It’s a Holiday!

Big whoop.  All that really means is that some of the stores are closed,  making it just that much trickier to figure out what to make for dinner.  It’ll be chicken soup I’m thinking.

Speaking of dinner,  there were a couple questions about what was in the other three pots.  They weren't just for show,  by the way.  The little one had some sautéed pine nuts,  the one to my immediate left had about five cups of chicken broth that I was slowly adding to the rice concoction,  and the other big one had the shitake mushrooms,  that had been added to the sautéed onion and garlic. 

I think. 

Hey,  it was two days ago.  That’s already ancient history when it comes to the stuff I can remember.  Hope that helps.   Further details will not likely be forthcoming.

So ya,  about that holiday.  It’s the Immaculate Conception,  and we won’t even touch that one with a ten foot dogma pole.  It’s only 17 days until Christmas.  Hello?  We won’t go there either.

 

Back here in the real world,  that means Travelling Companion is supposed to have the day off.  That never happens of course,  since there’s always somebody working somewhere who doesn’t know if their hind end is bored or punched,  but at least she was able to work from home.   No commuting,  which therefore translates into sleeping in just a wee bit. 

I was surprised to see Mariahilfer Straße was closed when I went out for my morning jaunt.  There are a fair number of stores that are open,  so I’m not sure what the set of criteria might be in terms of who closes and why.   The folks at the bakery mentioned yesterday that they would be open,  and even though I didn’t really need to go,  I went anyway just to get the blood flowing.   I did find it of note that only the franchise owners were working,  which tells me that the “help”  would be getting time and a half or double time. Hm?   I remember having those little puzzles to figure out once upon a time when I was in the restaurant business.  Sometimes it’s not worth it to open up if all your take is going to pay staff.  Good for them.  Not good for the business in the long run.

In typical fashion,  there’s always something going on out on the street.   No clue what these guys were up to,  but when I came back,  there was a small film crew there.

Somehow I don’t think the heater was all that effective?  Too windy.

The temperature out on our terrace is about 7°C,  but the wind is pretty brutal again today,  and I had a sharp reminder of just what “wind chill”  is all about on my way back.  Gah!   They don’t seem to talk about something like wind chill here.   Too temperate I guess.  I know it enters into our lexicon as Canadians on a fairly regular basis. 

Wish it didn’t.

I’ve included a chart for home study purposes.  Knock yourself out.

Not too much else happening today in Wienerland.   Travelling Companion has taken a little break and is in the bedroom watching yet another episode of "Cold Case".  I think she’s going to run out of stuff to watch soon.  Not sure what we’ll do.  There’s always the stuff she missed after falling asleep during any given show.  This is an oft repeated conversation when it comes to this phenomenon.

Me:  “We’ve seen this”.

T.C.: “No we haven’t”

Me: *sigh*

“Yes.  We watched this last year some time.”

T.C.: *silence*

Me: “Oh right,  you fell asleep”.

I try not to roll my eyes.

On a positive note,  an hour of programming can turn into about three,  so that’s good economy.  But that’s usually why I’m not in there watching too,  since I’ve probably already seen it.   TV keeps me awake.  Puts her to sleep. 

We had a similar “Are we strange?” kind of moment on the weekend,  when she was cleaning the bathroom and I was baking banana bread.   See,  the last time I cleaned the bathroom,  apparently it didn’t quite meet expectations,  and the last time she made banana bread well,  you can fill in the rest.   It’s tricky,  but it needs to be cooked.   I’ve been managing that chore ever since.    I refuse to throw out over ripe bananas is all.  Some sort of “farmer boy” mentality.

 

 

Tomorrow,  more opera stuff.   Betcha can’t wait?

and…

 

Remember to close your mouth when the wind picks up.

 

Thanks for stopping by.

 

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