The ball's still not in my court

So yesterday I contacted my HUMINT assets and left a phone message whereby I informed them that I would play high-school games until I left for Christmas, after which I would not just sit back and wait for an opportunity to run into the young lady in question in a contrived yet seemingly unplanned fashion.

Five minutes later I received a phone call from the young lady, who told me that my HUMINT asset had given her my phone number. She thanked me for an enjoyable evening the previous Saturday, and for my exquisite courtesy in walking her home in the still of the night. I invited her to have dinner with me, knowing full well that her work schedule this week would not accomodate it. She informed me that her work schedule would not allow dinner this week, and that for Christmas she was leaving town with her family. She promised to call me when she returned, and I invited her to accompany me to the New Year's party at my friend's house. She again promised to call me.

So, there it is. Now I can relax until after Crimbo.

Why men should never be friends with women they're sexually interested in

A woman has a close male friend. This means that he is probably interested in her, which is why he hangs around so much. She sees him strictly as a friend. This always starts out with, you're a great guy, but I don't like you in that way. This is roughly the equivalent for the guy of going to a job interview and the company saying, You have a great resume, you have all the qualifications we are looking for, but we're not going to hire you. We will, however, use your resume as the basis for comparison for all other applicants. But, we're going to hire somebody who is far less qualified and is probably an alcoholic. And if he doesn't work out, we'll hire somebody else, but still not you. In fact, we will never hire you. But we will call you from time to time to complain about the person that we hired.

I made an excellent meal last night

It was kind of like coq au vin, only not at all. It actually turned out to be more of a chicken pot roast.

I started with four boneless skinles chicken thighs, which I salted and peppered and then browned in my dutch oven for about five minutes each side, then removed them. I then added half a red onion, rough chopped, and three cloves of garlic, minced. I sauteed that for a bit, then added 2 carrots chopped into inch-long pieces, and four celery stalks, chopped into inch-long pieces. I sauteed that mixture for about ten minutes, then added the chicken back in and added enough McWilliams Shiraz to almost cover. Then I let it simmer on the stove for an hour.

Meanwhile, I washed about twenty baby red potatoes, then I coated them in a mixture of olive oil and greek seasoning. I set the oven for 300 degrees, and after the first half hour that the chicken was cooking in the wine, I put the potatoes in the oven.

Once the hour had passed, I added about a dozen mushrooms to the dutch oven and placed my dutch oven in the oven for an hour at 300 degrees. After that hour, both the potatoes and the chicken were done. The chicken was faling apart into tender strings, like pulled pork; the carrots were soft yet held their shape, the celery was barely holding together, and the mushrooms were plump and juicy, yielding just a little. The gravy had taken on a creamy brown color (the source of which mystifies me). It tasted fantastic.

The potatoes were great; creamy on the inside, with the crispy skin.

Should countries only accept 'good' immigrants?

Theoretically, no one with a criminal record for serious crime can immigrate to the US, although they can be eligible for asylum. So an anthropolgist I know proposed the following test to find 'good' immigrants:

Immigration Test Questions (Sample)

If you were upset at being referred to in derrogatory terms would you:
A) Burn a car.
B) Form a gang and beat up people.
C) Swallow the rage and eventually go postal.
D) Earn another degree.

When I think of my new home country to be, I:
A) Want to burn a car.
B) Plan to live a life of quiet desparation.
C) Hope to someday find a better country to move to.
D) Wish to pay taxes.


Points given: A-1, B-2, C-3, D-0. Scores graded on the following chart:
1 Point - France
2-6 points - Return to home country
0 Points - Free to immigrate

It's certainly an important question for us to consider: how does America select its immigrants? Why do we select them in the way we do? Is there a better way?

The economics of romance

Involved as I am in my current pursuit of a young lady, I pause to muse on the economics of the thing. So far, I've been fortunate to coordinate wooage with activities I do normally (such as going to my favorite bar/music venue), so there's no extra cost (I fairly regularly stand a lady or two a drink at said bar).

Friday I went out with my friends to a bar I normally avoid, and bought my visiting friend Wayne a few beers. It turns out that later that night, when our group had gone on to the white-trash karaoke bar, the lady I'm pursuing ended up in the first bar. This did not inure to my direct benefit.

Saturday night, I purposely placed myself in the path of the lady's friends, who were touring the bars of Hattiesburg to celebrate the 21-ing of one of them. To demonstrate my overwhelming class, my knowledge of social niceties, and the fact that I knew it was Jessica's birthday, I paid for their chocolate martinis (three chocolate martinis at $6/pop), and had a few drinks of my own. For my judiciously invested $18, I received priceless intelligence from my HUMINT assets, plus of course showing my generosity.

The priceless intelligence indicated that I am expected to contrive a way to run into my target whilst she is out, without in fact planning it, and certainly without inviting her out anywhere. As you can imagine, the opportunity cost of this sort of behavior is enormous. I already spend three hours a day commuting to work. Luckily all of my Christmas shopping is done (at ruinous cost, I might add), and I've very few social engagements this week, so I can afford to try running into her at a bar before I leave for Christmas.

If I fail, I'm chucking her expectations out, and I'm going to invite her to dinner. High school games are convenient when you're in high school and see the same people all day. But I work 90 miles away from where I live, and life is short. Opportunity cost is a bitch.