Using the smoke alarm as a food timer...

So, while I pretty much love everything about my new appartment. There is going to be one major adjustment that i need to make.... Electric Cooking. I've been used gas for pretty much my entire life. Electic I must admit is a totally different beast. Yesterday, I wanted to make grilled ham and cheese sandwich, a fairly small fair when I did it on a gas range. Well, 4 peices of carbonized bread later, I was finally able to get a fairly decent grill ham and cheese sandwhich made. My joy of cooking will have to wait for now until I relearn the basics on an electric range and stove.

Along those lines though, for the most part, everything in the kitchen is put away as i want it, there is soo much more curboard space at this place that I didn't know where to put anything, right now, it's probably not being utilized to it's fullest extent, so i may or may not change it before i become too acustom to it.

Snooping around in the "slop" room I found the 2 bottom curled hooks for mazagines for my mail box, so i put those on, along w/ the letter for CUTSUMBIS it's really starting to feel like a home here.

I'm also now typing this on my own comcast internet connection, they've upgrade the speed for free to 4 mbit from 3 mbit, and while i did some speed tests to confrim the speed upgrade there isn't a more "snapy" feelings to the internet experience. The tech also said, that they may be rolling out 7 mbit connections sometime in the near future. Which is fine and great, but that is all downstream, I would perfer to have a bit more upstream and lease restrictive use of the connection, i would like to (legally) host my own server. But, all in good time. I'm just glad i was able to work a bit of a deal for 3 more months (perhaps I'll have another post about comcast offers).

As for the living room, I now have a late 80's entertaiment center sitting in my living room, looking quite fugly actually. But I'm very grateful to have recevied it for free. I'm not sure how painting it is going to turn out... the black might work out well, but the gold trim also must go. There is a large glass door though in which i would like to do something. I would like to put some sort of celtic design on it, by either etching using my dremel (which i've been wanting to use for something like this for a very long time) or by frosting which would require the use of some very strong chemicals. Along the the same lines of design and decor, I have a great many other ideas of what i would like to do in the other rooms. For the mainroom(2nd living room) I want to do some sort of moraccan/morrish/indian/middle east/persian theme. There is a wide entrance from the one living room to the other... and to start of the transisition into the arbian theme, i want to mask off the entrace with an arabic style arch such as this or this. Of course i've never done any drugs, nor do i plan to, i also think it would be neat to have a hookah, and of course I would like some interesting accent lighting in the form of arab lanterns. There is a lot i would like to do, but we shall see, maybe i'll run into some extra money, and I can let my design desires to run away with themselves.

So, I'm very grateful to the Eden family for donating their old couch and queen size bed to my cause. But, i'm not sure how much i'm going to sleep in it. Last night i slept on my old twin mattress. The queen bed is very nice, and just as comfortable as my twin, if not a bit more comfortable. But it's quite lonely sleeping on such a big bed by myself. And with having his and hers closets in the bedroom, it just reminds me of how much I wanted to share this with a special person. But, as someone very important to me just told me... it does get easier with time. So, I hope miss snoopy that you are correct.

So... people are starting to ask me what I'm doing for the superbowl... and since my team decided to screw the pooch, I'm not sure if i even really care what i'm doing for the game. I'm planning on spending the next few weeks in ohio, visiting my mom, and her side of the family, and then off to visit the Greek side of my family for a while. But before that can happen, I need to get all of my taxes filed and the such, what a nightmare that is going to be.

So, probably about a week or so ago, I started to really look at my horoscope on my excite portal home page. Horoscopes, astrology, ruins, things of that nature I find increabilty interesting. I can honestly say, I would never like buy a lottery ticket based on one, or, let it be a predictor for my life. But, it's been very interesting to how applicable they've been to my day to day life. Now of course that brings up the obvious questions and arguments on how I'm able to judge the applicability of the daily horoscopes, but... i'm trying to be as objective as possible. All too often i think people see in them what they want, make a very tinny connections into very large ones. So, i'm going to try to be as honest as possible when it comes to these gradings. I'll be grading them on a 1 to 15 point scale with 1 being the least applicable for the day, and 15 being the most applicable for the day. There are 3 parts to the horoscopes that i look at, general, romance, technical. My gradings will be based on the general part of the horoscope. So here is the backlog since i've been keeping track.

And of course there are all for Scorpio.


January 24, 2005 Rating: 15
The stars are about to illuminate the tug-of-war you've been feeling lately about work and career vs. personal issues. It may be time to make a decision, but not to worry.
You're ready, you're willing and you have what it takes to get the job done. Don't worry about stepping on anyone's toes, either. If you're offered a position because they
dropped the ball, that's not your problem.
Romance If work becomes a problem, turn to a more social side of life to get some satisfaction. Your lover will support you regardless of your choices.
Technical Don't give up yet: All your hard work is about to pay off. The obstacles have been daunting, but you're almost there. Keep at it and the dividends will be yours to enjoy

January 25, 2005 Rating: 10
You're not ordinarily fond of all this attention. In fact, you tend to avoid anything that even remotely resembles the spotlight. At the moment, that may be tough to do.
Oh, relax. You'll get used to it. You might even like it. And if you hadn't done something praiseworthy, no one would be trying to praise you, right? You can go back to
hibernating later tonight -- which, no doubt, you'll be able to do with one of your new admirers. See? There's a high side to this.
Romance If a small difference looks like it's about to become a major power struggle, a sweet surrender could work nicely in your favor. Be sweet and agreeable to get your way.
Technical Your boss is on edge today, and so are you. Try to keep your head down and don't step on any toes. Flamboyance will not be rewarded.

January 26, 2005 Rating: 10
It's time for you to admit something: Your values have changed. What used to be important no longer matters. That means it's time to make some corresponding outward changes
-- some big ones. Fortunately, you're more than ready, even if it means saying good-bye to people, things or ways of life that were once primary to you. Don't worry about
it. You'll get through this the same way you get through everything. Bravely.
Romance You love having a secret -- and you love keeping this one from your partner. A little mystery goes a long way, though, so don't go over the top.
Technical Finally, you've laid the foundation. Now it's time to cash in on your efforts. There's plenty of business to go around, but after all the hard work you've done, why share?

January 27, 2005 Rating: 12
Okay, you're done. It's time to finally let go of all those intense feelings you've been dealing with. If you have some free time, you can actually spend it as you like
having some fun. Bet you're feeling better already, just thinking about how wonderful it will be to let go and stop worrying. Of course, if you really want to feel better,
you'll plan some quality time alone with a dear one. Really alone. Like, at your place alone.
Romance Combine old friends with your current relationship and pat yourself on the back when it all works out for the best.
Technical Your attention may wander during a less-than-scintillating presentation, but don't let it travel too far afield. You may need to know some of those boring details later.

January 30, 2005 Rating: 1
Ready to help unveil the surprise you've known was coming? Even though no one has officially told you about it yet? Bet you are -- and bet you'll be quite smug and happy
about it, too. Just don't do any of the talking. Let the actual purveyor of the message deliver the happy news. It's their news, so it's only fair. Besides, why would you
take away the chance for congratulatory hugs? You wouldn't.
Romance Your usually decisive mind decides to delay making a big choice. Don't let your partner sway your tactics, unless they've got a really terrific reason for the suggestion.
Technical There's no shame in self-promotion. Your talents are vast but unheralded. Make sure your boss is aware of exactly what you have to offer.

January 31, 2005 Rating: 5
There's something going on behind the scenes, and you've been privy to it for some time now. This doesn't mean you have a free license to let anyone know about it --
especially anyone you're sure isn't already involved. It may be tough to keep quiet, but you need to do it, and you'll be proud of yourself if you do. Besides, it's an
honor to be told a secret. Don't make the teller feel foolish.
Romance Bounce several ideas around with your lover to come to a solid decision. Reward your efforts with a private celebration.
Technical Everyone has something of value to contribute. Don't let the loudest voices drown out good ideas. Leadership is about letting every player have a turn.

February 01, 2005 Rating: 11
Everything you feel will quite literally be written all over your face now. Everything. So if you're angry, don't bother trying to hide it. If you do, you'll only end up
snapping at everyone you come into contact with. Instead of all that, why not just tell the person who's pushed your buttons exactly how you feel about what they've done?
You don't have to be mean about it. In fact, the calmer you are, the more firmly you'll make your point.
Romance Don't even try to hold yourself back. Unleash the full power of your intense emotions to get exactly what you want from your lover.
Technical You may be experiencing some dissatisfaction in your current job situation, but don't despair. This may be exactly the motivation you've been looking for.

February 02, 2005 Rating: 15+
Better fasten you seatbelt and put your table tray in the upright position -- because there's a bit of a bumpy ride ahead. For the moment, you can expect one of several
rather unusual scenarios to unfold: a) a new and unusual addition to your family; b) a career opportunity in an entirely different field; c) the chance to move to a place
you've always wanted to live or d) all of the above. See? Buckle up, now.
Romance Your vision for the future is more achievable than you think. Work together to make your dreams come true.
Technical You have more options than you realize. Don't sell yourself short -- one opportunity often leads to another. All you have to do is keep your eyes open.