Finally, after a long time of looking and applying for jobs around the country, I was offered a position today! After Christmas (as in starting the next day), Journey and I will be heading off for Binghamton, New York. I got a job with the City and they want me to start around the beginning of the year.
And here's one of the best things - they actually going to pay me MORE than what the job originally posted!
It's going to be quite a change from Arizona, but we're looking forward to it anyway. Given the state of the economy, a job is a job. And as my field is quite a bit more limited than Journey's (she's an IT Tech), we kind of have to go wherever I'm offered a job.
Needless to say, I've spent a good portion of the day grinning like and idiot - but, I figure it's justified.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Friday, October 10, 2008
I Can Relate
It is a well established fact that I tend to somehow give off this vibe that invited random people to talk to me. Usually the odder someone is, the more they pick up on this vide. Journey has commented that I am "fly-paper for freaks."
I came across this particular comic by Stefano Collavini. It seemed to fit.
I came across this particular comic by Stefano Collavini. It seemed to fit.
Hmmmm.......Carnitas!
Both Journey and I are big fans of carnitas - a Southwest/Mexican style shredded pork. I've finally found a carnitas recipe which we really like! The result is nice, tender, crispy pork. And the best thing about this particular recipe is that it's really easy.
4-5 lbs deboned pork shoulder, trimmed of as much fat as possible
1 qt beef broth
2 cups chunky salsa (I use Herdez brand, medium heat; chunky Pace works too)
water
salt
your choice of spices (I use chili powder, cayenne, garlic, onion, cumin, and chipotle if I have it)
1. Combine pork, broth, and salsa in a large sauce pan or stock pot. Add enough water to completely cover the pork. Add your spices (as with a lot of my cooking, I don't often measure my spices - I just kind of add whatever amount looks/smells right) and a couple pinches of salt. Bring to a boil over high heat; cover, reduce to low and let simmer for 3-4 hours or until it pulls apart easily.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. While oven is heating, move meat to a roasting pan with a large slotted spoon. Break the meat in to small pieces - it should shred apart real easily at this point. Drizzle a very little bit of the liquid over the meat (this will enhance the flavor and keep the pork from drying out too much). Roast in the oven for 15-20 minutes until the meat is brown and crispy.
From here, you can do any number of things with the carnitas. Many people like to eat them in tortillas or use them to make chimichangas. You often see them served with chopped onion, cilantro, guacamole, sour cream, etc. Journey and I, we eat them just as is.
Any left overs keep really well just in the fridge. If you want to freeze them, add a little more of the left over liquid. Thaw over night in the fridge.
One of the things I like most about this recipe is the fact that you can tweak it as you like simply by changing the salsa and spices used. You can go from very mild to quite spicy if you want.
And if you haven't already figured it out, guess what we're having for dinner tonight?
4-5 lbs deboned pork shoulder, trimmed of as much fat as possible
1 qt beef broth
2 cups chunky salsa (I use Herdez brand, medium heat; chunky Pace works too)
water
salt
your choice of spices (I use chili powder, cayenne, garlic, onion, cumin, and chipotle if I have it)
1. Combine pork, broth, and salsa in a large sauce pan or stock pot. Add enough water to completely cover the pork. Add your spices (as with a lot of my cooking, I don't often measure my spices - I just kind of add whatever amount looks/smells right) and a couple pinches of salt. Bring to a boil over high heat; cover, reduce to low and let simmer for 3-4 hours or until it pulls apart easily.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. While oven is heating, move meat to a roasting pan with a large slotted spoon. Break the meat in to small pieces - it should shred apart real easily at this point. Drizzle a very little bit of the liquid over the meat (this will enhance the flavor and keep the pork from drying out too much). Roast in the oven for 15-20 minutes until the meat is brown and crispy.
From here, you can do any number of things with the carnitas. Many people like to eat them in tortillas or use them to make chimichangas. You often see them served with chopped onion, cilantro, guacamole, sour cream, etc. Journey and I, we eat them just as is.
Any left overs keep really well just in the fridge. If you want to freeze them, add a little more of the left over liquid. Thaw over night in the fridge.
One of the things I like most about this recipe is the fact that you can tweak it as you like simply by changing the salsa and spices used. You can go from very mild to quite spicy if you want.
And if you haven't already figured it out, guess what we're having for dinner tonight?
Thursday, October 09, 2008
A Quick Note
I have added a side bar graphic from Electoral-Vote.com, showing the current projects for the election. Check it out!
Also be sure to check out their Animated Electoral Map. It takes all the daily predictions from June 4, 2008, to today's and animates them so you can see the shifts in the electoral map over time!
Yes yes, I know. I'm a geek. Fuck off.
Also be sure to check out their Animated Electoral Map. It takes all the daily predictions from June 4, 2008, to today's and animates them so you can see the shifts in the electoral map over time!
Yes yes, I know. I'm a geek. Fuck off.
Things I Do Not Understand
Okay, here's something a little lighter in nature. I've been keeping track of things I've noticed and thought about recently which make absolutely NO fuckin' sense to me. I'm sure that there are more, but these have come up recently.
- Guys who carry around stuff in their socks - they invented pockets for a reason.
- Adding so much stuff to your coffee that it no longer resembles coffee in any way, shape, form, smell, or taste - if you're that desperate for caffeine and don't like the taste of coffee, find a way to add caffeine to chocolate milk; leave my coffee alone!
- Libertarians - period. Hey, dumbasses! Taxes pay for things like education, infrastructure, and roads. Do you really want those to do away simply because you don't want to have to pay taxes?
- The appeal of Flavor Flav - if I want to watch a complete nut-case wearing horns on his head, I'll turn on a Vikings football game, at least that's entertaining.
- Al Davis (owner of the Oakland Raiders) - the man has not simply gone around the bend; he's gone around the bend, down the street, gotten on the highway, driven to Crazytown, staged a coup to take over the town government, and has declared the world to be star fruit-shaped, only black and silver instead of yellow in color.
- Popped collars - especially on guys wearing pink golf shirts. And very more especially guys who do this wearing multiple golf shirts.
- iReporters - seriously, most of these people seem to be suffering from the worst case of delusions of grandeur since that 'American Idol' crap came on television. You really think sending in one poorly captured web-cam video of you babbling incoherently about something makes you a 'real' reporter?
Promised Political Rant
Here's what struck the most over the last few days - the absolute rabid and insane attitude which surrounds and typifies recent McCain/Palin rallies.
I know that getting crowd wound up, loud, and excited are all purposely intended results of these rallies. That's why they're called 'rallies.' What worries me is the fact that recent McCain/Palin rallies are going too far. Not in terms of what is being said by McCain (I'll deal with Palin in a minute), but rather in terms of the audience. The constant booing and people shouting "Off with his head!" in reference to Sen. Obama is just scary.
And I suspect, without anything in the way of proof beyond my own observations, that part of the reason Palin was picked as McCain's running mate was because she has a knack for getting people wound up and excited. It's a definite bonus that she can whip a crowd into a frenzy and then almost shrug it off with a quick smile and wink, almost as if she's saying "Just kidding, folks!" But the crowd reacts by getting even more wild and seems to take that wink as permission to do so. This allows the GOP officials to generate a wildly negative response to Sen. Obama that they want without doing it themselves. It plays up on the whole idea that it's what the 'public' thinks and, therefore, these officials can claim they are simply "listening to public opinion."
This is not to say that the McCain campaign is giving carte blanche at rallies. They have officially denounced the use of Sen. Obama's middle name, Hussein, saying that it is inappropriate. I have noticed, however, that this has not stopped high level McCain supporters and rally speakers from doing it anyway. The cynical side of me (that's pretty much every part of me except maybe my left elbow, by the way) wonders if there is a little bit of "Okay, don't do this anymore" *wink wink nudge nudge* going on, but again I can't prove anything.
I know that getting crowd wound up, loud, and excited are all purposely intended results of these rallies. That's why they're called 'rallies.' What worries me is the fact that recent McCain/Palin rallies are going too far. Not in terms of what is being said by McCain (I'll deal with Palin in a minute), but rather in terms of the audience. The constant booing and people shouting "Off with his head!" in reference to Sen. Obama is just scary.
And I suspect, without anything in the way of proof beyond my own observations, that part of the reason Palin was picked as McCain's running mate was because she has a knack for getting people wound up and excited. It's a definite bonus that she can whip a crowd into a frenzy and then almost shrug it off with a quick smile and wink, almost as if she's saying "Just kidding, folks!" But the crowd reacts by getting even more wild and seems to take that wink as permission to do so. This allows the GOP officials to generate a wildly negative response to Sen. Obama that they want without doing it themselves. It plays up on the whole idea that it's what the 'public' thinks and, therefore, these officials can claim they are simply "listening to public opinion."
This is not to say that the McCain campaign is giving carte blanche at rallies. They have officially denounced the use of Sen. Obama's middle name, Hussein, saying that it is inappropriate. I have noticed, however, that this has not stopped high level McCain supporters and rally speakers from doing it anyway. The cynical side of me (that's pretty much every part of me except maybe my left elbow, by the way) wonders if there is a little bit of "Okay, don't do this anymore" *wink wink nudge nudge* going on, but again I can't prove anything.
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
About Time
No political rant today - I'm working on one for tomorrow, but it's not ready just yet.
No, today's post is really a bit more mundane - weather. We in Arizona, or at least those of us in Southern Arizona, are finally starting to enjoy the onset of fall. Granted, it will probably only last 3 or 4 weeks, but that's okay. You have to understand, 'fall' in Arizona is characterized by warm tempatures during the day (high 80's or low 90's) and cooler tempatures at night (high 50's to mid 60's).
Basically, it means that you don't spend the whole night sweating and when you wake up in the morning, it's still very pleasant out. It's back to the point that we can sit out on the deck in the evening and watch the sunset. And believe, sunsets around here are often worth watching!
No, today's post is really a bit more mundane - weather. We in Arizona, or at least those of us in Southern Arizona, are finally starting to enjoy the onset of fall. Granted, it will probably only last 3 or 4 weeks, but that's okay. You have to understand, 'fall' in Arizona is characterized by warm tempatures during the day (high 80's or low 90's) and cooler tempatures at night (high 50's to mid 60's).
Basically, it means that you don't spend the whole night sweating and when you wake up in the morning, it's still very pleasant out. It's back to the point that we can sit out on the deck in the evening and watch the sunset. And believe, sunsets around here are often worth watching!
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
Don't Insult Us Because We're Young
John McCain just told a young man that he probably never even heard of Fanny Mae and Freddie Mac before this economic collapse.
And fuck you very much, Mr. McCain.
Believe me, just because we're young that does not mean we're stupid. I would bet that at least a small majority of people my age, in fact, HAVE heard of both of these institutions and have at least some idea of what they do.
And fuck you very much, Mr. McCain.
Believe me, just because we're young that does not mean we're stupid. I would bet that at least a small majority of people my age, in fact, HAVE heard of both of these institutions and have at least some idea of what they do.
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