Maybe it was the Raccoons?

After hopping off the bus yesterday evening, I noticed something amiss in the corridor between our house and the one next to it. I thought I saw a box or something that didn't belong. Upon closer inspection, this is what I found:




Yep, some bastards destroyed our air conditioning unit for a few dollars' worth of copper.

Bastards!

Our landlord had quite a few more expletives to say about this matter after rushing over from his house a half block away. Later that night, he called to apologize for being so unprofessional.

I understand, though, since a new unit will be around $1200, and the crime wasn't even worth it. Maybe if they had taken the whole danged unit. But just snipping out the copper and taking the housing? WTF?

This is one of those times when I hate people so much.

In another news, Porkchop caught our rascal raccoon in action last night skulking around our deck. Instead of shooing the raccoon away, Porkchop tried to get the raccoon to stay around for a photo. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. In addition to our little birdseed lover, Porkchop spotted another raccoon climbing up the gutter of a neighbor's garage. Raccoons everywhere!

Wednesday's Lunch
The project coordinator who did a huge chunk of conference planning is leaving St. Louis. Sad for us, good for her. To say goodbye, our center went to Maya Café in Maplewood.

The restaurant and staff are quite pleasant, and I attribute any shortcomings to the sous chef's absence. Apparently, the sous chef just didn't show up. That's no good...especially when there's a lunch party of 20-plus.

Like many restaurants, you receive complimentary chips and salsa. The chips were so-so, but the salsa was fantastic. Thick and chunky and not very saucy, which is exactly how I like my salsa. One of my co-workers was so taken with the salsa, she started eating it with her fork; no chips necessary.

For my dish, I ordered the huitlacoche quesadilla because I've always wanted to try huitlacoche after hearing so much about it in Madison. Yeah, it tastes like portabella mushrooms...I was a bit disappointed. But maybe my disappoint stemmed from my quesadilla being a bit burnt on the bottom. And a bit greasy. Also, the saffron rice tasted like rice from a box.

After hearing such good things about the fish tacos, I wish I had gone that route. Or maybe I should have ordered the vegan stuffed chile.

In conclusion, I wasn't impressed with the food beyond the salsa. But maybe it's usually better.

Meals This Weekend
We're making a last-minute trip to Madison tonight. The original intention was to visit friends and see the UW women's ice hockey team play Harvard as part of the NCAA Frozen Four tournament. Now, Porkchop has been invited to play ice hockey on Saturday and Sunday, so she's quite happy and looking forward to the trip.

I've been thinking about where we'll eat, of course, and I'm having a hard time. I don't want to abandon my favorites. Lao Laan-Xang has the best crab rangoons and mangoes with sticky rice ever, and their peanut sauce kicks ass. Himal Chuli has the best dal and samosas ever. We love Café Continental for brunch, as well as Café Soleil and Lazy Jane's. However, I hear there are some good newcomers (new to me, anyway), like Cocoliquot.

Lucky for me, I'm leaving work early, so I'll have some time to think this through.