Random dumb thoughts

This page is to put those little weirdnesses of life that don't really fit anywhere else, or aren't worth a page of their own

Monday, February 17, 2003

Woohoo?

Okay, for ONCE the federal government has gotten its act together, looked at the road conditions and the two-plus feet of snow outside and closed the government for tomorrow. I guess I'm grateful, as I have slogged into work in some truly god-awful weather. Most snowstorms, the government declares "liberal leave", which means that you can take one of your vacation days because they either build the government buildings down some windy road in Virginia that you can't get to without a car and the roads suck, or because they don't pay you enough to live anywhere near a metro so that you can get into downtown if your suburban subdivision forty miles out of town hasn't been and isn't going to be plowed out for a few days. My philosophy is that I'll be damned if I'm going to use my "vacation" because the urban planners in this area couldn't figure out that people need housing and transportation both to and from their places of work, and that despite what they might think, Northern Virginia really isn't a southern city and as such WILL in fact get hit by snow in the winter. So I get in come hell or high water, using my feet and two buses and two hours for what is normally an eleven minute trip.

So why am I not estatic about knowing that I don't have to work tomorrow? Because I'm bored. I'm eating myself out of house and home -- I'm minorly hungry, but it's mostly boredom. My ass hurts from sitting on this couch. My toes and fingers hurt like hell because two or three times a day I go outside and start shovelling more of the snow away from around my car and I get minor frostbite each time. I don't actually intend to go anywhere in the car, probably until at least Saturday, and once the plows come I'll be in even worse shape and all my work will be for nothing. I'm out there simply to get out and to burn some of those calories so I can come back in and eat some more. The movie theater and shopping malls that I could actually get to on foot are closed.Also, I' ve already had three days off, and that's my witching point -- more than three days, and I NEVER want to go back again. The fourth day is a killer. I'm also dreading what I'm going to have to deal with when I do get back in -- sadly the world didn't stop over the snowstorm, even if Washington is shut. I'd actually rather go in for a bit tomorrow with no one there and clean out the back traffic. But my car ain't going anywhere, and the Metrobuses aren't going down the windy roads to my office and even I'm not going to walk that far, so I'm not going in tomorrow. I'd like that random day off in the middle of the week, not a fourth day on the end of a holiday weekend that I've already been stuck inside for.

So that's my whine. And I WOULD like some cheese with that....mmmm, cheese. I bet there's still some in the fridge. So if anyone wants some homemade granola or wants some pot roast that I'm about to start making (glad I didn't make everything yesterday, because now I have something to do today), head on over. Hopefully I'll find that I'm one ingredient short so I'll have to walk out to the grocery store again.

Here's a question for today -- Not being a true coffee connoisseur (sp? -- that doesn't look quite right, but all the letters are in the right places according to French spelling rules), I would like some advice. I've been buying and grinding the beans from Fresh Fields -- their Organic French Roast, both regular and decaf are really, really good. However, that's really pricey and sometimes getting out the coffee grinder and going through the motions are a pain in the ass. Now the Giant has all the Maxwell House pre-ground on sale for about two bucks a can. With all the sitting on my ass (see above) I've been going through a lot of coffee. I bought a can of the Italian Roast, and it's okay, but not great. Doesn't really seem to taste like coffee, but it's not that acidy stuff that many of the light blends are. They have eight million kinds, so I'm wondering if the peanut gallery out there has any recommendations on canned coffee that taste good that I can keep in the fridge for a quick cup. I like the idea of a can -- my freezer is full up with little bags of random beans and pre-ground, and I don't want to put any more in there. I'm working with a French press pot -- I don't have either a coffee maker or stove-top coffee pot, no room. I like richer, darker coffees, and I don't mind some "stinky" coffees, as long as they're not hazelnut. What I often do is make half French roast, half stinky coffee -- gives the right balance. So what's some good cheap grocery store coffee? The answer will be good for another trip to the grocery store -- woo hoo!

Did I mention that I'm bored?

.: posted by Lily Monday, February 17, 2003

Comments by: YACCS