Asberry.org

Author: aron

  • Toxic Relationships

    I REALLY REALLY don’t want to hear about the Johnny Depp – Amber Heard trial but it’s kind of hard not to see it somewhere. It’s hard to fathom what led the once-great actor/heart-throb to expend so much time and energy on a self-destructive, heart-crushing relationship.

    The bottom line is there are things that poison our soul and yet we embrace them. The alcoholic with his bottle, the addict with his needle, the fat guy with GrubHub one-click order set up, and Johnny with his Amber. It’s sad to see but it’s never too late to walk away and start new. With all the entertainment that Depp gave to us, he offers us one last lesson, walk away before it gets to this…

  • We got our rec center passes!

    After not having it for several years, Sandy and I went and got our rec center passes today. For $100 for both of us, we have access to all the equipment and walking track in the AC. We walked for 30 minutes and picked up our passes on the way out (they had used our old pictures) and they gave Sandy my sister’s picture.

  • Sundaze, a hazy shade of summer

    I had a decent day, I actually worked all day on school and got it turned in, and spent about 7 hours on it. I turned it in and within an hour I got the notice that it’s deficient:( Three things need to be fixed and at first I was up in arms but as I reviewed the issues they were correct. I’m tired of working on it today.

    I’m still undergoing a crush at work but I’m slowly but surely unwinding that snake. I’m hoping it comes to a close so I can get some traction on the classes. I need to get this over with, I don’t mind being a lifelong student but I need to finish this up, I’ve got things to do:)

  • Watched – Firestarter (2022)

    I’m not usually a fan of remakes, and this movie makes me remember why.

    I fondly remember the 1984 movie with Drew Barrymore, it was (I guess) a little more believable or maybe it’s because I was 12 and Drew’s character of Charlie was really cute. That movie seemed to flow right, you sympathized with the main character. This one not so much, after she torches her mom and a cat and leaves one of the antagonists intact it’s hard to be a big fan. In the end, the character disappoints on almost every front.

    Nothing against any of the actors, the acting was adequate, it’s just when you try to rehash a story that’s been played you get a tired, unrefreshing hour and thirty-six minute waste of time. 1.8 out of 5 and I’m being generous.

  • Roasted Potatoes

    I’ve needed a go-to recipe for a potato side dish that isn’t mashed. I’ve done this with red potatoes and even froze them but I’ve never gotten the frozen ones to taste like fresh, go figure…

    In any case, I started with this recipe and changed it up like so:

    • 1.5 pounds of potatoes. This was originally done with yellow potatoes.
    • 4 tablespoons of ghee
    • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
    • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
    • 1 tablespoon parsley
    • 2 tablespoons ranch dressing

    The following cook times are for 1″ potato cubes:

    • Bake at 350°F for 45-50 minutes.
    • Bake at 375°F for 35-40 minutes.
    • Bake at 400°F for 30 minutes.
    • Bake at 450°F for 20-25 minutes.

  • Sandy’s Birthday

    Today my wife turned 50 years old. What different lives we’ve led. We met mom and sister at Pinstripes over off of Chisolm trail. It was a nice place and not too busy, the food was good too.

  • RestRev – BJ’s Brewhouse

    I was scrolling through Facebook and I saw the advertisement for a Monday special at BJ’s, half-off deep dish pan pizza and the picture of that pizza spoke to me. Besides, it’s half-off how bad can it be? So Sandy and I headed out the door and to the local BJ’s. We thought that the pizza on the website must have been wrong because the pizza was $14, but it turns out that the regular price of the pie is $28. We ordered and as the waiter walked away I told Sandy that this had to be good, we’ve never eaten a pizza that was $28, well except for in Colorado Springs but that’s another story.

    I’ve been to BJ’s before, and I really want to like them because their menu is so varied and has items that should be stellar, but again, disappointment. Their food is always just this side of edible and manages to fail at every expectation. The taste, presentation, even the temperature is just wrong… Maybe it’s just us because the waiter seemed surprised that we weren’t taking any home.

    BJ’s, when will I ever learn with you? You just can’t cook!

  • New Lawn Toys

    Happy to put the HomeDepot shinanigans behind me and get the new toy!

    Don’t have to worry about how much oil, the 2.2 ounces is exactly what it needs. The tool just wants to start and warms up smoothly. The clutch works properly and the attachment bolts on without spinning but once you pull the trigger, there’s revved-up power. Fits all my other attachments and we’re hopefully good for another 7 years, I’m due for a new one in 2029.

  • Local Sports Teams

    I had been outside and ran into my neighbor and she mentioned she was watching the Rangers game. I reminded me of visiting my grandmother and uncles house and there was always the Rangers game on. Then my thought train moved on.
    Fast forward to that evening and I noticed on the news that the Mavericks are playing, not only playing but in the play offs. I searched OTA channels and nothing, then I realized that our Dallas Stars never played on free TV either. In fact the only local major league team that you can get is the Cowboys so you for 17 days of the year you can catch the home team play.
    What gives? And how do they expect kids these days to become fans if they can’t even watch the games? That and you’d think there’d be a huge segment of the local advertising that would want to target that population.
    I guess you can listen to it on the radio, although that’s really not the same thing.

  • Home Depot Follies

    So the time has come to get a new string trimmer. For starters this triggered another ‘damn I’m old’ episode. I was thinking that I had just got the old string trimmer and looking back, it’s been seven years… absolutely crazy.

    So I do my research and all things are equal between a Ryobi and Troy-Bilt trimmers, price, manufacture and both fit the attachments that I already have but the Ryobi has a 3-year warranty and TB a 2 year. Ryobi it is…

    So the price is $229.99, I head up to my local Home Depot, and find it but there are two types, grumbling I look them both over, they’re the same, no price though. Get to the checkout and it’s $249.99, strange and WTH, get to the truck and look it up on my phone, still $229.99. Go in and ask and it turns out Home Depot will not match prices… With themselves… Think about that for a bit. A store will not match the price that’s on its own website… They said they could order it for me right there though. I said no, just refund my money, things were just a little too weird at this point.

    Long story, I went home, got online and it will be delivered free to my house in two days. Absolutely no need to have gone anywhere.