Jen's blog

Home Again

Arrived back in Seattle this afternoon.  I was supposed to be back yesterday, but I missed my connecting flight home by a mere five minutes, thanks to both the lateness of my flight out of Beirut and the idiotically complex transportation system at Charles De Gaulle airport.  (It involved taking three buses and one train... all to take me to a slightly different area of the same damn terminal my MEA flight arrived at. Gah!)

Anyway, trying to type anything of length on my phone's tiny keyboard proved too taxing for me to write much while I was away, hence the lack of updates.  But I hope to write a bit about my adventures once the jetlag wears off.  And I've got pictures galore of scenic villas, ancient ruins, bombed-out bridges and the sparkling Mediterranean sea... among others.

Greetings from Hamra

I finally landed in Beirut last night, after a 20+ hour journey from SF through Paris to here.  It's the longest and farthest I've ever traveled.

M picked me up at the airport, where I breezed through customs (no questions, even).  We decided to ditch the rental car idea and take a cab into town.  (We can hire a car for day trips if needed.)

I wasn't able to see to much of the city on the way over, as it was already twilight. But I'd gotten an amazing view from the plane as we were landing, skimming over the water along the coastline, the mountains in the distance.  And on a more sober note, there were also numerous abandoned/semi-destroyed buildings visible, too, a reminder of the troubles in the not-so-distant past.

M lives in a small apartment building in the Hamra district, which she says has been mostly rebuilt since the war that ended in 1990.  And there are tall, new buildings everywhere: banks, shops and commercial and residential high-rises.

After dropping off my bags at her place and resting for a bit, we go out to a local bar, du Prague, for drinks and some food.  The place is cozy, with small, low tables and stools, art on the walls and a mix of American classic rock and Lebanese music blasting from the stereo.  But my rumpled, jet-lagged self feels like a total schlub among these hip, pretty Beirutis.  Apparently most locals like to go out and dress up most nights each week, and the place is packed at 10:30pm on a Tuesday.

A plate of shrimp in a sauce with tomatoes, plus fried potatoes and a baguette, along with a carafe of wine runs us only around $15.  And here, like most places in Beirut, will gladly accept American dollars.  We pay and go back to her apt where sleep finally catches up with me -- after almost 30 straight hours of being awake!

Today I'm on my own for a bit while M is off doing some work related to her studies.  We got the most delicious breakfast, street food: fresh, hot Lebanese bread with olive oil and spices, rolled up with cucumber, tomatoes and pickles, all for around 30 cents each!  Then I walked around in the midday heat and sun before this Seattlite started to melt.

I'm now in an air-conditioned cafe, drinking iced coffee and occasionally using my weak high school French to talk to some of the people here.  (Hierarchy of languages here: Arabic, then French, then English.) Oui, il n'y a personne avec moi -- assetez vous ici.  Or yeah, you can take the seat next to me.

Anyway, time to check out what is supposed to be the best record store in town, La CD-Theque.  Then get more sunscreen.  Hopefully my phone will save this properly so it can upload later when I'm at a proper connection...

Beirut-bound

Packed

In just over twelve hours I'll be on a plane headed to Paris, where I'll briefly stop before continuing on my journey to Beirut, Lebanon.

A number of friends, co-workers and family have wondered why the heck I'm traveling to Beirut, with the fallout from last summer's war with Israel still keeping a lot of tourists away.  But I'm going to visit a dear old friend who is living there, and I know we'll have a great time as she shows me around the city, the mountains and beaches for the next week.

At any rate, it will be an adventure.  And in case things get hairy, I'm traveling light.  I've got everything I need in my new backpack, plus a small canvas carry-on with a couple of books, travel pillow, snacks and such.

I'll be taking lots of pictures and trying to (mo)blog while over there using my phone.  I'll be at the cafe with the free WiFi, a Turkish coffee and a piece of baklava.

Hail Caesar!

In a quest to finish up the two large heads of lettuce I received in my organic farm share box this past week, I am about to have my third Caesar salad in as many days. Even though technically they aren't Caesar salads (I am using green and red lettuce, not romaine), they just as tasty, especially with homemade fixins: dressing, croutons and chicken grilled on my little Weber.  Almost as good as the Caesar salad at the awesome Italian deli near where I used to work in Soho.

And everything was so quick and easy to prepare!  I used my blender to pulverize the tiny anchovies, garlic, oil, etc. into the dressing.  Croutons were equally simple: I cut a couple of french demi-baguettes in crouton-sized cubes, tossed with a little olive oil and kosher salt, then baked in the oven for ten minutes til crispy.

Sadly, Josh and I finished up the chicken in our salads last night, but that was grilled with a brushing of olive oil, more kosher salt and pepper, then sliced crosswise into strips.  Toss everything together with a sprinkle of parmesean cheese and (as Gordon Ramsay would say): DONE.

Since I forgot to take pictures of the salads, here's one from my other current food obsession: rainbow chard. Thankfully, I also got a big bunch of the stuff in my weekly farm share box. Chopped rainbow chard stems are both pretty and tasty, especially when sauteed with finely diced bacon.

Sizzling Chard

Switched On

New Switch

Empty Lightbox

It only took, oh... a little over three years, but I finally got all of the old knob and tube wiring in my 1940s house removed and/or deactivated.  The actual work only took about a week, and I got all the modern amenities on my wish list in the process: a bathroom vent fan, an HDTV antenna in the attic, wiring for my new dishwasher and a fat new 200 amp service panel.

As much as I enjoy the sensation of no longer worrying about occasional sparks flying when flipping a light switch, the best part is now qualifying for regular homeowners insurance.  And saving $700/year in the process.  Hot damn!

The worst part (aside from the cost, duh) is presence of numerous holes in walls throughout my house, caused by the removal of old outlets and other hardware.  According to my home fixit books, these can be patched with a combo of squares of drywall and plaster patching compound, so I may just attempt that myself when I tire of almost putting my hand through the hole in the wall where the bathroom light switch used to be for the ten millionth time.

Microwaving != Cooking

There was an interview with the CEO of Kraft Foods in yesterday's Wall Street Journal that I found both hilarious and depressing.  Here's a choice excerpt:

WSJ: Do people still want to cook?

Ms. Rosenfeld: A lot of people consider microwaving their nacho chips with Cheez Whiz on it as cooking. I think consumers very much like to cook. I think the definition of cooking has changed dramatically. Whereas our mothers were more inclined to using their oven and their stove when they cooked, today's consumers think about using their microwave. They think about assembly as opposed to necessarily cooking.

I'm excited about this new product we just launched in January called Deli Creations. These are hot sandwiches that are made with our high-quality ingredients like Oscar Mayer meats, Kraft cheese and A1 and Grey Poupon sauces. But what's so cool about them is you stick them in your microwave, it takes 60 seconds and it tastes freshly baked.

WSJ: Do people feel like that's cooking?

Ms. Rosenfeld: In all honesty, no.

The No Sell

An update on the you-are-a-winner situation:

After doing a little research, including reading everything on this very informative FTC page, we decided to take a pass on the Fabulous! Prizes! and not subject ourselves to what was sure to be a high-pressure sales pitch.  Now that I'm back to working full-time in an office, I don't need that kind of aggravation at the end of my day.

QotD: I Was The Sous Chef

Who taught you how to cook?
Submitted by Donna.

I don't remember ever being explicitly taught to cook, though I certainly absorbed all of the basics from my mother.  She cooked dinner from scratch for our family almost every night.  And around the holidays there was always something baking up in the oven.

It wasn't until I got older and found myself in the kitchen with friends who really didn't know how to cook that I realized that I already knew things like the importance of heating up oil before tossing something in the frying pan, why you should always set the timer for sooner than the recipe says, and how a written recipe is always a jumping-off point for your own creativity.

Tonight I made beef short ribs with roasted garlic mashed potatoes, and I definitely wouldn't have had the nerve to try a two-day, multi-step, multi-hour-cook-time recipe (the ribs) without the culinary foundation that mom provided.  And the results were more than edible:

It's What's For Dinner

Win! Instantly!

On Saturday, Josh and I went to the Southcenter Mall so I could use up a couple of gift cards I'd received for Christmas.  On our way out, we ran into one of those mall contest displays in the median strip, the primary feature of which was a spiffy new Smart Car!:

I [heart] tiny cars

While a friend of mine has a Smart Car, and we've even ridden in hers (yes, the three of us! Thank you for not busting us, Canadian policepeople!), the car made us stop.  And it even made each of us fill out an entry form, in spite of my general avoidance of contest-entry situations, in part due to potential privacy invasion/information-gathering run amok, etc.  At first we thought the contest was to win that car, but then we saw it actually was to win $25,000, which you could use to buy a Smart Car, I guess.  $25k?  Okay!

The next evening I got a call from an unknown number with an unfamiliar area code, so I ignored it.  When I bothered to check my voice mail later, on it was a message from A VERY LOUD AND PERKY PERSON informing me that my contest entry form had been drawn, and I was the winner of some "gifts" that I needed to claim and I should call them back ASAP to do so.

No, I did not win the car.  Or the cash.  Apparently I won a vacation package for two to my choice of: New Orleans, Las Vegas, Jamaica or Orlando.  And a "chauffered limo to dinner for two."  And $500 in shopping certificates to some Internet shopping site where I'd only have to pay shipping and handling.  Starting to sound a bit weird, no?

Turns out, the two of us need to go to some office suite in Tukwila to claim these "prizes" and -- oh yeah -- spend 90 minutes of our time listening to some sales pitch.  What do you want to bet this has something to do with time shares?

Anyway, I live not too far away, and I figure I can cough up a little of my time this evening to scope the situation out.  If I get the prizes, great.  If not, or if things turn super-shady (e.g. "give us some up-front money and/or your SS #"), I can always whip out my travel agent card and tell them to F-off and not mess with a travel professional.  At least I'll get an entertaining blog entry out of it.

Knock Three Times

While working from home has its obvious perks -- not having to dress up, mid-day thrifting runs, actually being home when the UPS guy stops by -- I do have to put up with some annoyances.  The most frequent one recently has been door-to-door solicitations.

In the past week alone, I have had the following show up at my doorstep:

• Jehovah's Witnesses - Two clean-cut young men in shirts-n-ties whose spiel I cut short by agreeing to take one of their little religious pamphlets (into the recycling bin!).
• Amateur Mechanic - He showed up asking if he could borrow a lug wrench to "fix his car."  When I said I didn't have one, he asked, "Can't you just get one out of your truck?"  No, that broken-down truck parked on the street in front my house isn't mine.  (Side note: A day later, the truck, which had been parked there for about a month, mysteriously disappeared -- coincidence?)
• Real Estate Agent - This guy's mission: to convince me that I should sell my house.  He gave me a postcard with his contact info noting recent neighborhood sales ("Georgetown is very desirable right now!") and asked me if I owned my house.  Yes, and I'm not going anywhere.  Bye!

Thankfully there have been no more meth-heads trying to sell consumer electronics, like the guy who rang my doorbell to see if I wanted a $5 VCR.  Really.