You're The Devil!

Last night I did my cooking for tonight’s recipe exchange pot luck at our final cooking class.
I decided to make something that is actually a staple food back home in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, a pasty.
That’s pronounced “past-ee,” or “passed-ee,” not “paste-ee,” which is what a stripper might wear to cover her nipple.
In point of fact, I made several (enough for everyone). It was the first time I’d ever made pasties, so the end results were less-than stellar.
They tasted fine; they just didn’t look pretty.
In fact, making them was very nearly the last straw, turning me off of cooking entirely (especially following as it did on the heels of making the cheesecake).
On the face of it, there’s nothing terribly complicated about making a pasty. It’s basically just like a large hot pocket, consisting of meat and vegetables folded inside of a pie crust.
The crust was what actually gave me trouble. No matter how much flour I used the crust insisted on sticking to the counter and to the rolling pin, and no matter how I varied the amount of filling, the crusts kept refusing to fold neatly over.
Still, in the end I accomplished it, with just barely acceptable results, and everyone in the class seemed to enjoy them.
Personally, I’ve never been that much of a fan of pasties. That’s largely because I hate onions, and onions are usually a main ingredient in them. Further, they’re relatively cheap to make and are extremely filling, so when I was growing up my mom made them quite frequently, which only added to my dislike of them.
My dislike has softened a little over the years, particularly since in later years my mom was more willing to make them sans onions and I’m not really exposed to them that often.
Last night’s experience, though, has rather soured me on them again…
In recent years, pasties were a significant part of Neil Gaiman’s novel “American Gods,” which largely took place in areas around the Upper Peninsula. Again, while I’m not really a fan of them the way some “Yoopers” (as people from the Upper Peninsula, or U.P. are known) are, it was kind of neat to see a reference to something that is such a major component of life in the area where I grew up.
In any case, in addition to the final cooking class Kathleen and I were in a training class for work all day.
I have to say that this class is a total snoozefest, and that it’s made me think that the 16 hours of OT just aren’t worth it.
The subject matter is actually useful, and there are a lot of good concepts, but the instructor is really, really boring, and despite the fact that he founded the company that provides the instruction for other companies, he doesn’t seem like he knows what he’s talking about.
Honestly, I’m sure that he does, and it’s clear that he must, but as Kathleen pointed out, he said “uhh” and “umm” sixty times in the first fifteen minutes, so he comes across as uncertain and ill-at-ease. Also, he has a tendency to just ramble without pause, even though he stresses the importance of employing effective pauses.
Add to that the fact that, unlike the last class Kathleen and I took, there’s no decent eye-candy, and it all equals a day-long struggle to stay awake.
As mentioned, I did see “Tucson” today, in order to give her the cheesecake, and I have to say that she was looking especially good.
Kathleen had mentioned that when she had known her back in Arizona, Tucson frequently wore a plaid skirt to work, which was greatly appreciated by all the men present. I had been hoping for that today, but it wasn’t to be. Even so, as mentioned, she still looked smoking hot.
Kathleen had brought her own lunch in, so when we went up to the cafeteria she just found a table while I bought some food. After doing so, I searched through the cafeteria to find her, finally spotting her sitting at a table outside…with Tucson.
While I was getting food, Kathleen had seen her sitting outside and, for my benefit, opted to sit out there.
Unfortunately it didn’t pay off for me (nor would it have, really, other than just giving me a chance to see her hotness for a while longer), as by the time I got out there she’d finished her lunch and had to leave for a meeting that she had already postponed.
So as usual, as soon as I approached the pretty girl fled…
Once the class was over, as mentioned, Kathleen and I had some time to kill, so we hit Wal-Mart and then Burlington Coat Factory.
From there it was off to the last cooking class, where we all sampled each other’s favorite recipes. I most enjoyed the Tandoori Chicken and the Dirt Pudding.
It’s going to be strange to not have to go to class on Tuesdays anymore, though I suppose that I might as well get used to not seeing much of Kathleen, as it looks as though she’s moving on to a different job.
As much as I hate to admit it in a forum in which she’ll see it, I will actually miss her.
Just don’t expect me to repeat that.
One of the few entertaining moments in today’s training class (the topic is “thinking on your feet,” by the way) came from an exercise Kathleen and I were paired up for.
We were each given a sheet filled with names of various people: singers, actors, athletes, writers, fictional characters, etc.
Our assignment was to look through the names and circle three that we felt our partner resembled in some way.
It became immediately apparent that she and I had both made the same choice for one of the three: The Devil.
That was pretty funny.
The point of the exercise was for us to look at the three choices our partners had made and pick one of the three names and answer a question from the perspective of the person named.
Naturally I couldn’t resist picking The Devil. We even had to go so far as to turn the little cards we’d written our names on inside out and write the name of who we were pretending to be.
Later on, when I was paired up with someone else for another exercise I introduced myself as Jon, and she said, “Oh, that’s your name. I just remembered you as ‘The Devil.’”
As I mentioned, yesterday I went in for an eye exam. The doctor concluded that I don’t need a new prescription. In fact, with these contacts my vision has actually improved slightly. I still have a cataract in my left eye, but it hasn’t grown at all.
My benefits did allow for me to get new glasses, but I really didn’t feel the need to get new ones, as I only wear them at home anyway. However, the woman working there mentioned that I could get prescription sunglasses, so I decided to go for that.
While my pupils were dilating I picked out a frame, and with the frames free, and only having to pay $50 for the lenses, I figured that, with the added features for the lenses, the sunglasses would run about $120. No big deal. I also figured that my co-pay for the exam would be, at a maximum, $15.
So I figured on a bill of about $135 to $140.
Of course, I didn’t realize that having my contacts cleaned and polished would cost as much as it did, and there were some weird fees I hadn’t expected, so it came to $316.
*Sigh*
That always seems to be the way it goes when I go to the eye doctor, though. It ends up costing more than I expect, and never just a little bit more, usually like $200 more.
But whatever. Next year I’m hoping to put enough money into my flex plan to get my eyes permanently fixed, either via Lasik or Othokeratology.
We’ll see (no pun intended), though.
In any case, I have to get up early for tomorrow’s snoozefest, so I think I’ll call it a night.