List #35: Quirks I Have

1.  Gum must be eaten in sticks of two
If it's not a STICK of gum, it doesn't have to be two of them.  Like Hubba Bubba are bigger, so that's okay.  And if someone offers me a stick of gum, I'm not going to be rude and demand a second stick just so I can eat it.

2.  The Kleenex (yes, actual Kleenex) boxes in my house must match
I have crashed entire Kleenex displays looking for matching boxes.  I would even rather have the ugly green box than have mismatched boxes.  And I prefer the Kleenex Anti-Viral tissues.  Those lotioned tissue creep me out.

3.  I have to have at least five SEPTA tokens in my pocket when I leave the house
If I know I'm going more than one round trip, I pack more than five tokens.  If I take less than five tokens, I get nervous.  I have no idea what I think will happen that will necessitate these extra three tokens, but I must have five.

4. I can't stand to blow my nose in front of other people
If I'm in a restaurant, for instance, I'll excuse myself to the restroom just to do that.  One time, I was with a friend and had a cold, and I went to the restroom a few times and he finally asked if I was okay.  So I told him I was just blowing my nose.  After that, every time we'd go to lunch and I'd go to the restroom, he'd offer me a tissue.  Ha ha.

5.  French fries should not be eaten solo, but should be eaten with fries of equal length
It doesn't matter how many other fries there are, as long as there isn't only one.  If there are no other fries of equal length, just bend a long one in half.  Or take a long one and a short one, then bite the long one until it's the same length as the short one.  THEN treat them as equal-length fries.

Recipe: Poor Man's Chili

1 15-oz can black beans, drained
1 15-oz can garbanzo beans, drained
1 15-oz can kidney beans, drained
1 15-oz can corn, drained
1 24-oz jar prepared pasta sauce
1 cup baby tomatoes (optional, they pop after slow cooking!)
1 t cumin
1 t corriander
1 t tumeric
1 cinnamon stick

Drain the beans and corn, and put the can contents into your crock. Top with tomatoes, if using, and the pasta sauce. Stir in spices, and add cinnamon stick. Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours, or on high for about 4. If the tomatoes haven't popped on their own, gently poke them with a wooden spoon to pop before serving.

Notes:
This is shamelessly stolen from this blog.

I didn't have a cinnamon stick, so I substituted 1/2 t of cinnamon.  Next time, I would use more.  Mom kept cautioning me, "I wouldn't use too much!" but I definitely erred on the wrong side.  This was definitely good, and it made enough for lunch for the week.

Exhausted

Last night, I worked from 7:00 a.m. (my usual start) to 6:45 p.m. (NOT my usual end time).  I had a webcast that started at 4:30 p.m., and even though I live only about 20 minutes from work, since I usually leave at 3:00 p.m., it would have been one of those "by the time I go home, it'll be time to head back into work," so it was more productive to stay at the office.

My intent was to only stay on the webcast for a little while (for what I considered "the introductory part"), but for reasons I won't go into for work confidentiality reasons, the introductory part went on and on and on and became The Actual Call.

And then I worked my entire shift today.  I had expected to do some work with a co-worker, but that work ended up not being ready (no fault of the co-workers), so I didn't go in late (which I could have done).  And since we had a meeting scheduled until my shift end time, I didn't leave early... and then the meeting ended up being cancelled at the last minute.  Argh.

Exhausted.

Preparing for Surgery (really early)

I talked to my physiotherapist, and she said she isn't surprised that my doctor is talking about surgery since there's only so much that physiotherapy can do for a labral tear.  The tear will always be there, but the goal of the therapy is to strengthen the muscles around that area to compensate.

But I got to thinking about it, and pretty much everything I do will be affected, especially since I (a) live alone and (b) live on the second floor of a building with no elevator.  So even things like taking out the trash will be difficult.  I spoke to my neighbour downstairs, and she said that as things get closer, I should let her know, and we might be able to work some things out, like doing our grocery shopping together.

I might be able to work out something with a friend's daughter for things like laundry.  She's an undergrad dropout, but I don't know if my friend will be amenable to that since I know she wants her daughter focused on going back to school.  Not that helping me out would be a full-time career option, but it would be an excuse for her to procrastinate getting her ducks in a row for going back to school.

And I talked to HR, and I do qualify for short-term disability, as long as I'm out of work for six days or more.  I would get 2/3rds of my pay.  I can get 100% of my pay if I use sick days, but I don't want to do that since it would be so early in the year.

So, that's where things are thus far.  Wheee again.

Book Review: The Sandberg Connection

Private investigator Sam Blackman and his partner (both business and personal) Nakayla Robertson were hired to follow history professor Janice Wainwright to see if her physical activities would belie her claim against a spinal surgeon for malpractice.  But this is only the beginning because Janice ends up dying under suspicious circumstances on that trip, and Sam becomes a suspect (as the one nearest her dead body).

While he proves his innocence, the autopsy proves Janice's malpractice claim and her estate is broken into.  What's stolen?  The Sandberg verses that she was researching -- which were also the subject of her last words.

This was an engaging, compelling mystery.  Read my full review here.

Phone Call with My Mom

I did not have a good sports weekend.

I'm still bitter about Mizzou being moved to the SEC.  One of my NASCAR drivers is in the hunt for the championship, but he's only in the lead by three points.  Another of my drivers is in hot water with his sponsor, NASCAR, and most of the fans, and by their reaction, you'd think he'd ran over all of their grandmothers and boiled their puppies (he didn't, by the way -- just to clarify).  And yet another of my drivers (in a different series) ACCIDENTALLY wrecked a championship contender and pretty much ruined that guy's chances at winning the championship (oops).

As soon as that happened, the phone rang.  (Hi Mom.)

Me: IT WAS AN ACCIDENT!
Mom: He's a loser who can't drive!
Me: You don't even know!

(We were still on the phone about five minutes later when they started interviewing two of the guys involved in the wreck.)

Me: Hey!  Why aren't they interviewing Jason?  He's standing right there!
Mom: BECAUSE HE'S A LOSER!
Me: They're being biased against him!  They aren't getting his side of the story!  No fair!
Mom: Ha ha - they don't like him, either!
Me: Shhh, now they're talking to him.

(Jason admitted he made a grave error and felt awful.)

Me: SEE???  He's man enough to admit a mistake, take ownership, and be remorseful.  What more do you want?
Mom: BLOOD!  I WANT BLOOD!
Me: You frighten me.
Mom: You asked.
Me: Don't talk to me right now.  I'm mad at you.
Mom: Why?  Because you like losers?
Me: Shhh.  Don't talk to me!
Mom: I can't talk?
Me: That's right.  I'm mad at you.  You have to be quiet.
Mom: Then can I hang up?
Me: No.
Mom (laughing): Oh, I have to sit here and be miserable?
Me: Yes, that's right.  That's your punishment.
Mom: Hmph.  Well, can I --
Me: SSSHHHHHH.  I'M BEING MAD AT YOU!

Felix comes over and meows into the phone.

Me: See?  Even Felix knows!  He's telling you how wrong you are!
Mom: No, he's talking to me because he feels bad for me.
Me: Traitor.

Hip Update

I saw my hip doctor Thursday, and it looks like I'm going to be having surgery on my hip after the first of the year.  He wants to do another MRA/arthrogram procedure (that's the one they did a few months ago where they put the big-ass needle in the joint).  This will do a couple of things (well, a few if you count "put me in pain."): It will allow him to get a better idea of what's going on now (I had the earlier procedure done at a different hospital, but he wants to do this one personally, and they will again put an anaesthetic in the joint for pain relief.

As he said it, "if I'm going to operate on you, I want to make sure I'm doing the right one."  He KNOWS I have a hip labral tear.  He KNOWS I have a FAI (femoral-acetabular impingement).  But he also THINKS that there's some other issue going on causing the limited range of motion and pain.

The surgery would cause me to be on crutches for several weeks, and I'd be looking at another round of physiotherapy.  Whee!