Monday

Saturday the CDC threw a Burrito Night party. This sounds like a story that should really end with a punch line, but no. Everything went exceptionally well considering the difficulty finding Mexican staples here. No black beans, no chilis arbol, no jack cheese. Vietnamese Mexican food isn't right: often so laden with chopped mangoes it smacks of a luau. But given these odds, the CDC party was mighty successful. I was immediately strong-armed into making the margaritas. There's no triple sec here, so I had to experiment. It turned out okay, I guess. I certainly drank a bunch of margaritas, even if nobody else did. Here's the recipe I lit upon: pour six ounces of tequila for every two ounces of fresh lime juice and one oddly-shaped spoonful of sugar into a blender. Splash in orange juice like last time. Toss in some ice cubes just to cut it. Blend till it stops rattling. Pour over ice and make a face when you drink it. Mmm. I walked out of there upright, but I totally blew the nightcap. We'd been invited to stick around for gin and tonics. All the tequila was gone already. I made the drinks. I poured escalating amounts of gin into each glass, over ice. Then I added a little of the remaining lime juice to each. Perfectly. Then I was asked a question I've totally forgotten now, which I answered. Then I topped each glass off with gin and gave 'em a stir. I thankfully realized what I'd done before serving them, none of these drinks being at all fizzy. Hopefully no one else noticed, but a lot of gin went surreptitiously down the drain in fixing it. Nobody complained. I wonder if the CDC will ever invite me to another party? Rimshot. [Cavin]