My little Sentra just passed the 50,000 mile mark, and I have never had the brakes looked at. I know that’s terrible, but, well, that’s just how it is. Anyways, I must say that going to the brake repair place is an awful experience. It all worked out fine in the end, but the first place I visited to get my free estimate really put the guilt-trip on pretty heavy, and made me feel like I was going to kill myself, or someone else, if I got back in the car. This was a complete change of attitude from when I first walked into the place. The attendant was like my best buddy when I first met him, then after he inspected the brakes, he turned into a complete snake. (Read more for the happy ending)

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Tonight we had some really tender pork with chinese-style sauce, accompanied by chinese veggies. It was yummy! The meat had been in the Le Creuset for hours, so it was so tender!

One more reason to like Hilary Duff. (even tho it’s just a movie) Go Dodgers!!

You gotta love the power service here in Central Texas. Especially when the weather turns ugly (rain?). Yesterday afternoon we had a storm come through, and of course we lost power. The problem was that we lost power for over four freakin’ hours. At least we were able to keep our refrigerator shut during this time, and could save our food. We have a gas range, so we could make mac n cheese for dinner. The power finally came on at 9:17pm, while we were all starting to doze off. This morning as we were on our way out the door, the power went off again. I am at work now, and not sure if it is back on. This is not as bad as about a year ago, when the power went out one afternoon, and didn’t come back until around noon the next day. We had to throw out all our food from the fridge, which sucked.

The power situation is crazy around here. I don’t know how it is compared to other parts in the U.S. but I don’t remember the traffic lights going out when it rained in SoCal. Traffic lights, for goodness sakes. Shouldn’t they at least have a backup battery and just start flashing red or something? The lights here just go out. No flashing, no nothing. And they are big intersections, too. And the police rarely direct traffic. Last time that happened, I saw a patrol car parked near the intersection, and the cop was sitting in it, while drivers braved the intersection…

The other weekend we decided it was time to make a big pot of curry. Since Bay is now eating curry with us, we cannot make it karai (spicy hot), but instead make it sort of “kid’s curry” style, which means a little sweeter. This time we made it with chicken, potatoes, onions and carrots. This time, though, it was extra special, because we had it with cheddar cheese melted on top. (not in picture) When we were in Hawaii several years ago, we passed by a curry house and they served cheese-curry. I thought that it sounded pretty gross. Then, last year we went to Hawaii again, and went to the same curry house. Mariko said that cheese-curry is pretty good, actually, and that she had eaten it before in Japan. So, I thought, “What the hell, I’ll order the cheese-curry.” Man, was it good!!! I was so surprised at how great the combination was! So, I grated some cheddar cheese on top of mine this time, and it was delicious! We also had the best side-dish for curry, macaroni salad.

The latest in my weekly feasting is delicious croquettes, stirfry cabbage and miso soup. As always, accompanied by a cold beer.