Some things done.

.
.
After that last, I checked on Sam. Sometimes, when bad weather closes in, she simply disappears, finding some dry but distant place to hole up. I have been checking on her all afternoon and evening and had, sadly, realistically, given up. This time she arrived. She shot in from some odd corner of nowhere so that I was almost not sure she entered. It is strange, as good as my eyes and such are, how she and Sassy can almost sneak up on me or past me. Not quite but almost.

I checked on one of my bills, one that I was concerned about. It seems that they have stopped emailing notifications. The good news is that the bill is still being paid. Better still, it is paid off in January. I tried my mortgage center again. They asked for a security question to which I knew the answer. Nope. They refused to allow a connection. They are terrible about this. It looks more like they do not want people to pay than anything. Who is going to sneak onto my account AND PAY MY FUCKING BILL? Idiots. So, I went through my bank (one of them) and have set up automatic payments through them. Bastards. Having a blood pressure moment... never worry... never mind.

I have also been considering a couple of items. I know, I was not going to spend ANY MONEY this month. Well, except for a pressure cooker. And, I will use the heck out of it. Beans and rice once a week, grains a couple of times a weak at least, and I would like to explore stews (hate soups, mostly), potroast, tongue and heart, cheaper beef cuts, whole chicken, and combinations of meats and vegetables. This item could really make cooking easy, and since I do not have a vent, it would making indoor cooking cleaner. Along with that, however, I purchased... a few more items. A coffee pot, which I sort of need. A coffee grinder, of course (manual burr grinder, so good for more than just that and off the grid as well, if I like it I might buy another for herbs and spices and other things nicess (I cheat but it rhymes)), a cookbook that has been on the menu a while, and two pressure cooker cookbooks as well. Oh, I had other things on the list. I pared that down, added more, pared that down, added more. Bah! I should not be trusted with money. Still, given all things, I did okay. I think. I will know how well I picked when the items arrive. Oh, here is the pressure cooker set I chose. If it works really well, both sizes, I may order another lid when I order extra parts. (Always buy extra parts, always, duplicates if affordable.) Having two pressure cookers in play at once can really be an advantage in more complex cuisine, when two main items take a lot of time to cook but need very different cook times, with clashing ingredients, or in a number of other scenarios.

I still need to set the beans to soak, perhaps do a few more dishes, and then maybe hit it. Or not. Frag but it can be difficult to cut the engine. Good night, maybe.