And now a random word...

"The tips at the end of shoelaces are called 'aglets'. Their true purpose is sinister."

Thanks Mishines for reminding me just how great this quote is.

Hot Potato (the final word)

Well, I knew it was coming. Here is the final report emailed to everyone in the building about the "event" yesterday:

To: 9200 ----- Occupants
From: ---- Health and Safety Office

Subject: Emergency Evacuation at 9200, April 23, 2007

On Monday, April 23, 2007 fire alarms sounded in response to a "smoke event" from a microwave oven on the second floor. This alarm triggered a call to the alarm monitoring company and in turn Montgomery County Fire and Rescue was dispatched.

According to the alternate Occupant Emergency Coordinator, all emergency evacuation procedures were followed and "there was a good evacuation with all floors reporting in". It was reported that security did not immediately unlock two of the three glass doors at the main entrance at the building. It is unclear why these doors were locked at all during normal business hours. --- security has been notified and we have requested that all three doors remain unlocked while the security guards are on duty.

After a review of the situation, the --- Safety Office feels that the current evacuation plan worked as intended and would like to thank all occupants for their cooperation.

If you have any questions, please contact the --- Safety Office at 301-***-****.

A "smoke event." That just seems so... dull.

Hot Potato (one more thing)

... I forgot to mention one more detail. When the 3 firetrucks showed up, the firemen actually got out, dressed in full gear, with oxygen tank and all, and made their way into the building to check for the source of the alarm. The weren't exactly rushing. It was more like they were on a Sunday stroll... if you consider wearing all that gear on an 80 degree day to check out a smoking tater tot a Sunday stroll.

Hot Potato (or how to evacuate a building)

So, today I am responsible for, literally, clearing out the building. Who knew that tater tots + microwave = 3 firetrucks? Seriously.

What happened? I was just heating up part of my lunch (the aforementioned tater tots). Our microwave in the office, well, it sucks. The tots were in for maybe 45 seconds when they started to smoke. Took them out, peeked in the container. Then the alarms started going off. And the alarms are LOUD.

Co-workers standing outside on this beautiful spring day either were congratulating me or just laughing it up. When the third fire engine showed up, I started to get a little sheepish... But only a little.

Down and up

I'm been in a, shall we say, grumpy mood these days. It's the weather. No, seriously, it is. Spring and fall are my favorite seasons of the year. The parts of the year that are most colourful and vibrant, for their own reasons. Spring is the time everything comes out of hibernation, including myself. Well, this spring has been far from normal.

Besides late season snow storms and the slightly more than usual April showers, it's been downright cold and unsunny. I think I must run on chlorophyll, because the first (and really only) reaction I have when I wake up and the sun isn't out, is to pull the covers back over my head and hide. This morning was the first really sunny morning in a long time, and I pretty much jumped out of bed. It's still cold, but I'm working at home and all the blinds are open.

I'd been so wholly unmotivated recently that I'm a bit taken aback as to how much this sunny morning has affected me so far. I think this picture of Thor sums up how I've been feeling as of late:

Happy Easter Casserole!

Sometime last year, there was some discussion among a few of us about "Caucasian Culinary Curiosities" aka "White People Food". You know, food that us, well, ethnic people, weren't exposed to during our childhood. For example, I had never eaten a casserole until well into adulthood. And I certainly had never made one.

That is... until now. As a part of my birthday gift, as a joke, Crazy (a very proudly self-proclaimed "Mid-western white person") gave me the Campbell's Casserole & One-Dish Recipe Cards book. Probably one of the funniest gifts I ever got. Well, she and Sweet Pea invited us over for Easter dinner, and I insisted that I should make the green bean casserole*.

Here is the casserole before the oven:


And ready to serve:


It was surprisingly quite tasty!

*Note: This casserole falls under two different "white people" food categories - "casserole" and "food wet with Campbell's cream soup."