Testing... tap... tap...

     I am going to give the new format a shot, as it's going to become the main format by the end of June. Just a bit of drivel about my thoughts and what I've been doing.

     I have a shiny new lappy with a touchpad and this raised-by-mouse old crone is feeling crazy disoriented with the new setup. I have a wireless mouse I could transfer back and forth from compy to lappy but I guess I should at least TRY and get used to the touchpad. Apparently I am not the only one who has dealt with this ageless struggle. Don't you love 'first world problems'? Anyway, I have also been reading more because of the pandemic. My current exploration is 'The works of Matthew Arnold'.

    I have loved Matthew Arnold since I first heard 'Dover Beach' being read aloud. Of late, I've been studying his poetry and loving every moment of it. He's melancholic without being too bitter (Hello, Souster!) and the imagery is stunning. This guy was very fond of the ancient Greeks as well. Now I want to read Sophocles and his compatriots. I have to wonder if Arnold was a looker in the 1800s. Side-whiskers were considered attractive, iirc. This school inspector travelled England looking at the various schools. And he wrote poems.

 

     Nothing new on the cooking horizon though I did buy some instant rice vermicelli. Rice noodle ramen? I have plans. It's pretty grim-looking outside and Arnold's poetry just makes sense. But enough of that. The month is coming to an end.

BYE.

Praise the bell pepper!

      Thanks to the pandemic I have done a lot more home cooking. I consider myself incredibly lazy and preferred to just pick something up over dragging my bones to the store, actually doing prep work, and then slaving o'er the hot stove for an hour. However, the pandemic has taken all the fun out of stopping off at Subway, A&W, or McDonald's, and with the layoff, I need to batten down the hatches anyway. I started shopping for ingredients and the like and actually got some pretty good meals out of all the work. Who knew that cooking for oneself could be good?

     Yes, when I first moved out into my apartment, I tried my hand at cooking and it turned out okay. But I really was not that adventurous and lost interest in cooking at home. Convenience won out over elbow grease. If it couldn't be microwaved, what's the use? However, times change and I have begun the practice of putting meals together that usually guarantee leftovers and actually don't taste too bad.

      In the beginning, I worked with that economic favourite: ramen. However, I skipped the packet for actual broth as broth is not as expensive as... say... Chunky Soup.

Root veggie ramen - my first attempt.

   



















 I followed that up with what has become my new favourite vegetable: the bell pepper.

  





















      It turns out that the bell pepper is quite versatile. Ramen without broth, the way it's supposed to be, I imagine, is just great with bell pepper as well.

   













 Oh, and I tried my hand combining it with new yellow potatoes as a side for my smokies.

     Finally, see how well it plays with chicken patties. Yes, the patties are fully cooked and just need to be warmed up from their frozen state. I also recently discovered that fried onions are pretty good.

   So, this is my life thus far. Mom's ecstatic. She knows I'm not into cooking and this new mania is the best news she's ever gotten.

   Will I continue to cook stuff like this (or even better) once the pandemic has passed? Considering there's talk of a second wave, I guess cooking at home is going to be a thing for a while. Well, it was about time, eh?





BYE.

My GAD's getting desperate

     With my layoff a reality and not just a dreadful possibility (and plumbob willing, we'll all be back in September) and rationalization in play for the past month, my anxieties are desperate for recognition. The accursed GAD-about is darting here and there in my head looking for some small thing to chew on. I've rationalized that I will be okay on a financial level as long as the schools open on some level in September. It should be very interesting to see what the library will look like. Meanwhile, as long as I don't go on any spending sprees, I should be fine. Not that I'm celebrating here. I'm sure that I will have something burning a hole in my brain again soon.

     Meanwhile, I paid a visit to NRAAS Industries (aka: a fantastic site for mods) and downloaded something new. I have a few diseases to play with in my game thanks to Vector but yesterday I downloaded and installed Sims Drinks. Hey, it's been only a couple of years since I dared to mess with mods and CC (Thank you Fresh Prince!); it's time the nectar/juice actually did something to my sims that was a little more M than T. Should be interesting to see what the townies will do when they've had a couple of drinks from the various juice bars around town. So far, I've had a sim burst into tears when she got home after a couple of drinks.

     On the pandemic level, Manitoba jumped to 26 active cases the other day and we're holding steady thus far. There's going to be an update on the government website this afternoon so maybe that number will have gone down dramatically. I can hope for a mass recovery, can't I? Us going down to single digits would be simply beautiful. Meanwhile, Paralives might be going down the TS4 route with its 'paras'. Not an encouraging sign. The customization looks incredible but if the gameplay does not rival that of TS2 I know many people will be unimpressed. Alex Massé (that how he spells it?), you have a few big decisions to make. Choose well and wisely. The world does NOT need another blasphemy like TS4.

      Anyway, that is all for now. I expect to be posting more often but whether I do is anyone's guess.

BYE.

Fluctuations and other stuff

      Manitoba's current number of active cases stands again at 35. We were, last week, at 30 but stuff happened and now we're back at 35. Where are all those lovely recoveries we should be having? Manitoba needs to rival Newfoundland. In the grand scheme of things, especially compared to what's going on with our southern neighbours, we're doing remarkably well. Still, it would be nice to rival the Newfies. Anyway, I took a break from isolating by going to my Mom's to celebrate Mother's Day. My brother-in-law went to see his family for Mother's Day and I spent it with Mom and my sister. Not going to turn down BBQ peppercorn steak for any reason.

     May I say that my brother-in-law is a really great guy, by the way? Anyway, I have not been simming as much as I could be. Not with Path of Exile and my ranger needing attention. Hard to get used to the touchpad. I'm more comfortable with a mouse but I should get used to the touchpad. That's what Goat Simulator is for, I guess. And for ramming people into pools and off buildings, of course. I'd forgotten how messed up and fun that game is. It makes my compy scream, on the other hand. My lappy can handle it better.

     Kids can play on playgrounds here in Manitoba again. Just have to remember that social distancing comes into play still. I cannot imagine how things are going to work when school opens up again. And how library periods are going to change to make it all work out. But we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. And that is all for this miserable wretch. Hope the two or three people following my blog have a good day and that you are staying safe wherever you are. I will continue to isolate and hope for the best.

   And command my sims, of course.

BYE.

*Thanks to the websites of the Governments of Manitoba, North Dakota, and Newfoundland for the pandemic information. Information is current for today and may change without notice.

Mumbling in the corner

      To be honest, I'm not really. It's just getting close to feeding time and the cat's getting on my nerves. A hydro pole caught fire in the neighbourhood and turned off the lights for over 3000 people. Good thing I wasn't yelling at my sims when it happened. Corruption worse than what's going on in the White House. Okay, stuff the politics. Manitoba is down to 38 active cases in the great corona game and Nunavut finally joined the party with their 1 case. The weather's been gloomy today but we needed a bit of rain. Maybe we'll get a decent light and sound show out of it later tonight. If the power goes out overnight it won't bother me all that much.

    Friday night! Pop open the cans of pop and let's have the beigeiest of beige nights! Let the okay times roll! Can you feel the unbridled intensity going on in this house? Nothing turns me on like an evening with John Milton and a dude chanting OM SHANTI OM. I am seriously craving a visit to the library but until Dr. Roussin says otherwise, the libraries stay closed. Any wonder why I'm in the corner mumbling? Okay, my family would say I wasn't well before the great corona game but there you go.

     Anyway, that is all for now. Oh, and I would be remiss if I didn't post some sims stuff, right?

BYE.