I attempted the Lemon Pepper Chicken tonight on the George Foreman Grill. It was pretty lemony. Not so peppery. And it needed salt. But it was pretty good all the same. I made enough for most of this week. However, the grill tended to burn the marinade. I guess culinary experts would actually call it "blackened". I called it a treat for Steffi and Fritz. It's a good thing I didn't follow the recipe exactly. The recipe wanted to use 2/3 cup of lemonade drink mix, but I only used three little packets of lemonade KoolAid. That was plenty. I think I like the chicken Quesadillas better.

Even after all that cooking, I still found time to walk for about a half an hour. I hope all this exercise will pay off. It's hard to tell. I tried on another pair of jeans that don't fit yet and couldn't tell any difference from last week when I tried them on. Oh well, I'll have four days off this weekend, so maybe I'll be able to work out more.

A Nietzsche Quote

This quote reminds me of the Olympics, which raps up tonight on NBC with the closing ceremonies:

A few hours of mountain climbing turn a villain and a saint into two rather equal creatures. Exhaustion is the shortest way to equality and fraternity- and liberty is added eventually by sleep.

Globe Trekker

I first watched this show on the Travel Channel when it was called Lonely Planet. But now, I found it on PBS and it's called Globe Trekker. This is a very good show. I wish the Travel Channel would go back to this kind of programming. I'm so sick of the World Poker Tour.

Blogger has added a little email button for each post so that visitors to the blog can email posts to other people. Yay! I have turned on this little button for all three of my blogs. Remember the other two? The Maltese Cow and The Earth Hath Skin? They are over there in the Blogs of Note section. I haven't posted anything new on the Maltese Cow but I did post a couple of new things on The Earth Hath Skin.

Vote for Your Favorite Picture

NBCOlympics.com is running a contest where you can vote for your favorite picture and possibly win an autographed photo. I was going to vote for either the Paul Hamm picture or the Misty May/Kerri Walsh picture, but NBC wanted me to provide them with my phone number. Unless it's Matt Lauer, I don't want anyone from NBC calling me. But you all can vote if you want to.

Last week I bought a small George Foreman grill. I grilled chicken breast on it and I have to say that it has already paid for itself. Today I grilled chicken breast and then attempted to make chicken quesadillas. Unfortunately, they pretty much turned out like grilled soft tacos, but the grill worked so I can't complain. I am hoping to try lemon pepper chicken later.

I got outside today to work out. Although it was humid, I still managed about 50 minutes of medium paced walking. I haven't worked out for the last three days so I really needed to do something today. Maybe I will get back out for another work out today. I'm hoping to work out tomorrow morning too. I've been very good with my diet. I've only had restaurant fare once this week. I've lost enough to fit comfortably into the unflattering pair of jeans I bought during the sales tax free weekend, so I plan to continue on with the diet and exercise thing.

Paul Hamm Should Keep His Gold Medal!!

I've had enough of those lousy FIG Officials trying to blame Paul Hamm for their own lack of professionalism and competence. If Hamm had cheated in some way, then I could see him having to relinquish the medal. But he competed fairly. By exerting this kind of pressure on Hamm and attempting to make him the scapegoat, the FIG officials have only served to victimize another competitor of the gymnastics competition. This abuse of competitors by the FIG has to end.

A quiz!!

I got this from the Creative Writer's Corner Blog over in the blogs of note section.

Don Quixote. Idealistic to a fault, you are one of the few to believe in old-fashioned ideas like honor and chivalry. You have an overactive imagination and are e">
You're Don Quixote. Idealistic to a fault, you
are one of the few to believe in old-fashioned
ideas like honor and chivalry. You have an
overactive imagination and are eager to prove
yourself to a world that just isn't interested.
As a result you feel like an outsider in a sea
of cynics. Are you crazy or are they?

What Character from Literature Are You?
brought to you by

Olympics Observation

110M Hurdles - I don't think it should count if the runner knocks down all the hurdles. That kind of defeats the purpose of the event. The women run much better hurdle races than the men.

Scarlett, here's a blog about horses.

Olympic observation: a certain woman looked just a little too manly to be competing in a woman's event. Especially when the announce team claimed this competitor had a short resume in her field. And I'm not talking about weightlifting. That's all I'm gonna say on that.

I just saw a commercial for Budweiser beer with this donkey whose dream in life was to become a Clydesdale horse. It was the cutest commercial. Makes me want to get a donkey of my own, but our fences wouldn't hold it :(


Olympics thought: There is something sinister about those synchronized swimmers. On the Clown of Terror Scale, they rate about a 9 out of 10. It's just frightening to watch their frozen smiles. Their glassy wide eyes. Those pointy fingers and toes.

America won a bronze medal in women's freestyle wrestling. Yay!! Rulon Gardner keeps his amputated toe in the refrigerator as a reminder of past mistakes. He had it amputated after he was trapped in an icy pond for something like 18 hours one winter a few years ago.

SPF

A request, nay, a plea, for the beach volleyball players - please use sunscreen. I'm currently watching the Olympic women's semi-final between the two American teams and some of their skin doesn't look all that great.

Ms. Timekeeper

Okay Scarlett, here's the story on Ms. Timekeeper. Polly told me that Luinna actually kept a minute by minute account of Polly's day and during the evaluation, Luinna pulled this account out of nowhere and said Polly was doing x when she should have been doing y at 1:46 pm or some such nonsense. The woman has exhibited some seriously insane behavior. Don't let her sucker you in.

I clicked on the "next blog" button on the brand new navbar at the top of the page. I was sent to a blog called "Christina Aguilera Nude". Disgusting. Blogger should stop that.

I watched one of the beach volleyball matches of Paul and Martin Laciga the other day.

I've just come from visiting a message board trying to find out some spoilers for the new season of Andromeda. Didn't find any spoilers, but there was a series of posts regarding television coverage of the Olympics. I don't know why I bother to read any posts on this specific message board, because all the people on that board hate everything. But I read the posts about the Olympics. And guess what, they hate everything. Big surprise. Their main problem was someone's perceived notion that NBC is only focusing on American athletes and not covering any other athletes. Well, I hate to disappoint the whiners, but I just watched the women's marathon today and NBC didn't say anything about the American competitors until about the 21st mile. Up until then, it had been the Japanese leader, the Chick from Africa (I think Kenya) and the British woman dominating the coverage. I watched Beach Volleyball today and the two teams were both from Brazil. I watched rowing today and not one American team was competing. I watched table tennis and badminton, both sports dominated by Koreans, Chinese, and that Indonesian Bad Boy that the comemtators were talking about the other day. I watched water polo and the teams were Hungary and Germany I think. And did I not watch the soccer match between Mali and Italy. And there was a softball game on today but not the American softball team. I get so tired of the people on that message board. I should know better than to read anything that doesn't look like a spoiler. At least I'm not a registered member of that board. I'd surely get into tons of fights and have to be banned.

Va L'Italia !!!!!!

I watched some of the Italy vs Mali soccer game today. I'm not a big fan of soccer so I don't really have a favorite to cheer for, but after I saw Mali's players kick the dickens out of Italy's players for the third time, I decided I would be an Italy fan. It's too bad Mali has to be sore losers and try to hurt the other players.

Overheard at work.....

Scarlett, yesterday I overheard Melanie tell Tony that she had asked Charlotte when you would be finished in P-Burg and Charlotte didn't give her an answer. So, you might be there for some time to come.

I'm starting to get a really big urge to write something. I used to write poetry and I did write an entire romance novel (300+ pages) once. But I'm also smack-dab in the middle of a reading urge. It's hard to write something when you're reading someone else's work. Hmm... maybe I'll write something about an Olympic badminton champion. I don't think there's ever been a romance novel starring a badminton player.

Last night alone was great. The one downside was that Steffi (my dog) did not want me to sleep by myself. I shut the door to my room and she stood there crying and scratching at the door. But it only lasted a little while. I placed her dog bed by the door and let her sleep with one of my old t-shirts.

Oh, I also have the urge to bake a really rich and sinful chocolate cake. Which is really bad for me since I've been doing the diet and exercise thing. It doesn' t help that mom has chocolate cupcakes just laying around the house for me to see when I walk by.

Yay! I'm all alone tonight! Mom and Dad went out to Cincinnati to see my sister, brother-in-law and the baby and they won't be back until sometime tomorrow. If only they had gone on the weekend when I would have been home to enjoy it more. Oh well. Fritz and Steffi were very excited to see me tonight when I got home from work. They don't like being alone. They have been barking at every little noise tonight. But they get my parents' bed all to themselves so I'm sure they are pleased at that.

On the Olympics watching front, I've seen some fencing and tonight some equestrian events. I can understand why Scarlett is the way she is after I watched some of the horse stuff tonight. Scarlett used to show horses, in case you were needing the connection. Tonight, they said the German team won the gold medal. Then the French made a protest and the gold medal was given to them. Then the Germans protested the protest and they were given the gold medal back. If all horse judging is this fickle, I don't see how people can stay committed to it. And I really don't understand how people who make mistakes can be given the gold medal over people who have clean runs, like that German woman today who won the individual gold medal but knocked some of those fence rails down. Oh sure, they will say it's all about a combined score over three days of events, but the Olympics is supposed to be about perfection. Is it just me or are there a lot more mistakes in this Olympics across the board in all sports than there's been in the last few Olympics? I should just go back to watching Pro Wrestling. That, I understand.

On the History channel they are having Greek Week and I'm learning all kinds of things about Greece. Tonight they said the gold that adorned the statue of Athena in the Parthenon would be worth $11 Billion today. You have to wonder where all that gold went.

Scarlett, I checked the nbcolympics.com website and dressage and jumping is supposed to be on Saturday and Sunday. The schedule says 8:30 and 9am Athens time. So, maybe you'll get to see some equestrian stuff. Try the Bravo channel if you can get it. That's where I saw it tonight.

Speaking of tv watching, I've been watching this show on BBC America called Location, Location, Location. It's about these two people who take prospective home buyers around and show them properties. Well, it seems that every home buyer on the show has a price range starting at arount $200,000.00 (the show has the price of the home listed in Pounds and Dollars). That's really expensive here in America. So, I'm wondering, are these people in the upper class or what? Maybe my British friends can shed some light on this. I figure real estate over there would be expensive anyway, but how can people afford $300,000.00 homes? Makes you wonder what a Big Mac sells for over there.

Who said TV was bad for you?

I have just learned something new. I'm watching Deep Sea Detectives on the History channel and I learned that German U Boats sailed right into the Gulf of Mexico during WWII. I hope there are some history teachers watching this, because no one in high school or college ever said anything about this.

A quote

If you love something, turn it loose. If it doesn't come back, kill it!
-- Doug Horton {Also in: Altruism and Cynicism}

Putting Blogger on Notice

I just viewed my blog and I have no ads at the top of the page. Just an FYI to blogger - I did not sign up to pay for a no ads blog, so whatever this is, it's your doing.



UPDATE: They have removed my cute little ads and replaced them with something they call a Navbar. It's supposed to come in four spiffy colors. Wonder if there's a way to make it lime green?

I've been watching some of the Olympics lately. You would think with 28 sports I would be able to turn on the tv and not see basketball or softball. But no, both were on at the same time this weekend. Along with another boring sport - cycling. But I have seen plenty of badminton and table tennis. And I watched part of the Iraq/ Costa Rica soccer game. Not that I'm a fan of soccer, but I think it was either that or boxing. I think the NBC people are saving all the touristy feature news bits for the Today show. Which stinks, since I can only see about 20 minutes of the Today show before having to go to work. This coming weekend, they will be showing women's wrestling, a first for the Olympics. I plan to watch some of that. The only women's wrestling I've ever seen has involved "evening gown matches" over at the WWE. I depressed April today by telling her that some Olympic weightlifters only weigh 123 pounds. LOL! I think she has given up on the idea of dieting - she's just going to make the guy she's with gain more weight so she will feel better. Heeheehee.

I'm currently watching the opening ceremony for the Olympics. I think the stories about Athens will be more entertaining for me than the sports. One of the commercials that aired was for Budweiser and there was a really cute Budweiser Pony in the commercial. It won't make me drink, but the pony is really cute :)

Well Scarlett has been in P-Burg for a few days this week. They are trying their best to con her into staying, even going so far as to give her money. They had a contest for the cleanest cubicle and Scarlett won. Nevermind she had only used the cubicle for two days and she isn't even stationed there. Tony got a letter at home that said the supervisor position had been rescinded. He wanted some clarification on that so he emailed the RAM and asked her about it. She told him that they are going to have to re-post the supervisor position, the same rumor we've been hearing for a few weeks. So, it looks like Tony will get another chance at supervisor. And with the big news out of P-Burg today - that one of the supervisors has opted to fill one of the case worker positions rather than stay a supervisor, I think Melanie, our new/temp/substitute supervisor may be on her way back to P-Burg. We only suspect that she will apply for the P-Burg supervisor position. I wonder if we will still be invited to the cookout Melanie is planning in September. Well, I know Scarlett will still be invited. It's a wonder they don't get the Mayor of P-Burg to proclaim a day as Scarlett Day in her honor. Just keep in mind Scarlett, this is how the RAM gets everyone to do what she wants. She compliments them, tells them how wonderful they are, and bats those shiny eyes at them with that big smile. Been there. Done that. Got the lousy T-Shirt. The trick is knowing how to use that in your favor to get things to work out the way you want them.

The Thrill of Victory......

How about a few websites for the 2004 Olympic Games?

Athens 2004 Olympic Games

NBC Olympics

Gene Blocker Turns Monkeys Into Workaholics

Meow Mix Cafe!!!!!!

Per Scarlett's Request

Here's what Angie heard in the kitchen today: Carol Anne told her that she heard that Melanie was only going to be team leader for us for a short time because they wanted to move some people around in the P-Burg office. And once those people had been moved around, there would be a team leader position open up there and Melanie would then go back to P-Burg. This is very similar to what Tony told me. Angie also heard from Carol Anne that they will have to reinterview for the positon. I don't know if that means they have to post the position again or just call the applicants back for another interview. This is because of the length of time that will have gone by before our team leader position actually becomes available. But you know, Carol Anne could have heard all this from Marlene, who loves to share what she knows, so it might just be a repeat and not independent confirmation of the rumors.

Angie also said that Melanie asked her if we would mind if she brought food to the team meeting. Angie said, does it look like we refuse any food? and gestured to herself. LOL! Gotta love Angie. And Angie said Melanie told her that the RAM said that we didn't need a nurturing type of team leader and we like to be left to do our own thing.

April said the RAM was in a bad mood today. Maybe it's because I keep ratting on her favorites over in roane and calhoun. If she'd trained them better she wouldn't have that problem. But then to train them, you kinda need to know how to do the work in the first place. I think she's done a good job at teaching them to miss things, to not proofread their work and to not learn from their mistakes.

Elvis Week!!!!! Grab those Blue Suede Shoes!

Have you ever wondered?

Today at work I read an article about labor day in which the word toiler was used (one who toils). So, naturally, I took the leap from toil to toilet and wondered if there was any connection between the words. According to Merriam-Webster, it appears there isn't. But I still think there might be. It's just too coincidental.




Main Entry: 1toil
Pronunciation: 'toi(&)l
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English toile, from Anglo-French toyl, from Old French toeil battle, confusion, from toeillier
1 archaic a : STRUGGLE, BATTLE b : laborious effort
2 : long strenuous fatiguing labor
synonym see WORK
- toil·ful /-f&l/ adjective
- toil·ful·ly /-f&-lE/ adverb

Main Entry: 1 toi·let
Pronunciation: 'toi-l&t
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle French toilette cloth put over the shoulders while dressing the hair or shaving, diminutive of toile cloth
1 archaic : DRESSING TABLE
2 : the act or process of dressing and grooming oneself
3 a (1) : BATHROOM, LAVATORY 2 (2) : PRIVY b : a fixture that consists usually of a water-flushed bowl and seat and is used for defecation and urination
4 : cleansing in preparation for or in association with a medical or surgical procedure

Mish-mash of thoughts

Hmmm.... let's see, a tv news crew showed up at the P-Burg office wanting to interview the RAM for something. I don't know what, but I told Polly and Scarlett to find out and let me know. All Tony would say was "hmm. Interesting." Tony and the new boss talked for a while in his cube and he didn't even have the courtesy to raise his voice a little so I could eavesdrop. I told him that once she was gone he would have to tell me everything because he and I have no secrets between each other. Hahaha!!!! Remember a few days ago when I talked about Lazy Lydia? Well, the Ram had emailed me on a case that Lydia referred for audit and I got to point out all of Lydia's mistakes, thereby proving that fate does have a way of giving you justice. Heeheehee!!! It seems all the idiot drivers converged on the Krogers parking lot tonight and I ended up running into all of them (figuratively speaking)when I got there. I'm reading a really good book by Diana Palmer right now. I can't wait to get back to it. I put on my jeans this morning after two days of working out to find that they fit a little more loosely than they did last week. Yay! I might just keep up this working out thing for a while.

Not a Fan

of Farscape, but I am a fan of tv. So, when I saw this, I thought I would be nice to all my fellow tv fans and post it for them.......

Scarlett, I don't know if you already have this, but I found this horsey thing and thought of you.

I saved $3.80 during the tax free shopping trip this morning. It might not seem like much but we've had a sales tax for as long as I've been alive (a long time) and it's exciting to actually be able to buy something tax free without having to buy it on the internet. I got everything on my list except potting soil. It wasn't a tax free thing, but I had planned to get a bag. I think I'll have enough anyway to transplant my orange tree. The dogs have stayed with me all day today. They will have major separation anxiety when the weekend's over. Neighborcat came by this evening. He has cuts and bumps on his forehead and face. Apparently he lost another fight. I think he's now 0 and about 579 or something. And since the weather was so wonderful today, sunny but about 70-75 degrees, I went out and did some walking. I bought a pair of very unflattering jeans today (that's what I get for not trying on clothes, but then it's not like walmart actually has workers who do what they are supposed to and man the dressing room station) so I figured I'd better try to lose a little weight so they can be just unflattering, instead of very unflattering.

Yesterday, I did a little shopping at Krogers. I was at the deli waiting on the deli worker to bag up a pound of turkey breast when she started singing a Byran Adams song that was playing in the store. They must play that song a lot because it was one of his old ones and I doubt if anyone actually remembered the words on their own. It's not like the Everything I do song from the Robin Hood movie or anything. So, the worker was singing and you know it didn't seem all that bad. Maybe we should sing at work. Another Krogers story... Krogers has one gallon buckets of ice cream for sale. They have one kind of bucket for $3.49 and another kind for $2.79. Naturally I've been buying the cheaper kind. I noticed the lid said the ice cream was low fat, but I figured it wasn't really low fat, you know like the small difference between whole milk and 2% milk. So, after about a week of eating this ice cream I noticed that I hadn't gained any weight so I compared the labels of this ice cream and the kind that is sold at $3.49 and you know what, it really is low fat. It's a shame I don't believe anything I see anymore.

The satellite dish people have given us free movie channels this weekend. We are getting the HBO and Cinemax channels. It would have been nice if they had told us before the weekend started that we'd be getting them, but as usual I just expect too much from mere mortals. The bad thing is that Bill Maher's show is on at the same time as Design on a Dime. How will I choose between them? Maybe Design on a Dime will be a re-run. It usually is.

Fox Fires Bryan Singer - X-Men 3 movie in limbo!!!!!

I'm glad it's the weekend. I'm going shopping tomorrow, some tax free and some fully taxable. Usually I go to P-Burg to shop, but I don't feel like making the drive. I plan to wage another fierce battle against the mighty flea brigade that has infested the house. Fritz has skin problems but he won't let me spray him with hydrocortizone spray. We use a spray bottle of water as a deterrent to his cat chasing urges.

My garden isn't doing all that well. Well, I guess that's a relative statement. No tomatoes at all when I can usually grow those in my sleep. But I have two cantaloupes and I usually can't get any of those. Oh well, you take what you can get.

Today at work Lydia whined to the RAM about April asking her to do a little work, so the RAM said she didn't have to. Big surprise. I think Scarlett may have some competition for the "My Favorite Worker" title. But I think Scarlett can take her. I've got some posterboard like material - I'll make you a crown Scarlett. I told April that all she had to do was wait and eventually things will come back around and she will get her justice in some other way. It always works that way. And the Ram proved to be yet one more person who works in our agency who can't read. She called me yesterday and asked if she could use the ARBB function because someone told her that it wasn't supposed to be used. I said yes it could be used and that I hadn't heard anything about not being allowed to use it. So today she sends me the email I got a couple of months ago that says only Technicians aren't allowed to use the F2 function. That had nothing to do with ARBB. It was very clearly stated. So, I explained to her that the two things were separate and one had nothing to do with the other. She didn't respond. Maybe that was why she was cranky with April. It couldn't be because we had to call her attention to her $6000.00 screw-up today. LOL! The state office made the $6000.00 mistake even worse by sending out $2000.00 of it to someone when they should have had the check re-deposited. And somehow even though the state office screwed it up, the field people had to be the ones to do the extra paperwork to try to fix it. Maybe the RAM was just annoyed that April had pointed out about 5 mistakes that Greg's made in the last two days alone. But you know, she hired him and helped train him so she's responsible. It's not our fault that he doesn't double check his work. Makes me want to go to work for the B. Justice unit - this is a woman who is feared and hated by just about everyone in our agency because she nitpicks everyone's work in order to make sure our agency passes the federal audit. I'd love to work for her just so I could nag some people.

I love John McCain!

Scarlett, this is for you and April!

Laura Bush Visits Citicorp In NY Amid Terror Alert - And we're supposed to believe the terror threats are real after this.

Not much has been going on lately. This weekend is sales tax free weekend in WV. It's a back-to-school promotion in which school supplies are for sale without the 6% sales tax. Oddly enough, on the list of school supplies approved for the promotion is bridal apparel and garter belts. Don't know what they have to do with school, but it's good to know these kids can wear wedding dresses to school tax free.

WWE observations

I haven't watched pro wrestling in a very long time, but as there isn't much on tv right now, I thought I would watch a few minutes of it. Well, right now, Triple H is whining about how he lost so much blood wrestling Chris Benoit and this and that (Benoit won and Triple H lost) - I might have had an ounce of sympathy if Triple H hadn't been such a wuss that he needed Ric Flair and Batista to double team Benoit while the referee was knocked out. Yeah, what a man. Whooo!!! LOLOL!!! Once you love wrestling, you never hate it. And William Regal (formerly known as Steve Regal, I still call him that) is somehow a good guy in that he orchestrated Triple H's defeat. I think Steve, I mean William, Regal might have been a good guy for about 10 minutes maybe 15 years ago. It's about time there was a switch. Oh and hey, now they have 9 dancing women competing for a job as a WWE Diva. Apparently the only qualifications are skimpy clothing and bouncy...... hair. Heeheehee... Remember when wrestling was about men feuding over money and titles?

New tomb found in Egypt

I'm glad President Bush is keeping America safe from world-class, genius............. chess players. Fischer could get 10 years in prison for playing a game of chess. But, this guy only got 5 more years than that for reportedly beating his child to death. And people don't think our justice system needs overhauled.

This weekend I've been doing a little gardening and watching Season 2 of Andromeda on dvd. I transplated Dad's pear trees into bigger flower pots and the plant Polly gave me for my birthday into a bigger pot. And season 2 of Andromeda is pretty good. I have a habit of going to message boards to try to get some spoilers for the next season of my favorite shows and I'm bewildered by these people who obviously hate Andromeda because it isn't written the way THEY want it to be (who ever said it was their show? I don't see their names on the credits.) Why do they post messages about how they no longer watch the show and how the show is awful? You'd think they would let go of that negative energy and put their time to more positive use. "Fans" of Alias do the same thing, criticizing the writing and direction of the show. I miss the old days of TV before the internet. One writer somewhere takes an internet idea and incorporates it into the show, and now everyone thinks they should have a say in how the show evolves. Stupid. TV shows aren't interactive stories, they aren't choose your own adventure books. I suppose these people think they could re-write Shakespeare too.

Get Anything for Free....

At least that's what the title of the magazine article says. Woman's World magazine featured the website: Freecycle.org in their current issue.