Taylor’s Blog

So I have had this 15-25 page research paper hanging over my head for the last 5 weeks.. It is due
Wednesday at 630pm.. I have been working on it since Saturday (well earlier but I really started on Saturday).. I haven’t taken a shower today and have
been in the lab working since 1030am.. My back aches like hell from the crappy chairs here in the lab, I feel all hot and gross cause my back is sticking
to the back of this rotten chair.. Good news is I am not stressed about my paper.. It should be done by the time I have to go to class at 630 (2 hours-ish
from now), so tomorrow I can just proof it and print it out..

The concept of going back to work sounds so awesome now.. I forgot how fucking
tiring school can be sometimes.. Good thing is it’s dollar beer night at College Hill so I have something to look forward too.. It’s like my carrot on a
stick ; in my case it’s the Miller Lite on a stick..

I can be quite an arrogant asshole.. Sometimes I just can’t let shit go.. Sometimes I need to be
better at biting my tongue, smiling and saying thank you and hiding my true feelings and just be nice.. Letting someone who I don’t give a shit about know
I think they are an idiot does very little good..

I am being very counter productive in advancing my attempt at getting an MBA.. I have to pass
this marketing class with an A- or I am done for.. I suppose I might be able to pull some strings if I get a B or something, but I don’t want to do that,
and in all honesty given what I have seen at UNCG I don’t know if I will be able to pull any strings anyway..

Somehow I need to be able to just
answer the questions how she wants.. Not with what is right or my opinion.. I need to be a kiss-ass and well I don’t know how.. Normally being blunt and
rude doesn’t get my in trouble.. At work I never thought I was rude or a complete dick except for when it was warranted.. I always checked with others who
were around and asked “was that justified?”.. Most of the time the answer was a resounding “yes”, and I really don’t think my ass was getting kissed..

In this case it doesn’t matter I just have to kiss this professors ass.. I can’t stand her.. I can’t stand anything about her.. She is the polar
opposite of me.. She thinks marketing is the best shit in the world.. She stays up late on the weekend nights watching infomercials she is so into
marketing (She really said she does in class).. BUT I need to make her think that I worship the ground that she walks on, and that
marketing is the best shit ever.. At least until I get my grade..

So now more than ever I need to be a kiss ass.. I got a 90 on the first test,
which as awesome as that sounds seems to be a low grade for the class on the test (I saw a bunch of 100s being handed back).. A 90 is an A- so I am not
totally lost.. That also means that 25% of my grade is in, 25% of it is up to her (class participation), and well I have no room to screw up at all..

Come on Taylor.. Learn to kiss someones ass for just 2 weeks.. 2 weeks.. You can do it..

Apparently services can now be tangible.. At least in this bizzaro world that exists in my marketing
class.. I was pretty sure a service was something that was intangible, and a good was something that is tangible.. Go figure.. I guess Wikipedia and the
rest of the world are wrong..

Well it was a 2-3 month contract job working for AT&T in Plano, TX.. They could have paid me more than
I was making before. She kept trying to sell me on it.. “Well you wouldn’t be working for AT&T, you would be working for a contract company”..

She said she would look for more stuff not with AT&T, but given that option I think I would stick with UNCG for now.. Maybe I should count my
blessings that I can get work so easily and not be such a picky fuck, but on the other hand I left AT&T for a reason.. Why would I just walk back into
that environment to be treated like shit for a little bit more.. I’ll at least wait a bit before I whore myself back out like that..

at my house with the exception of my cacti.. They seemed to love the 90s/100s; they grew like weeds
for the last month or so..

It’s not a trillion degrees outside.. I am wearing jeans.. The high today is going to be 83, and honestly it feels
cool.. Soon I can open the windows again.. I hope this isn’t a fluke.. This might be one of the most miserably hot summers I can remember in forever..

I am so ready for fall.. Mark my words.. After I graduate or get kicked out I am moving to the pacific northwest.. I can’t deal with more heat
like this in the summer.. It puts me in a foul mood.. I think it zaps all my energy.. I have been leaving this state since I was in high school.. So
what’s that.. 12 years? Come on.. Time to keep my promises and move to cooler climates.. Some folks like my friend Dash thrives in this sort of baking
shit.. Thats why he has his eyes set on Miami.. Me on the other hand I like clouds, 50s..

Anyway I am going to rejoice since NC is where I am..

I have this terrible habit of starting projects, and if I am not really really interested in them
never finishing them, or at least dragging ass for way too long to get them done.. I can hear my moms condescending rude voice now “You’re just like your
damn father”.. I tend to get a bunch of things going, loose interest, and then choose any excuse (anywhere from quite valid to completely pathetic) to not
finish them.. After enough of these projects get piled up I start to feel really shitty.. Like I can’t accomplish anything.. I am sure it’s true you are
your own worst critic.. Well I am back to feeling really shitty about a bunch of unfinished projects.. This summer I don’t know how many projects I
started.. The list is quite huge..

I am hoping if I make a list (apparently it’s a Scorpio thing or my ISTJ Myers Briggs type or some shit) I might
actually do something..

In an effort to accomplish things I am going to focus on a few things at a time, not 20.. I remember
at work they used to say that you can do 2-3 things really well, or if you do anymore you may never achieve anything and if you do then you will probably
do a shitty job at it..

My new goal is to set realistic goals and work on shit one day at a time.. Today for example I am going to do 4-5 hours of
reading for school and then spend 2 hours shoring up the rest of the loose plaster in the dining room.. Then I am going to make dinner, watch the netflix
movie I have waiting, and go to bed..

Monday.. Well i’ll set my goals for Monday tonight when I see how much more school work I have to
do..

Does anyone have any ideas of how to stay motivated/focused? It is really weighing on me and I don’t like being in a foul mood, especially
when it’s one that I have put myself in..

So I always have loved Thai food.. One of my favorite places to go was in Cary, Thai Villa.. I used to
work close by, and would end up in there about once a week.. i normally got curry dishes, and once in a while would be experimental.. Sheila got this
amazing beef plate there.. It claims on the menu that the beef is “cooked to perfection”, and they are right.. It’s not like Applebees might claim “mouth
watering” or other such crap it was the real deal..

Well now that I have no job, and am just in school (learning awesome things about AC/DC I
never knew) I thought I would really try my hand at Thai cooking.. At least the Curries.. My friend Sara Ward and I were going to try and cook some Thai
goodness a few times when we both still lived in Raleigh, but alas we both moved away and it never happened..

If you like/love/desire/crave any of
the basic Thai curries you should keep reading.. They are easy as fuck to make.. I have been perfecting it over the course of a month or so now.. I was
going to try and make my own curry paste, but well that was WAY to damn much effort.. The key here isn’t to buy the Harris Teeter curry pastes.. Go to the
Asian market.. They have green, red, and panang curry pastes in little cans.. I found them here in Greensboro for 99 cents..

This is the kind I got.. There are no additives or preservatives either..

First I start making
some jasmine rice.. 1/2 cup of rice, 1 cup of water.. Thats usually enough for 2 peoples worth of rice.. It’ cooking rice.. I shouldn’t need to cover
this..

So on to curry.. Take some amount of the curry paste, and mix it with 2 cans of coconut milk.. The harris teeter brand coconut milk is
fine, but you can get it anywhere you want.. It doesn’t seem to vary like the quality of the curry pastes.. Now as far as how much to use that is up to
you.. I followed the recipe on the can and used the whole thing to 2 cans of coconut milk and my mouth was ablaze in pain for 30 minutes afterwards.. 2
tablespoons is pretty wimpy.. I am thinking “2 pepper hot” would be about 1/2 a can.. That’s about where I like it.. You control the spice.. You control
the universe I mean hotness..

Now bring the coconut milk and curry paste to a boil stirring it around in the process.. Then all you have to do is
drop in the ingredients you want.. Let it simmer until the veggies/meats/whatever you added are cooked, and serve over rice..

The curry will serve
4 people, so I always like to have some leftovers for the next day, but just make up fresh rice.. You can half the recipe pretty easily..

Some
combinations I have really enjoyed include:

• Potatoes
• Eggplant
• Chicken
• Basil (just put a ton in there it will
  reduce like Kale or Spinach)
• Sugar Snap Peas
• Snow Peas
• Red/Green Fresh Peppers
• Onion
• Lemon grass

You
get the idea.. If you do put a meat in be sure that you time it so that it gets cooked just right.. Veggies don’t seem to mind some variation in cooking
time, but chicken in my experience goes from perfect to rubber pretty quickly..

Here is what I made for lunch in about 20 minutes..
Eggplant, Snow Peas, Red Pepper, and some Shallots..

Mmm.. Tasty curry and it was made from the stuff
laying around in the fridge..

So if you have ever wanted to try making Thai curries.. Well it’s easy as pie.. Enjoy..

Now I need to learn
how to make my own sweet and sour chicken.. There is no even remotely decent Chinese place in Greensboro..

So today in my marketing class I learned:

• Bon Jovi was/is the lead singer of
  AC/DC..
• I purchased my truck as part of a physiological need (based on maslow’s hierarchy of needs).. A truck apparently is food or shelter..

I will be sure to share more new information as it becomes available.. I know you can’t wait..

it is with a tear in my eye that I must report that the veggie garden that i have so happily reported
on over the last few months is well.. Quite ill..

First there were the horned tomato worms.. Then they got killed off by the some wasps that use
their bodies as vessels for reproduction.. I thought the worst was over and I could be enjoying salsa, tomato sauces, etc.. Sadly I was wrong..

First the zucchini plants got weird.. This had been happening for a while, and I am not sure really what went wrong.. It could be the normal end
of their life, but I suspect not.. I removed them from the ground a week ago..

You can see the roots look pretty weird.. They stopped
producing fruit a month ago, and so I figured it was better to pull em out and hope whatever they had didn’t spread to other plants..

When I pulled
the roots out the insides had rotted..

So that’s not the worst of it.. Looks like the
Tomato plants all have Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus.. The tomato’s I have gotten
that weren’t previously eaten by the worms, have the spots on them.. The yellow lines / spots..

I didn’t see anything wrong with the leaves
earlier, but now it’s very obvious..

The only solution to the problem is to remove the
affected plants and hope that it hasn’t spread to the rest of the crop..

It is with a heavy heart I am about to head outside and start my mercy
killing of pants.. Hoping to remove the infected and save the rest..

Since I am in a blog posting mood…

I finished most of the wiring I have left to do from the
underside of the house.. I put outlets in the basement so I can move the washer/dryer into the basement from the kitchen.. This is a major thing.. See
this house has no dish washer, and well it sucks ass.. I hadn’t been dishwasher-less since 1996, and well I am addicted.. The kitchen is perpetually a
wreck without one.. Once I get the washer/dryer into the basement I can install a dishwasher where they were.. I am planing on re-doing the kitchen, so
I’ll just pickup some old cabinets and a used dishwasher at habitat or wherever to use for a while until I get to the kitchen..

So here are the outlets I installed in the basement..
I already have the mini-fridge hooked up to store white wine, and who knows what else.. I also am going to put a chest freezer down there soon..

I
did find some scary wiring in the attic, but i won’t fix that until it cools off.. The attic is normally 20 degrees hotter than outside, so when it’s 100
I won’t be going up there.. I value my life..

If this picture means nothing to you, it’s bad
in so many ways.. For starters all wire connections are supposed to be inside that box with a lid covering it, second there are too many wires in that
box, and well.. It’s just a disaster waiting to happen.. Good thing is it’s easy to fix with a few new boxes, but like I said I am going to wait until it
cools off.. I figure it’s been like that at least 15 years, so what’s another month or two..

I also need to re-wire the shed, but that too will
wait until it’s cooled off..

Sadly most of the wiring is done, and I am stuck with the task I have been putting off for forever.. Plaster repair..
I found a post on matching textured plaster online suggesting adding corn meal to paint/primer.. I am going to make a test repair somewhere and see how
that works.. if it looks decent it might just be the motivation I need..

Until next time, this is Taylor for This Old House..