duck-shaped pain

Today's probably going to be my only break between jobs. Yesterday was my last at the appliance store, and tomorrow, I get to start working on the enormous catalog data-entry job, with some errant work for my other semi-employer thrown in here and there.

I'd tell you to expect delays in future entries, but somehow I don't think that will happen. I suspect I'm going to be updating regularly, just to have something to take my mind off of porcelain clowns and picture of core samples. [1]

Last night I went out for Chinese food, to celebrate having money again. I've been living for the last six months on money I earned in January, the last month I was fully employed before the accident. It's been sort of a stretch, but I made it without putting a dent into my savings, which is nothing short of miraculous for me.

I went by myself, because I wanted to. I like to go out to eat and to movies and to other places by myself, which freaks people out -- a lot. I also enjoy doing these things with other people, but sometimes a) I just want to be by myself and b) I don't see the point in not going out and doing something I really want to do just because I can't find someone else right then to go do it with you.

I'm used to getting weird looks when I go out by nyself, although I get more of those here than anywhere else I've lived. When I lived in Denver and in Portland, nobody seemed to really give two craps whether I was by myself or not -- any weird looks must have meant something else. But here, it's Just Not Done. The only two reasons, apparently, anyone around here ever goes out by themself is if they are a) a loser and b) smell (the latter, of course, invariably leads to the former). So sometimes I just don't go out and do things I want to do because I don't want to deal with being looked at.

So anyway -- Chinese food. I went out, ate some food, and only got one weird look, from some guy who I don't even think was from around here. He had one of those enormous U-Haul keys with him, which he carried around with him constantly, even up at the buffet line. [2]

The food was okay -- I didn't expect much better. One thing sort of surprised me, though. They had one dish, called Shrimp Supreme, which was just battered, fried shrimp with no sauce on it. It didn't look very appetizing, but I took a few pieces anyway.

I ate one, and it was actually pretty good -- the batter was all salty and crispy. It tasted like one of my favorite all-time dishes -- Salted Squid.

If you've never had Salted Squid, you are a sad person indeed. It's rings of squid, coated with a salt, pepper and flour batter, and then fried. It's usually served with onions and green peppers on the side, and it is so good. It sounds unappetizing, but it's not. When Salted Squid is done right, which seems to be rare, it's a treat. The squid is very tender and crispy and salty (in a good way). It's wonderful, but you do need to drink lots of water when you eat it.

Nobody here has Salted Squid, which was easy enough to guess. I've run into few restaurants that do, anywhere. [3] But the Shrimp Supreme last night was the closest thing I've found in a long time. Happy happy.

[1] When I first heard about the enormous catalog project, I was told it was a jewelry catalog. That's only about half right -- there is jewelry involved, but the other half of the catalog consists of porcelain clowns, angel figurines and things like that. It still pays well, which is why I'm still working on it, but I get the gigglesnorts big time everytime I look at the print version of the catalog. But I can get a discount on any of this stuff if I want. Lucky me!

[2] It was a Chinese buffet. Of the five Chinese restaurants in town, three of them are buffets. They're all wildly successful, because there's nothing my hometown loves more than a buffet. The other ones are the dollar-a-scoop restaurant and one supposedly fancy restaurant which seems to be frequented only by older couples who come in for the prime rib special. I don't even know if they ever sell any Chinese food. Needless to say, none of these are great restaurants.