It’s a dark dark day
Well not really. Not in the grand scheme of things. I’m just pissed off. Like really super pissed off. I didn’t get to interview for a job where I ticked all the boxes on the person spec, had a solid application that had been checked by professionals and had been encouraged to go for the post by someone currently working in the role. Oh, and did I mention it was an internal position? Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr….
So I’m getting very very drunk to angry music. There is no more vodka. I drank it all. Oops. How fortunate that there’s still beer, gin and schnapps. Drink much? Moi? No!
I’m also going to war with my work. Potentially. Unless I calm down significantly in the next fortnight. Our department is happily flaunting the organisations loneworking policy. Which isn’t just me being bitchy. I’m unhappy with this state of affairs and have been ever since I had to have someone removed by security. I’m also very very pissed off and don’t see why I should have to compromise my personal safety anymore.
Just grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
Presents from Mayalsia!
Last night one of my friends gave me a VERY exciting present! The means to make jelly! Vegetarian jelly! Me-friendly jelly! Easily!! She’d gotten her mother to bring it over from Mayalsia. It being….. Agar agar!
It’s derived from seaweed and you boil it in water and add food colouring to make jelly. Her mother even included alternative directions from the ones on the packet. I’m very excited! =)
You said, we did
My work is crazy sometimes. Nonsensically idiotically stupid. I’m currently compiling a list of ways in which we have responded to feedback. One common criticism is that our service is closed too often due to team meetings and training sessions. How have we responded to this? By turning our monthly team meeting into a weekly event so that folk get use to us being closed. They said we’re closed too much, so in response we’re closing more so that they become accustomed to it. Fantastic!
So what have I been doing?
It’s been a while since I updated… Maybe because nothing exciting is happening in my world just now… *insert sad face here*
Work is as scintillating as usual, as shown by the 29 games of online scrabble I’ve played in the past seven days. I’m getting good, my win rate is currently 75%. A fair number of those are games with my flatmate who is determined to beat me. We’ve played about 18 games now, and so far she’s come close once. Her obsessive need to defeat me is keeping me slightly more entertained at work though, which is good. I’m scared that if she ever does beat me then she’ll stop playing me and I’ll have nothing to do all day!! Did I mention I’m kinda job-hunting? “But why?” I hear you gasp… And the answer is that even though being paid to play scrabble sounds like the ideal job after a year it loses the initial attraction. I think dogs can smell the waves of paranoid self-doubt emanating from me over the applications I’m preparing though, hell, humans can probably smell it to. But it is better to try and fail then never go for it and sit playing scrabble, waiting for the tiles to spell out words such as ‘embitter’ and ‘resentful’. Which would be impressive actually, considering how they have more than seven letters in them…
In other news, my flat is a secret portal to Antarctica. No, really. At night, in the living room, curled up in front of the heater, wrapped in blankets, wearing a bobble hat, I can see my breath. You go outside and experience a feeling of warmth. At least I don’t have to be concerned about chilling drinks or forgetting to put the milk back in the fridge.
And now back to the multiple games of scrabble I’m playing, oh yes.
The lumber-jack wizard pays his respects to a sperm whale
A 40 tonne sperm whale was found dead on an Aberdeenshire beach this weekend so on our way home from a halloween house party in the ‘Shire on Sunday morning us morbid souls went to have a look-see. Us being myself, the two-dykes-in-love and the lumber-jack wizard. It was raining and thought his hat from the evil wizard get-up he has wearing would help keep him dry. I’m not sure it did. He did look amazing though, see?!
And I know, I know, the public were warned not to go for the good of their health. What can I say? We’re bad and naughty people. Seeing the whale was kinda moving actually. This huge, majestic creature that in all probability died by coming too close to the shore and getting beached. Imagine it in the water…
A few years back me and a friend saw a baby seal on a beach in Moray. It started following us and it looked like it had split its stomach and had intestines hanging out. We called the SSPCA and were informed that it was a little boy seal, and that the intestines were, in fact, it’s genitals. Oh, and if it was following us they were certain that we could out run it. They were laughing as they hung up the phone. We were embarrassed. So the green tube-like thing in the above photo is a penis. In case anyone else is as clueless as I am.
I think I’ve found the potential lie to my vegetarianism
Now I’m vegetarian, and I’m one of those vegetarians who actually tries very hard not to consume any part of any animal. It upsets me when I swallow the occasional fly. I don’t wear leather shoes or purchase anything else made of leather. But I have recently made a shocking and upsetting discovery. Animal-derived produce can be hidden in foods that aren’t obviously non-vegetarian. For example:
- Jelly and jelly sweets often contain gelatin of the pork or beef variety, which comes from the hooves of pigs and cows. This is the same for marshmallows. Veggie alternatives do exist but are near-impossible to find where I live. I miss rocky road. I’ve made my own substituting different things for marshmallows but it just isn’t the same. Gelatin has also been known to sneak into the odd dessert like chocolate mousse.
- One of the assumed safe staples for vegetarians, cheese, isn’t always veggie friendly either. Some hard cheeses, like parmesan, contain rennet, aka the stomach lining of calves.
- And pesto. A little known fact is that pesto is often made using parmesan, which means unless it’s vegetarian parmesan then pesto is also a no-no.
However, back to my recent discovery. Alcohol. Yes, that’s right, alcohol. The fining process involves passing alcohol through either gelatin or isinglass, which comes from the bladders of tropical fish. This isn’t necessary and seems to be particularly popular in Britain. And what makes it even worse is that manufacturers aren’t legally obliged to list the ingredients of alcohol.
The main obstacle when trying to judge the acceptability to vegetarians of any given product is a clause in the 1984 Food Labelling Regulations (UK) which exclude from the 1984 Food Act all drinks with an alcohol content exceeding 1.2% by volume (ABV), leaving only very low or non-alcoholic beers, wines and ciders being required to list all ingredients.
The Vegetarian Society
So it’s not even as simple as being able to scan the ingredients. However most spirits, except whisky, seem to be safe, as is strongbow although most other ciders aren’t okay, and wine is also a gamble. I have at least found a decent website, Veggie Wines, which lists much alcohol and it’s vegetarian credentials as well as listing the source they got the information from.
I’m going to try to avoid the non-veggie alcohol but if anything will test my commitment to a strict vegetarian life-style, this will be it.
Epic curry! A continuation of my forays into cooking…
10.30pm last night saw me devouring a steaming bowl of curry. (Yes, my life really is that exciting!) It took longer to make than I anticipated, and the first evening of vegging at home that I’d had in almost a fortnight was the same evening that a good friend who moved away called, and then another friend called (oh I know, it’s so hard having friends). I also drastically underestimated the amount of time it would take to peeled and slice 450g of carrots, turn a small cauliflower into florets, dice an onion and crush some garlic after which I had to do battle with the tin-opener. Note to self: get ring-pull cans from now on, even if they are three times the price. It’s worth it. Oh boy, is it worth it! But eventually everything was simmering nicely. In two pans. Who knew that the recipe would produce that volume of curry? My freezer is now full of tupperware containers of curry. I’m very glad I liked the curry because I’ll be eating it for a while. I shouldn’t be so surprised by this. I’m not so good with quantities. The other day I was making gravy to go with the nut roast. Nothing fancy, just bisto granules. Should be relatively easy, four heaped tablespoons of gravy make half a pint of gravy, right? Wrong. Four heaped TEASPOONS of gravy make half a pint of gravy. Use tablespoons instead and you get two jugs brimming over with gravy, and also several mugs of the stuff. And still I needed to sieve the lumps out. Whoops!
Someone gave me the keys to the Kingdom of the Grown-Ups!!!
Maybe I pre-empted this slightly by purchasing a shiny new kitchen appliance the other day… That’s quite an adult thing to do, right?? Okay, so it’s only a hand-blender, and the most basic hand-blender it’s possible to get but still. I was telling a friend about my new purchase and it turns out that her and her boyfriend also bought a hand-blender the other day. Only their one is multi-speed and comes with various attachments. It would appear that my hand-blender is the equivalent of the £5 vibrator one can acquire from the ‘naughty vend’ machines found in the toilets of certain drinking establishments, whereas theirs is the classic rampant rabbit (but not one of the new and improved fancy ones like The Thruster for example). In fact, my hand-blender cost LESS than a naughty vend vibrator. Me? Jealous? Never!
However, back on track, eh-hem. I still think that buying kitchen appliances that go beyond the very basic and necessary is a grown-up activity. Especially seeing as it was a consequence of my new found enjoyment of cooking. I’ve started to compile a cookbook of recipes found online. So far my firm favourite is an AMAZING aubergine bake. You can find the recipe here. It’s very easy but absolutely delicious!
But this is not my key to the Kingdom of the Grown-Ups. Oh no. It’s far more than that. I’m amazingly excited and scared and happy and WOW!!!!
And yes, this entire post has been about saying that one simple thing: Good things are happening that make for a happy Flip. Yay! =)
