far removed from dishonest signalling, is it?)

Criminal Minds

( spoilers )

***

Maybe I will try to write. I would like to post one more story this month, if possible, before I buckle down on yuletide and broken toys.

***

This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/100016.html. people have commented there.

I know I have several good topic suggestions left from when I asked a week or so ago and I am planning on using them but not tonight. Tonight I have worn my body out (well, tonight and last night) and my brain has followed.

Today at work I got asked if I was OK by Allegra. And Hugh. And Lucy. (Lucy also informed me that I looked 'worn' which really, yeah, probably!) I'm kinda interested in exactly how I looked so bad ... did people expect me to produce an axe and start slashing at other people or myself?! Or was it more a case of any minute I may hide under my desk and whimper?

Anyway it hasn't actually been a particularly bad day, or even week. No amazingly stupid edicts have come down from on high, the customers I've spoken to have been surprisingly mellow and helpful and appreciative, I've made some inroads into the mountains of paper which are my desk ... yeah, not particularly bad, especially compared to the last few months.

Huh.::shrugs:: Dunno.

I do know that in addition to the two days off I have early December where I'm heading to Oxford a-steampunkin' I also have an additional three days I need to take off before the end of December. Frankly I wanted to be able to carry them over to next year but the PTB have ruled that no leave can be carried over (a bit of a bugger for Wizard, my boss, who has 22 days left!) so I need to take three random days off in the next 5 weeks or so. Maybe I'll just have the next three Mondays off and have some long weekends. Possibly then I'll look less 'worn' and more ... something.

So I have this thing where I reverse numbers all the time, e.g., I usually have to redial new to me phone numbers two or three times because I switch the order of the numbers, etc.

NOTE TO SELF: NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO BE DYSLEXIC WITH ROMAN NUMERALS!


***

This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/99809.html. people have commented there.

my cousins' wife was taken off life support and passed away. the cancer had spread into her lungs and she was in a medically induced coma for the last week. her oldest (9) told her father that her younger brother (5) was "too young" to have lost their mother.  neither child was able to say goodbye  - I am not certain if this is a good thing or not.

she was 45 years old.

[A Dreamwidth post with comments | Post a Dreamwidth comment| How to use OpenID]

For tonight's bout of stress baking, I made blueberry boy bait (as recommended by devildoll), which came out well, I think (I am taking half to work and half to the parents), but I also think it needs more blueberries. Clearly I need to double the amount next time. And possibly make it in cupcake tins or my mini-loaf pan. Hmm...

Maybe one day I'll be like a real food blogger and remember to take pictures of stuff before I slice into it and wrap it up. Today was not that day.

On my ride home tonight (I was at work late again), I listened to Adam Raised a Cain a few times and vidded it in my head. I would be the most literal vidder ever. Anyway. I know I say this all the time, but where is the Sam Winchester vid to this song? WHERE IS IT? I think this season has provided more awesome footage for someone to do this.

( the lyrics, in case you missed them the first 100 times I mentioned this idea )

Seriously, if I had minions, I would make one of them vid this for me.

***

This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/99442.html. people have commented there.

mabiana suggested I write about my cat. So I shall!

Actually I have two cats, brothers, who are around 11 years old. They are rescue cats who were abandoned, rescued, re-homed and then had to be rescued from the home because the woman who took them couldn't cope with them. We got them when they were about 14 weeks old and we went to the rescue place looking for little kittens (like a lot of people do) and these two ... one of 'em just decided we (especially Henry) were theirs. That was it. Done.

So yes, two cats. One is ginger and white and I refer to him here as Thing 1 though I don't think it matters if I reveal that his RL name is Jacob. Or Hobbit. Or Hobbos, Jack Hobbos. He's the cat who rules outside, he has his territory and he patrols it religiously. Once when it snowed we could see he followed the exact same route each time he patrolled from the footprints in the snow. He's a very very purry cat and likes to sleep up my right arm onto my chest which makes typing tricky.

His brother is Thing 2 who is black and white, has the longest whiskers in the world, and 'rejoices' in the name Isaac. Or Whizzle. Or Whizzle-kit.He rules the indoor arena. He is very very stupid and does not learn. He is the cat who fell out of the upstairs window three times in one weekend and still does fall out of the window whenever he's decided that's where he's sleeping. He also falls off sofa backs, tables, sideboards, the piano, the computer table ... you get the picture. While Jacob is getting slightly less reliable when jumping because I think he's getting a little old in the legs as it were, Isaac has never been good at any kind of physical activity. I would sympathise as this is very much my attitude too if it weren't for the fact he does not learn. At all. Isaac is Henry's cat. Entirely. I can feed him and stroke him but Henry wins his attention every time.

Actually by virtue of the fact that my lap is almost always full of laptop Henry is the person of choice for both cats when they're in a lap (rather than a right arm!) mood. Often this results in one cat settling on Henry's lap and the other settling up his chest by sitting on the first cat. Surprisingly neither of them seem that fussed about being sat on by the other one. I don't know how they sleep at night because they're shut in the kitchen but I do know it involves pulling clean clothing off the airer and sleeping on it. Thus making us wash it again!

Blinking cats!

I'm alive. I've been sick. I'm better, but tired. And now I must go do my part of the pre-cooking for Thanksgiving, because we'll be driving most of tomorrow, and we want to be able to mostly just heat things up on the day. It'll just be three of us, I think, and I'm looking forward to knitting, spinning, writing, reading, and playing with the cat.

Beach later in the week, and then, even later, after a brief moment or two at home, a wedding. We will speak of that no more until I return to whine...

Sorting has continued, very slowly (there was lots of sleeping last week), and has spread to the earring mess in my closet (it was small! I could do it in bed!) and the confusion in the craft department, which is in the bedroom, so I could just stop and drop onto the bed when needed. Found the origami paper I was looking for! Found the size 0 Hiya Hiya dpns!

Knitting, spinning, and writing all took a hit when I was sick, because there was a lot of Tired and Dizzy (and huge case of Fuzzy Brain), which was mostly med side effects. Yay. Fortunately, I'm now moving along on all of those.

I've yet to do any volunteering, due to being sick, but I'll set things up when we get back next week.

I hope you are all in good health and spirits. Happy Holiday of Overindulgence and Gratitude to those of you celebrating!

Edited to clarify.