August 14, 2005
Dumpster Diving - aah, student life
So here I am, in Baton Rouge (a place that, oddly, has less local color than I thought it would) sitting in my room with boxes and papers strewn about, getting ready to go to my first meeting with the professors tomorrow morning at nine am sharp.
Never mind that I still don't have a parking permit - they wouldn't sell them until this week, so I have to go in early and get it before I park.
The apartment is slowly starting to feel more like an apartment, and less like someone set off a very messy stuff-bomb in the middle of it. Yesterday morning, our living room had boxes, wires, and a tiny television sitting on the floor. Today, there is a cushy khaki sofa, and a 32-inch television sitting on a coffee table we'd planned to turn into an ottoman.
Yes, I said 32 inch television.
No, I'm not making it up.
You see, yesterday while we were waiting for the delivery man to bring by our 'new' sofa ($50, not a bad find - it's quite nice), I looked out the window.
"Hey," (I said) "Is that a television?"
Lisa (my roommate Lisa, getting her masters in library sciences) looked out. "I think so."
"I wonder if it works," I said, thinking that it probably didn't.
We went out, expecting to see a broken front, or some other obvious defect. Nope. And then I saw that tucked behind it was a box for a much bigger, much better television. (And I really wonder what anyone in this apartment complex is doing with a 40 inch flatscreen television) The only problem was that it had no power cord.
We looked at each other, one of those looks that says: "Well, what the hell?"
The television weighed about a million pounds. No, of course it didn't. It probably weighed more like two million. We got it across the parking lot, and set it down, groaning and panting. Because it's hot in Baton Rouge during the day. Really. Fecking. Hot.
"Oh, God, the stairs," I said.
Lisa looked at them.
There followed a long discussion about what to do, considering the fifteen stairs, and the gigantic size of the television. Then she went around the area, looking for boys, because boys are so useful for hauling things up the stairs. No luck.
The choice was, really...leave it outside for a while, or try to get it up the stairs. And I knew that if we left it outside, it would be gone. It really was a beautiful thing.
So, after much discussion, we decided to try.
Suffice to say that it didn't go well.
Stuck halfway up the stairs, having narrowly escaped being both crushed and out one free television, I suggested that Lisa go look for helpers again. Because we didn't have the chance of a jaunty-capped snowman in Hell of getting it the rest of the way up, but I would be damned before I dropped it down the stairs.
So she set off, and I stood there, holding the television in its precarious position on the staircase, which groaned alarmingly.
And I stood there.
Aaand I stood there.
Did I mention that it was Really. Fecking. Hot?
My forehead left a lovely wet spot on the back of the television, and my hands were slippery, and the knee I was using in conjunction with my hands to hold the television there was also getting slippery. Things weren't looking good for our heroine.
But help arrived! In the form of a few guys who were helping someone else move in. They got it up the stairs, and we took it from there.
There was still the power cord problem, and the realization that if the damn thing didn't work, we'd be stuck with it, 'cause we could never get it down again.
"We could make it into a table," I suggested.
The power cord was reminiscent of the kind you use to plug in a computer - indented into the back of the television. So Lisa decided, what the hey? I'll just try my computer plug.
Amazingly enough, it fit. Even more amazingly? The Beast works. Works like a peach. We bought a remote control and a power cord, and giggle in almost-hysterical amazement every time we look at it. At least, I do.
So today we shopped - groceries, the produce market, radio shack, walmart. and WHOLE FOODS. Yes, there is a whole foods in this town. Yes, I nearly had a heart attack from joy when I saw it. It's beautiful inside - new, I think, and even bigger than the one in Brentwood. After shopping, we returned to rest and gasp in the air conditioning, before setting off for dinner at Coffee House. (Not the Coffee House) in hopes of seeing them feed the gators. Sadly, they weren't, because it had rained shortly before we got there. We did get to see the alligators, though, floating there in the muddy water. Lisa had never seen one before, so she was quite happy about it.
In the restaurant, we had Cafe au lait (I really, really shouldn't have - it was 4 pm. Ah well) and she had the speciality Shrimp etouffet beignet. I had chicken and shrimp gumbo, and now my hunger for local food has been sated, and hopefully I will be able to hold out even longer than my week goal before I eat out again.
Tonight I'm roasting beef for sandwiches and various roll-ups for the week, since I"ll be at the campus from 9-4, at least, every day. Obviously, you all know how to roast beef (unless you don't ::eyes Nathan and Trevor:: in which case you need to learn) So I'm including a recipe for spiced sauteed plums, that I just made.
Ingredients:
Smart Ones margarine.
Plums, halved and peeled (ripe)
Spelt flour
cayenne
cinnamon
salt
pomegranite juice.
First half and peel the plums (or one, if you just want a single serving). Then mix together in a plastic bag the flour, cayenne to taste (I just sprinkle it in until I feel I've added enough) cinnamon to taste, and a dash of salt. Shake the peeled plum halves in this mixture - it should be just a light breading.
Depending on the number of plums, add enough margarine to a nonstick skillet or frying pan to grease it. Then set the plums flat-side down in the margarine.
Let cook until they're sizzling - and the underside has become sort of golden. then flip them over. You might have to jog them around to get all of the round side cooked - or you could simplify all of this, and cook flat slices of plum instead, for a shorter time.
Transfer plums to a plate. Pour enough pomegranite juice into the pan to form a very thin layer over the bottom, and de-glaze the pan. Cook until it becomes syrupy, and pour over the plums. Add a garnish of whipped topping, or ice cream. (just a little, to counteract the cayenne)
It sounds a lot more complicated than it is.
After the television success yesterday, Lisa and I decided to dumpster-dive a bit today. We found two really interesting long boards with stripes of padded vinyl in colors...hard to describe, but neat for hanging on the wall. The apartment needs non-neutral colors *desperately*, and then more stuff...actually, this needs a bit of background:
I have a nokia phone, but only a car charger.
Two days ago, I remarked to Lisa that maybe I should get a white noise machine to cover up the sounds of people arriving home after parties.
Early this week, I commented to Lisa that I was goign to look at pawn shops for a larger television.
This morning, we were talking about how we needed something to keep our fruit in.
I found a nokia charger in the dumpster.
I found a white noise machine in the dumpster (I kid you not!)
We found a three-tiered hanging fruit basket in the dumpster.
We found a FREAKING 32" TELEVISION IN THE DUMPSTER.
Thank you, Dumpster Gods, for smiling upon us in a spooky, spooky way.
-Stephanie