Curiosities - Cursing Cats and Other Curiosities

How We Cook in the South

Posted on April 21, 2022 | by cursingcats.com | Leave a Comment

1) Put everything in the pot. In this case: 2lbs carrots, 2 big ass onions, 2.5lbs pork loin

2) Stand in front of pantry. Start grabbing shit that sounds like it would be good “in there.” Gather an approximate arm full of shit.

3) Carefully measure ingredients in the palm of your hand, or go by how long you feel like shaking the container. Do this until it “looks good.”

4) Cook.

5) Spend the next 10 years trying to get it right again like that one time you made it and it was perfect.

NOTES:

Yes, I do make my own spice blends and store them in random containers with hand written labels. Usually, it’s following one of Alton Brown’s spice blend recipes. OK, all of them are. I love Alton Brown.
Baby carrots are the exact same fucking thing as big carrots. Yes they are, MIL! They have the same nutrients. No they aren’t less nutritious because they’ve been “through a machine” and “have rounded edges.” Don’t believe everything your stupid friend offhandedly said once. If you want a specific carrot type, be more specific on your fucking request. I’ll grant that maybe the big carrots have more nutrients in their skin or something — but you know what — you’re peeling them.

Some Things 4/9

Posted on April 9, 2022 | by cursingcats.com | Leave a Comment

1) Why is it never just standard size? I’m trying to replace a cover on our sprinkler system. Almost all of these covers all over the internet are 6 inch and 10 inch. So I ordered those. Nope. Mines somewhere between the two. The only 7 inch ones only come with the whole box, not just a lid option. Bastards! It’s never an easy fix is it?

2) Spring is in the air. We finally had our jungle of a lawn mowed. It looks ok now 🙂 The weeds don’t look like weeds if you mow them. Honestly, I wish we could just have a clover lawn. They make micro clover now that only grows 3 inches tall. Why spend all this effort on grass? I’d rather the clover. It’s not like we have an HOA. I’ll get Mr C on board one day.

3) I literally, JUST NOW, booked my tattoo appointment for November. Devon Greig Saturday November 5th. It’s a birthday present to myself! I’m so excited! I talked her into doing it piecemeal. She wanted to outline the whole sleeve at once. However, I’d like to do it in pieces. One, I want Jack first and as soon as possible. I also want completed pieces and not a partial tattoo for a few months between color sessions. And I think I’ll be able to tie more memories to it doing it in bits. Also, we can’t get to the scar cover ups for a whole 2 – 3 years. So the sleeve can’t be completed right now anyway.

4) Speaking of tattoos. I think the scars on my back are going to show in some bathing suits. So after my sleeve, I think I’ll want to cover my side scars in something. Thing is, I have no idea what. I don’t want a tattoo that goes all the way across my back. It’s just gonna “peek-a-boo” on each side where the scars in my bra line are. Good thing I have 2 years to contemplate this.

5) Ok, obviously I still have my tummy tuck revision drains. I’m sure I’ll have them the rest of the month. But man, the line has healed up great. I’m so so happy with the tummy tuck results. I love seeing my side view in the mirror without a huge stomach pudge. Not a belly — that pudge of skin I had that always stuck out further than my breasts. Now it’s gone! So happy with it.

6) Breasts are still healing. The massaging makes them sore. And I’ve got that popped stitch on my back which is a pain. Reaching for things tugs on your back skin — so where those incisions are is just a bitch. And the mismatch of the skin where the stitch popped — ugh it makes me shiver in disgust if I touch it. I hope it smooths out as it heals. But I’m not too worried. Even if it needs a revision, that’s something he can do in office with a little local anesthetic in the back and snip snip.

Still in the recliner. Might extend the rental another week. I can lay in the bed, but maneuvering around with my arms hurts because it engages my chest muscles. If I was only laying down and getting up once, that’s fine. But I’ve got to get up to pee a few times.

Plus my Jack likes me in the recliner. Will he start sleeping with me in the bed? I don’t know. But I love that he sleeps with me in the recliner.

7) Return to normal work schedules is Monday. I get to define what the will look like for me. I’m not sure what I want. I definitely don’t want to go in early. I like how my office mate works — he only goes in in the afternoons. But I’d also like to stay home some days. I think I’ll start with Monday thru Thursday in office afternoons and mornings and Fridays from home. See how that works out.

New Garden Tools!

Posted on March 11, 2022 | by cursingcats.com | Leave a Comment

I got new garden tools! As a near-40-year-old, spiffy gardening tools bring me great joy. Tis the season to spring clean the flower beds! Especially since I’m having surgery next week. Shits gotta get done before then. I called out the lawn guy for an estimate on cleaning up the branches in the yard and cleaning the leaves and branches from the pool area. He tried to up-sell me on letting him take care of my flower beds. He said trimming and mulch could really spiff them up. Well, I usually take care of that myself. I just hadn’t got around to it yet. Plus I don’t like my azaleas over-trimmed. They’re supposed to look natural, not square. And don’t dare trim my spireas! They’re not yet full grown. So last weekend I got my ass out there and weeded and put down and ungodly amount of Preen (supposed to keep weeds out). And I ordered myself some new goodies.

First, a hedge trimmer. Last year I didn’t trim my hedges. It was a year of mourning. In the years before that, my mom would just bring up my sisters hedge trimmer for me to borrow that once a year you need one. Well, moms gone. So I bought my own hedge trimmer.

Click the picture for the link. Why this one? Well because all of my garden tools are 40 volt Black and Decker. This means all of my $100 batteries fit all of my equipment. Do I need three batteries to get through trimming my hedges? Nope. But I sure do need at least two batteries when I’m doing a lot of weed-eating. Keeping everything from the same line of products means a lot of cross versatility.

I was so excited to use my new hedge trimmer that I trimmed hedges on my lunch break Wednesday. Ah, the perks of working from home. I wish I had a before picture. It’s just so satisfying how nice and clean everything looks with just a bit of a trim. My Japonicas needed a hair cut badly. The azaleas got just a tad bit of a trim to even them out and keep them below the window line. I particularly like a hedge trimmer because it makes me feel so powerful. I shall cut ALL THE THINGS. But not my arm off — like a chainsaw. Chainsaws are terrifying. Hedge trimmers are satisfying without being terrifying.

What else did I order? A garden wagon.

Don’t make fun of my garden wagon! I need this thing. I hate my freaking wheel barrow — it always wants to tip over. And every year it needs new air in the tire. So I finally got a garden wagon. With solid rubber tires that won’t ever need air. And it’s huge — holds more than the wheel barrow. Holds 220lbs too! And it folds up! Fuck yeah it does! No disassembly required, just folds up. What?

God willin’ and the creek don’t rise, I’m gonna use it Sunday to pick up all those branches I trimmed and haul them off. Then I’ll use it to drag bags of mulch over to where I need them. Then Mr C can load it with 8 bags of fertilizer I bought and walk the property line and fertilize my arbor trees. Then this summer, I can use it to haul all those 40lb bags of salt and pool chemicals out to the pool. Or a load of chairs for a party.

What I’m saying is, I’m excited about this wagon.

Some Things 3/4

Posted on March 4, 2022 | by cursingcats.com | Leave a Comment

1) New highlight moment:

Backstory – I always preorder my deli meat so i don’t have to wait in line to get it cut. Also, I’m wearing capris to show off my sweet goomba tattoo.

*I Grab my ham from deli fridge*

Deli guy: “Are you picking up for Roberta?”

“No,” *indicates ham* “I got mine.”

Deli guy: *100% talking to my goomba (its obvious, its my ankle, approximately 5 feet below my eyes):* “You’re [Mrs C]?”

“Yes. Thank you”

Deli Guy: *Still starring down my goomba* Cool

Goomba basically got cat-called, yall! Mr C better watch out. Soon all the young nerds will be torn on whether to look at my new boobs or my sweet 8-bit tattoo.

Also, Roberta is a terrible name. Surely, Roberta would not sport such a cool gem as this.

EDITED FOR CLARIFICATION: He called me by my name, not “Mrs C.” No, he did not recognize me from my blog. No one reads this shit, especially not the guy from the deli down the street. He probably sees my name on online orders all the time from my deli meat and picking up subs for Mr. C so was just associating a face (actually a goomba) with a name.

2) I live in a swamp. People might not know it’s a swamp because it’s highly developed with nice housing, but dude, you live in a swamp. So the wet areas are really wet. This leads to swarms of frogs. Frogs singing in such loud masses that it sounds like a summer song. I’ve only ever heard this in Florida — Specifically, from the roof of the condominium we have stayed at every year since I was conscious of time. The frogs in the undeveloped lot across the street that was there when I was little. So hearing them now makes me a little nostalgic for my mom. Us going up to the 16th floor to look at the ocean and the lights and hearing the song of the frogs. It’s bittersweet.

3) My second surgery is in less than TWO WEEKS!

4) I recently found myself with a few hours shooting the breeze with a lawyer. Vaccines came up, of course. You go through the “do you want me to wear a mask, I’m vaccinated, but if it’ll make you more comfortable” — usually because I’m wearing a mask. They’re required at work and I wear them to the store and stuff. So we were discussing how hard it was to get the vaccine when it first came out and we were both in the “give me that shit” category. Now of course a lot of people are antivax. Those people suck. Good thing you weren’t around when we needed to eradicate polio.

Tangent, sorry.

So he was curious how my fellow engineers reacted to being required to have the vaccine. (We work government contracts in this city, so it was a requirement until some court shit postponed it). I told him everyone I knew was all for it! We’re engineers. We think logically, not emotionally (“which is why you don’t like us on your jurys”). We work with SMEs all the time. Subject Matter Experts. We are well aware and taught that some people know way more about this thing that you can ever hope to know. A lot of us become SMEs in our career. We wrote the damn program and were on it from its conception. You’re the SME. Just like my lawyer is my law SME. I don’t know shit about the law, so I pay him. So when the engineers were told by a shit ton of medical SMEs that we better get the vaccine — we didn’t worry and hem and haw. They know more than I ever could about it. The people I immediately work with felt the same. We were gunning to get that shit in our arms LOL

Be smart. Listen to the SME. Doesn’t make you a sheep. A sheep can’t tell who the SME is. I’ll give you a hint, the SME didn’t get their degree from youtube.

5) This shit is fucking delicious:

Ascent Recovery Water. I was in Sprouts looking for something low carb to drink as I was thirsty. Grabbed this watermelon water. Holy shit. It’s fucking delicious. Tons of flavor! And after I drank it I was looking over the bottle — 20 grams of protein! What? It has whey in it. But it was crystal clear pink water. Is this sorcery? Why is sorcery always so expensive!? If this was affordable, I’d drink them daily for sure!

Angel Number

Posted on February 23, 2022 | by cursingcats.com | Leave a Comment

So today, while being a terrible person and looking at Facebook on my phone instead of better things, I saw Misha Collins post about “Angel Numbers” — cause yesterday was Twos-day. 2/22/22 (in American notation). So he posted a number to text for your angel. Well, im in a funk so I texted it.

“Hello Angel Number, I’m very depressed and worried about my job and lack of contributions, knowledge, and motivation. I think I’m not good enough to do it and I don’t have that drive to dive i and figure it out. And the upcoming court mediation Friday is gonna be a cluster fuck. If I get the max, I won’t recoup 10% of my losses and they’re no offering the max even. C’est la vie.”

Then it asked me if I was a Russian bot and I kept texting cause I got shit to say.

“I am, in fact, not a Russian bot. Just a down in the dumps software engineer. I feel so screwed. I had a car accident that caused me to miss almost a year of work so I lost the job I liked and about 80k. When I got the OK to go back to work, I got put on a shitty contract. I hated it so I left for this job in November. But now I feel woefully unqualified and my depressive instinct is to shut down rather that pick up the reigns. Now we’re finally trying to settle with insurance over 2 years later and they’re offering 7k. No, thats not a typo. They’re offering 10% of my missed wages. AND I have to pay back for medical care, disability benefits, taxes, and of course the lawyer get 40%. I’m getting fucked!”

“I wish I could focus on the good stuff in my life. I’m finally getting plastic surgery to spiff up after massive weight loss. The second surgery is set for March 15th. I wish my mom could see! But oh yeah, she died of COVID before there was a vaccine. “

“I miss my momma and I hate my job. I’m crying to a text number dammit.”

“Mustn’t cry during work hours. At least I finally got my super sweet goomba tattoo.”

“Oh and no worries, I’m not a suicide risk. I have a psychiatrist and I take Valium PLUS 3, yes 3 antidepressants. And I have an awesome husband and cat. Oh yeah, the cats in stage 3 kidney failure with a heart murmur. When the cat goes, I’m gonna lose it.”

“I hope I can get his tattoo before he dies. He’s like my little familiar soul cat, At one my, my soul reason to live was that cat. He kept me going. I want his portrait.”

“Look at my handsome Jack!”

“I want Megan Massacre in New York to do it but she’s crazy famous and I’m in Alabama. My next choice is Devon Greig who did this sweet goomba on me. “

“*sigh* Thanks for listening, Angel Number.”

Midlife Crisis or New Level Unlocked? You decide

Posted on February 7, 2022 | by cursingcats.com | Leave a Comment

So I’ll be 40 this year. I’m cool with it. The older I am, the closer to retirement I am! Also, I’m happy with where I am in my life. Good husband, decent career, great credit score, own a house with a pool, good friends, decent family relationships, fucking awesome cat. So I don’t think I’m having a mid-life crisis. I’m just making a lot of changes.

New arms, new stomach, new boobs (all through drastic plastic surgeries) — and some fucking sweet tattoos. Like full in on the new bod and tattoos. I’m getting a sleeve, yall. We’re all-in here. And this was somewhat brought on by my turning 40.

It’s like dude, I’m getting old — if not now, then when? And who’s to tell me no? And why not? Like, bitch I’m 40, what say do you have in my life? Career? I can cover the tats if it’s a big deal or an interview. Long sleeves and pants — check. Husband? He hasn’t objected. In fact he’s pretty jazzed about the boobs. Family? Meh, mom was the only one who would have had any weight, and well, we know how 2020 took her out. Friends? Why would a friend object? I hope I don’t choose friends so badly.

So yeah, I’m halfway through this bullshit we call life. I think I’m doing OK at it. I feel like 40 brings a new freedom. Is that a mid-life crisis or mid-life catharsis? I’m not trying to regain my youth — fuck that, my 20s were a shit show. So was my youth. Fuck that shit. It’s more like: now I have permission. It’s a shame I don’t have hair I could dye amazing colors. I’m too hot-natured for wigs as an alternative. Gonna have to put all the color in the sleeve.

My Goomba! (First Tattoo)

Posted on February 5, 2022 | by cursingcats.com | 1 Comment

I got my first tattoo today! It’s a goomba on my ankle.

Isn’t he adorable!? I got him from Devon Greig At Alchemy Tattoo in Nashville, Tennessee. She did an amazing job. He even looks better than the fake ones I was sporting for a while! She did the outline all in colors darker than the pixels they surround (except for the grey surrounding the black).

The pain wasn’t as bad as I expected. However, I had seen people tapping out of tattoos and heard stories of people screaming and taking lots if breaks. This one took just barely over two hours of tattooing. I didn’t need a break or anything. Just to shift twice because I my other leg was falling asleep.

It felt like a skinned knee. And the lines were the worst part. She did the grid first and then went back and colored in the many many pixels (“so many little squares,” as she put it). So yeah, the fine lines were more painful than the coloring in. And it hurt worse towards the back of my leg for some reason.

Now I’m ready for my sleeve. Bring it on. (In Fall, after pool season).

K went with me to Nashville. We made a lovely day of it. Traffic was light. We went to the studio early enough to grab lunch there. So I google mapped “restaurants near me” and it suggested a hole in the wall BBQ joint — well, when in Nashville… It looked shady as hell, but they also had a food truck parked behind it. I love some food truck food. Yall, that place was fucking awesome. Everything we had was delicious. Pork, Sausage, Bologna, Brisket quesadilla, Fries, Cole Slaw, White Beans, and Banana Pudding. All 5 stars. K said she knew it was going to be good when she saw grandma behind the register. And it seemed like most of the people in there were regulars shooting the breeze with the smoke master.

The bathroom was out of soap and paper towels. Usually that would be a no go for me — but fuck, that food was so good. I’ll go back when I go for some of my sleeve, I’m sure. Thanks to K for joining me on my adventure!

It’s a Good Thing: Pentel EnerGel RTX Retractable Liquid Gel Pen Review

Posted on February 3, 2022 | by cursingcats.com | Leave a Comment

How about a product review? I just reordered some of my absolute favorite pens. I’m pretty possessive of a good pen. I covet them. You will not take my good pen. And ever since I found these Pentel EnerGel RTX Retractable Liquid Gel Pens (Amazon Link), the purple one has been my precious. I’ve ordered a set of just purple and now I’m ordering another set of the multi-colored package because almost all of them have run out.

Here is my original Amazon review (I’m a whore for Review “likes” — so feel free to hop over and mark my review as “helpful”) :

I signed into a meeting Monday with a brown pen — the color was meh (brown) but the ink line was fantastic. It flowed perfectly. Perfectly. I wanted it. I asked whose it was and it belonged to the meeting coordinator — he was not going to let me have his pen. So I asked to borrow the pen and wrote down everything about it. Then I went home and ordered a pack of my own. Now I have purple and dark green (and 7 other colors since I gave three to my husband). They arrived last night. *SQUEE*

Purple is my favorite color of pen to use at work. I’m an engineer so I have to keep it semi-professional. This pack has a lovely dark purple, a dark green (looks lighter in the picture — there are two greens, one is lime and one is dark), 3 of 4 blues (I’m counting the turquoise here), black and brown. I consider all of these seven colors professional enough for work purposes. There are other lovely colors here but those will stick to home use. The Navy pen looks almost black when you write with it. I prefer to avoid black and similar pens at work because I need my writing to pop on printed pages. So this multi pack was an awesome choice for me. Next time I might just order a set of purple. However, I wanted to try all the colors first.

I’d consider getting a nice metal version of this pen and just switching in these ink wells. However, then I’d be even more possessive of my amazing pen. I might develop a tick when someone asks to use it.

“My precious…”

Tubing!

Posted on August 1, 2021 | by cursingcats.com | Leave a Comment

I finally got to go tubing! It was just as awesome as I expected it to be. We had 7 people linked in a circle, so steering to avoid obstacles like hanging tree limbs was a thing. We had loads of fun though.

I found a great deal on the mesh-bottomed River Run tubes at academy. 100% recommend the mesh bottomed “River Run” tubes. I’ve used them before at the lake at Mr C’s Aunt L’s house on the lake. So I knew they were exactly what we wanted. So I spread it around the group and we all had the same tubes. Why does that matter? Because they all interlock. So we were able to lock together in a big floating circle and chill out and easily chat.

A few things we learned: Tips on tubing, you could say: or for SEO optimization: how to prepare for tubing, tubing tips:

The bigger the group tied together is, the harder it is to get that snaky circle to avoid obstacles like trees and water weeds. It’s easy to move one person. Not so easy to move seven.
The double floats suck. Two friends went with the double float. It was pretty cool because it had a cooler in the middle. That’s where the pluses end though. They were too high out of the water to help steer. Also, carrying that thing was a beast. Two people walking in tandem like you’re moving a couch. Also didn’t fit on the shuttle, had to go in a pick-up truck. And while all the singles stack up nicely for lunch and shuttle rides, that behemoth is taking up a lot of space. Would not recommend.
Grilling food is delicious, but unpredictable (it was a windy day) and takes a lot of time. Time you could have spent on the water. Next time we will brown bag it.
I thought this was obvious, but you need strappy shoes or water shoes that are gonna stay on your feet when you’re walking through a muddy creek bed. Flip-flops and slip-ons aren’t gonna cut it. That said, prepare to have shoe tan lines.
Bring the sunscreen with you on the tubes. We sun-screened up so much before each float, and still got major sun.
Wear a hat. Hats protect your face from the sun.
A water proof phone bag is a must. Even if you don’t use it for your phone, your car key fob probably doesn’t wanna get wet.
If you don’t plan to pay to get your tube inflated, for fucks sake — make sure you have the right attachments to blow it up with your pump. These river run tubes have the awesome fast release valves — which is great, but requires the appropriate fitting for inflation. However, the back rest requires a regular pool float valve. Be prepared.