Frank I. Szabo, in passing...

I found out a few days ago a person I had sort of roomed with during my attempt at DeVry in Columbus, Ohio had died in 2007. His name was Frank Szabo. He was from New Jersey & Pennsylvania, and he had a lot to say about lots of things. He was tall, imposing, more worldly than I was, and yet he was only a few years older than me. I have memories of him - not necessarily good memories as we weren't friends but mostly cohabitators.

He made fun of my 1st impression as I met my new college roommates in our student supported apartment because I shook with my left hand. I don't know why he singled me out for this stuff. He would tell me how "If you give a Jewish boy $1.50 this week, next week he'll have $5" in a way to tell me I made bad buying choices such as when I bought all 5 Voltron Lions in the plastic version at Toys R Us. He was supposed to have moved out by the time I moved in, but he was buddies with the other guys in the place so they let him crash on a bed in the basement (there never were inspections as far as I know so he never got caught) but he was supposed to pay to each of us who were supposed to be there a portion of the $180 per person rent DeVry was ripping students off with. I never saw a dime.

He spoke about having a cameo in Flashdance and even rented a copy on tape to show me his moonwalking scene while holding an umbrella and wearing a black jacket. He was so much slimmer then... what happened? His name is even in the credits... I once saw him in the DeVry labs using one of those microprocessor breadboard kits hooked up to an oscilloscope and making it display a scrolling rocket animation, while people coming by to see it working, saying things like, "The guy knows his stuff!" and generally being impressed.

He could get part time work at places like Eastland Mall area's Brown Derby, telling me things like don't order things like a salad at a steakhouse because that's cheap food & fills you up before eating the expensive steak. I was always the target of his pranks or at least whatever mischievous thing he could pull in the moment. There's too many things, mostly unpleasant. He picked about the smallest things, any perceived slight, and I ended up on the bad end of it. He picked on me having stuck a potato in a jar in a cabinet (I had hoped to cook & eat it later but with all the distractions I forgot) and later it rotted, stunk, and had to be thrown out. He picked on someone drinking from a bottle of grape juice he had in the fridge & accused me of doing it, like he could go to each of the other guys and ask them but wouldn't believe me if I said I didn't touch it. If I had dropped something outside, he would tap the end of a broom he was holding near it, daring me to pick the object up otherwise he would try to hit my hand. Those are the Frank the Asshole moments.

Eventually the student apartment lease from DeVry was ended, I had to leave (I wanted out anyway), met George Jenkins from Temperance, MI & we decided to split a studio in a nearby apartment community (later I would regret that decision). I managed to get away with Frank's portable chess set with a 1964 half dollar and silver lightning bolt necklace inside. I sold the chess set & necklace on eBay in the late 1990s for a fair amount, kept the silver half dollar for some time.

I had my interactions with Frank, not all of them entirely bad, but not all of them memorable. He was just another person I had to deal with and when he wasn't being an asshole could be entertaining. It was him and his group who took me to my 1st Chuck E Cheese's and then Showbiz Pizza Place in the same night (Eastland Mall area had both). It's surprising to know he ended up in Missouri, got married, had a kid, and started up a business. I don't even know when he graduated, but he did. 42 is still too young to die, even if I didn't fondly remember him. All I had of his existence are 2 photos I shot with a 126 camera, 1 of him getting a Bundy Splash by a friend (his name was Lauren) with Mo from South Africa helping. And the other with him & Mo in the basement with the ping pong table, 1 other guy you can barely see, and Frank's bed in a corner. Like I said, nobody checked to see if he had moved out or to ask why there's a bed in the basement.  

The orange didn't go to waste

I was looking forward to supper tonight because I was finally going to make that Sweet & Sour Orange sauce, deep fry the boneless breaded chicken tenderloin meal I got for free, and then decided to cut up 3 potatoes I've had languishing in my fridge for months into fries & deep fry that, too. The free meal even had some cauliflower & pear cubes for a fruit. At least this time the fruit didn't get microwaved.

The Orange Sauce came together easily & quickly - and the free orange didn't go to waste. The recipe needed the juice & zest of 1 orange (about 1/2 cup) which is what I had. I figure if the breaded chicken wasn't Orange Chicken, at least the sauce would be! AND IT TURNED OUT SO GOOOD! I let this meal thaw out in the fridge overnight, and fried up crispy in only a few minutes. And stayed crispy even after getting the sauce all over it. And what's neat is I even put the cauliflower in the sauce... and the french fries went in the same sauce pan (left over sauce), got coated in whatever was left, and it mixed well with the ketchup I had! Orange sauce & ketchup? It tasted darn good!

Smelled nice in here after baking bread... had a bit of a failure with that, and after having my deep fryer on, still smells nice in here. Good thing I'm not hungry now.

Crock Pot Pinto Bean Chili today...

After taking out my trash around noon (and glad I did it then), I came back to wait for my pinto beans to finish their 3 hours on high in the crock pot for another round of Pinto Bean Crock Pot Chili. So after 3:30, I turned it off & got the rest of the ingredients ready - browning the 1 lb of ground turkey, chopped onions & celery (as green peppers were too expensive), adding minced garlic, crunchy chili garlic sauce, and the rest of the spices. Plus it finally gave me the chance to finally use up the 8 ounces of mushrooms I bought back on the 3rd! They were fine, needed rinsed & sliced. Once I got everything in, the green crock was full.

Got to taste the residue from the crank chopper to break up the browned ground turkey which is where & when I add the dry spices. That gave me an idea of how it's going to taste when done. Fat spreads flavor! I had some burger grease in the skillet when I browned the turkey. 3 - 4 more hours on low & it already smells good in here! 

Addenda from Friday

Additional notes from Friday's shopping:

    It was cheaper to buy a bundle of celery ($1.94) than it was to buy 2 green peppers ($1.27 EACH). That thing of Ralphie May and $97 salads was prescient. Salad dressing? I remember in 2019 when Walmart bottles of blue cheese were under a buck. Today it's $2.32. What the flipping hell happened? I could go to Dollar General for $1.50 bottles but I don't have the stamina to run around anymore. 1 store & done. I might shop at Aldi more but I don't get their ads in the mail anymore. Meijer doesn't seem to send out ads either.

 
    I verified the $10 packs of Friskies canned food & I really should have gotten 1 plus another pouch of treats Poofball likes but the aisle was busy & I wanted to avoid that much activity. I didn't even check out the toy area nor buy any snack chips. The only thing special I got was the 1 pound Reese's bunny because it was half off & I was looking for marked down Easter candy. They had so much unsold Peeps & plastic eggs & basket "grass." Might as well take it out back & torch it. Heh.

Friday night's supper was French bread pizza as has been my tradition to buy a $1 loaf from the bakery extras cart & make it with that. Saturday was more Crock Pot Lentils. Sunday I'm still sleepy & tired. Serviced the cat pan already, now have a letter to print & an envelope to mail. Got some physical stuff & floor mopping to do for the next week or so. Bought a new mop on Rent Day.

Anthem Food card doesn't help pay for just anything...

First time shopping for groceries & using the cheap ass Anthem Blue whatever food card. I wanted to know what it was going to pay for, but I selected "healthy" foods anyway, or what I thought would be considered as such. It's cheap ass because it doesn't provide $25 every month, but instead is loaded with only $150 for 12 months. United's card was DOUBLE that.

My list: 1 gallon 1% milk, 3 loaves honey wheat bread, large jar of natural peanut butter, bag of shredded queso cheese, and 1 bag of spicy frozen breakfast sausage patties.

THE CARD REFUSED TO PAY FOR THE MEAT. I don't have a list of what it will or won't pay for, BUT EVEN THE UNITED FOOD CARD PAID FOR MEAT.  United card did not pay for carbonated pop, cookies, snacks, pre-made desserts, or candy, and I expect this Anthem card will act the same, but not paying for frozen meat? I will try again with fresh packed meat next month and see what it does. Then I will have to see if I can get a list of stuff of what their program considers "healthy." Likely stuff such as produce. THEY'D BETTER NOT BE TRYING TO FORCE A VEGETARIAN AGENDA. I will NOT have it.

UPDATE: I found out the meat it wouldn't pay for was considered Processed & Frozen. If I had picked up fresh packed meat, then it would have paid for it.

Small excitement

Our previous building manager who took 2025 off for tax reasons (not really) finally saw my note I've been leaving with my rent payment for the past 3 months & TODAY got the form finished for my stated rent increase which I can now copy & send off. I was only $1 short from the actual amount.

Absentee ballot arrived today, filled out, mailed back with 2 stamps on it. Bought a dress shirt off Big Dude Clothing for an upcoming passport photo as I intend to renew that soon. I didn't have any solid color neutral shirts for such a thing. At least Big Dude gave me 10% off.

And I was rewarded for my efforts to attend to extra curricular activities with still cold & frozen food stuffs on the donation table - a bag of mixed vegies with Arabic writing on it (which I've seen before) & 4 single plate frozen microwave entrees. 

I needed some comfort, so I made mac & cheese

After the month of March I had, I needed some comfort, and with 2 bricks of cheese & free macaroni, with the 2 cans of evaporated milk I got on Friday, I was going to get some! Whipped it up under 30 minutes thanks to the miracle of parallel processing - letting the macaroni cook slowly in a small pot while I got the roux, milk, and cheese going in the Dutch oven. When I heard the milk & roux start plopping, that was the sign to get the shredded pepper jack into the pot, turn off all the burners, drain the macaroni, and get that cheese melted in. Add 1/2 of the macaroni, stir to combine & coat, get the remaining macaroni in, and combine. Not much while hot or warm - this comes into its own when cold. Yum. 

The last 4 days were the worst so far since Mom...

After the weekend I had, sadly, I had to dump the last serving of Arroz con Gandules from my Dutch oven which I hadn't washed since my last use of it to boil red kidney beans before I used them in a crock pot recipe... I'm not exactly sure what caused 3 weeks of kidney stone suffering suddenly, and while looking over my diary of weight, sleep, & last night's supper doesn't reveal any link, I decided to just wipe it clean & just have a sad food pantry bagged version of Tuna Helper tonight. Added 3/4 diced onion sauteed in canola, added 113 grams of sliced rinsed mushrooms, and later a can of no salt peas. Reserved the tuna juice & peas water for a dashi along with whatever the directions said to do. When it finally congeals overnight, a bit of Duke's mayo might make for a decent sammich. Sprinkled some grated Parmesan & a little Adobo to give it moral support. Even used a clean skillet! The other skillet (I have like 3 - with 1 good one I paid $20 for and is like a wok) has meat grease I want to use for fried rice. Topped off the evening with a cold A&W.

 

Passed yet another kidney stone

2nd time in 3 weeks. Thursday before paying rent saw my doctor, got prescribed a pill. Blood in the urine continued 2 more days, then cleared up. (Sadly, the sample collected at the office was not bloody.) Had that characteristic "dull thump" in my lower right back. Took the pills as carefully as directed until March 5th when suddenly I had low urine output. Extremely concerned, found out the extra pill I was taking can do that, which is why they said take with LOTS of WATER. Out of fear, I refrained from taking the last pill. Urine output returned to normal over Friday & Saturday, dropping nearly 4 pounds as if my body was catching up to what it should be doing. Sunday was fine.

Sort of woke up with that discomfort in my lower right again. Joints hurt, had low motivation & energy. It hurt to walk out to get breakfast which I got late & hurt to walk back. Was going to mop the floor in the other room but my energy reserves said NO. Toilet visit seemed to indicate blood again in the urine. So I got back in bed, bundled up warm, got comfortable.... and slept until 5:48 p.m. Was feeling much better energy & motivation wise. Peed, urine was definitely red hued. This was a Furosemide pee - usually colorless & if any color is there, it's not supposed to be there. Didn't photograph that.

But as far as overall feeling, was much better than this afternoon where I definitely slept. Wrapped up warmly and got a deep nap. Dull thump was gone, but I could tell the area had undergone something traumatic as it was still sore. Going to slam the water, as my doctor has advised in the past.

Like, I didn't have any of the usual signs of a UTI. Kidney stones are a different item. 

The worst nearly full day in a while...

This day started off last night with an inability to get to sleep for paying rent due to an incessant uncomfortable pain in my right side & lower right side in my back. The kind which pain medication can't fully relieve. Maybe it was another kidney stone, maybe it was the medication I had been taking... Somehow I managed to wrangle myself into a position of Least Discomfort and fall asleep.... but not for long. By then the alarm clock went off. I wanted to stay asleep to recharge & I hadn't been able to do much of that. That was evident in the amount of lethargy I carried myself with to get to the toilet. The call was there, but there wasn't much to say. And without any color. Odd. I looked up the thing I was experiencing, then I looked up the medication. As it coincidentally turns out, that medication can cause reduced urine output. If it lasts longer than 12 hours, do something about it.

Well, at that moment, my plan to leave at 11 a.m. was basically pushed back. I had a few things to do before I got in the van & left... taking out trash, for one. But the way I was feeling, without much strength & just dead tired... I had no hope. I wanted to call the building manager & ask if I could pay on the 6th. But life is about small goals. I made it out of my unit, down the evalator, to the bench. Had to refill some spoons of motivation. Deposited trash, got in my van, did a loop around the building, & made it to the credit union. Needed more spoons to get out & go in to collect my money & get back in.

Then I got to DrugFart. I just needed payments & some groceries, but most importantly, the birthday gift for my sister. Somehow I did all that thanks to the electric chariot. Managed to drag myself back to my vehicle, get gas, & return.

I had heard our previous building manager had returned and there she was in the office once again when I got back. Should be interesting to hear the story. However, on my way out there was a box of foodstuffs which I couldn't stop to pick over on my way out. I'm a person who dislikes wasting effort. If the box is not on my way to something else behind it, I let it go. But I needed to drag myself over to mail an envelope & managed to score another free bag of bran cereal, some canned no-salt vegetables, a bag of rice, little red beans, and a Tuna Helper thingy in a bag. Love the dried stuff since I use my crock pot a LOT. Plus I make Spanish Rice & Arroz con Gandules that much more often.

But throughout this whole day, I barely survived. So wiped out & low energy & worried about the low output peeing, I couldn't enjoy anything. Ended up with a headache in bed. Even time I had to get up, I was in pain. I hate living like this. Does it get better?