Confessions of a One-Track Mind

You know you've been in Florida for a long time when 84F feels absolutely balmy. It's been raining, which we need, but of course, that also means my fracking yard is shooting up. You could graze brontosauruses* back there. I have no lawn mower and no money to pay to get it cut. Let's hope code enforcement doesn't take it in their heads to drop by, huh?

Have done some laundry...ought to do more. That's the nice thing about this weather, the heat lethargy is somewhat reduced.

"Royal Pains" is back tonight. Woohoo!

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*Or is that "brontosauri"?)
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Yesterday, Wednesday, I slept until nearly 1 PM, which is late even for me. My well-laid plans overslept, so to speak. Did nothing constructive whatsoever.

Today, slept til going on noon (Better!) and made excellent progress in my kitchen. Got the counter cleared off and the kink SINK emptied. (I don't have a plumbing fetish, honestly I don't!) Scratched the surface of inventorying my pantry---I have lots of rice, couscous, orzo and various pasta. That much I do know. Oh, and I submitted my application for unemployment benefits---on line! They'll let me know within seven days what my eligibility is. *crosses toes* (Easier to type that way.)

I got flamboyant with the turkey I had (1 pound ground turkey, $1.19 @ Aldi's) and made meatballs, which turned out nom nom nom yummy. Dumped the ground turkey in a pyrex bowl, mashed it down and seasoned liberally with ground sage. Estimate, about a tablespoon. I lightly beat an egg, poured that over the turkey and glopped it all together with a fork. I smushed up some bread cubes from a box of stuffing mix (Best by 2007) to get 1/2 cup of crumbs and blended those in. Once it reached a texture that wasn't too gross, I kneaded it by hand for a few minutes. Heated a cast-iron skillet, added enough vegetable oil to barely cover the bottom, and shaped the mixture into balls with the help of a soup spoon. Got about 2 dozen and stir-fried those puppies until they had a nice tan. And they were fabuloso! (I put half of them up for tomorrow---brunch is going to be savory.)

I was absolutely delighted to get two back-to-back eps of SPN, especially those two eps. Dean as a Suit makes me squee, as does Sam in that big yellow polo and khakis. Okay, so I'm easily amused. But the iconic moment (see above) may be my favorite of the whole series, and it's especially timely for me right now. As for the second ep, well, I used to LARP, so that whole scene had me in stitches. Plus the bit about fangirls. And the Look in Castiel's eyes when he explained to Dean about the Archangel. Love, love, love!

Then, of course, the penultimate ep of Royal Pains. They're saying season finale rather than series finale, though, so I *do* have hope it'll be back.

My direct deposit will be in tomorrow, so I plan to pick up more turkey this weekend---such a deal! and I am going to try to get back into the habit of cooking instead of living on sandwiches, canned soups and rotisserie chicken (which isn't bad, it just isn't in my budget).

I haven't tried walking yet, but that's because it's still too freaking hot. I had to take a cold shower, and it IS true summer, because after the first 10 seconds or so, it was, "Is this as cold as it gets?!"

Title: Horse of a Different Color
Authored by: vanillafluffy
Pairing/spoilers: None
Rating/Work-safeness: G
Approximate word count: 2000
Disclaimer: I've never been to the Hamptons, but I hear it's pretty at this time of year.
Betaed by: karaokegal
Summary: When the HankMed crew is summoned to an elaborate party to help a fallen guest, Evan is grossed out, Hank has qualms and Divya's past is going to play an important part in saving Wilma. It's all part of a typical day in the life of a concierge doctor in the Hamptons!

( How many people are named Wilma these days? She's probably really old and really, really rich. )

Feedback would be lovely, thanks!

Ahh, the luxurious sensation of having accomplished something long-delayed and LOOMING.... I woke up early this morning and put together my presentation on church tomorrow for Murphy's Law. (I'll post it tomorrow after I've presented it---I'm a little superstitious about shit like that.) I signed up to talk a couple months ago with no firm plan for a topic. Then, exiting work after a really bad day, it hit me: Murphy's Law.

That's one of the things I adore about my church: It's an open forum. Anyone can sign up to talk, and we've heard about everything from angels and the Koran to crop circles and life lessons from BtVS. I once did a talk about E-tailing 101, on what you need to know before you shop online. My talks tend to lean toward stand-up, which is one reason I don't do it often; it doesn't feel appropriate---but Murphy is universal and ought to be fun.

Speaking of fun, last night I came home and watched Thursday night's DVR of Royal Pains, which I highly recommend. It begins with cute, brilliant Dr Hank playing basketball on his day off. One of his fellow players collapses from a heart attack. Hank goes into action (he happens to be a trauma doctor), whisks the guy to the hospital, where he's barely in the door when the administrator recruits him to work on a Very Important Hospital Contributor who has chest pains. Hank does what he can for VIHC, goes back to his original patient, VIHC kicks the bucket and Hank is out of a job and blacklisted throughout New York City. "I can't even get hired as a school nurse," he grumps to his fiancee, who dumps him during his pity-party.

Along comes his baby brother the accountant---and for a wonder, the two actually LOOK like they could be brothers---who persuades him to come to the Hamptons for a spectacular four-day Memorial weekend party. It turns out the brother isn't actually invited---he bluffs his way into the baronial estate of Boris with a panache almost worthy of a Winchester---but he and Hank are mingling when a girl collapses.

There's a doctor on the scene who's certain she's having a drug reaction, but Hank stops him before he can administer the antidote, pointing out symptoms the first doctor missed and diagnosing insecticide poisoning from exposure in Boris's greenhouse. He saves her, of course, and Boris is impressed enough to make him a job offer, which Hank initially turns down. The term "concierge doctor" is floated; basically a personal doctor-for-hire for the super-rich. (And these people are mega-rich. The houses are total eye-candy.) Boris gets in the last word, though: Hank finds a suitcase containing a gold bar and a thank-you note in his car.

Word about his services spread with eerie rapidity, people start calling and texting Hank about their troubles, his brother wants him to seize the opportunity, because what the hell else is he doing? There are several other patients, proving Hank as a medical MacGuyver, a possible romantic subplot, and Hank finally ends up displacing Boris's previous doctor and moving into his guest house.

It was a lot of fun. The writing is good, the premise is interesting, Hank and his bro are both tasty...two thumbs up. If they can maintain the quality, I'm there.