gottahavacuppamocha

At the deli counter in a nearby grocery store, I was ordering some cheese (white cheddar, on sale for $6.99/lb.) and a slack-jawed-yokel-ish couple queued up next to me.

“Wow, look at all this cheese,” said the male yokel.
“Wow,” the female yokel concurred. “They must have every kind of cheese here.”

After hearing that, I thought they must not be fans of Monty Python. While Monty Python’s “Cheese Shop” is famously known for it’s lack of cheese, standing in front of the deli counter, I saw it’s possible to go quite a way through the “Cheese Shop” list before coming up with a cheese this deli had in stock.

To be fair, the grocery store has different types of cheeses in different areas of the store. It’s possible to find cheeses such as feta, gouda, edam, etc. in other areas. It’s just that the deli counter only has about a dozen types of cheese, and only cheddar and swiss (emmental) are mentioned in the Monty Python sketch.

I’m a big fan of Chinese food. Growing up in Pepperell and Townsend, Massachusetts during the 1970s, if we wanted foreign food, the only option was Chinese. Even then, it involved a long-distance phone call to place the order and a drive to Fitchburg to pick it up. As a kid, I was amazed by the white boxes made with folded cardboard that had wires for handles. The food was exotic to my young mind. Fried rice was brown with veggies and bits of pork or chicken, and it had flavor. Sweet and sour pork, and Chinese chicken wings. The mysteriously named chow mein and chop suey. I was ravenous for pork cutlets, spare ribs, teriyaki, and egg rolls. Years later, when we moved to Alamosa, Colorado, Chinese food was no longer on the menu. With a large Hispanic population, Mexican restaurants were fairly common in southern Colorado, and they opened my eyes to a world of new dishes. It’s no surprise that when I’ve moved to new places, I’ve sought out good places to find Chinese or Mexican food.

In downtown Indianapolis, five or so blocks away from my apartment building is Hong Kong (a/k/a Hong Kong China Buffet). This small, mom-and-pop type restaurant serves food that reminds me of the Chinese food the family used to get in Massachusetts. P.F. Chang’s it’s not, since the atmosphere is very simple with tables and booths. There are a few Chinese items, such as a calendar from a Chinese food distributor, but they don’t give the place an Asian ambiance so much as remind you that this is a family-run restaurant that serves Chinese food. Most of the time I go there and the place is empty of customers. However, I usually go on weekends and after work, and I think most of their business comes from the lunchtime crowds from several nearby companies. For what its worth, I usually get takeout.

Atmosphere aside, the food is great. Almost always, I get a quart of pork fried rice and three egg rolls, but if I have extra cash, I often get something else as well. Today, I also got an order of chicken sticks (teriyaki chicken) and sweet-and-sour chicken. Plus, every time I’ve ordered an entree, they’ve thrown in an order of fried wontons for free. Since this is takeout, they toss in a few fortune cookies and packets of duck sauce, soy sauce, and hot mustard. They used to include plastic forks, but this time they didn’t. Maybe it’s the economy. Sadly, I’ve never known them to add chopsticks, which I’ve always thought were great for things like sweet-and-sour dishes, among others. Luckily, I’ve got some here at home.

In the past, when I’ve ordered Szechuan food or other items listed as spicy on the menu, the items were hardly spicy at all. This was also an issue at another Chinese restaurant I used to go to in Colorado Springs. However, at that restaurant, if we ordered a spicy dish, and we added that we wanted it spicy, it would come that way. I don’t know if that would work at Hong Kong, but it might be worth a shot.

Prices are fair. My usual order of a quart of pork fried rice and three egg rolls comes to about ten bucks. Cans of soda are a bit expensive at $1.25, though I admit I don’t know what they serve for beverages in the restaurant itself. Spending $25 or more for takeout buys enough food for a few days worth of lunches or dinners.

If you’re in Indy and want good Chinese food at decent prices and away from the crowds, I recommend Hong Kong, either for takeout or dining-in on the weekends.

Hong Kong
1524 N. Illinois St
Indianapolis, IN 46202
(317) 951-8882
(317) 951-8686
(317) 951-8889 Fax

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Not having a car, I usually walk to a nearby Starbucks on my way to work. One of the employees, Marita, is taking Japanese this semester, and gave me a nice greeting yesterday morning. Since my hiragana is a bit rusty, she had to remind me it said, “Ohayou gozaimasu” – which is basically “Good morning”.

Merci, Marita-san. C’est tres gentil.

A few weeks ago, I joined NIFS which is basically a gym on the IUPUI campus, though I went for the first time on Wednesday. It’s been years since I worked out, so I have to work myself into it.

My general goal is to become “healthier”. A few months ago at a routine physical (the first one in about 15 years) it was suggested I had borderline high blood pressure. IMO, the blood pressure is fine, but the blood pressure rate increases with only a little exertion, then recovers slowly. A sign I’m getting older, I guess, but poor diet and little exercise certainly contribute. Doing some cardio work, I should be able to better manage the blood pressure in time for my next appointment in October. Improving my diet is also ongoing, especially since I want to lose 20 lbs (from ~200 lbs now to ~180 lbs at some point).

Wednesday I did 20 minutes on the stationary bike and 15 minutes jogging on the treadmill. The bike was too low, but I stuck with it. I set the program to Random since I didn’t know the differences between the various programs. I didn’t like the program that much because it wasn’t that challenging. On the other hand, the treadmill was easier than expected. I didn’t note the distance, but I was jogging at about 6 mph for most of the 15 minutes. After hopping off the treadmill I the “sea legs” feeling. Pressed for time, I headed to the showers then to work. NIFS opens at 5:15 am, but I got there after 5:30 and worked out until almost 6:30.

Yesterday I did 20 minutes on the stationary bike again, but I set the seat higher and selected the “Rolling” program. More challenging, my legs definitely felt it, especially the thighs. I arrived earlier, so I had more time to work out. NIFS has a large variety of weight machines, so I went to one where I sat down and pulled the weight down from overhead. Kind of like a chin-up, but not quite. Twenty repetitions at 70 lbs, then 20 at 90 lbs. After that was 15 minutes on the treadmill, which was a lot more difficult than Wednesday. The stationary bike workout might have had an affect on that, but I don’t know for sure. Either way, it was a challenge.

Since it’s the wee hours of the morning (I won’t get into the odd sleeping schedule) I’m trying to decide what to do for today’s workout. I’ll probably try something not so exerting on the stationary bike, which will hopefully let me do better on the treadmill later. I think I get more of a workout from the treadmill, but the stationary bike is good for getting the legs loosened up. I’ll probably try some more weight machines. While the cardio work is more important to me, doing some work on upper body strength is a good idea, especially since the machines are there.

My cell phone just proved its worth. Coming back home after work, I took the elevator, as usual, to my fifth floor apartment, but this time the elevator got stuck. The only light was the emergency light, which wasn’t much. Luckily, I stopped off for Chinese take-out on the way home, so I was set for food just in case.

My impression has been that the elevator seems to act up in the heat, and while it is hot out at the moment, I’ve never been in the elevator when it’s gotten stuck before. I pressed all the buttons and nothing happened, when it dawned on me to use my cell phone to call the management company. They sent someone over and had me out in about 10 minutes. I’m glad I caught them before they took off for the day. The maintenance guy said it was a heck of a time for a power outage, which I thought was odd since the lights in the hall were on. My DSL modem still seems to be on, but the air conditioning isn’t working. I wonder if we’re having a brown-out or something. Maybe it’s a sign for me to trudge up five flights to get in shape :-/

*** edit ***

That was weird. Something was up with the electricity. The outlet next to the computer desk was fine, but the HVAC unit on the other side of the same wall wasn’t working. The lights in the kitchen would go on (didn’t test anything else in there), but the lights in the hallway, the bathroom, and the great room wouldn’t. (BTW, “great room” is probably a better term than “living/dining/bedroom.”) The power came back on a little bit ago.

I didn’t trust doing any computing for fear of taxing the building’s power grid, so I took the time to do some cleaning up. That’s still an ongoing project, but it is probably 60% – 75% finished :-) Then it will be a matter of keeping it clean afterward. *sigh*

Two things: first, I’m reworking the site a bit and trying to develop a look that will work with both MediaWiki and WordPress. I have the WP version started, but not yet finished, which can be seen over here. Given the architectures of MW and WP, the overall look will have to be coded separately for each piece of software. It still has a way to go yet, and there is a glitch in viewing it in Firefox 3 RC1, though it seems to look okay in Firefox 2, Opera, and Safari.

[edit: it's finished now and looks fine in Firefox 3 RC1]

Second, coming in this morning I saw bicycle commuter coming in a door I was passing by. However, what caught my eye was the bike jersey he was wearing. I saw the logo of Bristol Brewing’s Laughing Lab Scottish Ale and did a double take. I’ve never seen Bristol beers here in Indy, so it was strange to see the jersey. I stopped and talked with the guy for a few minutes, and it turns out his brother works for Bristol Brewing as a QA person (what a job that must be :-D)

A few years ago I found about open primaries. I’m an independent, but a friend of mine who worked the polls told me that independents could also vote in primaries in Indiana, but they had to choose one primary to vote in. In other words, an independent could vote in a Democratic primary, but not a Republican, or could vote in a Republican primary, but not a Democratic one. Sounded like an interesting idea, but it didn’t seem to matter too much…until now.

When I found out that the Indiana primaries were in May, I figured they would all be decided and it would be a waste of time to bother voting in the primary. Years ago, I would have supported McCain over Bush. I like the idea of having an armed-forces veteran in the White House. McCain, Kerry, and Gore are all Vietnam veterans, while Bush served in the Texas Air National Guard, which isn’t quite the same thing. However, the economy is going to be a bigger issue in this campaign than the War in Iraq. The war is still an important issue, but the economy will certainly affect more people than the war does. I don’t know anyone in the armed forces at the moment, but I do know the price of groceries seems to be going up a bit. Even though gas prices don’t affect me directly (don’t own a car), I know that the cost of transportation is figured into the prices of things in stores, and as gas prices go up, so do the prices in the stores. The reason I’m not likely to vote for McCain this time around is because he admitted the economy wasn’t his strong point (This was around he time Mitt Romney was still in the race). McCain might be a good War President, he might be a good leader (despite the occasional foot-in-mouth issues), but I think the economy needs more attention at the moment.

Anyway, since McCain has the Republican nomination pretty much sewn up, I can turn my attention to the Democratic candidates. If I vote in the primary tomorrow (today) it will be for Obama. My first thought about him years ago during the Democratic convention was that he is a hell of an orator. However it takes more than speeches to be a good president. I was a little worried about his experience until I found out he served for many years in the Illinois legislature. It also dawned on me that a lot of others (George Bush and Bill Clinton, for example) also lacked experience yet won the White House. I think who he picks for a running mate and for cabinet positions will be important in winning in November. My suggestions woud be Wesley Clark (a retired general) or Bill Richardson ( a former diplomat).

Despite the fact that his campaign has been sending me junk mail, I can relate more to Obama than I can to Clinton. Obama’s parents divorced when he was young. He went to a bunch of different schools and moved around a lot. His family even got Food Stamps when he was younger, which is something I also remember. I have a lot of respect for someone who can go from a childhood like that to eventually become a senator or even president. Even if I don’t vote tomorrow, I wish him luck.

It’s election time, so that means…junk mail. Since I don’t watch TV or listen to the radio, I guess that’s about the only way I will encounter candidate ads. Strangely, the only junk mail I’ve received for elections is from Democratic candidates.

It’s strange for two reasons. First, I’m an independent and not registered with any political party. One of the reasons I became an independent (years ago) was to cut down on the junk mail. Guess it works differently in Indiana. The other reason it’s strange is because I only get junk mail from the Democrats. They’ve got more to spend, but for a party that likes to pride itself on being environmentally friendly, they seem to send a lot of trash (literally and figuratively). Maybe the environment is secondary to getting the word out, but it seems like those spam e-mails that promise anti-spam solutions – the message contradicts the medium.

For what it’s worth, this particular piece of mail came from the Obama campaign. Since the primary (I’m an independent, remember) is in two weeks, I expect a lot more junk mail will be in my mailbox until then.

Last night/this morning I felt my bed shaking. Since I was groggy, I wasn’t sure if I was still in a dream. I rolled over and saw it was about 5:30 am, and I more-or-less determined the bed really was shaking. I also had some wine last night with some classmates, so I thought that might be playing a part – sort of a delayed bed spinning. “The Exorcist” also came to mind. I sat up in bed and the shaking subsided. Still being tired, and not sure about much of anything, I made my to the lav and relieved myself. I thought about staying up but I was still drowsy, so back to bed it was. The alarm clock is set for 6:02 am, but I usually hit the snooze button two or three times before getting up. Got to work a few minutes early and checked CNN and found out it was an actual earthquake. A 5.2 hit someplace in Illinois and was felt as far north as Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, as far south as Georgia, and as far east as Ohio (How often do you hear of Ohio being referred to as Far East?).

About 11:30, I was on the phone with someone at work and my desk started swaying. This is good sized desk that’s a bit top heavy because of some bookshelves, but it’s not prone to excitement, so when it starts moving it’s pretty noticeable. Turns out there was a 4.5 aftershock. Feeling an earthquake when you are asleep is one thing. It woke me up, but it was barely recognizable as an earthquake. Many people I talked to today didn’t even know there was a quake. Some people didn’t even feel the aftershock. I think people who were out walking probably wouldn’t have felt it, because it was pretty minor too. One lady at work mentioned a flower vase in her office moved a few inches during the aftershock.

It’s nothing compared to what they get in California, but it’s big new for the Midwest because we rarely get quakes big enough to be felt over a long distance. Apparently there was a 5.0 quake in 1968 in the area. The New Madrid fault line in Missouri has had an estimated 8.0 earthquake in the 1800s, before we knew much about seismography and such. Legend has it the quake was powerful enough to cause church bells to ring in Boston, although it knocked down a few houses in New Madrid itself. On the other hand, there were only a few homes there to be knocked down at the time.

For the Midwest, it was an eventful day.

Crazy day today. Work was busy and will be busy tomorrow. It was mostly cloudy and drizzly today, but the temps got into the low 50′s so it wasn’t too bad. In the evening, during class, a thunderstorm rolled through and there was a tornado warning. We finished class about half an hour early during a break in the weather. Good thing too. By the time I got home it was snowing.

To top it off, about an hour after I got back to the apartment, the fire alarm went off. Strange, because we had a fire drill at work yesterday. Anyway, I put on a jacket and shoes, pretty much wearing what I was wearing earlier, but the temps were in the low 30′s and it was very windy. Most people who left the building went to their cars, but since I don’t have one, I just sort of huddled next to a minivan, using it as a windbreak. The drizzle started turning to ice, so the roads will be chaotic tomorrow.

Right now, weather.com report the temperature as 14 degrees F with a wind chill factor of -5 F. The wind is supposed to continue tomorrow, so it will be an interesting trek into work. Luckily, no classes for me tomorrow, though I have a test in French on Thursday.