Seems like old times.

I got back in a routine today that I haven't done in a year. When I had my own business at home, I'd go out on business & personal errands at lunch. I had a very systematic plan which involved lunch at Schlotzskys Deli because it was on my way to the credit union, and Central Market, and/or the liquor store. (Who am I kidding? The liquor store was never an "or" proposition.)

There were enough leftovers in the house today for one serving, so I gracefully allowed txrad access to those while I went out.

Seriously, I just now looked at the photos I took today with my RAZR and I am having the utmost respect for people who do photo blogs. Either I'm in a hurry, or I can't handle the mobile camera. Some of the pictures were atrocious, most were blurry, and few incomprehensible.

My first stop was Schlotzskys. It was weird not seeing Sheldon sitting directly in front of me, but it did allow me to gaze about the place observing other people. These two women caught my eye. I swear they had to be sisters, and I'm even thinking maybe they were twins. It's hard for you to tell from this horrid photo. And I have NO idea why it turned out smaller than the rest. I made no adjustments. Jesus.

They were of similar size and physical characteristics (I know that's not a requirement of twins so bear with me), they dressed similarly, then carried similar if not identical handbags, their glasses were very similar, they ordered the same thing to eat, and as they were both walking to the table, they were both spilling a bit of their drinks on the floor. I vote twins.

The photo I took at the credit union was so horrid I can't even use it. Which basically blows the joke I was going to make about Diebold.

In the same area, walking distance actually, is Central Market. But I couldn't exactly leave my car parked in the drive-thru at the credit union while buying groceries so I had to drive a few hundred feet. They had nice flowers, if only the photo wasn't so shitty. And I can't even show you the photo of the gigantic portobello mushrooms.

On the way home, traffic was much lighter than it was during the holidays.

I made one last stop at the convenience store near our house to purchase some unhealthy unmentionables, and had to get a shot of the newspaper headlines.

I didn't really need to buy much today. A tomato, the portobellos, some beer, and I ground some coffee beans at the store. I haven't done that in awhile, and I forgot how the aroma of freshly-ground coffee can fill the car on the way home. I felt like I was IN a coffee shop. Mmmmmm, wonderful.

The beers I purchased were all locally brewed. Some of my favorites.

I really need to learn to use the camera phone better or else take my real camera, which of course makes it really difficult to get discreet shots of people eating in restaurants. I'll try and do better. And yes, that run cake behind the beer is the same fucking cake that's been sitting there for about 3 weeks. I need to clean house. Tell me about it.

By the way, is this font color obnoxious? Do you prefer the softer creamier yellow that I found a bit harder to read?

Success!!

I'm so happy to be able to upload photos from the Motorola RAZR now. Here's a sampling of the backlog.

txrad selecting milk at the supermarket.

This is the hardwood flooring I really love at Home Depot. I really wanted to put this in our house but now that we've carpeted the living room and both bedrooms, the only options left are the den and the kitchen. And since we have wood cabinets in the kitchen, I don't know that they will match this very well. But the den is definitely an option. It's a small room with a fireplace so it wouldn't cost a fortune to do this.

It's been at least a year since we ate lunch at Chuy's Tex Mex. It's a very festive restaurant with an Elvis theme and excessive decorations throughout. The food is wonderful and the margaritas are strong.

I took this shot of a mirrored tile on the wall with txrad's reflection in it.

We won't be eating there until I have another job. It's usually about $35 with drinks.

#45, spicy with brown rice

I was in the mood for some Veggie Heaven today. This is one of our favorite restaurants in Austin, and definitely one of my favorite all-vegetarian Chinese restaurants ever! We hadn't been in almost a year.

The seating area was packed and I thought we'd have to wait several minutes for a table. Then the hostess directed us down a long narrow hallway which always lead to two tiny restrooms so I wondered if that's where she was seating us.

They've actually opened up what might have been a stockroom and put in about 5 or 6 tables.

I really didn't like eating in this room because it felt like we were quarantined away from the other diners, and one of the enjoyments of eating here is having the opportunity to observe the diverse clientele. But today we got the zen-like austerity of the back room.

They have a very extensive menu but txrad and I usually order the same thing: a steamed spring roll and the veggie ham served spicy with brown rice. There's always extra dipping sauce after devouring the spring rolls and I like to pour mine over my rice.

I had only taken one bite of spring roll when the veggie ham arrived.

This was txrad's bowl. The veggie "ham" is some kind of wheat gluten, and the dish also comes with tofu and an assortment of other veggies. The sauce is divine. Since we each get a bowl, there's always enough left for another meal.

This actually gets more spicy the longer it sits in the fridge. We usually cook another small portion of rice for the leftovers, or I'll sometimes boil some pasta. It's equally tasty with either.

After lunch we came home for awhile and then headed west again into the beautiful Texas Hill Country to visit the Hill Country Galleria in Bee Cave (population 656). It's just a few short miles from our house -- perhaps about 10-12 minutes.

I really like what they did with the shopping area. Instead of being a pedestrian-only indoor or outdoor mall, this one was designed to resemble a small town, complete with a main street and parking near the shops. txrad is checking things out.

Unfortunately, it's not all that exciting for me as a shopping destination. It has all the usual mall stuff and a movie theatre which would be nice for us if we ever do decide to go to the movies again. I'll bet we haven't been to a movie theatre in eight years.

The primary draw for me will be the Barnes & Noble, where I got the wonderful National Geographic World Atlas.

I could have done without all the Christmasy music while strolling outdoors at the Galleria. We got enough of that already in the shops.

Thanksgiving Lunch 2007

On most major US holidays when many businesses are closed, we traditionally like to dine on Indian food -- because they're usually open. So with empty stomachs, we left home about 11:30. It's about a mile from our house up to this highway.

Then another four miles before we reach the freeway, which at 11:40 was already clogged with westbound traffic. It was worse than rush hour and is compounded by the fact that as the freeway ends, it merges into one lane just before a traffic light at the end.

As we cross the bridge over Lady Bird Lake you can see downtown Austin. This is the route I take to work usually.

Shortly afterwards, at 12:02 KGSR began playing Arlo Guthrie's Alice's Restaurant and we got to enjoy hearing all about the massacree and the twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy pictures with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one.

Finally, about 20 miles into the journey we are on North Lamar in north Austin, my least favorite part of the city. If it weren't for the abundance of great Indian food, I'd never go there.

Swad Indian VegiFood at last. Located in a very unattractive strip mall this place serves up some very good Indian cuisine.

It seemed almost as cold in the restaurant as it was outside.

I think they were short on staff today so they weren't preparing the elaborate thali which is my favorite. I had to settle for something simple: a pile of hot puffy bread (poori), a bowl of garbanzo beans and a container of onions, jalapeno chilies, and a couple of lemon cubes. This was more filling than you would think.

txrad ordered the masala dosa which is less filling than it appears. The thin crepe-like bread is wrapped around a much smaller portion of spicy potato mixture. If it were crammed end to end with potatoes, that would be a bit too much!

On the way home we stopped at the Barton Springs Mall, which is a large indoor mall with a Nordstrom, Macys, Dillards, Sears, JCPenney, and a LOT of other shops. It's also the closest mall to our house.

Of course they aren't open on Thanksgiving Day; I just wanted to stop there because of the downtown Austin view from the parking lot.

Soon we were back on the road to our house after our lovely Thanksgiving Day outing.