Amy’s Gripping Commentary

As a diary of sorts, I feel I should be able to rant on discuss any topic of interest to me, but I’m also sensitive to how my opinions (however strongly held) may differ from readers’, and that my opinions do evolve. I’m going to talk briefly about turkeys at Thanksgiving because it’s not something I’ve ever heard about until I went looking for the information, and while this may only be my third Thanksgiving NOT eating turkey flesh, it’s nonetheless important to me and I hope will not be taken as a strictly holier-than-thou entry (which I don’t intend any of them to be, but I’m not sure I’m successful in getting that across sometimes).

This year I decided to adopt a turkey, sort of in an effort to atone for the turkeys that would be purchased to eat at the work and family functions I will attend, and because it makes me feel good to donate to causes that make life better for animals. This is Apollo, who lives at Farm Sanctuary in New York:

Lacking the facilities to physically adopt animals saved from factory farming, I am really just sponsoring him. Maybe someday I will be able to do more, but the foster rabbits will have to do for now. I did get to meet some cool turkeys during a rabbit rescue last year.

While I was at Farm Sanctuary’s website, I found these (all pictures/italicized captions belong to them):

Bred to grow unnaturally quickly, factory-farmed turkeys suffer crippling leg injuries and often die stuck in the excrement that covers the warehouse floor.

Hanging upside down and shackled by their feet, turkeys enter the slaughterhouse.
(The Humane Slaughter Act does not apply to poultry or rabbits, which means they do not have to be rendered unconscious before killing them.)

(Celebration FOR the Turkeys at Farm Sanctuary)

I wish I didn’t feel like I had to apologize for being vegetarian, but an awful lot of people go on the defensive when they find out I am. Or they demand to know if I consume dairy/eggs, somehow looking for a loophole in my sincerity that excuses them from having to think about their own hypocrisy. Nope, I’m not perfect. I still have some leather shoes and I still buy a few eggs (I go out of my way to find free range eggs, but there are plenty of reasons why that’s “not enough”). On the other hand, once I thought about my reasons for eating meat, I decided it wasn’t acceptable for a being to have to die for my lunch. It just didn’t make sense to me. So that’s when I started figuring out where to draw my new line, and it still moves a little as I consider more data (no, it does not move such that I eat any meat or other foods that require someone to die).

Honestly, I haven’t watched the horrible videos that are supposedly out there about slaughterhouses and factory farms. I already know it’s terrible and would make me cry. But I have read enough and seen a few pictures; they make me look for alternatives, whether that’s me eating a fake turkey product at Thanksgiving, or encouraging a meat-eater to find a humanely-raised and slaughtered turkey for themselves. Did you know Californians just passed Proposition 2? It wasn’t just a bunch of vegetarians voting for this:

This law phases out some of the most restrictive confinement systems used by factory farms – gestation crates for breeding pigs, veal crates for calves and battery cages for egg laying hens – affecting 20 million farm animals in the state by simply granting them space to stand up, stretch their limbs, turn around and lie down comfortably

That’s AWESOME. I would like to have an audience that can share in those victories with me, even if we don’t practice the same eating habits. Perhaps they will make small changes in their shopping habits. One step at a time, people… just switching from regular eggs to ones marked “cage free” may not be all fun and games for the hens, but you won’t be supporting battery cage use, and that’s an EASY change at your same grocery store.

On the same day I sponsored Apollo, I also gave to Critter Corral guinea pig rescue, Wheeler Mission (which is uncharacteristically churchy of me, but they are doing great work with the homeless and hungry in our city), and Gleaners Food Bank, which runs nine food banks that distribute food products to 400 central Indiana hunger charities. I tend to identify with animal needs more, perhaps because they really have no voice except the one we provide on their behalf, but I am saddened by my neighbors not having enough to eat. I think I lack the constitution to make myself face the situation in a shelter (though I hope to “evolve” here too), so I choose to donate money instead. The downturn in the economy only means more trouble for those struggling in poverty in the first place.

Give where your heart is this season!

1. Annoying changes at work are not being shared with all impacted areas, and gee, no one thought about all the consequences as a result.

2. Just when I was all excited about great new vegetarian options at my work cafeteria, they decide to cancel the pasta bar (and the tofu along with it) and send the cook who hooks me up with these things, asks me how to make the food choices better, and warns me about unexpected pitfalls like bacon in the guacamole to another site.

3. XM/Sirius finally combined programming yesterday. One of the best parts of XM was the lack of DJ yapping, but suddenly my channels had new DJs and an awful lot of talking. STFU. If I want to know the song name I’ll look at the display. By the way, people don’t like change, so if you smooth it over for a couple weeks ahead of time by saying “hey on Wednesday we’re changing programming!” or sending a freakin’ email about it before the day the programming changes, it’ll go over better. Also, I can’t tell WTH channel I’m on anymore because the channels have different numbers on Sirius vs XM, so now they won’t display the channel number in the artist display between songs anymore nor say it on air, but the display isn’t big enough to simultaneously show actual channel number AND artist AND song, and they changed all the channel names at the same time so calling the music type “Spectrum” doesn’t mean I have any idea that it’s adult contemporary vs a Talking Heads channel.

4. Rained all day yesterday, and when I got in the car after 12 hours at work to go home and do more work, my car rained on me out of the map light buttons.

Day Off #2, and I had plans to paint the porch trim, but a few errands cropped up first.

After the pup and I took a ride to pick up my bike at the shop, I got a call from a bunny friend who was fostering a sick rabbit for a southern Indiana shelter. The rabbit has some lameness in one leg, drains in the other leg, sore hocks, and who knows what all, requiring an easy-entry special kind of litterbox I happened to have and not need. So, I took the litterbox to my friend, and picked up some hay and a dog crate while I was there.

My friend lives near a health food store that carries a few weird items I can’t find elsewhere, so to make the trip to the NW side even more efficient, I decided to go there. I’ve been to Georgetown Market at least ten times but for some reason I couldn’t find it today. My travels spiraled downward from there so I drew you a helpful map.

Red line: I traveled west/north to my friend’s house, where you see the red bunny. Note the attempted accuracy at using the correct exit ramps in my travel line.

Pink line: I try to drive from the bunny to the market, represented by a Quorn Turk’y Roast, which I bought for my Thanksgiving dinner. Remind me to tell you later about the turkey I adopted. Anyway, the Jeep now has hay in it, so I used Google images to find a representative picture by searching “jeep hay.” I got a picture of Hilary and Haylie Duff and their floofy dog doing some contest that Jeep sponsored, so that’s why you see them on I-65.

While I was unsure of how to find Georgetown Market from this direction, it is helpfully named after THE ROAD IT’S ON, so I turn left on Georgetown Road. I had a sense this was the wrong direction but to the right is a mall and no more road, so left it was. You will then see where I turned around at a liquor store because I could tell this was NOT the right way. I even checked my map at the liquor store but it also showed Georgetown ending at the mall. The map only cares about the part that goes to the Motor Speedway, I guess (note blue arrow pointing to the IMS, next to Danica Patrick making the sport respectable for other female drivers).

Light blue line: Now I’m heading back north (sorry that I’ve obscured the map’s “Georgetown Road” label with my pink and blue lines, but trust me, it’s the right road), and I decide to turn left on Lafayette, where you see the pink/blue/brown lines cross. I realize right about this time that there is a yummy Indian restaurant straight ahead (noted by the samosa) and it’s lunchtime, but I’m in the wrong lane. Surely I can stop back later, right?

The light blue line now stops at Rick James, because I notice there is an AT&T wireless store next to the market (yes, I’ve found it! Georgetown Road picks up again up here) and my cell battery likes to die after about ten minutes of conversation. I tell myself I’ll just price check here since cell stores tend to be a ripoff, and I chat with David on the dying phone about my plan. He says, “I hate cellular stores.” After signing a list in the store and after all the people ahead of me on the list have been helped, a salesperson gets to me.
Me: I need a battery for an LG CU500.
Her: We don’t carry those phones.
Me: I bought it from you.
Her: We haven’t had those in at least two years.
Note I haven’t had my phone nearly that long, but I do get a nice tip about a Batteries Plus store. I desperately ask for directions given my earlier problem finding the market, and find out it’s on Lafayette near WalMart, which I know is nearby, but she couldn’t tell me where to turn out of the store, so I will have to wing it. Then I call David and say, “Now I hate them too.”
(Regarding Rick James: That came up when I Googled for “AT&T b*tch”)

I walk next door to Georgetown Market where I buy things like organic carrots with the tops (the bunnies and piggies love those), no-beef-beef-bouillon, the aforementioned Turk’y Roast, rice noodles, etc. They don’t have harissa, which is in a recipe my magazine swears is easy to find at places like this. I’m still not quite sure what harissa is but it will probably involve a trip to the International Market, shown by the pretty bird. I put that in my head for another day because finding anything at the International Market requires a tour guide who speaks seven languages. I at least need to know what part of the world harissa comes from, and while I thought it might be Egyptian, this was not the day to get lost over there. Besides, I know there’s an Egyptian market nearby too! (See the camel.)

While at Georgetown Market I also have curried roasted vegetables from their hot bar, and it’s so good I’m going to find a recipe for it. It would be great with the turk’y!

Green line: Now I’m on a mission to find Batteries Plus. Watch the green line where I turn completely the wrong way, north, and end up on 56th Street, then come back down Lafayette. I see WalMart and figure the battery place might be in the outlot shops, but after driving around (see the circle around the second Hillary’s head), I discover it’s not here.

Now heading back down Lafayette, there it is! Except it’s not accessible due to a median. So I turn at the next possible spot, which is, oh, right in front of Georgetown Market at a furniture rental/clearance place. See the office chair made from a B-52 ejector seat. I decide to stop in and look for a used office chair, and the only ones that meet my ergonomic needs are used $600 Herman Miller chairs. Chairless, I get back in the car.

Blue line (not the Danica one): I finally get to Batteries Plus, where I pay $37 for an off-brand battery.

Brown line: Thanks to the median again, I have to turn around somewhere weird where I see a Mike-n-Ike car. Note WalMart in the background. I guess Hillary’s head is obscured by that utility pole.

In the interest of map accuracy, WalMart Hillary and the giant battery are actually on the east side of that street, but I ran out of room on my map where the ejector seat is. You probably shouldn’t get directions from me anyway.

I follow the brown line home, where I find an off-brand cell battery at Amazon.com for less than $9 with shipping. Along the way I call my mom to complain about her generation’s music because “Yummy yummy yummy I’ve got love in my tummy” comes on the radio, but she doesn’t answer.

Lessons learned: If I had an iPhone, I could have looked up Google Maps in the car and saved all that time and fuel. Better urban planning would have helped too. Heck, with an iPhone I wouldn’t need to go to the cell store because I could look online for the prices, get the phone number for Batteries Plus, find out what harissa is, etc. Meanwhile this entry took so long my wireless mouse’s batteries died in the middle.

I did get an hour of painting in before dark!

A meme that’s been making the rounds, including at Chubby Mummy and Must Be Motherhood. I changed the one about things I like about autumn to my list of crap to do because while I like autumn, I really need the accountability more. And I combined the things on the wish list with the things needed/wanted because really, those seem the same, and I just don’t want that much stuff.

8 TV Shows I Love to Watch: (I don’t really love watching TV… but I like it on in the background while I do other stuff or fall asleep on the couch. Consequently I miss the end of at least 25% of what I watch. Thank goodness for TiVo.)
=> Suze Orman Show
=> Daily Show
=> The Office
=> King of the Hill
=> Breaking Bad
=> Battlestar Galactica
=> Living With Ed (has that been canceled?)
=> 30 Days (canceled?)

8 Favorite Places to Eat:
=> Shalimar (Indian)
=> Donatos carryout, especially with the $5-off-a-large online coupon!
=> Mediterrano Cafe (Middle Eastern)
=> The cafeterias at work where the chefs hook me up with hummus, vegetarian soups, tofu on the pasta bar, beans for the burritos, and other good stuff every day
=> Broad Ripple Brewpub, because at least half their stuff is vegetarian
=> Machu Picchu (Peruvian)
=> Yats (Cajun/Creole, always good veggie options)
=> Red Robin or Denny’s for great veggie burgers!

8 Things That Happened Yesterday:
=> Flexed off some work hours to vote and get other stuff done
=> Bought 11 bottles of wine (I love the new boxed options, both for price and environmental/resource concerns)
=> Had Yats for dinner
=> President OBAMA!!
=> Drank too much wine and fell asleep during the acceptance speech
=> Cleaned the guinea pig cage
=> Put the soil back in my pot of mums that some creature dug out
=> Went to two meetings and didn’t get much of anything accomplished in either of them except scheduling more meetings! (Today: SAME THING)

8 Things I Look Forward To:
=> Wearing fall and winter clothes
=> Selling my house
=> Just-planted bulbs blooming in the spring
=> Marking a bunch of items off my to-do list
=> Travel
=> Visiting family
=> Bonded bunnies
=> Peace

8 Things on my To Do List:
=> Replace Jetta glow plug to get the engine light off
=> Repair Jeep flat tire
=> Take bike in for tune-up
=> Organize recipes
=> Rehome all the crap I don’t want anymore
=> Work with investment guy, make a plan
=> Administer fluids to my friends’ cat
=> Finish digging out roots and planting shrubs/bulbs

8 Things on my Wish List/Needs/Wants:
=> New office chair (ideally meeting ergonomic, non-leather, recycled, space demands!)
=> A clean house
=> Yakima racks on the car (purchased, just not yet installed)
=> Co-op membership
=> New pants for work
=> New cell battery
=> Better time mgmt/less procrastination (or just learning to deal with that aspect of myself)
=> More sleep

8 Things I’m Passionate About:
=> Animal welfare
=> Hunger/homelessness
=> GLBT rights
=> Peace
=> Grammar/spelling!
=> Lessening my environmental impact; sustainability
=> Adopting, not breeding, pets
=> Leading by example

8 Words or Phrases I Use Often:
=> What the heck
=> Nice driving, *sshole
=> Are you huuuuuungry?
=> Casper, shut up.
=> Did you just fart?
=> That can be recycled.
=> You can’t do that!
=> Your mom

8 Places I Would Love to Go or See or Visit:
=> Iceland
=> Thailand
=> Vancouver
=> Montreal
=> The Grand Canyon
=> Farm Sanctuary
=> Best Friends
=> Tropical beach

8 Things I Have Learned From My Past:
=> Don’t mouth off to people in charge
=> Don’t date anyone at work
=> People are generally good.
=> Everyone is equal and deserving of respect
=> Eat dinner as a family (and cook it at home)
=> Go to college. It’s worth it for the experience, the pride/sense of accomplishment, and the extra income! Then push yourself to learn more.
=> Work really hard. It impresses people and gives you a leg to stand on when you do need a break
=> Listen to your dentist

The Good:
It’s World Vegetarian Day!

Be nice to your animal friends and the earth today by skipping meat in your meal. It’s good for you, too! (Missed it October 1? Don’t worry… we’re observing all month.)

The Bad:
James McMurtry sings this excellent song. The Bad is the truth it spells about our country, but I care so much that I vote.

The Random:
Why does Tom Bosley keep sending me spam?

Those pants are unfortunate.

I guess I know I’m even busier than my usual busy when I can’t come up with the time to post here. The last few days I’ve been getting home late and falling asleep on the couch. I’m only checking email or using my home computer a couple of minutes in the morning… Once again, I either get enough sleep or I get everything done. Sleep wins this week!

I’ve ridden my new bike to work twice this week. It’s very light, agile, and fast (weighs at least 10 lbs less than my old bike) and I’m enjoying my time on it. Well, the way home still isn’t that much fun after a long day, but coming to work is zippy so far. It’s been fast enough that I am having to learn to pay more attention to obstacles, pedestrians, and traffic (like the school bus that nearly ran me down today) because I’m coming upon them more quickly and have less time to react.

My first ride on the new Bianchi was with people from work when we did a 20+ mile route around town, and while it wasn’t as fast as many road cyclists like to go, I felt able to keep up on my new contraption even while I was learning a totally new system of brakes, shifting, and steering. Even coming down the left lane of Meridian Street! One big benefit (and one of the reasons I chose this bike instead of another flat handlebar bike, which I thought I wanted) is that the rotated hand position above the forward-most set of front brakes makes my ergonomic injury (basically tennis elbow) feel MUCH better, instead of aggravating it like the traditional positions of using a mouse, rowing, and riding a flat bar bike do. I think I’m actually stretching the muscles in a way that combats my computer use!

I have a few brightly-colored wicking shirts and tanks which I wear to hopefully avoid getting smushed by inattentive drivers. A 10-year-old girl yelled from her porch the other day, “I like your shirt!” This is great because David HATES that pink shirt (like most pink things) and I trust a little girl’s fashion sense more. I yelled my thanks.

In other news, I recently had the chance to attend a benefit dinner for Lambda Legal through a ticket I won at work. I don’t discuss this topic much here, but GLBT rights are something I feel strongly about. I decided to go despite my discomfort with more formal, social occasions, primarily because I knew it was a good development opportunity. Even introverts should be able to interact and network with executives from their company. Finding a suit that still fit was a humorous affair, but fortunately I had one in my closet that worked. It was a lovely dinner–my eating preferences were even accommodated without too much hassle–and I met several vice presidents from my company. Bart Peterson, Indy’s former mayor, received an award for his work to make our city a more just place to live. Would you believe it’s only been in the last couple of years that it’s no longer legal to fire or evict someone in Indianapolis because he’s gay? Lambda Legal represents cases like these, or when HIV-positive people are denied government employment based on their health status, or lesbians who are denied fertility treatments because their doctors decide it’s morally wrong to let them raise children. What century is this??

The next night I met friends for Meatout, which was held at City Market this year instead of a church basement.

The venue was much more pleasant but the event seemed rather sparsely attended. I don’t think it’s advertised all that well. Some of the food was kind of blah, but I really enjoy going because I can eat ANYTHING there and it’s great to hang out with like-minded folks. Amanda and I staffed a table for IHRS and I carpooled with Nicole and Ainsley, who didn’t fall through the upstairs railing! I even won a Whole Foods Market raffle prize, which included a book I’d been wanting to read by a cattle rancher who went vegan, plus a cookbook, spatula, and a couple of snacks in a reusable shopping bag.

The rest of life has been bunny stuff lately, and a bit of experimental cooking. I tried a new recipe this week with spaghetti squash, spinach, chickpeas, sun-dried tomatoes, basil, and of course garlic and onion. A little salt and some cheese and that’s it! It was weird but pretty good.

Another good one from Samsara! Except that link isn’t including her meme for some reason. After I posted it and traced it back I discovered it was meant to be all-veg stuff, so I guess I’d eat haggis, etc, in that format, but should you really recreate stuffed intestines?

1) Copy this list into your own blog, including these instructions
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
(I removed cross-tagging instructions… who has time for that?)

1. Natto
2. Green Smoothie
3. Tofu Scramble
4. Haggis
5. Mangosteen
6. Creme brulee
7. Fondue
8. Marmite/Vegemite
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Nachos
12. Authentic soba noodles
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Taco from a street cart
16. Boba Tea
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Gyoza
20. Vanilla ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Ceviche
24. Rice and beans
25. Knish
26. Raw scotch bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Caviar I’ve had roe, though, pre-veg
29. Baklava
30. Pate (though in the more general sense, I’ve eaten vegetable pates… I just assumed they meant some tortured goose’s liver)
31. Wasabi peas
32. Chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Mango lassi
34. Sauerkraut that smell makes me want to barf
35. Root beer float
36. Mulled cider
37. Scones with buttery spread and jam
38. Vodka jelly
39. Gumbo
40. Fast food french fries
41. Raw Brownies
42. Fresh Garbanzo Beans
43. Dahl
44. Homemade Soymilk
45. Wine from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Stroopwafle
47. Samosas Last night for dinner! Love these. Of course I ate these for dinner because the vegetable dishes at the family party managed not to be veg*n…
48. Vegetable Sushi
49. Glazed doughnut
50. Seaweed
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Tofurkey
54. Sheese (a different brand anyway)
55. Cotton candy
56. Gnocchi eh
57. Piña colada
58. Birch beer
59. Scrapple
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Soy curls
63. Chickpea cutlets but not the much-touted ones of a recent cookbook
64. Curry
65. Durian
66. Homemade Sausages
67. Churros, elephant ears, or funnel cake
68. Smoked tofu
69. Fried plantain
70. Mochi
71. Gazpacho
72. Warm chocolate chip cookies
73. Absinthe
74. Corn on the cob
75. Whipped cream, straight from the can
76. Pomegranate
77. Fauxstess Cupcake
78. Mashed potatoes with gravy
79. Jerky just got a soy jerky the other day–yum!
80. Croissants
81. French onion soup
82. Savory crepes
83. Tings
84. A meal at Candle 79 I wish
85. Moussaka
86. Sprouted grains or seeds
87. Macaroni and “cheese”
88. Flowers
89. Matzoh ball soup
90. White chocolate
91. Seitan
92. Kimchi My Korean-American roomie in college ate this… sorry, it’s stinky!
93. Butterscotch chips
94. Yellow watermelon
95. Chili with chocolate
96. Bagel and Tofutti
97. Potato milk
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Raw cookie dough I think they’ll have this in the good-themed-afterlife I hope to go to

This week marked two years since I stopped eating meat. So, time for my annual tally!

In 733.71 days, you have saved:
0.2760 cows
60.599 chickens
0.6733 pigs
2.0199 turkeys
0.1615 ducks
114.46 fish

Total: 178.19 animals
Thank you

See what 178.19 animals looks like

And then there was this cute popup!

This comes from a veg*n calculator, and is discussed a bit here.

That two-thirds of a pig reminds me of an irritating ad insert in the paper the other day by some Indiana pork producers’ group. It said, roughly, Indiana Pork Feeds Every Hoosier, 5 Million People Around the World, and 15 Million Americans!

Sorry, folks, you don’t feed me. And there might be a few equally irritated Jews and Muslims in this state. Their website states the group “provides the pork needs for every man, woman, and child” in Indiana, which is better phrased since at least that allows as how I might not have any pork needs. I won’t bother giving them a link and increasing their traffic.

A fur-free Olympian has been a bit controversial, but I gotta say, she’s got the abs needed for her lines of work:

Thanks for allowing me to rant today! Back to my tofu.

I am behind. A couple of weeks ago we went camping and caving at Mammoth Cave Nat’l Park with friends. Highlights: a challenging cave tour requiring helmets, headlights, kneepads, and a girth less than 42″ to fit through tight openings (the belly crawl through the Keyhole was messiest). Sleeping in a leaky tent in an all-night storm. A bird pooping on me while I napped in a chair. The Fire Masters mastering the fire…

David and I are thinking about going back in late fall to try another in-the-dirt tour. With a new dry tent.

Remember the other day, about two posts ago, when I mentioned we get a lot of packages shipped to our house and I felt guilty about all the packaging? This arrived that same day:

You could have mailed adult humans in those boxes. And the lids to the gray storage containers arrived separately in another big box!

Check out the steamy action shot: David made a yummy tomato sauce the other day from tomatoes and basil in our backyard. Not enough are coming ripe currently so I supplemented today with tomatoes from the Farmers’ Market held in the park a block away.

No, we don’t have cabinet doors yet.

I took two foster buns and my piggy Cappy to the vet today. One of the buns is Whitney, who was found hopping about homeless in someone’s yard on Memorial Day. She’s a very pretty, plush rabbit.

While I was there, this beautiful fawn was brought in in a printer box.

She had been found down in a well near 56th and Arlington with a fox perched at the top watching her. She made cries like a lamb when the vet touched her; she was cold and in pain. If warming her and giving her fluids and pain meds can get her strong enough to stand, there are several local deer rehabbers, but young deer imprint strongly on people and tend to become nuisances when subsequently released to the wild because they are too comfortable around humans. Animal Control showed up, also having been called by the cop who brought her in, and I suppose it was lucky for the fawn that she was too ill to go with them to be immediately euthanized. Even if that’s her likely fate at the vet’s office, fewer transports to scary places are a little better. I would also expect that the vet and techs are gentler than an ACO.

David and I tried a new restaurant last week, Oishi Sushi. Would you believe it’s at 10th and Shadeland? Not an area exactly known for its exotic flavors. They don’t have their liquor license yet, but the food was very good. Someone ordered WAY more food than I did…

It was formerly a Chinese buffet that was formerly a Ponderosa (noted by the pines on the awning) but they’ve redecorated appropriately.

New computer! Which I’m not using to type this.
Assembly:

David got it up and running (with a little patient-diagram-reading from me) the same day the parts arrived, and has been kind enough to test it out on the plasma TV with his games using a wireless keyboard from the couch! I haven’t actually touched it yet.

Specs for the geeks, like Grandpa who always wants the best system:

ZALMAN 9500A 92mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler

GIGABYTE GA-X48-DS4 LGA 775 Intel X48 ATX Intel Motherboard

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 Yorkfield 2.5GHz LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor

mushkin 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200AAKS 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

SAMSUNG 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S203B - OEM

EVGA 512-P3-N861-AR GeForce 9600 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card

PC Power & Cooling S610EPS 610W Continuous @ 40°C EPS12V Power Supply

LIAN LI PC-7B plus II Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

I’ll hook it up with my current monitor, speakers, keyboard, etc. I can’t believe this old computer has lasted me six years! Upgrades aren’t really worth it anymore. I shall report back once I get to actually use my new system.

No fried chicken for vegetarians, right? Well, after craving some for awhile, I finally made the Al Gore challenge recipe, but I did it in an electric skillet like my parents always used. It seems slightly healthier than dunking the chik’n in a vat of oil (and easier to clean up too).

Coating the chik’n (I added some paprika to the recipe and reduced the nutritional yeast)

Frying, mmm. For those who were confused, this is FAKE chicken!

Not sure if this qualifies as a healthy meal, but it could have been a lot worse!

David actually liked it, and he’s a pretty harsh critic when anyone cooks. I think I’ll brown the chik’n a bit crispier next time and maybe tone down the batter, since it was more seasoned than I used to eat. But it was still good! The basic concept should apply well to my family’s chicken tenders recipe, too. And I’m going to try beef burgundy soon!

If I haven’t mentioned it, one of the best inventions ever is the rice cooker. I rank it pretty close to the top, which includes the internet, tampons, and pay at the pump.

Speaking of the pump, Dawn asked in the bike commuting comments about the emissions and money saved by my recent biking. The calculators I’ve found online assume a gasoline-powered vehicle, and I don’t know how much worse my diesel vehicle spews, but the basics for the 50ish miles I biked last week (instead of driving, not “extra” miles at the gym) led to about 2000 calories burned, 50 pounds of toxic emissions not spewed (25 lbs CO2), and about $5.50 saved in fuel. No, not drastic numbers (I do have a very fuel efficient vehicle and that savings is not what spawned this), but I feel healthier already. I hope the planet does too. I liked the bumper sticker I saw today: Live like you live here. Much more positive than this other one I saw (I think that’s a gas pump handle):

ETA: For the 50 miles vs. my SUV, which I really only drive to haul stuff but did bring to work today so David could use the Jetta for errands which required a lot more driving, I would save $11 in gasoline and 58 lbs of CO2 in the atmosphere. And David’s truck would have used $18 in gas and spewed 94 lbs CO2. Amazing how much difference there is from one vehicle to another!

A couple of biking calculators: Bike Geek, 511.org

The weekend was so busy it is taking multiple posts! The rant ahead didn’t lend to brevity. The picture uploading is mostly working now with the new blog software, but apparently it only uploads square pictures, so some have been cropped without my intent to do that. I thought it was just a thumbnail thing and then the uploading broke completely again, so who knows.

I went to Earth Day Saturday afternoon, by myself because everyone else pooped out. I had a nice time in the lovely sunny weather (in my Eat Like You Give A Damn shirt) and discovered some interesting tidbits, like that all of Indy’s residential waste is actually incinerated to create steam energy, and in fact my employer is one of the largest customers of that energy. I also learned about an upcoming green building conference in town and I asked the Walmart guy who was giving out free reusable shopping bags made from old soda bottles why the cashiers at Walmart were so confused about bagging items in these very same reusable totes. I had great Indian food and watched all the kids hula-hooping on the grass.

My internal barometer was running from excited to depressed to hopeful to discouraged as I thought of all the ways the human race has messed up the planet and how all the problems of war and hunger and diseases of affluence and environment and animal welfare and social justice and energy crises are so intertwined with our cultures and lifestyles that it’s hopeless to try to make it better… but what else are you going to do? I want to be a person who tries to make it better, by making less waste myself and saving animals’ lives before they are put down like so much trash in the landfill, by speaking up when fellow members of local message boards say all panhandlers are faking it and lazy and that homelessness is the homeless person’s fault and that they should deal with it themselves. Not the kind of person who mindlessly consumes, assuming it’s the American Dream because TV tells me so, and I’ve never gone hungry so anyone who is must be doing something wrong. If you don’t have hope that something better can happen, is there a reason to live? That whole butterfly-flapping-causing-hurricanes thing has to play out somewhere, so it may as well be my wings and hopefully the wings of a few other hopeful people who recognize the disastrous, unsustainable, unjust course our nation and world seem to be following.

Was that dramatic and sobering enough? I had to do fun doggie things to make up for all the soul searching. Meanwhile I accepted a rabbit back into rescue from a woman who had told us allergies developed in the family. When she and her sons brought Miesa back to us, the nine-year-old volunteered, “You know why we’re returning him, right? Because he ate my mom’s laptop cord.” Ah, the honesty of kids. As if that weren’t enough to make me wonder if it’s ever possible to screen adopters enough, they had been feeding him not only the CRAPPIEST food you can buy, but it was GUINEA PIG food. They’re darn lucky it was not the other way around because if you feed a guinea pig rabbit food, it’ll DIE of scurvy.

On to doggies, because I’d had about enough of people at that point.

Here we are at Mutt Strut, a fundraiser for the Humane Society of Indianapolis. Despite my concerns with this organization, I decided to attend this year again. There’s something about a lot of pet lovers coming together to celebrate happy relationships with their animals while raising money for an org that does indeed find homes for homeless pets that made me want to participate. People go to this event because it’s fun, and that’s what we needed. And people need to see that they aren’t crazy for loving their pets–lots of other people do too. Thousands, in fact, judged by this event’s attendance.

BTW, this is part of the crash wall at the track. It doesn’t seem to be in very good shape!

Poor Casper’s tootsies didn’t hold up too well on the coarse Indianapolis Motor Speedway track, but a stop at one of the vet stations wrapped her sore feet and two little boys tried to give her water from their hands. It was very cute. Casper wanted to sleep in the shade, not finish the 2.5 mile racetrack walk!

We had two happy, tired dogs at the end. Casper’s feet didn’t bother her at all that night so all is well. And I finally saw another white collie! This one, Oreo, is about Casper’s age and was adopted from the Humane Society.

In high school, our friend Stacy created a newsletter about herself called Stuff That Has Happened to Stacy. It was actually quite advanced given the limitations of early-90s graphic design software and her issues that arrived after graduation continued to make me laugh. It was a lot like an entertaining blog, come to think of it. (Goes out searching for Stacy on Google…no, I don’t think she’s a track star…duh, look in the alumni database. Will get to that later.) Anyway, for lack of a better subject here (Camera Phone Post 3?) and yes, I know it’s not as entertaining, Stuff That Has Happened to Amy:

No Dogs in the Bed! Well, Walt gets up there when I get up for work, but I have strict demands that the blankets are up so I don’t have dog hair in my sheets. And even Casper put her paws on the bed last week to see when I’d get up. That’s really bizarre for her!


People with Big Noggins. Hey, I don’t care how big your head is. Just don’t perch a regular-sized hat on top, even if it is your favorite team!

Don’t Offer Me a Salad. (That might become my header mantra at some point.) For all of you who wonder what the heck I eat, I give you a typical lunch at least a couple of times per week at one of the cafeterias at work. This is today’s fresh saute of mushrooms, spinach, red/yellow/green bell peppers, bok choy, diced tomatoes, onions, carrot shreds, and broccoli in a rose sauce on penne pasta (and of course with garlic!). Then I threw a few chow mein noodles on top. The cafeteria advertised this as a sausage jambalaya, but hold the sausage and I’m thrilled, I’m full, I have eaten lots of pretty-colored veggies that are very good for me, and I saved a buck over everyone who had it with meat! The sauces are different every day and I can usually eat for less than $4. Note my bottle of Crystal Light, cuz I believe in me.

At Least the Editor Tried. At Kohl’s yesterday (David claims he hates all their stuff but he asked to go there. He asked me to read what was on his exterior jeans label, pulled two pair off the shelf that matched his label, and bought them. I hate him), I found this note taped to a rolling cart. What I find hilarious is that someone (NOT ME) tried to fix the grammar mistakes, but still missed some. It’s not just me, I swear! I resisted the urge to correct the rest (mostly because I lacked a pen), but I did turn a polo collar back down on a child mannequin because I think that collar-up-layered-polo nonsense is just STUPID.


>Are you finished? >Just Wait ‘Til I Get Going! Where Was I? (name the movie)

Cult, anyone? Yesterday after dining at Three Sisters, we stopped at Good Earth next door because I knew they carried Birkenstocks and I’m on a mission for comfortable shoes. This place is a natural foods store, crammed with all the goofy stuff I can’t find at Meijer, and upstairs (among the bulk herbs and books on cleansing your bowels) is a selection of Birks, Earth Shoes, etc. And there is a middle-aged guy who sells them to you in a rather goofy way. At one point some people in the essential oil room burst into rousing song, after random people offered their opinions on my feet. Everyone seemed to know each other a little too well, and later we relayed our odd shoe store experience in a generic way to a friend who said Oh, Good Earth? That guy is weird. Anyway, I tried on lots of shoes, and decided I really like Earth Shoes but not exactly the ones they had there (I bought some online instead), while David was reading about how to mend himself in the forest with the plants around him. The goofy guy pretty much forced David to take off his Birks to repair the edges, which have been beaten to hell over the years. This caused us to wait even longer and not be able to go to another store which closed in the meantime, but I thought the picture was funny.

And that was one of several ridiculous parking stops between the cafe and the grocery, where I did buy bulgur and dishwasher rinse that was not tested on animals.

Gassy Ass. I saw this on a car at the Post Office. I suppose it’s like my Mend Your Fuelish Ways bumper sticker, but mine’s way classier. And not a ribbon.

I heard about the slaughterhouse video from the Humane Society of the United States a couple of weeks ago, but did not watch it because I’m way too sensitive for stuff like that. This morning coworkers were talking about the massive beef recall it spawned, one person yelling for the other to stop talking about it because she couldn’t think about the downed animals, and the other coming to my desk to tell me he was done eating beef and that the processors should be put in jail for endangering human life. This struck me as interesting (and depressing) on a couple of points: first, that people don’t want to face horrible things about animal suffering and just prefer to let it continue, and then that other people aren’t concerned at all about the animals and just want to sue over mad cow disease.

Obviously we all have different motivators, shock-inducers, thresholds for action, what have you. Had it not been for the work of undercover animal rights investigators, though, who are vilified or considered crazy by the average person and targeted by ridiculous laws like AETA, my average American coworkers would not have to face knowing that yes, cattle in slaughterhouses are abused, and that yes, you might eat tainted meat from sick livestock.

I’m just wearied by the news and not interested in passing judgment. I think it will take a bigger wake up call than this, though, for people to incorporate a little compassion and safety into their hamburgers.

In the video, workers are seen kicking cows, ramming them with the blades of a forklift, jabbing them in the eyes, applying painful electrical shocks and even torturing them with a hose and water in attempts to force sick or injured animals to walk to slaughter.

I still haven’t watched the video. You can read the HSUS article, where there is a link to the video if you can stomach it. There is also a short New York Times article about the recall. Much of the beef went to school lunch programs and food for the elderly, poor, etc.

Another installment of Amy Downloads Camera Phone Pictures!

Walt removes stuffing from yet another toy. (There was another casualty later that night.)

I’m king of the world! (He fell asleep on top of the pigloo later.)

Ah, Valentine’s Day… Hug’s and Kissess for everyone. Love, Kroger

I made jacket potatoes stuffed with sauteed garlic and baby portobello mushrooms, tofu, and the insides of the potatoes… then happened to heat up a fake chicken breast thing (also made from mycoprotein: a whole fungus meal!), resulting in a strangely symmetrical plate. David had seared ahi tuna, the more normal plate in the background. Note our OSB-topped coffee table.

Miffi grabbed all the carrots when I was trying to give her only the green tops.

Last week was one of extremes. Work sucked ass (even at home every night on my laptop, pager, and cell phone), but then had high points as we solved issues and I had good financial news, including finding out that I’m done paying for my teeth (for you newcomers, that’s 26 crowns and a bunch of ancillary work). My birthday was one of the sucky work days, then spent visiting David’s mom as she came home from the hospital without an appendix, then trying a new-to-us Iraqi restaurant that disappointed. After the good financial news (good enough that I still did this after having car repairs and dog grooming expenses that same day), we went to R Bistro for a really nice $$$ dinner. We haven’t been out to a place with a fancy chef in a long time and it was really wonderful. I’ve never had butternut squash, spinach, and goat cheese with Buerre blanc before.

Now completing a tiring weekend by snacking on real parmesan (not going to attempt the long/real spelling) and red wine… mmm.

Oh! And I won one of the bloody contests! Of course the award was a gift card to a steakhouse, so she’s adjusting it a bit. Anyway, lots of people gave blood during Melissa and Manic Mommy’s contests, which is really the point. My entry was a January donation.

I’d say the week ended on an up note!