The Return of the Xmas Bleuch

Dammit, Silvia and Rocky!  Because of the two of you I've had to go back to drinking Starbucks VIA Xmas Bleuch in the morning!  Because of you, I needed to down it with a stupid sesame-poppy-seed cracker and water.  But this morning the water cooler was out of order, so I had to drink the tap water and THAT tastes like water with dissolved metal in it.  Fie upon you Rocky and Silvia!  Fie!

Chartreuse Mug looks pretty pissed off.

I tried, Silvia&Rocky.  I tried.  I even looked up stupid online videos about how to use you.  You know what I found out?  I found out that you, Rocky, never actually dispense the right amount of coffee.   So I tried eyeballing the amount of coffee that was going into Silvia.  But no dice.  NO DICE.  The coffee was still weak and revolting. 

I surmised that possibly it was the coffee.  But the coffee is fancy-ass Black Cat Classic Espresso coffee!  It's supposed to be The Shit. 

Being the good little former-scientist I am, I decided to just try my own coffee in the Silvia.  You may remember (if you exist) that my coffee had made the office a little insane when I made it initially.  I expected the same effect this time.

Alas, this was not the case.  I made a double with my coffee and it was OK.  It was way, way better than with the fancy-ass Black Cat coffee, but it still wasn't the same syrupy-strong cup that the Silvia made initially.  Nor was it as tasty as the coffee Desktop Espresso made. 

Obviously something has happened to Silvia in the past two weeks that I've been away.  And obviously Black Cat Espresso is not The Shit.

As such, Silvia&Rocky's Evil Empire has been defeated by the scrappy Desktop Espresso Team.  For now, at least.

Which One's Han Solo?

A Grainy Day: Rice Crackers and Wheat Soup

The office was closed between Xmas and New Year, so it it's only been open since Tuesday.  When I returned to the office today (Thursday), I didn't expect much from the snack closet. I figured it hadn't even been stocked, especially since half the engineers were still on vacation.  But no, the snack closet was stocked -- with the bizarrest food ever!  

There were weird ranch-flavoured baguette bites, the stupid sesame-poppy-seed crackers, Costco brand granola bars, two-bite cinnamon rolls (!) and Japanese-style rice crackers.  Oh, and in the fridge there was some kind of onion dip that Linda, The Office Manager and God of the Snack Closet, said was the bestest thing ever.  I'm sure it tasted great, but it included such tasty ingredients as monosodium glutamate, so I stayed away from it even as she scooped some into Jim from QA's plate.   

Instead I ate the rice crackers and sesame-poppy-seed crackers.  What's left here are the nori-covered crackers that I hate.  Nori tastes like dead fish.

For lunch I had leftover wheat and lentil soup.  It was from a package.  I thought I was buying red lentil and barley soup.  Instead it was wheat.  Whatever.  It was edible.  

Not Barley Red Lentil Soup

Grilled Cheeses and Omelets Are Universal Foods

Irene calls me up today and says, "I had a Snad Food Day today!"  So I'm like, "What the hell are you talking about?"

"I had a grilled cheese for breakfast and an omelet for lunch!  You always have grilled cheeses for breakfast and omelets for lunch!" 

"Well, not quite.  I do have grilled cheeses for breakfast quite often," I said, "but I typically have omelets for supper.  And that's only on evenings when I don't want to cook."  

"I didn't want to cook for lunch," she said, "so it's the same thing.  Did you notice that the leftover piece of grilled cheese is in the shape of Brazil?"  

Then she told me about the omelet.

Have you seen Tampopo?  Of course you haven't, and not only because you, dear reader, are a figment of my imagination.  I think only 12 people in North America have seen it and I know each and every one of them.  There's something to be said for having a repertoire theatre within walking distance of your university.

Anyways,  Tampopo is a Japanese movie about food.  There's one scene where they make omurice, a Japanese rice omelet.  Irene and I both learned to make omurice after watching that movie.  My omurices, though, usually don't involve tomato sauce or ketchup, but do include tobasco.   Irene's omurice from today included bonito flakes and black sesame seeds, because, like I said, she's a better cook than me.  Also, I don't like the idea of bonito flakes.