Totally Stupid Asses

I’m flying to Tampa Monday, and since I haven’t flown for almost a year, I thought I’d check out the TSA’s rules for what you can and can’t take on the plane. I read the following paragraph on the TSA website:

“We ask for your cooperation in the screening process by being prepared before you arrive. We also ask that you follow the guidelines above and try not to over-think these guidelines. Please pack liquids, gels, and aerosols in your checked baggage even if you do not normally check a bag.”

I don’t even know where to start. It was the “try not to over-think” thing that sent me into spasms of irritation, but I’ve really been scratching my head about the last sentence. How can you pack stuff into a checked bag if you don’t check a bag?

Adventures in public transportation

I listened to all the screaming weather Cassandras regarding freezing rain and "wintry mix" and took the CTA to work yesterday. This morning I took the Chicago Avenue bus from my gym to the Blue Line, but I got engrossed in an episode of "Arrested Development" that I was watching on my iPhone, and I missed my stop!

So I figured I could get off at Damen Avenue and take the bus north to the North Avenue Blue Line stop. But then the damn Damen bus didn't come. I walked almost a mile before it finally came. Stupid bus. The el train came pretty quickly, though.

The episode of "Arrested Development" was really funny. Almost worth missing my stop.

I'm riding my bike tonight. The city puts so much brine on the streets that nothing freezes. It makes your car fall apart, but there's no ice!

And the weather isn't helping

Something about working nights, even when it's an easy rotation, is so depressing to me. I really hate to leave the house when Jerry is settling in for the evening. Or worse, to leave before he even gets home from work.

Amanda called today and invited me over for lasagna, but I had to decline. Jerry gets to go, though. I'm happy for him, but sad for me.

Ah, well. All in all there is very little I can complain about. Life is really good, and this is a fairly low-stress week. But I will be a lot happier when I'm back in my own bed.

The blue cheese incident

Jerry made a salad that had blue cheese in it a couple of nights ago. There were leftovers, so I took a plastic container of it to work yesterday, then promptly forgot that it was in the outer pocket of my bicycle garment pannier, which was in my locker.

I gave a tour to some residency applicants at 11 a.m., so I stopped by my locker to get my call room key (they always want to see a call room). My locker smelled kind of funny, kind of like stale cooking odors. And sadly enough, a lot of times my clothes smell like stale cooking odors because of the ass-steak and the ass-fish and the ass-roast my downstairs neighbor cooks (say what you will about my downstairs neighbor, she cooks a meal every day), so I honestly didn't think hard about it.

At noon I went to lunch at Gino's with the applicants, so I totally forgot about the salad, until 5 p.m., when I realized that it had leaked all over my bag and the inside of my locker. Guh. My locker still smells. I was going to let my bag air out on the back porch today, but I was afraid the squirrels might chew a hole in it.

Soysage balls: the recipe

3 cups Bisquick
8 oz. grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 package of Gimme Lean sausage-style meat substitute
1/4 c. vegetable oil
pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Whisk the clumps out of the Bisquick. Dump in the other ingredients and smoosh everything together with your hands. Form into approximately 32 golf ball-sized balls. Divide among two non-stick baking sheets (or regular baking sheets sprayed with Pam). Bake 20-22 minutes, rotating lower pan to upper rack and upper pan to lower halfway through. Cool until you can gobble them without burning your fingers or the roof of your mouth.

Happy Dec. 1

Happy Dec. 1
Originally uploaded by mmmmissy.