S.A.D.

I've been pretty lonely lately, in two ways.  One: When I'm at home at night by myself.  Of course then, I'm literally alone, but it makes me feel alone in life.  It's then that I feel like I don't really mean anything to the people in my life.  I'm talking about school and work relationships.  I know there are people in my life whom I can rely on and whom I can expect to care about  me such as my family and close friends.  But I hardly get to talk to them because they are geographically distant to me, and that makes me feel emotionally distant as well.

Two: The fact that I don't have a girlfriend is really bugging me.  I always choke (metaphorically speaking) when the time comes for me to ask a girl on a date or make a move to let her know that I'm interested in her.  The other problem is that I'm a bit picky. Since my last girlfriend several years ago, there's only been three girls that I've been interested in enough to want to ask them on a date.  I feel like a girlfriend could be great for me, I need someone that I can be a man for, and I don't mean that in a sexist way, I mean to be a mature adult who happens to be male.  I also want someone who will be there to push me when I'm feeling stubborn, or can't find any motivation.  But there in lies the problem.  I want someone who will help me be a better person, but what I need is to work on myself so I can be that better person for her, before I even ask her out.  right?

S.A.D. is seasonal affective disorder.  I sorta feel like I might have that, because winter is always the worst for me, but I think it is just an obscure excuse for me because school happens to be during the winter which always brings me down, and I don't see as much sun which has affect on my mood as well.  Also, I'm going through some pretty rough times with school, not just the usual, homework and studying stuff, and that is what is bringing all of these personal problems to the surface right now.

Round 1, Fight!

Okay so this is going to be a weird one.  After watching some informative video clips about gangs.  I got to thinking about fights and assaults, etc.  Me being the non-violent type, I was thinking about what I, specifically, would do in a fight, or rather if someone attacked me.

First, assume I am able to get close to them in the fight, I would likely have a greater advantage in this situation than other because of my fighting style, which consists of wrestling techniques I learned in high school wrestling.

Second, also assume I am able to gain control of my opponent and the situation through some type of restraining hold, because that is what I would do in this situation.  I would not be throwing punches or kicks.  For me punches and kicks would be weak of character, unsuccessful and look ridiculous.

Now assuming these things, because otherwise I will have already lost the fight (and be broken and bruised and possibly on the way to the hospital), the next thing I would do is make them squirm a bit, nothing too harmful just something like grinding my knuckles, elbow or knee into their flesh so that it makes them uncomfortable.  And I would give command, telling them to stop their attempts and leave me alone.  When they finally agree, they would be released back into the wild.

This has happened to me before and I've been in situations where it escalated to this but only once or twice in all my life.   So far, that is all that is happened though, because this method usually works very well in resolving conflict, and with minimal harm to either side.  And by the way, this tactic came naturally to me when I was in these situations, I didn't have to rehearse them in my mind or think about what I would do ahead of time.  But I was thinking about what I might do if the person lied about quitting their attempts to fight, and came back at me once I released them.

Well I can tell you, I would repeat step one if possible, but instead of a command, they would now receive threat of the consequences if they continued to attack me.  The consequences being that I WILL try to seriously injure them, if they try again.  Again, this would be accompanied by a similar form of mild, child aged torture (knee, knuckle elbow, etc.).

And for the grand finally, on a third attack, I would again use my wrestling techniques to gain control of my opponent.  I would then use something like an arm bar to seriously injure their shoulder and/or dislocate it.  I assume that would render them useless against me, they would finally get the "hint," and would now be seeking medical attention.

As you can see you get a couple of chances with me and I'm not a violent person to begin with, but if provoked enough, I do get serious.  And again, this is all assuming that I can overpower my opponent.  God help me if my opponent is stronger than me or more skilled in wrestling technique than I.  Also keep in mind how I am not a violent person, I can't stress that enough.  If you know me irl, you would probably pick that up really fast.

Okay, the end, the weird one is over.  Back to your regular programming, perhaps another post soon.  It depends on whether or not I've got anything cooking, and whether or not I'm cooking ideas or food :)

Red, Yellow, Green Sandwich

Cook two small sausage patties and one over easy egg. Apply cheese to sausage while it is in the pan so it begins to melt.  Meanwhile, toast the bread.  I used Colby jack cheese and sour bread, not to be confused with sourdough bread.  I wanted sourdough, but I bought the wrong kind, anyway...  When these are done put the sausage patties on one side of the toasted bread and put in an oven or toaster oven to broil, just until the cheese starts to bubble and turn brown, then remove.  While that is broiling add sliced banana peppers (Yellow), slice Roma tomato (red), and sliced avocado to the other side of the sandwich.  When the sausage side comes out of the oven, add the egg and put the sandwich together.  Wa la: red, yellow, green sandwich!

*Notes

1.  I have never tried this sandwich with hamburger but if I did I'm sure it would be delicious without the egg.

2.  Left over tomato and avocado can be made into a salsa or guacamole dip to be used with corn chips as a side dish for this sandwich.

I'm thinking about having another Stir Fryday tomorrow, if anyone will come...  but it has to be before 7pm when I work.

Ollie!

There has been a skate board in the back of my Subway for a while now.  I'm assuming that a customer left it behind or something.  My co-worker and I finished all the nightly chores and a few of the weekly and monthly chores, so we decided the only thing left to do was learn to do an Ollie.  Sorry co-worker; we suck, but I feel like, if we continue to practice, we might be able to learn it after a while... a long while.

This video is not of me.

Quiche or Egg Bake

In my family and all my life I don't think I've ever come across a quiche or egg bake that had a crust, but when I looked up how to make one online, crust was a common feature.  Weird.  Also spinach was a common ingredient, but that's not so weird to me, I'v had that before.

After I looked up online how to make quiche (here)  I decided only to take from the recipe that I needed 4 eggs and 2 cups of half and half, the rest I made up by myself.  Here goes;

Stir 4 eggs, 2 cups of half and half and various seasonings into a homogenized mixture, in a bowl.  I think I used some dried herbs like oregano, parsley, and a dash of rosemary.  I also used a bit of celery seed and a tiny bit of cayenne.  But it could be whatever you like.  Then mince or finely chop a quarter cup of precooked ham, a half cup of broccoli, a quarter cup table carrots, and about a tablespoon of shallots.  Mix these ingredients into a homogenized mixture and spread evenly in a 9x13 casserole dish.  (Measurements are guesses, since when I'm making up recipes I just go with what feels right.)  Next spread a quarter cup mixture of pepper jack and colby jack cheese.  Then, break up a few dollops of mashed potatoes (I'm gonna say three fourths cup) into the dish.  It's hard to explain how I spread the potatoes out; they were pretty evenly spread but not in a solid or flat layer.  Next pour the egg mixture over the dish and make sure everything is submerged in the liquid.  Spread another quarter cup mixture of pepper jack and colby jack cheese.

Cooking instructions are the same as in the link.  Bake in a preheated oven @ 425 for 15 minutes, then turn down to 350 and continue baking for 25 minutes.  *Note if  the top layer of cheese becomes submerged while cooking, you can add a bit more at the end of cooking, turn the oven to broil and wait for the cheese to melt before removing the dish.  But be sure not to burn the dish or leave it in too long on broil.

I discovered that this dish is more like a casserole or cheesy potatoes,  but still tastes good, especially with a side of assiago toast.