No seriously, there is such a thing.  I found it at an Indian market, the big one in San Leandro, right next to the Lakeshore Learning Center outlet.  They have multiple brands, only one of which I recognize.  They have multiple flavors (tomato being one of them) but the ones that caught my eye were the masala flavor, which comes in gigantic family packs.  (I got a couple, they’re 8-packs.)

I’ve never had anything quite like it.  Oh don’t get me wrong, I’ve spiced the hell out of ramen before, but nothing like this where it kicked my ass straight out of the package.  When was the last time you tried a spicy prepackaged food that lived up to it’s spicy promise?  It’s insane.  And damned tasty.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not the spiciest thing I’ve ever eaten.  And it is still ramen.  (I like ramen.)  But it has flavor and bite, and it can be ready in 10 minutes, less if you heat the water by electric kettle.   And the flavor beats the shit out of any other ramen flavor I’ve ever had.  And I believe it’s vegetarian broth based.  If you get a chance, I highly recommend it.

It was 5 minutes to break time when the little old Chinese guy in my class came up to me and told me my car had a flat tire.

I went outside, and low and behold, I had a flat tire.

Half the class followed me outside, using the excuse to go on break early.  One guy asked me if I was planning on changing it.  I didn’t figure I had a lot of choice here.

The Chinese gentleman (whose name I don’t know, I’m ashamed to say) proceeded to take control of the situation. He watched while I opened my spare tire compartment, and assessing the tools provided.  (He had an injury or stroke at some point, so he has limited use of one of his arms.) Some of the other gentlemen in the helped me with jacking up the car and changing the tire, and at one point I found myself standing to the side while the guys did all the work. I could hear No Doubt’s “Just a Girl” playing in my head as I stood there, setting women’s lib back a decade or so.

In retrospect, I can’t say I mind.  Could I have done it? Eventually, yes.  Was this a hell of a lot easier?  Oh fuck yes.  But wait, our story is not done.

So after they get the old tire off, the Chinese guy looks at it, tries to find the leak, and says “I don’t have the tools here, but if you let me take it home, I can fix it.” Turns out he lives 5 minutes away.  So I let him.  He brought it back, repaired, but told me because of the location and nature of the damage (the tire cracked) that it wasn’t going to hold or be safe to drive on.

He also brought me two slightly used tires, saying I could have them for free to replace my back tires.

Let me reiterate: a classmate whose name I don’t even know brought me a free pair of tires, solving my I-need-new-tires problem.  There are good people in the world, and I am blessed enough to run into them.

When I told her about this, Lisa commented “Rolled a 20 for our Charisma roll, did we?” But I didn’t, I just stood there.  I’m convinced that I just happened to meet a Chinese paladin.

Live and don’t learn, that’s my personal motto.

Every blog I’ve ever had has died a slow, lingering death.  But once again hope triumphs over experience, and here we are.

Nice touch though: I was able to import my last two blogger blogs here, just in case anyone gives a shit.

Don’t worry, I don’t expect you to.  Hell, I wrote the stuff and *I* don’t give a shit.  I just thought it was cool that it could be imported.

This video has everything: anthropomorphizing wild life, collecting wild critters for scientific study, and training them to eat foods not normally found in their diet. Park rangers must loathe this film.

I, however, adore it, and OMFG I want a Squeak!

I finally got a new ATM card, as well as a refund from my bank for the European porn, but I haven’t received my new ATM code, so I can use it as a credit card, but can’t make deposits or withdrawals. Oops.

I waited to hear about the job, didn’t even get a phone interview. Oops.

I’m still waiting to hear about prop 8, but I guess I’m feeling more resigned. I alternate between anxious and hopeful. Except now I don’t even do that these days. I think I’m a little bit numb.

I’m glad tomorrow is the end of waiting about this election. I hope I feel the same way at the end of the day tomorrow.

The labels for work finally arrived. I remember now, I hate MS Word’s mail merge.

I waited long enough to finish one pattern, “Shut your whore mouth”. I then promptly started a new project, but it wasn’t even the one I wanted to start. But there was a reason: much like my beloved “whore bag cum dumpster” project, this is an ode to rage. I drove through a yes on prop 8 rally and promptly lost my mind: the project I’ve been working on for the last week is an Americana sampler that has had the phrase “Sweet Land of Liberty” replaced with “Gaping Assholes Inside!”.

What can I say, it seemed appropriate at the time. And it’s helped with the rage.

… but it is by the same company and almost as weird!

more lol celebs!

Life is in a holding pattern right now.

I can’t really shop for anything 1) because I’m broke, and 2) because I had to cancel my atm card because someone bought European subscription porn with it. (Read: someone other than me. If I have to pay for it, I want access to the account.)

I am losing my mind about proposition 8, which is the one that will determine if my girlfriend and I get to get married next year. I already chose not to do it this year, a decision that may give me an ulcer over the next two weeks.

I am still waiting to hear from the Monterey Bay Aquarium about whether or not I got an interview. See above statement about ulcers.

I am waiting at work for labels so I can finish the project from hell which we’ve been trying to get out the door for several months now. Blah.

I am waiting to start any new cross stitch/embroidery patterns until I finish any 2 of the projects I’m currently working on. It doesn’t even have to be the big projects. I have two I can knock out with about 15 minutes of work on each of them.

I also believe I understand why people sell their work. I didn’t used to, I always assumed that if you put that much effort into it, why would you give it away? But thinking about switching jobs suddenly made the light dawn: without the Bitch Scientist, “Fucking Cunt”, “Shut your whore mouth” and “Whore bag cum dumpster” would simply be funny, with no intrinsic meaning for me. I started thinking about what I’d do with them. Give them away? Perhaps. My coworker or my boss might be worthy recipients. And while I would definitely want pictures of the work, the process of making these items is really where the meaning is. Having a cross stitch on your desk that says “Fucking Cunt” is funny, but the process of making “Fucking Cunt” was the meaningful, or at least slightly cathartic part.

Of course, to sell something, I’d have to finish something. Damn.

… my step mother’s 5xth birthday.

55th? 56th? One of the two I believe. It was also the day of her second locally anesthetized surgery in the last two weeks. (The port they put in for chemo didn’t work, so they had to replace it. Incidentally, she has her “first” chemo appointment today (assuming the new port works).)

…the day John Morgan was born.

That would be my boss’ second child. Very cool, we’re all very happy for him. I got to see an awesome picture of my boss’ daughter (she’s 3) “holding” (with help) her brother. She looked very pleased with her new toy

…the day of the all hands meeting.

That did not prove to be a positive experience for anyone. It’s the first time I’ve seen a speaker not applauded at the end of their presentation. Of course, she just explained how much our benefits are going to cost us next year. I think the straw that broke the camels back was finding out that the Nurses Union was going to continue to get free benefits for the next two years.

… also the annual safety training.

It occurred immediately following the meeting. The presenter was HORRIBLE. Hint: chances are, the members of 2-3 dozen independent research labs aren’t going to give a shit about being broken into “teams” for some arbitrary competition. Also, if you expect us to be tested on this stuff afterward, you might want to bother to show the slides that actually explain the concept in question.

I know, I just asked for a slide show. This should convey HOW BAD that training was.

My boss missed both the meeting and the training because his wife was in labor. She gave birth round about the time the training from hell ended. If I’d been thinking, instead of telling people where my boss was, I could have given him an awesome gift, and faked his presence at the safety training. It would have been easy to do, and would have spared him the video when he gets back. Oops.

…the first time I saw Maki shed.

Chameleon’s shed in patches rather than all in one piece, and their skin feels like heavy printer paper when you touch it. It’s neat.

…when I started re-reading Microserfs for the first time in at least 5 years.

The book starts in the year 1993. It’s an absolutely facinating read: Coupland’s characters spent a lot of time wondering about the future (among other things). It’s awesome (literally) to read about this after having lived through it here in the Bay Area.

And amazingly enough, while certain details seem slightly dated, the book holds up amazingly well.

Wikipedia mentions Coupland’s book J-Pod as the Google generations version of Microserfs. What does it say about me that I feel Microserfs was definitely the better of the two books, and I identified with it more?