Sweet Success
I woke up this morning to pick up Kenna from the airport. She looked much taller and skinnier. I was commenting on that when she said she wished she was shorter. What kind of backwater country did this girl come from? Oh yeah, Vietnam. Anyway, I disregarded her statement knowing full well she will one day how lucky she is to tower over people. Or is that just a dream I once had?
I proceeded to the supermarket to pick up some canned corn, au gratin potatoes, chips, and a pumpkin pie. The turkey was already in the over and roasting something fierce. I also had a large sirloin in there for kicks. I realized that there is absolutely nothing to do today but wait until around 5 PM to start cooking. Kim called for some uber grub at a new place she found but I already had lunch with my sister at Pho Tau Bay. "See ya later diet!" as I wolfed down a large Bun bo hue. The rest of the day was spent watching TV and lazing around. My sister arrived at 5 with her husband and his mother.
I have to brag. That was some mighty fine eatin'. The turkey came out tender and juicy. Didn't even need gravy. I normally don't like the turkey but I had to actually stop myself from eating too much of it. Everyone doubted me but I showed them. The sirloin came out medium but was hard to cut. My sister said I should cook turkey every thanksgiving. Thanks for the compliment but I am a lazy fool. My cousin liked the au gratin potatoes. Go figure. All in all, another successful cook out courtesy of yours truly. I love cooking. If only there were more days off like this for me to do it. Merry Christmas!
Brine
It means to let your meats sit in a bath of salty water. Work gave me a $25 coupon for a turkey so I took the opportunity to buy one for Christmas. Family is celebrating Christmas tomorrow night instead of the 24th to accommodate my travel plans. Since the move was for me, my sister insists that I take care of the cooking. No problem. I can do this. The secret to tender moist turkey is brining according to my friend who works at HP. Yeah what does an IT guy know about cooking? Well for one, he's not your average skinny Asian nerd. He's a bit hefty. In fact, his parents are a bit hefty. It's a healthy sign that he's a good eater and/or a good cook. Anyway, he made the absolute best smoked turkey I have ever had in my life. It tasted like jerky. You don't even need gravy, it tasted so good. I don't have a smoker but maybe I can add a bit of liquid smoke in the bath. It is salt so if you're worried about sodium, this might be a problem. Although, if you have to add gravy or some other sauce to it later. Wouldn't that be the same thing? I don't know. Let's see how things turn out tomorrow.
Gingerbread House
If only I had my camera with me, I could've taken a picture of it. The last time I made a gingerbread house was in 7th grade for home economics. I remembered I piled as much candy onto the roof of my house in order to bring as much candy home as possible. I repeated the same tactic this time around. We made gingerbread houses for my bible study fellowship. Not sure why. I guess it was another mini xmas party thing. We had good food and just played around. It was a good end to my extremely stressful week. I was able to finish my work in time. I hope our clients are subdued by my feeble efforts. Now, I can enjoy my vacation. Tahoe, here I come!
Another Wedding Already?
Ack, more money. Disgusting how fast I change my mind. Just two years ago I lamented how I never get invited to weddings and how fun it would be to get dressed up. It's the too much of a good thing syndrome. After six weddings in the last 365 days, I am done. I now thank my lucky stars that I wasn't invited to three other weddings that occurred during the same period among other friends I am not that close to. I am already out almost a G. There are three more scheduled this year. I've only been invited to two of them. I'm just not gonna talk to that third wedding person until she gets married.
Yes, I am a cheap. So what? It's not like a life-long bachelor like me is able to collect on these investments.
This is lunch
Testing out the macro features of my new camera. Looks juicy huh? My dad's pretty cool. He noticed, I've been eating his leftover fruit that he cuts and peels for work. So now he cuts two bowls of fruit. One for me.
How do I know?
That's what I said in my head when people asked me about the status of a project I am involved in. I am extremely busy with a deadline to meet Friday morning. I have to get a complete list of parts with corresponding solid models. To help you understand the scope of what I am up against. I have 5 months to produce optical testing components. The steps to do that are:
1. Draw up preliminary designs in solidworks.
2. Go through a design review of your models.
3. Create detailed engineering drawings of all dimensions.
4. Send the drawings to the machine shop for fabrication.
5. Finally test and verify all components are made up to specification.
If you really think about it, steps 1-3 are the most time consuming and arduous task. It was stipulated that engineering drawings be delivered 15 days from signing of contract. Yeah, 2 weeks to cram in 3+ months of work. Thanks guy. Someone really dropped the ball on this one.
And to top it off, my trainer is out of town on a business trip. I am the goto guy for some of his currently running projects. As if I didn't have enough to do already.
So I am sitting working quietly on my models. Person 1 asks me what is going on with Part A on the production floor. I said, "I am finished with it and will take it off the machine ASAP." Person 2 comes in and tells me Part B is ready for testing. "OK, I'll take of it." Person 1 comes back and tells me Part C needs to go on the machine. "Arrrggghh, OK, I'll do it now." Then my manager comes in to check up on my modeling. Counter all that with pain in my tooth and hunger from this lousy yogurt diet and you have a very stressed out Pung.
Baptism
Nothing dramatic. I don't like being center of attention despite what Nam says. I plan on going through this dangerous water maneuver one of these days. Now seemed like a good one. Some people expressed disappointment later after they found out I went through it. They wanted to know why I didn't let them know about it so they could attend. One, I hardly remembered. Two, I don't like being center of attention. The less people the better. I thought it was supposed to take place on a Saturday among close friends and relatives. Since I had none to invite, I thought it would be a small gathering. But the big wigs at church in their infinite wisdom decided to hold the ceremony during Sunday Service. My stomach burped up butterflies for a few hours afterwards. Anyway, being quite emotionless the event was... for lack of a better word, uneventful. I wasn't hoping for miraculous change. I was hoping for "sameness." And I got it. Good, I hate change too.
Parking Ticket
Grrr, I guess if it's once per year. It's okay. Sorta. Got another ticket today to eat butt pho ga. I didn't know what it was and for some odd reason there was no English translation on the menu. So I thought, why not? Give it a try and see what happens. I got 7 pieces of chicken butt in my noodle. There are actually sick people out there who specifically want chicken butt? I mean, I thought people ate it so that it doesn't go to waste? At least the broth was good. $36 ticket + $7 bowl of chicken noodle = one damm expensive but still really good lunch. Pho Ga on story across from Walmart. You should check it out. But don't park on the street. They'll get you.
Andrew is home
Look, he knows he's in trouble.
Sister has been leaving Andrew overnight here a lot. I don't mind him staying all that much. I mind her shirking her responsibilities to take care of her own child. She claims he's bored at home with nothing to do. Also, my mom wants him to stay. Oh really? I don't know. My sister just has it too good.
This is work
I don't want to get in trouble for showing too much. Guests are generally not allowed because of proprietary optics techniques we use here. Anyway, take a look at that slice if outside I get in front of my cubicle. It's not much but it's what I always wanted. An office with a window. Too bad I never specified how big of a window. And before you ask, yes, those are cookies. Don't you worry about my diet. I've got it in hand.
