Really, how?

How do I stop looking for a significant other? The other day, the Daily Challenge was to name an exercise or sport that one would like to relearn or get back involved with. I said that there was one, but I needed a partner for it. One of my connections, after it became clear that I was suggesting without saying that sex was the form of exercise, suggested that I stop looking for a partner and one would turn out to be right beside me. Right. Beside me. Ha!

So, the other day, I went to Wegman's - big surprise - and as I was walking in, an attractive-to-me woman was walking out. And then suddenly there were lots of them roaming the place. And two of the checkers. There are days like that. Most interesting, though, was seeing a women who was a-t-m walking with a guy who looked to be at least 10 years older if not 20. There is hope. Apparently it springs (not leaps) eternally. Oh, and yesterday, I went to the pharmacy and sighed a little (inwardly).

On another subject entirely, I also ran into two friends out shopping! Hi Charles! Hi Daniel! (That's what I said when I saw them...)

Made eggrolls again last night. Hey, if anyone comes to visit, I will happily make you fresh eggrolls. I am toying with the idea of making the skins from scratch. it looks pretty easy from the great cookbook that my sister Juliet gave me! Sadly, though, I can't find sweet and sour chicken in there. Hmm. That was what I was thinking of cooking tonight. After I get back from Beer Day at the Beautiful Beef and Brew!

Got my last (for now) programming book. Learn Objective-C on the Mac - sadly it is out of date already - it is from 2009!! But so far, I have been able to interpolate from what they show to what xCode 4.2 shows. Yay!

Happy Lump Day by the way!

The lima beans were from a bag because I forgot to buy green beans at the store. :(

Motivation

Everyone is motivated by something, I guess, so I just need to figure out what motivates me. It isn't the sun. It isn't sex. It isn't money. It isn't food. Sunshine: nope. Happiness: no, happiness is a choice. Love: don't think so. Great, I know lots of things that aren't major motivators for me. Don't get me wrong - all of those things appeal, they just aren't strong motivators for me. Someone couldn't try to get me to do something by providing to provide any of those things. So what is it that motivates me? Maybe fun? Not major adrenaline rush fun, just fun. Learning, problem solving. Hmm. I will keep thinking on this.

We had a mixed day yesterday day here. Mom got up and seemed as chipper as can be expected on a day where we went to see the Doctor. She had written some notes, and left them on the dresser in the front hall. Luckily, I had forgotten to put pens in my pocket - I hate being without a writing implement if I can help it - and I noticed them sitting there. Yippee! Got to the doctor's early and there was hardly anyone in the waiting room. Mom was already getting all excited about being able to complain about how long we had to wait. Maybe 30 seconds after she had sat down, a nurse came and called her name! A new to us nurse. And apparently, after getting her LN she went back and got her RN and this new to her job! She was very pleasant, listened to everything we both had to say and was very efficient in taking mom's blood pressure. It is interesting that blood pressure is now frequently taken with the cuff over clothing. When did that start to be the norm? Again, we didn't have to wait for long before Dr. Ryan appeared. He also listened to everything mom had to complain about. He recommended another eye doctor for us. And suggested that we go see and Ear Nose and Throat doctor about mom's constant snot issue - and her itchy ears. And he gave her a prescription cream to put on her spots. Yay! All in all a very effective visit, I must say.

Mom, though, started to feel nauseous for some reason. Perhaps it was the yummy chicken salad that I had fed her for lunch. Or just her being less accustomed to being up and out and about. She has thrown up a couple of times when we were out. I gave her my car wastebasket - that had a plastic bag for a liner - being the clever bunny I am - sadly, the bag had a hole in it. Oh well. Still better than nothing! After that, we went home, of course. Today, no chicken salad for lunch - I think a nice muffin with some jarlsberg will have to suffice. Or, perhaps some pecan danish!

Look what a kind person (probably a student) left in the yard: $.05!

Burn me!

"Burn me" is a curse in the Wheel of Time Series! I am still listening to the books although I haven't mentioned them in a long while. Love that series, despite it's issues. I think that Robert Jordan (or whatever his real name was) was going to make it a 30 book series when he passed over. He digressed from following the main story to exploring a few other side plots. Well, mainly the whole Elayne trying to become Queen stuff was just not that pertinent. I don't really care about the people contesting against her for the throne. Some of the other stuff is sort of important, like her dealing with more of the original lot of black sisters...anywho...

Burn me! Literally! Last night I decided to make breakfast for dinner - a frequent occurrence here in Geneva on Sundays at Chez Schoen-René. And last night I decided to try to make hash browns the easy way - and they turned out pretty well. At least mom asked for seconds. I think next time I will add the onions a little later and later still will add green pepper. If I have any. Which I normally do not, but anything is possible. So, when putting the potato parts into the hot bacon grease, I plopped and dropped instead of placed and burned my fingers a little bit. Nothing too horrendous - though it is the first damage to myself that I have done in a while. I don't like damaging myself.

Mom seems to be improving. Can that be? I don't see how. Still, she seems to remember more stuff in the near past than she has. Like movies we have seen and things we have done. How weird is that? And why is that? In any case, she still has her personality, which is great! Maybe she just isn't deteriorating as far as I can tell.

Today we are going to the doctor's office. Mark Ryan. Maybe he can recommend another eye doctor for mom since she really didn't enjoy Dr. Ross all that much last time. She still goes on about what a waste of time that appointment was (and I tend to agree). And while at the hospital, I am going to ask around for a social worker. Juliet suggests I speak with one - she did at a hospital in Maine. I think I have looked before and didn't find one at the Geneva Hospital. But I will look again in earnest and see what, or who, I can find.

I know that most of you (both of you?) know that I am writing a second blog - my writing blog. Although I only post there sporadically, it is there. Next, I am starting a Political Blog. Not that I am particularly "political." I am still trying to figure out what "political means" - me, I am just interested in figuring out what I think about issues. It will help when I walk for the presidency.

Homestyle Hash Browns

Wow, what a let down

Luckily, I am not one to let a let down keep me down. After being spoiled by the computer book I was working on - the second book, not the first, this current book was a fairly severe disappointment. Oh well. I have written quite a diatribe about in on my writing blog. Suffice it to say here that it will probably get resold if I can figure out how to do that easily on Amazon. I don't know if there are a lot of hoops to jump through for that. Anyone have any experiences that they would like to share?

It was a snow day yesterday. I like having enough supplies on hand that I don't have to go out if the weather is inclement. The winds were howling and the snow was blowing. The streets got plowed and then the wind swept snow right back onto them. Driving out there (or being out there at all) did not look particularly pleasant. I hope that wherever you are reading this you are having more pleasant weather! Well, today looks sunny and cool. And Monday it is supposed to be in the mid to high forties! Yippee! Melt snow, melt! Bahahahahaha! :)

Hot dogs and baked beans and a little bit of spinach was dinner last night. Tonight, probably breakfast for dinner. We shall see.

Wow, really sleepy. I got up way too early today and have been struggling with the computer - mainly because my brain is fuzzy. Sigh. Maybe it is time for a nap!

Not so errandy Friday

Mom was anxious about her impending doctor's appointment and got herself all unhappy. So she wasn't feeling capable of heading out on errands. So I went food shopping and dropped off a prescription and that was about it. She ended up watching a couple of videos. I feel like a dad with a kid - putting on a video so that she will be entertained. Sigh.

The Jeopardy Teacher I wanted to win the Teacher's Tournament didn't make it to the finals. How sad it that? On a ten scale, about a 1... :)

We got snow last night. Yippee! And it is supposed to hang around for a few days. Monday it is supposed to be 50 degrees again, so I doubt it will last much past then. Good thing, since mom and I have to go out on Monday for sure.

Last night I made easy alfredo sauce for bowtie pasta with chicken glop. I love the easy alfredo sauce. Tonight I think we are having hot dogs and baked beans plus spinach. The roads haven't been very well attended to and if I don't have to go out, I am not going to go...

I have decided to work on two computer books at the same time. The one I have been working on is starting to get into more esoteric stuff, which I need to learn, but is not as fun as the stuff we were learning before. And I really want to start to see if I can find answers to the questions I have about building a game - so, I am going to start iOS5 Games Development - which looks to be not as good as the current book. It looks like it was written by a guy in his basement - but this is just a quick take on the thing - it might be excellent and I will certainly say how I feel as I get into it.

Finished all bu the Constitution in the US Government & Politics book. So, looks like I will be starting my political blog soon. Aren't you all so excited you can hardly wait?

I forgot I bought this - 10 pounds of rice! I hope it keeps ok...

Success!

The answer is - frying the eggrolls right from the freezer is the way to go! The outside was crisp and the insides were hot. Life is good! And that makes my life a lot easier! Now, I just need to restock on eggrolls. Not tonight, though. I haven't figured out what we are having for dinner yet. I am leaning towards something with the left over chicken. My sister gave me a great cookbook and I think I will look in there and see if anything related to chicken jumps out at me! Yay! I also added some feta cheese to the spinach and mom loved it! Ok, I liked it too...

We need to have an errands day today. Mom wants another pair of nail scissors. I don't know what she does with the ones that we have bought her in the past. Eat them perhaps? I doubt that, but still, they must be somewhere. And we need some of her medicine. And there was something else, oh, yes, she wants to go mail a package. Yippee!

At least last night wasn't as boring as the Thursday before. I tried a newish place (at least to me). Ok, not new, I just don't go there too frequently. The bar at the Ramada. And boy was that not exciting. They were out of draft beer. They didn't have the Ithaca Apricot. The bartender had called in so the managers were running the bar. One beer (Saranac Pale Ale) and then I headed to Red Dove. Yay! Joe was tending bar and actually seemed happy to see me. And Laura and Erin were also personable. That is a good thing. I only had one beer there too, because time was running short, but it was a tasty Named Dove Porter. Chatted with two nice people from the University of Buffalo - one of whom is moving near to Nashville! So I extolled the virtues of The Nashville Flying Saucer to him! He had been six times and hadn't gotten a membership. Just think, even if he had had only one beer each time towards his plate, he would only have 194 to go! Yay math!

I got two of the three books that I have ordered, These two are the game development books. Still waiting on the book on programming itself. God, I am doing this bass-akwards. Oh well. Life is that way frequently. I did have some ideas about a third game, though. I am sure there are versions of these games already out there and then Apple will probably reject them. Yay, self defeatism! No matter, I will keep plugging along anyway. I can't stop me! :)

See the eggroll at the top of the picture! Yay! Much better than the other one...

Yay books and learning! Book learning even! :)

Hummus Hater?

Turns out that my mom doesn't like hummus. Weird, but yay! I guess I have to eat it all myself. Hahahahahahahahahaha! :) Next time, I might put artichokes in it...It was funny, a friend of mine posted that she had tried making hummus at home too (independently - I don't think she read my blog and was inspired to try it). It is a hummus revolution!

Yesterday was beer Wednesday at the Beautiful Beef and Brew in Gorgeous Geneva, NY. Yay! Happily, Lorraine and Tiffany were there - always nice to see their smiling faces! And I had three tasty beers! All of which I have, as is often the case, had before in other places, but still, yum. The first was a local beer - Raven Black IPA from Roosterfish, (Watkins Glen, NY). I like the idea and fact of Black IPAs. I would like them to be a bit thicker - more mouth feel, but we can't usually have everything. This one was good, with a hint of coffee and well balanced with the hoppiness. Second beer was Longhammer IPA from Redhook - which is apparently brewed in three different places in the US. So, I don't know where it is actually based...I thought Washington State, near Seattle (where I have been to a brewery and a tasting room of theirs). Anyway, I like Redhook's bottles! They are differently shaped than just about any other beer manufacturer out there - at least so far as I have seen. Who knew that beer bottles came in so man different shapes? I don't think I have ever had Longhammer from a bottle before. Definitely a decent example of an IPA! Last on the tasting list for yesterday was Otter Creek's stovepipe porter - another beer that I haven't had in a bottle before. This one was pretty good too. Being a porter fan, I found this beer to be a good example of a porter. One I might just have to have again (and again). One day.

Also during my outing, I had a lovely phone call with my lovely sister! Yay! Hi Juliet! Apparently she reads the blog now and again. Yippee! Now if only her son Sam would actually write me back on Facebook, all would be right with the world.

Dinner last night was store chicken, broccoli and rice. I need to buy more rice. And different kinds of rice. I like rice. Yay rice!

Tonight I am thinking of trying to deep fry one of my frozen eggrolls and see what happens. My guess is that it will end badly. That they need to have been cooked a little before being tossed in the oil. We shall see!

Time to put the recycling out!

Late One!

Hi everyone in bloggerville - this is your friendly neighborhood blog poster posting a latish blog. Interesting that "latish" is a word.

I got two more programming books today in the mail. Yippee! I am still planning on finishing my current one before moving on to the next two. And I ordered a third - a book on straight programming - which I probably ought to have ordered first - oh well.

Not too much to report. Staying in and not doing much of anything will do that. I did cook a decent dinner last night after a brief shopping excursion to Wegman's. I bought some beef - which turned out to be sliced for sandwiches. Oh well - it cooked up ok. We also had left over brussels sprouts, fresh twice baked potato and artichokes. And those aren't jokes! :)

Today is Beef and Brew Beer Wednesday! Last week, Steve, the "bar manager" was on duty and he didn't give me the discount I was expecting. Oh well - nothing lasts forever. We shall see who is on duty today. Hopefully someone who is still silly enough to give me the 50% off!

President's Day and suddenly it's Mardi Gras

Party, like it is 1789! Woohoo! Yay Washington and Lincoln! And all the other presidents! Yay people! Let's have a party! I want some beads! No, wait, I really don't want any beads. I have never really liked beads. And don't I have to reveal myself physically to get some? Hmm. That is one thing that I haven't yet done - and it is not something I am aching to do - go to Mardi Gras. The last time I was in New Orleans was so long ago, I barely recall it at this point. I hope that it is doing well, finally, after all of the Katrina Crap!

Not a lot to report about yesterday. I spent most of the day reading a book and working on programming. I am on Chapter 9 of 22 of my second programming book - this is the longest chapter yet - learning a lot still - see my writing blog post...And I am getting close to the end of my US Government & Politics book. Yay! Next up, a book on Economics - and then, I think I am going to start on history - reading about the past 200 years of US History by President. There are lots and lots of books on the presidents. First stop will be the library, I think!

Saw an interesting Charlie Rose last night about the US Presidency and Leadership. The people on the show all thought that Temperament was the most telling Presidential quality. I think I have a good temperament for being President...

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

Downton Abbey vs Once Upon a Time

Is it fair to compare these two shows.  They are both on Sunday nights and in primetime...Ok, it probably isn't fair to compare them, but heck, I am going to do it anyway!

I really, really wanted to love Once Upon a Time. Really. What's not to love? Fairy Tales - love 'em! I wrote my Baccalaureate Essay at Hobart on Fairy Tales. I think Fairy Tales are awesome. I watch every fairy tale movie that I can - haven't seen Tangled. Yet. Lots of attractive cast members. I loved the idea of juxtaposing Modern Day stuff with Fairy Tale stuff. But so far, for me, the show has been very hit or miss. It seems that the lead actress scowls way too much - too angst ridden. And the little kid is just a little sniveling for my taste. And the evil witch is always saying the stupidest things. Not enough of Red Riding Hood (Meghan Ory)- an actress I have had a crush on since I first saw her in something a few years ago. I will try to watch the whole series at some point - it is still better than any reality television show and a lot better than staring at my navel (though I do have a nice navel, if I must say so myself...) all the time. A little navel meditation goes a long way...Oh, and the production values. Everything feels like a set. Anyway, don't get me wrong, I like the show. Though if I liked scary stuff, I might better to have gotten interested in Grimm (which I still might watch at some point...)

Moving on. Downton Abbey. Good writing (for the most part), an interesting group of characters, lots of attractive cast members (though I do hope that Sybil will come back to live at the house - I saw her in an episode of Misfits and then in a short about the making of Downton Abbey - goodness gracious she is pretty). Yes it is a nighttime soap opera sort of thing. The show is just well put together. The acting is good, the costumes and sets are good. It is just plain enjoyable. I am looking forward to season three - with Shirley MacLaine joining the cast as Cora's mother! Woo hoo!

Watching TV with my mom is a mixed affair. I am glad that we can at least sit next to each other for a while when that happens. Sadly, she is constantly saying - who is that? Which one is she? Why does TV have to be so complicated? Etc. Sadly, I think she only asks one in five times that she actually wants to ask a question. Thankfully. Since we aren't on highfalutin cable (just basic basic for us here) we don't have the pause option available on regular programming. For dvds I can always use pause to do my best to try to explain or fill in or say that is Caesar, that is Pompey, that is Mark Antony...it makes me sad, sometimes, to watch TV with her...

The eggrolls exploded (not violently, just enough to lose their innards) when I cooked them last night. I really must thaw them earlier. I wonder what would happen if I just cooked them frozen? Maybe I will try that next time...

exploded eggroll on the right, twice baked potato and roasted brussels sprouts!

The Game of Love and Chance

Mom and I went to see a play at Hobart and William Smith last night. Comparing apples to apples it was probably a 6.5 on a 10 scale. And that is being generous. When I was a tot, I did some of my first shows in the Hobart and William Smith Theatre, during the summer with a local summer theatre group. Ah the memories. Also, when I attended HWS, I did some shows there - I directed four and was in at least four others in my three years. I actually directed a fifth show, but it was performed outdoors...So the apples I am comparing are the apples from my experiences there to the apple of my experience of this production.

The show was set in the time period of when the play was written - the 1730s. The set was good, but needed a little tweaking to be excellent. The costumes were good, except for a couple of inconsistencies: mainly that the third "gentleman" in the show was not wearing a coat. Maybe because he was supposed to be a "boy?" I didn't get it and it confused me enough to make me write about it. The lighting was nothing special - though they left the house lights on low for the entire performance. Not sure what that is about either. And lastly, there was pre-show music that had nothing to do with the show. Maybe the director wanted to pump up his cast and the audience? I don't know. It left me confused as well.

The acting was ok, overall. Sadly, the director let one character scream the entire time. And what was oddest, but understandable after reading the director's bio, was that he had the Harlequin character doing a lot of stylized, traditional, exaggerated movements. Yet most of the other characters were much more normal. It just seemed out of place. If the others were more stylized maybe it would have worked better for me.

The script itself is a little talky for a commedia piece. And too focused on the young lovers - especially Silvia - for my taste.

Oh, and the show got off to a bad tasting start in my mouth. We got there at about 6:30, half an hour before curtain. In most instances, this is when the house opens and the guests are allowed to enter the theatre. Not this time. A very young (and teeny) stage manager came out and asked who in the compact mass of people standing in the foyer were out of town friends or family of cast and crew. Literally half the people there then had to make their way through the throng and got preferred seating. Then the rest of us had to stand there for another 5 minutes or more - I wasn't timing it - before being let in. They had a very full house - which is good for them - but the way the house was managed was not very good.

And that was the high point of Saturday - a night out at the theatre! Yay!

Poster for the show and a young lady I thought was the house manager - but she wasn't

Mom holding our programs/tickets

What's it like?

I often wonder what it is like inside my mom's head. Maybe I will find out for myself one day, but for now, I am still baffled. Frequently. I mean, she forgets from one minute to the next what TV show she is watching. Sometimes. Other times, she will be watching a show and remember what happened two weeks ago on it. She remembers having dinner with a couple of my friends in Raleigh, but can't remember my sister's downstairs bathroom's walk-in shower. Weird and scary.

Mom and I went and did laundry yesterday. She was not a lot of help but I am glad that she was at least interested in getting out and about. Yippee! We had three loads because I have been neglecting the laundry a bit. We really need a cleaning person to come in and help. Ginger is nice and all, but a cleaning person she is not. The fact that she helps mom with a shower every other week is awesome! But I need someone to come in and make sure that I am not helping us both to live in squalor. My idea of cleaning is to sweep the kitchen floor at least once a month...and that is not on a regular, clockwork sort of schedule...

We also went food shopping together - first time for that in a long while. There weren't too many things that mom wanted to but that we didn't need, which is great. Against my better judgement we bought a box of clementines. I hope they don't go bad before they are eaten. Dinner last night was home made chicken wings and home made pizza. Well, the pizza dough was from a packet. Maybe I will learn to make my own pizza dough, one day. I tried cooking it on a pizza stone. The directions suggested to use cornmeal between the dough and the stone. When I went to get the cornmeal from the jar labeled "cornmeal" I smelled it first and just couldn't bring myself to use it. So, I put nothing between the dough and the stone. Oops. The pizza tasted good, but the bottom crust was all stuck to the stone. Better luck next time!

Oh, and if anyone is interested, I thought the woman who won Jeopardy last night was very attractive. Ooh, maybe she reads my blog and will contact me and we will meet and hit it off and...it could happen. Not very likely, but it could! :)

Mom helping at the laundry

The pizza stone

Looked good! I think next time I will add onions to the toppings...

Wow, that was boring!

I like to change things up a little now and again. It is interesting to try new places and see new things. Well, last night, that kinda flopped on me. I decided to venture out to a couple of places that I haven't been in a while and see what was what. What was what was boring! First stop, Halsey's. They have good food there. And I like the atmosphere, overall. I sat at the bar for about 40 minutes and spoke barely a word to anyone. The bartender besides filling my order, basically acted as if I weren't there. Not that she was at all busy. Just didn't even look my way. Not that she is my favorite bartender on the planet anyway, but at least a "How are you this evening?" Or something would have been pleasant. Oh well.

I headed out and was going to go to Red Dove, but decided to try Eddie O'Brien's again. A bartender I had met there before was on duty. Neither of us clearly remembered each other's names - his was Kyle - he was closer with mine - thinking I was Gus - though where he got that, I don't know - I haven't introduced myself as Gus in 20 years. Anyway, that was the extent of our interaction. And, as in the previous place, no one was at the bar with whom I spoke. Yippee! Next week, back to Red Dove probably. Unless I go further afield and try a whole different City. Maybe it is time to try the Seneca Falls Parker's again...

Other than that, yesterday was pleasant enough. Mom and Ginger had a shower together - mom in the shower, Ginger outside. I made chicken omelets for dinner. Didn't that word used to have a lot more letter or am I hallucinating. I thought it was omelettes...hmm. Anyway, I also did a lot of work in the programming book. Yippee!

Today mom and I are going to do laundry. She may actually come out with me! We might actually look at shower stalls too - any thoughts on converting the smaller bathroom's tub into a shower stall? I don't want to go too inexpensive, but I also don't want to break the bank with the project...

The little Augustus who could

I am still chugging along on the programming book. Yay! My goal, though, today, is to read a lot of the Government and Politics book. I really would like to get writing on the political blog. Walking for the US Presidency is going to be a really, really uphill walk. I might even need hiking boots.

Lunch yesterday was at Opus. I have only been there a couple of times and have always enjoyed it. A little pricey, but what can one do? I had lunch with a good friend and had a very pleasant time. We shared a pork loin panino and a beet salad (and a cookie). Yippee!

Yesterday was also Beer Day at the Beef and Brew! The bar manager gave me a RoosterFish pint glass! Yay me! And I had three beers - the Wicked Witch from Rooster Fish was not my favorite, but it wasn't bad. I also had Morretti from Italy which was put in the wrong section of the beer list - definitely not a double bock. It smelled kind of like a Heineken, so I am guessing it was a lager. Decent but not exciting. And lastly, I had a Tröeg's Troegenator. I don't understand why there is both an umlaut and an e in Tröeg's but if they are happy, who am I to question it. That beer was definitely a double bock, quite malty and thick. I liked it quite a bit.

Dinner was leftovers, but yummy ones. Tonight's actually, will be leftovers again, for the most part. Gotta use them up before they go bad. I hate throwing away food! And we watched three more episodes of Rome! Yippee!

Tonight - Halsey's or Red Dove. Leaning towards Halsey's...

Beet salad

Half of a pork loin panino

I'm Lovin' it!

And no, not McDonald's (for those of you who are warped by television advertisement), though I do like to have McD's once every couple of months or so. Just to ensure that my body doesn't totally reject fast food all together. Kind of like a yummy inoculation...

No, I am loving my current book on iOS programming. It is soooo much better than the first one. The book is decently written, the authors have a bit of a sense of humor, and they explain a lot. In the first four chapters, I have already learned more than I learned in 8 chapters of the littler first book. Yippee!!

So, yesterday was Valentine's Day! I hope that everyone survived it. I did. Barely. :) Oddly, no one walked up to my front door and offered to be my Valentine. Weird. Mom was happy with her Valentine's day. Is it weird that she pretends that her new stuffed bear (and other stuffed animals) talks to her? Ok, maybe a little weird. Then again, I did have my pal Burnt Bear in high school - and Brian and Chuck have had a tendency to travel with me...

I am getting closer to starting to write my political blog. Only a few more chapters to go before I know everything there is for an idiot to know about US Government and Politics. Yippee!

Getting there

Ah, but where are we getting? That is the question. This particular "there" is the end of the Objective-C for Absolute Beginners book. Not only am I close to finishing reading/working through it, but I am almost fed up with it as well. I did find a place to download the source code from the Apress website. Only to discover that their source for the project I was working on also wouldn't compile and run. What kind of crap is that? So, I am almost done with the silly book.  Another beginner's book but not as basic as this one was supposed to be...I need a lot more screen captures in a beginner's book - and a lot of things like - hey, if this didn't work, these are the most common causes - sort of text. Oh well. At least there was a book. I must say, though, that I did learn a good bit from it and I think it has given me the foundation to move on to a second book about iOS programming.I wonder how much I could get for it on Amazon...

Yay! I made tahini and hummus! I love hummus. Not that I would marry it, since I am already engaged to an artichoke. But still, it is yummy stuff. And expensive in the grocery store - $7 a pound or something like that. I made half a pound of the stuff for a little bit more than a $1 and about five minutes of my time. I can definitely see this as something that I play with to get right - like my coleslaw (which still doesn't have a finalized recipe). I hope the tahini will keep for a while - I made half the recommended amount and that is still a lot. Maybe I can find other dishes to put tahini in. I do like sesame seeds...

Oh, and I went Valentine's Day shopping for mom. Yippee. Not exciting, but I hope it is the thought that counts.

Most of the ingredients for tahini and hummus

finished products

quesadillas, rice and refried beans for dinner

Today's Plan

This is my plan. I call it "My Plan."

There is a Monty Python sketch about that - John Cleese has a plan and all he really talks about is what he calls the plan. Anyone know what sketch I am talking about? I have a wonderful boxed set of Monty Python, but haven't watched through the whole thing yet and haven't found it...but I digress.

Today, I am going out into the world! It has snowed here and there are a couple of inches of the stuff still on the ground. Other than taking out the garbage last night, I haven't set foot outdoors in a few days. Eeek. I am becoming a hermit! How will I ever meet the future ex-Mrs. Augustus sitting around on my butt. Not that I meet a lot of women who are potential dates out in the real world anyway...Still there is more potential when I am out and about than when I am here at home. By myself. Not signed up for a dating service (Plenty of Fish doesn't count...)

Why am I going out (other than the above reason)? Well, because I have taken into my head to make some hummus. I mean it can't be that hard. And I like it. Not sure if I am going to make tahini too or just buy it this time. We shall see what I find at the grocery store. Yippee! I might aim for dolmades at some point. Yay things wrapped in grape leaves! I also need to do something about Valentine's day. That's tomorrow, isn't it? Eeeek! Well, no matter. Life goes on whatever happens...

I got most of what I wanted to accomplish finished yesterday. I am finding that most of what breaks in the computer stuff I am working on is Augustus error. There are just so many files and so many ways to interact with them that it is confusing. Learning a computer language and programming SDK is like learning, well, a language...I am almost done with the second Apple tutorial - then I am going to go back and try the 8th chapter of the Absolute Beginner book. And I am still not finished with my snail mail letter. Glarg. 

Onward.

More Snow!

How exciting is that? Still not a six foot blizzard, but better than nothing. Am I hallucinating, or did Geneva, NY used to have a real winter - one that started with snow in October and ended with snow in early April? With the ground mostly covered with the lovely white stuff for most of that period? Maybe those are just childhood fancies and imaginations. Whatever, they are my imaginings! :) I think we are supposed to get back into the 40s later in the week. Sigh.

Well, I got an interesting comment on one of my posts. The Social Media, er, Person (I can't remember her title and I am too lazy to look just now) must have come across one of my posts where I mention Daily Challenge. And she posted a comment! Yay! So, next step, people - actually meeting one or more of my Daily Challenge Connections! It will happen!

I got stuck in the iPhone programming book. The program that they asked me to make doesn't work as expected and I can't see how to fix it. So I am taking another approach - I am going to do some of the Apple tutorials and see if they can give me enough information to fix what is broken in the other project. I have read some of the first tutorial and have already learned a lot. Yay learning! Ok, finished the first tutorial, about to do the second. Yippee! Then, back to the other book. I can hardly wait!!

Watched three more episodes of Rome last night. I don't know where I saw it before, but somehow I have seen bits of all of these episodes. I have never subscribed to HBO, so it must have been while I was traveling at some point, watching them on hotel televisions. Weird.

Pine needles all gone! :)

Pretty winter from my bedroom window

It's winter again!

I guess that I define winter as snow! Not just cooler temperatures and such. And we have a whole whopping exciting inch of snow on the ground! Woo hoo!

It is the weekend. A time of wonder and to get things done that couldn't or didn't get done during the week. I am time of reflection, to look back and see what was. And a time of looking forward to see what is coming up. Yippee!

One thing that is coming up quickly is Valentine's day. Mom wants me to be her Valentine. Sigh. I will have to do something Valentine-y for her. Sadly, there are no others in my life that are the least bit Valentine-y. Any volunteers are welcome to apply - fear not, it is not a tough application...

My goal today is to do a little studying - read some of the politics book and do at least a chapter in the programming book -

Let me take a minute, if you don't mind, to talk about both books. The political book has its good points and its bad points, so far. The chapters are short which is good. But there isn't much depth, which is bad. An interesting read, but I don't think my knowledge is going to be expanded much. I will have to keep looking to see what other books are out there. Any and all suggestions will be considered. The computer book is pretty good so far - what I would like, though, is an appendix that has the answers to the exercises that are posed. I mean, when it says "add another button and have it do something else" I would like to be able to try it on my own and then see what the book says the code ought to look like. The book says that the answers are online, but I haven't found them yet (and yes, I have looked). Ok, back to my day's plan -

- catch up on some email that I have not yet responded to - finish a snail mail letter - and I think that is all. Manageable and doable [I have, in fact, already read a chapter in the political book - go me! :) ] What do you plan to do on this lovely Saturday?

Chicken, twice baked potato (I think I need to add onions) and teeny asparagus!

Barely enough show to cover the pine needles. :(

Too little?

I sometimes worry that I am not doing right by mom - not spending enough time with/on her, not helping her to do more, pushing her to do too much. Sigh. Luckily this passes when I realize that I am doing the best I can where I am mentally and in the time and place that I am. Maybe that's a cop-out, but it makes me feel better for a while.

Yesterday was a day of small accomplishments. Yay! I paid a few bills, did some work on learning to program, read a chapter in my Government book - learning all sorts of interesting tidbits - nothing new and major yet - hopefully there won't be since I thought I had a decent grasp on at least the basic concepts already - made tacos for dinner.

Then, to Leaf Kitchen to meet up with Matt and Gülsün. That was nice - I haven't spent time with either of them since the summer. Emily brightened the bar by her presence behind it. And Brett, who also works at the Leaf Kitchen put in an appearance, even though he had turned 21 the night before! Fun night. Though I might need to take a break from Leaf Kitchen for a little while...

Rushed home to watch The Mentalist with mom. Not a scintillating episode. Oh well. Hard to make them all scintillating.

Tacos with a side of spinach! :)

Followers galore!

Welcome two new official followers! Yay! Closing in on 50! (Slowly) I am not sure what happens when you become a follower. Not much, as far as I can tell. You don't get any bonuses, do you? Well, besides the joy you feel knowing that you made my day...

A day, yesterday, of relaxation. Like I need relaxation...but I did it anyway. It was massage day. Lovely young masseuse at The Salon in Geneva. Very pleasant experience. I don't know if I will go to her again anytime soon, though. I am on a "once a year" massage regimen. It is very strict. :)

It was also Beer Day at the Beef and Brew. I was very early, since I went straight from the massage (by way of the library) to the Beef and Brew! Another new server was there - Christie from Maine. I had two beers that were on tap and a Japanese beer. The two on tap were ok - both local-ish - one from Hammondsport - supposed to be a Vanilla Stout - but it wasn't very vanilla-ish. And one from Six Points in Brooklyn that was supposed to have toffee characteristics which I must have missed...

Sadly, I have stalled on my productivity in some areas of my life. I haven't been writing my letters to Facebook friends. Stuck at a few over 100. I will get back to it. Maybe even today. Also I have papers and bills stacked up - not that we cannot currently afford to pay them - I am just reluctant to delve into the pile. Sigh. And it is tax season. I need to collect all of the stuff for our taxes. My brother Karl - BA, MBA, RN, CPA (I think that is all) will do them for us once again this year! Not as good as H and R Block, I am sure, but he is relatively (tee hee) free!

My goal is to actually get some things I have been putting off accomplished today. So that when I go out tonight - to meet up with people actually (weird, right?) I will do so with an even clearer conscience than I normally have.

Oh, I did start up xCode and play with it a little bit yesterday. Another of my goals is to do another chapter in my Objective-C coding book. And another chapter of the American Politics book. I can do all of that, before Ginger (home health aid) comes. At least that is the goal. We shall see how it plays out.

Mom has been stressing about her eyes - so she gets a hot towlet on her face from time to time

For some reason we have lots and lots of towlets!

Pretty

Success is not a four letter word

Well, lots of words don't have four letters. Bunches do. But we are talking about success today. Yay success. There is one school of thought that espouses that every action's result is a success. I tend to feel that to be the case. This is not the common view, though, since we live in a judgmental world. Yippee!

So, success number uno was getting the new memory in the computer - and the associated spiffication of said computer. Typing on the keyboard is all springy and happy again. And the clicker on the keyboard (the mouse button) is not making the weird sound that it had been making. Yay!

Success numero two was getting Lion downloaded and installed on the machine. I still don't know why the download took so long - whether it is Apple's servers or my internet connection - but 10 hours was a long time for 4 gigs. Whatever. It worked the second time. The first time, I am sure, it was Augustus error - playing around with the connection and all. After downloading, installation took another hour of the computer chugging along. Well, chugging more zippily because of the extra RAM. Yay RAM!

Success tres was getting the touchpad linked up through bluetooth. Fairly straightforward process and I like - I look forward to one day having a mac with one built in.

Success vier was getting xCode downloaded - though I haven't tried starting it up yet, so I might be counting my successes before they are hatched, which as we all know can lead to doom and gloom. Eeek. Now I am getting myself all nervous and stuff. :) After I try it, I will let you all know. Don't hold your breaths though - blue is not often a becoming color!

That was what I did all day yesterday. And little else. Yippee! Today, I get to have a massage! I can hardly wait. What is the perfect frequency of massages do you think? I think daily would be too much. Weekly sounds pretty good...

A watched download never finishes...

Mac Stories

Yesterday and today are going to be mostly about my mac and the excitement it brings.

I decided to go to Rochester yesterday to look at the option of buying a new mac or upgrading my old one.

Mom decided to come along, so we were going to make a day of it - dinner out, a movie, that sort of thing. Sadly, she wasn't feeling particularly well - and she demonstrated her disease when we are out and about. The biggest indication is repetitiveness without being aware of it. She asks the same question three or four times in a row, with barely a hesitation between each asking as if she never asked it at all. And I don't know that the answer ever sinks in. It is really frustrating after not only the third or fourth iteration of a question, but after the 10th time it happens. We did make it through the day without anyone dying, which is a good thing. Oh, and we ate at the new Indian restaurant in Geneva. Mom wasn't feeling very hungry so we got some nan and one dish to share. Plenty of food, we had a chicken dish that was yummy - and the nan was great! - still a bit pricey though. They are getting their liquor license on Wednesday or Thursday, so maybe I will stop in there and have a beer...

Anyway, back to the Mac-day. First stop, the Apple Store at Eastview Mall. I was awarded a pleasant fellow named Brian as my sales associate. Not the most knowledgeable person in the store, but nice enough. He recommended a Macbook Pro - since Apple no longer makes MacBooks. The Macbook Air has been repriced to sort of fill that niche. By the way, I am not an Apple fanatic. I think the products can be awesome, and sometimes they surprise me and do great stuff for their customers (more on that later) but I don't think they are perfect and altruistic and that their poop doesn't smell. Moving on...I asked a couple of questions and Brian quickly got out of his depth. So he asked Rob, a black shirted sales person as opposed to his blue shirted-ness, to come aid us. Rob handled my first question quickly - how old is my mac (three years). The second took a few more minutes, but the answer was that it was upgradeable. Rob recommended a place called Mac Ave if I was interested in the upgrade route.

After Rob left us, Brian went into a sales spiel for the Macbook Pro. Felt sort of canned and I was bored. I thanked him for his time and we left.

Next stop, Mac Ave. The store was in the middle of Nowhere. In Victor, ostensibly, but nothing was around it. Weird but nice little place - they sold just about everything Apple related and also had shoes and jewelry for sale. Not sure what that was about. The sales person was Chris, a high school student who seems to have a good head on his shoulders, with a plan to becoming a surgeon. Go Chris. Over the course of the next hour and a half, we chatted about Macs and about xBox and that sort of thing.

The reason I was there so long, was that I decided to spend a couple hundred dollars upgrading my current laptop, rather than buying a new laptop right now. Maybe next Christmas I will get a new laptop. We shall see. Anyway, the memory was inexpensive, they said they could do it right way, and installation was free. Yay! When the tech guy came to get the laptop, he said that he could probably fix the cosmetic issues with the laptop as well - a bit of discoloration and some bits that had chipped off the old case - for free - Apple had finally determined that there was something wrong with their cases! Yippee! So, although it took a long time, I ended up with 4 gigs of RAM (instead of the 1 gig I had before) and a new case and keyboard! Yippee! It was like getting a refurbished laptop for a couple hundred dollars. I also splurged a little and bought a wireless touch pad. I haven't used it yet - waiting till I download and install Lion (the new operating system) before I set that up.

Got home, and immediately started downloading Lion. I figured it would take a while. Sadly, it failed. I was trying to do it wirelessly at first - and that seemed to be moving glacially. Next, I connected the laptop to the internet modem directly (stopping wifi at the house for the time being). And left it running all night. And when I went down this morning there was a little message saying that the download had failed. Sigh. So, today, I am going to try again. And if that doesn't work, I am going to pay the exorbitant sum required to get the file on a thumb drive. Wish me luck!

Beautiful Eastview Mall in Victor near Rochester, NY

Could this be the future Mrs. Augustus?

Mac Ave

Look, trees - I like the evening light...

I need to figure out how to take food pictures...

My spiffified laptop!

Superbowless Sunday

Mom is anti-football - and I just couldn't be bothered to sit through the game - even to see the commercials and the half-time show. I know, I am a bad American. I get that a lot. I even called my fries "French" during the beginning of the Iraq, er, war. I will never be elected president.

We watched some Downton (keep wanting to type downtown) Abbey and a 60 minutes special on 3 Special Women. The one about Wintour really felt uncomfortable to me for some reason.

I also popped out to do a little food shopping and chatted with one of my fleeting fancies! Always makes the day a little brighter doing that. Notes from the Universe extolled me (and whoever else the message was sent to) to get out more. Sigh.

Today it is supposed to be unseasonably warm again. Yay! My plan is to drag mom out to Rochester. I am looking in to fixing my stymied-ness of yesterday. Either getting a new mac, or upgrading the one I have - I don't know how long I have to be without my computer, but when I know more, I will make a decision. I wish that I could install RAM myself easily, but working on laptops has always scared me a little.

Sorry about the lack of pictures the past couple of days. I have been feeling incredibly indolent - one of my mom's favorite words. Still feeling pretty lazy in fact.

Breakfast for dinner - still trying to get hash browns perfect - or good even...

Stymied

Not majorly, but minorly. I started reading my books - well, two of them - one is the government book - interesting and easy (ok, maybe a bit too easy) so far. The next chapter is "The Constitution." Eeek! I had a really good American History class in high school and I think that is also where I had my -isms class - that or at Ithaca College - where I learned about the different political options - like Fascism, Socialism, etc. Those two sentences are just to say that this book is more of a review than all new-to-me information.

The other book I started was Objective-C for Absolute Beginners. I am very glad to have gotten this book. One of the things it does is suggest you work with a program called Alice from Carnegie Melon, which teaches object oriented programming design through a 3d graphical world building application. Fun stuff. In parallel, you start to write programs using Apple's xCode environment. Sadly, my xCode 3 download didn't work. And since the time I downloaded it, the system software has gone up a version and xCode 4 is now the norm. I don't want to upgrade this computer - too little memory to be happy with Lion. Yet I can't download xCode 4 without the new system on my machine. Hence, minorly stymied.

On the mom front - she had a good day Friday and a bad day Saturday. And I am thinking of looking into hearing aids for her (and maybe me - though I think I really just need to get my ears cleaned out...) She opted to not go to the movies yesterday. She wants to see the Daniel Radcliffe movie - even though it is a horror film. Maybe we will go tomorrow. It is inexpensive popcorn Mondays at our local movie theatre!

And it is superbowl Sunday! Woo hoo! Who is playing? When? As you can tell, I am deeply invested in the game...

Almost Seems Normal

Mom and I went out to do some errands together yesterday. This is the first time in a while that she has gone out with me on errands. I had forgotten, actually, what it was like. We had three to do - post office to mail a package to a friend, Rite-Aid, and Wal-mart.

The post office people were happy to see mom, which always makes me happy. She wanted to buy stamps and we got some really cool dragon ones. Some lucky correspondents might actually get one if they play their cards right! After we were done there, later in the day, we drove past the road that has a package store (mailing location) on it and she said that she would rather go there. So, note to me, take mom to the UPS store to mail mom's packages next time!

Next stop, the Rite-Aid pharmacy. I had been meaning to get there to find mom's cotton. And we were running low on Aricept. Our main reason to go, though, was to see if the Pharmacist, not my favorite, but a nice one, had any helpful thoughts. She did not. Mom is having eye issues. I think it is something minor that she is making major. I called Doctor Ross, the eye doctor, and he said not to use a boric acid eye wash but did not recommend anything else. Just suggested we come in if the problem persists. The difficulty with that is the 2 hours that the appointments there take. Not because he spends much time with mom, but because of the wait. And mom, of course, rails against the $30 specialist co-pay. Anyway, the pharmacist assistant looked us up on the computer, saw that we were running low on Aricept and they filled the prescription and it was ready before we left - and I didn't have to say a word! Yay!

Last stop with mom, Wal-Marts (as she will most often call it - and which irks me for some reason). She wanted to get some nuts. We took our time wandering through the store. She kept wanting to buy stuff which we didn't need. I gave in on a few things and did not on others.

All in all, a pleasant errand experience. 

After coming back from our trip to the West Coast, we are getting a cat. Mom again mentioned that she wants one. I am not looking forward to the work, the hassle and the expense, but if it makes mom happy, I will suffer through it.

Sometimes mom seems almost normal. Other times, scarily not. She remembers the weirdest things - like our server from a couple weeks ago has dogs. She won't remember if she wrote a note to Bosey or not, having just finished putting it in an envelope five minutes ago. Sigh.

Daily Challenges

Every day, little challenges appear and either get handled or ignored, hoping that they will just go away. And sometimes, luckily, they do. Other times, they don't. So they get handled. Add to this the self imposed challenges and the challenges that come from meyouhealth - also, interestingly called, Daily Challenges, and a day can get full very quickly.

Speaking of Daily Challenges, I would once again like to say how happy I am to have found the site. I have made some friends, met lots of interesting people and generally have a great time there. I have noticed that some people who were negative have either disappeared or changed their tunes. That is awesome! Sadly, some of the people with whom I have connected have basically stopped coming to the site. Well, I hope they are happy and well. It is cool that I have friends from all over the world on Daily Challenge - some of them have even become FB friends - and I hope to meet some of them eventually. I have two connections from Romania, one from Brazil, several from Canada. Yay! I have never been to Brazil and hope to visit there one day.

Yesterday was a pleasant day. Ginger came and helped mom with a shower. I played a bit and got stuff for dinner - buffalo chicken wings (home made buffalo sauce) - Mediterranean pasta salad - steamed broccoli - Yum - and a visit to Leaf diner! There was a gaggle of women from William Smith hanging out there - always a good thing. Gave a card to three of them - Shelby who was our server from the other night and two others. Later, Dan and Dan and Brett were there. And the whole evening, I had the pleasure of chatting with Emily.

Oh, an interesting exchange happened the other day. A friend had someone comment on one of her posts. I thought the someone was attractive to me so I wrote my friend and asked about her. She said she was 25, too young for me and asked if I liked redheads. I responded, yes, sadly, I do like redheads and that age doesn't matter to me since tomorrow we might all be dead. Age really doesn't matter to me and my heart - or even my head. As long as there is a connection, it doesn't matter to me if the person is young or old. They are still a person of interest and that is all that matters. :)

My books all arrived today! All four in one box, though ordered days apart. Go Amazon! Two books on programming, one on Economics (for dummies) and one on US Government and Politics (for idiots). I am so excited!

Chicken wings!

A well decorated table at Leaf Kitchen - and who is that cleaning up?

Yay books!

Mail Update

Yay! Banner mail day today! Two packages and a snail mail letter! One of my correspondents sent an awesome (in a good way) epistle! The other one is still MIA. Heck, writing isn't for everyone. Nor is reading. I was speaking with someone the other day and she sheepishly told me that she didn't read much of anything ever if she could avoid it. Maybe she has dyslexia and doesn't know it. Wow, I don't know how someone gets by without reading.

In the past two days I received three packages. One was the first of my books. Turns out it will be the most tedious and boring of them. At least I hope so. It was a handbook of Political Science. Goodness it is terrible. Trying way too hard to be scientific about a soft science. And dry. And no pictures. It may never get read. At least by me. The other packages were games! Just what I need! :)

Another temperate day yesterday - I read somewhere online that meteorologists have reasons for why the jet stream is staying North - but none of them said anything about climate change. Just a confluence of factors contributing to a rare meteorological occurrence...

And it was beer day! Beef and Brew won an award for Best New Business! I hope they stay open until I finish my beers there. Is that selfish of me? I decided to go all alphabetical on them! Three beers from the beginning of their Pale Ales list - Bass, Boddington's and Custom Brewcrafter's Canandaigua Lake Ale. All three were good in their own way. Speaking of beer, I am beginning to worry that my game won't make it onto the App store. Will I need permission from each and every brewery that is represented by their beer bottles? Probably would be wisest. Well it will be fun in any case. Even if it is yet another project that is more fun in doing than it is profitable. Why does money run the other way when it sees me? Hmm?

And love. Here we are, creeping up on Valentine's day in a hurry and there is nary a whiff of romance in the air for me. Sad? Not really, just an observation. I did see one of my myriad fleeting fancies at Wegman's - and even sort of spoke with her - if talking about Portlandia (and making a bad joke about a possible spin-off called Eugenia...) counts. And tonight is Leaf Kitchen or Red Dove Tavern Night. I am leaning towards Red Dove since I haven't been there in a couple of weeks. But the lure of the Leaf is strong. Time will tell.

Yay! Boringest book!

Flowers and a plaque for Best New Business in Geneva! Woo hoo!

Unintentional Stalking

It was an unseasonably warm day here in Geneva yesterday. I think it got up to 55 degrees. Definitely a day for some outdoors perambulation. My plan was to go to the college library and wander wherever my feet took me. As I was heading there, Emily, my current favorite bartender, caught me unintentionally stalking her! :) I walked her all the way to her dorm - up the hill! It was a great day to be out and about and walking with Emily gave me an excuse to walk more than I had originally planned. It really is more fun walking with someone than walking alone - though I do enjoy walking alone quite a bit.

I also went to the grocery store to buy, er, groceries. I got some skirt steak. Yum! And some artichokes. Double yum. Dinner was sauteed spinach, beef with onions and mushrooms, steamed artichokes with butter and twice baked potatoes. Yay! Everything turned out well.

Oh, I went to Wal-Mart looking for cotton for mom - she likes it in a box - old school - which I couldn't find, and kitchen garbage bags, which I did find! Yay! Still not a particularly attractive Wal-Mart. :(

Sadly, I have started playing Fallout 3 on the xBox. Yes, it is an older game, but it is a good RPG. And engrossing. Sigh. Well, as long as I get other things done, I don't begrudge myself playing time! Like letters. I got three FB letters done yesterday. So in January, 30 percent done! Yippee! Only 70 percent to go!

Art photo...

See! Almost fifty degrees! On January 31, 2012! Eeek!