The Completely Random “It’s Friday” Post

I forgot to mention something really cool that happened this month.

My car, which was a burden on saving money, is finally gone. It’s paid off officially, but we still have to finish paying for the extra mileage. That will take a couple of months to do, but the fact that we are almost to the point of a clean start is so nice. I am going to be carless for a few months because 1) it’s nice to save up some money and 2) we’re lucky enough to be able to do it and share Daniel’s vehicle.

Speaking of cars, I was driving today and noticed a convertible. Took this picture with my phone. The driver may have been my age or a little older. Her passengers were two older ladies which I imagined to be her mom, and her mother-in-law.

That’s my dream. Maybe not a convertible, but to be able to have them both here in Florida and drive them around, and do things. I can dream.

Thank you, people in convertible, for letting me know dreams are possible.

Bye Yahoo – You Are Dumb.

These days, most mishaps on the Internet are easy to deal with. At least I thought so.

The story begins. Last year I got a Flickr account. I have used Flickr since 2007 and for about two years I abandoned it. I forgot how cool Flickr really was (the community). So last year I got a new account and paid for the pro membership.

Fast forward to January of this year. I decided I wanted to make another new account with a different name. I got a different Yahoo email address and set up a new Flickr account. Then I emailed Flickr and asked if they could transfer my pro membership to my new account (there’s a couple of months left on it). They said they couldn’t do that. Pretty lame.

So there I was with a silly username on my other account, and a fresh new account that I wanted to be pro. Couldn’t do a thing about it. Flickr won’t even transfer your photos to another account. Pretty lame, again.

As if both of those things wouldn’t be super easy to do. So much for being a loved Flickr user. (Something I always admired about Flickr was their obvious adornment for their users, along with their cute little messages and such. They were actually a big inspiration to me when I was building the community at Surpass Hosting back in those days.)

Fast forward a few weeks after I moved on from being annoyed. I was participating in 365 on my new, non-pro account. I was doing pretty well. One day, I got signed out of Flickr because a girl needs to reboot sometimes.

For the life of me, I couldn’t remember my password to my Yahoo account, which is linked to my Flickr account. This was odd. So I had to reset my Yahoo password. Once I did that, I could not log into Flickr. And I kept getting some message about my alternate email address which didn’t make any sense. It wanted me to change my alternate email address. Okay? I did that, and then tried to login to Flickr again. It prompted me to create a new Flickr account. I went ahead and just did it to see what would happen. Well, I got a nice and fresh account with nothing in it.

And just like that, the new Flickr account I had been using all month was no longer accessible to me in any way.

I write to Yahoo support. It’s a very simple ticket, just the facts. It states I can no longer access my Flickr account with my Yahoo email address.

Eventually I get a response from Mike asking me to verify a security question. I verify it.

Then I get another response from Brian with instructions on how to reset my Yahoo password.

THANKS. I don’t need to do that. I can access my Yahoo account – I said so in my ticket!

I replied and got this:

I’m sorry to have to inform you that your message could not
be delivered to one or more recipients. It’s attached below.

For further assistance, please send mail to

If you do so, please include this problem report. You can
delete your own text from the attached returned message.

The Postfix program

(expanded from
): Command died with status 2: “/usr/bin/php
-d log_errors=On
/var/www/html/www.flickr.com/mail_handlers/help_handler.php 2>&1
|/tmp/logger.pl -t error -f LOG_LOCAL1 -l LOG_ERR -h
flog3.flickr.mud.yahoo.com >> /tmp/log 2> &1″. Command output: sh: -c: line
0: syntax error near unexpected token `&’ sh: -c: line 0: `/usr/bin/php -d
log_errors=On /var/www/html/www.flickr.com/mail_handlers/help_handler.php
2>&1 |/tmp/logger.pl -t error -f LOG_LOCAL1 -l LOG_ERR -h
flog3.flickr.mud.yahoo.com >> /tmp/log 2> &1′

I deleted my pro account today, and will be deleting the new account as soon as I can actually get into it. Forget 365. I don’t have time for it anyway.

Yahoo and Flickr: You are dumb.

Best wishes though.

Update: After sending another email to them, I got a response from a more senior tech support member within a couple of days. They said my account was “dangling” and got my password reset for me. Then I was able to delete the account. Great! :)

Friday cannot come soon enough!

More details on that soon.

In other news, I need to cook dinner (schnitzels.. chicken) but all I want is breakfast food right now. I want eggs, bacon, french toast and syrup.

I am going to be up late tonight I think. Lots that I need to do on the computer. Although really I could go for a nap already.

Edit: Daniel and I ended up going to Chipotle – I didn’t feel like cooking and he didn’t either. That was nice, but I am so full.. still! And it’s nearly 11 PM.

2011 – The Year of Cooking

This past year was when I really put our kitchen to work. I’m going to fill this post up with all the food I learned to make this year. I cannot believe I used to buy Hamburger Helper! Never again. That stuff is gross to me now. Here’s what I’ve remembered so far:

Meatloaf – with killer sauce (brown sugar, mustard and ketchup)
Red borscht (beet soup) – made this about 6 times now, and consider myself the master of beet soup. I am a beet fanatic.
All kinds of pasta – I’ve made pasta dishes out of everything. Leftover chicken? Time to make pasta.
Chili – from standard chili, to white chicken chili, I’ve done it all. Chili is love.
Meatballs – whether they are in the Crock Pot, the frying pan, or in spaghetti – that’s-a spicy meatball!
Banana bread – I’ve got it peeled.
Rice – I finally conquered rice! I will never buy Minute Rice again. I’m a boil and simmer champion. I can even make it red or yellow.
Rice and beans – A dangerous thing to know. I love to put queso fresco and sour cream on top of black beans and white rice.
Pizza – from homemade dough to whatever on top you throw, I do it.
Roasted pork and chicken – Oh the places you’ll go.
Crepe cake – Now this was impressive.
Stuffed grape leaves -
Greek lemon soup
Spicy mayonnaise – Easy!
Tzatziki sauce – Tricky! But you can put it on wraps for days.
Lomo saltado
Aji amarillo sauce
Cake pops – Easy!
Pineapple upside down cake – Need a little more practice, my cake was kind of flat but the topping was a-mazing.
Greek potatoes – Just put a lemon on it, you turkey.
Pork and chicken schnitzels – The key is flour, then egg, then Vigo golden-toasted bread crumbs. Let dry for 10 minutes before frying,
Red cabbage – braised with red wine vinegar and a little sugar
Various soups – soups that don’t have names (or have made-up names) which were made from random things. This practice prepares you to make soups with names.
Tarte tatin – This didn’t work, but prepared me for the next one.
Various crock potting – You know how that goes.
Boiled eggs – It works every time but there are still issues with peeling the shell off. They get stuck.
Bread pudding – Easy!
Deviled eggs – Of course I know how to make these, I’m from the south. But now I think I make them better.
Baked eggs – It’s fun to put beans, jalapenos, eggs and cheese and stuff into the oven.
Piergoies – Okay this isn’t something that worked out. The dough is killer. They were edible but just not right. Can’t wait to try again (when I’m in the mood to have flour all over the kitchen again).
Ribs – But only in a crock pot.
Mastered breakfast foods – Perfect bacon, french toast, breakfast potatoes and more.

Some thoughts:

Most people know that I absolutely love sushi. I could eat it every single day (good sushi that is, not the kind at the grocery store). Surprisingly I haven’t tried to make it yet. But it’s coming. : )

My parents got me an Amazon gift card – they must know I love Amazon. : ) I think I will use it to get a pressure cooker so I can start canning which is a dream of mine. I’d love to use their gift to get the cooker so I can always think of them when I am canning. I can’t wait to send them my first creations. Yeah, I think this idea is settled. : )