Estoy muy triste...

...because my computer isn't getting fixed this week after all :-( When they gave their estimate for repairing the Mac, we thought "Wow, that isn't bad, about what it cost in the U.S." -- which we knew by doing a lot of internet research over the weekend. BUT it turns out they were quoting in dollars, not pesos. Whole 'nother ballgame! Since it takes $3.80 pesos to equal one dollar, their quote was FOUR TIMES what it would cost to repair in the U.S. -- roughly equivalent to 3/5 of a new computer.

So we told them no, no thank you very much.

Ivan will pick it back up, in its unrepaired condition, on Friday when he has to go into Cordoba again.

And we go back to doing what we thought we'd have to do in the first place: have our daughter bring the part when she comes in December and Ivan will fix it with our son guiding him through the process via long distance.

That means the sharing of the PC continues.

Going to have to figure out a good schedule. In the past we both hopped online at the same time on our respective computers. First thing in the morning we'd check e-mail and deal with doing whatever we needed to do online, business-wise. Late evening is when we liked checking blogs and facebook (me) and surfing the internet for informative how-to articles and videos (Ivan). During the day we're pretty busy and although we hop on periodically during a free moment to check e-mail or facebook, it's not like we have blocks of time during daylight hours for computer stuff.

I'm finding that being a two-computer family is a lot like being a two-car family. You can get by with only one but when you're used to having two, it's a challenge to make things work. 

While we're on the subject of making things work...

Lack of rain in a really, really long time means water rationing. Some parts of the city have already been shut off for a day at a time. Not sure when they'll get around shutting it off in our barrio. For the past two days water coming from the faucets has smelled...well, swampy is the best word I can think of to describe it. Not a pleasant smell.

We live a block from Lago San Roque which made front page news the other day with this photo:

The caption read something about the lake being turned into a patio. Yes, that is the bottom of the lake. Farther "down river" there is some water but very, very little.

And no rain in the forecast.

Even when we lived in Africa, although water was not readily accessible -- we had to haul it from a nearby bore hole well -- it was available.That made me more conscious of how we use (and misuse) water as Americans. It flows from our taps in an unending supply and we think nothing of taking 20 minute showers, dumping all waste water down the drain, turning the water on and letting it run while we do other chores... For the longest time after we returned from Uganda I still took very short showers. But eventually the memory of water as a precious commodity faded and I resumed my old habits.

Now we're back to being more thoughtful. Yesterday when Ivan did dishes, he used the waste water in the garden. Shorter showers are in order. We aren't flushing as often (remember the old rhyme: "If it's yellow, let it mellow; if it's brown, flush it down"?). Now don't go all "Ewwwww" on me. This is life for most of the world.

Yesterday one of Lid's Random Dozen questions was about recycling. Americans are big on being green when it's convenient. But how would we do if water really was a scarce commodity and we had to re-use waste water and flush less often?

Something to think about this fine November day.

Random Dozen Week #10

I answered these Random Dozen questions while making No Bakes and banana bread for our English conversation group this morning. Sharing a computer has seriously cut into my writing/editing time so please forgive any grammatical or spelling errors. I am OH SO HAPPY to report that the Apple store in Cordoba had the part in stock (a miracle!) and even now my Macbook is "in the shop" and hopefully will be fixed by the end of the week. 

1. It's early morning, about 2:00AM, and you're driving home. You come to a red light and sit there. There is no one in sight for miles around. Do you wait it out or run the light? Wait. Besides it being the right thing to do, at 2 a.m. I would be virtually brain dead (WHY AM I OUT AND ABOUT AT 2 AM ANYWAY?!) and would not trust my judgment so I’d be extra careful about obeying the law.

2. If you had the chance to re-do the last 24 hours, would you change anything? Ummm, yeah, I wouldn’t have spent that ½ hour mindlessly looking at purple rose jewelry to go with the ‘interesting dress’ in yesterday’s post. Especially after Mari told me that fashion designing was probably not my calling in life. lol

3. When you reply to someone's comment on your blog, do you reply in your comments or go to her blog and comment? (Or email her) I usually go to the blog and comment UNLESS I’m going to be long-winded with my response. In which case I e-mail them.

4. Your favorite Disney movie is: Parent Trap (the original)

5. Do you recycle? There is not a recycling system in place where we live now but we do save plastic bottles for the guy who owns the hardware store we shop at; he uses them for various cleaning solutions he buys in bulk and then sells in smaller containers like the bottles. We also save glass jars for future canning projects since we cannot find canning jars. [I’m still kicking myself for giving away the dozens and dozens of jars I had in the U.S., rather than bringing them with us. But who would have thought they’d be so hard to come by?] And we save some of the other containers (especially ones with lids) for screws, nails and other assorted shop items; my husband likes for things to be sorted in the garage.

6. Games of strategy or games of chance? My favorite is Hand & Foot, a card game that’s sort of both, as are most of the games I enjoy (Scrabble, Boggle, Dominoes). There’s the element of chance but you have to play strategically too.

7. Do you have any recurring dreams? You definitely do not want to hear about those; I have very weird ones.

8. What did you learn from your first real job? I learned that skills are only part of the equation and ATTITUDE plays a huge part. I loved my first job! My boss was an amazing man from a well-to-do family in the northeast who spent his life traveling to places where there was a shortage of doctors (Africa, India). When I worked for him he was director of a small hospital in Appalachia, and he had a joy about life, about what he did -- even though the administrative part of his job wasn't his favorite and he much preferred to be in scrubs, dealing with patients (and it being such a small hospital he was able to do both). He collected games from around the world and when a friend would send him a new one, all work would stop while we figured out how the game worked.

9. Do you buy or borrow most books? When we lived in the U.S. I had three library cards :-) Now I have to buy all my books. *sigh* I miss the libraries and that access to lots of good FREE books!!!

10. What fashion trend of the past did you say you'd never wear again but did? Well, we all know what a fashionista I am. NOT! Hmmmm, when I was a kid and capris were popular (although we called them peddle pushers then – anyone know why?) I disliked them intensely. Back then I was really skinny – or scrawny as they say in the south – and it was not a good look on me. These days I appreciate their coverage and wear them all summer. Since I have vowed these legs will never don another pair of shorts, what will I do when capris go back out of style?!

11. When do you start Christmas shopping? I never stop. I’m ALWAYS on the lookout for good ideas for Christmas gifts.

12. Have you ever been so happy that you literally jumped up and down for a few seconds? If so, what was the occasion? I’m really not the jump-up-and-down kind of person.

I'd really love to stay and chat more but I have to run! My English conversation group awaits. Hasta luego!

Interesting dress #3

Have I mentioned my idea of making a calendar once I've found and photographed a dozen truly 'interesting' dresses? I'm one dress closer to making the calendar a reality. This was at one of the malls in Cordoba last week. By virtue of its row of enormous roses across the chest area, it qualifies as 'interesting' in my book. What do you think?

I also found the perfect purse to go with it. It's blue but I'm sure we could get one in purple.

While wearing the dress, if you felt a little conspicuous by the multiplicity of roses running across your chest, you could simply hold the purse up so just one GINORMOUS rose graced your upper body. And I'm pretty sure it would cover most, if not all, of your upper body; you can't tell from the photo but this purse is probably 16" wide and 9" or 10" high.

Since one cannot possibly go over-the-top with roses, let's just throw in a few accessories gleaned from the internet... These stilettos -- in purple, of course -- would be the perfect footwear.

With the jewelry we don't want it too matchy-matchy, so let's vary the shade of the roses just a bit, shall we?

We can't leave our fingers naked either.

I'm sure we could add bracelets, something for the hair, more rings... but we want to be careful not to overdo it. So maybe this is enough? No, no you're right. Something is missing. What if it's a chilly evening? Then you'll definitely want to have this shrug to keep you warm.

Okay, I think we're done.
Yes, we are absolutely done.
At least I want to be done.
Enough already.
Finally. 

P.S. Please don't think I'm dissing anyone's creations. Separately these are perfectly lovely items. In this particular combination? I leave that up to you. 

Fall Into Flavor with Coca-Cola Marshallow Cake

In the south we like marshmallows (actually we like any processed food) and here's a tasty and unusual way to use them. Absolutely DELICIOUS! Trust me, as weird as it sounds, this will be a cake you'll want to eat all by yourself in one sitting.

But don't! Share it with your family for their undying gratitude and willingness to do chores without even a hint of complaining. [After serving this would be a good time to clean out the garage; you'll be fortified and on a sugar high that will keep you going for hours.]

COCA-COLA MARSHMALLOW CAKE

Cake:
2 eggs
1-1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup buttermilk (or put 2 T. vinegar in cup then add milk to 1/2 cup mark)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2-1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup Coke, measured without foam
1-1/2 cups miniature marshmallows

Icing:
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) butter
1-1/2 Tablespoons Coke
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts (optional)

Beat eggs in large bowl. Gradually beat in sugar. Mixture should be thick and pale yellow. Beat in oil, buttermilk and vanilla.
In another bowl stir together flour and baking soda. Beat dry ingredients into wet ingredients alternately with Coke. Stir in marshmallows.
Pour batter into greased and floured 9"x13" baking pan. Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool.
When cake is completely cool, make the icing. Melt butter in saucepan along with Coke. Remove from heat and beat in sugar and vanilla. If too stiff add a few drops of Coke. Stir in nuts. Spread icing over cake. Let icing set at least 10 minutes before cutting the cake.

This recipe is from Miss Mary's Down-Home Cooking, one of my favorite cookbooks for southern food.

And now for a little meandering. It IS Monday after all...

Even though rain was in the forecast all weekend, it never rained. A few clouds appeared briefly on the horizon yesterday afternoon and the wind whipped up for a bit, but it blew right over us. Today there's nary a cloud in sight. It's not as hot as it has been, only in the high 80s today. Inside and out. Our poor little old ceiling fans and one oscillating floor model just can't keep up.

This morning I spent time looking through recipes for things that DO NOT HAVE TO BE COOKED. Or cooked briefly on the stove top. But preferably NOT COOKED AT ALL. Standing over a hot stove is the last thing I feel like doing. We'll be eating a lot of sandwiches and salads I think.

So I will personally not be making the Coca-Cola Marshmallow cake in the foreseeable future. Even though I am craving a slice of it's sugary goodness. No-bake cookies will be the extent of any dessert-making in our house for a while. 

Now I'm going over to Lid's to see what other recipes have been shared in this week's Fall Into Flavor. Specifically looking for recipes THAT DO NOT HAVE TO BE COOKED. Even if I don't find any, I'm sure I'll be copying a bunch to try in the future. When, you know, it falls below 75 degrees inside my house.