Important work

I haven't been given any real case work yet, so I've been spending my time doing some other random analysis.  I can't really go into very much detail because of confidentiality reasons, but I can explain it a little bit.

Basically, I was given this grid that I have to fill point by point.  And I need to get the points to line up in certain way, or else it doesn't come out right.  The points are all over the grid without any real pattern, but I have to make sure four of them line up in a straight line in order to be statistically significant.  The big problem is that other points keep getting in the way of those straight lines.  It's not an easy task.

I don't know if I'm explaing it very clearly, but maybe this picture will explain better.

This analysis kept me busy all day.

Random pictures from work

Got my business cards today!

oooh, pretty

I also snuck into a vacated Partner's office and snapped this great picture of the Chicago Board of Trade (better known as Wayne Tower.)

Supposedly the statue on top is the goddess of wheat

Not much going on in the office today, so that's all I have for now.

Cooking extravaganza

So last night I made a real dinner for myself and a friend.  And I did it all by myself.

Originally, I was just going to make the dinner, and then take a picture of the result.  But as I started slicing and dicing and frying and cooking, I realized that I needed to document the whole process!  Obviously!

So here goes a whirlwind account of my cooking experience:

First, I wrote up my recipe plan for the chicken dish I was going to make.  I posted this on my fridge for easy-reading.

Simple, but delicious recipe

(And by the way, the plumber magnet is unrelated to the recipe.)

Then I proceeded to slice the chicken, and I didn't cut myself!  Yay, go me!

Yum, raw chicken breasts.

Then I threw some sweet potatoes in the microwave for 10 minutes.  These are going to be my secret side-dish.

Then I seared the chicken breasts.  Searing is my favorite thing to do with all things chicken and beef.  It's easy and makes things delicious.

Sear in hot pan for awesomeness.

Then I sauced and onioned the seared chicken in an aluminum pan.  This is the heart of my recipe cuz you get to do whatever you want.  BBQ sauce, teriyaki, duck sauce, whatever.  Everything goes.  I even put some sliced onions and some avocado on one of the chicken breasts.

(are you getting hungry yet?)

Then I sliced up the cooked sweet potatoes, put them in the chicken pan, and baked the whole lot for 15 minutes.

In the words of my dinnermate Shanna, "This picture does not do justice to this chicken."

(She also said the chicken was inappropriately delicious. Does that make sense?)

In the end, the food turned out really really good.  The chicken was super moist (as a result of the searing I think.)  The onions were delicious, and the avocado was also super tasty.  And the sweet potatoes turned out hot and slightly crispy (as intended), but still very melt-in-your-mouth-ish.

I will definitely be making this recipe more often.  It's easy and fun to make, and it turns out damn good every time (almost).

Bon Appetite!

Texting is dangerous

I walked into a sharp branch and a chain-linked fence today while texting someone on my phone.

Thankfully I survived, but let this be a lesson to everyone.  Don't drink and text.  er, um, I mean Don't text and drive.  Well, actually in this case the lesson is Don't text and walk, but I guess all of the above are good, too.

That is all.

Warning: Dangerous Couches

 My couches arrived a few days ago, but I've only sat on them one time since then.  Here's why:

The couches were delivered at ~2 pm Sunday afternoon.  Right after the delivery guys left, I sat down on one of the couches to try it out....
                    ... and I didn't get up for 3 hours.

The couch was so comfortable that I basically fell asleep on contact.  I wasn't all that tired when I sat down, but the couch knocked me unconscious.  Instantly.  And I wasn't even laying down!  I was just sitting with my feet up on the ottoman!

Anyway, although my accidental nap was fabulous, I am now very worried about falling asleep on the couch and missing work or something important.  I don't have an alarm clock in my living room obviously.  So due to these concerns, I haven't sat down on the couch again since Sunday.

But maybe tonight I will build up some courage to try it again.  Hopefully it won't knock me out again.

PS.  If I don't post anything on this blog for the next 3 days, you'll know why.

Parallel parking

I normally don't brag about myself.  I'm typically a humble person.  Probably the most humble and modest person on the face of the earth.

But I have to post this picture of the parallel parking job I did earlier tonight.  I'm just too proud not to show it to everyone.

I got this on the first try, only going reverse then forward one time.

Anyway, it's not much in the bigger scheme of things, but doing a great parking job was a very nice way to end off the night.  I think I'm probably going to dream about parallel parking tonight.

Baby face

Visited my sister earlier tonight, and this is what I found:

Summary of my day

• Woke up on time :)
• Took the wrong bus to work :(
• Still got to work on time :)
• Forgot I was wearing my ridiculous-looking winter hat for the first 30 minutes of work :(
• Had my first meeting with my staffing manager! :D
• After the meeting, suddenly realized I forgot to shave this morning :(
• Ate a salad and pear for lunch :)
• Only ate a salad and pear for lunch :(
• Did some good analysis with my training team :)
• Still don't really know how to do cash flows or financial models (yet)  :(
• Came home :)
• Not very much food in my fridge :(
• Dinner = cottage cheese and potato chips :D

Monday night dinner - Back to the Basics

Chicken soup, potato chips, and hot sauce

I know what you all are thinking:   "Stiebel!  What the hell?!  Do you have any class?!"

Well, yes, I have a little class.  In fact, I used a spoon to eat the soup (instead of slurping it directly from the bowl), and I even used a ladle to put the soup into my bowl.  And I ate on a place-mat!  I do have class!  Honest!

On the other hand, in order to heat up the soup, I just added hot water to it since I didn't feel like setting up my microwave.  And by chicken "soup", I mean "broth", since there was no chicken in it.

And I wasn't wearing any pants either.  :P

The couches have arrived!

My couches and ottomans were delivered today!  And they are great!

The delivery guys were pretty cool, too.  They were definitely pretty old and I was really worried they were going to have heart attacks or something.  But they did a damn good job getting my big couch into my apartment through my narrow entry way.

And now my living room looks like this:

Yay!

Sunday morning

I helped my friend Deirdre move some furniture (specifically a TV stand) from a local thrift shop to her apartment this morning.  (The thrift shop actually had some interesting stuff, so I think I might have to go back there for a closer look.  I don't really know what else I need in my apartment, but who knows what I might find.)

After shlepping the TV stand, we decided to make omelettes for lunch (since neither of us had eaten yet.)  Let's just say that fresh omelettes with chopped veggies and cheese are awesome.

Hot it in the frying pan...

...hot on the plate (and sprinkled with more cheese)

Excellent.

Midnight Pasta Dinner

My friend Hila made this wonderful concoction last night.

This picture does not do justice to this pasta

Ingredients:
Whole wheat pasta,
goat cheese,
toasted pine nuts,
roasted garlic,
fresh spinach,
cremini mushrooms,
roasted tomatoes,
kalamato olives

Microwave.  Mix.  Eat.  (Just kidding)

PS. I couldn't resist juxtaposing the awesome pasta dish above with what I ate this morning.

Herring and chocolate-chip pumpkin cake.

Breakfast of champions.

Baby

(A short story from last week that I forgot to post)

I went to visit my sister a few days ago.  I hadn't seen my sister, nor my nephew, nor my brother-in-law in a few days, so it was nice to go visit them and hang out for a bit.

Anyway, I walk in to their apartment, say hello to everyone, and sit down at their dining room table.  I notice the baby is sitting in his little rocker chair on the floor next to me, so I start goo-goo-ga-ga-ing with him.  Cute kid.

But then I realize that he isn't as cute as he used to be.  And that he has gotten a lot bigger since the last time I saw him.  His head is way huge now.  But he also looks different.  His head is more square and block-like, and his forehead had gotten bigger and flatter.  He seems thicker, too.

I was definitely perplexed because I know that babies grow pretty quick, but it had only been a few days since I saw him last. Was it possible for him to change so much in such a short period of time?  I don't know, but I was definitely a bit puzzled.  And I was sad that he was growing out of his super-cute phase so quickly.

A few minutes later, my sister walks into the dining room, sees me with the baby, and realizes I look confused.

Then she tells me that it's not her baby.  It's one of the neighbor's babies.  Her baby is sleeping in the other room.

Good job, David.  Way to recognize your own nephew.

Quick snack

It's Friday afternoon.  I need a quick snack.

Delicious

Ingredients:

Tabatchnick's Minestrone soup

Tuna

Sliced mushrooms (super gourmet, I know)

Spicy Horseradish sauce

Frank's Red Hot sauce (of course)

Mix. Microwave. Eat.

Little people and my internal struggle

I'm walking on the streets of downtown Chicago this afternoon.  There are a fair amount of people roaming the sidewalks, but it's not terribly crowded.

I suddenly notice, about a half-block away, walking towards me, two little people.  By "little people", I don't just mean people who happen to be little.  I mean "little people" as in the PC term for...um, little people.  (This blog is strictly PC, folks.)

Anyway, there are two little people walking down the street, walking towards me.  To anybody else, this would be a non-occasion, and it should have been nothing special to me.

But my mind started racing.

As I'm about to pass them by, I start thinking that I shouldn't stare.  Right?  Staring would be rude of course.  But then I wonder that if I don't stare, it might be obvious that I'm not staring.  I might end up intently looking away from them, making it obvious that I'm trying not to stare.  Wouldn't that be worse than looking at them?  I don't want them to think I'm purposely trying not to look at them.

So should I stare instead?  Clearly not.  So I need to find the perfect balance between stare and not stare.

So I decide that a furtive glance should be appropriate.  But as they get nearer and nearer, I start worrying about what type of furtive glance I should give them.  A glance with a smile?  A glance with a blank facial expression?  Do I give a nod of the head?!?

All of these thoughts went through my head while I was approaching these two people on the sidewalk.  It was ridiculous!

In the end, I don't remember what sort of glance I decided to give them, but I wouldn't be surprised if the two little people write their own blog entry tonight about the weird guy they saw muttering to himself on the streets of Chicago today.

Magic trick

Now you see the cupcake...

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and now you don't!

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Some new culinary additions to my abode

So I got some new things for my kitchen today.  Or rather, I should say I was given some new things for my kitchen today.

First, one of the guys I work with, Andrew, bought me the best thing ever.....Hot Sauce!  And not just any hot sauce.....Frank's Red Hot!  And not just any Frank's Red Hot....he bought me the largest bottle in the grocery store.

We already finished a third of the bottle tonight.

My other friends, Hila and Jacob, also got me some great stuff for my kitchen.  Namely, a sweet-ass crock pot....plus a starter kit!

I know I don't look so excited,

but I am definitely excited.

I'm seriously considering making cholent stew this weekend for Shabbat.  I can already taste it (and the hot sauce.)  Beef, carrots, onions, celery, spices, barley.  (Look how mature I sound!)

Anyway, I think I went up a few notches on the "becoming-a-real-adult" scale tonight.

Report on my first night with new mattress

I slept on my new mattress last night for the first time.

It was wonderful.  It's extremely firm (like plywood firm).  Perfect for sleeping face down and drooling all night (which is pretty much my idea of a perfect night's sleep.)

There was only one minor issue, which caused me to almost hurt my back.  It had nothing to do with the hardness of the bed.  It was actually sort of a silly thing on my part.

I don't have a night stand yet, so my alarm clock and cell phone (my second alarm clock) are on the floor near my bed.  My previous mattress was only about 2 inches off the ground, so it was easy to reach my alarms in the morning (to hit the snooze.)

But my new mattress is almost 2 feet off the ground!  So this morning, when my alarm went off, I almost pulled my back trying to roll over and reach the clock.  It was so far away!  I felt like a contortionist trying to reach the alarm.

Anyway, other than that small issue, the mattress is great.  I'm happy with it, and I'm looking forward to spending many nights together.

HUGE NEWS!!

Hear ye, hear ye!

Hell hath frozen over.  Swine has flown.  Stiebel hath purchased a new mattress (and a boxspring to boot.)

Yes, the rumors are true, ladies and gentlemen.  I bought a new mattress.  It arrived this morning.

Note the barely fitting bedsheet.  That's how I roll.

Anyway, tonight will be our first night together, me and my mattress.  I'm expecting a whole lot of sleeping to occur, coupled with a whole lot of drooling.  I will report on the experience in the nearby future.

Sweet dreams!

PS.  Even though my old mattress and I have parted ways, we are staying friends.  It will be living in my closet now.

my ex-mattress

Adventures in Chinese

So for those who don't know yet, I learned how to speak Chinese over the last few months.  Xianzai wo neng shuo Zhongwen! (Now I can speak Chinese!)

But in order to retain and improve my speaking skills, I need practice.  But unfortunately, all my Mandarin-speaking friends are either in Boston or in Asia (go figure.)  Tamen bu zai Zhijiage. (They are not in Chicago.)  So I have been trying to find other people to practice with.

And since I have no shame whatsoever, I've decided that random Asian people I see around Chicago are perfect for this!  In stores, malls, bars, restaurants, subway stations, etc.  You name the location and I've probably ambushed an Asian person there.

Now, I don't actually ambush them.  I'm a little gentler than that.  I actually use a little bit of tact, but nevertheless, they are usually weirded out at first.  But then I tell them that I speak a little Chinese, and they usually become pretty interested.

In the subway station last week, I saw a group of 4 Asian college students waiting for a train.  So I asked them what nationality they were.  "Ni cong na li lai de?"  (Where are you from?)  3 were Korean, and 1 was Chinese (and spoke Mandarin.)  (Yi ge ren she Zhongguoren. Ta neng shuo Zhongwen.)  It took a bit of explaining (in English) to make him realize that I wanted to speak Mandarin with him, but when he was finally willing to talk Mandarin with me... I couldn't think of anything to say!  I had just spent so much effort trying to set up this conversation in Mandarin, and then my mind just goes blank.  I could not think of anything interesting to say to him.  So I just pointed to the subway train and said, "Huoche" (train).

Anyway, the conversation did get a little better than that, and after a minute or two, he actually said I speak pretty well!  I don't know if I believe him, but it was very nice to hear that.  I think he was just being nice though.

Anyway, I'm sure my Mandarin skills will probably get me into trouble here and there, but I need to practice.  So in advance, I apologize to the dozens of Chinese people I will most likely ambush over the coming weeks and months.

Brothers-in-law on couch

Late last night, I helped my sister and her husband move and assemble a couch they bought on Craigslist.  It is a super comfy, super nice couch.  Double-reclining, micro-fiber, yada yada yada.

I don't think I took this picture because it looks like

I was asleep when it was taken.

Now I need to find a couch (or two or three) for myself.

My fridge after last night

Marinara sauce (empty), cheese (delicious), deli meat (expired), hummus (probably expired)

and beer.  Lots and lots of beer.

I finally live here (officially)

So I've lived in my apartment for about 2-3 weeks already, and the building manager still hasn't put my name on my buzzer in the lobby.  My buzzer doesn't even have a number labeled on it.  It's completely anonymous.

Anyway, it hasn't been a problem because I haven't had any one visiting me yet.  But last night, I had a bunch of people from work and friends over for some beverage-fueled fun (read: flip cup).  And since they were each coming in separately over the course of the night, I needed them to know where my buzzer is located.

People were supposed to show up at 7 pm, and of course, I only realize this problem at 6:59 pm.  So I'm looking around my apartment for some sort of sticky note I can write my name on, but I can't find anything.

Then I find the perfect thing.  On my first day of work, before I got my official ID to get into the building, I was given a name-tag sticker with my name and ID # on it.  For some reason, this nametag sticker was stuck to the side of my bookshelf in my living room.  The name on the sticker is perfect size for the buzzer in the lobby, so I quickly grabbed some scissors, made the cut, went downstairs and....Bam! I finally exist in this apartment!

"...one of these name tags looks different than the other ones...."

So now people can easily find my buzzer.  All is well.

Update (1/17/10):
I walked out of my apartment building earlier tonight, and my name label was gone!!  So sad!

Update (1/18/10):
I walked out this morning, and I have a brand new REAL label on my buzzer now.  I guess the building engineer made some new labels because a couple other people's buzzers have new labels, too.

Sexy.

Epic Waffle Sundae Sunday Brunch

This morning was a very good morning.  Mainly because of one thing:

***Home-made Belgian Waffle Sundaes***

You're jealous.  I know.

Some local friends hosted a waffle brunch this morning (afternoon actually).  It was unbelievably awesome.  Hot waffles made fresh on the spot, and a variety of toppings.  The waffle above was my personal creation, involving ice cream, blueberries, chocolate chips and sauce, and whipped cream (or as my British friend Rachel calls it, "Squirty Cream".)  Best. Food. Ever.

My friend Jacob had a slightly different version of this culinary delight:

Jacob's waffle sundae featured banana slices and crumbled sugar ball thingies.  (Note that by the time my camera was ready, Jacob had already consumed most of his waffle.  However, I do not blame him for being unable to restrain himself.  These waffles were indubidly indubidly delicious.)

Pants

(Not sure if this is worthy of a blog post, but I'm in charge here, so I'm gonna post about it anyway.)

So my work dress code is pretty simple.  In short, it's business casual, which means button-down shirt and slacks.  That's it.

So I brought a few black slacks with me to Chicago.  I had tried all of them on before leaving Michigan, so I knew that they all fit.  I was not expecting to have any issues with my pants in Chicago.  But of course, I'm David Stiebel, and I will *always* have problems with these things...

First day of work:
I wear one of my black slacks, very comfortable.  No problems during the day, but when I get home later that night, I discover that there is a hole in the crotch.  (Why am I not surprised)  Anyway, after I recover from this shocking discovery (and the realization that I wore pants with a hole in the crotch to my first day of work), I put the pants in my 'do-not-wear-again' pile.

Second day of work:
I wear a different set of black slacks.  They are made of different material than the crotch-less pants I wore the first day, but they are still comfortable.  When I put them on in the morning, they are clean and pressed.  They look great.
But after less than an hour of work, I realize that they are accumulating a lot of lint.  Something about the cloth material is like a super-magnet for lint.  By lunch time, the pants were covered in hundreds of little pieces of dust, little hairs, whatever.  They had seriously gone from black pants to grey pants in a matter of hours.  (I tried taking a picture of my pants while I was wearing them, which is sort of weird, but you couldn't really see the lint in the picture.)
Needless to say, when I got home finally, those pants also got thrown into the 'do-not-wear-again' pile.

Anyway, I haven't had any more problems with my other pants since then.  But now I have to ration my pants a little more carefully for the rest of my time here in Chicago.

(Unrelated to this:  Another thing I noticed when I was trying to take a picture of the lint-covered pants was that I was wearing blue socks with black pants and black shoes.  Is that problematic?  I'm not really sure, but I'm going to guess that it was a bad thing.)

Mystery solved

So I was at a fancy dinner restaurant a few nights ago with some of my colleagues and managers.  This place was super fancy, with a coat check, and real knowledgable fancy waiters, and real silverware.  The works.

Anyway, when we first arrived, I checked my coat, and I was given a small tag with a number on it so that I could get my coat back.  I put the card in my shirt pocket.

I also keep my phone in my shirt pocket, and I made sure not to knock the card out every time I took my phone in and out of my pocket.  (For some reason I was being very careful about this card because I didn't want to look stupid in front of my managers.)

Anyway, the meal ends, we get up to leave.  I get to the coat check, and I reach into my shirt pocket to fish out the card, and it's gone!!  I'm baffled because I knew for a fact that it was in my pocket, and that I had not knocked it out.

So where the hell did it go?  I couldn't figure it out, and I'm holding up the coat check line with this dumb WTF expression on my face.  I was so baffled.

Luckily, I had remembered the ticket number, so I told the guy and he gave me my coat anyway.  (Nice guy!)  So I did get my coat back, but I was so confused about the ticket's disappearance.

So now it's Sunday morning, and I happened to be playing with my phone.  By chance, I took off the rubber cover, and lo and behold, the damn ticket is inside!!  At first, I just caught a glimpse of the corner of it, but I immediately realized what it was.  I felt like Charlie Bucket discovering the Golden ticket inside his candy bar, except in this case it was David Stiebel discovering a coat check ticket inside his Blackberry phone.

This is where I found the ticket.  Lucky #59.

Now I just have to decide how much effort I will put into returning the ticket to the restaurant.  I think it will be a little awkward to walk in one afternoon and tell the head waiter, "O, I'm not here to eat.  I'm just returning this little coat check ticket that I accidentally stole from you a few weeks ago."

I know the restaurant probably doesn't care about me returning this thing, but I want to make sure I don't have to atone for this on Yom Kippur.

More discoveries on my car today

I found this all over my car this afternoon.

It's only been parked there 2 days, and it's winter time!  There shouldn't be any birds around anyway!

O well, I guess this is better than apple pie maybe??

Quote of the day

6 out of 5 people don't understand basic statistics

Thursday morning - balanced breakfast

Coffee, pear, and oatmeal (cinnamon + brown sugar, hell yeah)

Brilliant Insight on the Streets of Chicago

A corn dog is a hot dog in a delicious sweater.

True that.

A more balanced snack

My sister has been telling me I need to eat more fruits and veggies.  And I've been trying.  Honestly, I have.  I had a banana this morning at work, and I have two apples at home (that I promise I will eat soon.)

Anyway, during training this afternoon, we were given a big veggie tray to munch on.

So many veggies!

I was so excited because I could have healthy snack with not much effort.

But then I found a bag of chocolate candy at my desk.  All the newbies get a bag of chocolates (and balloons!)

om nom delicious

But now I was faced with a serious dilemma.  Do I go with the veggies (which are healthy and good)?  or do I go with the chocolates (which are clearly the better choice to any sane person)?

Ultimately, I made a simple decision.  I compromised.

Carrots, snickers, Twix, yellow peppers, M&Ms (peanut!),

radishes, Kit Kat bars, and Reese's PB cups

Bon Appetite!

Note to self:

When you make coffee, make sure there is no apple juice already in your mug.

Biggest issue during training at work

I'm not having such a hard problem staying awake during training (shocking, I know), but yesterday, the biggest issue was actually sort of funny.

The first two presenters mistakenly thought I had a question when I was actually just scratching my head.  They kept thinking I was raising my hand.

So basically, after I realized this issue, I couldn't scratch my head ALL DAY.  I had to ignore every itch or tickle.  It was awful!!

But, I didn't fall asleep, which I guess is more important.

First day of work = Not too shabby

Had my first day of work today, and I think it went well.  All we did was training, but it was a lot of good information.  And I got to meet the other 8 Associate Consultants starting with me.

I don't have much time to write a full entry here, but I at least want to post a picture of the view outside my desk on the 32nd floor.

hell.yeah.

more to come about my first day including the most challenging part about training.  (and no, the hardest thing is surprisingly NOT trying to stay awake.)

Stiebel's pearl of wisdom

Parallel parking is sometimes difficult.  But parallel parking with one hand full of potato chips is always difficult.

I can't make this stuff up

(I think this might be my first truly WTF entry.)
My car has been parked on a street near my apartment for about 2 days.  I needed to drive somewhere today, so I start to clean the ice and snow off of the doors, windows, windshield, etc.

As I lift up my wiper blades to wipe away the snow underneath, I notice something brownish sitting in the snow right under the wiper.

That doesn't look like a piece of snow or ice.

From afar, it looks like a rock of some sort, which would have made sense, right?  Yes, that would have made perfect sense.  But, no, it was not a rock.  Any guesses?  I guarantee you will never guess.

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Give up yet?....

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On closer inspection...

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it was a large slice of apple pie crust.  With some of the apple goo still in it.

I have no idea why or how a large piece of apple pie got lodged underneath my wiper blade in the middle of a normal Chicago residential street.  But it doesn't matter why or how.  It was there.  Somehow.

I can't make this stuff up.

Violence on the streets of Chicago

Well, sort-of-violence.

I was walking out of the Lakeview synagogue earlier tonight, at the same time as a bunch of little kids were being let out of daycare.

This one kid, probably about 10 yrs old, is climbing onto the snow-covered metal banister leading down the front steps outside the building.  I can already tell this is going to turn out bad because the banister is pretty high up, and there is snow and ice everywhere.

Of course, he starts to lose his balance, and jumps off the banister in an attempt to reach the bottom of the stairs.  But he catches the last stair with his foot, and takes a small spill onto the concrete sidewalk.  Not too bad of a fall, but probably scraped up his hands a bit.

But suddenly, this kid gets pissed that he fell, and he starts to yell at his younger brother, claiming that the younger brother pushed him off the banister (which I'm pretty sure wasn't true because I saw him lose his balance.)

Anyway, the little brother (probably age 7) is just minding his own business, but the older kid is super pissed, and keeps yelling at him.  And then he walks up to the younger kid and punches him right in the face!  A solid right jab!  And the younger kid is pretty small, so this punch hit the entire side of his face, and hard.  Poor kid.  :(

The older brother was super pissed

Now the worst part of all this is that the mother, who was standing nearby the whole time, basically does nothing.  She very calmly and passively tells the older kid not to hit his brother.  And that he should apologize for making him cry.  But she clearly wasn't going to discipline or aggressively criticize the older kid.  Grrrr....I wanted to punch her!!  (but I didn't, just to make that clear.)

Anyway, I'm pretty sure that older kid is going to have some anger and discipline problems if his mom isn't tougher with the rules.  And if I bump into that kid again sometime in the next few weeks, I'm going to let him know that punching his little brother is not cool.  (Maybe I'll push him down the stairs to teach him a lesson....hmmm...)

PS.  Punching younger siblings is NOT cool.  I only ever punched my sister once, but she was older.  And she deserved it at the time.  (I don't remember why I punched her, but it had something to do with an apple I think.  I don't really like apples.)

Another gourmet brunch at Chateau Stiebel

Another adventure in cooking this morning

I started with the basic pasta-cheese-marinara concoction, but then I made some homemade pizza thingies.  And then I combined the two ideas!

Notice the thing on the left is a pasta-pizza combination!  O man, I am getting crazy!

Design a mezuzah for my apartment!

So I have one mezuzah up already, but I need a few more.  But instead of going out and buying a bunch of boring, generic mezuzah cases, why not get some special ones?

So, I'm going to give my friends the chance to design a mezuzah for me and send it to me here in Chicago. That way, I will have something to remember them by whenever I walk around my apartment.

If you have an idea for a good mezuzah case/cover, try to craft it and then ask me how to ship it.  (I'll cover the cost of shipping... well, actually I'll cover the cost if I like you.)

I need about 4-5 more mezuzahs, so there isn't going to be a "winning" mezuzah here.  Just send in a your own specially-designed Mezuzah-for-Stiebel, and I'll get a scroll in it and put it up.

Grape Drink

So apparently my friends here in Chicago do not share my taste for Grape Drink. I love the stuff, but apparently I'm unique in that regard. (Well, I guess Dave Chappelle loves grape drink, too.)

At a community Shabbat dinner last night, they had pitchers of grape drink on each table. I recognized the "purple stuff" immediately, and quickly downed my fair share. The girl across from me also took a gulp or two, and then proceeded to pour the remainder of her drink into my cup (which I also downed fairly quickly.)

I was dumbfounded. How could she not like grape drink? It's the stuff of champions! It's delicious! Sugar. Water. Purple. Those are the ingredients. Sugar. Water....and Purple.

Everyone else at the table also refused to touch the stuff, except for one nice elderly lady seated next to me. She very politely accepted the cup of grape drink that I poured for her. But after taking a sip, she paused, made an unpleasant face, forcefully swallowed,....and then started coughing uncontrollably! I almost killed her with my love of grape drink.

Anyway, I learned an important lesson from this experience:  Sometimes things that I find delicious are actually dangerous for other people's health.

Be advised. The below video contains  naughty language and hilarity.

How to make toast without a toaster, the Stiebel way

One gas stovetop burner, one piece of aluminum foil

Did you know that aluminum foil can burn?

I didn't know that...until today.

The nap that God wrought Himself

(or should that be wroughteth?)

I just took the most hardcore nap ever.  Like super hardcore.

I had just put my laundry in the dryer downstairs, and I had 75 minutes to kill.  So I decided to take a nap.  (Obviously.)

Actually, I think this is the first mid-afternoon nap I've taken since I moved into my apartment.  (Although according to my wall clock, this nap occurred at either 10 AM or 10 PM.)

Anyway, after putting my laundry in the dryer, I went back to my apartment and set an alarm for 75 minutes later, and passed out.  And I slept hard.  Super hard.  I slept so hard that I was majorly confused when I woke up.  I thought I was late for work.  (Though that didn't stop me from hitting the snooze button a half-dozen times.)

This is where the magic happened.

It took me at least half an hour to realize that it was Friday afternoon, and that I had been doing laundry.  And I think I might have still been asleep when I went to go pick up my clothes from the dryer because I sort of stumbled drunkenly down the hallway to the stairs, bumping into the wall several times, and then I almost dropped my entire clean laundry onto the floor as I was taking out of the dryer.

But I made it back upstairs, and I was even conscious enough to actually fold my laundry.  (Although at one point when I was folding my jeans, I accidentally hit myself in the crotch and almost had to lay down again.)

Anyway, in summary, naps are awesome, and this one in particular was even more awesomer than usual.

Some home improvement

A couple improvements to the apartment yesterday (and today):

1) I covered the kitchen counters with contact paper.  But I probably should have used a second person's help because I don't think I got the paper down perfectly smooth and flat.  And I was too lazy to cut specially-sized pieces to cover all the narrow areas.  But if you look at it from far away, it doesn't look half bad!

2) I found two nails, so I decided to use them.  First, I put up a calendar.  Second, I put up a clock.  But I couldn't find batteries yet, so it is currently always 10:10 in my apartment.  But I guess sometimes it's 10:10 AM and sometimes 10:10 PM.

3) Magnets on the fridge.  Lots of magnets on the fridge.  (But last night I found out that most of these magnets belong to my brother-in-law, so hopefully I won't become too attached to them because I have to give them back to him.)

4) Take out the trash.  (This isn't typically "home improvement", but I am technically improving my home by taking out the trash.  And I couldn't think of anything else to write in this list.)

5) Laundry (I couldn't think of anything else significant to write in this list.)

6) Shower (I think this is becoming a To-Do list for today.)

7) Nap (Yup, definitely a To-Do list.)

8) Pierogies for breakfast again! (Actually, I do consider pierogies to be home improvement.)

9) Close my laptop and stop writing blog entries (This is definitely an improvement.)

An evening of culinary madness

Boy, tonight was quite a night.  Culinary debauchery is a pretty good description.  Allow me to begin at the beginning.

I was at my sister's house earlier this afternoon, waiting to drive her, my bro-in-law, and my nephew to the airport, when suddenly, we all get very hungry.  We have about 20 minutes before we have to go, so what do we decide to make for dinner?.....Of course, the obvious thing is steak.

Yes, we quickly fried up some pieces of steak (Item #1), as well as heated up some delicious chicken soup (Item #2).  Clearly, this is what normal people make for dinner when they only have about 20 minutes available.  Let's just say I ate my fair share of steak, and I ate it quickly, and I was quite stuffed during the ride to the airport.

After dropping them at the airport, on my way back home to Lakeview, I get invited by a friend to come hang out at another friend's place nearby.  I arrived at approximately 8 pm, and promptly had a cup of tea (Item #3).  The second friend was in the middle of baking an apple pie for a dinner she is hosting tomorrow night, so I had a few apple slices (Item #4) with my tea.  So far so good.

Now, you must realize that I had recently eaten steak, and since I don't eat anything dairy after I've eaten steak (see Kosher laws about milk and meat), I'm not really expecting to eat much of anything for the rest of the night.

But suddenly, my friend decides to make two lemon meringue pies, and after making the lemon filling, she informs me that the filling is dairy-free!  Oy gevalt!  So obviously, I can't help trying a few spoonfuls of the raw lemon filling to see how it tastes (Item #5).  Delicious!

And then she put some of the raw filling in a small cup and baked it so that we could see what the final product would taste like.  (It was amazing!! (Item #6))

I also noticed some raw lemon peel shavings in a bowl on the counter and tried some of those (Item #7). [Note to self: Don't eat raw lemon peel shavings again.]

At this point, my friend has noticed that I'm eating random things around her kitchen.  So she offers me a jar of mixed nuts, which I initially decline because I wanted to show some semblance of restraint.  But then after 5 minutes, I noticed the jar again and had a handful of nuts (Item #8).

Then my friend points out a small cup of homemade chocolate sauce sitting on the counter, and she suggests that I might like it.  WTF?!!  Why would she think I would just eat straight chocolate sauce out of a jar?  What sort of person does she think I am?!

She was right.  It was delicious. (Item #9)

At this point, I'm starting to realize that things have gotten out of control.  But then she pulls out a tray of broiled brussel sprouts, hot out of the oven.  I can't resist.

(Item #10, 11, 12, 13, 14, ...)

Finally, I ended the night with another cup of tea (Item #whogivesadamn), and then I slowly walked home wondering what the hell just happened.

David gets his first piece of mail in Chicago!!

I got mail!

Today, Thursday, January 7, 2010 AD.  I got something in the mail!  A monthly unlimited bus/subway pass that gives me unlimited rides and transfers for 30 days.  A very important item to have, since I will be taking the bus (and subway) several times a day, every day.

Look how official it looks!

(Ironically, I had to ride the subway yesterday, before I got this pass in the mail, and since the smallest currency in my wallet at the time was a $20 bill, I had to buy a $20 regular pass, which charges me $2+ per ride, every time!  So I can't really start using my monthly pass until I use up my $20 pass.  Grrr....)

Funny story from Israel

So my dad is currently in Israel visiting our extended family, and he just called me and told me a hilarious thing that happened to him yesterday.

He was trying to meet up with one of our cousins, Alon, who lives in a very religious Jewish neighborhood near Haifa, Israel.  Everyone in this neighborhood, including Alon and his family, are hasidic, which means big beard, black hat, white shirt, etc.

My cousin sort of looks like this,

but with a bigger beard.

My dad is driving into town with a car, so Alon tells him to drive up to the bus station and he'll meet him there.  Then they'll drive together back to Alon's house.  Piece of cake.  What could possibly go wrong?

When my dad gets to the bus station, he sees a guy (with a beard, black hat, etc.) waving at him.  The guy is standing at the bus stop with his wife and baby.  So my dad pulls up to them, picks them up, and asks them where to drive to to get home.

After a few minutes of conversation, though, my dad realizes that this is not Alon and his family!  It's just some random guy who needed a ride somewhere in the neighborhood.  (Hitchhiking is very common in Israel.)  I think they knew who Alon was, though, and they pointed my dad in the right direction.

Anyway, my dad eventually found Alon's house and had lunch there with his family (probably not pierogies, though.)

Today's shaping up to be a good day

So today is shaping up to be a good day.  I woke up to a beautiful snowfall outside.

Light flurry, but very heavy snow flakes.  The forecast says these flurries should last for two days and should drop over 12 inches of snow!  I think I might organize a sledding party on Sunday.  Hmmm....

After watching the snow a bit, I made breakfast, which turned out great.  Pierogies are delicious (see below).

And I got a surprise this morning because someone "donated" three beautifully framed pictures to the synagogue yesterday, but the rabbi didn't have room for them.  So he gave them away...to me.  So now I have artwork!  I'm getting more and more civilized every day!

Keeping it classy, Chicago

Anyway, later today, I going to Best Buy to pick up a wireless modem because my cable internet is being installed later this week.  I'm also taking my sister, bro-in-law, and nephew to the airport tonight, and then who knows what else?  Other things on my To-Do list include laundry, buying light bulbs and nails, and unpacking more of my silverware, pots, and pans.  Hopefully, I'll actually get these done today, but I think a nap seems more likely.