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So beige…
27 Saturday Feb 2021
Posted casa azahar, cats, caturday, home
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So beige…
23 Tuesday Feb 2021
Posted sevilla
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Adiós Endesa and bienvenido a CYE Energía. I should have done this ages ago but, like with most things, it helps when you are helped by someone who knows what they are doing. For those who don’t know Endesa is the largest electricity utility company in Spain and I think most people just sign up with them because they always have done. At least that’s what I’ve always done. But then something weird happened between living in the Alfalfa and then moving to my present Casa Azahar. I put in for a transfer of service but somehow got stuck with a “maintenance” fee of about 7.50€ a month – a separate contract from the one I’d actually applied for. I didn’t think much about it, but after a while I started to think this wasn’t anything I wanted to have and so I tried to cancel it. No way. I tried by phone and on the website, but somehow there was always something impeding the cancellation. And each time I gave up in frustration thinking, well it’s only 7.50€ a month and maybe one day I’ll use the service. Well, I never have. And I have yet to find a way for these fuckers to cancel this thing, which actually amounts to close to 100 euros a year, and frankly I could use that money elsewhere.
Aside from that, my electricity bills have been outrageous this year. And okay, I understand it’s partly to do with me BEING HOME ALL THE TIME and so using a lot more heating or aircon. And then there’s that oven of mine that seems to be constantly in use these days. But when I had lunch with Pablito the other day (he is a contractor specialising in electrical stuff) and told him how much my last electricity bill was he said WTF!! and then said he would find me a better deal. Normally I wouldn’t know where to start with something like this, but Pablo took care of everything. All I had to do was digitally sign the new contract and it was done. So now I should be able to expect less terrifying electricity bills with this new provider.
Meanwhile, fucking Endesa is still dicking me around about this maintenance thing. They still refuse to cancel it, and they also refuse to show me the original contract. For my part, I have cancelled the bank payments to them. Now we’ll see what they do next. Assholes.
16 Tuesday Feb 2021
Posted casa azahar, home, homecooking
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So I didn’t see this coming but a couple days ago I washed my (almost 4 year old) small teflon frying pan and suddenly the coating came off in shreds. YIKES. For the record, I hate teflon and the filthy company that runs it and ruins people’s lives, but hey they’re cheap and they do the job. And yes, I have been stupid and lazy about this. Because they’re not actually cheap if you have to keep replacing them every few years, plus they are simply awful for the environment. I have a small set of stainless steel pots and saucepans that I bought over 15 years ago and they are still going strong (AND I can put them in the dishwasher). But of course plain stainless steel frying pans are more of a cooking challenge because, yes, stuff sticks to them.
Anyhow, I went on Twitter to ask advice about what sort of frying pan upgrade I should be looking at, and there were a few interesting options suggested, the most interesting being stainless steel with a ceramic non-stick coating. But I couldn’t find anything like that here, or even on Spanish Amazon. So after a bit more online research and some comparison shopping today I settled on those two you see above by Infinity Chefs. And then I realised that I should probably get a simple stainless steel pan just for “deep frying” (I actually shallow fry, obviously, but you know what I mean) as hot oil can’t be good for any kind of non-stick surface. So I got that one below (slightly larger size). And I am done! Hopefully for many years to come.
Best news of all? We are in the second month of winter sales here so everything was 40% off! 🙂
13 Saturday Feb 2021
Posted casa azahar, cats, caturday, home
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My pretty Luna. Kinda batshit crazy, but she’s pure cat. The other two (Loki, a total dog and Morcilla, a mystical creature who has chosen to grace us with her presence and live among us) are also very lovely, but it does seem like Luna is my only cat who is actually a cat. Respect.
08 Monday Feb 2021
Posted casa azahar, cats, home
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For almost 30 years I’ve been finding cat sand tracked everywhere in my house. And I mean EVERYWHERE, including in my bed (gross). Plus it gets stuck to the bottom of my socks and, in spite of how many times I sweep up (I’m getting better at that!) it’s still all over the place. And so I splashed out (15€) on this new high-sided litter box with only one main in-and-out option. Honestly this thing is massive compared to the old one, which I admit may have been part of the problem. Anyhow, it becomes operational tomorrow. Today I’ve just put it (empty) in the bathroom so the cats could get used to it being there. Fingers crossed!