there has been a big deal about the storm that’s hitting the bay area this weekend. a storm watch has been started. flooding, high winds, and tons of rain is what they say is coming. the storm doesn’t seem like it is THAT bad, but it certainly was stormy here in san jose.

i was talking to geoff and he was telling me that there were high winds in the order of 70 mph where he lived high atop the hill. crazy. he also told me that there were downed power lines nearby.

there’s been expanded coverage on the storm watch. tv stations have started news coverage an hour earlier at 5AM instead of 6AM. it’s as if people have never seen rain before.

well, i say this because the area that we live in has had a good storm, but not hurricane like conditions. some garbage cans did fall over, some branches did fall, and PG&E did report something close to half a million customers without power, so it is a big deal. i just happen to live in an area which, thankfully, isn’t getting the worst of it.

the office had a leak in the roof, but luckily it was dripping right in the middle of a hallway and not in someone’s cube.

i went to taco bell for lunch.

i ordered the meximelt, the 1/2lb. beef and potato burrito, and the spicy chicken burrito. i ate them in that order, too. it was DE-LI-CI-OUS! the meximelt was pretty good, it tasted like a cheesy taco sans lettuce. definitely not a meal by itself and probably too rich to eat 3 or 4 of those by themselves, but still very tasty. the problem with them is that they are pricy for what they are. at over $1, i don’t know if it’s a good value…but i may have to get a few more to really decide that for sure.

the beef and potato burrito was good, but it was the spicy chicken burrito that really made my meal complete. absolutely delicious, i may get two of those next time.

at under $5 for my meal, taco bell today did not disappoint.

now, the question is, has this started a taco bell kick for me? i hope not, but man, it sure was tasty.

taco bell has been on my mind ever since i had read that dardy got some the other day. what intrigues me is the meximelt. i’ve never had it before and knowing now that many people consider it their favorite taco bell item, i’ve gotta go get it now.

i was telling paul about my adventures in replacing the bathroom faucet with the lack of proper tools.

me: so i was trying to get the old faucet off, but there’s 9 years of dirt, grime, and mineral deposits that i had to fight with and i didn’t have any of the right tools.
paul: so you had one of those basin wrenches?
me: no, i just told you i didn’t have the right tools.
paul: what??
me: yeah, all i had was a pipe wrench and pliers.
paul: so did you get it off?
me: yeah, but i had to rip off the basin from the pedestal to get access.
paul: so you recaulked the basin?
me: yeah.
paul: man.
me: i know.

happy new year! i was celebrating new year’s at paul’s place and for dinner paul made prime rib. he asked me how big of a cut i wanted and i told him to give me an inch. he cut me an inch and a half instead and i looked at him, looked at the cut of prime rib, and said, “alright, i could do that.”