Posted on June 28th, 2009 by Justopia
Pieces and Parts
I wasn’t going to write tonight, but dinner was so good I couldn’t help myself. I’m going to leave you this dinner in photos. No recipe, no step by step, no how to, no instructions. I was too busy watching No Reservations (again) to concentrate on how I made this amazing summer dinner and … I was too hungry or distracted or something to shoot dinner once I sat down, so what we have here is the beginning of the dinner prep and the end.
Prime Rib Steak cut into 1″x 1″ cubes.
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Posted on June 26th, 2009 by Justopia
Are You a Turtle?
I know, I know, it doesn’t make sense. I don’t think it’s supposed to. It’s like the question … Are you a turtle? These were the things of my childhood. Back in the day when things were simple and — well — just plain non sensical and silly. And at this point, memories of silly is a good thing.
Oh and something else. I have a new obsession. A friend told me about a new show on USA — Royal Pains — and I’m here to tell you that when you find yourself wringing your hands over the clearly ridiculous, stupid, worthless schedule of “Reality TV” shows that dot the TV Guide, this one has me hooked and I want you to get hooked too. It’s a funny, over the top, often far-fetched look at a “concierge doctor” in the idyllic world of The Hamptons. I love the cast, the story lines, the beauty of the Hamptons, the intelligent humor and the hot doctor — Yep, I said it. I’ve gone totally out of my blogging comfort zone, but he’s … yeah, I don’t need to elaborate. Anyway, just watch it, ok?
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Posted on June 24th, 2009 by Justopia
Seriously, Should the Digital Age Be This Stressful?
I find it difficult to believe Verizon FiOS could cause such a nightmare for me and I’m ready to launch a blog that is all about this, but why waste my time. What I need to do is get out of my contract and get back to Comcast. In the 7 years I had Comcast, I only had to call 2 times and the customer service was good both times. What I have dealt with in the past 6 days is horrendous. I’ve been hung up on, transferred, given incorrect information, blown off … oh, all the things I am insanely familiar with from my 12 years in Customer Support with AOL and knowing the in’s and out’s of managing large call centers like we deal with when calling services like Verizon.
My next step is snail mail to the Verizon senior leadership team: Ivan Seidenberg, Chairman and CEO, Dennis F. (Denny) Strigl, President and COO and John F. Killian, EVP and CFO. I’ll print it on quality linen résumé paper and hand write the envelope. They’ll get a calm, succinct, albeit demanding letter from me which I will publish here as well. I need to be clear headed and not as angry and frustrated as I am now so that I write it in a way that it gets through to them. Well, it will likely go to their “Executive Escalations” team and the closest it will get to their desks will be their executive assistants, but before I eat the $179 early termination fee, I need to exhaust all possible resources.
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Posted on June 23rd, 2009 by Justopia
Another Successful Grilling Event!
I rushed home after a day of errands. Who said a day off is really a day off anyway? I woke up and spent over 1.5 hours on the phone with Verizon. That was not a good start to the day. Verizon, you’re growing so fast you don’t have time to train your installers properly which I can attest to after my 4 day Triple Play installation nightmare last week and although I have phone, internet and television, I don’t have the speed I am paying for, I don’t have access to the MyVerizon account page and I am struggling to figure out what channel is where and how to navigate the DVR and the Favorites categories I’ve set up. Perhaps if the installer didn’t high tail it out of here after her FINALLY got things up and running I’d be more comfortable with things. But really, it’s trivial. I’ll figure it all out in time.
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Posted on June 22nd, 2009 by Justopia
Great Gift!
A couple of years ago my parents bought me a grill for my birthday. I loved it. It served me well. But this season when I went out to the balcony to fired up the grill plug in the grill, it wouldn’t heat up properly. The thermometer on the outside of the grill wouldn’t register higher than 300º and the grill was cool. What a disappointment! But no worries. Mom and Dad came through again! I am the proud owner of a Meco Electric Grill with Rotisserie!! I know. I know. You’re asking yourselves why I’d have an electric grill. Well, wonder no longer. I live in a high rise building and local law says no open flames with 15 feet of the building. That means no gas or charcoal grills up here on the 14th floor. That’s ok, I’m happy to have this alternative.
I was scared of the assembly process, but couldn’t wait any longer. I needed to have this thing out on the balcony, ready to use for dinner tonight. Why? Ummmm … because I said so. But look at all those pieces and parts! There were 37 different parts and many were multiples. That task at hand was daunting — intimidating. But I wouldn’t let it stop me! Nope. I got out my tool box and got to work. EVERY single piece was used. There wasn’t an extra to be had. Except for the wheels and the parts that go with them. I just couldn’t get the push nut onto the axel rod. I had to resort to a temporary fix — a book under each leg where the wheels are supposed to go. Definitely not optimal, but it will work for the short term.
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Posted on June 21st, 2009 by Justopia
I woke up and knew I’d need to cook the chicken breasts I’d defrosted a couple of nights ago so as soon as I was awake enough to get into the kitchen I put on my apron and got to work.
It was nothing extravagant, just delicious.
Chicken Français anyone?
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Posted on June 18th, 2009 by Justopia
Food and FiOS’
I raced home after work and another trip to the market to buy demo supplies for the store to hook up the set top box and see if FiOS TV was really working. André, the installer left me a message late this afternoon telling me he got the TV issues resolved and I just needed to hook up the box properly. I tried. Really, I did. It looked great, but there was a really annoying buzzing/hum and big, fat stripes of yellow and orange against a grayscale background. So I picked up the phone and called André who jumped in his truck and drove over to get things set up properly once and for all. My next hurdle; overcoming the disastrous lack of speed situation that cropped up this evening with my new Internet connection. If it’s not one thing, it’s another — Oiy Vey. I’m just thankful I have an internet connection at all and here I sit watching House Hunters International in Hong Kong. Hurray!
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Posted on June 17th, 2009 by Justopia
Verizon and That’s All I’m Gonna Say
Well, not really. I have a long and sordid story about the FiOS installation that is as of this moment … 11:07pm EST on June 17, 2009 … Unresolved. Unfinished. Unsatisfactory.
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Posted on June 13th, 2009 by Justopia
Debate ——–> Is it Supper or Dinner?
Deviled Eggs with Kewpie Mayonnaise
One day a customer asked me if I say Supper or Dinner and what the difference is. Good questions. I use both terms and the difference? I don’t use the term Supper much anymore but really, the difference to me is simple — Supper is a casual meal and Dinner is more formal, but only if used side by side. I mean, if I say, “I’m going to have dinner with a friend,” it doesn’t mean we are going to have an über expensive or over the top, fancy meal. It means we are going to have the evening meal — the last meal of the day.
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Posted on June 9th, 2009 by Justopia
Come to Cyprus
So let’s start out with a fact. I’m not youthful. Well, not outwardly right now. In my head, sure I feel like a kid sometimes, but the inexperience, enthusiasm, idealism, innocence, or indiscretion of a young person, maybe not so much. Wiki says that the term Salad Days was coined in Shakespear’s Anthony and Cleopatra: “…My salad days, / When I was green in judgment, cold in blood…” So the whole theme of tonight’s meal and blog post works very well — Greece, Cyprus, Cleopatra, Julius Caesar. Salad Days. See it? Making sense? No? It’s ok. My mind works in strange ways these days.
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