You find a box of individually wrapped snacky food products (think pretzels, chocolate wafers, and potato chips) with an expiration date over 2 years ago.

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13 years ago my Dad convinced me to buy a 1979 truck, and no doubt some of you still remember the beast, or at least it’s legend. While it may not have been much to look at, it was an opportunity for me to work with my Dad for many hours (attempting to) learn the ins and outs of automotive repair. Most of you probably know my mechanical skills have been the butt of many jokes, but this weekend I took on a project which gave me a new found appreciation for all my Dad did, forcing me to do work on a craptastic truck for 3 years.

In the interest of saving money (and practicing my drunken sailor vocabulary) I decided to take on replacing the brakes and rotors on my car myself. Admittedly, I had no clue whatsoever what I was doing. And while thanks to the internet I figured it out the process, I couldn’t have done it without those hours in my Dad’s garage years ago – instilling me with confidence that YES I CAN do it myself as long as I have the tools, the time, and plenty of four letter words.
Thanks Dad.

It has been a while since I’ve posted… sorry. Lots of strange and borderline exciting things have been happening (OMG House is back on!!) and as a result blogging hasn’t exactly been at the top of my list of things to do.

Still, most of you don’t give a shit about that, so here’s some food.

Greek Pasta with Tomatoes and Black Beans
-or-
$7 For 2 Dinners For 2 People
-OR-
A Modern Take on Frugalism for a Modern Economic Crisis

Serves: 4
Prep. Time: 10 Minutes, Cooking Time: 15 Minutes, Total Time: 25 Minutes

Ingredients:
2 (14.5 oz) cans Italian-style diced tomatoes or Del Monte Stewed Tomatoes, Italian
1 (15 oz) can Bush’s black beans, rinsed and drained
10 ounces fresh spinach, washed and chopped
8 ounces Barilla penne pasta, cooked
1/2 cup Athenos reduced-fat crumbled feta cheese (we substituted Mozzarella because of C’s aversion to icky Goats)

Directions:
Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente. Meanwhile, combine tomatoes and beans in a large non-stick skillet. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes. Add spinach to the sauce; cook for 2 minutes or until spinach wilts, stirring constantly. Serve sauce over pasta, and sprinkle with feta.

Who knew that a punch in the face in slow motion could look so fun? I couldn’t stop laughing at the face jiggles…

UPDATE: Now with 4x more working video goodness!

Watch CBS Videos Online

This video is only about a minute and a half, but it perfectly illustrates why Palin scares the living fuck out of me. Wonder why the Republicans aren’t letting her out to play outside of her protective sound-byte enhanced teleprompter speeches? This is absolutely cringe-worthy to watch.

I’d like to see some comments from the thoughts of others (especially Palin supporters).

My phone rings at work, and I answer as I’m oft to do in such situations…

Phone: How do you spell politicians and officials?
Me: Can’t you just use spellcheck?
Phone: Yes but none of them are in their office right now.

sore /sɔr, soʊr/
Pronunciation[sawr, sohr]
adjective, sor·er, sor·est, noun, adverb

-adjective
1. physically painful or sensitive, as a wound, hurt, or diseased part: a sore arm.
2. suffering bodily pain from wounds, bruises, etc., as a person: He is sore because of all that exercise.
3. suffering mental pain; grieved, distressed, or sorrowful: to be sore at heart.
4. causing great mental pain, distress, or sorrow: a sore bereavement.
5. causing very great suffering, misery, hardship, etc.: sore need.
6. Informal. annoyed; irritated; offended; angered: He was sore because he had to wait.
7. causing annoyance or irritation: a sore subject.
–noun
8. a sore spot or place on the body.
9. a source or cause of grief, distress, irritation, etc.

***

I almost bailed on taking the bike to work day 2, because – in a word – SORE. I thought about dropping drawers this morning and mooning C to see if she saw bruising, but then remembered I don’t like looking at my own ass so I could only imagine her response at being mooned at 7:30 in the morning. It would have been a bad scene…

So I did it. I didn’t die of exhaustion, get hit by a bus, or *gasp* get overly mocked by co-workers. It’s strangely refreshing to go out and get some fresh air in the morning. Hell, I didn’t even have to drink my normal 3 cups of coffee to get going and motivated at work today. The ride home was a bit more rough, but there really is something to the whole human-power thing that I could get to like…

I’m going to start my great bike experiment and prove to myself and others that its pointless to drive 4 miles to work, when I have a bike. All it took was the gift of a bike, $100, and some of my own elbow grease to get here.
More tomorrow…