We have snow again, a good four inches. It seems like February must be the time for snow here, because it seems we got three or four inches around this time last year, too.
This is all the more remarkable because two days ago, the sun was out and temps were soaring in the 50's and 60's. I was at home (making doughnuts, a project that didn't turn out wholly disgusting) when it pretty much got too dark to see in the kitchen. At three thirty. I turned on the weather channel where the weatherman was freaking out.
Now, maybe it's coming from Iowa, or maybe we just had a really suave weather guy, but nothing rattled him. Giant frogs could be falling from the sky and he'd just be all, "Huh, giant frogs, well, we haven't seen that before, but I'll get to work in the weather lab and see if we can't find an explanation. I wouldn't advise anyone to venture out in this, but if you do, hey, give us a call and tell us about it."
The Boy tells me this must be my weathermen alone, because he's always experienced the paranoid weatherman. I think this is singularly unprofessional. They're the weatherman, I assume they went to school to learn about weather, and what it can do. I think while they haven't maybe seen it all, they should at least know about it. For the weatherman to be all panicky on live TV gives me no faith in the man. "Oh great, the weatherman is freaking out, we're all going to die!"
Anyway, tornado warnings for most of the south end of the state, plus watches immediately north and south of us. There was hail, there was heavy rain, there was wind. It was kinda strange for a couple hours there.
And then yesterday it snowed three or four inches. Go figure. All the area schools closed (and let me tell you, if this were back home, we'd be in school) except for the university because they don't have a large enough commuter base to close.
The Boy has the flu. The real kind, not the gastro-thing everyone calls the flu. (I personally believe that variety should be called "the flow" instead, as it would adequately describe the symptoms.) He also has a show opening next week. Whee!
Also, he's not the only one sick. Out of eight grad students in the shop, there were two in to work today. The one, Little Jeff, will work until he's dead as long as he isn't contagious, and the other has a flu shot, so they're probably in for a long haul. TB has been told he'll be contagious until at least Monday, so he can't do school or work until Tuesday. He figures he'll go in on Monday for a while anyway because he's got to design the sound for the show. It's a small show of the playwright festival submissions, something like eight one-acts. He was in charge of the space (because they're using stock scenery), the sound design, the lighting schedule and the sound equipment. It's not a huge job, but he's managed to be sick for the biggest part.
In other news (see, I've been savin' it!), we came fourth in the chili cook off, out of eight, which isn't bad. The recipe is as follows:
1# ground beef
1/2# bacon
1 green pepper
1/2 medium white onion
1 18oz can diced tomatoes
tomato juice (I can't say how much exactly, a cup or two, maybe?)
2 or 3 tablespoons molasses
1/2 cup flour
1 tablespoon cumin
2 tablespoons chili powder
cayenne pepper (to taste, but a little goes a long way)
salt (to taste)
pepper (to taste)
Brown the hamburger. Chop bacon small and fry. Add to can of tomatoes and heat (low-medium).
Dice onion and pepper and sautee in bacon fat. (Don't skip this part. It's chili, not health food.) Add to hamburger/bacon/tomatoes.
Bring to boil and leave for half hour. Add tomato juice- I didn't measure, I just poured in enough to put a little moisture back into the stuff. Add the flour and molasses. I left it over medium-low heat for three hours (simply because I didn't expect it to be as fast to put together as it was), stirring every twenty minutes to half an hour, but it was probably plenty done after an hour.
I imagine you can substitute cornmeal for flour, sorghum for molasses, a yellow for a white onion and any other colour pepper. I use the green ones 'cause I like 'em (and it adds for nice colour in an otherwise red-brown dish). I didn't like that much cumin in there, but I'm a spice wuss, but other people said it was just fine.
TB doesn't like chili, but agreed with me that this stuff was tolerable. It's not particularly spicy and there are no beans in it, so it's a really good "chili-for-people-who-don't-like-chili" chili.
Let's see, we also got a Wii. I originally posted an entry to this tune earlier from the Wii, but it didn't take. The Opera browser is decent for a TV/Nintendo application, but it doesn't process as fast as any of the computers in the house, so it's easily overtaxed. It also can't handle later versions of Flash than 7. Still, it plays up to thirty minute YouTube videos without complaint.
I'm falling down on my picture-a-day project. I have a back-log to post, but there's not really so many dedicated views as there used to be. It's pretty much just my parents, so that's part of it. The other part is that I got into trying to encapsulate my day, and the monotony began to hurt.
On that note, went in to apply for an office job in the no-kill shelter in the next town. Haven't heard back yet, but I'm not sure if I should expect to yet or not. I didn't get a chance to ask because they were busy rejecting a guy who came in with a small St. Bernard mix. He didn't pass the "gets along with other dogs" test, and they were trying to explain to the guy why they couldn't take the dog.
It's a relatively new place; I understand it's run out of Chicago. But, somehow I don't think I'll get it.