jimsjournal

Jeremy went shopping the other day at an equivalent of a farmer's market -- where he bought a bunch of local food (from beef to vegetables to bread) and told Nancy and me that he wanted to fix dinner that night.

That sounded wonderful to us (Jeremy is a great cook) and besides which, neither Nancy nor I would be home until almost eight o'clock.

(Nancy had a tennis match and I needed to get in a workout at the YMCA -- I've been too busy this week.)

Jeremy was in the middle of preparations when I got home. The round shapes are very thinly sliced eggplant, fried briefly to make them just slightly crisp and then kept hot in the oven. The long thing strips next to them are summer squash, sliced thin and cooked the same as the eggplant.

He had bought a pound of ground sirloin -- from a grass-fed free-range locally raised cattle... which he formed into three large but thin patties (so it would cook quickly without drying out).

He also got a loaf of bread made with garlic and with Asiago cheese -- as a true foodie he had to open the package and urge us to inhale the grain and cheese and garlic scent of the fresh bread.

He cut thick slices to make open faced hamburger "sandwiches." (Yes, you see four slices warming up in the oven because he wanted to have a spare slice ready just in case it was needed.) And below you see a plate of food ready to eat. The crispy eggpland slices and yellow summer squash sticks are at the bottom of the plate. That is a scoop of mixed fresh cooked vegetables on left -- corn sliced from a roasted cob mixed with chopped fresh tomatoes and chopped roasted red peppers and some chopped red onion (all local organically raised). The hamburger is on top of the heated bread (the green is fresh romaine lettuce from my garden). Jeremy put a thick slice of red onion on top of each burger plus some shredded Asiago cheese and popped them in the oven just long enough to melt the cheese. To the left of the burger is a roasted hot pepper in a red onion circle.

And, below, you see Nancy and Jeremy at our table on the back deck. Jeremy had taken a picture with his cell phone and put it on Facebook. A minute later Jill (who was in Ottawa) commented on Facebook that the beer next to his plate looked a lot like one of her Magic Hat #9 beers that were in our beer refrigerator. Jeremy quickly responded that it was delicious, just like the other three he was going to drink. These smart cell phones plus the social media on the Internet sure take sibling bantering to a whole new level.

My employee ID badge needed to be renewed... in fact, its expiration date was this coming Monday... and, because the photo on the badge had been taken ten years ago and company rules say that the photo on a badge can not be more than ten years old, I needed to actually show up at a company site to be photgraphed and a new badge issued. Our little branch office in Providence does not have such a facility. In fact, the closest was at our site in Littleton, Massachusetts, which happens to be almost exactly 100 miles from my house.

So... Wednesday I hopped in my car and set off. My entire time there -- including walking from my car to the main entrance, explaining to the receptionist why I was there, finding the security office, having my picture taken and a new badge generated, stopping in a restroom, and walking back to my car took less than 12 minutes total.

Here's my picture... the woman from corporate security who took the picture laughed and said I looked like somebody who was ticked off about having to drive 200 miles roundtrip to get his picture taken... and asked if I wanted a do-over and I said no need because since I work from home, it's not like I have to wear it every day...

Heh! I do look a little ticked off, don't I? LOL!