New toys all around
January 15, 2007
Whenever it gets cold in my apartment I work on my computer, for some odd reason my right hand gets colder than my left hand. Actually, a great deal colder. Most likely because I use my mouse with my right hand and it’s exposed and doesn’t get as much circulation, but with the weather outside at 24 degrees and the temperature in my apartment not a great deal higher despite my heater and a space heater running, well, let’s just say Brrrrrr. It’s been colder than usual here in the last week, and it’s only supposed to get mildly warmer in the next week. When the temperature gets up to 40 degrees, it’s practically shorts weather. Until then, I get to run my heater practically all day long because my apartment cools off so fast.
It’s helpful if I have someone around with a warm back I can warm my hands on, but Hanne’s back in class today. I, however, have the day off. I’ve never gotten MLK, Jr. Day off. Not since grade school, at least. Working for lawyers has its pluses every now and then.
The last couple of weekends–this one included, I suppose–have been pretty lazy. Last weekend I chewed through the DVD extras from the Lord of the Rings movies. Two discs of behind-the-scenes footage and interviews for each movie, so six DVDs in total. That was a lot of Lord of the Rings to absorb in one weekend, but there were a lot of interesting stories, and seeing the care the filmmakers put into crafting the movie was very interesting. My next goal–eventually–is to make it through all three movies and listen to all three sets of audio commentary on each movie. I’ve seen each of the movies multiple times already, but that would be committing another 33 hours to those movies, and my geekdom only extends so far.
I’ve bought a few toys lately, some with my Christmas money, some with my own. Chiefly amongst my new toys was a brand new 80 GB iPod to replace my aging 10 GB iPod that my Mom gave me as a graduation gift from college. It was old, it was thick, it was heavy. the drive was dying, and I could only fit 1/3 of my total music collection on. So I took Christmas money from my Mom and Grandmother and ventured down to the Apple Store downtown and laid it down along with my hard-earned (well, earned) cash and walked out with the iPod, a dock to connect to my computer, and an extra sync cable to use at work. Beautiful. I like having every CD in my collection at my disposal. A few from other people’s collections, too.
I was actually going to pick it up the day after Christmas, but I knew that MacWorld was starting on January 9, so I waited to see if Apple was going to introduce a new iPod or lower the prices on existing models. It turned out that they introduced the absolutely beautiful iPhone instead, so I went with what was currently available. I want an iPhone, though. I don’t want to pay $499 for it, nor do I want to be locked into a two-year Cingular contract again. Perhaps I’ll wait until the second generation of iPhones to fork over more cash to Apple.
In lieu of an iPhone, though, I decided it was time to replace my two year old cell phone and I purchased a new Sony-Ericsson W810i off eBay. I don’t get locked into another Cingular contract by doing that, so I can switch carriers if I like even though I paid a little more for the phone than if I bought it through Cingular.
With my Dad’s chief Christmas present, I bought myself a beautiful stainless steel cookware set from Sur La Table. I’ve been collecting random pots and pans for the last few years, but I’ve always wanted a stainless steel set. I couldn’t afford the one I really wanted (mostly because it clocked in around $1000 for the set, but you get what you pay for), but this one comes in a close second. I was going back and forth between the set I got and a high-quality non-stick set, but a salesperson convinced me to go with the steel set instead. It’s so much shinier, too! I got a coupon for 20% off my next open stock cookware purchase, and with Christmas money from my aunt, I went back to Sur La Table today and get myself a large stockpot. Between my coupon, my Christmas money, the $0.05 left on my gift card, and that it was already 30% off, I got a pretty good deal. I used the leftover money to get myself something I’ve needed for quite some time: a professional-grade cutting surface. My white plastic cutting board wasn’t cutting it anymore, so to speak.
With this new set, I can get rid of some of the cookware I have, but I have a feeling I’ll keep some of it around. I have a nice saucepan that I’ve used since college, a decent non-stick omelette pan, and a largish non-stick skillet I’ll probably hold onto. I hung all my new cookware above my sink on the hooks I’d been using for mugs, and my kitchen looks a little nicer now.
I can feel the cooking bug creeping back into me. I get this way every now and then when I start looking at good cooking stuff, and it’s ridiculous how excited I get. “Oooo, I can use this to make cornbread!” What the hell? I’ve never made cornbread in my entire life, except from a box. It’s going to be all I can do not to buy something else I don’t need when I go down there, but fortunately, my coupon is only good for a single piece of cookware, not the whole purchase.
I have enough on my credit card right now without having cooking stuff I don’t have room for on it, too. But hey! They raised my credit limit again! I can buy a Hyundai with my credit card now.
Since Hanne’s a vegetarian, I have trouble coming up with things I can make for her since I enjoy using meat in my cooking, but I’ve managed to wear her down on a few of the meals I like making in which she’s agreed to eat meat if it’s organic/free-range/etc. I told her it was doubtful that I could find organic or free-range prosciutto for use in the ragu I’m going to try and make next weekend, but she said that was just fine since I’m such a good cook. The power of the Dark Side truly is great.
I’d cook something special tonight with my new cookware, but I think I’d rather walk up to the grocery store in the cold and buy myself a sandwich and some chips. I already have beer from John’s Marketplace to consume with my sandwich–I made a pilgrimage and paired the beer I bought with the pizza I made for Hanne Saturday night.
I’ll just keep an eye out for organic prosciutto while I’m there.
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