In the Shop
Sid the Beetle is up on the rack today, because his check engine light and airbag light are on. Apparently, the latter is caused by the sensor for the passenger-side seat belt being off-kilter, so Sid doesn’t know whether he should alter any airbag deployment to accommodate a passenger; the former is being caused by a bad glow plug, which apparently is the diesel equivalent of a spark plug. (I learn something new every day.) Eh. Could’ve been worse, I suppose.
(Please forgive any typos I might make: I’m using Errol the Macbook on the VW dealer’s free wi-fi, and I’m still not as accurate as I’d like with the flat little keys.)
Apologies for the very intermittent postings of a non-link nature lately. While our headquarters are being refurbished, we’ve moved to a temporary building on the other side of I-85, which has added 2 miles (about 3.2 km) to my commute and at least doubled the amount of time I spend commuting. Leaving at 5:00 meant it often took an hour to drive 7 miles (11.2 km) to my home; leaving at 6:00 means that I can, very occasionally, make it in 35 minutes (45 minutes is more common, though). Thus, I’ve been working a weird compressed schedule that means I get home late almost every day, but have every other Friday off; this is both good and bad. I like having the extra weekdays off — if nothing else, VW service is unavailable on weekends except for general maintenance, so I would’ve had to take a vacation day to get Sid seen to — and having one less commute every two weeks means less sitting in traffic, and thus (I hope) less pollution.
On the other hand, it’s annoying getting home at nearly 7:00 most days. I’m generally too wiped out to do much cooking, and though I will faff about some on the computer, I’m usually too annoyed with the world to blog much. It’s a little frustrating, and I miss being able to spend 45 minutes or an hour messing about and preparing dinner — on my most ambitious days, I’ve generally been preparing VeganYumYum’s tomato cream sauce* and dumping it on kamut fusilli; most days, I’ve just slapped together a tofurky sandwich, peeled an orange, and considered myself somewhat fed.
My diet’s gone downhill since moving to the new building, too. We’re in kind of a sucky location, with all the traffic of Buckhead but none of the interesting places within walking distance; there is a natural food store about 5 minutes’ walk away, but they don’t carry produce (!!!) and only had one type of hummus (sun-dried tomato), which quite frankly was way too sweet for my taste. There are no good grocery stores around, so if I don’t bring my own lunch, I’m SOL. Unfortunately, given the time I get home most evenings, I hardly ever get around to prepping a lunch to bring, so I’ve been relying heavily on soy yogurt, oranges (nicely portable), pita chips, and meal bars. I really must do better.
The lack of places to go over lunch at least has helped make up for the slightly longer commute, though, because most days I just go sit in my car and listen to music (lately, mostly The Puppini Sisters) and, oddly enough, knit. Autumn generally afflicts me with a craving for wearing sweaters and fluffy scarves and ridiculous bobble hats, possibly as a reaction against the intense heat of our summers, but it’s hard to find exactly what I want, pre-made, in non-animal fibers. Thus, I’ll DIY.
(Er, there was going to be more, but Errol’s battery is redlining and I forgot to bring his power cord. Must go now before I lose all.)
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* I generally mod VYY’s recipe by upping the Tofutti cream cheese a bit, omitting the EB, using a full teaspoon each of oregano, thyme, and rosemary, and adding sploshes of olive oil and Braggs. The original is good, but I wanted more of an herbal kick. Oh, and I also generally use canned whole tomatoes, undrained, because it’s impossible to find really proper tomatoes if you don’t grow them yourself — rather a difficult trick in a studio flat without a balcony.(Go back.)
