Garden wars!

This year, my time is fully occupied with gardening. For the first time, ever, I have a real garden plot in the community garden. I've always wanted a flower garden and this year, I'm working on making that happen.

It's been a good learning experience. Watching what my fellow gardeners are doing, I see some things that I could have done better; things that I can plan for next year.

On the plus side, so far, everything I've planted is thriving. We've been very lucky in that we've had rain once or twice a week, so I haven't had to worry about watering yet.

On the other, other hand, I've had to declare war on a stalwart opponent. Ants. Millions.Of.Ants. They seemed to have swarmed into my garden plot after I had cleared the area. Before I started planting, I tried to dig up the area in the vague hope that they would get mad and move away. No such chance. They've dug in and now swarm all over my garden plot. And, since I come home from the garden with a new set of insect bites, I'm convinced that they're the culprits. Each time I scratch yet another large lump on my arm, my anger rises just a bit more.

And so, I've declared war. I don't really care if the ants aren't causing harm to my plants. I just want them to stop making me scratch! Besides, it's not like I moved into their territory. There was NO evidence of life in my little plot of dirt when I did all the work of clearing it. Nope, the insect horde took advantage of an opportunity, without any invitation. And, if they hadn't started with the biting, I might have let them be. But no more.

My first attempt to rid myself of the six-legged intruders was a mixture of vinegar and water. Research indicates that they don't like vinegar and it screws up their scent trails. But, of course, with all the rain we've had, I'm sure that it's all washed away. I'll try again.

I've planted tansy -- a plant that ants supposedly don't like. When I get back to the garden, I'll check to see if that area is now ant free. If so, I might get more and plant it around the border of my garden plot. And I'll be searching for more lethal approaches. After noticing yet one more insect bite, I have no sympathy for the mobile marauders. None at all. There's plenty of land for both of us ...they have to move or suffer the consequences!

Despite this unpleasant challenge, I did manage to get a nice, little bouquet for the house (after picking off the ants, of course).

Must remember how to say NO

I'm usually quite good about not over committing myself. Able to say no, able to set priorities. Lately though, I seem to have totally forgotten how to order my life in a comfortable way. I feel overwhelmed and over committed.

For the first time ever, I seem to have overbooked my sparse allotment of vacation time. I agreed to go on a trip with a relative this year. But, since we've been trying to plan a trip for two years, I really didn't expect she would come through. But she did. AFTER, I already made plans with someone else. So, that takes almost 2 of the 3 weeks that I get. Add in a few days to visit my parents, and I probably won't be able to take my typical week in December. I love taking the last week in December off and I'm annoyed with myself that I've overbooked my time so much that it's unlikely to happen. And, unless I take some sick time, I'm unlikely to get any time off just to do nothing.

Work is busy and stressful. I come home tired. But, there's going to the glass studio once or twice a week. And now, the stupid community garden which seems like it will never be done. But, I need to get there several times a week to make sure something survives because it's been like late July here with no rain in sight.

And then, there's the writing group that I want to go to once a month, except I'm too tired to think of writing anything except these silly blog entries. And then there's the artist support group that I've started going to..only once a month, but still, it's something on my calendar.

And there are people I want to see, movies to see, and, I desperately need to do some work in the home (many things need replacing and upgrading), and my car needs care, and I haven't done any kayaking at all, which I miss terribly, and, and, and...see what I mean? I'm out of control.

I'm really not a high-energy person. I like to have lots of down time. Time to set some priorities and start saying NO to new activities!!!

Too bad I can't just retire. That would free up so much time!

:-)

Good news, bad news day

Some days are like roller coasters. Up and down.

After being hounded by the vendor who supplies my documentation development tool (and offered a nice discount), I signed up for a product 1-day roadshow in Boston. My plan was to take the train in to avoid the high cost of parking and the nasty traffic. Here's how the day went:

The Good News: I had no problem getting up extra early so I could catch the 7:00 train.

The Bad News: I happened to be check the MBTA website in the morning and saw an alert that the trains were delayed by over 30 minutes. This meant I'd have to drive in to get to the seminar on time.

The Good News: Traffic sucked but wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I arrived in plenty of time to get a good seat. And it was rainy and cold. I didn't mind not having to hike from the train station to the hotel.

The Bad News: Another attendee did take the train and I found out that there wasn't a delay after all. I could have avoided the nasty ride and paying for parking. Even more bad news, I didn't park at the hotel parking lot and the vendor was offering parking validation (which would have discounted the cost of parking). Why didn't the vendor say something about parking validation before the event?

The Good News: Parking ended up costing me a lot less than I expected. Not sure if I read the rates incorrectly when I parked or some weird, good karma mistake. In any case, it wasn't bad at all. Even more good news: I got home a lot earlier than if I had taken the train (but the traffic still sucked).

The Bad News: I'm rarely out of the office, but the one day I am out, the CTO asks to set up a brainstorming session with me. After looking at the presentation handout, I start to wonder if I made a mistake in attending the seminar.

The Good news: I heard a number of interesting tips that are going to be quite useful. Attending the event wasn't a waste at all. And, I'll get to meet with the CTO later on in the week (which gives me a bit of time to prepare my thoughts).

And that's how my day went. I'm looking forward to a more even-tempered day tomorrow.

Company lunches=2, Me=0

It's a bit ironic, or just weird karma.

Out of two company-sponsored lunches that I've had in the last week, I haven't been able to eat what I actually ordered.

Bad Lunch Karma event #1: We have a power outage in the morning. While we're waiting for the power to come back, one of the manager proposes that if we contribute non-perishables to a local food bank, the company will buy us lunch at a local Mexican restaurant. Cool. So, we all place our orders (I wanted a chicken salad with salsa, beans, etc), get our food donations at the local supermarket and come back to the office to get our lunches. And I'm really hungry. But I open my lunch to discover that it's not salad with chicken but it's pork and it includes guacamole (which I despise -- yes, I know avocado is a magic health food -- but I hate the flavor and the texture. Although, I do like the color :-)) Bleah. I check around and no, no one else has what I ordered. I end up NOT eating lunch because I just don't want to make the trip back to the restaurant and exchange it.

Bad Lunch Karma even #2: We have two new employees and the VP of Engineering organizes a welcome lunch at the local Thai restaurant. I like the Pad Thai at this place and am eagerly looking forward to it. We're a huge group (21+ people) and I'm one of the last people to get my lunch. Which isn't what I ordered. It's a variation of what I ordered, so I figure, how bad could it be. I take the lunch instead of sending it back, because people are already eating, I eat slow to begin with, and I don't want to hold people up as I try to finish up. The Pad Thai variation that I ended up with is horrible. Bleah. I eat as much as I can tolerate. Even then, without me eating all of my lunch, I'm one of the last people to finish. The server was quite nice about it. He knows I didn't get what I ordered and asks me how it was. I tell him, "not so good" but explain that it's not his fault, I know I could have sent it back. He gives me a card with a note about a complimentary lunch. Nice service! Turns out, someone else took my lunch, somehow not realizing that he was not eating what he ordered -- or maybe he did what I did...figured it was too much of a bother to send it back since it took so long to serve our large group. He 'fessed up about it later ...what could I do? I laughed and now it's a bit of a joke.

Seems like bringing my lunch is much safer than trying to get what I want from a company lunch!

Technologically brain dead?

Once upon a time, I took pride in my ability to learn and use new technology. I was quite smug about it, in fact. Lately, I'm feeling brain dead.

Case in point. During a recent trip to the local supermarket, I decided to try out the "scan as you go" equipment. The idea is that you carry a portable scanner and bag with you. As you select your items, you can and drop it into your bag. When you get to the cashier area, you don't have to scan each item, just download the results of your portable scanner and out you go. Only, I had a miserable time managing. First I had to guess how to activate the scanner as there were no instructions (scan your store card, and grab the scanner that lights up). But, that wasn't too bad. But, then came the time when I had to scan my first item. I looked at this device in my hand and stared at the various buttons, wondering which one to press to activate the laser scan. After trying each button, I guess that pressing the big one that made the red laser glow was the one. But, the scanning mechanism didn't work well. I had to try scanning each item multiple times. I assume that I was supposed to press the buttons in some order that worked only when I accidentally pressed things in the right order. Then, at checkout, I had no idea how to finish up the order. There was a sign that said, scan the end of order code. But, what I didn't realize was that it meant I had to use the scanner to read the bar code on the sign! I ended up feeling stupid and flustered. I doubt I'll use it again because it's a lot easier to just scan things at the checkout area. Bleah.

Another case in point: We're using our bug tracking system in a new way to track our activities. Only, half the time, I can't see the sub tasks that are assigned to me. I just moved one task to the Done column (because I'm done with it) and the task vanished. It doesn't show up in the Done column. Again, I ended up feeling stupid and flustered.

And don't get me started with Facebook! I don't use it often, so I'm unfamiliar with the interface to begin with. It keeps changing so every time I look at my main page, I'm baffled. I don't even know what I'm looking at and there are so many options now, I'm not sure which one to choose. Thank Heavens that Twitter is still simple.

Either the world is becoming one big, unusable interface, or I really AM getting old and unable to keep up with new technology. Either way, it's making me cranky.

Peppadew - new favorite food

Last summer, while traipsing through the North End in Boston with a friend, we stumbled upon a wine tasting event at one of the local wine stores. Absolutely amazing in that it was free, and included an spread of food that was to die for. Antipasti, Italian meats, cheeses, breads. My friend called my attention to a red pepper called Peppadew®. "Taste this," she burst out joyously - she had eaten them before.

Now, I tend to be a bit leery of unknown peppers. I despise the taste of Bell peppers, but love the taste of hot peppers (odd, isn't that?). I didn't know about this Peppadew thing...I speared one with a handy toothpick and gingerly took a small bite. HEAVEN! I wanted to eat the whole bowl full (but I was polite and only had a few).

A Peppadew is actually a brand name for a type of piquant pepper from South Africa. According to Wikiopedia, the pepper (which looks a lot like a red, cherry pepper) is processed to reduce the heat and then pickled. You're left with a slightly sweet pepper, with just a hint of heat. It's rated at 1,177 on the Scoville scale--quite mild, actually, less than a typical jalapeno. But, amazing delicious.

I recently found them at a local supermarket where I stopped on my way to a rare Mah Jongg game. Where, oddly enough, someone else brought them as well. It has been months so I had a Peppadew -- in fact, I had forgotten about them. But, now, that we've been reacquainted, I'm thinking about all the ways to include them in my normal meals (add them to scrambled eggs? Mac&Cheese? Salads, of course. Quinoa pilaf?).

On my list of things to do today...buy Peppadews and hope I don't eat them all at one sitting!

Nothing like good food

Dining to me is more than just shoveling food into my mouth in 15 minutes. I adore fine dining and taking the time to just enjoy the entire experience. Tonight I went out to eat at Ming Tsai's restaurant, Blue Ginger. OhMiGod...what a fantastic meal.

We started out with Ginger Gimlets, a signature cocktail. A perfect drink for the warm weather -- a touch of sweetness, a taste of lime. A perfect way to start out.
Next came the fired calamari with what seemed to be some type of herbed vinegar dipping sauce. Not greasy and the batter was light and crunchy. I had butterfish, one of my friends had the pouisson (tea soaked chicken), and the other had the mushroom and vegetable ragout. Mine was perfectly cooked fish with soba noodle wrapped in seaweed. Fantastic. Dessert was a shared triple chocolate cake with cardamom ice cream.

In addition to the excellent quality of the food, I was quite impressed that the servings were normal size. Enough to satisfy your hunger, but not so much that you had to bring home half your dinner. No plates were overflowing with food. Instead, the portions were a reasonable size. You could clear your plate without feeling like you had eaten like a pig. Really nice.

I so love food....especially when it's extraordinarily well prepared.