WTF??? (Bathroom Reno Rant #2)

Ohhhh, let the Fun begin!

Here's a copy/paste of an email to my sis...

So, I went to the Home Show last week, right? Talked to a few businesses about our Bathroom Woes, yada-yada. Need to get a bid on a job to rip-out (to the studs) and replace the tub and tile enclosure. Replace it with a slightly-updated version of the same thing... Probably tackle the vanity countertop at the same time. Then -budget permitting - possibly consider additional upgrades...

"Well, we'd love to meet with you about your job" yayaya

"Fine, here's my cell# - Call me next week and we can schedule a time for you to scope out the work and give me an estimate," blah-blah

"Will your husband be there?"

"No." (you already know this part of the story - and if you don't, refer to yesterday's rant!)

(Ahh... But when will I learn to simply turn and walk away the MINUTE they ask me that question?!!)

Okay, so today, I get a call from "Huey" from Yaya-reno's. "Hi yes, we met at the Home Show last week and I understand you were interested in a bathroom remodel..." (very slick and salesman-like - except he must've shuffled his notes b/c he mis-spoke about certain aspects of the job... What-EVAHS...)

"Well, I'd like to schedule a time to come and look at the job."

"Okay, I am available after 3:00pm today."

"Oh, great, let me transfer you to Suzi, our dispatcher, to schedule that. Will your husband be there, too?"

"No. I already explained that *I* am in charge of gathering bids."

"Oh, well we really prefer to meet with both...." (OH JESUS CHRIST NOT AGAIN)

"Yes, but my husband travels 50-75% of the time. *I* am the one gathering bids and making the aesthetic decisions. My husband doesn't get involved until it's time to finalize everything and sign the contract."

"Oh, yes - that's right. Okay, let me transfer you to Suzi and she'll set something up."

Hold-Hold-Hold

Perky Voice: "Good morning, this is Suzi. I understand you have availability this afternoon for one of our Sales Reps to come out and bid your bathroom job."

"Yes, anytime after 3:00 works for me."

"Great! And will your husband be there?"

(OH FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

"No. He won't be. He travels 75% of the time and he won't be involved in this phase of the project. I am just gathering the preliminary bids. He'll get involved when it's time to sign the contract."

"Oh. Umm. Can you hold for a moment please? I need to ask my manager something."

(ARE YOU F**KING KIDDING ME?????)

Hold-Hold-Hold-Hold-Hold

I'm halfway expecting her manager to get on the phone, but no... I get Ms. Slightly-Less-Perky-Sounding Suzi back again.

"Okay, well, we're going to be sending Louie over this afternoon to review the job with you. And you say 3:00 is good?"

"Yes."

"Well, his presentation usually takes approximately 90 minutes - will you be able to meet for that long?"

"Yeah. Sure" (90 MINUTES?! JEEEEZUS)

So... I got back to work, and did some laundry and yada yada, then called Kathie at the end of my work day... Kvetched to her about the "Will my husband be here" crap-ola from the Bathroom Job Folks.

2:55pm, Louie shows up. All young and sales-man-looky. All Mr. Firm Handshake and "I look forward to going over your job" and "First I'm gonna do this and get some measurements, and then I'm gonna go back to my car and get some samples... and blah-dee-blah-dee-blah... And is your husband here?"

(OH-FER-GAWDS-SAKE-HOW-MANY-TIMES-DO-I-HAVE-TO-KEEP-TELLING-YOU-PEOPLE-NO-MY-HUSBAND-ISN'T-HERE!!!!)

"No. I am in the process of gathering bids on the job. Yours is the first bid that I am obtaining. We *just* went through a Kitchen Re-face job and this is *exactly* how it worked." (repeat the process again!)

"Okay, umm. Well, let's see your bathroom."

So I led him to the South Wing of the house.............

I explained what we'd gone through before - with the botched repairs - and how we want it done right this time. Ya-Ya. Take it back to the studs, fix the leak. Replace the tub with something similar and newer, more-updated tile.

"Yes, tile is good. But you know there are other materials. I mean, tile is kind of a nuisance to clean..."

"I don't clean. We have a maid."

"Yes, well ::gulp:::"

He then goes through the motions of measuring stuff, asks if we want a deeper soaking tub. "No. If I want a deep soak, we have a hot-tub out back. Just replace it with the same thing." Starts looking at the toilet. "Nope. Toilet's fine. We don't need a new one."

Then he mutters something about how he needs to call his boss.

(OH JESUS CHRIST!)

So he wanders out the front door, cell-phone to his ear...

Wanders back in a few minutes later and wants to know what time my husband will be home.

NO SH*T!!

"Uhhh. He won't be. Not for several days."

Here, let me try repeating myself s-l-o-w-l-y in case it's not quite clear. "MY HUSBAND TRAVELS ON BUSINESS. I WORK FROM HOME. I AM GATHERING BIDS AND MAKING THE DESIGN DECISIONS. YOU DO NOT WANT MY HUSBAND HERE FOR THE INITIAL BIDDING PROCESS. TRUST ME ON THIS. WHEN I WAS GATHERING BIDS FOR THE KITCHEN, MY HUSBAND WALKED IN DURING THE MIDDLE OF A PRESENTATION AND WHEN THE SALES GUY MENTIONED 'GRANITE,' MY HUSBAND JUST-ABOUT HIT THE ROOF. HE WILL NOT GET INVOLVED UNTIL IT IS TIME TO SIGN THE CONTRACT."

This is the point where I probably should have just shown him the door - but I was morbidly curious to see what he was gonna come back with...

"Well, you see," - sh*t, how did he put it? - something along the lines of "Budget and finishes go hand-in-hand" and blah-blah "We like this to be a joint decision with both parties present" and "I can't give you an accurate price-quote without having all of the decisions complete" and something that almost sounded like "what if you chose something your husband won't approve of?" (not quite that blatant - but something close-to that).

Then he tried to slide in a (brace yourself for the punch line) "I could come back this weekend."

"My husband will NOT sit through a Sales Presentation. His time is too valuable. I guess you've just narrowed down the number of bids that I need to obtain. Thank you for your time."

Then I got a little humunuh-humunuh bullsh*t don't-even-remember-what-he-said kinda response.

"No, no no. If that's the way your company wants to do business - I can respect that. Likewise, I am free to spend my money elsewhere." as I showed him to the door.

So. Bid #1. Didn't happen!

@$$hole!

I swear, I can't make this sh*t up!

Bathroom Reno (Rant #1)

Okay... Before Mom's House-Sale is even finalized... And before my Retirement Dreams can take shape... We've got a short-term problem that *really* needs to be addressed...

Specifically, the bathroom floor.

Now - several years ago - I'd noticed that the bathroom floor had some "issues." Namely, the fact that there was a *very* cold draft that was wafting over my feet as I sat on the toilet, via the base-of-the-head-of-the-tub-at-the-exterior-wall-joint. Add to that - a particularly rainy, cold night when a veritable sh*tload of ants decided to take-up residence *in* our bathroom (through a hole in the wall at aforementioned juncture)...

I think DH was out of town when the insects decided to move in b/c I recall asking him, over the phone, where the RAID was.

"Why?"

"Because we've got an infestation."

"Why?"

"Because - whoever did the caulking job around the base of the tub did a really sh*tty job!"

"*I* did the caulking!"

:::GULP:::

"Okay, well, where's the RAID, dear?!"

Well, we basically decided that we had a significant issue when I determined that I could peel-back the vinyl flooring and *stick my finger* through the underlying floor!!!

So we contracted with a Handyman Service to address our concerns...

ScrewYou Handyman Services came in and charged us a King's Ransom to pull-out the bathtub and surrounding tiles; fix a leak; replace the flooring; and install a sliding door thingie-doo on the tub.

Mystery Leak Under Floor

Tub and Shower Surround - w/sliding door

Well, just over a year later, the same problem came back again. Only ScrewYou Handyman Services (Now ScrewYou Renovation Services!) wouldn't cover it because it had been over a year since the repair... So we called in a different "Handyman" to re-fix the floor (and the improperly re-installed toilet!).

I think we repaired the floor - again - a year or so after that.

And now - Five years *after* the original repair (which cost as much as a full-blown bathroom Reno) - we've *still* got the original problem. :::sigh:::

Sooooo... Now we're gonna gather bids - again - to "Do The Job Right" this time. I went to the Home Show in SanJo this past weekend, and gathered business cards.

Now I'm going through the whole "Set-up appointments and gather bids" rigamarole again...

And - once again - I'm getting the whole misogynistic "Will your husband be there?" line of bullsh*t! But at least this time I can come back with "We just went through a kitchen reno - and *this* is how we did it: I gather the initial bids and make all the aesthetic decisions, narrow it down to 2-3 contractors,m *then* we meet again - with my husband - to finalize the details..."

Those who respond with "Well, we don't like to do it that way because we have to repeat ourselves" should get IMMEDIATELY dismissed! Jeez!

DH travels - A LOT - and doesn't have the time, nor the desire, to sit through a prolonged Sales Pitch. He is not interested in Granite Slab Countertops or high-end whatchamajiggies...

In fact, one of the "preliminary bidders" in the Kitchen Reface Project, a couple of years ago, made the mistake of uttering "Granite Countertops" in Hubbie's presence, and I thought DH was gonna take his head off! (He didn't win the bid, BTW).

After I make the preliminary design decisions and determine the Top-3 "Estimates,"*then* DH and I go back and meet with "the winners" to make our final decisions and -potentially - sign the contract.

For this Go-Round, I am obtaining a couple of bids from folks I met at the Home Show. I have also contacted the same company that did our Kitchen Re-Face. His business has changed and it looks like he also does bathroom reno's. This is good because we truly like the way he does business (He didn't do the whole Hard-Sell/Upsell Routine. We told him our budget and he worked within it).

Sooooo... In the next week or so, I will be gathering bids to rip-out our existing bathtub and tile surround (back to the studs); FIX the Freakin' Mystery Leak - ONCE AND FOR ALL; Replace the tub and tile surround with something a bit more "updated;" and replace the floor. At the same time, I'm hoping we can replace the vanity counter-top with something that will compliment the new tub-tile. Then - budget permitting - I'd like to reface the dark-oak cabinets with light beechwood shakers - to match our kitchen (Maybe).

I actually do hope that the Kitchen company "wins" the bid. I really was very happy with the way the kitchen project went. But I would be remiss if I didn't at least gather a couple of additional bids...

The "Challenge" here is that our house only has the ONE bathroom - so we really do need to minimize the amt of time we are "Out of Commission!"

Anyhoooo... That's the Latest 'n Greatest from My World!

More Wild Hairs

So... This past New Years' Weekend I was suffering from a severe case of "Cabin Fever!" It was rainy, dreary, miserable and COLD outside! I did work - a bit - on "Creative Projects" (finished up a "mixed-media" art-piece which was supposed to be Kathie's Christmas Present, and started a mini-painting). But I also spent a fair amount of time on Google.

See, last November, Rog and I vacationed on Maui. He had Frequent Flier Miles to burn, and I found an "outrageously reasonable" rate for a condo in Kihei (@ ~$100/night). So off we went!

Now I hadn't been to Maui since the early 70's (Dad worked for UAL so we actually vacationed - a LOT - in Hawaii, but only made it to Maui once). My impression of Hawaii, in general, is that it's "outrageously expensive" and also Mega-Miserably-Humid. But after spending a week in a Kihei-condo, I have modified my opinion of the place!

Kihei is actually (relatively) reasonable - price-wise (of course, I'm coming from a California mindset - where "outrageous" is The Rule!). Yeah, fuel-prices are ridiculous (I think we paid close to $4.00/gal for gas - but at the time CA gas-prices weren't much cheaper than that). Groceries were *a bit* higher but - again - not completely out-of-the-ballpark (Plus we found Wal-Mart! Not bad at all. AND they've got Costco!). The fact that we were in a condo, and preparing meals "at home" made it quite a bit more bearable to be honest...

Anyway, we covered a lot of ground while we were in Maui. We basically traversed the entire island (including the infamous "Road-To-Hana" which is definitely an *experience!*) (and drove back via the southern route AFTER DARK [dodging free-range cows no less!] - again - an *experience!*). The variety of Micro-Climates on Maui is *incredible* (rivals that of NoCal - to be honest). If you're too hot/cold/whatever, just drive 10 minutes and you'll be in a completely different climate!

Annnd.... The fact of the matter is: Maui is still very-much "under-developed" and feels almost "Third World" in a lot of ways. Yet, it still offers "Modern Conveniences."

Bottom Line: I actually fell in love with Maui while we were there and I have determined that - without question - I *could* live there! Possibly in retirement????

...And I have "planted the seed" in DH's mind (ooooWEEEEEEooooooooWEEEEEoooooo!!!). Thus far, it seems to have taken root! ;-)

Soooo... While we were there (with dueling laptops!), I started Googling real-estate prices and I determined that they definitely have been *hit* by the Bubble-Burst (lots of REO's and short-sales). There are definitely properties there that fall under the "affordable" category (at least by *my* definition of "affordable"). And - with the fact that mom's house is worth a fair chunk of change - I think I might actually be in a position to buy an "Investment Property" on Maui.

Nothing super-duper fancy-schmantzy. I'm envisioning an unimproved "lot" - maybe about a 1/4 acre (like we're living on now - sans house, right?). I figure it can just sit there over the next 10-15-20 yrs and - hopefully - appreciate in value. If we decide *not* to move there, then I can (hopefully) sell it and bank a modest profit. Or, if we *do* decide to retire there, we can sell our San Jose abode and apply the proceeds toward building a modest (but nice) retirement home there.

Nothing upscale. Just a simple 3-4 BR 2 BA home - say, appx 1800-2000 SF. I can't afford anything super-nice (No "expansive ocean views" or PGA Golf Course setting). But if we were "walking distance" to the beach and/or shops - that'd be find with me! The main thing is The Weather! Temps were *very* agreeable to us! Mid-70's at night. Mid-80's during the day. Not oppressively humid (Yay!). Light sea-breezes to keep things bearable. Ohhhh yeah! I could live like that!

If I *were* to pursue this Dream, I think I would want to build a small, detached "ohana" on it. Like a small studio apartment. We could use it as a vacation house for ourselves - in the meantime. Just fly on over, hang out for a week or so, then fly back. After we retire, we could use the ohana as a vacation rental and ppl could pay us to stay there!

I'm kinda liking that dream!

There are definite "down-sides" to the dream though. Building costs are pretty high there (along the lines of $200-400/SF). Food and fuel costs are definitely higher (since pretty-much everything needs to be "shipped in"). Docking is next-to-impossible to find (for Das Boot) - but the sailing conditions are spectacular. As are the motorcycle roads (road to Haleakala was *very* similar to many of my favorite South-Bay California roads).

*I* had really (seriously) entertained the idea of retiring in Mexico - after my College Bud, D'Le, and her husband retired there. But Rog ix-nayed the idea when he heard we'd have to give up the Harleys and Corvette (Mexico roads: Not so nice - and the "appearance" of being "affluent" is *never* a good idea down there).

Anyhoooo... Maui is looking better and better!

In my Googling, I have found a Real Estate Agent (who put-up a nice blog-post about retiring in Maui here). I like her perspective, since she's from Santa Cruz and understands where we're coming from - so we've started a bit of a correspondence.

Of course, FIRST we've got to get Mom's house sold (which is a source of another rant - which I may, or may not post here!).

Anyhoooo.... That's my Wild Hair Du Jour! Maybe I'll buy a retirement "lot" in Kihei, Maybe not. In the meantime, I do plan to continue with my short-term Wild Hair Plan of building a ceramic studio in the backyard...

Happy New Year / Glückliches Neues Jahr

Well...

It'd be damn near impossible to "catch-up" on what-all has been going on in my life since I last posted anything of importance.

But that's the beauty of "My Blog!" I can write whatever the hell I want to write, whenever the hell I feel like it, right?!

So today I'll blather a bit about the highlights of the Holly-Daze and maybe post a recipe or two...

Christmas was good. Rog and I got smart this year and completed our Annual "Big-Date" ritual early. We went to Christmas in the Park early, and mid-week. Last year, we totally screwed up and went the weekend before Christmas. What a freaking ZOO!

Anyway, our "Big-Date" generally involves a ride on Light-Rail (Eek! Public Transportation?!). We get off the train at Saint James park, then hoof-it over to Teske's Germania - a simply outstanding German restaurant (confirmed by a bona-fide Berliner - the food is definitely authentic!).

I've always kind of associated Germany with Christmas ever since my mom, sis and I went to Munich in early-November 1989 (we were there when The Wall came down - BTW). We visited the Christkindl Markt and, well, that's stuck with me ever since! All the Tyrolean architecture and whatnot just kinda reminds me of Christmas.

So, once a year, Rog and I hop on VTA, stop off for German Food (und gut bier!), then hop back on the train and head to Cezar Chavez park to experience the Christmas displays at CITP... (From Deutschland to Cesar Chavez - Gotta just love that Diversity, eh?!)

Christmas in the Park is cool. It's way more enjoyable when you can actually walk in a straight line and *see* the displays (without having to wear shin-guards to protect yourself from being rammed by a double-wide baby stroller). There're hundreds of "Community Trees" decorated in various themes, and lots of big Animatronic-type Christmas displays. If I weren't feeling so lazy, I could probably post some pictures to the blog - but you'll just have to click on the link above to check it out! Here it is again if you're also feeling too lazy to scroll up! Christmas in the Park

* * * * *

Now, for Christmas and Birthdays and whatnot, Rog and I have gotten into the habit of maintaining our "Wish-Lists" on Amazon.com. They've even got a gadget/gizmo/widget (or whatever) that you can install on your browser toolbar so you can add non-Amazon stuff to your list.

My latest "Wild Hair" (and upcoming "Project") is that I want to have another shed built in the backyard which will serve as my Ceramics Studio. This past summer, I'd set-up an ersatz studio under the gazebo - in front of the hot tub. I found that I was *much* more productive with my ceramic-stuff output - when I had a work-space in the backyard. Unfortunately, sometimes in the summer it's just too damned hot to work out there (and the clay dries super-duper quickly and is prone to cracking). And, of course, in the winter it is just too damned wet and cold (b*tch-b*tch-b*tch)!

So, with mom's recent "departure" and the fact that I will be coming into a bit of an inheritance, I've decided that mom would be more-than-happy to see me with my own studio - because she knows how creative I am, and how happy that would make me. So her gift to me will be: My very own studio!

During this past summer, I was pretty content with hand-building my wares in the backyard and taking them up to The Studio to have my stuff fired. But in the meantime, my good friend Priscilla received a most generous gift: The entire inventory of a woman who used to teach ceramics to young children. Priscilla is Good People and she shared some of her good fortune with me (banding wheels, assorted tools, work-boards, and a tiny "Test Kiln"). But she had also acquired a very nice electric high-fire kiln as well.

...And I was suffering greatly from "Kiln Envy!"

Now, I'd been making plans to have a "real" Backyard Studio built, and I'd pretty-much determined that I would end up buying a used kiln on craigslist whenever I finished with the Studio Build (slated for early 2011 - I hope!). In the meantime, I was trying to figure out how to get an electronic controller for the baby kiln so I could do some glasswork. I tried putting the "controller" on my Wish-List - but I wanted to make sure it would be up-grade-able for use on bigger kilns and, well, long-story-short (famous last words!), it just got waaaaay more complicated than it should have.

Rog finally got frustrated and said "Why don't you just put what you *really* want on your Wish-List?"

"Well, because what I *really* want is too expensive!" (A new high-fire kiln - similar to Priscilla's - would run appx $2,800.00! And require a 240v electrical circuit - which we don't happen to have readily available).

Grumble-grumble-grumble...

"Okay, okay... Let me look some more..."

And I did look some more. And I stopped to consider the size of most of the things that I make in ceramics and I realized that I really didn't *need* a full-sized kiln to meet my needs. Most of what I make is less than 12" tall/wide/deep. On the rare occasion that I might make something larger, I could always bring it up to The Studio to have it fired - since I do intend to retain my membership there. I found a smaller kiln (13.5" x 13.5" 7-sided kiln) that runs off of 2 x 110v circuits (which we have aplenty!). ANNND only cost about 1/3 of what I originally thought I wanted! So *that's* what ended up on my Wish-List. That, and a pair of raku mitts, dark-green protective eyewear, and a pyrometer (so I can do Raku up at The Studio).

Well, now that I'd "upped-the-ante" in the Christmas Gift Realm, I determined that Santa had to be Extra-Nice to Rog this year. So Santa got Rog a Super-Duper GPS-enabled/knows where all the red-light-cameras are/knows ALL the different bands/yada-yada Radar Detector; and a James-Bond-esque scuba mask with integrated Hi-Def Video Camera (and assorted other Gee-Gaws) but those were the Big-Ticket items! Oh, and I found a pony-keg of Warsteiner Beer (from Berlin) at BevMo. I simply *couldn't* pass that up!

So, a week-or-so before Christmas, Rog comes home at lunchtime and announces that I need to help unload a very large, heavy box from the back of the truck. He kvetched (a bit) about how he was forced to "spoil the surprise" when I saw the return-address from a kiln manufacturer.

FWIW, the same thing happened when Mr. UPS Man showed up (a few years ago) with a monstrously large, heavy box that said "SONY 52" LCD TV."

Ya know, sometimes you can't help BUT spoil the surprise. And that's OKAY!

Anyway, Santa brought me my kiln (Yay!). I still haven't tested it out - but I will soon! (just as soon as the friggin' rain eases up!). I also got my raku-mitts and glasses (Double-Yay!)

And Rog was very happy with his goodies!

I'd also gotten a Way-Cool Tiki Lamp Potpourri Warmer from Priscilla and a most-thoughtful (and unexpected) gift from my cousin, LeAnn. LeAnn sent me a stuffed elephant made by "Shining Stars" - in conjunction with the International Star Registry. With the stuffed elephant, there is a code that will allow me to name a star! Uncle Gene (LeAnn's dad/Mom's brother) passed away a couple months before mom, and LeAnn found the "Shining Stars" toys for the grandkids. They've named a star for Uncle Gene. I thought that was the coolest, most-thoughtful gift ever (and I bawled my eyes out when I read the card she'd sent me).

Anyway, it was an awesome Christmas!

* * * * *

Now it is New Years Eve (and we still have the pony-keg of Warsteiner in the garage fridge!). And I am, once again, jonesin' for German Food. This is a problem since we won't be hitting Teske's again until December of next year!!! Now I don't recall if I had a Blog the last time I attempted to cook German food (I suspect not), but I *do* recall that it was a memorable occasion because the kitchen ended up looking like the remnants of an atomic blast when it was all said-and-done (Rotkohl: Not something you want to make at home - trust me!).

On the Plus Side: Our local Safeway has a very good "ethnic food" aisle - so I've found decent rotkohl in jars (Yay)! On the Down-side: Veal cutlets seem to be hard to come by around here. I ended up going to three different grocery stores, but I did find veal for scallopini which will work just fine for wienerschnitzel. And I Googled 'til I found a couple of halfway decent-sounding recipes for "German-Style Scalloped Potatoes" and/or "Warm German Potato Salad."

This is the part where the Blog-Post comes full-circle!

Tonight's Menu:

Warm Kartoffelsalat (Potato Salad)

Wienerschnitzel (fried veal cutlet)

Rotkohl (Sweet red cabbage - from a jar!)

Apple Turnovers (because I'm too lazy to make streudel!)

And, of course, Warsteiner Bier!

And the recipes:

Warm German Potato Salad / German Style Scalloped Potatoes

(Lazy Crock-pot method)

I adapted this from several different recipes I found on the 'net

8-10 slices of thick-cut bacon.
1/2 chopped medium-sized fresh onion
2 pkgs dried scalloped potatoes (plain kind)
2 (+ 1/2) cups water (might wait to see if it needs more - it did!)
1 can cream of celery soup (condensed)
1 5oz can evaporated milk
4 (+2) Tbs white vinegar
1 tsp yellow mustard (I just used plain ol' French's)
1/2 tsp celery seed
4 Tbs bacon grease
4 (+2) tsp Splenda (or sugar, or whatever)
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 c heavy whipping cream

Fry up bacon and tamp grease out w/paper towels - reserve bacon grease
Chop onion and fry until light golden and limp (not crispy) - in the bacon grease
Dump the dried potato chunks into the crock pot, add the sauteed onions
Mix the seasoning packet (that came w/the scalloped potatoes) w/2 cups water, dump that on top of the potatoes
Add the can of crm of celery soup and evaporated milk. Add 4T vinegar, 4t Splenda, and mustard. Mix it in
Crumble the bacon and add it in, along w/bacon grease and celery seed.
Mix and add salt/pepper to taste

Cook in crock-pot on low for 4-5 hours.

After about the 3rd hour, I'd determined that it needed more liquid so - at that point - I stirred in 1/2c water + 1/2c heavy whipping cream. I'd tasted it again and decided it needed more vinegar (+ 2T) and sweetener (+2t Splenda). You might be okay with just adding these in at the beginning - but I am documenting as I do it!

Let it simmer for another hour, then serve warm.

*Okay, I ended up "getting creative" and added about a cup of shredded mozzarella in the last half-hour of cooking. Maybe not very authentic - but it was Super-Duper Delicious!

Austrian Wienerschnitzel (borrowed directly from germanfood.about.com)

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 4 veal cutlets (traditional) pounded to 1/4 inch thickness (about 5 oz. each) (you may use chicken or pork, as well)
• 1/4 c. flour (all purpose or brown rice)
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 c. bread crumbs
• 2 eggs
• Oil or lard for frying (lard is traditional)

Preparation:

• To pound meat thin you may want to place the cutlet between sheets of plastic wrap for easier washing up. Use a heavy, flat-surface pan to pound if you don’t have a meat mallet.
  
• Pound the meat evenly to 1/4 inch thickness for best results.
  
• Do not press the bread crumbs into the meat. The crust should not adhere completely, but form a loose shell around the schnitzel.
  
• Make sure the breaded meat “swims” in fat. Contrary to instinct, the breading will take on less oil than if the meat is sticking to the pan. Also, the breadcrumb topping has a chance to puff up a little, and your clean up is easier! Wiener Schnitzel in pan.

Set up 3 shallow dishes. Place the flour and 1/2 teaspoon salt in one and breadcrumbs in another. Beat eggs well and place in the third dish.

Heat at least 1/4 inch of oil in the pan to 350°F.

Working one at a time, dredge cutlets first in flour until the surface is completely dry. Dip in egg to coat, allow the excess to drip off for a few seconds and then roll quickly in the breadcrumbs until coated. Do not press breadcrumbs into the meat. Place meat immediately in the pan with the hot oil. Do not crowd the pan. Cook the schnitzel in batches, if necessary.

Fry the schnitzel for 3-4 minutes on one side. You may want to swish them around a little with your fork to make sure they are not sticking to the pan. Turn them over once and fry until both sides are golden brown. Remove from pan, allow the oil to drain off, place on a plate with lemon slices and potato salad or green salad and serve.

Also good with Wiener Schnitzel: cucumber salad and french fries.

And the Rotkohl (sweet red cabbage) came in a jar manufactured by Hainich

I'll be nuking that :-)

And the Apple Turnovers are courtesy of Pepperidge Farm...

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I might try to edit and post pictures later - but that's my post, for now!

Happy New Year (or Glückliches Neues Jahr - for any German-speakers!)

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Double-Bonus (but not for tonight's menu): I also found beef tongue at the grocery store again - so I'll be cooking that up in the next day or two :-)

Farewell to Mom... Or "It's been a helluva year!"

Well, it's probably a good thing I don't have "a following." I'd hate to disappoint anyone with my sparse posting habits!

I've been a tad preoccupied these past several months and just haven't felt the inclination to sit down and blather at the intertubes.

See, we lost Mom in June. In some ways, I'm actually kinda sorry I didn't blog my way through that Drama. To be honest, I really admire those folks who can bare their souls via blog-post (although some go way over the line of "TMI!"). And I can see how that could be very cathartic. I am not one of those people - fortunately or unfortunately!

Mom - on the pool deck of Monarch of the Seas - 2007

Mom had fallen ill toward the end of last year. She spent, essentially, the last quarter of '09 in-and-out of hospitals and SNF's. She did go home the-day-after-Christmas-2009 and for the first couple of months of this year, she lived in a hospital bed in the living room of her house. She had a wonderful caregiver staying with her during the days - and visiting nurses and physical therapists coming by to tend to her medical needs.

Somewhere during all of that, I took over handling her finances and paying her bills (basically by getting my signature added to her accounts). And THAT was probably the smartest thing she ever did because the rampant spending habits came to a screeching halt!

There were good days and bad days, but overall she seemed to be making progress.

Then in February, she made a dramatic recovery. She was able to climb the stairs to sleep in her own bed. Back down the stairs to eat and watch TV with the dogs. We started making big plans to go to Fish Market for a Crab Louie salad and - who knows? - Maybe we can even make it back to K-Mart one day!

Sure enough! We DID go to Fish Market and ate Crab Louies! And, around mid-May, we even made it to K-Mart for a major shopping spree (she seemed to thoroughly enjoy watching ME spend all of my money!). We even came down to San Jose and toured a couple of Retirement Communities - where the lifestyle would be like living on a Cruise Ship (minus the seasickness!). I had her CONVINCED that it was time to sell her house and move into a small 1-floor apartment where all of her needs would be taken care of. Plus, living closer to me meant we could go to lunch more frequently AND go to - Can you believe it? - WAL-MART!!!

Mom's needs were pretty simple!

Anyway, we hatched a plan to break the news to my sister - and even found a way to "finance" her move so that she could get settled into her new place before her house got sold... All we had to do was Break The News and, well, Make It Happen (Bigger feat than one might imagine - given that my sister and B-I-L were living at mom's house - along with 40+ years' worth of accumulated "stuff") (But I was up for the challenge, dammit!)

Well, long story short: It just wasn't meant to be.

I think our last trip to K-Mart was the week before Mother's Day. On Mother's Day, DH and I took mom out for brunch - and talked excitedly about her plans to move - ANNNNND her upcoming Mexican Riviera cruise with Aunt Marjie. Everything seemed perfectly fine.

But then, a few days after that, my sister called and asked about how mom was - during Mother's Day Brunch. I'd indicated that she seemed fine - but Sis told me otherwise. Mom was being combative and not making any sense - crying "Help me! Help me!" all the time. We figured it was another UTI, so they took her to the ER and mom was admitted to the hospital - again. Thankfully, enough time had elapsed since her last hospitalization, that MediCare kicked in again (whew!).

Unfortunately, things just started to take a tumble from there. Mom was 86 years old, diabetic, hypertensive, yada-yada, yada-yada. She managed to get a staph infection, and some kinda blood-clot something-or-other, and emergency-surgery (which necessitated reversing her "No-Code Status" DNR/DNI thingie temporarily), followed by an inability to swallow, followed by aspiration pneumonia, then an NG tube, and Gawd-knows what else...

Basically, it was a sh*t-storm.

Urgent phone calls from doctors, nurses and social-workers. "We need to meet with the family this afternoon" calls - with me driving madly up and down the Peninsula.

Super-Low-Lows, followed by Super-High-Highs...

Doctors calling me on the weekend "You're mother has contracted pneumonia again - do you want us to treat it?" "Well, she's surprised us before. Let's give her one more chance..." (Followed by "Did I do The Right Thing, or am I just prolonging her suffering?")

Later that afternoon I went up to see her and I was actually able to make her laugh - so I felt good about my decision.

A couple days later - a call from the case-worker: "Your mom says she is ready to die."

Me calling my sister out of work and racing up the Peninsula - yet again. Thoughts of hospice running through my head. Walking into mom's room to have her proclaim - quite fervently - "I want to LIVE!"

Well, gee. What do you say to THAT?!

Come to find out, Mom was being "difficult" with the P.T. and didn't want to do her walking exercises that day (Gee, THAT'S a shocker!) (You'd have to know me, and my mom, to truly grasp the irony) and she basically told the P.T. to go pound sand and she'd rather DIE than be subjected to more of that torture!

An abridged version of that exchange got communicated back to the doctor, then down to the social worker, and so we got called in for another Family Meeting.

That also resulted in me scolding my mother (after everyone left) "Ma! You gotta be careful what you SAY to people around here! You told 'em you wanted to die and they BELIEVED you! DON'T DO THAT AGAIN!"

Drama continues... Mom's still on an NG feeding tube, and then there was talk of a PEG tube... And telling mother that she, most likely, will never get to eat food again. She was lucid and agreed to it...

Then I'm looking into Nursing Homes and trying to figure out how we're gonna pay for it...

Then another Family Meeting. The doctor is saying, basically, that there's nothing more they can do for her. PEG tube really won't gain her anything because she'll most-likely aspirate and contract pneumonia again...

Conversations with God, in the meantime. Yeah - I'm pretty much a heathen for the most part - but I basically asked God to let Mom go on one last cruise with Marjie. "And if you're not gonna let her do that, then just take her already! Quit f**king around!!!" (Yep, I'm a heathen!)

Another Family Meeting - this time with Mom. Trying to explain how we're switching to "Keeping her Comfortable." (Ohhhh, so euphemistic!)

It was weird though. Toward the end there - after the Big Meeting with Mom - she waited 'til everyone left the room so she could talk to me.

What followed was, quite possibly, *the* most difficult interaction in my life. I mean, through all of the bullsh*t leading to this point, I managed to hold it together surprisingly well. Somehow-or-other, I found it in me to be The Strong One. Logic was My Friend (shudder!).

So mom waits 'til everyone leaves the room...

"I know YOU'LL tell me the truth" she said. "I'm not going home, am I?"

"No, mom. You're going someplace even better..."

"But! I did what you said! I didn't tell them I wanted to die!"

(GULP!) "Well mom... They gave it all they've got. And YOU gave it all you've got. But the fact of the matter is: You've just got too many miles on you and, well, you're out of warranty!"

Even though that sounds like I was being glib - I was really quite serious (and bawling my eyes out) when I delivered the message. And mom "got it."

Shortly thereafter, after my BFF, Sharon, returned, Mom switched gears and started giving us her Final Wishes which Sharon, dutifully wrote down. I'll skip the details of all that because it's kind of esoteric - although "No Red Coffin" is kind of noteworthy. Mom always said that she wanted to be buried in a metallic red coffin - to match her fingernails (and the color she WANTED her car to be!). I'd found a fire-engine red coffin on the internet - and sis had found a auto-body shop that was willing to custom-paint a coffin, but mom was adamant at the end. "No Red Coffin."

Okay then! (Her coffin was deep metallic-blue)

Then, after that, mom and I spent hours talking about everyone she was gonna get to see again: Dad, Uncle Gene, Uncle Sharp, Grandma and Grandpa, and HOW MANY DOGS? "Ohhhh, Heidi will be SO thrilled to see you again! You'd better watch your step up in heaven so you don't step on any of those dogs!" and so on and so forth... So we had a good (albeit difficult) several hours together...

They did refrain from medicating her too heavily until after Aunt Marjie arrived from Washington DC. So she got to see Marjie one last time (even if they didn't get to go on a cruise) - so that's good.

Then they put her on morphine and... Well, I really don't want to relive that last couple of days (that felt like a lifetime).

Mom passed away peacefully at 12:30am on Saturday June 12.

I can honestly say that I have no regrets. We said all that needed to be said and I supported her to the very end.

I still can't decide whether it was a Blessing or a Curse that I was the one she turned to - at the end - to "get the truth." I guess it's a mixture of both...

I got to deliver part of her eulogy and maybe I'll post that later. Or maybe I won't. I dunno. I did print-out the 3-page version (with EVERYTHING) as well as a 1-page outline (Mom would've been SO PROUD!). I did manage to share The Fun Side of Mom with everyone - and even elicited a couple of laughs from the congregation. Not disrespectful - mind you. Just some fond, funny memories of Mom...

And though it all - I discovered that I really do have some VERY GOOD FRIENDS/Loved Ones who were extremely supportive of me. This was an extraordinarily difficult time and it's always nice to know that you've got people who've "got your back" - no matter what!

One more note: My cell-phone is with Verizon, right? And, if I'm not mistaken, Verizon only stores "saved" messages for 21 days... Well, well-over a month after mom had passed, I decided to go through and delete my old messages. Well, the first (oldest) saved message was from back in February! It was my mom calling to tell me she was doing much better, that she'd made it upstairs to sleep in her own bed and that "things are looking up - we're gonna go have that Louie in no time!" Needless to say, I bawled my eyes out when I heard it - but I took it as a message that she'd made it "upstairs" and all was well...

I *do* believe in getting messages from "the other side" (I got a clear one from my dad - after he'd passed). So I do take comfort in that.

I did have DH (the Electronics Wizard) figure out a way to capture the file from my phone and save it to an .mp3 file (Thanks Honey!) - so I'll have my mom's voice "forever." Although - even today - that message is STILL on my phone. In fact, I just listened to it and I am crying - yet again!

Wow. I really didn't intend to go on like this. Yeah, I guess this blogging thing *is* pretty cathartic!

The Coolest Thing Since Sliced Bread!

Okay, I'll admit to being a bit of a Geek. Far from a Super-Geek - but hell, I live in the Silicon Valley (to say nothing of being married to an Electronics Engineer!) - so it's kind of a pre-requisite, right?

At the same time, I was still toting around (and relying quite heavily on) my old Palm IIIxe (10 years old with a monochromatic screen!!!). Yes, I got ribbed for that but I was staunch in my defense of the device: "It has my Outlook/Work Calendar on it and squawks at me when I have a meeting; It has this really cool [no-longer-supported] Diet Program on it (Complete with the USDA Nutritional Database!); and it's got about fifty-bazillion different Solitaire Games on it! It has *exactly* what I need!"

Nevertheless, I was suffering (more than a tad) from iPhone Envy :::sigh:::

Something about having the Internet at your fingertips 24/7 was stirring a lust, deep in my soul, that I simply couldn't deny! (No, I'm not addicted! Really!)

Of course, I wasn't jealous enough to fork-over a freaking fortune for a new phone! And certainly not envious enough to switch cellular providers! (*gasp!*)

Well, my Contract was nearly due for renewal and - lucky me - they were offering a pre-renewal Upgrade Special thingie-doo on new 3G Smart Phones, so I started surfing for more info - on my laptop, of course, because my antiquated Palm does NOT have internet access ("Oh the HUMANITY!!!"). I was pretty-much 99.9999% convinced that I wanted a Motorola Droid.

So then I toddled off to the local Verizon Store to take a look. I was a little apprehensive, at first because the place looks like it's *always* jam-packed with people - and I was expecting to get the Hard-Sell and/or Brush-Off if I wasn't prepared to purchase That. Very. Minute.

Fortunately, my fears proved to be (largely) un-founded. Well, I did get the Sales Pitch and Brush-off, but not in a Bad Way.

Yeah, I spoke to a Sales Rep for a few minutes - but no High-Pressure-Sales-Pitch. And yes, the Sales Rep vanished - almost instantly - when I indicated that I wasn't going to be making a purchase that day. But I did get the opportunity to play with the phone and they did answer my questions.

I did manage to Make an Adventure out of it, though!

Here's a little PSA for ya'all:

If you go into any phone store to "play" with a SmartPhone - DON'T log into email (or whatever) using a "real" personal account. Use one of your Garbage/Spam accounts!

So if you - like me - find that you accidentally left the "Remember Me" box checked, you won't leave ALL your personal (and potentially financial) information wide-open for the next schmoe who might want to play with the very same phone!

Yes, I stupidly logged into my gmail email using my "real" email address. The one that's linked to my online banking, all of my credit cards, most of my shopping sites (eBay, PayPay, countless others...), and also has a Google Checkout Account (with a Credit Card) linked to it. "D'oh!"

Yes, I logged out. But I didn't realize (at the time) that even when you close the browser, it still remains (logged-on) in the background. So even though I kept signing out and closing the Browser App - every time I brought it back up, it went back to my current emails and kept me logged in! AAAACK!!!

And, of course, since I'd already dispatched the Sales Guy when I said I wasn't buying today, it was damn-near impossible to flag anyone down to learn how to clear the cache!

I did drag someone over who hit some buttons and claimed that everything was clear. But then I pulled up the browser and - again - all of "my" stuff still popped up - as logged-in - on the phone.

Quite frustrating! And actually really unnerving - I DON'T want my credit card info out there for all the world to see!

I ended up coming straight home and re-setting my passwords. But I *still* wasn't comfortable that I'd rendered "my stuff" inaccessible through the "C'mon and play with me" Slut-of-a-SmartPhone at the Verizon Store!

So "Quick Study Time!" I pulled up the pdf of the Droid User-Manual and read-up on how to clear the browser, cache, cookies and passwords.

I hurried back to the Verizon Store and went back the same Demo-phone. I used my newfound knowledge to clear the cache, browser and cookies and double-checked to make sure that nobody could access my account which, unfortunately, became the default sign-in acct on the Google screen! But at least I confirmed that you *couldn't* get into it without the password :::Whew!:::

So there you have it! If you're gonna play with a Smart-Phone at the Cellular Store and want to play around with the browser and read your email - USE A GARBAGE ACCOUNT! And WATCH-OUT for that "Remember Me" box! Jeez!

That was a real Bone-head move on my part! D'oh! For a minute there, I was afraid that I was gonna have to BUY the phone that day. No - not just a new Droid - but THAT VERY PHONE!

So then I went home and surfed some more. Read lots of reviews. Read about ALL THE APPS you can get. No, not as many as Apple - but I like that it's Open Source and you aren't limited to Proprietary-stuff - like the Apple.

Side-Note: I really hate iTunes. Made the mistake of downloading it and bought a few songs - only to discover that I can't play them on any of my mp3 players - unless I burn 'em to CD/AVI/whatever first - then convert them back to non-proprietary mp3 format - what a PITA!

That was the point where I decided I really didn't care for Apple - for me personally (I know there are lots of BigTime Apple i-whatever fans out there and I am not dissing them, by any means! It's just not "my personal preference!") I'm fine with letting Apple forge into new territory and introduce New Fantastic Can't-Live-Without-It Technology. I'll also let 'em work the bugs out and wait patiently for the i-whatever Ripoff to come out, and buy it then!

And yes, I'll silently lust after it, in the meantime!

Anyhoooooooo... I did all my research and crunched some numbers. I figured I'd wait 'til my Contract was truly up (in 3 weeks) and save an add'l $50.00. But then it got all dreary and rained all weekend. And I got terribly bored. Couldn't go out and play in the garden. Nothing on TV. And every time I surfed the 'net, I kept coming back to the Droid-related sites.

Oh to hell with it! I transferred some $$ from my savings and headed out to the Verizon Store - AGAIN.

Meet Rosie:

I

I LOVE her!!! (But I'm still carrying my Palm Pilot!)

Ooooops!

Well, I fubar'd - badly!

Remember that pic of the melons and squash babies? Well, the soil that I used to pot them up in the Peat Pots was some kinda Super-Duper "Top-dress-your-lawn" kinda stuff that was infused with some sorta (undoubtedly SUPER-HIGH-NITROGEN) fertilizer.

I burned the babies and, well, they've all died. Booooo!

And I've run out of seeds!!!

I did ask my friend, P, if she had any leftovers (since we divvied up the seeds we bought last year). So if she does, I'll try again. But they'll have to be direct sown, I think.

I do still have several babies - still in the original Peat Pellets - Jelly Melons, Tomatoes, and a couple-three other things. But no honeydews, squash or pumpkins. Bummer!

Sadly, none of my gourds have sprouted either. Not really sure what I'm gonna do with gourds anyway - but it seemed like a cool thing to grow, out near the pergola.

So I'm still not sure what-all I'm gonna end up growing this year. I really would like to try Honeydew again, though. The first year we had the pool, I planted a honeydew vine next to the trellis that hides the pool equipment. We got melons GALORE that year. I mean, it was INSANE how many melons we got - and they were sooooo sweet and delicious! Ever since then, I've tried Honeydews again-and-again - and haven't gotten diddly-squat!

I've also tried cantaloupe several times and never got anything bigger than a softball (and just as hard!). So I've officially given up on cantaloupes. Watermelons - I've had weird luck with those. Invariably, the plants that survive end up trailing BEHIND some other, larger plant - and I don't discover the melons until long after they're no longer edible! So I've decided I'm not destined to be a watermelon farmer!

Pumpkins - never had any luck. But haven't tried all THAT hard. I hope to try again and maybe experience *some* success.

Pretty much, I stick with the Tried and True: Tomatoes, Yellow Crook-neck Squash, Cukes and Zucch's. I did grow some peppers last year, too. But I don't really like peppers - to be honest. So I pick them, say "Oooh, that's pretty!" then it sits on the kitchen counter 'til it gets mushy and ultimately ends up in the compost bin!

Anyhooooo... Suffice it to say, I *will* have a garden this year. I just don't know what-all will be in it!

I went out this morning and dumped a bag of Home Depot Steer Manure on the raised bed (after I yanked out the cool-season veggies and weeds). I need to work it into the soil tomorrow - and maybe dump a second bag - or dump a top-dressing of soil on top of that.

Next weekend is the Big Plant Sale!!! Santa Clara Master Gardeners has a big annual sale and P and I will show up, bright and early, with a flatbed cart even! I think it's a safe bet that tomatoes will be purchased. This year they've added other stuff (gourds!) as well. And I think I'll revive my Not-An-EarthBox Planter (referenced here)and try corn again. In fact, this year I think I'll even harvest it in time so we can actually EAT it (the planter worked great - I was just too dumb to know when to harvest!).

Anyhoooo... I'm really looking forward to the sale!

In other Yard News: Last weekend, Rog and I were down in San Diego. We sat outside, enjoying cocktails, one evening when Rog noticed they had Patio Heaters in the outdoor seating area. They weren't "on" (not needed!), but Rog opined that they were pretty cool. Particularly since summer evenings are pretty chilly here (avg mid-50's). I agreed and noted that they were "Very Expensive!"

Well, since I renewed my Costco Membership, I'm on their email list and - how fortuitous!! - it just so happened that they had outdoor Patio Heaters on sale for <$150.00 - delivered!!

I double-checked the price on these bad boys and found that Home Depot carries 'em for $399.00 (Ouch!!!). So I quickly logged on to Costco's site and ordered one!

$147.48 and less than a week later, we have an outdoor patio heater! I still had to buy a 20# propane cylinder (and gas), so tag another $50 onto that. But still - a helluva lot better than $399!

We put it together and fired it up. Works like a charm! Yup. Definitely a good investment, I think!

So here's my one photo for this post.......

Annnnd... Now we're talking about opening up the pool in the coming weeks. Yayyy!!!

Stay tuned for more Garden Updates!