Note of the Living Deb

Our original plan was to eat at some famous pizza place for lunch on Saturday, some famous burger place for dinner, have leftover pizza or free hotel food for breakfast, go our separate ways for lunch, and then maybe a new-to-us fast food burger joint for dinner Sunday.

As I already said, the pizza place was closed for two weeks for summer break. The burger place has turned into another place which also wasn't opened. However, the fast food place still had at least one outlet and so we lunched at In-n-Out Burger.



That cheese looks much yummier than it really was. The best part of this burger was the fresh, crisp veggies on it. Unfortunately, I appreciate good cheese much better than I appreciate good veggies.

Then for dinner we had snacks from a new-to-us grocery store we'd both heard many good things about.



Our hotel had a microwave so we had some pretty good suppers. We also stocked up so we could bring things home. This required checking some luggage, but that all worked out. Here's what I ended up with.



(Those are dried blueberries, not frozen.) So far, all of that has been pretty good although the paneer tikka masala seemed a little sweet and the trail mix has too many dehydrated apples in it.

I have since found similar dark-chocolate-covered things at my local grocery store, but not dark chocolate covered dried cherries, which turn out to be quite tasty.

We've heard that Trader Joe's will never open a store in my town just because we're the home of Whole Foods. So sad.

The next day, Robin had Trader Joe's leftovers and I had hotel food. After hiking, packing, and checking out, I went over to my grandparents to visit with them and my aunt and uncle. My aunt and grandma made us a fabulous lunch of salad, spaghetti and meatballs, garlic bread, and pumpkin pie.

They didn't bring lunch to where Robin was as planned because the water was out. He had no car, so he couldn't get lunch, but then the owner of the driving school found him and drove him around, a much better treat than mere lunch.

Meanwhile, I had found a part of town called Historic something-or-other which I figured would have places to eat. I was right. I wasn't hungry for dinner, so we went to an Italian seafood place we found there.



And now I'm going to have some more dinner (pasta with the above pictured alfredo sauce).

Warning: both of the offers below have now expired. However, these are both repeats of earlier offers, so you may get another chance later.

Although I'm the sort of person to be attracted to free things, I'm now rich enough that the attraction has lessened. I am no longer willing to stand in line for hours to see a movie for free (or at least the chance to see it free if there's enough room), for example. Nevertheless, this week people talked me into walking two gauntlets of free items recently, and it was okay.

First, S wanted to go to Sonic Wednesday night because they were giving away root beer floats. I would never do this myself because of long lines! in cars spewing poisons! But I had already set aside the evening for socializing with S, and she wanted to go, and I can socialize just as well sitting in a car, so we went.

Sonic had the usual parking spaces, mostly full, plus a drive-through with a line almost to the entrance, plus the path to the parking spaces and the exit (between the drive-through route and the parking places), also with a line almost to the entrance. The people in the last were attended by folks with trays of nothing but root beer floats, just handing them out. So the quickest way to get out was to just pick up root beer floats (they ask you how many, even when they can clearly see how many people are in the car) and drive off without making any additional purchase. And that's what we did.

I was quite pleasantly surprised by how smoothly things went, but surprised that they made it quickest to order nothing else. Their news release (linked above) explains that they are thanking their customers, although they did not request a receipt to make sure they were thanking the right people. I guess they're hoping this will give us a warm fuzzy feeling inside (or, rather, a cold fizzy feeling) and we will be more likely to go to Sonic next time we're thinking of that sort of food. Or guilty-feeling people like me can assuage their guilt by returning as a paying customer. And the news release implies that this happens regularly, so apparently they have done this before and not regretted it.

I didn't notice much fizz in the root beer but the float was heavy on the ice cream, so I just mixed it all together and called it a root beer milkshake. Mm.

**

R sent me a link for a coupon for free panties at Victoria's Secret. I printed one (should have printed at least 2, but I was just going to give it to D when we met to walk at the mall). I once had a generous gift certificate to that store, but it took me quite a long time to pick out anything because either too much of me was hanging out the top, too much was hanging out the bottom, or the sleeves were too long. Finally I went with too-long sleeves. Later I learned they have good opaque black tights.

The store was not packed at all--I don't know when that coupon came out, but it didn't appear to be causing a run on the store on the last day it was good.

D asked, and we were led to the "panty bar" from which we could choose just about anything without lace. D insisted we look for something I might like before she took the coupon and we did find something perfectly reasonable: hiphugger panties in a near skin-tone pink color. Then the very nice attendant answered more questions of D's in a way that showed she was very pleased with her store's offerings, even for people looking for practical items.

The cashier had no problems with me getting nothing but the free undies and even packed them a shiny but sturdy handled bag with tissue paper on top and included a coupon good during their upcoming sale.

I have now tried on the undies and they seem thin but good, but my size L pair was a little too small. I'll happily keep them, though, because I'm still a little too big. They might fit me fine later.

Now if you've ever seen me, you know that I am not large at all, yet this store thinks that I am a size extra large. So I'm very sorry about you regular-sized and large people who were hoping there would be something good there for you.

I often find undies and swimsuits to be sized too small, though, so maybe most people prefer these items to be very tight, digging into their skin, and/or riding up into their butts.

Another thing I learned is that the tissue paper is perfumed. Very fancy and special. And I hope to never get any again.

I had this pair of pants I liked but I noticed the bottoms were shredded in the back. They fit well and are my only khakis, but they were no longer appropriate for work.

When I took a closer look at the hem, the fold at the bottom could easily be ripped open due to all the wear.

So, I decided to try to make them wearable again. I cut around each pant-leg at that bottom fold. Folding them up twice to make a new hem would make them much too short, so I did something my mom taught me when I was a kid. I got a thing called "Flexi-lace hem tape." You can buy three yards of this stuff wrapped around a cardboard card and encased in plastic at places that sell sewing supplies. (I got three yards for $1.49 at Hobby Lobby.)

I sewed this as close to the bottom as I could without risking having the cloth unravel through the stitching. That had the effect of lengthening the pants. Then I hemmed them using the other side of the hem tape:



Now the pants are about a quarter inch shorter than before, but that turns out to be not too short. Whew! And yea! New pants!

Best guarantee ever - Wright's hem tape has the most amazing guarantee I've ever seen: "This material is colorfast and perfect in workmanship. Should it be found faulty in any way, making the article on which it is applied unusable, we will reimburse you for the reasonable cost of your labor and all the materials used in making the garment. Any claim must be accompanied by the article."

We went to the local outlet mall this weekend thinking this would be the last sane time to go for a while. It was definitely sane except in the store that was going out of business.

I'm still not thrilled with outlet malls. I've decided that just like at real malls, the only place to shop is at the clearance racks in the back.

In several stores I wished I were big enough to be able to buy something in men's sizes. Their clothes tended to be much nicer. They were less likely to have logos sewn conspicuously all over, they were more likely to have pockets and lots of them, and they were less likely to have stylish touches that would make them go out of date by, oh, yesterday or whatever. No ruffles, for example. That's pretty weird because in the olden days I was glad to be female because I get more interesting clothes. I had decided that guys only get to be creative with their ties.

I got two shirts, a purse, and a lid that turns out not quite to fit one of my pans.

One of the shirts was super cheap and a nice blue cotton knit t-shirt that will be good with khakis and a black jacket.

The other was merely cheap but is a long-sleeved jersey-knit turtleneck in cranberry color. For some reason I have this idea in my head that I should wear a cranberry colored shirt for Thanksgiving. For the longest time I had a cranberry colored cable knit sweater but eventually that wore out and elongated itself into a very odd shape, so finally I quit wearing it. I can wear the new shirt with blue jeans or khakis and a black jacket.

I also got a purse. Robin loves shopping for purses even though he doesn't carry one himself and he's figured out that I like a fairly small purse with a zipper (so it can be upside down). I didn't want any of his favorites, one for some bizarre irrational reason (woven grass reminds me of insect carcasses). But I did get a very inexpensive ($13) multicolored striped canvas purse with leather trim. What sold me is that it is slightly larger than my current purse, which is slightly too small. (I fear any purse would be slightly too small, though, the way any paycheck is slightly too small.)

I watered all my new plants for the third time today. All eight are still living.

We went by the Home Depot relocation clearance sale yesterday with mixed results. Most things are marked 30-40% off. But when you get to the register, you may or may not get the price you expect. I recommend dropping by if you need fire extinguishers. They are under $12 for an ABC extinguisher with a 6-year-warranty (I thought it would be 30% off of $40). I also finally got a wheelbarrow. It's the kind with one wheel rather than two, so it's kind of fun trying to get it to do your bidding (so far, just to go where I aim it in the store).

We are all caught up on episodes of "Chuck," so now we have to wait a week between episodes like everyone else. I feel strangely addicted. Like with good books and video games, it never seems like a good time to stop. You always want at least a little bit more first.

We saw "Burn After Reading" today. Robin loved it; I disliked it. I think virtually all of the characters are stupid and there are just a very few funny bits which are not worth having to sit through the rest of the movie. Robin thinks only one of the characters is stupid and he laughed out loud several times.

Before the movie we saw a preview for another movie with a quote I really like: "I collect hobbies." The movie is another one of those please-do-one-last-job-with-me movies, but I may have to watch it just to meet someone who collects hobbies.

Last night I got to go to a Halloween party. Two other people dressed as the economic situation, so it's just as well that my idea for that fell through. I just put on an old safari outfit I had lying around. It was nice to catch up with people and we also got to play a haunted house game. I immediately fell into the basement and was the first one killed. Then we played Set, and I got a couple. B actually beat D, but that's because she was playing Super Set.

New maps of the floodplains in Austin have been drawn and go into effect for insurance purposes on September 26. If you have a mortgage on a property in a floodplain, your mortgage company may require you to purchase flood insurance.

If you weren't in a floodplain according to the old maps but you are according to the new maps, you can save piles of money by buying flood insurance now if you don't have it already. I've heard your rates will be grandfathered. The newsletter from the utilities company says "Property owners will receive a better rate on flood insurance, both this year and in future years, if they purchase insurance by August 11, 2008, forty-five days before the new maps become effective."

You can see the new maps, only first you have to acknowledge that these new maps are only working maps and don't actually mean anything. (Those two libraries listed that hold hard copies of the old flood maps? One of them is mine. Suspense builds.)

I tried the interactive map first. There is a blue area on the map and an aqua area on the map which I assume are flood plains of some variety, but I can't find a key. If so, the map is showing that my house is still not in the floodplain but that the apartment complex on the other side of my back fence is still in the floodplain.

So if that's true, I still get the good rates on flood insurance, but the drainage improvements in my area have not pulled the apartments out of the floodplain--the apartments which are almost completely paved over and which seem very leaky from my side of the fence! Perhaps apartment buildings are absorbent, at least when occupied.

Then I tried the other map. It is not as easy to find a specific place on that map, and once you do, the detail is not as nice.

My utilities newsletter says you can also contact your insurance agent to see if your property is affected. I think I might just do that. And for more information you can call the Watershed Protection and Development Review Department Floodplain Office at 974-2843.

Flood insurance is not included in your homeowners insurance. It is a separate add-on policy which I think is offered by the federal government but which you buy through your regular insurance agent.

I first learned about flood insurance when I lived in a suburb of Houston and some of the folks who lived near the creek ended up with six feet of standing water in their house. This is not ordinary tap water, either. It's storm water. So it could have anything in it. The more fearful things people talked about were sewage and snakes.

At that time, my mom found out that flood insurance was extremely cheap and so she started getting it. And so when I got my house, I also got flood insurance, although it wasn't as cheap as I expected. And then when I saw a flood map, I decided it was definitely worth it. (Note to self: check for geologically stupid building before buying property next time.)

I just renewed my flood insurance today. For $296, I get $150,000 of coverage for the building (with a $500 deductible) and $60,000 of coverage for building contents (with another $500 deductible) for one year, so that's just under $27 per month. No damage to the land (trees, etc.) is covered. So that's an example of what flood insurance can cost someone outside the 100-year floodplain.

Not only did Exxon get out of paying for the damage that occurred in the Exxon-Valdez spill and not only have they put off paying their fine for almost ten years, but the Supreme Court just reduced that tiny inadequate fine by 80%. I am so angered by this that I decided want to do whatever it takes to make sure that company does not get any of my money.

I know that means don't buy gas at Exxon and don't buy gas at Mobile. It probably also means to avoid HEB and Walmart because I don't know who they buy their gas from.

But then I wondered whether any of the other gas companies are any better? Or are they all equally slimy but less spectacularly newsworthy? So I decided to do some research.

This turned out to be not so easy. But I did find the Sierra Club's Pick Your Poison: An Updated Environmentalist's Guide to Gasoline. According to them, they are all slimy. Getting gas is inherently a little slimy, and companies can't help being at least a little slimier than they have to be. They are just so huge, they are bound to include some slimy elements. So reducing gas consumption is, of course, the best strategy.

But gas companies are not all equally slimy. Based on what I learned there, I decided I should favor gas stations owned by Sunoco. I don't think there are any in my town. Sunoco stations are also called Utra and APlus, and I don't think we have any of those, either.

The Sierra Club likes BP also, but I think I like Shell second-best. Both are responsible for some nasty atrocities, and Shell's seem slimier (more on purpose). But then I like that Shell has significantly reduced its greenhouse gas emissions, is working on how to maintain biodiversity in oil and gas development, and has been developing alternative fuels since 2000.

But then the linked article, the earlier Pick Your Poison: An Environmentalist's Guide to Gasoline, has nice data on refining records. Shell's looks horrible. The best-looking ones to me are Sunoco and Chevron (which has since merged with Texaco, which looks not so great).

I think I have seen BP and Shell gas stations in my town. I'm not sure where a BP station is, but there is a Shell right near my house (although the local Texaco is much nicer).

Any thoughts on these issues?

Today I went to a fair trade fair and three things tempted me, though I didn't get them.

1) Red chili pepper earrings - I've been wanting some red earrings, and I really liked these, but they were a little big for me.

2) A tiny zipper bag - I have one already that I really like for holding credit-card sized things. I use it to hold my frequent buyer cards. None of the ones at the fair were quite beautiful enough to make me grab them.

3) A bread warmer - This had three parts to it. There was a woven basket. Then, inside that, there was a double-layer piece of cloth, sort of in the shape of a big cross. On top of that was a large microwaveable bean bag (I would guess a rice bag actually). You microwave that, then set it in the basket on top of the cloth, and then arrange your warm bread on top. Then you fold over the four long parts. And now your bread stays nice and warm.

Normally, I've just seen people using basically a large cloth napkin and folding it over the dinner rolls in a basket (or a plastic container with a lid to keep tortillas warm). The microwave bean bag thing is awesome. However, I never actually use these things.

There was another very interesting thing I couldn't quite figure out. There was a rather large fabric pocket, sort of in the shape of a windsock, with the top held open by something round and stiff. This reminded me of a clothespin bag. That was connected, at one side of the open top, by a strip of cloth, to a bean bag so you could set the bean bag on the table and have this big pocket hang off the side. The bean bag had a pin in it, to illustrate that it was a pin cushion. But I couldn't figure out what you would put in the wind sock part. It looked just the right size for a thing of yarn and a bit of knitting, but (as far as I know), you don't need a pin cushion for knitting. And it was a little too long to hold your remote controls without having to dig into it to fish them out.

I mostly just went to the fair because it was a good excuse for a walk, since it was at a local church, and it was a lovely day for it.

Today I decided to take defensive driving, but the place it was to be held was not open. I guess I should have called first "for availability" like they said to. Doh.

Nearby was a SuperTarget (or whatever they call the ones with full grocery stores inside). So I dropped by. Inside I found the shy and elusive Ghirardelli Double Chocolate Muffin mix which I have heard so much about these last many years. I even know you are supposed to substitute apple sauce for the oil (don't worry--there's plenty of other oil in the mix). I've now been told to also add some extra chocolate chips. I have not yet made these; I'm just reporting my victory. (That's at the Target off northbound I-35 a bit north of Parmer; each muffin has 250 calories minus the oil calories plus the applesauce and extra chocolate chip calories).

Then I cleaned some, getting rid of a full paper grocery sack full of magazines and other garbage. That is good. There was also dusting, vacuuming, laundry, and the re-organization of socks.

Then a little nap.

Then we saw "District B13" (2004) where (by watching the "making of" extra) we learned the term "parkour" which has a wikipedia entry and everything. It's when you transport yourself in a direct way, using whatever you have at hand. This is very handy when you have a bunch of bad guys chasing you. You then suddenly might want to jump through windows, swing on ropes, jump off roofs, leap across chasms, climb up drainpipes, that sort of thing. I'm not explaining well, but there's some of this in "Casino Royale," too, and Jackie Chan can do this kind of stuff.

When I am practicing parkour, I do things like jump over puddles, climb on short walls to keep from having to walk through a puddle, walk in the grass instead of on the sidewalk, and slide across the floor in my socks. I have also walked across a creek on a log, climbed on one of the tall ladders at ruins of mesa-dwellers, and walked on the bed to get to the other side. I have been known to kick open a door (the kind you open with a bar across the front of it) when my hands were full or when I have just finished watching a martial arts movie. Okay, usually I just turn around and open it with my hip, I admit it.

"District B13" is set in the not-too-distant future where the authorities decide to wall in a ghetto that is just too violent to deal with. Then, one guy kicks major butt. Then another guy kicks major butt. Then they are forced to work as a team to save millions of lives. You know, your basic action movie. But the main characters are their own stunt men, and it's like the Olympics of stunt men. Totally awesome. Also, you get to practice your French and hear French rap. And think about important social issues. And see a nuclear missile aimed at the Eiffel Tower.

And did I mention jumping through an open window which had a rope hanging outside it and swinging around to the other side of the building? I'm totally hanging ropes outside all my windows now. Well, maybe not. Maybe just my window at work. Heh.

If you like action movies, I recommend this movie. If you don't get why people would like action movies, I recommend watching the first twenty minutes or so.

In other news, a movie scene was shot three houses down from my house today. We got a notice in our mailbox. Here's my favorite part: "The scenes being shot will be protest scenes, so there will be some chanting during the later part of the day."

In fact I did see a small crowd of people standing at the end of that driveway, alternately shooting the breeze with each other, all listening intently to one guy, or chanting and holding up picket signs. They were facing away from the street, so I don't know what the signs said.

There weren't a bunch of 1950's cars around or anything, so I guess they just wanted a smallish house for some reason.

Today I decided to cash in my gift card for the bagel shop. For some reason, I decided to be super financially efficient with this free five bucks.

So before heading over, I checked out the nutritional information. I noted that virtually every bagel had very close to 300 calories and no other listed nutrients to speak of. There were a few with some calcium or protein, but those included significantly more calories.

So I decided to judge the nutrition solely based on fiber content. I wrote down the name of every variety of bagel that had at least 3 grams of fiber per bagel. On the sleeve holding my gift card. Oh, yes, I'm Miss Efficiency today.

When I walked in, I saw that they had all kinds of things: sandwiches, wraps, muffins, and of course bagels. I decided that plain bagels were the best deal, though the raspberry white chocolate muffins were tempting.

Most of the bagels were $0.99 or you could get a half dozen for $4.99. I made this my plan. I got three "good grains" and three "chocolate chip."

For some reason I didn't get charged sales tax. Isn't that the weirdest? In my area, necessities such as food are not taxed, but luxuries such as prepared food are. And this isn't like London where you can escape the value-added tax by taking it out of the restaurant instead of eating it there. I wonder whether getting the "cream cheese deal" that was twice offered to me would have transformed the bagels into prepared food. Because plain bagels, without any schmear, is obviously not ready to eat, and is therefore just food, and not prepared food. And yet, I have already eaten one of the bagels plain. I'm such a barbarian!

So, I have one penny left on my card. It's the largest penny I've ever owned.

Quote of the day (in dance class) - "Damn you for following my crappy lead!"