let's just not mention the rennet
I'm just beating myself up all over the place today.
I barely missed my bus from my condo building this morning, because I realized it was raining and I forgot my umbrella and I had to go back up and get the umbrella. So, I walked ten minutes down to Broadway and Pine and caught the #49 there. And in order to save commute time thereafter, a #24 bus just happened to be coming up 3rd when I got off there at Pine, so I hopped on that -- getting a northbound bus downtown is tricky, because if there is no bus I can use coming literally within five minutes, then I can get to the office thereafter either just as fast or even faster by walking. And even among the northbound buses that are theoretically of use to me -- there's like five, spread over three different stops on 3rd Avenue spanning a couple of blocks -- there are only two of greatest use to me: the #24 and the #33 stop just around the corner to the north on 3rd & Pike. These work best for me because they turn left on Denny Way and have a stop right there on that street, giving me only a couple of blocks to walk from there to my work building. Other buses go that same route up to Denny Way, but continue up 1st Avenue N. In the past, the stop on 1st was not that different, basically just across the street from the Denny Way stop the #24 and #33 use. But there's a big residential complex being constructed there so the northbound bus stop is temporarily closed there, meaning I can't get off, say, the D Rapid Ride line or the #2, until the next stop up 1st Avenue -- thereby doubling the distance I have to walk from the bus stop.
Getting back to the #24 or #33, though, these are not express buses, which means there is a stop they have that other busses don't about two blocks south of that intersection, so I often get off there to walk the rest of the way from the stop instead of backtracking from Denny Way (it's kind of six of one, half dozen of the other in terms of walking distance). And I did that this morning, and went to step quickly over this square in the sidewalk that had a tree stump cut flat nearly down to the ground. I stepped square in the middle of it, not thinking how slick it might be in the rain, and although I caught myself without falling on my ass, my left foot still splashed into a mud puddle, and my right foot slipped forward and bashed its big toe into the cement side of that square portion cut into the sidewalk. It fucking hurt.
And then later this morning I bruised my ass! Scott and Noah do store tours on Thursdays so they aren't in the office, and I put a huge box of cold brew coffee samples in the Merchandising refrigerator. I took the box full of packing materials down to the garage, and when I tried swinging the door to the garage open with my butt, the door came back and jabbed the top side of my right butt cheek quite hard with its door handle. It fucking hurt.
I also got bit by something yesterday in the equivalent spot of my left butt cheek so I guess I've still got some balance in my life. Maybe I should do something to my left big toe though.
In other news, we've got a bit of wind today.
So what of last night, then? Shobhit and I went to our second month in a row of the Vegetarians of Washington monthly dining event. I'm not sure I think we need to go every month, though. Shobhit felt last month that it was a great value, and I only barely agreed; I was shocked he didn't find the food last month as bland as I did. It was pretty bland this month too, although the Field Roast Hazelnut Cranberry Roast was comparatively flavorful -- the problem with that being the flavor mostly coming from cranberries, which are gross. Okay, I could tolerate them, but they didn't make me eager to get seconds.
Shobhit and I even agreed we should bring our own seasonings next time, if there is a next time anyway. They had no hot sauce, and never even have salt or pepper available. I think this organization takes the "healthy" idea of vegetarianism rather far and keeps the sodium content lower than even I want it to be. And I almost never add salt to anything! Their rice and their roasted green beans, though, both could have used a healthy dose of seasoning.
I did like how they decorated the Upper Crust Catering dining room with Christmas lights, though. It was pretty.
These meals are always vegan, by the way, not just vegetarian -- as I mentioned to Shobhit on the way home, if that gingerbread pumpkin cake served for dessert had been made with eggs and milk, it might actually have been delicious. Instead it was merely serviceable. And with tax I spent $28 for this, for both of us together. I'm not convinced that's the greatest value, actually.
We had pretty engaging conversation with most everyone else at our table: one middle-aged special needs schoolteacher to my right who had come alone; one older couple; and one younger couple (both of them straight couples, although before the younger woman arrived Shobhit assumed them gay when the guy referred to his "partner"). It became pretty apparent rather quickly that they were all vegan. The young man said he had been vegan for four years, and the older lady asked him when he had "seen the light."
Fully recognizing that I'm likely projecting here, I found that condescending. I find the idea that vegetarians who are not vegans are only taking half-steps to the "right" kind of lifestyle off-putting. Now, these were all very polite people and no one was overtly judging us. But, the fact remains we were the only people at the table to refuse to give up dairy products, and I think it's probably safe to say the rest of them felt themselves secure in their "rightness." Thinking about that just gave me a knee-jerk feeling of defensiveness. Being vegetarian alone is a great service to the planet, god damn it!
Anyway we then did our shopping at PCC Greenlake Village since it was so close to Greenwood, and we also stopped at Whole Foods to get some of the day's cheese that was 50% off. We consolidated all our cheeses into a refrigerator drawer when we got home, and . . . holy hell do we have a lot of cheese. And we've still got four days of it left!
[posted 12:42 pm]