Californifying

• X Spammed mailing lists to let people know I'm coming
• X Set up visit with Nuphy
• X Did laundry
• O Packed
• Renewed passport and obtained visa
• O Asked neighbour to take in mail
• X Contacted ex-boyfriend
• O Contacted old college friends and crushes
• O Found hotel room for night of hosts' son's party

Ikea Kina

This morning, my 6 o'clock called to ask if we could reschedule. I insisted on a meeting time today and got 4 o'clock. After we set the time, she had the nerve to ask "Is that going to be convenient for you?" and I was all like, "Hell no! What's convenient for me is the time I picked out! But getting this taken care of today is more important to me than convenience." With any luck, tonight will be the last time I ever deal with her or her boss.

In any case, making it to Ravenswood by 4 p.m. means checking out at three and leaving my fledgelings in the hands of my No. 2. But the secretary just called, said that the 6 o'clock slot had opened up, and asked if I still wanted it. I could not repress a brittle laugh. There's nothing like thinking you're going to leave early only to find out you aren't. So I've got a half-hour breather before my little sparrow comes. (Unassuming, but very clever and attractive in a totally unaffected way. Unfortunately, my other new hire is clearly a pigeon.)

I told monshu his Sunday night dinner merited and entry and I shan't disappoint. I'll say this: It was the best $1 salmon filet I've eaten. They were advertised at 2 for $6, but for some reason the woman wrote "4.50" on our pack of three and the register knocked off another $1.50. aadroma, what's up with that? So we turned to the cashier and demanded that she charge us the advertised price instead of subjecting us to these shenanigans.

Just kidding!

He'd bought tarragon and was going to season the fish with that and a little pepper. I suggested maybe we could try something a little different, like a little fennel seed or star anise. He thought about it and ended up concocting a marinade of hoisin, star anise, and Shaoxing wine. The tarragon ended up in the garlic mashed potatoes. Toss in a mild pinot grigio and Peruvian asparagus, and you've got a lovely dinner for two.

The stir-fry pan from Bumiputeri is just one more reminder that I've got to get off my duff and start cooking again. Last night, I failed at the comparatively simple task of making rice. Maybe when I finally have my butcherblock installed, I'll feel I have enough counter space to accommodate a rice cooker. It's from Ikea, of course, and it's name is "Groland". I just recently read that Ikea is opening stores in China and I immediately thought, If Americans find their doofy Swedish names for things a little bewildering, what the hell are the Chinese going to make of them? Or are they going to have internationalisation experts rename everything so that that table doesn't end up being called a "Leather Hot Orchid Achieve"?

Oh, and on that note, monshu said on Sunday that he remembers that the given name of some Egyptian leader was never written our in some Eastern European country because it was obscene. (Requests for him to vague that up a bit more were not heeded.) Does anyone know a European language in which "anwar" or "gamal" is obscene? (Gammal is Swedish for "old", but that's hardly censorworthy.)