Singing in the Rain

Goodness, I'm so behind on keeping you, fair readers, up to my comings and goings! I'm sorry. Let's see about getting you all catched up.

I've been seeing someone for about a month. I'm going to call him Jack. We went to an Indian place in Annapolis on the 5th. We went out again four days later to a nice little place that served American, coastal-type food in Tyson's Corner. I went to his place the following week and he cooked pasta for dinner. He came to mine a week later (and let me tell you about the Wednesday preceding that in a bit) and I grilled fish for dinner. Yesterday, we went to one of his favorite places, a Burmese restaurant in Silver Spring.

I had never had Burmese cuisine before! I got the impression that the owners know him, or at least recognize him as a regular. He was laughing at me (though I'm sure it was a delighted kind of laugh) as I hung over my plate just smelling the dish. It was a chicken with bamboo and onions sautéed in some yummy brown sauce (KyetThar Hmyit Gyaw). It smelled so good, I couldn't help it! I get leftovers for lunch today! I went with mild spice because I wasn't sure what to expect. His dish was pork with pickled mango and medium spice (WetThar ThaYetThee Hin). It was really good. Pickled mango was nothing like what I expected, but really very tasty.

Myanmar is between India and Thailand with China to the north and their cuisine seemed to have elements of all of those (and, of course, things I've never encountered before). There were many noodle and rice dishes, many curry-type dishes, and quite a few vegetarian choices (probably a Buddhist influence). I can see why it's one of his favorite places. OH!! The place has a website! Mandalay Restaurant and Cafe Go nuts; they have the menu online. Drool a little. It's ok. Is it lunch time yet?

On Sunday, we're going to a local street festival. One of Jack's favorite bands is playing there. Saturday is my now annual Halloween Haunt outing with Pat at King's Dominion. We had talked about making this a group trip, but decided since we had cancelled so many get-togethers over the summer it was a good idea to get some quality friend time in. They have a new roller coaster this year that I'm a little intimidate by (somewhat ironic) but I know Pat won't let me out of this one.

This is one of my rare, actually-not-working-at-the-faire weekends, and it's booked!

Oh yes, about last Wednesday- it ended with a serious disagreement between me and the dishwasher that resulted in it spewing water into the cabinet under the sink. Needless to say, my massive pre-date to-do list did not get completed and it looked like my kitchen exploded. Thankfully, I got to finish cleaning up before he arrived on Thursday, and he was perfectly understanding of the mess that was my kitchen. I made sure that mess was no where near getting in the way of my dinner.

The problem was that the output tube that drains the dishwasher into the garbage disposal is a good five inches too short. I can't figure out how the guy got it to fit at all! I can't get it to line up. The rubber hose that connects the two devices was bent at a funky angle and I guess the water pressure was finally too much for it. Unfortunately, since the tube is too short, that might be beyond my do-it-myself capabilities. Fae said she'd help me. No dishwasher or garbage disposal until I get that fixed, though.

I think that's the catch-up for now!

Comcast, You're Killing Me

Not a week after saying I've never had a problem with my service except that one time with hook-up and then I come home yesterday to find no service?? Really? And the best that can be done to fix it is to send a technician on my mother's birthday? And you only care if a business is run on your network if I pay for business class service (which my business does not make enough money to support)? Really?

Not. Happy.

Cranberry Glass Dishes

With flash 1

With flash 2

Without flash

Close up of a plate

For those of you who are wondering, dear blog readers, I'm posting these pics because I'm looking for some information. When my grandmother moved into her apartment, she gave me a lot of the things she wasn't taking with her. Among them was this lovely, near complete set of red glass dishes. There are two sizes of plate, three sizes of side plate, mugs, saucers, bowls, dessert dishes, and cream and sugar dishes. They're really quite beautiful!

A friend warned me that metal may have been used to make the red glass and I should avoid the microwave. Also, some of the dishes have white lines (but not straight lines) on them that don't seem to wash off, or wash off and come back. I asked the wonderful Etsy forum people if they can help me at least determine if they're safe to use. I'm so happy to have them, I know they're at least 50 years old, but there are no marks or dates to help identify them. In any event, they're being posted here because some of those fabulous Etsy folks said pictures may help. If you, dear readers, have any thoughts for me, I'll take them too!

Thanks, everyone!

A Letter to Comcast

Work, dammit.

A Letter to the House

Dear House,

I love you. I will keep you clean. I will keep you warm in the winter and cool in the summer. I will do my best to prevent Miss Luna from tearing up your carpets. I won't trash you up or tear you down.

I ask that you keep the rain off my head. I ask that you keep your pipes from freezing and that you keep power to your systems. I'll make sure they work right if you just make sure they work.

You have no idea what you mean to me, even after only three months of knowing you. You are freedom. You are the realization of a dream, the attainment of a goal. I love you and what you have done for me.

I think you should have a name. We should think about this together.

Love,
a mortgage-paying Fyrecreek

Letters to the Cars

Dear Alice,

I will get you an oil change next week. I know it's a little overdue, but I need to get paid.

I'm sorry that weekends at the faire are so hard on you. The dust is hard on me too. But, I need you to run, and I promise I'll take care of you.

I know you're doing far more work for me than you ever did for my grandmother. I'll keep you in top shape to the best of my ability.

Love,
a cruise-controlling Fyrecreek

~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Hedwig,

I know I said I would be with you until you died. I'm sorry it's not going to work out that way.

I promise to find a good, responsible person to buy you. I know you'll take care of them like you took care of me.

When I do find that buyer, I'll miss you. I'll always remember what you did for me. You'll always be my first car.

Love,
a purple-loving Fyrecreek

A Letter to the Cat

Dear Miss Luna,

I promise, not every car ride ends at the doctor. I take you with me because you'll be beside yourself if I left you alone for the weekend. Please learn to live with the drive, it's not so bad and I'm always with you. I know you don't like the cage, but it keeps you safe.

Waking me up at 3 am by clawing the new carpet in front of the closet is not going to get me to feed you any sooner. It is going to get me very very angry.

I bought the house for you too. It's mine and yours. The doctor said you are needy. But I need you just as much.

If I trust someone enough to let them into our house, I trust that they won't hurt you. You don't have to hide. You don't have to like them, but it's your house too and only the closets are off limits.

On that note, if you didn't ruin my nice dresses, the closets would not be off-limits. But, remember the shelf that fell down? Aren't you glad you weren't sleeping in there? Trust me when I tell you it's better this way for both of us (and remember that digging at the carpet will not allow you to tunnel under the door into the closet).

You can't come with me to work. I need you to stay home. You have a very important job: you have to hunt the bugs. I depend on you to help me around the house with this one little task. Please stop crying at the door when I leave for work.

Also, the house is a small place. If I get up to get some water, I'm not going far and I'll be back soon. You don't have to follow me everywhere (I admit I love it when you do, but it's ok to stay sleeping on the couch too).

I love you. We don't speak the same language, but know I'm doing the best I can for you.

Love, Mama

A Letter to Morning

Dear Morning,

First, I would like to tell you that I love you. I love the colors of your sunrises. I love the way you wake up the world with your light. I even love when you hide under the blanket of fog. I love it when you make steam rise from the water. I love the smell of coffee brewing that tells me to get ready for what you will bring. I love waking up knowing that you are just the beginning.

I do have something to ask of you. Could you remind my cat that she should not be waking up before you? I'm sure you hear her loud mews and want to keep sleeping just a little longer too. She seems to be confused. I think she thinks she is the rooster and it's her job to rouse you and me from our beds. If you could have a talk with her, remind her that you rise first, and then you wake me, that would be great.

Also, there are some days when I need you to come not quite so early. I will be happy to tell you the night before. Today was one of those, you came before I was ready. If you could wait a bit, that would really help me out. I'm sure it won't be so bad once you and my cat discuss the proper order of things.

Thanks so much for all you do!

~ a sleepy Fyrecreek

No speel

I posted to my team on the Etsy forums with intent on saying "I barely got a wink of sleep last night." But, I didn't type "sleep," I typed "speel." Case in point!

I went out yesterday and had a lovely evening. I made a bad choice on my route to go home, though (they were paving and I forgot), and it took me far longer than it should have to get home. Miss Luna was annoyed that she had missed her lunch and she told me so. All. Night. Long.

People usually say it's a good idea to get up and do something when you can't speel. I mean sleep. I don't do that and I probably should. When I can't sleep, I get so frustrated that I'm not sleeping. This, of course, doesn't help with the not sleeping thing at all. But, this also wasn't just insomnia, it was a black cat jumping on my bed and meowing as loud as she could in my ear. Over and over.

Despite the not sleeping, I'm feeling pretty good today. As I said, I had a great night out. It's going to be a little cooler for the Renaissance Festival this weekend. And I get to start planning for a craft fair in November. Who needs sleep?

Ready Set DUST

One of the most annoying things about working the Maryland Renaissance Festival is the dust. If it hasn't rained in a while, the fine particles of dirt just float through the air. It turns black shoes brown, covers cars, and coats the inside of your nose, throat, and lungs.

And that's the worst part, because it stuffs up your head and takes away your voice and makes you feel miserable. This past weekend was particularly dusty and particularly busy (with a lot of people kicking up more dust).

I willingly do this every year. Riiiight.

Geekliness

"Your geekliness on the subject of The Phantom and his proper continuity, darling, is wonderful. :)"

Said by my friend Dav (you're right, I've never mentioned Dav.)  in an e-mail conversation where we talked a little about my costume.

Go, geekliness!

Worse

It seems that since Blogger implemented the spam filter for comments, there have been more of them, not less! Don't you stupid people have anything better to do?!?!

I'm making a tiny bit of headway in my septic problem. I found a receipt from the company that did the install five years ago, and it looks like he is licensed. I also have a number for a guy in the next county who might come as far south as me. I'll be making calls tomorrow since I should have a shorter day at OBC, depending on the work.

The problem with only having evenings is that these other companies close up too!

Still a Problem

I thought about checking with my neighbors about my septic problem, because they have the same system I do. It looks like they were never informed of the law that went into effect in April and think they grandfather out of it (it's not so, but I won't turn them in). I suppose the DoH will get to them eventually, just as they put off getting the right documents from previous owners before getting to me.

I need to find a licensed operator and establish a maintenance agreement with them. Everything says you can search the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation's web site to find licensed operators, but their search function is the height of stupid. It will only tell me the name of the person and the license, not the company they represent or how to contact them. How am I supposed to find someone if there is no contact information? Dumb.

Needless to say, I'm still working on it. I hope DoH gives me time.

I didn't say earlier, Robin and I broke up on Monday. We say it was mutual, but I initiated it. I'm not sad, so I don't need sympathies. I'm excited at the prospect of being able to do what I want with my evenings.