Recipes from a [Gluten Free] Goddess: Dark Chocolate Brownies

Recipes from a [Gluten Free] Goddess: Dark Chocolate Brownies

Yup, making brownies are much better than exercising ;-) At least the house smells better with brownies than sweat.

I did want to make something to bring to work tomorrow. Today, I even did the recipe correctly. I messed up my first attempt. I think it was still mostly okay, but the almond meal consistency takes a bit of time to get used to.

lame girlfriend

Okay, I know I've been venting (irrationally) about the long distance and boyfriend thing. I think short of sending him an email saying "I can't do this anymore," could I have expressed my unhappiness.

So he called me this afternoon while he was making a Home Depot run. I feel so fricking stupid and lame.

He did tell me that this has been the worst job he's ever been on. How he had no energy to do anything but work, so I wouldn't have had any fun. He promised me that the next job that isn't so involved he'll bring me out for a visit.

The best bit of news he did tell me was that final testing started yesterday. So he should be heading back to this neck of the woods next Thursday.

I feel a lot better just hearing his voice. I did have to cut it short because the Medtronic lady was calling *sigh*

I'll celebrate and go for a walk. I haven't done that in a couple weeks.

Medtronic service: A++++

I lost my remote control device for my MCS. Stupid, I know. It happened.

So I called Medtronic to inquire about a replacement. Not sure which department to talk to, I wait for an operator. I tell the sob story, and give her the serial number on my ID card.

"We can give you a type of magnet that will turn it on and off."

"Yeah, but mine's on almost all the time anyway. I'd like to be able to increase the amplitude at night."

"Technially, it's a controlled item. You'd need a prescription for it. From there, a distributor and bill the insurance company and get you another one. When you get the prescription, call this lady at this extension."

So I call my neurosurgeon. They had no problem with sending out a prescription. "But you shouldn't need a script."

*grrr* I hate being told different things by different people. So I call the lady at the extension I was provided.

We go through three rounds of phone tag. I'd step out for a minute and miss a call *sigh*

But I did finally talk to her. She seems very nice and informative. She said she could probably get me a used one that was donated by other doctors. The Medtronic local rep might also have used ones. She said I could go through a distributor. But they wouldn't ship me a remote until the insurance paid them. Try finding out through the basic HR documents if they'd cover a replacement unit for a $36K surgery they already paid for.

Then she also said "You have a model 7425A, but a remote for a 7425 will work. It just goes through batteries faster."

"I never replaced the battery in my 7425A, and it takes 9 Volt batteries, so that's not going to be an issue for me."

So she's going to see what she can do and get back to me. She was even going to call the neurosurgeon to nix the script. And was going to figure out which idiot told me that in the first place.

If only every company had service like Medtronic.

Arizona drought

Yes, after a record year of winter rain last year, Phoenix is currently adding to a record number of days without rain (somewhere close to 140 by now).

You can tell the drought is affecting people by stories such as this from the Arizona Republic:

Deputy fire chief faces indecency charge
The Arizona Republic
Mar. 7, 2006 10:17 AM

Leroy Donald Johnson was caught this weekend in a barn with his pants down, literally, according to a sheriff's office report.

"You caught me ... I tried to (expletive) your sheep," Johnson told his neighbor, according to the report.

But the Mesa Fire Department deputy fire chief changed his story when a sheriff's deputy arrived on his doorstep minutes later, denying anything happened.

Johnson, 52, was jailed on suspicion of disorderly conduct and criminal trespassing after the neighbor told investigators he found Johnson, unzipped and holding a sheep down on its side.

That's the sanitized version. The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office report released Monday night is a little more graphic.

Johnson's neighbor told sheriff's deputies he was called home Saturday afternoon when his 13-year-old daughter saw Johnson drag one of their sheep into a barn.

The teenager said Johnson had first knocked on the front and back door of the home in the 1200 block of East Catclaw Street, in a county island in Gilbert, before grabbing the small gray lamb, records showed.

One of the deputies noted that Johnson had bloodshot eyes and smelled of alcohol, and neighbors who confronted him said he admitted everything.

According to the deputy's report, "(The owner) took me into the back yard and showed me where he and (neighbor) pulled up. He took me through the corral gate and I saw the victim for the first time. She was a small gray lamb about three feet tall and four feet long."

The men then told the deputy they walked over to the small barn, opened the door and "saw Leroy holding the lamb down on its side in the hay with his pants down trying to have sex with it. That's when he made the statement about (expletive) the lamb."

The men said Johnson stood up and zipped up his pants.

"The sheep ran out of the barn at that point," the report says.

Johnson apologized, according to the report, and said he'd had "too much to drink."

The Mesa Fire Department placed Johnson, on paid leave Monday pending an internal investigation. Johnson, deputy chief of technical services, has been with the Mesa Fire Department for nearly 26 years.

Assistant Fire Chief Mary Cameli said Johnson has been an "exemplary" employee with a spotless personnel record.

"We were all very surprised by this," Cameli added.

Johnson did not return a call for comment Monday.

When confronted by a deputy at his home, Johnson initially denied the incident, saying he had been at his neighbor's house to talk about annexation.

Johnson said he went into the barn after hearing noises. The deputy said to him, "I believe something more than that happened," and offered help.

Johnson responded, "I probably do need some help, but I don't know if this is the time or place for it," according to the report.

When asked how the animal got into the barn, Johnson said, "I'm not going there," then asked if he was going to be arrested and demanded to know his legal options.

He continued to deny that anything happened in the barn and was arrested.

"I think it's disgusting," Sheriff Joe Arpaio said. "I think of Ghandi who said you judge the morality of a country by the way they treat their animals. . . . I do look at (bestiality) as some type of animal cruelty."

*walks away*

the morning after

I'm getting a little ticked off at people equating the "moring after" pill to an abortion.

Countless fertilized eggs never result in successful pregnancies. Consider the success rates of in vitro fertilization. Do we consider those "natural abortions"?

I hope that someday you'll be able to get the "morning after" pill over the counter. Heck, even if it's how they sell Sudafed out here these days would be a plus (behind the pharamacy counter and you have to sign a log).

That'd be the only way you could attempt to prevent someone from acquiring it several times a week. I'm sure frequent use of the "morning after" pill isn't good for your health. And I'm sure some girl will use that as birth control with a dire outcome. The company shouldn't be sued for her demise.

I'm sure there'll be at least one pharmacist that will sue to prevent him from handing over the morning after pill because of his religious objections.

Once you separate the morning after pill from abortion, it'll be a lot easier.

Ever have one of those nights?

I still went to bed upset last night at boyfriend. I just don't think I'm coping very well with the long separation (it's been two months already). I get upset over the dumbest things. Last night, I was filling him in on the details of the X-Men 3 preview that had just aired on FOX. We're both excited to see it, but it's going to be released Memorial weekend. And we're going to be two hours from civilization so we can go to Alamo Lake. So he was thinking we'd go after the lake. Me, the last thing I want to do after a few days at the lake is drive two hours to a movie theatre and see a movie. Besides, it's two hours out of HIS way. So I was saying "yeah, it'd be nice to see it, but it wouldn't be practical for us to go together."

At least I get kitty snuggles for comfort.

But I was able to quickly let it go in order to sleep. I think World War III could have started outside my window, and it wouldn't have woken me up.

I'm guessing it would be true because I woke up at 5:15 this morning in EXACTLY the same position I fell asleep in. That only happens when I'm bone dead tired. At least it was in the most comfortable position for my face. But when that happens, I get sore muscles from not moving (not to mention a sore ear).

I've always been a side sleeper. My left ear is fused at the top. Probably from sleeping on that side so much. The irony is that now I have less pain in my face if I sleep on my pain side. Go figure. Maybe eventually my right ear will fuse a bit.

Sports and athletes

I was never very good at sports. I got by, but was never the first to be picked for teams. I accepted that, and did something else with my life.

In high school, I enjoyed watching NBA basketball. This was the Michael Jordan at his prime era, and I rooted for the Phoenix Suns big time. I even went to playoff games, only to sleep through school the next day.

Then I guess I got tired of NBA players and their antics. I still respect players like Dan Marjlie and Tom Chambers. But grew tired of the showboaters such as Dennis Rodman. I gave up watching NBA games, thinking the players were overpaid sissies. I will sit through a Suns game with my grandmother, but only for her.

So I moved on to college basketball. "These guys are playing for the game," I told myself. They're nothing special yet, so they're trying to show what they can do. From 1996 to 2004, I was a loyal The University of Arizona Wildcats fan (even the football team). I went to games, and watched games that I couldn't get tickets to.

The football team fell on hard times after the 1999 Holiday Bowl win over Nebraska. Then there was the Mackovic disaster. We're two years in the Stoops era. Even though by the numbers, they still suck, Stoops was able to instill motivation and passion that is contagious. I will still be a football fan - even if they lose their scholarship players.

This season, the men's basketball team was highly ranked after a strong showing in their "Elite 8" loss to Illinois. I think the sudden death of Polk put a dark shadow over both men's and women's basketball teams. Then the mens team just fell apart. They weren't playing as a team for most of the season. There was a lot of hyping of the seniors, but their leadership seemed lackluster. They fell out of national rankings in early December after a loss to Houston.

A few weeks after that, senior Hassan Adams was arrested for not corporating with police that were trying to break up a fight at a party. Adams was not involved with the fight, but wouldn't follow orders to leave the scene. He has a court date in April for that. I think he was suspended for a game, but was allowed to keep playing.

Then after their collapse and defeat to Washington on Saturday, he was arrested for speeding and DUI. Only SIX and half hours after the game ended, he was flunking a breathlizer (they did two on him since it was going to be high profile arrest). He is due to appear in court (yet again) just before the start of the NCAA tournament.

In the meanwhile, he is being left behind while the rest of the team goes to California for the conference championship. But he will most likely play in the NCAA tournament - IF THEY GET INVITED IN THE FIRST PLACE

Based on the Washington game, there's a good chance we could do poorly in the conference championship without Adams. If we could eek out a 3rd or 4th finish, we have a good chance of NCAA invitation. Nothing is certain. I will give coach Lute Olson credit for keeping a tough line with the players. "If you're making and missing lots of 3 point shots, I will bench your ass."

Sadly, it seems that he's losing the battle. He never flinches to bench a star player that's getting out of line or not acting like a team player. But he's had to do that more in the last couple of years than way back in 1997 when they won the NCAA tournament.

I wonder if part of the reason is the millions of dollars these guys will make once they leave the University. It seems to be an overall reflection of the apathy many people feel. They do just what they need to in order to get by. We seem to have lost that "can do" attitude (maybe it got outsourced to India).

Maybe we expect too much out of spoiled pseudo-men and they lash out anyway they can. Maybe they feel it's not their fault, but the public's fault for expecting perfection. Throughout our history, we are inspired by good athletes (think Cinderalla Man or Miracle).

But maybe we've all changed in our attitudes too much to have athletes like that anymore. Perhaps we can find it in a horse like Seabiscuit - that doesn't care about the millions of dollars.

What inspired this garbage is an editorial about how to punish Adams.