Reading The Passage, by Justin Cronin.  Seems to be fairly straight forward science fiction ala Dean Koontz.  Good so far.

Still relieved that the President won reelection.  I don't agree with everything he's done, but really.  The automaton rich guy?  No.  Just no.

I am enjoying thoroughly my long weekend.  I made two different pork dishes in crock pots yesterday; the first was four slices off the end of a pork loin with an onion and a bottle of Italian dressing, and the second was the rest of the pork loin in onions, mango jam, bouillion, and a dash of sherry. 

For the first recipe, I rough chopped an onion, threw it in the bottom of the two quart, laid in the four slices of pork, poured a bottle of Kraft Italian Vinaigrette over it, and let it go on high for four hours.  It came out on the sauerbraten scale of tart; it needed garlic mashed potatoes and nutmeg green beans for accompaniment if I hadn't been too lazy to make them.  I gobbled it down without thinking of a side dish at all because I loved the flavor.  I think adults will appreciate this more than kids as it's a bit on the vinegary side. Maybe. Depends on the kid.

I haven't tried the mango jam pork loin yet, but I made that in the big metal crock pot that is separate from the base to allow me to brown the onions first.  I tossed in some of the Land O' Lakes butter-olive oil spread, sauteed the onions in that while adding salt and pepper, garam masala, and a dash of sherry.  Once the onions were seriously browned (I did this part on the butane burner) with the garam masala and sherry bubbling away, I added the jar of mango jam, stirring until it melted, and then water.  Once the mango jam was melting and the water-jam mix had come back to a boil, I transferred the pot to its slow cooker base, turned it up to high, and put in the pork loin, fat side down, and rolled it up until the fat was on the top and the roast was coated in the mix.  I'll report on that flavor later.

So yesterday I helped my landlord install a new over-the-oven microwave, as theirs had given up the ghost.  My help consisted of simpy holding it in place while he inserted the screws.  A small but vital role, and I pride myself on a job well done.  Well, really, Leon got it up without a problem and it wasn't heavy to hold in place.  But they've got a new microwave!  Yay!

On the needles I have the Shizuku scarf from Angela Tong on Ravelry, in Bernat Mosaic, the Daydream colorway.  I'm not sure I like the little droplets, but I haven't finished the scarf yet and therefore have not blocked it.  I must say, having used Mosaic before with no problems, that this particular ball of yarn was full of knots as if it had been cobbled together at the factory from odds and ends.  Annoying but not enough to make me stop using it.  (Now, Lion Brand Jiffy, that's another issue; about ten years ago I bought a batch of twelve balls from them that were so full of knots, ball after ball, that I stopped using Lion for about five years.  They really turned me off.)

Mom can hear me on the phone now that she's lost her left hearing aid.  It's good for my soul to talk to her and it had been frustrating to have her hang up on me when she couldn't even tell it was me on the phone.  I've been writing her a lot of letters.  I'm pretty sure her writing is limited after the DKE she suffered two years ago.  Her hand, which used to be beautiful mid-twentieth century public school boilerplate, is now chicken scratching.

Last night I finally got around to roasting the Kona I bought a month or so ago, and I just ground it, put it in the French press, and pored boiling water over it. This ought to be interesting as I've never bought 100% Kona before.  And never will again, at least never until I come across another 75% off coupon. *sigh*

What will I do today?  Continue to read, drink my coffee, knit on the scarf a bit more, watch the Firefly Browncoat reunion on the Science Channel when it comes on, maybe get out the bamboo fibre I bought and try to drop spindle it.  Walk the dog. Eat mango pork loin. I plan to take a nap. Maybe two.