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Friday, January 27, 2006
Airplane Stories #2: Flying through a storm
I don't quite remember where we were heading or coming from. Memory thinks it may have been coming home from one of our visits to Florida. Anyhoo, we're flying along in the evening minding our own business when things took on a different kind of dark. The fasten seat belts sign was turned on, and we were told via the plane's intercom that there was going to be some potentially strong turbulence for a while.
We had flown into a storm. The clouds were dark, except when the occasional and far between lightning flashed below us. I don't remember seeing any lightning above or around us, and the light that was given off wasn't bright like when you see lighting strike from the ground, so I assume it was far enough beneath us to not have mattered. I remember I was sitting in my seat pretty much unfazed, continuing to read my book. My Mom was jumpy though, probably getting near scared, but I wasn't too sure. I am sure she wasn't happy though.
All of the sudden the plane wasn't beneath us anymore.
Well, it was... but a few feet lower than it had been.
Plenty of people had gasped. Then just as suddenly, our seats were under us again.
I was pretty sure I had left my stomach and a few other organs several feet up, at least it felt like it! Other people felt the same, or were scared. When they had said we'd be experiencing turbulence, we weren't expecting that!
The cause was something about a low or high pressure pocket of air meeting the opposite and us crossing the threshold.
Later we joked about how if that had been an amusement ride people would love it! But it having been a plane that fell several feet unexpectedly while flying, it just wasn't as fun or entertaining.
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Third Harry Potter Movie Question
I finally watch the third HP movie, yesterday. Probably too late to get out to see the fourth in a theater, which was the whole point of my watching any and all of the HP movies. But I digress.
I have a question about the third movie. When the professor who's a werewolf (can't remember his name) says to Harry that the Reavers affect him more because he has two horrors in his past his classmates couldn't even begin to imagine... what's the second one? There's the whole Voldamort(sp?) encounter where his parents died and he didn't = one. What's number two?
P.S. - While I liked the third movie the best of the three, I was pretty disappointed because it did not at all do what I had been told it was going to, which was give some background on Professor Snape. I really need to get Kim and Steve to stop telling me stuff about things before I see them. I was so looking forward to learning more about Snape.
Airplane Stories: #1
Coming home from Disney world
When I was 8 (?), Mom took Michael and I to Disney World for winter vacation. I remember landing and seeing the green palm trees and being amazed at the difference between home in Massachusetts in February and there in Florida. But that's off topic
Flying between Mass. and Florida we had a layover in Pennsylvania somewhere. On the way home our flight out of Florida was delayed slightly. We were told on the plane that all connecting flights were being held.
We get to the Penn. airport, get off the plane, to find our next plane is going to be leaving in two minutes! And it's not in the same part of the airport. Picture it: Mom running through the airport as best she could manage with two young children, each with carry on luggage (and that was before carry on luggage had wheels).
We get to the gate, and run up to the counter. "We're here," Mom informs them, somewhat out of breath. "We made it on time!"
The two employees behind the gate counter look at us. One looks to the other, who checks the monitor in front of us. Out the window it can be seen that there is no plane.
"Who are you?" the one in front of the monitor asks.
Mom gives them her name, I can't remember if they only asked for last name or full name.
Either way, the woman kind of shrugs and says, "You're not in here."
Mom puts our tickets down on the counter. And says something to the effect of, "we're supposed to be on this flight. The plane from Florida was late-" etc.
The first woman takes the tickets, sees that they do indeed say we're supposed to be on the flight, and doesn't quite know what to do. She may have been a bit annoyed that we weren't in the computer either because she made a gesture with the tickets and some off hand comment towards the computer before saying to the other woman, "They aren't in here."
The other women points out the window at a plane being pushed back by one of those little cart thingies. "Well, that's your plane taxing down the runway," she says.
"Well get it back," Mom tells her in true Mom fashion.
The second woman tries to explain that they can't bring the plane back because it's already been locked, and pressurized(?).
First woman makes an "oh I get it" gesture and says to the other, "Oh here they are. That explains the two I couldn't find." (For some reason I have memory of her saying two, even though there were three of us.)
Of course Mom is quite annoyed/upset by now. They direct us to the customer service desk, where Mom recites the whole story, and is backed up by the info sent over by the two women from the gate.
In the end, we didn't get on the plane, and it was the last one out to Boston that day (a Sunday). The airline put us up in a nice hotel, upgraded our return flight seats to first class, and gave us the option of any of the flights out in the morning. Mom didn't want to do the 6am flight, which was the earliest. None of us did. The next one wasn't until the 8am hour sometime, but school started at 8:15-ish. So if we took that one Michael and I would be late. Of course Michael and I wanted to miss school altogether that day, but in the end we took the 8-something flight and got to school about 11-noon, in time for half a day.
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
So, I have a date
I'm trying to think back to the last date I had. There was that one at Chad's monthly party with Dave, but that was more of a challenge than a date. At the party the month before somehow the comment came about that if Dave wanted to he could get any girl to her underwear. And so the counterpoint of not me came up, which then became a kind of contest. I told him I'd let him try, he told me to wear my best to the next party. So that next month I dressed up and went expecting some serious moves. We barely saw each other for most of the party, and even when we did it was only for a few moments and he did very little. Though I did get a kiss at the end of the night... I had forgotten about that part. Probably because I didn't much care for it. It ended up just being a reminder how much I don't like kissing (men). That was a year or so ago.
Oh, and there was the one with Chad. Last Spring? I can't quite remember, though I'm fairly certain it had to be before Easter. Yeah, I'd consider that one a date. I had asked him if he wanted to go out for tea, since I don't drink coffee. He said yes. When the date started he asked me what it was about. I said I just wanted to learn about him. So we hung out at his house just getting to know each other. Well before the end of the night we both knew we weren't compatible, and said as much. *sighs* Ah well, he was still cute and fun to hang out with.
So I guess my last date wasn't years ago like I thought. Though no dates that have lead to a second one. Not that I'm expecting this weekend's date to lead to a second one. I like the guy well enough, obviously for a date, but there's already at least one issue: he didn't graduate High School.
He says he has a GED, and went to college for a year and a half. But without a degree it's hard for me to see potential to support a family. I do want to stop working for a while when I start having children so I can focus on them and not loose my mind. Buy if my partner can't support us that won't be possible. Not to mention the fact that Mom would NOT approve. She's told both Michael and I all she wants is a college graduate for us, even if the person isn't using the degree, because she does not want an uneducated person raising her grandchildren. I can't much disagree with her.
Other than that, I don't know a whole lot about him. We met through a roleplaying game, so already we have a common interest. I know our tastes in movies only overlap in a small area, which could get annoying. But I also know we've talked on the phone for an hour or so and I didn't get bored. *shrugs* Well, that's what the date's for, so we can get to know each other more.
Um... what should I expect from him? I suppose I could be assuming this is a date when it actually isn't. He asked me if I'd like to go out for something to eat this weekend. Am I wrong in my assumption? Outside of gaming we've seen each other twice. He unexpectedly showed up at my birthday party with a friend I invited. It didn't bother me at all because I wanted to start being friends with him. He also came to the Conference Playoff Party I had this past Sunday, which he was invited to. He called me before hand to ask if afterwards if I'd like to go out to the movies with him and some other people. But then while we were making movie plans it ended up sounding like it was going to be just him and I. I would have been fine with that, but when I asked if anyone else was coming so I could determine if it was a date or a group thing, it sounded like he thought I didn't want it to be just us and said we'd roust up some other people, which we did.
I'm actually not nervous about this weekend, just kind of wondering. Wondering if I want us to work out as more than friends. Wondering if I should expect anything in particular. Wondering if I should do anything special.
And killing time at work by writing this much longer than I otherwise would have!
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
What I've Learned About Cooking
So I've known the basics since I was young:
- three teaspoons in one tablespoon
- a range is where you cook over an open flame or an electric heating coil, an oven is where you put food inside a large heated box to cook.
- substituting margarine or oil based spreads for butter makes things taste worse
- always cook with 2% milk (or whole if the recipe calls for it)
- gas is better than electric
And somewhere along the way I learned the difference between Dry and Wet measuring cups. From Mom I believe.
Although, when I was young Dad taught me how to make pancakes over a gas flame while camping up north.
But other than that, I used to know nothing about cooking. It's not that I couldn't cook, I simply didn't know how. I could follow a recipe, pretty much any one put before me, but that was extent of my cooking skills. I could not alter a recipe nor cook without one. I couldn't even stir-fry! (The jury's still out on whether I can do that even now.)
It was always, "I can boil water. I can take something from the freezer and heat it in the oven or microwave. That's about it."
In college, or shortly thereafter, I learned that home cooking is much better than boxed, canned, or frozen food.
Last year I wrote this:
Saturday, March 12, 2005
Cooking Tip
I've been slowly braving my way into the world of cooking. VERY slowly. But I've managed to learn a few tricks in the last couple of months. Such as if your noodles are sticking to the bottom of the pan it's much easier to get them up if you move all the noodles and stuff above them so that the sauce can get to the bottom of the pan, for some reason that loosens the noodles off the bottom.
Today I learned that if you put too much liquid in and you get the brilliant idea of dealing with that by turning up the heat so the sauce boils faster and hence boiling off the extra water before the noodles are done cooking, well... you have to stand there and keep stirring or you will burn your noodles. Bummer!
Since then I've learned more tips and tricks. Such as, Easter day 2005 I went to a buffet dinner at my friend's parents' country club. One of the wings had food you ordered and watched being made while you stood there. I ordered an omelet of some variety. This is how I discovered that in order to cook eggs, you have to put oil in the pan first! (I assume melting butter would work as well.) I went home and tried it, and sure enough I can now make eggs over-easy and omelets without issue.
I also discovered a few months ago that Olive Oil, Corn Oil and Vegtable Oil are distinctly different! It's like when I discovered in High School during a science project that basking soda and baking power are distinctly different. One works for some things, but not others, and vice versa. Well Olive Oil, Corn Oil, and Vegtable Oil all have different tastes to them, and affect the taste of food differently. What a concept! So be careful what your recipe calls for, and don't substitute.
On to pans. I've learned not too recently that different pans cook things differently. Now, yes, that sounds like an obvious thing. But when you have a 9" skillet with a non-stick surface and a plain metal 9" skillet, which are you going to use? Aht aht aht! Before you reach for the non-stick one consider if easy cleanup is worth the difference in cooking. Turns out some things, like Thai noodles, don't cook as well in non-stick pans and in fact take on a different taste to them!
It also turns out, we discovered this past Christmas, that even a slight variation in the darkness of cookie sheets can mean a needed temperature change when cooking on different ones in an electric oven.
I also discovered three weekends ago when my friend Jessi came to cook for me not only that a Zester exists, but what the heck it is for! Zest is the term for what comes off lemons, oranges, and the like when you scrape the top of the peel (with a zester). Rind is when you cut up the whole depth of the peel into pieces. Weird!
Side Note: I recently realized why gas is better than electric. Because gas gives a constant temperature while electric turns on and off trying to maintain a constant temperature which actually causes food to cool and heat in cycles as it cooks instead of staying at just one temperature.
Lastly, what I've learned about cooking is that the more I learn the more I realize I don't like to cook.
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