The day started a little later than it was supposed to. I couldn't pull myself out of bed without a fight, but I did make it to the gym for about a half hour of cardio. Not great, but not bad. By the time I got back to the house and ready to head off to work, it was already just after 8. Not a big deal, nobody really cares what time I show up, as long as I work a reasonable day.

I went to the kitchen to make a cup of tea, and I ran into one of the project managers. On Monday, he had sent out an email regarding subcontractor access to the source code, and wanted to improve the situation. My comments to his email were numerous, and probably a bit heavy handed. Despite that, his reaction was positive. He was just happy that someone cared about the problem and was willing to make suggestions. Little does he know the extent of my personal agenda... The downside is, of course, that I'm the one who is going to document the policy changes that I suggested. I really don't like writing documentation.

With the upcoming volleyball tournament in Christchurch on March 6th, I wanted to get flights booked. I tried to use some of my Air Canada points, but they couldn't get me on a flight that was remotely useful, so I ended up having to use my Canadian credit card. Little did I know, however, that my credit limit has been chopped down to almost a tenth of it's former size. Such is the price of letting it fall into disuse. It wasn't completely unused, however. I had a balance that was remarkably close to the new limit. After a few small panic attacks, I was able to get ahold of Shaju, whom I was already eternally indebted to, and with a wave of his magic wand, all was well.

2:30 came and went. The announcement on my little calendar rang, and was dismissed, and still there was no taxi to take me to the Red Cross to donate blood. 3:00 slid by, too. Finally, the HR manager arranged for some staff to drive the rest of us to the clinic. I recall having problems last time with the taxi service, too. However, we made it out there, and I gave my 470g of blood in 6:17. Tea and biscuits are the real reason I do it. I'm sure the 3 lives that can be saved with a donation has nothing to do with it. After a brief wait, a taxi did show up to take us back to the office, only half an hour after I was planning on leaving for the day.

I raced up to the post office, darting in and out of moving traffic to get there before it closed. No luck, however. I will have to wait until tomorrow to send in my police clearance for my work visa extension. I have until March 8th to leave New Zealand, according to my current work visa, and I don't want to wait too much longer to get it dealt with. Part of what I'm supposed to be doing right now is filling in my Expression Of Interest for New Zealand Residency. That procedure has been waiting on the very same police clearance. I guess I'll need another couple hundred dollars for that, too.

With only about 20 minutes to spare before having to be at Alliance Française for class, I decided I was going to have to drive, but for some reason, I decide to not take my backpack. I grabbed my notebook and my dictionary and jumped in the car. That means that I forgot my homework and my textbook. Oops.

Now here we are. I've accomplished almost everything that I wanted to do today, and I'm still alive to tell the tale. I'm sure I was saved by the post office closing earlier than useful. If I had a fully completed day, what would happen to tomorrow? Would tomorrow come? Would there be a point?...

Brooke was over for dinner again on Tuesday. Dinner was good, but not quite perfect. Imam Bayaldi, which is a turkish stuffed eggplant. I think that the eggplant that I used was a little old, or I didn't seep all of the bitterness out of the shell. The filling was great, however, and the couscous worked well with it.

   1 large eggplant
   4 large tomatoes, sliced
   1 red pepper, sliced
   2 small red onions, sliced
   4 cloves garlic, crushed
   1/4c chopped parsley
   1 tsp brown sugar
   1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
   1/4c olive oil

   Slice the eggplant in half and hollow out, so that the
   shell is about 1cm thick.  Slice remaining eggplant, add
   to a strainer with salt and allow to drain for 30
   minutes.  In a deep pan, heat olive oil and saute onion
   and garlic until softened.  Add tomatoes, red pepper and
   parsley.  Allow to simmer.  Add sugar and vinegar.  Heat
   oven to 180°C.  Continue to simmer for approximately 20
   minutes.  Fill shells with sauce and bake for 40 minutes.
   Serve hot.

   1/2c dry couscous
   1c vegetable stock
   1/4c black olives, sliced
   200g feta, sliced
   2 tbsp sundried tomatoe, sliced
   1/4 olive oil

   In a saucepan, heat oil.  Add dry couscous, and stir for
   30 seconds before adding vegetable stock.  Cover pan, but
   stir frequently.  If couscous is still sticky, place pan
   in a hot oven for a few minutes, stirring frequently.
   Mix in olives, feta and sundried tomatoes before serving.

The accident portion, however, was dessert. I ran across a recipe in the February newsletter from the Alliance Française for passionfruit squares. I couldn't find any passionfruit juice, or whole passionfruit, so I went with apricot juice instead. No problems there. The problem was that the sugar and flour measurements were by mass, not by volume. I don't have any scales. Needless to say, the squares didn't set properly, and the whole thing was a tasty mess. After spending the night in the freezer, however, it turned into something that resembled an ice cream of sorts.

   250g ricotta
   250g cottage cheese
   1/2c sugar
   1/4c flour
   3    eggs

   Preheat oven to 140°C.  In an ovenproof bowl, mix dry
   ingredients roughly before adding wet ingredients.  Blend
   thoroughly.  Bake for 40 minutes.  Allow to cool before
   putting bowl into the freezer.  (Although I didn't do
   this, it will help the texture,) Every 30 minutes, stir
   mixture to allow it to freeze evenly.  Continue for a few
   hours before letting sit overnight in the freezer.

Given the state of dessert, I knew that Brooke wouldn't be completely happy with the meal, and she wasn't. But it gives me room to improve for next time. I learned a bit more about her tastes, and I discovered something new. And this time, it might not just be something new to me.