Dis.com.fort

dis.com.fort | dis'kәmfәrt |

noun

faxing HR your new social security card and driver's license and then being told two months later that the dude in records was never handed the fax despite the fact that you sent it along with a cover page that stated ATTN: RECORDS DUDE

see: well then who the hell has my social security number and driver's license if you don't

Super Awesome Pros and Freaky Cons

Two things have happened today that are sort of freaking me out at the moment, but only in a very good way.

First...

A friend called this morning asking me if I would want to take photos of an upcoming fund raiser he's doing for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team in Training. Of course I want to do that! He's thinking I can sell the pictures to people for a few bucks and then split the profits with TNT. Totally. Awesome.

Second...

My sissy told me that she maybe kinda sorta volunteered me to photograph kiddos at a daycare event that she's helping plan. I'd be taking pictures of kids while they stick their heads through those little cardboard body things that circuses have. Oh, and I also have to build and paint the cutouts. (Seriously. Thanks, Cat.) I'd be meeting roughly 100s of parents who might want pictures taken of their kids. Wowza!

So here are the problems:

1. I am not qualified to do these things.
2. I don't have a website for people to view their pics or buy copies from me.
3. I don't have a flash which I'm pretty much guaranteed to need for both events. Hello, $300.
4. Is this seriously happening?
5. I don't charge people for pics... so I don't know what to charge people when they ask.
6. I should probably order more business cards.

One thing at a time I suppose. First off, I need to buy a flash, which was inevitably going to happen. It's not like I won't recoup the money one way or another. I also have a meeting with a programmer on Monday to talk about web galleries. Perhaps I should also talk to him about shopping carts. He's the man. He'll help out. Then I am going to force Cat to meet me somewhere to talk about pricing and basic business odds and ends.

Almost as bad as Googling "mechanically separated chicken."

I've started buying whole wheat pasta versus the unwheaty kind as some sort of vague attempt to be healthier. It's a tricky thing to do though. First off, there's a difference between a package that says "wheat" versus "whole wheat." Also, did you know that anything labeled "enriched" is actually not a good thing? The nutrients in wheat get stripped out when flour is processed so the manufacturer adds artificial nutrients back in, making it magically enriched.

"Enriched wheat flour is white flour. The bran and the germ portion of the whole wheat, which are rich in vitamins and minerals, have been refined out. To compensate for refining out approximately 20 nutrients, they add back 4 synthetic nutrients, niacin (vitamin B3), reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate (synthetic vitamin B1), and riboflavin (vitamin B2). These nutrient additives...are added to mostly refined and processed foods giving a false sense of nutritional value and can lead to nutritional imbalances."

That's from the site Healthy Eating Advisor. Click on that link with caution though. Reading the contents of that site may ruin food for you. It pretty much outlines all of the cancer, obesity and ADHD causing ingredients in our food. It's frightening to think about it.

Still not going to stop me from eating Velveeta and Diet Coke though...

Wardrobe Spring Fever

This warm weather is making me want things. These things:




The bikini is the only thing that I can remotely afford. Unfortunately, that's also the least useful/most terrifying thing pictured.

Sneezy. Dopey. Doc.

It's starting to warm up a little in Omaha and everything is melting. As a result, my nonexistent allergies are acting up and my sinuses are freaking out. I sneezed five times in a row yesterday while standing in the produce section of the grocery store. You have not seen a look of disgust until you have seen the faces of your fellow shoppers staring at you in horror as you sneeze all over the potato and onion table. Yes, I covered my mouth, but is that really a comfort to others when you're sneezing in the vicinity of their groceries? No. Apparently it's not.

I guess the hunt is on again to find allergy meds that won't make me feel all cracktastic.

Mexican Chicken Chili

I had a taste for soup tonight. I figured I'd just use what we had at the house and pop open a can of tomato soup, throw in some chicken and call it good. But then I had to make a trip to the grocery store after work and my soup sort of morphed into something else.

I ended up with a Mexican style chicken chili... I guess? It was delicious and the colors looked fantastic in the pot. Food definitely tastes better when it looks pretty.



I cooked maybe a pound of chicken in a medium pot. I sprinkled it with a handful of diced onion, garlic, marjoram and oregano. I poured over enough chicken broth to cover the chicken. Bring to a boil and then turn down the heat and cover. Cook for somewhere between 5-10 minutes. The chicken should be falling apart. You can pretty much shred it with your hands or a fork and throw it into the soup pot. (You might want to let it cool first)

While that was happening I threw together:

1/2 can chicken broth (or whatever you have left)
1 can chopped chilies (with juice from the can)
1 can Rotella's tomatoes (with juice from the can)
1 can tomato sauce
1 small can of corn
1 can black beans (with juice from the can)
1/2 chopped red onion
1 chopped Anaheim pepper
Crap tons of garlic
cilantro
pepper

You can either stop here and have yourself a nice, healthy dinner or you can do what I did and throw a glob of sour cream on top.



Yumm!

Long Weekend

I took yesterday off work and gave myself a three day weekend. How did I spend my day? By doing three loads of laundry, two loads of dishes, reorganizing the living room and getting our taxes done. How very relaxing!

The living room is looking pretty awesome. I hung up some stuff I bought a while ago... and then never hung up. I also moved a couple things around to open up the entryway. I'm really excited to be one the way to having the room finished. I have a couple chairs to cover and a new coffee table to buy that I've got my eye on ($135, thank you Target), and then the room will be done. And it only took a year.

Taxes are the work of the devil. Or Congress. Whatever. We had ours done with a CPA yesterday and walked away with a whole $50 tax return. Hooray for not owing money! About a third of Matt's income is considered self-employment so he usually ends up owing a staggering sum of money every year. This year I was a receipt Nazi and made him save nearly everything. It really paid off. We got about 1/4 of his gig income written off with all of his on-the-road expenses. I'm not getting a huge return back like I'm used to, but I guess that's life.