Outside

Today Big J and I went to visit an Amish greenhouse. Pretty impressive. They had the biggest tomato plants he or I had had ever seen and had quite a variety of plants. We bought four eggplants and four jalapeno pepper plants. Those were the two rows in our garden that didn’t take from seeds. After we got back I transplanted the veggies and Big J did some yard work across the street. As I was walking around outside, I noticed all the flowers in bloom and decided to grab the camera. Here’s what I captured:

eggplant row

our country garden

strawberries

Little J's garden: green beans

pink peonies

roses

peek-a-boo

peonies

 

Happy Mardi Gras

It’s Fat Tuesday again. I’m not in the land of carnival to celebrate, but I did here on the radio that in celebration of Mardi Gras there was going to be a pub crawl. Please. As if the Midwest knew how to celebrate Mardi Gras. I miss Mardi Gras celebrations; it’s now a reminder of how many days until Easter. But if you’re out there at the parades I’d like a Zulu coconut and this year’s doubloon. “Throw me something, Mister!”

Oh yeah, and eat a moon pie!

 

Busy Tread

low tread

Yesterday I spent the day studying. So today I had to do everything that has to get done on the weekend. Laundry, grocery shopping, dishes, taking out the trash, etc. On top of that I had to get my oil changed. Which is why I go to the Big Store (Wal-Mart). I don’t particularly like going to Wal-Mart, but where else can you get your oil and air filter changed while you shop? Wal-Mart is, perhaps, the ultimate multi-tasker. And even when the wait for an oil change is long (2 hrs!) I can take my time shopping and then only have to wait about 30 minutes (and hope my frozen stuff doesn’t melt too quickly). But the final caveat I received before leaving was that my tire tread is low.  On all 4 tires! Totally wasn’t expecting that. I looked at them after I transferred all my stuff from the cart to the car and they’re not balding. I guess I am rather pissed b/c all 4 tires are only a year old. Aren’t tires supposed to last longer than that? Next time I WON’T be buying my tires from Wal-Mart. Cheap ass tires.

how to store fresh cilantro

In other news, I picked up a quick kitchen trick that may come in handy. I usually buy a bunch of cilantro about every week or so. It’s only about $1, but leaving it in the veggie bag in the fridge wasn’t working–it was going bad too soon. So I googled the issue and found an easy solution. Snip the ends of the stems (as you would flowers) and put just enough water in a jar to keep the end of the stems covered. Then use a plastic bag (I used the bag they came in) and cover the herb and jar with the bag and refrigerate. It should keep fresh for up to 2 weeks. Remove any pieces that are yellowing or starting to turn mushy (and if the water gets murky, just rinse it out and use some fresh water). I’ll take two weeks over the 5 days I was getting. Now I can use the cilantro for more than one meal.  And that concludes today’s kitchen tip.

 

Solitude

I’m home alone for the weekend. Jesse had to travel for work and it was near his mom’s house so Jesse Jr. went along for some Grandma and Paw-Paw time. Originally I was going to go as well, but I decided to take advantage of the quiet and get some studying done. And I did. I’ve spent about six total hours reading today. And not cool, fun stuff, but geology. I find it interesting in small doses. But I have to prepare for the test(s) I have next week. One in lecture and one in lab. At least now all I have to do is actually study for the tests.

In other news, I saw a fox in our yard today. Kinda cool. Kita waited on the porch till I scared it off. Smart cat. I find I’m missing my boys, especially the energetic, almost four year old. (He turns four next week–unbelievable!) Well, I’m off to watch Pbs (I scheduled it in!).

 

The ‘volatility’ of greed

Gas prices here have jumped about 10¢ since the last time I filled up (I fill up–yes all the way up–between two and three times a week thanks to my lovely commute to school and work). And yet crude oil prices are down on the mercantile exchange. I did a little research and the most reoccuring explanation was contributed to the increase of refinery margins or spread increase. What that means is that even though the price of crude went down, the cost/value of the finished product went up. Things that affect the spread could include increased labor costs, increased transportation costs, etc. Apparently last week there was the threat of a strike at a U.S. refinery (The United Steelworkers) that caused this raise. But there seems to be a settlement in the working that should lower prices again.

So what this all means is bullshit. Valero is seeking to avoid labor concessions and instead said it would close refineries if workers walked out. And their strong-arming affects prices nationwide. And the retailers of gas aren’t innocent either. The average cent per gallon markup at the pumps can be anywhere from a couple of cents to a dime. (That SUV ain’t looking so hot anymore.) And all this comes soon after the announcement (again) of record profits for Exxon Mobil (they broke last year’s record by a paltry $5 billion) at $45.2 billion. Number 2 man Chevron increased the size of their pockets as well. Chevron went from $18.7 billion in 2007 to $23.9 billion in 2008.

Isn’t anyone else a little disgusted by all this? I would LOVE to lower my individual gas consumption. Last summer we contemplated moving to the city that my university is in to lower our fuel expenses. Hell, we’d have had to pay rent (something that is not a current expense) but it still would’ve been lower than our combined fuel expenses. (By myself I was averaging about $120/week on gas during the summer.) But until we finish school, riding our bikes to work isn’t an option, and neither is a new, fuel-efficient car.

So my question isn’t when are our federal lawmakers going to set price caps on gas. That would make oil companies pull out of the continental U.S. faster than they wanted to in Hawai’i when they instituted caps on the price of gas (Hawai’i no longer has the caps). My question is: when are they going to bring back the electric car that was already in production over ten years ago but that car companies (yes, the Big Three) say are in the ‘developing’ stages of technology? C’mon Mr. President, shake the lobbyists out of Washington a little faster!