We finished off Evelyn’s birthday by heading over to a local Thai restaurant. I was hoping that on a Tuesday evening it would be empty, but it was PACKED. Almost as bad as a Saturday night. People are still eating out in Austin, that’s for sure.

After that we headed over to Half Price Books and picked up an old Native American (Baja) folk album and another Mexican folk album. Nothing much else there. I like picking up these old records because most of the artists haven’t been re-recorded or transferred to MP3/CD.

On the way home we passed by a deposit box for donations and there were, literally, 100 records scattered about. About 60% of them were Christmas records, 35% awful junk, and maybe 5% worth carrying home. In the end, we grabbed a copy of the Amadeus soundtrack (in good shape) and a beat-up Best of Beach Boys album. I’m thinking of going back and grabbing the Christmas stuff.

These had to be broken up into two six minute chunks. Enjoy.

I’ve uploaded the photos I took of Evelyn opening her gifts. We’ll be uploading the video shortly.

Click Here For The Photos

Oh god, it’s the end of the world. From CNN yesterday:

We didn’t get the money! Let’s celebrate! From CNN today:

Bunch of fickle fuckers. Screw ‘em.

Today is a big day — Evelyn’s 40th birthday. 

That’s one of my favorite recent photos of Evelyn, when she visited the Galapagos last year with her good friend Deb. Has it already been a year? Time flies.

We’ll probably be taking it easy today, maybe going out and about a bit after Evelyn walks the dogs. We’ll also be recording her opening presents, so we’ll have another Virtual Birthday for the folks outside of Austin (which is everyone).

I’ll be up in Dallas next week (10/05 through 10/10) for the next round of Cognos training. Hopefully this will be the last class for a while. They are exhausting. After that, I fly (!!!) up to Chicago on 10/12 for a week of work up there, returning to Austin the night of the 17th. Then it’s Maker Faire Austin, over the weekend of 10/18-10/19. It will be interesting to see what the vibe is like this year compared to last.

You know what the 700+ point Dow drop reminded me of? A kid having a temper tantrum. The Killer Joke (as Evelyn would say) is that if the “bailout” did go though today I think the market would still be down. What a bunch of doom and gloomers. The whole negative attitude is infesting everything. Like the gas run in Atlanta, this is a self-fulfilling disaster.

Christ, you read the news and you think that the majority of people are defaulting on their loans. Guess what? They aren’t. Do we have 30% unemployment? Nope. Come on people, Why So Serious?

Update: I was going to make the below a comment to Erin’s, but I thought it was better here.

There’s no question that this a world-wide issue. There’s so much focus on the USA, even though 5 large banks in Europe have gone under in just the last 6 months. (Including the one that bought ABN AMRO that used to own LaSalle in Chicago.)

I don’t discount that people are going through rough times, and I feel bad for your family, and the thousands like it. The trouble is that it becomes a very dangerous “slippery slope”. The negative mood infects everyone, from the bankers making the loans to the people just trying to buy a home or a car or whatever. The gloom is infectious, and very very dangerous.

I make light of the subject because we all, as a world society, need to take a step back and get a grasp of the issues at hand. We need to carefully evaluate what’s important and what’s not. I’ve lived through enough recessions and enough bad times (literally counting dimes and quarters to pay bills) to know that if you keep working hard and focus on what is important to you in life, that things have a way of turning around. It’s not easy, but it’s nowhere near impossible.

Is one big country/world bank going to solve anything? Nope. Are nationalized banks going to solve anything? Nope. And what do we do when $700 billion has been spent and the plan doesn’t work? (After 8 years of George, my reaction is to believe exactly the opposite of what he says.) Now we’ve saddled the next generation with even more debt, and I have no desire to do that.

Perhaps we need to look at things that are working in this world. Like micro loans. Like looking into the community (co-ops) and not big banks for funding. Those things work. Why? Because they are kept close to the community and don’t get bogged down by red-tape and 1000 layers of fees. They get money to places quickly and efficiently.

Let’s look for real solutions, move forward, and don’t get stuck in dispair. If people need help, by god, help them. Not with some big-bank-big-government bloat, but with “boots on the ground” action. There’s a lot of money out there, just waiting to be put to good use.

Getting Evelyn’s appetite back to normal is taking a little bit of work. Her body has been craving protein and she’s having a hard time with carbs. This has given me a good excuse for experimenting with some new breakfast dishs.

One dish that I like from the Kerby Lane Cafe is their Migas. It’s scrambled eggs sauteed with veggies, with some sauce on top (I get their chipotle sauce). They serve it with some good black beans, and that’s what I was missing in my version.

Evelyn’s craving for protein makes eggs and beans a perfect breakfast mix. Here’s my version of the black beans, which I think is even better than theirs. Make it the night before so all you have to do is heat some up for breakfast.

1/2 cup chopped red onion (about a 1/4 onion)
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp kosher salt

3 cloves garlic, pressed or finely chopped
1 tsp good chili powder (I use Gebhardt)
1 tsp dried oregano

1 27 oz can of Bush’s black beans (already cooked) drained and well rinsed
1/2 cup chicken broth (Swanson’s Low Sodium)
1 chipotle chili in adobo, chopped
1 tablespoon of the adobo sauce

In a 10″ non-stick fry pan heat the olive oil under medium-low heat. Add red onion, sprinkle with salt, and stir to combine and coat. Cook over medium-low heat until onions are softened, but not really browned, about 10 minutes. Reduce heat if onions cook too quickly.

Reduce heat to low. Add the garlic, stir to combine. After about 30 seconds add chili powder and oregano. Stir for about 30 seconds. Make sure whole mixture is well combined.

Add drained and well rinsed black beans to the pan. Stir to combine with onion/garlic/spice mixture. Using a rubber spatula press down on some of the beans to break them. Crush some, but make sure that the majority of beans are firm and intact.

Once everything is combined, add chicken broth, chopped chipotle, and adobo sauce. Stir well. Simmer uncovered over low heat until most of the liquid is gone, about 1/2 hour.

Let cool and put in a storage container overnight. Reheat over stove top or microwave, adding a tiny bit of broth if beans are too thick. The beans should be made ahead of time, as their flavors will blend in the fridge.

That’s really it. For breakfast I warm a couple of corn tortillas, make some scrambled eggs, and serve with beans and salsa (I use the same sauce I make and use for a central Mexican version of Chilaquiles). Take the tortillas, slather on some beans, add some scrambled eggs, and a dash of the sauce. Add some fresh cheese and some finely sliced red onions if you like. Delicious!

After 4 days of a high fever, and a final night of sweats and shivering, Evelyn woke up on Friday with a much more normal temperature. We got her off of TheraFlu and on to just Tylenol (for the aches) and she was able to walk outside a bit on Friday afternoon.

By Friday night she was starting to feel stronger, and was able to eat some solid food (she’s barely eaten all week). We’ll take it easy this weekend as she recovers her strength.

Evelyn’s fever seems to have broken, so we went on a Great Spoon Hunt today. Mainly trying to get her our of the house and walking around. The trip to the second-hand store wore her out, but we were able to find some tiny spoons:

I got a set of 6 for $2.50. They are stainless steel, and a bit more flimsy than I wanted, but they should do the job for now. (They also had some “collector” spoons, but there were only 2 of those, and I needed more.)

I’m still on the lookout for sturdier versions, something I can leave in my sugar/salt/baking containers. So, if you find some small sturdy metal spoons please think of me!