Miscellany and Progress Report

I finally broke through the 240 pound barrier and weighed in this morning at 239.4. I have been faithful in my working out and in my sensible eating plan. I went to two holiday parties this last weekend and avoided all the desserts, even Cindy W’s orgasm inducing key lime pie (the crust is made of shortbread cookies). I didn’t overeat despite all the opportunities and inducements that presented themselves to me. Mrs Vache Folle made fried chicken with vindaloo and maharajah curries for the potluck on Saturday, and I managed to eat only two pieces of it even though this is one of my favorite foods. She also made a vindaloo and onion dipping sauce that was excellent.

I have become addicted to the gym. It’s about time I became addicted to something that is actually good for me. I have to force myself to take days of rest. Thursdays are taken up by choir practice, and I have signed us up for ballroom dance lessons on Mondays starting next month. If I don’t rest, I injure myself, so it’s good that I’ll be busy two evenings. There’s no way I’m getting up early to work out. Morning guy does not work out.

I heard that curries prevent Alzheimer’s disease. That’s good news. I eat a lot of curry. I’m up there with Lister of the Red Dwarf in that I would have curry and lager for every meal if that were feasible. Curries make vegetables a lot more palatable, let me tell you. Mrs VF has a collection of curries and always seems to know just the right blend to use in any dish. Mrs VF is home today. Perhaps I can persuade her to make a shrimp curry. We have some huge freshwater shrimp from Bangladesh in the freezer that would be mighty tasty with some curry.

I haven’t been watching my food porn lately for fear that it will tempt me to overeat. Instead, I have been glued to the Science Channel and the National Geographic Channel for most of my TV viewing, and we have broken out our Firefly DVDs.

I’m also crazy about “Sell This House” with the attractive Tanya Memme. She can buff my hardwood any time, if you know what I mean. Seriously, she’s very handy and can do just about anything around the house. They spend about $500 restaging a house that isn’t selling and usually manage to get it sold almost immediately once they’ve worked their magic. There’s a similar show on HGTV called “Designed to Sell” but they spend thousands, and their host is some useless British dude with a beard who doesn’t even help on the project. “Sell This House” has a diagnostic open house where potential home buyers are caught on tape making snide remarks about the place. “Designed to Sell” relies on some real estate agent to come in and make suggestions. “Sell This House” is way better.

We bought a deicer for the pond and a 100 foot extension cord that I hope will be adequate when I “install” it this weekend. I aim to keep the comets and shiners alive through the winter as I have become attached to them. The water hyacinths that we brought inside the house didn’t make it. Mrs VF’s frugality insures that the temperature in the house is too low for some tropical plants to survive. I reckon that paying $25 for new hyacinths in the spring is more economical than ginning up the heat all winter to keep the salvaged specimens alive. Next year, I'm going to wait for the spring rains to subside since I lost a couple of batches of hyacinths because they washed away. Someone downstream was probably scrathing his head and wondering how his pond became clogged with some strange plant.