Rain (updated)

It's 7am and it is raining inside the building today.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

I suppose this is *technically* an improvement over the flood in my previous office.  

Update:
8:15am

Someone solved the rain in the building problem:

Skyscraper

I pass this building every time I go into town.

 

 

 

 

There is something about this building that is intriguing to me.  Maybe it's the curve of the building.  Maybe it's because it's not curved in the center.  Maybe because it's old.  (Heck, I don't know if it's old or just looks old!)

There are so many buildings, signs, houses, and things I see during my day that I want to take pictures of and share with you.  I need to take the time to bring my camera, pull over to the side of the road, and take some pictures.

Passerbyer: "Honey, look at that crazy lady who stopped her car along side of the road to take a picture of the street sign."

Yeah, that will be me.

Also, blah. 

It's blah.  I'm blah.  Everything feels blah right now.  I'm ready for spring. I'm certain everybody is.  I saw a post yesterday of a lady in her summer beach hat attempting to make spring come faster by working in her garden.  She was surrounded by a foot a snow. 

I know the feeling.  Everyday Walt Kowalski looks out the window.  He's making plans, too.  It's coming.  Just not fast enough to suit us.

Exercise Plan

Hello loyal readers!

I have been away for a few days.  Nothing exciting.  No vacations, although I could use one. I headed north again.  This time was for two days with a stay over in between

Different car this time.

 

 

I liked this one MUCH better than the last.  I liked the way to drove, I felt more comfortable in the driver's seat, and I had a better feel for how fast I was going.  The last car I had a difficult time "feeling" how fast I was going. Once I thought I was going 40mph and looked down and I was doing 70!  I am used to Little Red and how she performs, so that was  shocker.  This vehicle was better.

 

We also rented one these for vacation two years ago, so I was familiar with this model.

 

I wish I could say I was at the spa for two days where I pampered and spent the day exercising.  I did spend the day exercising, but not in the fashion you might think.

 

Here was the exercise plan:

 

 
4 computers needed installed upstairs.

Each computer had the following boxes:

1 -- 22" monitor
1 -- 22" monitor
1 -- laptop computer
1 -- docking station
1 -- keyboard
1 -- mouse

The keyboard, mouse and docking station could be carried together.  1 trip.  The laptop was in a separate box.  Trip #2. And each monitor.  Trip #3 and trip #4. 

4 trips up and down the steps for each computer.

And any other parts I might have forgotten.  Trips up and down. And then there was a bad docking station.  Another trip up and down.  And another bad docking station.  Another trip up and down. Then there was a bad computer.  Another trip up and down.

Needless to say, by the end of the day, I was ready for this:

 

 

I liked the corner vanity and mirrors in the bathroom. 

 

The lobby had a nice gas fireplace and they had a wine and cheese reception from 6 to 8pm. 

 

My youngest niece will also be pleased to know they had a waffle maker and fixings for breakfast in the lobby, too.

 

I'm home with Walt Kowalski, but I have a feeling this is not the last time I will see this place.

 

(I also need to learn to hold my phone steady.  it doesn't have the stabilizer like my camera.  Practice.)

Star Star Moon

Actually, planet, planet moon.

 

The only, *ONLY*, good part about this cold weather is the show in the sky.  With the moon setting on the evening horizon, the dark blue of the fading sunset is beautiful.

 

Wow.

By morning darkness, all you can see is thousands of stars.  Now, if only I could stand being out in the cold. 

I've got to get my telescope out this summer.

Delicious weekend

Some weekends are busy. Some weekends are quiet. This weekend was full of snow and ice and delicious food.

One of our favorite traditions on Saturday and Sunday mornings  (and any day we have off together) is breakfast.  Sometimes it's just peanut butter toast we stuff in our faces before we run out the door.  Other days it's eggs and toast, tea and coffee, the newspaper and the cooking channel.  Friday night we went to the store, which means Saturday and Sunday breakfast was going to be delicious. 

Bacon.
Eggs.
Sourdough toast.
Coffee.
Tea.

{breaths deeply} Ahhhh, I can still smell it. 

Sunday night was pretty good, too. We spent most of the day picking (actually with the pick) away at the ice in the driveway.  1 inch of it on everything.  A skating rink.

We persevered.  Picked, shoveled, scrapped the ice and salted and salted and salted and salted. the temperature was just over freezing and this was our only opportunity before the next deep freeze came.

To celebrate our successful day, I treated Walt Kowalski to a traditional Sunday night of sauce.

I really need to stay away from recipes online.  I cooked rigatoni halfway, then stood them all on their ends in a spring form pan. While the pasta was cooking, I mixed up some ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, and spices.  Then I used my cookie decorating bag to fill each rigatoni with the cheese filling. 

I covered the top with sauce and mozzarella cheese and baked it. 

(I put the spring form pan on a cookie tray before baking, just in case the cheese oozed.  It did. I learned that lesson the hard way with an apple tart.) 

After letting it cool for a moment, and running a knife around the outside, I was able to release the pan and see the deliciousness.  It sliced like a cheesecake. A cheese case covered in red sauce.  Delicious. 

A fitting reward for a day of hard work.

Vrooooom

Headed north today.  Due to new rules for expenses, using my own personal vehicle was not cost productive.  So I got to rent a car.

Much like the one I drove a few weeks ago, this one also has a very fancy dashboard in it.

I like the temperature reading feature, but I don't like that temperature!

 
It has it all and then some on this dashboard.

But no power seats in this model.  That's fine, I'll only have it for 2 days.

Walt Kowalski had plenty of leg room, but noticed that from the front passenger seat he could reach across and touch the window of the passenger behind the driver.  Too small to suit him.

I'm going to have the opportunity to test drive these rental cars every two weeks.  I'll know what I don't want in  my next new car.

Cake

 

Just to temp you on this Ash Wednesday, here was the ice cream Walt Kowalski surprised me with.

 

 
I could lick the screen right now. 

One of my favorite parts is that I get to use my meat cleaver to cut it.  There aren't enough opportunities to use the meat cleaver.