Pneumonochrome

So, I’m apparently in a really bad mood today. I was just unbelievably rude to someone here at work.

I have a machine that I had to put out of order yesterday because it needed to have it’s software system rebuilt (we call it re-rolling the machine). When I rerolled it, some of the programs that needed to run were missing, so I placed it out of order because the person who manages the software for the machine had gone home. I sent him an email and knew that when I got in this morning I’d need to restart the process.

So I got here today, grabbed what I needed to get the machine rolling again, walked out there and the Out of Order sign I’d placed on the machine was no longer on the monitor, but sitting under the keyboard and someone was sitting there using the computer to surf the web. This is a problem because the part that had broken was the part that sets up the authentication mechanism for the computer, so the user was using the machine anonymously, with administrator privileges.

I walked up to her and asked, “Was this Out of Order sign here when you sat down at this machine?”

“Yes…”

“Okay, well… ‘Out of Order’ usually means ‘Don’t use the computer’.”

“…”

“There’s a lot of work that needs to be done on this machine before it’s ready to be used. You can use any of the other machines in the lab, as long as they don’t have Out of Order signs.”

“… Okay…. sorry.”

“That’s fine.” And I waited for her to get up, sat down and started working on the machine. Then my brain finally processed the conversation I just had with this girl, and said to me, “You know Dave, you were about as rude as it is possible to be to that poor girl. The sign looks like it fell off on its own, she probably didn’t even notice it until you pointed it out, and you just made her feel about as big as a mouse. You’re kind of a jerk.”

I turned around to apologize to her, because I really didn’t mean to be that awful, but she was gone already, and now I feel completely terrible about it. I’m sitting in my office trying to work on projects and can’t concentrate on them, because I keep thinking about how awful I was to the poor girl.

I’m a jerk.

So, tonight I made some rather impromptu spaghetti, and it turned out really well. Here’s what we did:

• 1 pound spaghetti
• 1 large green bell pepper, cut into slices
• 1 large red bell pepper, cut into slices
• 10 stalks asparagus, cut into thin sections
• 1/2 cup mushrooms
• 2 cloves garlic
• parmesan cheese (to taste)
• 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
• Your choice of herbs
• 1 orange, peeled, separated into wedges

Take the garlic (pressed) and asparagus and heat them in the olive oil along with your choice of herbs (I used a little Savory, Basil, Rosemary, Oregeno, Onion Powder and chives). Put your water for the spaghetti on to boil. Wait a couple of minutes and add the rest of the vegetables to the olive oil, cooking it on a low heat. When the water boils, add your spaghetti, letting it cook 1 minute less than the package says to.

Drain the spaghetti, and add it to the vegetables and olive oil, put them back on to cook on low heat for another minute. During this time, grate in parmesan cheese to taste.

Now take your orange wedges, and cut them into smaller bits, add them to the pasta.

Serve warm.

Next time I think we’re going to use more garlic(we tried it again with more garlic, and I’ve updated the recipe) add a zucchini. We used extra-virgin olive oil this time, and we’ll probably use something less virgin next time as well.

It was yummy, and quite healthy as well.