Bookshelf:

Recently Read and Reviewed:

• Julian May, Jack the Bodiless
• A. K. Dewdney, The Planiverse

Currently Reading:

• Lisa Carey, In the Country of the Young

Next Up:

1. Joseph J. Ellis, Founding Brothers
2. Guy Gavriel Kay, Tigana
3. Orson Scott Card, Ender's Game
4. Orson Scott Card, Speaker for the Dead
5. Stephen Jay Gould, Wonderful Life
6. Howard V. Hendrix, Empty Cities of the Full Moon
7. Tony Daniel, Metaplanetary
8. Yogesh Chadha, Gandhi: A Life
9. Wil McCarthy, The Collapsium
10. Maxine McArthur, Time Past

Not So Good, Not So Bad

Life has been a mixed bag lately. Overall the downside to things has been rather small, I guess, but tended to consist of things which stick in my craw, and/or seem calculated to be the kinds of things that really bug me.

For instance, I'm still trying to resolve the bounced check issue I mentioned a week and a half ago. My credit union was no help at all, telling me that the check bounced, that they can't tell me for sure if the check cleared (huh?), and that the best thing for me to do would be for me to call the issuer's bank to ask if the check has cleared, or can clear. This seems mostly backwards to me, and not at all helpful. Plus, the fellow who sent me the check says he contacted his bank and they say they have no record of the check bouncing. So what's going on here? It's getting more and more frustrating to work on this, especially considering it's only an $18.00 fee. But I want to avoid having this happen again in the future, so...

I'm also still working on getting a new doctor and dentist. I have some recommendations, but haven't moved on them yet.

This weekend featured the following frustrations:

1. A small hole developing in my downstairs screen door, which could easily evolve to allow the cats to get outside. So I need to replace the screen.

2. The vertical blinds in my bedroom have broken and don't easily open or close. So I need to replace them - probably with curtains. I've been dragging my feet on installing just such a curtain rod downstairs (I have the rod, haven't gotten around to putting it up), so now I need to get a second rod for upstairs, and get curtains to boot. And all relatively soon.

3. I think a raccoon got into my back yard and made off with the remaining goldfish in my pond. Plus he tore up some of the hyacinths in the pond and generally made a mess. I haven't seen the fish this weekend, so I presume it's gone. I'll have to get some more, but he was a good fish. As much as one can bond with a fish, I liked him. I'd thought he seemed savvy enough to escape from a raccoon, but it seems not. Poor guy.

Anyway, on the up side, I cooked meals twice this weekend: The salt pork and creamed potatoes dish from the Fannie Farmer Cookbook, and a Kheema Matar dish from my Indian cookbook. Both turned out well, and Debbi liked them both, too!

Basically, I came to realize how cheap it is to cook for oneself, especially considering you don't need to pay yourself tips! So I'm hoping to eat out less, and save money, too. Of course, I've said this before!

Plus it's neat to turn raw ingredients into a yummy meal. Especially when I realize that the ingredients don't include sugar.

I inherited an impressive array of spices from my ex-girlfriend Colleen, but some of them are running out or going bad. I'd like to find a place like the co-op in Madison I used to live near where I can refill my existing spice bottles with spices purchased in bulk, but I'm not sure where to do this. Whole Foods doesn't have bulk spices, it seems, and there aren't any co-ops around that I know of. Any ideas, anyone?

Other than cooking and running around shopping this weekend, Debbi and I spent last night reading, and so I've finished two books this week (see sidebar). Today was spent cleaning bathrooms (they really needed it, and you probably didn't need to know that), and going for a walk in Shoreline Park around sundown.

So I guess I shouldn't complain too much. I do feel kind of rushed and harried, though.

The other big news is that my Dad is coming to visit in September! Neither of my parents has come to visit me since 1993, for one reason or another. But now that my Dad's retired, and I have an extra bedroom to put him up in, he's going to come see me for about a week. I'll take time off from work and show him the sights and just generally hang out. It'll be fun!

And maybe next year I can convince Mom to come visit...