Friends, first of all, I apologize for my silence these last couple of days. In the name of Recessionista Confessions, I must disclose that our cable modem – which had been on the blink (literally!) for a month or more – finally bit the dust unceremoniously on Tuesday afternoon, and we had to purchase another yesterday. Now, this falls under the confessional category because … well … this is embarrassing. But. We had rented our last modem from Comcast for the last eleven (11) years. Which is not a bad lifespan for a modem, that’s for sure!
It did, however, cost us roughly …
Oh, no. I’ve just done the math for the first time, and it’s not pretty. Not pretty at all.
Friends … our cable modem rental cost us approximately $924. Nine hundred and twenty-four dollars.
For an RCA modem.
(Not to be rude to RCA.)
Sort of makes the model we purchased yesterday at $129 seem like bargain-basement pricing, no?
So chalk that up to one of those recurring expenses I never really thought about and that has, in the end, nearly cost me a grand over the years. We don’t keep too many of those charges on the book, but boy howdy, this one sure snuck by us this time around! Mortifying.
Anyway. Let’s move on to something more comforting and pleasant: Dinner!
Modem aside, this week has been a bit of a doozy. Between starting a new project at work (and pulling some long hours in the process) and spending my out-of-office time enjoying extracurriculars like book club, animal-shelter volunteering, and the like, it’s been a bit of a whirlwind if you want to know the truth. (And that’s not even taking the modem into account!) So tonight I knew I wanted a home-cooked yet speedy meal, and that’s just what I got.
First, I put two vegetarian chik’n patties in the oven (I prefer to bake them rather than microwaving because they come out a bit crispier!) and let them cook for about 20 minutes. As they baked, I heated up a pot of water and brought it to a boil, then added in a box of vermicelli noodles (we used a kit from Near East tonight!).
After the noodles were cooked, about 8-10 minutes later, I drained off the water and added several handfuls of frozen kale (preserved a few weeks ago from leftovers in my weekly box from Great Country Farms), then added the spice bag that accompanied the noodle kit and, finally, a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. Then I heated the pan on Medium and stirred frequently, until the kale had warmed through (which didn’t take but a minute!).
Then, all that was left was to plunk the noodles on our plates, add the chik’n patties on the side, and dig in! I topped my noodles with a touch of nutritional yeast; LeeLee topped his with some fresh oregano from the garden. We both feasted like royalty! And we didn’t think a think about the modem. Lesson learned!
:)