duck-shaped pain

17 October 2001
Soup and Screaming at People

Today I made soup, and it turned out really good.

I took 2 cups of dried black beans and cooked them this morning for a couple of hours (I was home all day, so I could actually do this) until they were soft. Then I drained them and stuck them in the fridge until earlier this evening.

I diced an onion and a couple of garlic cloves and then saut�ed them in a Dutch oven in some oil. Then I added about half a pound of crumbled sausage, formed into little meatballs. I cooked the meat and alliums together for a while with some fresh sage and rosemary. Then I added a diced green pepper, the black beans, and five cups of chicken broth. I cooked this for about 40 minutes, then I added half a package of frozen spinach (you could use one bunch of fresh, too) and a 28-oz. can of drained diced tomatoes. I stirred it all together, added about a teaspoonful of hot pepper sauce, a pinch of chili powder, and some salt and pepper. I cooked it all for another 20 minutes or so and it was done.

I ate some with a handful of grated cheese on top and a slice of the green chili bread I bought yesterday and it was very good. Especially since I just sort of made it up, with whatever I had around.


Talked to the people at expedia.com yesterday and they informed me that it take anywhere from 90 to 120 days to get the refund for my ticket to Thailand. Keep in mind here that it was cancelled through no fault of my own. Still, I could still be waiting for my refund when my birthday rolls around in three months. Charming. At least I can buy myself a decent present then, but this is slightly ridiculous.

Then again, these are the people who forgot to tell me that the ticket had been cancelled -- I found it out only after calling the airline directly to confirm. Turns out they knew about it before I did, and just hadn't sent that email yet. Getting them to acknowledge that yes, I was due a refund was really unpleasant. I don't know if I'll ever buy tickets there again.

In better news, I was able to exchange my Los Angeles ticket today for something else. I had to work within the amount of the voucher I was given, and the only flight that I could find under that amount was to New York, which is normally the most expensive city to fly to from Denver. I guess this is a sign that I'm meant to go, and when I talked to J. about it, he was happy. I've been promising to visit him for four years now, and next month, it will finally be time.

(This ticket I bought through orbitz.com and my experiences with them have been very positive. The customer service agents were friendly and actually knew what was going on, and emails were answered very quickly. So if you're looking for a place to buy a ticket from, I would recommend them�)

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