Relationship Danger Signs

This is an article I should have read and memorized at the age of 13.  Unfortunately, it wasn't written yet, so I had to learn the hard way.

Read and pass on to any youngsters in your life.  Many of these tips work for both genders.

Knowing that your judgment is clouded, it’s important to enter any serious relationship with both your head and your heart. You need be able to distance yourself from the powerful emotions you’re likely feeling in a new relationship so that you can notice any red flags that might indicate that you’re destined for a relationship from hell. This is doubly important if you’re considering marriage.

But what sort of red flags should you be on the lookout for? While every man has his own personal relationship red flags or deal breakers, psychologists and marriage experts have found there are a few general red flags you should be aware of. Most of these are patterns of behavior in your partner that will likely (not definitely) result in a troubled relationship down the road.

Because people are usually on their best behavior at the beginning of a relationship, some of these red flags won’t appear for awhile. According to Dr. Van Epp, it’s usually around the three-month mark that deep-seated patterns start to manifest themselves. This delay is why he and other relationship experts recommend that you take romantic relationships nice and slow.

RTWT.

Spicy Sake Ahi

I gotta admit, I love Trader Joes.  Great folks, good food and unbeatable prices.  When one opened up here, I wondered what all the fuss was about, but when Mrs. Wraith insisted we go, I found myself amazed at the selection and value.

Last time we went, we ended up bringing home some ahi steaks, and I decided to make an experimental marinade.

 

Here's what you'll need:  Ahi steaks, a Ziploc bag, green onions, soy sauce, chili garlic paste, sake, ground ginger...

 

 



...and ground mustard.  Chop the green onions, reserving some of the tips for garnish.

Add 1/2 c soy sauce, 1/3 c sake, 2 tsp chili garlic paste,

And 1/2 tsp each of the ground ginger and ground mustard.

 

 



 

Close the bag and shake well to mix.  Add the ahi and marinate for a couple of hours.  Sear each side, then cook about 10 minutes on medium-high heat.  Garnish with onion tips.

Mexican Twinkies

Living in the Southwest, there's a lot of culinary bleedover from our southern neighbors.  Since our Twinkie supply appears to be in jeopardy due to the Hostess bankruptcy, I figured I'd spread the word that there is hope for the sweets-deprived.  I present to you the Turbo-Twinkie:  El Gansito!!

These things make Twinkies look SO last century.  Sponge cake, unwhipped cream filling along with strawberry jelly, all wrapped in chocolate and garnished with chocolate sprinkles.  Guaranteed to blow your diet straight to hell, but well worth it.

Visitors

There are quite a few feral cats running around our little part of the world, including a couple who come to visit us on a regular basis.   I've noticed there's quite a few cats like this around--fluffy and narrow-faced. Maybe we're starting a whole new breed.  They're too skittish to get near, but they've gotten mostly used to us, or at least used to the food.  Meet Stumpy and Cloud:

 

 

That was taken on a nice day, as opposed to today, when it's been pouring rain and the poor little bedraggled things were sitting on the back porch begging.

 

 

 

Some folks ask why we bother feeding strays.  It's a double layer of home protection, really.  Spike, Sam and Glock take care of any vermin that gets in, and hopefully, Stumpy, Cloud and their buddies will keep them from getting in from the start.

 

Besides, they're cute little guys, and it's kinda sweet having a couple of contented puffballs relaxing on your porch.

 



On idiocy

Wraith:  Hey, they have Hello Kitty squirt guns now!

Mrs. Wraith:  Really?

Wraith:  Yeah, and a 5 year old girl was just suspended for just talking about hers.

Mrs. Wraith:  Why, because it's a squirting pussy?

Wraith:  (chuckle)  Good one.  No, apparently it constituted a 'terroristic threat.'

Mrs. Wraith:  I like my explanation better.  It makes more sense.

Wraith:  Point.

What Mrs. Wraith puts up with

Mrs. Wraith:  I bought some intellectual reading material yesterday.  Holds up a copy of Astronomy magazine, with a big headline reading, "When Stars Go Bang."

Wraith:  You know what happens when stars go bang.  Astronomers film it and they make star porn.

Mrs. Wraith:  Omigod...

Wraith:  Bowm-chicka-wow-wow...

Mrs. Wraith:  Heads into the bedroom.  I'm not listening to you...

Hey, she had her chance to run away, and she still said "I do."

It's not an unexcused absence!

The dog ate my homework cold ate my plumbing.  Really.

The moron who built this place ran all the water on the property through a shed out back, with a shutoff valve that was nonfunctional.  So when the uninsulated pipes blew up from the recent cold snap, there was no way to stop Prescott Falls other than shutting off all the water to the house.  This is not helpful for such things as cooking, washing the resulting dishes, flushing the toilet, or basically anything.

Now, there was a positive side, at least for me.  When the first thing you see in the morning is a beautiful naked woman standing in the bathtub looking like an even hotter Venus on the Half Shell, that can't help but make your day a little brighter.  When said woman is doing so for the purpose of taking a shower from a couple of cooking pots with stove-warmed water(and definitely NOT happy about it), however...

Well, it is what it is.  Luckily, one of our brothers in the Eagles is a plumber, and managed to solve the problem once and for all, at a more-than-reasonable price.  Once it gets warmer, I'm tearing that damn shed down so that one stone may not stand upon another.  I'll use the lights, sink and AC in the garage, the siding to fix some broken skirting, the frame for firewood, and the leftover drywall and shingles to throw at solicitors who ignore the sign.

As for the leftover concrete pad?  Maybe a big-ass BBQ pit, or if we can score a great deal on a hot tub...

Anyway, I'll be back in full swing in short order.  And Glock just jumped up in my lap and farted.  You probably didn't need to know that, but if I have to suffer through it, you at least have to read about it.