I’ve only read 7!

And I am being honest. I have attempted to read many books on the list, I just couldn’t get through them. On the Road, The Berlin Stories, A Clockwork Orange, Gone with the Wind, A Handful of Dust, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, Lolita, Mrs Dalloway (although I actually may have finished this one, I simply can’t remember), Naked Lunch, and To the Lighthouse.

Here are the books I have read: Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, Brideshead Revisited, The Catcher in the Rye, Lord of the Flies, The Painted Bird, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, and The Sun Also Rises. Maybe if I can one day extricate myself from the computer, I can give some of those books I attempted another go.

I don’t know if anyone noticed but I’ve been fooling around with the code here on donnaville. I finally updated my MT templates so they reflect the home page’s design. I also updated all my other pages so they match too. Additionally, I’ve been trying to clean up the home page so there aren’t so many links. I figured those big boy web sites don’t need me linking to them, so I removed them from the blogroll. I left on the pages I love, read, and who link to me. The next thing I am going to do is really try to use a style sheet so it is easier to make changes. I tried that a couple years ago and I couldn’t seem to get it to work on my sub-domains so I gave up. The other thing I really want to do is something about the massive amounts of comment and trackback spam I receive. Without fail, I wake up to 50-100 spam messages every morning. It’s easy for me to delete them, in fact it is part of my morning routine, but I would really like to stop it from even happening. I read somewhere that if you rename certain MT files, it stops the spam bots in their tracks. I’ve got to do something!

My laptop should arrive today around 11:00. I am anxious to get back to work. Last night I tried to clean my desk. I have so many wires it is unreal. I tried to organize them and make them look tidy. Before I had a wire rat’s nest on the right of my desk, now the rat’s nest is behind my computer. There has to be a way to do it, I just can’t figure it. One day everything will be wireless. I can’t wait for that day.

You won’t believe what came out of Bobo’s butt! YARN! I took him for a walk and he squatted to poop and it came out threaded on the yarn like a beaded necklace. Thank goodness I had a poop bag with me because I had to pull it out of him! Blech!

My laptop didn’t arrive today and so I took another day off work. It should be in tomorrow. This computer debacle has turned into a very nice little vacation for me. Certainly I would have preferred to go to the Shore but sticking around here and getting stuff done has had a very relaxing effect on me. I feel great!

I think I know the problem witht the gingersnap cookies. This morning I searched the Web for Barb’s recipe and I found one very similar. The only difference is I used an additional ingredient, 1 tsp baking powder. It must be the baking powder that made the cookies rise and soften. I will try this recipe and see if it’s it.

Spicy Ginger Mounds

Sift together in one bowl:
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cloves
1 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp salt

Cream together in separate bowl:
3/4 cup shortening OR margarine OR butter
1 cup sugar

Beat into creamed mixture:
1 egg
1/4 cup molasses

Beat until light and fluffy. Stir in dry ingredients. Shape into small balls, roll in sugar. Place on ungreased baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake at 325 for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.

Lisa and I bought a case of Yuengling lager. The clerk CARDED me!!! I feel so good!

This has been the most productive day! I weeded, vacuumed, cleaned the garage, sorted the recycling, baked gingersnap cookies and I did a ton of other things. The gingersnap cookies came out just okay. My mother’s friend, Barb makes the greatest gingersnap cookies. Years ago, she gave my mom the recipe. Each year my mother valiantly tried to bake the cookies only to fail miserably. My father and I would give her such a hard time. “Barb’s cookies are better!” we’d shout. Mom finally decided to hang up her gingersnap apron-strings and concentrate on cookies that she excelled at baking like chocolate kringles. This morning, I decided I wanted to give it a go. I went to my parents’ house (since they have the ingredients and tools) and I attempted Barb’s recipe. I followed it to a T! I brought the dough home to the donnavilla to bake. I rolled the dough into balls, rolled them in sugar, placed them on a cookie sheet and baked them at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Guess what? They weren’t anything like Barb’s cookies. Instead of spreading out, they puffed up. Instead of being crunchy, they are a bit dry and crumbly. My only explanation is that Barb didn’t give us all the ingredients. Maybe she considers it her secret recipe? I don’t know. Tomorrow, if I feel motivated, I may call her and see if she can give me some tips.

My loaner laptop still hasn’t arrived so I took the day off work! Woo HOO!

Some more cool things:

* I installed a new showerhead all by myself! I bought it at K-Mart a few days ago. It was on sale for 20.00 but when I got to the cash register, it rung up at 7.00!!! I was pretty sure I would have to call my dad to install it for me. As it turns out, I am Handyman Negri!

* My personal computer is running fine! Thunderbird had been acting all crazy but I fixed it by transfering all my Inbox emails to a new folder and then deleting the old Inbox and Inbox.msf files and renaming the new folder Inbox. Works like a charm now!

* Last night after the Oktoberfest meal, Lisa and I went to Kohl’s and I bought two bracelets that look like Wonderwoman’s feminum wrist guards. I also bought a dog collar-type necklace for 1.50. It’s for me not Bobo. I doubt if I will ever wear it.

* Most importantly, the rain stopped!

Yesterday afternoon I took Lisa and our parents to the Newportville Inn for the Oktoberfest meal special. It was about $15 per person and they deposited two large plates in the middle of the table full of assorted meats, wurst, sauerkraut, red cabbage, and spätzle. It was very good. I will be having a great lunch today! I must admit I didn’t think the food was as good as the Wycombe Inn but as my father said about the Wycombe Inn, “That place was too frou-frou, it gave me the creeps.” The Newportville Inn was very comfortable and not at all creepy. And let me tell you about the dessert! Apfelstrudel! Oh my goodness, it was delish! It transported me to Dresden where I had a very similar strudel. In fact, here is a picture of me just after finishing off the strudel in Dresden. Don’t I look sated? I felt just as sated yesterday afternoon!

* The microwave works perfectly! In fact it is more powerful than my last one.

* Ever since I aimed compressed air into my laptop, it has not turned off on its own.

* The Newtown Theater (Right near where I live) is looking into having Saturday matinees of old movies! Guess who will be there every Saturday?

*The Viewmaster is loaded with new images.

So those of you wondering, it was a shock. I never expected to hear from him again. Ever. It’s strange that he chose to write in my comments. It’s not like it is difficult to find my email address. I have absolutely no desire to strike up a friendship with him. With that said, I sent him an email. I just asked how he was doing. I figure he has something to say, why else would he reach out after 4 years of silence? We shall see.