Here’s your weekly gross-out. It’s getting better, but still can’t fully bend my knee. There’s a doctor appointment next Monday so maybe I’ll get some anti-inflammatory pills. And hopefully an xray on my right hand, which I really think is broken now because it stills hurts so much.

In a fortnight, Season Four of Mad Men starts up. If I burn through an episode of Season Three a day, I can be all primed for the debut.

Mad Men’s official website is here, which contains sneak peaks and cast interviews, recaps and full episodes from last season as well as a cocktail guide. The official iPhone app can be downloaded here.

AMC brilliantly whipped up interest and hype last summer before its Season Three premiere by allowing users to “Mad Men Yourself” which just about everyone on the planet did. The avatars were able to be used on Facebook and Twitter and everybody was a cartoon character for a while. If you were one of the few that didn’t, you can still do it here.

Bring it on, Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce!

Obtaining groceries without a car can be somewhat cumbersome. Thankfully there are now (within the last few years) online services that will deliver groceries to you, just like on those ’50s television shows. But then when you lose your job those convenient online services tell you that they don’t take the EBT Card as a form of payment. That means I’ve been walking (or biking, or evening Zipcarring) to the local Safeway to get my groceries for the past 18 months. Ah, I do miss that EBT Card though…

So now that I am working 55 hours/week in order to make up for all that moola I didn’t make in ’09, and I’ll mention The Crash which has put the bike out of commish, it’s a little difficult to get to the grocery store. I decided to pull up my Peapod account and take a look at what they’re offering now that I’ve been shelf-shopping for the past 18 months. I found that I had an unplaced order already tallied up that I hadn’t set for its delivery schedule when I got the pink slip back in December ’08. Oddly enough, it seems pretty much in par for what I’d be ordering today. I’d have to add a couple of items to get that additional $1 off on the delivery fee though (on orders over $100)—like frozen entrees that I could take to work instead of spending $8 a day on lunch! I’ve still got a pretty well-stocked pantry, due to the EBT system providing much more purchasing power than I would use in a month, $200. So I’ve got boxed goods and canned goods for a while. Bomb shelter!

Item	Size	Qty	Item Price*		Total Price*
Produce Stand
Apples Granny Smith	1 EA	2	.99		1.98
Banana Green	1 EA	3	.39		1.17
Banana Yellow	1 EA	3	.39		1.17
Carrots Baby Peeled Organic	16 OZ BAG	1	1.99		1.99
Lettuce Red Leaf	1 EA	1	1.99		1.99
Lettuce Romaine	1 EA	1	1.99		1.99
Onions Yellow Organic	3 LB BAG	1	3.79		3.79
Meat & Seafood
Ground Beef 85% Lean Big Buy	APX 2.5 LB	1	11.22		11.22
Deli
Cabot Cheese Cheddar Sharp 50% Reduced Fat	8 OZ BAR	1	3.39		3.39
Deli Ham Virginia Style Cooked (Thin Sliced)	APX 1/2 LB	1	2.99		2.99
Beverages
Deer Park Spring Water – 24 pk	16.9 OZ BTL	1	6.49		6.49
Bread & Bakeshop
Nature’s Promise Naturals Bread 100% Whole Grain	24 OZ PKG	1	1.99		1.99
Nature’s Promise Naturals Bread Multigrain	24 OZ PKG	1	1.99		1.99
Cereal & Breakfast Foods
Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts Frosted Strawberry – 12 ct	22 OZ BOX	1	3.00		3.00
Snacks, Cookies & Candy
Doritos Tortilla Chips Nacho Cheese Family Size	17 OZ BAG	1	4.89		4.89
Giant Saltines Fat Free	15 OZ BOX	1	1.50		1.50
Snyder’s of Hanover Pretzels Sourdough Hard Fat Free	16 OZ BAG	1	2.50		2.50
Grains, Pasta & Side Dishes
Barilla Pasta Rigatoni	16 OZ BOX	1	1.79		1.79
Barilla Pasta Spaghetti Thin	16 OZ BOX	2	1.79		3.58
Betty Crocker Hamburger Helper Cheesy Enchilada	7.5 OZ BOX	1	2.19		2.19
Baking Goods
Guaranteed Value Sugar Cane Granulated	4 LB BAG	1	2.29		2.29
Condiments, Oils & Dressings
Giant Olive Oil Spanish Olives Extra Virgin	17 OZ BTL	1	6.29		6.29
Ken’s Steak House Dressing Fat Free Sun-Dried Tomato Vinaigrette	8 OZ BTL	1	1.00		1.00
Ken’s Steak House Dressing Healthy Options Parmesan & Peppercorn	8 OZ BTL	1	1.00		1.00
Sauces, Spices & Seasonings
McCormick Oregano Leaves	1.37 OZ BTL	1	3.49		3.49
Laundry, Paper & Cleaning
Brawny Paper Towels Big Roll 2-Ply Prints	6 CT PKG	1	8.99		8.99
Health & Beauty
Softsoap Liquid Hand Soap Antibacterial with Light Moisture Pump	7.5 OZ BTL	1	1.50		1.50

I guess not a lot has happened in the last week. Sleep, bus, train, train, work, train, train, walk, work, eat, repeat. It’s difficult trying to make up for all that money I didn’t make last year. But both jobs payroll have taken to my direct deposit which is really convenient so there’s fewer bank trips depositing actual checks.

To check progress and possibly still have a grossout, here’s some pix of the crash burns, two weeks out. The arm’s coming along fine but the knee is still problematic. The skin is still not very pliable and the flexibility of my knee joint is very limited. So even though there’s not a lot of pain, it’s still a nuisance to hobble around with one non-bending leg.

Today I walked by the scene of last week’s bicycle crash-up on Maryland Ave NE. Repeating the sequence, I was headed to the p/t from the f/t.

Here are pix of the worst of the bang-ups, and also the huge (from bicycle standards) bump in the road that took me down. The only part that really hurts much is the knee, and that’s pretty much because I can’t bend it due to the tautness of the skin that is there while the wound heals. Needless to say, it’s taking the longest to make it to the healing point of scabbing over and closing the flesh wound. Gross, I know, but the facts.

But on the flipside, I now have health insurance! I received my membership card in the mail today, and apparently it’s a pretty good healthcare system from what I’ve been hearing the folks at work say: very little co-pays and I can see any doctor I want at any time. Time to schedule an appointment and get these wounds (and still a hand that can’t grasp well) looked at. Maybe get some meds too. I think the fun painkiller meds are out of the realm now but perhaps I can get something that will help me heal quicker.

And I love that my medical card has The Logo on it.

From brendee, whom I met doing the fabulous 2007 New York City Blarg Crawl.