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So, eventually we left the beach and began to head home. Then, my hubby had an idea. Why not go to Cameron’s Pub for dinner? (Provided that we could find it, that is.) So, we turned around and headed off along Highway 1 towards Half Moon Bay. As you can see from the picture above, they are still working on construction over there. (I seem to recall that they are trying to re-route the road by making a tunnel. Don’t quote me on that, though.)

What is that little building way up there?

This last picture is literally of the Tsunami Escape Route as indicated by signs that we passed on the way. Question? Why does the Tsunami Escape Route roughly parallel the water? It probably doesn’t actually do that, but that’s what it looks like.

We actually found the pub and had dinner there. They also have a wee British Food shop there. I popped in to take a look, and realized that…I already had some of each item that I usually enjoy. (I need to buy some crumpets today, now that I think about it, to tide me over until I attempt to make some more.)

After a lovely meal, and in my case a Cider, we headed for home. When you get into the car with Koshvader you never know where you’ll end up. The trick is to bring your camera and enjoy the ride, apparently.

(These photos didn’t shrink particularly well, so if you want to see the larger versions, check out my flickr photostream.)

…when you get into the car with my husband.

So, on Friday we left the house in search of lunch and, much more importantly, Air Conditioning. Have I mentioned that our apartment lacks this vital modern marvel? Friday was warm, as was the rest of the week. Okay, Koshvader insists that “warm” is an understatement, but you get the idea.

We set out for Johnny Rockets. We arrived, and discovered…that they had no A/C either. (It’s a plot, I tell you!) We ate quickly as 1) it was warm and 2) we had no change for the jukebox. I love those little jukeboxes in 50s cafes. Why is it that so many of them don’t work these days? It makes me crazy to only be able to look at the song lists and not inflict my choices on others. This may have something to do with the fact that I know most of the songs and enjoy singing along. (Come to think of it, they probably have a kill switch for when they see me coming. This would explain a lot of things.)

Anyway, we continued our great A/C hunt at Fry’s Electronics. This time we were successful. It was really nice in there. Fry’s was also my best hope for a copy of the Revenger’s Tragedy DVD that I was hunting for. No luck on that front. (Today I finally gave in an ordered it online. You hear that Matt? I bought it…so you can watch it when it arrives.)

Eventually we ran out of things to look at and not buy. That’s right. We actually escaped Fry’s empty handed. Then, the car door closed and the adventure began. I thought we might go to Best Buy or head home, but that was not the case. We drove and we drove. We passed by the cool house off of 280 that is now orange. I remember driving past it as a kid a couple of times.

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As if I didn’t know this already, but this is the final confirmation.

I kill TV Shows.

No, seriously. If I like a show (unless it’s from another country apparently) the show gets canceled. Moonlight and New Amsterdam? Both dead.

These are only the latest in the line of casualties.

Tarzan, Firefly, Starman…the list goes on. True, sometimes shows inexplicably survive for a couple of seasons, but lately that has become less and less likely. And I’ll bet that you folks out there who love Heroes are suddenly glad that I don’t watch it.

That’s it. I’m on strike. I’ll just have to wait for Joss Whedon’s new show “Dollhouse” to come out on DVD for fear of jinxing it. Also? I’m thinking about going on the offensive.

You heard me. I’m thinking about looking for some annoyingly popular show and starting to watch it…just to see what happens. Would that be using my powers for good or evil?

And now a spot of education for you all.

“Rickrolling is a prank and Internet meme involving the music video for the 1987 Rick Astley song “Never Gonna Give You Up” … The meme is a classic bait and switch: a person provides a link they claim is relevant to the topic at hand, but the link actually takes the user to the Astley video. The URL can be masked or obfuscated in some manner so that the user cannot determine the true source of the link without clicking (and thus satisfying their curiosity). By extension, it can also mean playing the song loudly in public in order to be disruptive. A person who falls for the prank is said to have been “Rickrolled”.” – Rickroll Wikipedia Article

Random Access Brain is the sort of brain that will randomly pop ideas into your head when you are busy doing something else. It will remind you of that time in kindergarten that you were learning the letter A, and do this for no apparent reason. It will take unrelated concepts and create new ideas out of them. Sometimes it will do this in the most inappropriate of circumstances. Worse yet, sometimes the ideas are funny.

Random Access Brain on Shuffle is when the RAB decided to start playing music. Generally it is something completely unexpected like the Gilligan’s Island theme or just the chorus of your favorite song from third grade.

You could be sitting at work, minding your own business, trying to remember that new band name you came up with the other day…that you forgot to write down. (Was it something to do with donuts?) And just when you think that you’ve got it, your RABoS starts playing “Never Gonna to Give You Up.”

And that’s how it’s possible to Rickroll yourself.

For a couple of different reasons my body is far from pleased with me today. So, I remain at home, recumbent.

I called in sick. I let my husband borrow my car. And now, I think I’ll follow the cats’ example and take a nap. Yeah.

Look! My on-sale griddle and crumpet rings in use!

My Mum has patiently reminded me that I have never posted the pictures detailing my Great [tag]Crumpet[/tag] Experiment. Obviously, I am a terrible daughter and must rectify the situation at once. (Yes…she is on vacation several states away and cannot smack me for my silliness. ha HA!)

Well, last Thursday evening the experiment began. I gathered all my ingredients and followed the directions. I even got to use my poor neglected triple-sifter. Now, I don’t have one of those huge mixer-thingies. That’s okay. My faithful bread bowl and a wooden spoon do just fine. (They are also a great workout for your arms.)

I only remembered to take a picture of the bowl after most of the batter was gone. Sorry.

So, everything seemed to be going well until I realized that the recipe was a bit vague about the amount of heat required for the exercise. As a result, the crumpets did not cook for a mere ten minutes on one side and four on the other. Oh no. It was more like double that. And the first crumpets were too thick anyway.

The first four. Not exactly the Fab Four.

Please note the crumpet at the top left in the picture above. That was when I found out about the time/heat problem. It was the first one I tried to turn over. Also, there were not enough holes forming in the tops of the crumpets. I consulted the recipe and added a wee bit more water to the remaining batter as instructed. The rest of the crumpets came out a bit better. By the time I finished it was after 3:30am. Yes, you read that correctly. The results were alright, but some turned out to be a bit doughy in the middle still. I have attacked this problem by toasting them longer than normal. It mostly works. Next time I will be trying a different recipe, I think. I wasn’t all that happy with this one. I have all kinds of books on Tea and if I don’t have a decent recipe then my Mum will. Heck, I even have a copy of Megdod’s Cookery if you fancy cooking something in a huge pot over an open flame.

Yes. My family is all about Tea. Why do you ask? I’ll probably make scones before I try crumpets again, but in the meantime I can have crumpets for breakfast that I made myself. er…So there.

The final product. Ta Da!

There you go. The suspense is over. I made crumpets!

I have a cat named Merry. I tend to call her Mer-Mer, or the Mer. She is small, black, and cute. Merry, however, comes with rules of conduct.

Rules of the Mer:

* Do not attempt to pet Merry unless she is 1) on the couch or 2) on the bed. Then, you may pet her if you live in the house. Strangers may not touch the Mer. Actually, strangers will not even see the Mer. (My sister is the noted exception to the non-resident rule.) Residents may pet the Mer, but only for a very short time. Too much petting will result in the Mer up and leaving.

* Do not attempt to pick up the Mer. The results vary from the wiggly Mer escaping to various and sundry puncture marks. If you have managed to actually subdue a picked up Merry, do not then make a loud noise, or you will have a nice long scratch to go with your puncture scars.

* Do not attempt to feed the Mer anything that is not kibble. Merry disdains all manner of cat yummies, up to, and including, tuna. The Mer laughs at treats and completely ignores wet food.

* Do not expect the Mer to meow, unless it is in annoyance. Then she is more likely to hiss and growl.

* Do not be tempted by the furry Mer belly. It is a trap.

The third rule is how I know that there is a podcat living in my house. Very occasionally, Mer-Mer will act completely out of character. She might meow a little, or let you pet her a bit longer than normal. But the other day something completely unprecedented occurred.

Merry drank milk.

She has never even been interested in milk before, much less anything that is non-kibble in nature. Better yet, I was in the right place to take a grainy picture of the event, as is right and proper for a sighting of this kind. I have seen the podcat. Currently she doesn’t seem bent on world domination, unless her plans are hidden under the bed somewhere.

I’ll keep an eye on her though. Just in case.

tee hee…

A life lived in fear is a life half lived.