Czech Republic, how could you do this to me?
I loved the Czech Republic when I visited last summer. Prague is beautiful, and was near the top of my list of the most beautiful places I’d ever been. The best hostel in the world is there, and the rowdy, nose-smashing, flower-loving Czech people produce some mighty fine absinthe, if I do say so myself! But today…you disappoint me Czech Republic. How could you do this to me?
I wanted the USA World Cup team to come in swinging, or kicking as it were. But it just wasn’t meant to be today when they took on the Czech Republic in their World Cup opener in Germany. I had my cable company come to my apartment three times in the past week to fix my DVR just so I’d be able to record this game and enjoy my country winning their first match. So when I came home today, excited about this long-awaited game, I was bitterly disappointed. Everyone in the world hates us! So how awesome would it have been to come out and stomp everyone in our group! A shut out would have been nice…but I’d imagined it somewhat differently. I tried to remain optimistic, even after I talked to Kelly at halftime and she hadn’t exactly inspired confidence by the tone of her voice, but as with everything else in life, wishing and hoping is seldom enough. But it’s not over yet, and we can still come back and prove everyone wrong! If only soccer were as popular in the U.S. as it is in the rest of the world…can you imagine Daunte Culpepper or Peyton Manning as soccer players? And all the rest of the top athletes in football, basketball and baseball? We’d be unstoppable! With most little boys aspiring to be wide receivers and quarterbacks I doubt our top athletes will be kicking a black and white ball around anytime soon. Maybe before I die, if I’m lucky!
This weekend, besides watching England win their game, I was busy getting stuff put together in my apartment. My parents drove down Friday evening to help me cart stuff from the store to my place in my dad’s truck. It’s a good thing they brought it down, too. My little car just isn’t big enough to handle some things on its own! It was a stressful weekend, trying to get so much done while I still had access to a truck and all. In the end we managed to do a lot, including fixing my wireless Internet connection and getting a lot of the little stuff for my place that makes it feel more like a home and less like the place my stuff lives. And my furniture finally came! I absolutely love it! It’s so pretty and comfy, and it looks so good with all the decorations I’ve put up! I have to try and alternate where I sit or else I’ll have to have company over soon so I won’t end up with one spot with a butt depression!
Work this week should be better than last week by virtue of the fact that I won’t be in training! Hooray! I’m mostly observing this week and getting my workstation all set up, so it should be pretty lax. Next week I have more training, and then I think I’ll be assigned to assist on a project. Oooh! I’m looking forward to it! I like being kept busy; there’s nothing worse than sitting around, having nothing to do while I’m at work. I’d so much rather be kept busy!
***CENSORED…sorry!***
Hurricane season has begun, and it hasn’t taken all that long before the first named storm has reared its ugly head. We had some pretty bad weather down here yesterday, and it was cloudy all day today, but that’s nothing compared to what it must be like where my parents are. Right now tropical storm Alberto is headed to Cedar Key and could possibly strengthen into a hurricane before landfall early tomorrow. I doubt it’ll do much damage in Gainesville, but I’m glad I’m not there all the same! I know I can’t be too happy since there’s a long time from now till November and I’m not exactly in the best location, but for now, I’ve dodged one! I’ll be glad when Alberto moves his happy butt along so the sun will come out again. The past couple of days’ weather really reminded me of England, apart from the extreme humidity. I’m so used to it being sunny every day that two consecutive days of grey is almost unbearable. I want to go to the beach this weekend, so it better clear up by then! Or else…you’ve been warned, weather.
Today after work I had to run a few errands. I went to a couple of stores, and then I stopped by an Asian food mart before I came home. I’ve been craving some Phad Thai, so I wanted to get a few things to make it sometime soon. I went to this little grocery near my apartment and found some things I needed…and a lot more! It was fun wandering through the aisles and seeing all kinds of neat things I had no idea what they were because all the packaging was in Chinese or Thai. I had to restock my supplies of Chinese ingredients after I had to leave them behind when I left Acton, which was a bit more difficult this time around, considering I can’t read Chinese! Luckily for me there was a very helpful store clerk who kept asking me if I needed help. I found fish sauce, which is one of the ingredients for Phad Thai, but it didn’t look like the stuff I’d used in London. In fact, it looked like a bottle of vomit from someone who’d eaten fish for dinner. I know, disgusting! As much as I like Phad Thai, I couldn’t bring myself to buy it. Thankfully, the clerk pointed me to a non-cloudy, non-chunky bottle of fish sauce that I could actually consider cooking with. So, one night soon, Thai food! Or Chinese, depending on if I got everything I need…the store closed before I got all my goods. But not before I got some lychees! Awww! I hope canned ones are as good as fresh, but what are the odds?
That’s all for me tonight I think. I have to go cry myself to sleep now and hope that the U.S. can pull it out against Italy on Saturday. At least I’ll be off work and I can go watch it at the pub! And those English people better be cheering for my side…or they’ll get what for! And Kelly’s coming weekend after next! Woohoo! The lucky biatch… 😉
Tags: Chinese food, cooking, Florida, football, Fort Lauderdale, soccer, Thai food, Travel, work, World Cup
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