Such a slacker~ (RL, cooking, FFXI, WoW)

[thistlechaser]

I used to post every day, but lately I haven't been feeling like it. I'm going to chalk it up to being sick and hope that things go back to normal next week.

RL: Speaking of sick! After a full week (seven whole days!) of being sick, I finally feel mostly better. Yay!

Cooking: I finally tried repeating the yummy sauce from last month (pancetta, garlic, olive oil, crushed tomatoes), but (probably for multiple reasons) it was a bust. I thought maybe it didn't taste so great yesterday because my nose was still stuffy, but today my head is fine and it still tastes meh at best. Suspected list of what went wrong:

1) Too much oil. Not remembering exactly how much we used, I just poured a couple glubs in. Glub glub! It looked like too much, but it had looked like too much the night it worked right, so...
2) Too much pancetta, by far. We had used two packages the night it worked, so I bought and used two this time, even though I have no idea how large the original packs were. The pan was overly full, nothing browned as it should even though I increased (more than doubled) the pre-simmering time.
3) Cheap pancetta? I know everyone loves Trader Joe's, but I seem to get the worst quality stuff there. The sauce was swimming in bright orange grease. I poured it off and soaked it off with papertowels as much as I could, but still...
4) Garlic was too bitter/sharp tasting. It didn't burn, but I think it didn't brown enough (even though I cooked it in the oil so long). I think the pan was just too full...
5) Seemed like the ratio of "stuff" (oil/garlic/pancetta) to tomatoes was way off, like 1:2.

I had intended to try to "cut" this stuff with another can of tomatoes, but since I don't leave the house on the weekends I heated it up 1:1 with a jarred sauce. That improved it (as did picking out as much of the garlic as I could).

All in all: Blah. Still, I got three meals out of it so far with enough left for at least one more.

FFXI: I can't believe how many dry wipe boards full of FFXI stuff I had. Most of them are down/cleaned now, ready to be stored. Just one left up because it'd be a pain to reach behind my computer and assorted desk clutter to get it off (plus it's right in front of me when I'm at the computer, so I'd need something else in the spot).

It kind of funny (in a sad way) how crazy people are going about the +100% XP rings that are going to become available (to ten people per server per week...). I'm sitting here just shaking my head: Dudes, you realize I can get that whenever I want on WoW just by (get this) not XPing? Even by being logged out?

On the other side of the coin, a guild person was complaining because it could take him a couple weeks to make top level in some craft. I had to snicker, since I'm used to it taking months (if not more than a year) to reach the top level... (Wait, or is that the same side of the coin? I'm so bad with money!)

WoW: 75.6. Man, do I hate XPing. While it is less painful in WoW than it is in FFXI, I still dislike it so much. Just pushing for 77 so I can fly, then I'm never XPing again. :P Maybe I'll be able to hit 77 next weekend, but I don't know.

Hm, I have a bunch of screenshots to edit, but none of what I wanted to post about. Boo! My new most favorite thing ever in WoW: The herd of horses running around in Grizzly Hills. :D :D :D I can't believe I didn't find them until I was about to leave the zone I stayed to do one last quest where I had to throw bombs at them to scare them.... It was the coolest, the very coolest thing ever to stand there and watch them running around like a real herd. And realistic colors, too! :D :D :D So pretty! Yay horses! Wish we could get them as mounts on the Horde side.

I'm getting a little worried about what will happen when I hit 80. I don't want my whole WoW life to be about doing instances and raiding, and as I hate XPing I really don't want to level another character, so... what's that leave? Crafting isn't the distraction on WoW that it is in FFXI. :/

RP: Yay RP! My character is getting so worldly~ :P (He's a DK who doesn't remember a single thing about pre-DK life.) Last night a young couple came to sit by him, so he asked them a ton of stuff about love. Amusingly, it ended up with the guy from the couple depending Haken to another DK, calling him a "good man". As Haken would still be a DK under Arthas if he had a choice and would kill the whole lot of them if he were able, it made me snicker a whole lot.

Comments

[veloxe.livejournal.com]

Cooking is too damn complicated. Good thing it's hard to mess up frozen pizza and kraft dinner >.>

It kind of funny (in a sad way) how crazy people are going about the +100% XP rings that are going to become available (to ten people per server per week...)

Wait wha-? I'm going to assume this is about the Kupofried ring. Where did it say that? I don't remember seeing it in the POL stuff so either I missed it or it is from the mysterious realm of the dat mines.

[iniadelphinae.livejournal.com]

Yeah, there's only 10 or 11 tablets per week per server, so - at most - 10-11 people will get them per week.

I'm pretty meh about the whole thing myself. If I happen to run across one during farming, yay for me. Otherwise, I'm not falling for SE's latest time sink.

[veloxe.livejournal.com]

Ya if that's true I probably won't go all out for one. Cause like, I know when they did the whole glasses thing it was a pain in the butt to get the regular ones and I only know 1 person who was insane enough to do it until they ended up getting the ones that distribute the wings.

[kamalloy.livejournal.com]

Do you know of any other high-level leathercrafters on FFXI? I have something I'd like made (it's for one of the new gobbiebag quests) but I'd rather not drag you on if possible. ^^;

As for the rings, I have maxed my skill in Not Giving a Damn, so whatever. ;p

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Um, I can't recall any names, sorry! But if you mail the stuff to Thistle and let me know once it's sent (either send me a comment or for faster service ask Dano to poke me on IM) I'll pop on and do it (likely late at night).

I'll be keeping my account turned on until the lottery is over, so you have plenty of time.

[kamalloy.livejournal.com]

Thanks; will do. ^^

[kamalloy.livejournal.com]

Mailed stuff from Natoli tonight. You can send to either her or Cydori. No rush. Thanks so much! ^_^

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Made and sent to Cydori!

[kamalloy.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I'll pick it up tonight.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

No rush, I won't be on again until someone else pokes me to synth something. ;)

[kamalloy.livejournal.com]

Well, my brain operates (or doesn't operate ;p) in such a way that if I don't do something right when I'm thinking about it, it doesn't get done.

[doxxxicle.livejournal.com]

The "end-game" of WoW consists of: instances, heroic instances (basically just harder versions of the same instances), raiding, battleground PvP, arena PvP, and completing achievements (like Loremaster or World Explorer).

Levelling another character may not be so bad since the various classes differ quite a bit in their playstyle. You should try Druid, I think you might like it.

If you haven't already found it, may I suggest the Carbonite mod? It's free now and it's actually quite cool. It's helping me level up my hordies on your server. ;)

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

and completing achievements (like Loremaster or World Explorer).

Blah. Of the list, that's the only one that interests me. (I tell myself I should try PvP before crossing it off, but the idea of PvP makes me sad. I don't like fighting with people! I feel bad enough killing poor wolves and deer and stuff. :P )

Levelling another character may not be so bad since the various classes differ quite a bit in their playstyle. You should try Druid, I think you might like it.

I thought about that for a different reason: It'd help me learn more, too. I know so little about the other jobs! Heck, I keep getting Druid and Shaman mixed up. :P

And huh! Carbonite looks pretty interesting! I'll check it out more once I'm at home.

[achika-soladia.livejournal.com]

I use Carbonite myself, I like it a lot better than QuestHelper. I actually had the paid version before it went free, cause I liked it so much.

And you can have a horse as a Horde. =p Level paladin. I prefer my hawkstrider though!

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

I've never used QuestHelper, but I tried installing Carbonite tonight. Oh my god. Not only did I not like it, even after I uninstalled it it ruined all my other addons. >< Heck, my minimap was gone for most of the day! And I still can't get some of my addons working (basic things like quest tracking...).

I'm glad you like it, but I want to stab it until it gives me my working UI back. ;)

Cooking?

[evilpaul.blogspot.com (from livejournal.com)]

There's a way to roast a bunch of garlic in olive oil in the oven as whole cloves with the tops cut off. Afterwards you can just drain the oil and squeeze the garlic out. You end up with a "garlic butter" sort of thing that will keep practically forever in a jar in the fridge. It ends up being sweet and aromatic when you do it right.

Brush toasted bread with a little, top with chopped up tomatos, and serve. ^^