Cellar Scribblings

[Front-Ranger]

I have an overflowing drawer full of CDs, given to me by R. He also gave me a CD player, which I used occasionally but it stopped working. R. has acquired yet another new CD player so he's bringing me over his old one. I have a 6-ft long cabinet in my living room that has all the black electronics on it. There are speakers, a radio, a TV, a record player, a VCR/DVD player. Mostly they're just gathering dust.

[Jeff Wrangler]

I have an overflowing drawer full of CDs, given to me by R. He also gave me a CD player, which I used occasionally but it stopped working. R. has acquired yet another new CD player so he's bringing me over his old one. I have a 6-ft long cabinet in my living room that has all the black electronics on it. There are speakers, a radio, a TV, a record player, a VCR/DVD player. Mostly they're just gathering dust.

I had one of those. At the time DVDs were replacing tapes, my thinking was to have a machine that could play both. IIRC, something went wrong with the tape player, but I had a neighbor who could fix it. Then the drawer mechanism for the DVD player stopped working, and there was no fixing that.

I still have a VCR that was still working some years ago, but it's no longer hooked up to anything.

[CellarDweller]

Hiya BetterMost friends!!!!

Happy Hump Day y'all!

Hope everyone is doing well!

It was a mildly busy day at work, but I managed to stay on top of everything.   I think it will be busier the next two days, a coworker is out and I have to cover for her.

Came home to a few packages waiting for me, the two most important are the latest Madonna collection (more on that here http://bettermost.net/forum/index.php/topic,17406.msg719753.html#msg719753) and the present I ordered for my niece for her birthday.

Saturday I'll be going to see some friends, I was asked to make some buffalo chicken dip to have as "picky food" before the meal is served.

Other than that, it should be quiet.

Anyone got anything good or exciting going on?

[CellarDweller]

Hiya BetterMost friends!!!!

Welcome to the weekend!




Had a nice sleep in today,  and then made the buffalo chicken dip, and went to my friends' place at 3:00, stayed there until 8:30 or so.  It was good to catch up with everyone.

Laundry was done on Friday, so I don't have to do anything tomorrow.  I'll meet my family for lunch, but other than that, the day s free.

Next weekend is Labor Day, and then the 'parade of holidays' starts.  Columbus Day, Halloween, Veteran's Day,  Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, MLK, President's Day. 

[serious crayons]

So is the buffalo chicken dip a dip into which one would dip buffalo chicken? So, traditionally something like blue cheese dressing, right? And someone else would bring the wings? Or is it a dip that tastes like buffalo chicken into which one would dip chips?

Last night, I made a great casserole -- or as we call them in MN, "hot dish." Layer of roasted halved poblanos from the garden. Filling of shredded pork (made last month in the crockpot and frozen in smaller portions), farmers market corn cut off cob, farmers market onion, halved home-grown cherry tomatoes, cup or so of grocery store salsa, meh as a chip dip but good for flavoring. Saut?ed and topped with shredded mozzarella and pepper jack and sprinkled with spiced pepitos, baked for about 30 minutes. I'll have it for dinner for at least three nights, freeze a portion or two.

[Front-Ranger]

Chuck, I'm glad you had a success with your buffalo chicken dip. I was supposed to bring a side dish to church today for an "unbirthday party" they were throwing. I decided to bring deviled eggs. Why, I don't know. Deviled eggs are very labor intensive and I never seem to get it quite right. And people eat them up so fast. One bite and they're gone.

But I have lots of eggs (my daughter has hens) and I have a cute deviled egg transport and serve kit. So, I thought and thought about how to make them right this time. I decided to put in minced celery, onion, and parsley and to leave out the vinegar. My mother always put in vinegar, and too much. So, I began by going to the store and getting eggs. You read that right. Pretty hard boiled eggs can't be made from fresh hen's eggs. You have to use the older grocery store eggs.

I boiled the eggs, including several extras. They peeled up nicely to my relief but there were still some that were flawed that are going into an egg salad. The next day, I sliced them in half with a serrated knife, giving a nice grooved surface. I popped out the yolks into a bowl and chilled the whites in the cute kit. This morning, Sunday, I arose early and added mayo and Trader Joe's spicy mustard to the yolks, with spices and mashed them into a smooth paste. I then added the finely minced onion, celery, and parsley. I then finely chopped some bread and butter pickles and added those. Instead of vinegar, I used a little pickle juice. I tasted this and adjusted the seasoning, adding more salt and some smoked paprika. I then spooned this into the whites and dusted the tops with a tiny amount of smoked paprika.

It was stressful but I was fairly happy with and hopeful about my deviled eggs. But when I got to church, I found that the plans had all changed and they were only serving cake. I brought the eggs back home with me. Anyone want some deviled eggs?? Sorry, I was not planning to write a dissertation on your blog Chuck but it just came out that way!

[Sason]

Next weekend is Labor Day, and then the 'parade of holidays' starts.  Columbus Day, Halloween, Veteran's Day,  Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, MLK, President's Day. 

How extremely unfair!! 

We don't have ONE SINGLE  holiday between midsummer and x-mas!!! NOT ONE!!!!!

We could really use a couple of holidays, it's so hard to work all autumn after our 4 weeks summer vacation!

Instead, we have to work every single day, while it gets darker and darker and wetter and wetter and windier and windier, and we all get depressed and anti social and just want to stay in bed forever.    and NO HOLIDAY to cheer us up!!!! 

[serious crayons]

How extremely unfair!! 

We don't have ONE SINGLE  holiday between midsummer and x-mas!!! NOT ONE!!!!!

If it helps you feel better, of the holidays Chuck listed, the majority of Americans only get days off on Labor Day and Thanksgiving. Those other holidays -- Columbus Day (we in Minneapolis call in Indigenous People's Day) and Veteran's Day are days off mostly for people who work in government or (ahem) banks. 

I don't think anyone gets Halloween off.

Still, most holidays are at least festive, especially Halloween and Thanksgiving, so they can be nice to have regardless of day-off status.

But then again, I can't believe I'm arguing about days off with a European. Don't you all give even new get month-long vacations every year? Here, new people start at two weeks and eventually work their way up to more.

And it's typically in the form of PTO, some of which, at least at my company, is used for national holidays, even Christmas, and some for sick days.

[Sason]

Hmm....I may have exaggerated a tiny little bit..... mainly to annoy Chuck   


I can't really speak for other European countries, but you're correct that here in Sweden everyone has, by law, 25 days of vacation every year (if you're employed the whole year i.e). The norm is usually to take 4 weeks in a row during June-July-August, but there are other variations. Some people have more, it depends on the agreement between your union and the employer's organisation.

E.g, working in public health care I got 6 more days when I turned 40, and only 1 more day when I turned 50. Nothing when I turned 60 

Holidays like new years, xmas, easter 1st of may, christ-flew-to-heaven and a few more don't take away from your vacation days. You get them off anyway.

Sick days are a totally different thing. They have nothing to do with vacation. You get paid on sick days from the Social Insurance Administration. Everyone who's working is covered by it. Other than sick pay, they also pay maternaty leave, when you're at home with sick children and a few other things.

[Front-Ranger]

How extremely unfair!! 
We don't have ONE SINGLE  holiday between midsummer and x-mas!!! NOT ONE!!!!!
We could really use a couple of holidays, it's so hard to work all autumn after our 4 weeks summer vacation!
Instead, we have to work every single day, while it gets darker and darker and wetter and wetter and windier and windier, and we all get depressed and anti social and just want to stay in bed forever.    and NO HOLIDAY to cheer us up!!!! 

There's a Shouts & Murmurs in here somewhere!

Your posts remind me of some of the things I read in Viking Economics. Until a couple of years ago, I thought it extremely unlikely that any ideas in that book could ever be implemented in the US. But now it seems more likely...not impossible anyway.