Unfortunately not a good week for films this week. Date Night was just so so, despite the fact Tina Fey & Steve Carole are both very funny people. Then there's After.Life w/Christina Ricci & Justice Long. Both of whom I normally like, but in this film they both play whiney little yuppies. So much so, that you don't care about either of them. The only good part of the film is that Christina Ricci shows her tits, unless it's all body doubles & movie magic.

Move to Europe: Part I

In the year 2000 I decided that I wanted to live and work in Europe for at least one year. I had been meaning to do it for quite some time but never really found the time, money or motivation to move there. Since moving to Europe is not exactly something that is easily done, but I was determined to live in a foreign country at least once in my life. Especially as I was getting any younger and I didn't want to be one of those people who died regretting having never seen Paris. I had already graduated from CSUN and was working as a web designer, film critic, as well as at Sears ( For medical and dental insurance mainly), and I just felt it was time to act upon my dream.



Luckily for me I met two guys from Austria, who were living in my apartment complex at the time. I mentioned how I wanted to live in Europe but I wasn't sure where or how I would manage it, and one of them suggested that I move to Innsbruck, Austria. Initially I was thinking of living in Switzerland since I had been there several times and knew the most people there, but they are not officially part of the EU. So I would not be able to legally work or reside there for more than 3 months at a time. While Austria is a full member of the EU, and my duel citizenship would allow me to work and legally reside there for as long as I wanted to.



The plan was one of my Austrian friends would secure me a job in Innsbruck at the local Irish pub ( My first time working in a Pub, but sadly not my last), and later on after I moved there he would help me find an apartment. Since at the time I only knew a few German words and how to ask "Wo ist?" So after everything was supposedly arranged for me in Innsbruck, I put all of my stuff into storage, donated my car to the Red Cross and moved out of my apartment. Arriving first in Munich on the 31st of July 2001, and then journeying to Bludenz, Austria. Where I stayed with my friend for a few days, before group of us went to Ibiza for a mini vacation. Since only two out of the 5 of us spoke English fluently, the trip wasn't all that it could have been for me. And I quickly realized that Austrian people can be somewhat stubborn in the sense that they don't like to do non-Austrian or non-German things, such as eating or trying new things. If I had known what I was in for ahead of time, I think I would have gone and done my own thing. As I wanted to see all the clubs and hear all the music that a party Island like Ibiza had to offer, while my friends tried to find rock bars and only ate at Burger King...Which I found to be somewhat strange.



After my mini vacation it was time to move to Innsbruck, Austria and start work at Limmerick Bill's Irish Pub. A place I thought had a job waiting for me, but in reality there was no such thing. It seems that my friend asked a former manager about hiring me, and in fact did not even have the authority to hire anyone. Luckily because I am so big and because I am from California. I was actually hired on the spot and proceeded to work there fro almost 2 years. Though not continuously, as it seems almost everyone is fired during the summer time as Limmerick Bill's is mainly a winter bar. Luckily for me an Austrian friend had arrange a summer job teaching English at a summer camp to her Irish boyfriend, and I was also able to work there as well. In fact I kept that same summer job for the next 5 years,even after I returned home to the US. Which allowed me a lot more freedom in my travels, as my room and board were covered for 5 weeks each summer, and I also made 1,000 Euros on top of that. The only downside is that the owner of the camp became increasingly cheaper and cheaper as time went on, and hired certain individuals who should never have been allowed around kids. Several of them also were incredibly lazy and one of them was even somewhat racist, which is something Austrians don't need any help in being ( but I digress as that could be another essay in itself).



After the 1st year I lived and worked in Innsbruck, I took a late winter, early spring job working in Cala D'or, Mallorca. One of the worst decisions I have ever made in my entire life. Coming from a fairly large town, city and state, I was not use to the kind of scrutiny that goes in some communities or resort vacation spots. As I constantly had people report where I was at all times, what I was doing and who I was wish. To the point that it made me incredibly paranoid and I hate not being able to trust people. A good example of this was when I was accused of giving free alcohol to a friend of mine. You see each month that I worked for Farrah's Disco, I was given 100 Euros in drink tokens to buy whatever I wanted. Said free drinks were only for myself, and not to be shared with friends or anyone. One night I was supposedly observed giving drinks to a friend of mine and later on one of my managers, a skanky little coke addict, accused me of giving away free alcohol. Because of the description given of the friend I was with, I knew the precise time and location of when I was supposedly giving out free drinks. I then informed my manager that if someone is going to spy on me, they might want to at least get their facts correctly. For the beer that I shared with my friend is something that we don't sell at the bar, and I bought it with my own money from the store. And I made it very clear that if someone wants to know what I am doing at any given time, they need to talk to me and not random people who may or may not have observed from hundreds of feet away.





Needless to say because of this, and the fact that I was forbidden to associate with certain people who worked for rival bars or visit rival establishments. I was decided to leave and leave early. Actually I always meant to leave early as I wanted to work as a camp counselor during the summer, as well as attend several summer events I normally went to. Like the Zurich Street Parade and the Frequency Music Festival, which use to take place in Salzburg ( this year 30 seconds to Mars and Muse are playing, along with Die Toten Hosen and Fettes Brot). So I secretly purchased tickets to return to Austria without telling my bosses, and I planned my escape to coincide just after I was last paid. That way I would not be leaving before getting what was owed to me. As I only made 900 Euros before tax, for working from 10pm until 8, 9 or 10am every day but Sunday. I also had to pay for my mildew infested room at the back of the disco, which was too close to my employers for my comfort. As they would often wake me up for no reason to try to get me to hand out fliers along the beach to tourists, but if I did that I would be working close to 20 hours a day. So I usually just found some secluded spot on the beach and passed out in relative safety.

Last night I had a very bizarre dream. Two actually. The first one took place after some end of the world disaster. There were a lot of people left alive, just not a lot of water. So everyone was constantly searching for and fighting over water. I was in the dream and so was my mother, but neither of us looked like we do in real life. We also lived in some multi balconied apartment complex with a lot of foreigners, which was odd. Since we have never lived

Better Homes & Gardens: Hamburger Pie

All recipes posted here are a composite of random recipes found online, in various cookbooks, taken from family, friends, neighbors and dishes/creations I have tried and/or made myself. Any similarity to people's personal or unique family recipes is purely coincidental, and no one actually owns the rights to any food combinations if you think about it. No matter how unique. Food for thought?!






Ingredients

1 recipe Mashed Potatoes or one 24-ounce package refrigerated mashed potatoes
1-1/4 pounds lean ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion (1 medium)
1/4 teaspoon salt
Dash black pepper
2-1/2 cups frozen cut green beans, thawed
1 10.75-ounce can condensed tomato soup
1/2 cup shredded process American cheese (2 ounces)


Directions
1. Prepare Mashed Potatoes*, if using; set aside. In a large skillet cook meat and onion until meat is brown and onion is tender. Drain off fat. Add the salt and pepper. Stir in thawed beans and soup; pour into a greased 2-quart rectangular baking dish or casserole. 2. Spoon Mashed Potatoes in mounds on bean mixture (or, if desired, pipe potatoes using a pastry bag and a large star tip). Sprinkle cheese over the potatoes. Bake, uncovered, in a 350 degree F oven for 30 to 35 minutes or until mixture is bubbly and cheese begins to brown. 3. Makes 6 servings 4. *Three Mashed Potato Options: U 1. Use four servings refrigerated mashed potatoes 2. Prepare 4 servings instant mashed potatoes according to package directions, except reserve the mil. Add egg and seaon to taste with salt and pepper. Add enough