a little something I saw today

Sushi counter octopus

Wondering how I can kick this up a notch. 

My first impulse is to grill it but I worry that would only make it tough... or would it? 

Anyway, I don't yet have a grill set up here at Casa WereMonster. 

Can I put them under the broiler for a minute or add them into another sort of dish?  

Foggy afternoon

The fog rolled in a couple of hours ago and it has my neighborhood under a white blanket.

Tarima red wine

A gift from Tera.  It needed to breathe a bit after opening but I enjoyed it. BlackBerry notes. I can't identify much in the nose.

Christmas Eve at Casa WereMonster

We ended up staying in North Carolina for Christmas this year. We had been planning to visit my mother but bad weather (tornado warnings & violent storms) had her begging us not to come and, for better or worse, we chose the path of least resistance. There were no other standing invitations from family or friends this time around so it only made since to stay home and have a quiet holiday at Casa WereMonster. 

Vindication

After many phone calls and emails, MonsterMustDie finally had a long talk with someone at LunarPages. As it turns out, 1950.com and Weremonkey.com are paid for in full through 2017. Someone poached the websites through his old Comcast account and DirectNIC.com. We still don't have the websites back but they admit it was their error and the domains are still legally ours.

Where's Weremonkey?

A few years ago, I had every intention of using Weremonkey.com as a personal portfolio and blog site. Lunar pages made it difficult enough to use that I rarely looked at it or updated anything because every time I logged in, it meant an hour spent on the phone getting access to my site again. Following the fiasco with 1950.com, I tried to go into my long-neglected site and and couldn't get in. Then I just tried to see it online to view how out-of-date it might be and got an automatic page from TimeWarner cable saying there was no domain of that name. Then I got a pop up asking if I wanted to purchase weremonkey.com. *sigh*

I need to find an easier place to build a portfolio site.

very bad news about CasaWereMonster finance

I was planning to go to a MeetUp tonight but MonsterMustDie is having an apocalyptic day. So, he'll probably be drinking and I'll be monitoring him for irrational behavior.

He just lost his independent business and a $15000.00 sale to a website poacher, who might have snagged his domain illegally before the next ISP host payment on it was due. He's been involved in the possible sale of his little place on the internet, 1950.com, which he has been the proprietor of since the 1990s. There were several snags while dealing with the exchange of money and the domain with his ISP, LunarPages.com, that have caused the entire process of a couple of days to two+ weeks now. Looks like his account was sold by LunarPages to another host, much like banks sell accounts, I suppose. The account is due this week or next. He's not sure when because he did not get an alert about it. There was also trouble logging in because the new hosting company has his old, outdated email address and account information.

All this and he was planning to use any money from the sell of 1950.com on unavoidable expenses on the house - a new heater to replace the dinosaur downstairs, landscaping to replace or repair the desintegrating stone wall on the side of the house, etc.

Meanwhile, I am still out of work.

Things are looking up.

I'm watching "Monsters Inside Me" while drinking a citron honey tea  & gin hot toddy.

Mom was sounding much better when I spoke to her on the phone earlier today. Yay!  Her procedure yesterday was quite successful. They drained a lot of fluid away from her heart and her lungs are now starting to clear.

I went to an afternoon Toastmasters meeting today, where I met a few very nice people and promised I would be back soon to future meetings. I really need to work on my communications skills but everyone was very positive and encouraging. There was even a woman who was originally from Atlanta there.