Paneer Makhani  from Bombay Dhaba

If there is one thing I really really REALLY cannot stand it is rude people. Specifically, people who are rude to me when I call through relay.

First, there's the fact that the number I am calling is American and I'm in Australia. So I'm up all night trying constantly to make a call go through. It's now nearly 4 am and I JUST managed to get through at last. I have two numbers for the place - both I keep getting the machine. It's a BUSINESS!!! And I'm calling during their business hours! Do people not answer the fricking phone anymore? And no, I'm not leaving a damned message because I'm not gonna get a call back (I'm calling via internet relay which is one way calling only).

Then there's the fact that the machine on one of the numbers suddently started saying "Thank you for calling," then hanging up. WTF. I suspect it was a man who then tried to switch over to machine once they heard the relay spiel and the relay operator suspects the same.

Then I FINALLY get through to a real live person - hallelujah! But my happiness was shortlived and squashed flat into nothingness by the man's outright rudeness.

The first thing he said to me was to "hurry up."

SERIOUSLY???? Ummmm, is that how you greet customers?

At this point, I'm still calm. I'm thinking to myself, it's the relay issue and he might think I'm not a customer and am some kind of telemarketer wasting his time. So, I assure him that I'm a customer and inform him that I'm calling about an order I placed.

So he asks for my order number ....

Now I had the order number all ready, but damned if I could find it. Gimme a break. I've been calling since 11 pm (9 am their time) and it's now 4 am (2 pm for him). With all the frustration I was feeling from trying to get information, frankly I think he could be patient for 5 seconds while I opened my email again and retrieved it.

But nooooooooooooooooooooooooo

He had the nerve to tell me to call him back. OH HELL NO. It took me this long. No way was I hanging up and starting the damn process all over again. This wouldn't even be an issue if he had just answered my emails instead. Hell, it wouldn't have been an issue had he given me the CORRECT information in his first email confirming my order.

Just when I am about to give him the number he tells me to give him my name or the order number because he can't wait, he can't spend the whole day doing this (his words!).

OMG ... how does this man have any business? Does he treat everyone like this or is it just me and am I paranoid for thinking it's because I'm deaf and called through relay. Would he have been more polite had I been hearing? What's more, it's not gonna take all day!!! It took 5 fricking seconds. Exaggerate much??

So I give him the name and the order number.

And he tells me it takes 7 to 10 days to complete. So I ask him why in my email from HIM, he told me 72 hours for that particular order. He said nothing about it being custom or being prescription or anything else. He said, 72 hours for my order and then he'd let me know when it shipped and the shipping number. And he proceeded to treat me like a moron because apparentally on the website it says 7 to 10 days.

Now, I read that on the website. It's in the FAQ section. HOWEVER, why write to me in an email that it'd be 72 hours? I think my confusion over the shipping/process time is valid and I'm justified in calling to get clarification.

Then I ask what the current status is ... it's shipping on Monday but I'll believe that when I see it ... and I oh so politely thank him for the information. Then I proceed to give him a little lecture about how he really didn't need to be rude to me. I effing paid them $300 dollars. Service is a part of a business!

Figures, the operator told me the line went dead - he didn't hang up on me but he was no longer on the line.

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR. RUDE PEOPLE SUCK!!!!

Of course ... in my emails I see that he's finally answered my query and has sent me 3 emails, all stating the same thing. What an ASS!

Yay to Apple for recognizing ASL!

Check it out! This is hilarious! It's sung by Anita Renfro to the William Tell Overture, all the things a mother might say from morning to night. And interpreted by Tina Perry who does an awesome job!

Today I was informed of something that I never thought about before ... never even considered that such a thing was possible. And of course, me being me, I had to research it and find pictures and all that. In my course of research, I came across this article from Esquire. I rather like the woman's outlook and humorous view of her condition.


 

"I Like Big Buts"

Know how I'm always saying that deaf drivers are WAY better/safer than hearing drivers ... well, maybe that's not so true after all. *wink wink*

Okay. Yes I know - Ice Ice Baby is a crap song. Yes, I actually listened to it (and amazedly memorized it and was able to follow along with it - no easy feat ... there is a reason I don't often listen to this kind of music after all) and yes it is probably embarrasing of me to admit such a thing. But there is a point here, I promise ... This video is so funny. It's of Keith Wann, a sign-language performer (and a CODA) showing the difference of using SEE and ASL and why ASL is soooooooooo much better ... it's done to the song Ice Ice Baby. Check it out!

These are the top 106 books most often marked as "unread" by LibraryThing's users (as of today). As usual, bold what you have read, italicise what you started but couldn't finish, and strike through what you couldn't stand. 




Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Anna Karenina
Crime and punishment
Catch-22
One hundred years of solitude
Wuthering Heights
The Silmarillion
Life of Pi : a novel
The name of the rose
Don Quixote
Moby Dick
Ulysses
Madame Bovary
The Odyssey (in Latin & English)
Pride and prejudice
Jane Eyre
A tale of two cities
The brothers Karamazov
Guns, Germs, and Steel: the fates of human societies
War and peace
Vanity fair
The time traveler's wife
The Iliad (in Latin)
Emma
The Blind Assassin
The kite runner
Mrs. Dalloway
Great expectations
American gods
A heartbreaking work of staggering genius
Atlas shrugged
Reading Lolita in Tehran : a memoir in books
Memoirs of a Geisha
Middlesex
Quicksilver
Wicked : the life and times of the wicked witch of the West
The historian : a novel
A portrait of the artist as a young man
Love in the time of cholera
Brave new world
The Fountainhead
Foucault's pendulum
Middlemarch
Frankenstein
The Count of Monte Cristo
Dracula
A clockwork orange
Anansi boys
The once and future king
The grapes of wrath
The poisonwood Bible : a novel
1984
Angels & demons
The Inferno
The satanic verses
Sense and sensibility
The picture of Dorian Gray
Mansfield Park
One flew over the cuckoo's nest
To the lighthouse
Tess of the D'Urbervilles
Oliver Twist
Gulliver's travels
Les misérables
The corrections
The amazing adventures of Kavalier and Clay
The curious incident of the dog in the night-time
Dune
The prince
The sound and the fury
Angela's ashes : a memoir
The god of small things
A people's history of the United States : 1492-present
Cryptonomicon
Neverwhere
A confederacy of dunces
A short history of nearly everything
Dubliners
The unbearable lightness of being
Beloved
Slaughterhouse-five
The scarlet letter
Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation
The mists of Avalon
Oryx and Crake : a novel
Collapse : how societies choose to fail or succeed
Cloud atlas
The confusion
Lolita
Persuasion
Northanger abbey
The catcher in the rye
On the road
The hunchback of Notre Dame
Freakonomics : a rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything
Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance : an inquiry into values
The Aeneid (in Latin)
Watership Down
Gravity's rainbow
The Hobbit
In cold blood : a true account of a multiple murder and its consequences
White teeth
Treasure Island
David Copperfield
The Three Musketeers  

Marie asking me about Number the Stars, made me remember some of my favourite books when I was younger, so I thought I'd list them here. These still are favourites and I used to have all or most of these books on my shelves. One day, when I have the money, I think I'd like to go in old bookshops and collect them for my bookshelves. These are all books from Elementary School and Junior High - I'll have to do a High School book list later.

Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg

Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson

Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls

Charlotte's Web by E.B. White

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

Izzy, Willy-Nilly by Cynthia Voigt

The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare

The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare

My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George

Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Heidi by Joanna Spyri

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien

Ramona the Pest by Beverley Clearly (and other Ramona stories, but this one is the best)

The Cay by Theodore Taylor

Little Woman by Louisa May Alcott

The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis (and the rest of the series)

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery (and Anne of Avonlea and the rest of the series)

The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkein

The Once and Future King by T.H. White

Mmmm ... I can't think of anything else at the moment. I'm sure I'm forgetting a lot. I love books!!! Interestingly enough most of these books, I read in school for class (is it any wonder I adored English classes - I got to read and not get in trouble for doing it in class!!!) and I believe quite a few of the books on my list recieved the Newbery Medal or Newbery Honor (for those who don't know, it's awarded anually to the author who made a distinquished contribution to American literature for children).

Oooh and I went through a Judy Blume phase - she's definitely a great author and a lot of her books are banned - even more reason to read them!

Blubber

Are You There God? It's Me Margaret

Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing

Superfudge

Freckle Juice

Deenie

Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself

I also went through a horse phase - in fact, I think I'm still going through one!

Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry (this one was my absolute fav horse story - also a Newbery Honor book I think ... what can I say? I have high standards and good taste)

Black Beauty by Anna Sewell

The Black Stallion by Walter Farley

Though not truly a classic or anything, but Pretty Penny Farm by Joanne Hoppe has always stuck with me ... it has horses yes, but really its a story about a girl and her group of friends who made fun of this other girl who just moved to the states from Poland The girl ends up spending the summer with the Polish girl learning what friendship really is. Yeah I know - I'm a sap.

There is one book that I cannot recall for the life of me the name of it. I do remember that it was about a girl and how she felt her best friend was growing apart from her and she was being left behind being still interested in childhood things. I think that it was set in the 1960's because I remember a scene in the book where she's listening to the radio and The Byrd's Mr. Tambourine Man was playing. I remember that the scene and the song made me cry and really connect with the character ... I even remember the lyrics written in the book, though I've never actually heard the song itself -

"Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to.
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
In the jingle jangle morning I'll come followin' you."

Really - not a sad song at all, so I'm not entirely sure why I was crying, I just remember that I was. Now if only I could remember the name of the damn book!

Just for fun ... here are my two most favourite childhood stories:



Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst has the best line ever ... "I think I'll move to Australia." All my siblings loved this book. I remember how Janine, Luke and I always fought over who got to read it. At one point, my mom had to hide this book in her room - I knew where it was and used to sneak in to get it so I could read it.

And how can anyone not love Where the Wild Things are by Maurice Sendak? Even Josh loved this book when he was a kid. He pretty much wore out the cover on this one - which wasn't hard since Josh tended to be rough on his books. Took me a while to teach him that books weren't for eating.

Josh's favourite lines (done with voices and gestures of course):
"And the wild things roared their terrible roars
and gnashed their terrible teeth and rolled their
terrible eyes and showed their terrible claws."

Oh, and in "honor" of banned books week -

I've been thinking a lot about books that I have in the shipping that are not yet here and looking forward to finally getting them so I can read them again. I love to read, and the best books are those that you can read over and over again.

One of the books I've been wanting to re-read is Schindler's List (aka Schindler's Ark). Not an entirely happy story, granted, but still one of the best things I've ever read. Though I can understand those who'd rather not read about such devasating things like the Holocaust, but I think it's important to remember such history, no matter how awful it may be.



What put me in mind to read Schindler's List was watching the movie, Freedom Writers with Hilary Swank, in which her character introduces the book Diary of Anne Frank and also takes the class to see the movie, Schindler's List.



Then, on afterellen, there's a blog talking about the book, The Zookeeper's Wife, a book about hiding Jewish people in the Warsaw Zoo in Poland. Another book I'd really like to read.



I recall visiting the Holocaust museum in Houston with Marie and really being affected by what I saw and learned there. As I grow older, I learn more things and I see things in a different light, so I'd like to go back and read these books again, because I think I'd get something new out of it this time.

Does that make any sense?

Another favorite, this one aimed at young adults (and I've taught this book in my classes) is Number the Stars.



Going off the topic of Holocaust stories - I'd love to get this book:



Because it has homosexual content, it's a banned book. *rolls eyes* PULEEZE! Frankly, I think it's a great story - best of all, it's based on a real-life story of two male penquins who were actually mated and raised a baby together (the zookeepers gave them an egg from another couple that had two eggs but had failed many times previous to raise 2 at a time).

I agree with Marie - banned books give me the heebeejeebies ... though I must say I get a lot of pleasure out of reading so-called banned books (and rolling my eyes all the while at the people who want to ban them). I recall once when I was younger, getting my hands on a list of such books and setting out to read them all. I don't think I quite made it. A few weeks back, I did read a list of banned books and much to my pleasure and amusement, I noted that I've read pretty much most of the books on the list. LOL ... perhaps I should get the list and complete it.

It's just after 3:30 in the morning ... I'm wide awake - for 3 three reasons. 1) I slept in this morning 2) my nose is stuffy again and I can never sleep with a stuffy nose 3) I'm too darn hyper.

So I'm sitting here with the laptop ... at first I was playing games but I quickly got bored with that. In the mood for music, I decided to see if I could get CMT to work - I miss my country music. Stupid thing still won't work. Usually it's great - loads of country music vids to watch. Since the thing wasn't cooperating, I headed over to youtube to get my fix. Ahhh country music (shush all you who are laughing at my taste in music) ... it was an easy choice for me to decide who to listen to .. my FAVOURITE - the Dixie Chicks. I even found some really cool ones I hadn't seen before, like them singing Shower the People at a tribute to James Taylor (who I also enjoy).

Since I hadn't looked on their site in ages, I thought while I was listening, I'd take a look and see what they were up to ... only to find out that they're going to be in Brisbane this October!!!! (and Sydney, Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne)

OH

MY

GOD!

Now, being deaf, I've never really wanted to go to a music concert. But if there was any concert that I have ever wanted to go to so much - it would be The Dixie Chicks. (Safri Duo would be my second choice)

I cannot express how much I wish I had the money (they're probably sold out anyhow) to go. I would be in heaven!!!! Oh to see the Chicks perform live?!! Definitely a dream come true.

So now I'm sitting here in bed, butterflies in my stomach and all I want to do is jump up and shout and figure out a way to get myself into that concert. I want to go so badly it is insane! But of course, everyone else (aka the sane ones) are fast asleep so I have to restrain myself.

One day ... one day I will get to see the Dixie Chicks perform.

I guess it just won't be this year. I weep at this! (figuratively of course)

All I can say is ... DAMN!!!

IF I COULD HAVE ANYTHING I WISHED FOR ...






I'd visit this era ...

I'd like to go forward in time to see first hand futuristic cities soar into the skies, all crystalline and made of polished metal ... I'd like to see the way the world will be. Did we make enough changes? Did we save the world in time? Are the trees, the flowers, the grass and the animals still there? Are our waters safe? Have people stopped warring and come together, embracing their differences? Is the world a safe place for my children's children and their children?

I'd wake up here ...

Ideally, I'd wake in some old cedarwood pavilion in Old Kyoto, where the maple trees reflect on the tranquil morning lake ... and my senses would be assaulted with the scents of flowers in the air and the fresh smell that always comes just after a rain has refreshed the earth. I'd feast my eyes upon all the greenery and color the world has to offer. I'd watch the waters ripple slowly and inside, I'd feel that same tranquility.

I'd have this job ...

I'd like to be a writer, writing something I always meant to write, and maybe changing the world forever. I'd like my thoughts, my words be heard by others and offer them a different view. I'd like to delight them with the fantasies of my mind and give them a place to escape to if only for a little while.

I'd have more ...

If I thought about it ... I really need more time to slow down and to be myself. I'd like to take the time to really experience all the world has to offer instead of only merely dreaming about it and saying "one day ..." because there will come a time when I will no longer have that one day.

I'd be good at this ...

And sometimes I wish I could be an artist, messing around with media and materials, really doing something new. I'd like to create something that truly expresses who I am, what I see and how I feel and share that with the world.

I'd have this superpower ...

I'd like to possess a super-weapon that can deflect any attack - I'd kick ass and look good doing it.

I'd go here ...

And it would be amazing to travel the deserts in the age-old way, on top of a camel. A journey across the sands of time.

I'd have this ...

Pets? I'd like a tiger you can cuddle and whose breath doesn't smell of yesterday's wildebeest. I'd love to tame a wild thing and give him a home.

I'd throw this party ...

Finally, I'd like to throw a party with a few old friends in the cellar of my favourite cantina ... friends, wine and good food - what more could you want?

I'd meet this ...

And maybe ... just maybe ... I'd invite an unicorn along as a surprise guest.


What do you wish? http://dna.imagini.net/friends/wishes.html

Internationally:



create your own visited countries map
or vertaling Duits Nederlands


In the United States:



create your own visited states map
or check out these Google Hacks.

I made the yummiest dinner tonight. I'm so proud of myself. I even timed everything right so it was all ready around the same time! The butternut squash did take longer than I thought it would but in the end it was so worth the extra wait. I can't wait to have the leftovers for lunch tomorrow but it's just as well, since I am so FULL!!!

It was actually very simple - I wanted to eat the squash but didn't know what to have for it, so I thought I'd try making it into a sauce. I thought of a soup first but hit on the sauce idea when I decided ravioli would be good for Josh's dinner - might as well make some ravioli for myself as well.

I started with nearly killing myself trying to half the squash and the sweet potato. Darn things are so hard to cut and my knives SUCK. I cannot wait until I have money and can buy the GOOD kitchen utensils (among other kitchen-y things *grin*)Then I roasted the squash and sweet potato cut side down in the oven for 45 minutes. Then I turned them over, buttered them and cooked them side up for 20 minutes. After that, I checked them again and decided to add a bit of brown sugar to glaze them up. I stopped keeping an eye on the time around then, as I was busy with other things and simply kept checking them with a fork to see how soft they were (I wanted them REALLY soft).

While the squash and potato cooked, I chopped up an onion and some celery and sauteed those. I'm not sure why I decided to add those into the sauce, just that I had some in the house and thought they'd add an interesting flavor.

Then I got busy with the asparagus. They were on sale at the shop for such a good price and there was no way I could turn them down. I adore asparagus and never buy it because it is so expensive. It was my first time ever cooking them so I did look up ideas and stuff. I finally decided to stay simple - just coated them with olive oil and salt. Despite a bit too much olive oil and slightly mushy - they tasted soooooo freaking yummy. I was in heaven. I also boiled an egg, sliced it and put it on top of the asparagus for a garnish. What can I say, I was feeling very chef-like tonight. It looked really pretty - I did take pictures but I cannot find the cable to the camera (any idea where it could be Marie?). SO so so delicious - even Josh ate two asparagus stalks and said they weren't too bad!

Back to the squash - basically I scooped out the squash and the sweet potato, put in some butter, the onions and celery (I actually put only a little bit in at first, to see how the flavors combined - but it really enhanced the flavor of the squash and added a little something extra to it so I dumped in the rest), and some vanilla soy milk (I didn't measure, just kept adding until desired consistency) and then used my mixer to blend it all (the blender is crap). I have to say it again - YUMMY!!!!! Since the milk cooled it down, I warmed it in the microwave.

Then I simply spooned the sauce on the ravioli. Made for a real interesting combination but I liked it (DUH!) One of my best creations I must say.

I wonder if you'd like it Marie - other than the little bit I put on it while it was roasting, I didn't put any brown sugar in like I did last time I made squash so it definitely tasted like squash, though I do thing the addition of the sweet potato and the onions and celery do make it very flavorful and sweeter.

When I track down that cable, I'll upload the pictures. Can you tell how proud I am of myself???

After dinner, I chatted with my mom a bit ... good news. She's gonna hold off on cashing the check until the car is fixed and I'm doing okay in the financial department. Rather nice of her I must say especially when I know she needs the money herself.

Then I flipped through the channels with Josh - UGH nothing on. He was begging for dessert and since he didn't really have a great welcome home last night due to the car drama and us both being so tired - I decided to treat him to ice cream so we walked with Ed up to the corner shop. Josh had a cone and I had a frozen fruit bar ... his cone broke and fell on the ground. I felt bad and let him have the rest of mine. I was full anyhow.

Ed, of course, had a blast sniffing everything. Why do dogs have to pee on every damn bush??? *rolls eyes* I don't know why I bother to call it a "walk" when it's more like "let's stop and sniff every last blade of grass till you tug my neck to move on"

It's a gorgeous night. If I weren't so tired, I'd sit on my little patio and just chill. Ahhh ... I can't wait til I have a nice huge verandah. Til then I'll make do with my dinky little one. But that's another night.