spirit screens
This morning one of the brokers who loves me (there's a few of those) was in for a meeting and she nonchalantly passed by my desk without a word, except to leave a tall and narrow gift bag on my desk. She didn't even make eye contact, just kept walking by with a little self-satisfied smirk.
It was a 750 ml bottle of Wild Roots Marionberry Infused Vodka. Holy shit! It was all I could do to stop myself from popping the lid and chugging the bottle right here at my desk.
It was sort of serendipitous too, as I only recently discovered our stores have finally started carrying hard liquor -- exclusively locally sourced. I overheard Scott and Noah discussing the new spirits we're selling this morning, and I suddenly wondered about the brand of vodka I had bought when Gabriel, Kornelija and I went on our Seattle Distilleries Tasting Tour in February 2016. It took a few minutes but I finally found the photo caption that reminded me the wonderful bottle "Mad Mint Vodka" I had bought that day was by local brand Batch 206. Perfect for White Russians, they said -- and it totally was! I checked HQ, the item maintenance system I use at work, and discovered we do indeed sell that brand. But, only three items -- straight up vodka, gin and bourbon. None of their flavored stuff. So, I emailed Jeff, our Beer & Wine Merchandiser, just to send that as a product suggestion. We probably won't carry it but I wanted to suggest it anyway. Although now that I think about it, I could pretty easily special order it if I wanted, since we now have an established distributor delivering the brand.
I really don't need to make any such special order any time soon, though. I just got a free bottle of a different flavored vodka!
Speaking of brokers who love me, I also had to let down another one of them this morning after trying the truly horrible Wize Monkey Tea sample she sent me -- Earl Grey flavor. This "tea" is made with coffee leaves, as it turns out, and is thus one of the worst ideas I have ever encountered. I feel compelled to share with you the feedback I sent her in its entirety:
P.S. I finally tried the Wize Monkey Tea you sent me, and now, brace yourself, you’re going to get the worst feedback ever on any product you’ve ever sent me. Like holy hell, are you trying to kill me?? GACK that shit was awful. Turns out, just adding bergamot to a wad of tiny leaves off the side of some Nicaraguan hillside is not the way to go. I had no idea this was made out of coffee leaves! And to be fair, I hate coffee, so that may be a big part of my reaction. On the other hand, this didn’t taste like coffee so much as it tasted like dirt. Or maybe mud, since I added water. I couldn’t even choke it down and had to pour it out. Maybe someone else will like Ignoramuz Monkey Tea, though! I set it out in the kitchen for some other unsuspecting fool to try, so don’t fret, it won’t go to waste. Maybe I’ll wait to see who picks it up and peek around a corner so I can watch them spit it out all over their desk.
I had my six-month doctor visit yesterday, at 5:00 after work. Between the brief sit-down with the doctor and then getting the STI screening done (blood draw, urine sample), the whole thing took about an hour. I had previously convinced him to let me come in only twice a year; now he's convinced me to come in every six months for the throat and rectal swabs to be tested -- because, as he put it, it's necessary for riskier sexual behaviors or lots of sexual partners, and I said "I probably qualify." He suggested that it's probably preferable if I had, say, five or more partners since I last came in, "And I just pulled that number out of thin air," he said. I easily had more than that in the past three months alone, let alone the last time I had an in-person appointment, because I am an unrepentant slut. (I didn't say that last part to him.)
I've been fine for the better part of a decade with just getting HIV tested every three months, and when it comes to HIV, I have nearly zero reason to worry -- being on Truvada is something like a 98% guarantee of never catching it, and that's without using condoms, which I use -- basically for the purpose of preventing any other STI infection. The doctor noted that Seattle now has a higher rate of syphilis infection than HIV infection, so, well, there you have it. As the doctor put it, I could wind up with an STI without any symptoms but we don't want me carrying it around undetected for six months. And since I've met my deductible, I'm basically like whatever, okay, fine. I wasn't even asked to pay a copay yesterday. I'll have to pay attention to any statements I might get in the mail from Virginia Mason, though.
I do like this new young doctor, even though he makes me feel old. I know he's in his thirties, but to me he looks like he should still be in college. As I mentioned last time I saw him, he does have a very good bedside manner, which puts me fairly at ease. And it already feels pretty routine already, rather than awkward, to pull my pants down for him to take a swab (which is far more uncomfortable than the throat swab). I really do hope this guy sticks around a while, since I feel comfortable with him in a way that I never got to with the previous two doctors, both of whom moved on to apparently greener pastures in their careers. Perhaps within a few years he'll start having to help me with other health bullshit I start dealing with just by virtue of getting older.
Shobhit sure has a knack for texting me to ask what's taking so long, the minute I'm getting home. He made himself bitter gourd for dinner and I won't touch that shit, so I made myself a delicious sandwich. And then we started chopping vegetables in early prep for hosting Morgan's 14th birthday dinner on Friday: onions, celery, green onion, ginger, garlic, and potatoes. I have a working list on my phone of ten things Shobhit plans to make (two of them appetizers, one a dessert, although maybe the mango shake can be skipped since Danielle intends to bring a cake), for a party of eight: Shobhit and me; Danielle with her two daughters, Morgan and Rylee; also Patrick's oldest daughter Jordan; a teen friend of Morgan's as well as her mother; and the lady who did the henna for Shobhit's and my wedding in 2013. The henna lady sounds more iffy, but I guess if she comes that will make nine.
Shobhit was feeling unwell with a headache and had to lie down, so I did much of last night's chopping on my own, which was fine. We'll probably do more prepping tonight and tomorrow night, and Shobhit and I are both going to take a half day on Friday to give us time at home before the party arrives -- I'm guessing we'll fry parathas that day.
[posted 12:33 pm]