So, I finally called him yesterday about the mice, and also addressed the fact that the heat has yet to be turned on in the building. (Damn it!) He said he would send someone over to look at both problems, and that someone would be calling me.

Of course nobody called me yesterday, so I figured he'd been his usual lazy self and hadn't called, and I planned to call him back today. But this morning, I was awakened around 8:30 by my buzzer going off. Turns out he actually had called a handyman to come look at the boiler. Except the restaurant was closed (familiar story to those of you who read stellavision.net, wot?) and he couldn't get into the basement, and he was asking ME if I had a key. Ha! So he called my landlord, who was *much* more apologetic to him than he's ever been to me for a mistake. Apparently he hadn't known the door would be locked. (Um, duh? The restaurant ALWAYS locks the basement when they're not open, and even if they were open on Saturdays, it wouldn't be at 8:30 in the damn morning!) So, he told Mr. Handyman to come back on Monday and look at the problem then. Since the handyman seems more responsible than my landlord, I suspect the heating problem may actually get solved. But that still leaves me with no heat until at least Monday, and it just got friggin' COLD! Like, below 50 degrees outside. Brrrrrrr. Grrrrrrr.

I also called my landlord back to ask him if he'd arranged for mouse control efforts without telling me when, but of course got voicemail. Gah. I'm hoping I don't have to arrange for the baseboard to get fixed myself (when in the hell will I have time to be at home to do it in the next few weeks?!), but I have to wonder if that will be the case. Anyway, I'm ticked. I skipped my spinning class because I was worried mouse control might show up in my absence; of course, no one has. So I'll just spend the afternoon running some errands (god knows I need to get out of my freezing apartment and get a space heater, at least). It's so cold in here I'm *really* glad I'm not having anyone over tomorrow; lots of bodies do heat a place up, but not so much I think that it would make this place comfortable.

On a happier note, hopefully I will make it to cazique's place tonight for a dose of Cliff and wine.

Is it just me, or is this month's Enigma a lot harder than last month's? I managed to get more than half of the flats last time, but this time I'm mostly stumped.

The shrimp faux-curry came out great. Here's the recipe (I also added a couple of tsp of Madras curry powder to spice things up). Cook the rice before doing anything else as it takes a while.

SHRIMP AND BUTTERNUT SQUASH IN COCONUT MILK BROTH
3/4 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1-1/2 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp tomato paste
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper (I used more)
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 (14 oz) can light coconut milk
2 c (3/4") cubed peeled butternut squash
1 c (1") red bell pepper strips
1 lb large shrimp, peeled, deveined, and halved lengthwise (didn't bother to halve them)
2 c hot cooked basmati rice
1/4 c freshly squeezed lime juice
3 tbsp minced fresh cilantro

Combine first 7 ingredients in a large saucepan, stirring with a whisk. Stir in squash and bell pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes or until squash is just tender.

Stir in the shrimp and bring to a boil. Cook 1 minute or until shrimp are done (you might need longer than a minute if you don't halve them), stirring occasionally. Stir in rice, lime juice, and cilantro.

Makes 4 servings (1-3/4 cups); per serving 296 cal (19% fat), 6.1 g fat, 18.5 g protein, 41.8 g carbs, 3.9 g fiber, 135 mg cholesterol, 848 mg sodium. Approximately 7 points for fellow Weight Watchers folk.