In The Fog

Trying to be a better cook

2009-02-22T20:51:00.000-08:00

It's been a long time since I've had to be the cook on a regular basis around here. The EH used to insist on cooking and I was fine with it. Not to say that I was ever a good cook but I've definitely forgotten what I did know. With trying to improve my diet and avoid the frozen foods, I am taking more of an effort to cook. It's not so easy with the gym routine after work, by the time I can get to cooking on a work night, it's already 7pm. So I am hope to plan ahead and cook more on the weekends, so that there are left overs for the week.

Part of what I want to work on is Indian food, the kind of food I had at home, growing up, not the restaurant stuff. I've been making this moong salad off and on - it makes for a great lunch during the week. My recipe is a bit different than what's there - I need to remember to pay more attention when I am cooking the lentils, overcooking can be a problem..... did that today but I think it will be fine. Sabudhana kichidi is our version of Mac & cheese - comfort food. It's been hit or miss with that dish - a little too much water and it's a mess. Also, I don't always have the ingredients on hand for that, so I try to make do. I am not brave with the heat factor so my dishes tends to be a bit bland.

Indian cooking is not easy, there are subtle cues that one has to know, which determine when the next ingredient can be added, or getting the right flavor out of the spices, etc. These can't be communicated in writing....

2009 so far - being green, shams, phone lines......

2009-01-10T22:17:00.000-08:00

I've been moving along with things around here. Making changes around the house is very refreshing. A little out of sorts with odds and ends but managing alright.

Last week as I was doing the laundry, I noticed that the pillow shams, that matched a comforter that is long gone, had seen better days and decided to get new ones. After checking out a few stores, I came to realize that pillow shams are nothing but a sham (easy one, couldn't pass that up!). I do not understand why they are sold in singles, while pillow cases are sold in sets, the single sham is priced more than a pair of pillow cases!! Seeing that they are pretty much decorative, I opted for pillow cases in a contrasting color (burgundy) - they look good with the new red lamp shades.

I am finally getting to changing the name on the utilities around here. I couldn't do that until the XH (ex husband) contacted the companies and notified them first. XH had been kind enough to call them, then call me, and give me a couple of days to make the changes. For the most part it was easy enough with most of the companies, except the big bad phone company! OMG!!!!! 50% of all marriages end in divorce - you would think that the phone company would have a better way to deal with the change. XH had called, so they had his approval on file. The only change that needed to be made was the first name and okay, they need to verify my credit. So I call them, and they say this requires a "super-cedure", and put me through to the correct agent, who reads me my privacy rights (I don't want to buy anything, why are you telling me about privacy??). It seems that they cannot talk about the DSL service on the phone line without letting you know of your rights (to what? have DSL?). In order to change the name (first name only - 5 characters), they had to disconnect the DSL, make the change and then reconnect the DSL - total outage of internet: 8 days. What?? 8 days? Course, I wanted to keep my current number. There is a way around it, he says.... you disconnect your current number, get a new line/number for a day with internet and change the number on that line to the new number - total outage - 1 day. What will either option cost, can't tell you ma'am until you decide which you want. Yea right! I go for option 2, $40 to change my name..... service gets disconnected on Thursday and reconnected on Friday - sounds like a plan. Come wednesday evening, when I got home from work, I had no phone or internet - great! No service Thursday. Get home Friday and still no service. I call Saturday morning (thanks to the trustly cell phone) and the agent on the phone told me that the last person did it all wrong blah blah blah and I couldn't get my old number back! WHAT!! Oh and since they completed the order, the fact that nothing was working was now a repair and I got transferred to the repair department. I was told that someone would get to it today but no word on when. A couple of hours later, I got a call from the tech working on the phone and he got it working in no time - the new number was set as a secondary line and it knocked the dsl out - yea, okay. Once that was done, it took another hour to get the dsl working with the modem. I wasn't ready to give up on my phone number yet, so I called the phone company back and went over the details, lady says okay, should be done by Monday - huh? the other lady said it couldn't be done.... okay, not complaining here.... so after hours on the phone and 3 days of no service, I now have the same phone number and dsl service with the first name changed on my account. Should it really take that long to change?

One of my resolutions for the year was to be more green. I seem to have run into some hiccups with this goal...... I do have 2 bags now that I can use, if only I can remember to bring them with me. Last week, I had the paper recycling bin loaded up to put out and it occurred to me that perhaps there should be something weighing the papers down..... hmmmm what? So back in the garage until I figure out what I can use. I don't seem to have a plastic recycling bin. XH seemed to collect a lot of the plastics - containers, buckets (soap and litter). It seems that the buckets need to be taken down to the yard for recycling, what? How do other people dispose of these buckets? I will have to find litter and laudry detergent sold in cardboard containers to avoid future trips to the yard.

What's with the weather - is it really January?

A smaller cat family

2009-01-02T23:17:00.000-08:00

A part of going through a divorce is giving up half of everything that is a part of your life. In a way giving up the money is easier than other aspects that are so much a part of your life and can never be replaced. I am replacing the tools, got an answering machine now, new furniture will eventually fill the empty rooms, but there is nothing that I can do about the two cats that are no longer here.

Milo and Bailey don't live here any more. I was on vacation and out of town when they left, which in it's own way is good. My last memory of them will be of them in their every day life here and not them being carted off and distruaght about being in the crates.

Dusty and Hobbs, the cats that remain with me, miss their brothers. They search the house for their mates many times during the day, their cries upset me. I too miss them. Milo had his way of being the center of attention with his brothers and disrupting the peace - I miss him so very much. Bailey was more attached to my ex but did on occassion come over for some attention.

Last night I dreamt of all the cats. I dreamt that I went to visit Milo and Bailey at their new home, the back yard was a lovely garden with a stream and many birds. They got to hang out outside and loved being there. Dusty and Hobbs visited their brothers in the back yard and enjoyed the grounds as well. At some point in the dream, Milo and Bailey came over to see me, they still recognized me and rubbed their faces on my cheeks and gave me kisses. I had a feeling in my dream that they were telling me that they are okay and miss me as well.

I know they will be fine and well taken care of. I think the dream is the good bye we didn't have.

Resolutions/Goals 2009

2008-12-31T21:59:00.000-08:00

Perhaps this is a lost cause seeing that I never do well in this department, but it is New Years Eve and having some goals for the new year seems like a good way to start.

1. Continue with the fitness program. Including biking outdoors once or twice a week (must seek out places to do this). Learn roller blading (this year's attempt was rather pathetic!)
2. Be more organized (I think this will be one of those forever goals that never quite happens).
3. Be more aware of finances
4. Stay in touch with friends and family
5. Add to my social circle but not just another name on my friends list on facebook
6. Read more - is two books a month a good goal to work towards?
7. Be more green - more efforts towards recycling, carrying a reusable bag
8. Simplify and declutter
9. Have new adventures/travels
10. Improved nutrition and health (ice cream, chocolate and mocha are not a part of the good groups!)

Tall order for the new year but some of them are things I already do but want to spend more time on.

2008

2008-12-30T23:12:00.000-08:00

Can't believe another year is over! It sure does tend to fly by fast but I am glad to say that was a year of many accomplishments. Leaving aside the big "D" word and focusing on the positive. A goal this year was to try new things, and I did plenty of that.

1. Traveled plenty - Shanghai, Hong Kong, Boston, Tampa/Tarpon Springs FL, Los Angeles
2. Went drinking with the gals and drank.... wine, martini (never again)
3. Ate sushi (not bad!)
4. Joined the gym and kept up with the program!
5. Went to a concert (Maroon 5 & Counting Crows)
6. Made new friends
7. Reconnected with former friends
8. Hilighted my hair
9. Went to an art class
10. Voted for the first time.

And now goals for next year...... next post

New lamp!

2008-08-24T20:28:00.000-07:00

I've been needing a new bedroom lamp for some time now - the cats knocked the old ones off the night stand so often that the lamp shade had cracks.... also, it seemed to be getting dimmer.

On a recent walk through pottery barn, I discovered 2 red silk lamps shades, they were the perfect shade of red and a shape I liked. On clearance, they were $9 - hard to pass up, so I picked them up. Went to Ikea and came across the perfect lamp base (Pottery barn started at $110) for $20. Voila - a new lamp for the bedroom (price tag and plastic still on it)- check it out:

The old lamp - from Ikea years ago.

Exploring.... the right brain

2008-08-19T19:44:00.000-07:00

I took an art class over at the Pacific Art League in Palo Alto on collages. It 12 hours over the weekend and way too much fun. Something about working with your hands that is so much fun.

The instructor, Tess Sinclair, was totally awesome in her approach and gave the class a lot of opportunity to try many things. The pictures below show some of the projects from the class. The top one were the first few trail pieces for different materials.

The floral piece needs a little something, not sure, maybe just a mat, not sure.

I like how this piece came out but am a little disappointed in the quality of the print used - oh well...... I haven't finished the other piece but will post that one when done.

This shadow box is a piece I've been working on but haven't finished. It's a memorabilia piece from my trip to Paris - seems fitting to include it here to share.

A lot of works in progress.....

Nothing much!

2008-08-06T22:18:00.000-07:00

Got my hair done again. It was time.... this time I went for the red-ish highlights.

Here is the second pair of sandals I bought at Naturalizer.

A little retail therapy

2008-07-25T22:03:00.000-07:00

Been out shopping a bit, can't find the things I need but came across some deals I couldn't resist. Although, one may ask, how many shoes and purses must a girl have?

I've been carrying a Coach bag since December, a treat for myself. Love the purse but it seems a little big for all occassions. Smariek got me thinking about red boots and I wanted to get a clutch type purse. Was at the MNG by Mango store at the airport and my sister picked this bag in red and decided not go get it, so I did. Not exactly a clutch but it's small and cute, and at the sale price, a bargain!

Macys was having a sale today, so I thought I'd stop in - didn't find anything. On my way across the mall to Target, I noticed a sale at the Naturalizer store, and took a lookie. Walked away with 2 pairs of shoes - the one shown below and another I will have to take a picture of - sandals! I need to get some new work shoes, seems like time.

Whiskers On Wednesday & life in general

2008-07-23T00:01:00.000-07:00

There has been a lot going on in some ways and little in other ways. Work and personal matters have kept me busy and pre-occupied. I am trying to keep my head above water in many aspects but sometimes it gets to me..... and apparently it shows on my face. A friend gave me this card - the cat is doing yoga, lol and the message below is hysterical.

Today's whisker is about Milo, also known as the rascal. He is the youngest of the clan and thinks he is the alpha. He does nothing but cause havoc with the others. Last night I finally picked up some knitting, a head band I was working on that has fallen to the way side. The needles I am using are rather long and Milo decided that the end was fun to bat at while I was knitting. Now I remember why I just sort of dropped the project.....

I've been working out with a personal trainer once a week and he wanted me to start using the elliptical - blah! He wanted me to work my heart rate up to 140 and keep it there for 3o minutes. I tried that a couple of times and had trouble getting the heart rate up and being on it for 30 minutes was boring and difficult. I got a little mp3 player (creative labs Stone) which has really helped and the trainer helped me with the heart rate and keeping it there. I found that it's easier for me to get the heart rate up in the evening compared to the morning. I am working my endurance up at this point and once I am better at that, I will add to the incline and resistance.

Meme lite

2008-07-09T21:18:00.000-07:00

Rules:You must answer the questions using only one word & Tag four others.

1. Where is your cell phone? Nightstand

2. Your significant other? Insignificant

3. Your hair? Wet

4. Your mother? Gone

5. Your father? SIGH

6. Your favorite thing? Reading

7. Your dream last night? Forgotten

8. Your favorite drink? Frap

9. Your dream/goal? Aritst

10. The room you’re in? Bed

11. Your hobby? Crafting

12. Your fear? Uncertainty

13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Happy

14. What you’re not? Tall

15. Muffins? Yummy

16. One of your wish list items? Chair

17. Where you grew up? HongKong

18. The last thing you did? Email

19. What are you wearing? Gown

20. Favorite gadget? Camera

21. Your pets? Purring

22. Your computer? Dell

23. Your mood? Sleepy

24. Missing someone? Yes

25. Your car? Rodeo

26. Something you’re not wearing? Shoes

27. Favorite store? Target

28. Like someone? Many

29. Your favorite color? Purple

30. When is the last time you laughed? Today

31. Last time you cried? Weekend

It says to tag four others, so four (or more) of you, play along and let me know!

Is it Caturday, oops Wednesday

2008-07-09T00:01:00.000-07:00

It's Whiskers on Wednesday.....

this time a little LOLCAT

If you've never heard of Caturday or LOLCATs, please take a few minutes/hours, seek them out on google and enjoy.....

Progressing - the work out program

2008-07-05T14:37:00.000-07:00

I joined 24 Hour Fitness on March 1, 2008 and have been attending their group classes. Initially mostly the SET (strength, endurance, training) and yoga. Now a combination of Kick Boxing, SET & Yoga. With the SET class, I could definitely feel a difference in my muscles and the form and some weight/measurement changes.

Since the start of the kick boxing classes, there has been more of a change in the measurements. Weight change has been a difficult to tell, the scale is EVIL and shows no change, which is simply not possible seeing how loose my clothes are on me. But they say muscle is heavier than fat, so I am gaining muscle mass.

The down side to all this working out (other than working out and being sore!) is that I have/need to spend more time stretching my muscles. My knees hurt (muscles are too tight!).

I am almost 2 sizes smaller - YAY! Picked a new outfit.... I know the skirt isn't very practical but it was cute.

While I can see the changes, I can also see the "trouble" areas. Between the achey knees and trouble areas, I decided to sign up a few sessions with a personal trainer. I had my first session today. We covered some basic things (health condition, my goals, etc), took measurements, heart rate etc. He had me do 3 sets of squats, so that he could check my posture. Sure enough the trouble areas had something to do with tight muscles.

I am to work out on the elliptical for about 40 minutes at a heart rate of 150 (when am I supposed to do this on top of my current work out schedule??). At the session today, he worked out the abs with me. 3 sets of sit ups, without going all the way down (15, 20, 25 repetitions), 3 sets of cruches (sit ups with lets up, 15, 20 & 25 reps), 3 sets for lateral abs (dropping and lifting legs to/from the side, 8/12/16 reps), and lastly having my legs lifted and going in circles (15, 20 & 25 reps), 2 sets with my shoulders off the ground. By the end of that, I definitely felt like I had worked out my core section.

He gave me a sheet with stretching exercises to help with the tight muscles. Next session a week from today.

Whiskers on Wednesday

2008-06-25T20:32:00.000-07:00

Meet my cat family.....
Dusty - 8 year old, gray and white snow shoe. The social butterfly and lap cat, wakes me every morning by sitting on my pillow and purring

Hobbs - 8 year old, part manx tabby with a stubbie tail. He looks like a little bear. He is my darling, he waits for me to come home and meets me at the stairs.

Bailey: 7 year old, a little less social but sometimes, on his terms, he will come sit on the leg and hug the knee. He loves to burrow into the blankets and make a cave to nap in.
Milo: 3 year old, rascal of the bunch. Nothing but trouble this cat! His latest brat behavior, he lays in front of the food dish, with his paw he pulls one kibble at at time to his mouth and eats it.

Whiskers on Wednesdays

2008-06-18T00:01:00.000-07:00

This is my first post for Whiskers on Wednesday and I thought I would share a special little place I visited on the weekend. I went to the San Francisco Presidio, which was a military base but is now a part of the Golden Gate National Recreational Area. The presidio had base housing, a cemetary and under the approach to the Golden Gate Bridge a little pet cemetary. I've never been to a pet cemetary before so I have nothing to compare against, but this had to be the sweetest place I have ever been to.

See inscription here.

Cayden the Cat

2008-06-12T21:25:00.000-07:00

I have great news! The kitten I rescued in Shanghai, Cayden, was adopted. If you don't know the story (where have you been???), check it out here. I had been watching their website and knew that he had been adopted but got an email the yesterday from the rescue following up with the story....

Hi V........,

Hope your trip back to the US was OK. Did you get a chance to see Cayden's adoption gallery on the SCAA website? He's been moved from the cats for adoption to "happily ever after"! He found a good home a few weeks ago and I;ve been meaning to touch base with you ever since.

Cayden came to my place for a couple days after he got his first vaccination and then his new mom came over the meet him and fell in love with him right away. Can't blame her - he is a real character and so cuddly. He is the kitten sleeping on the pillow next to my boyfirend in the photo I have as my facebook profile :)

Cayden is now called Milo and he shares the house with an older kitten named Dizzy. Dizzy is deaf and was a little too energetic to be on her own - waking Anna up around 5 am every day for attention. It took a few days, but Dizzy and Milo are now friends and Anna can sleep to a decent hour as the cats have each other.

Thanks for your donation to SCAA. A bit of tragedy on your visit to Shanghai but in the end, a lot of good came out of it.

Cheers,

L

Is it really June

2008-06-12T20:33:00.000-07:00

Following up on my previous post on rediscovering the area, I got very little feedback on places to visit but I've been making a list based on pictures, articles and books.

The weather has been beautiful, instead of the normal summer fog and I took advantage of it and visited some places near by. Just off Hwy 35 at Daly City is a little parking lot and walkway to a vista point/overlook. It's basically a little parking lot and a little walk area but pretty none the less. There are wild flowers and fields beyond the little vista but it's fenced off, however people seem to just go past the fence as there are trails and foot prints beyond.

I have been meaning to take CPR/AED (Automatic External Defribilator) training for some time now and finally did it last week. The CPR protocol has changed and mouth to mouth is no longer required for a witnessed collapse.

Due to the many issues faced in Louisina after Katrina, all public servants are being required to sign documentation stating that they will report to work should an incident occur and a great deal of additional training is being required, to make sure people understand their roles as Disaster Service Workers. I had to take on orientation in incident command structure, basically it's a course on the importance of everyone being on the same protocol in responding to incidents. California is well prepared and has both a structure and emergency plan, sadly only 6 states in all have a plan and Lousiana still does not have a plan.

I went out to Pacifica Pier on Sunday. I never realized there was a little beach there. I spent some time on the sand (the sand is very dark and course), walking, writing and getting wet (brrr!). I don't think I've ever gotten my fet wet at the beaches here, strange....

A new adventure - re/discover San Francisco

2008-06-02T21:22:00.000-07:00

As I was working through the meme and the question about the places I would rather be right now, it occurred to me that a lot of the places that came to mind were not here in San Francisco. And I thought, surely there are places here that I would like to be that are close to home.

While on my vacation, I came across a number of places that I enjoyed just taking in. The Getty (in LA) is that way for me as well. A place that I can spend hours doing nothing, or taking pictures or having coffee and be at peace.

So this summer, I am on an adventure to discover and rediscover San Francisco and the Bay Area. The type of location does not matter, it could be historic, cultural, religious, scenic... just has to be a place where you can lose yourself for hours.

If you know of a place like this, please do comment and share.

Exercise, allergies and meme

2008-05-31T17:43:00.000-07:00

Hmmm, this blog needs some attention.... updating, etc... will do soon.

The exercise program at 24 Hour Fitness continues. I had been on a regular schedule with the 24 SET (strength endurance training) 4 days a week and yoga on Sunday. Sadly, the gym is changing the offerings... and the instructor makes a big difference. Need to add more cardio to the routine, so I've been checking out other classes - Turbo Kick Boxing and Beginner Step. The problem with these classes is that it takes time to get used to the moves and I have very poor coordination. I tried the Step class today after my regular SET class - bad idea. I was tired from the first class already and only made it through 20 minutes of the Step class. There are people that go from class to class, for 3 hours!! I've noticed a difference with me from the program - yay!

The fun of being a woman, NOT! The other day, I noticed a lump in my armpit - never good. The lump hurt, and as I've heard people say, cancer does not hurt, I knew I had to see the doctor but was not too worried. Saw the doctor, infected hair follicle, need antibiotics, reminded her that I was allergic to sulpha, so she writes a prescription for amoxcillin (penicillin). Started taking them on Thursday and today, Saturday, I have a rash on my legs! Same reaction as sulpha. So off the antibiotics until the rash is gone and will call doctor on Monday if the lump is still there. I wonder how many I am allergic to....

Smariek did this meme and it looked interesting, so here goes:

Four jobs I've had:

1. Receptionist (at the local state university extension program)
2. Sample maker (greeting cards) for a rubber stamp company
3. Intern
4. Traffic Engineer

Four movies I've watched more than once (this could be a really long list):
1. Sleepless in Seattle
2. You Have Mail
3. Groundhogs Day
4. 50 First Dates

Four places where I have lived:
1. Poona, India
2. Hong Kong
3. Panchgani, India
4. San Francisco, CA

Four TV shows I watch:
1. House
2. CSI
3. 24 (when will it be on again????)
4. Heroes (Hasn't been on since the writer's strike)

Four places I've visited:
1. Paris
2. Maui
3. Shanghai
4. Brussels

Four favorite foods (just 4?):
1. Mocha/Mocha Frap (does coffee count as food?)
2. Ice cream
3. Noodles
4. Pav Bhaji (an indian dish)

Four sites I (try to) visit (almost) daily (or weekly):
1. Flickr
2. Yahoo
3. Smariek Knits
4. Gmail

Four places I would rather be right now:
1. At Starbucks (with a good friend and preferably with a good view)
2. At a new adventure
3. The Getty
4. Chi Lin Monastery

Four things I'm looking forward to this year:
1. Tania's wedding
2. A potential trip this fall to Phoenix
3. Buying a new (smaller size) dress
4. Taking a course in something new (collage, sewing, photoshop.....)

I am grape

2008-05-30T16:01:00.000-07:00

You Are Grape

You are bold and a true individual. You are very different and very okay with that.

People know you as a straight shooter. You're very honest, even when the truth hurts.

You are also very grounded and practical. No one is going to sneak anything by you.

People enjoy your fresh approach to life. And it's this honesty that makes you a very innovative person.

What Color Purple Are You?

Book quiz

2008-04-13T18:02:00.000-07:00

Ha ha - I've read this one twice!

You're Jurassic Park!

by Michael Crichton

You combine all the elements of a mad scientist, a brash philosopher, a humble researcher, and a money-hungry attracter of tourists. With all these features,you could build something monumental or get chased around by your own demons. Probably both, in fact. A movie based on your life would make millions, and spawn at least two sequels that wouldn't be very good. Be very careful around islands.

Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

Travel plans, the olympic relay and more

2008-04-13T11:43:00.000-07:00

Time sure does fly..... Can't believe it's already April. Not doing so well in the resolution to keep this updated. Although I am doing well with some of the other resolutions.

One of my resolutions for the year was to get fit. It took me a little to decide on which way I was going to. I am one of those people that is not self motivated or disciplined when it comes to exercise. So the best bet was a club and I took the dive and joined 24 Hour Fitness. I picked them because there are two clubs within minutes from home and one of them is on the drive home. Since March 1 (or there abouts) I've been going to the gym and participating in the classes. I take the 24SET (strength endurance training) class 4 days a week and yoga once a week. The SET class has some cardio (using steps) and is a well rounded routine to work out all muscle groups. The classes are an hour long and the instructors vary the routine to keep it interesting. I think I need to revamp the plan a bit to include cardio, as the SET classes have very little cardio. I have noticed changes overall in how I feel (and maybe even look - could be my imagination). I am staying away from weighing myself and don't want to be discouraged or driven by the scale.

The olympics are in Beijing this year and the torch relay has began - taking the torch/flame around the world. It's all a bit confusing, as they say the torch is going around the world but actually it's the flame that is going around the world. San Francisco was picked as the only North American stop for the relay and it would come through the airport. The flame comes in 3 lanterns, each relay runner gets a torch and it's the flame that moves down the relay as the runners get to keep the torch they run with. If you've been watching the news, you know that the whole relay is being tied in with the politics of china and their human rights issues. In an attempt to keep the torch lit and the relay going, San Francisco made many last minute changes in the route and the program, which included having the closing ceremonies at the airport! I am very proud of the team at the airport that made that happen in a matter of hours. It was great for me to see it all up front and personal.

Another resolution I've been working on is traveling. My sister is staying in Shanghai for a year and I will be visiting her there and back home to Hong Kong. It's my first ever 3 week vacation and am looking forward to the break. I head out on April 24th and fly back on May 16th. I will be in Shanghai for a week and two weeks in Hong Kong. I have yet to work through the itineraries but all else is in place. Tickets bought, visa in hand!! And I plan (I can just see the eyes rolling) on having a separate blog for the trip - I know, I know, I failed miserably with that on the europe trip but I will have more time and easy computer access....

Mischief Managed - April Fools!!

2008-04-01T20:37:00.000-07:00

It's April Fools day and I could hardly pass up the opportunity for some mischief. I started with some research yesterday for some ideas and decided on a plan.

I downloaded sound files from the internet (flushing toilet, terminator, etc). I went about and changed the sound settings on some computers at work and watched the fun. It was hysterical! The team next door were looking around and at each other wondering what the heck was going on. The ladies across the way eventually figured out it was me.

The day was fun of laughs!

Today's playlist

2008-01-15T14:08:00.000-08:00

This, that and the other

2008-01-09T21:08:00.000-08:00

Apparently I missed quite a day at work on Friday. The wind made for some very challenging situations with the planes to say the least. A colleague and friend was telling me that it would have been interesting to have me take some pictures and I was thinking, yea right, I would probably get blown away trying to take pictures.....

I have finished another cap and am now working on a 3rd. These are all gifts and then I will be on the cap karma mission. I also want to make a panta for myself.

I need to start planning some stamping/card projects for valentines day. We're having a session to make cards for soldiers to mail overseas and I better start getting those projects planned. It was very popular when we did it last year and so I was asked to have it again this year. Course this year there is some help in coordinating it (very thankful for that!), so all I have to do is the creative work. Now if I can find someone to help prepare the supplies.....

Will this writers strike ever end? I really do miss having some television to watch. No 24 yet. I was looking forward to the Sara Connor Chronicles and it hasn't started yet. I've been catching up on movies lately, there are some good ones out on DVD - The Republic, Live Free Die Hard, Pirates, Bourne, Shrek 3 (hilarious!!!!).

My mind appears to be rather scattered today and my writing abilites are on the suckie side. So I should quit while I am ahead....

Do we really need this much rain????

2008-01-05T15:18:00.000-08:00

The area has been pounded by 3 storms. The first one hit Thursday evening - which wasn't so bad. But the one that came through early Friday morning was one heck of a storm - the wind was so strong! I didn't sleep much because of all the noise and at one point I was wondering if the house would get blown a part. There were power outages all around and the power here went at around 7am.

For those who don't park their cars in their garage or don't have automatic door openers, you have not had the pleasure of trying to get the garage door open without power with a system designed to work with power. Not fun! And for the veritcally challenged, it is even more so of a problem. Also, wood garage doors suck! With the rain getting blown the way it was, the garage door got a good soaking and is weathering/swelling - which makes it want to stick in the tracks. So you can just imagine the challenge of getting that open.

The power came on about 1am, making it for a long and cold day indoors. The house phone line died for some reason (I have an old fashioned corded phone just for this reason). Few people realize that their phone is supposed to work without power but with all the technology added in, the souped up ones do not, but a basic one will. Course now that also depends on what type of phone service you have. Course as mr. murphy would have it, the cell phone was low as well and eventually died. The propane lantern purchased years back for just this scenario came in very handy and was very bright - no heat though. It got so cold, i could see my breathe. The fire was going for a while but eventually all the wood logs that could be burned were used up....

Why is it that we must have all this weather with the rain, can't it just rain - a peaceful, quite rain? The kind of rain where you can use your umbrella without having to worry about it flipping over or getting caught in the wind. The kind of rain that falls vertically. It exists, I have seen it.

But enough about the rain. The horizon is clear right now and the sun is poking through the clouds.

Started the exercise program again. 30 mins on the treadmill.

Happy New Year

2008-01-01T20:11:00.000-08:00

It has been a really long time since I've posted or paid any attention to this blog. Hope to be better this year.

I've been spending much time online flickring and doing other things. Writing was never quite my thing but will try to keep this and Cap Karma up.

So it's the first of the year and I suppose some resolutions are in order.....

1. Get fit - must maintain and exercise program, I have for the last 2 years started but have not maintained a program but hope this is the year I will stick with it.

2. Work on my organizational and procastinating problems, ie cleaning up and keeping the place tidy!

So I think those 2 are pretty tall orders and will keep it at that but also hope to learn some new things this year, read a few more books and possibly start planning my second career/back to school...... (can't even get myself to think about it!!!!!).

Right in my back yard!

2007-08-22T20:46:00.001-07:00

Squirrel snacking off the bird feeder.

The summer is almost over

2007-08-20T21:10:00.000-07:00

This summer........

1. Finished my first really big project at work and it went well! Even had a celebratory BBQ for everyone on the project.

2. Went to the launch of a new US airline.

3. Read 3.25 books....., the first two Bourne books, 1/4 of the 3rd book & HP7.

4. So far seen 3 movies at the theatre: Ocean's 13, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix & yesterday I saw the Bourne Ultimatum (awesome movie BTW).

5. Took a picture with the SF Mayor - cool, huh?

6. Made new friends and reconnected with a long lost one.

7. Played matchmaker, maybe......

8. Went to Los Angeles for a graduation and some me time

9. Got sick way too many times - ugh

10. Outside of being in college, Smariek has always lived about 15-20 minutes away, this summer she moves away..... : (

My masterpiece?

2007-08-20T21:09:00.000-07:00

Click here to create your own painting.

2 sites to simpsonize yourself!

2007-08-16T20:44:00.001-07:00

Here is verstion 2 from the movie site.

I've been Simpsonized!

2007-08-13T21:27:00.000-07:00

BBQ, new airline and more

2007-08-13T19:50:00.000-07:00

A lot been going on lately. We had a end of project BBQ at work for everyone that helped with the taxi project - it was huge and so much work but it was great to have everyone there and being acknowledged for their hard work. My manager, Henry, put on an apron and actually helped with the cooking - which was really cool. We wanted to customize the cake to include a taxi but we couldn't find a matchbox one anywhere, finally found a toy car for $4.99 at Talbots Toyland in San Mateo - it was a hit though!

The Virgin Corporation has a new airline, Virgin America, a new low cost domestic airline. It took some time to get it going but it started operations last week and they're headquartered in San Francisco. There was a big to do with the start-up - check out the photos here. Part of the hoopla when dealing with airlines is the water canon salute pictured below - a jet of water over the plane (we have them at the airport when new airlines start-up and also when pilots are retiring). Part of the Virgin inaugral festivities included a flight from LA and NY coming into SF at the same time with parallel landings and both planes then got the water canon salute.

Saw the Alladin plane at the airport the other day. We don't get them too often, so it was cool being able to get out there and take pictures of it.

I went to the Indian fair at Fremont this past weekend, mostly so that Nikita could check out the henna artist. We got our hands henna-ed, did a little shopping and ate. It's funny, when I had the henna on my hands from my sisters wedding (in 2000), a lot of people asked what it was and were curious about it. Today, just about everyone knew what it was and asked if I had gone to a wedding.

For the Potter fans - lol cat

2007-08-05T12:04:00.001-07:00

My theme song

2007-08-04T17:34:00.000-07:00

V., your theme song is Independent Woman!

You could fit right in with Charlie's Angels themselves. When "Independent Woman" (be Destiny's Child) is cranking, your smooth and powerful groove announces your entrance to any event and nothing can get in your way. Maybe you're balancing school, sports, and a job. Or maybe you're seriously thinking about your career. Any way you slice it, you are a modern woman. When your song comes on the car radio, you turn it up and tell your passengers to hang on—you have a statement to make and a song to sing. You're a lass with sass, and plenty of sauce. Some of your girlfriends might not understand why you pay your own way on dates sometimes. But it makes sense to you. You can't be categorized by the usual labels. Hey, you've got your priorities straight and being dependent on someone all of the time is not one of them. And while strangers might be surprised enough to say, "Girl I didn't know you could get down like that," no one else is, 'cause you've proven your righteousness time and time again.

i iz in mai blog, writing about lolcats

2007-08-02T20:12:00.000-07:00

I came across this on yahoo and had to explore the what it was all about - lolcats, meme cats and the like are cat photos with captions. Seems like the captions follow a certain format based on gaming. I spent some time looking at them and they are down right rofl.

One website linking to meme cats warns "this website will suck out your productivity. Possibly forever. I mean this". And I have to confess, once you start looking through them, it's hard to stop. Pretty funny - amazing how much free time people have to do this kind of stuff.

Things I want to do - someday

2007-07-30T19:56:00.000-07:00

In not particular order or priority - things I would like to do someday.

1. Visit area 51

2. Go to a shuttle launch

3. Go whale watching

4. See the 7 wonders of the world

5. Go to Rome

6. Visit all 50 states

7. See the Taj Mahal in the moonlight

8. Visit the grave of a great artist, a great humanitarian and a great scientist.

9. Visit my boarding school again

10. Watch an eclipse

11. Visit New York City at Christmas

12. Take a hot air balloon ride

13. Work at an animal shelter

14. Work at a food kitchen for Thanksgiving or Christmas

15. Visit Stonehenge

16. Learn to salsa

17. Learn to cha-cha

18. Go to Yosemite

19. Visit Washingon DC

20. Go on a cruise

21. Plant and grow a garden

22. Go to the top of the Empire State Bldg.

23. Go to Seattle

24. Go to Simla, India

25. Spend a month in India

26. Read Moby Dick

27. Go star gazing

28. See the Starry Night by Van Gogh

29. Go to the Smithsonian

30. See the Gugenheim

31. See Falling Water

32. Go cross country sking

33. Stay on a house boat

34. Build a home with Habitat for Humanity

35. Make a spiritual journey

36. Learn photography

37. take an overnight trip on a train (again)

38. get a tattoo

39. learn to sew

40. make a quilt for charity

41. Visit Tibet (#35)

42. See the Declaration of Independence

43. See a live volcano

44. Fly a kite

45. Walk across the Golden Gate

46. See Wicked

47. Plant a tree

This is a work in progress.........

Done:

Visit Paris

Visit the Louvre

Visit Maui

See a volcano - Haleakala

Travel alone

In the world of JK Rowling

2007-07-29T20:10:00.000-07:00

So you had to know I'd have my head buried in the book every chance I got this week and I am finally done. I can't say that I had my normal bit of staying up to all hours of the night reading (not an indication on the book) to make sure I could work during the day but between last night and today I finished the book and I've got to say:

IT'S GREAT!

I don't want to ruin anything for the people that are still working through it but it really did deliver a punch. I cried, I laughed, I was on the edge of my seat, so to speak, and I am really happy about how it ended. Course it would have been nicer some things weren't that way but we knew that was coming. I very much liked the Luna character here and you could totally see how the person playing her in the Order of the Phoenix was perfectly cast. Oh and Neville! Mrs Weasley - who would have thought she had it in her! And what about Kreacher huh? And Dobbie! And what about the turn on Big D and the story behind AD.

My cousin told me that as she was surfing along, a pop-up said "Voldemort kills XXXXXX" - how horrible is that to put something like that out on a pop-up, someone else told me that and totally pissed me off - why would you tell someone that knowing they're DYING to read the book???? Anyhows, that little bit wasn't true.

As some of you may recall, I had a hard time with how the Half Blood Prince ended and had to reread the book to look for clues fo it not being true but I feel content having finished this book and the ending.

Everywhere I looked this week, I seemed to see people carrying their HP - so cool to see how everyone has taken to this.

If you're interested in some reviews and talk on the book - check out this link - warning - there are spoilers

http://caffeinatedlibrarian.blogspot.com/2007/07/hallows-not-horcruxes.html

http://caffeinatedlibrarian.blogspot.com/2007/07/some-potter-links.html

Hmmmm, what am I going to do now?

I wasn't gonna

2007-07-22T00:30:00.000-07:00

I was going to try holding out for a bit on the HP book but I couldn't stand the suspense and ran over to Costco and picked it up. I've made it through a couple of chapters already. Noticed Smariek also picked it up but her DH got to it first - so there won't be any discussions of anything here - only to say that it is good. I am so glad I didn't wait

I stopped by the mall to go to the Disney store to get something for my nephew and as I was walking out, I saw an employee working at the mall sitting in corner reading it.

2007-07-19T09:48:00.000-07:00

You Are An ESFJ

The Caregiver

You are sympathetic and caring, putting friends and family first.
A creature of habit, you prefer routines and have trouble with change.
You love being in groups - whether you're helping people or working on a project.
You are good at listening, laughing, and bringing out the best in people.

In love, you value harmony and mutual understanding.
You will apologize or give someone the benefit of the doubt, if it means getting over a fight sooner.

At work, you are good at building relationships and connecting with people.
You would make a great nurse, social worker, or teacher.

How you see yourself: Organized, dependable, co-operative

When other people don't get you, they see you as: Opinionated, critical, and know-it-all

What's Your Personality Type?

2007-07-19T09:40:00.000-07:00

You Are Pretty Logical

You're a bit of a wizard when it comes to logic
While you don't have perfect logic, you logic is pretty darn good
Keep at it - you've got a lot of natural talent in this area!

How Logical Are You?

2007-07-15T16:49:00.001-07:00

Your Psyche is Violet

You are spiritual, intuitive, and serene.
People trust you to rescue them from bad situations, and you usually come through.
While you are quite enlightened, you find that your path is very lonely.

When you are too violet: you can't connect to ordinary life or ordinary people

When you don't have enough violet: you lack wisdom and can't learn from the past

What Color Is Your Psyche?

Personality Profile - is this me?

2007-07-15T16:26:00.000-07:00

Your Five Factor Personality Profile

Extroversion:

You have high extroversion.
You are outgoing and engaging, with both strangers and friends.
You truly enjoy being with people and bring energy into any situation.
Enthusiastic and fun, you're the first to say "let's go!"

Conscientiousness:

You have high conscientiousness.
Intelligent and reliable, you tend to succeed in life.
Most things in your life are organized and planned well.
But you borderline on being a total perfectionist.

Agreeableness:

You have medium agreeableness.
You're generally a friendly and trusting person.
But you also have a healthy dose of cynicism.
You get along well with others, as long as they play fair.

Neuroticism:

You have low neuroticism.
You are very emotionally stable and mentally together.
Only the greatest setbacks upset you, and you bounce back quickly.
Overall, you are typically calm and relaxed - making others feel secure.

Openness to experience:

Your openness to new experiences is high.
In life, you tend to be an early adopter of all new things and ideas.
You'll try almost anything interesting, and you're constantly pushing your own limits.
A great connoisseir of art and beauty, you can find the positive side of almost anything.

The Five Factor Personality Test

Insomnia, HP & more

2007-07-12T22:26:00.000-07:00

Thankfully the big project is over! A big hooray for that. There were challenging system problems that made for a very long transistion and many long days/weekends for me but we've worked through it. The development team came through and we've been operating without any major problems for a couple of weeks now. So my next big thing for this project is planning a party for everyone that worked on it - should be fun and a great way to end it.

It's been really nice having a life again. I had forgotten what it was like to have a normal work load and work day and not bringing piles of work home. For a bit it almost felt abnormal sitting at my desk and having a moment to pause and not feeling overwhelmed. Oh, and the phone doesn't ring - that's just plain unbelievable.

Right after I finish the project, I get the insomnia again - grrrr - you would think with the stress gone that I would have no trouble sleeping but I did. It took me a bit to remember why I had this problem before - duh! The sleepless is related to a sinus infection and it wasn't that I wasn't sleeping but I couldn't stay asleep. And course once you're awake, you think of all kinds of things and there goes the sleepiness. Sleep deprivation makes me stupid and neurotic.

I took the day off yesterday, I wanted to catch up on sleep given the sleeping problems and of course catch the new Harry Potter movie - which I did. The movie was great - it was the best one yet and I wasn't the least bit distracted by that wasn't in the movie. Can't wait for the book to come out this month. A colleague is going to go see it in IMAX and I think I might try that some time, should be fun. Also stopped by Lowes and the nursery to pick up some pots and planting mix to transplant my orchids. I don't have the green thumb Smariek has but I haven't killed them yet, so I figured I would attempt at transplanting, to see if they flower again. Smariek manages to grow them with no effort whatsoever - they just grow like weeds in her house - amazing!

I need to add Transformers to the list of summer movies - getting great reviews.

I've given up on reading the Ludlum Bourne books - I got through the first 2 but I just can't keep up with the plot and the writing. And from what I can see of the books vs the movies, they're not even along the same lines, so I am through with Ludlum. Back to easy reading books for me. I've got a Dan Brown book laying around somewhere that I will start next or maybe the next HP book.

A trip to Los Angeles

2007-06-20T20:50:00.000-07:00

I went to LA for an extended weekend to attend a graduation and celebrate dad's 65th birthday.

I drove down with the family (8 in the Expedition) and flew back - it's a really long story of how the plans transpired but this was somewhat of a compromise. The drive down was very very very long. I can't believe I agreed to it considering I knew the parental figures would take advantage of the opportunity. I had wanted to borrow a mp3 player from H but was told that I should enjoy the conversation. So I kept borrowing the i-pods from the kids in the back row when I needed to block the parental issues out.

I-pods, hand held games and cell phones have differently made family road trips a whole new experience. Everyone in the car, at one point or another, was in a conversation on their cell.

We arrived in LA at around 10:30 pm (we had left the Bay Area around 4pm) and went out for dinner, after that we went to my sisters place for the night.

On Saturday, my sister and I got an early start and went to pick up a gift for dad's birthday, we decided on a laptop and picked that up.

We headed out to the campus after lunch. We had a lot of time to check out the campus and the surrounding areas given that the graduation was at 6pm. Westwood is the college town around the campus - it has some fun stores, so we walked around there for a bit. Saw this bag at a gift store there - pretty funny.

The graduation was at 6pm and we were to arrive at 5:30pm. Surprisingly enough the whole caln was actually on time - early even. We were seated well before the start of the ceremony. The ceremony was in the basketball stadium on campus - it was huge - pictured below. The program was well planned to keep people engaged and the whole thing took less that 2 hours - they were incredibly efficient in getting the grads up on stage with 2 announcers calling the names.

We went to dinner after the ceremony to a restaurant called El Cholos, it was a very nice place and the food was very good as well. There we celebrated both the graduate and my dad's birthday. My sister had picked up 2 cakes and saffron ice cream for desert. All in all it was a great celebration and everyone seemed to have had a good time.

On Sunday we all went to lunch to celebrate father's day and after that everyone went on their way. The Bay area contingent started their drive back. I went back to my sister's place with her and her DH. We vegged for a while and then went for a movie - saw Ocean's 13. While the movie wasn't on my to watch list, I was surprised I did enjoy it. I didn't much care for Ocean's 12.

Monday my sister went to work and I hung around her place with her dog. We played ball for a while - he is such a good dog. Everytime I threw the ball, he would bring it back and sit with it like in the photo. When I played ball with him indoors - he kept returning to this particular rug and would wait there.

I went shopping and visited Santa Monica for the rest of the Monday. Picked up my sister at work and then we went to dinner and then to the airport to catch my flight back.

It was nice to be away for a while and not have work on the mind.

At the finish line

2007-06-03T20:46:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it, it's here! The finish line - the project I have been working on for all this time starts up tomorrow. Part of it started this weekend with some technical difficulties but great response none-the-less. Tomorrow it all goes into effect and the users start as well. It seems like for the past few months all I have done is work on this project, about 10-12 hours a day and into the weekends. It feels good to be here. I just want it to be Tuesday - past the first day and into the second!

I am thinking of all the things I want to do once I have the project implemented and under control but the reality is that I actually have to move onto another project and get that complete in less than a month - so just more work. Maybe not as intense but still work! I sure could use a day away from work and phone calls and problems.

Going to LA mid-month for a graduation. Can't decide if I will drive or fly, if I fly, I must rent a car there. I want to spend a couple extra days there so that I am not just there for the graduation and then driving back. It's dad's 65th birthday, so there will be a celebration there with everyone. So what's a good gift for a college grad and for dad's birthday and father's day? The grad already has a job at KPMG - Smariek, any thoughts about what rookies there could use?

Check out the top of this cab - not something you see every day. I've seen it a couple of times now and every time it goes by I have to do a second take.

The weekend

2007-05-20T20:27:00.000-07:00

I took a half day off on Friday and went to Fremont for a belated Mother's Day celebration. We were early, so we stopped by Lake Elizabeth and took a walk around the lake and park. There are a lot of ducks/geese at the lake. The weather was just perfect for being out and about - not too hot and a little breezy.
The dinner plans weren't as set as hoped and got to be difficult to get 15 people into a restaurant on Friday night without reservations. We landed up going to a chinese place which was actually pretty good.

Smariek and I went out for a bit on Saturday. Went to the mall, had a mocha frap and checked out some home improvement books (Smariek just bought a house - yeah!).

Been a vegetable for the rest of the weekend. I did however manage to finish the Bourne Identity and have started the Bourne Supremacy. I am normally a pretty fast reader but it took me a long time (2 weeks) to finish the first one - not sure if it's an indication of me being tired and slow or the book being detailed and long.

It's D's and Smariek's birthday tomorrow.

I am a Star

2007-05-17T21:01:00.000-07:00

Actually I am not but I was on TV twice! On the government channel really so nothing to brag about just funny.

All the public meetings at City Hall are aired on Channel 26 and apparently re-aired again at a later date. I had a presentation the taxi commission last month. This was my second presentation, and both times I have had someone come back to me later and comment on seeing me on TV. Today I called to make a hair cutting appointment and the stylist told me she saw me on TV, at first she said I was in court and I was sure she was thinking I was someone else, then she said something about a hearing and eventually it dawned on me that she was referring to the taxi commission presentation I did. Pretty embarassing and funny at the same time.

I will be happy to go back to the norm of being just a face in the crowd at the airport with the taxi drivers and everyone else.

2007-05-12T23:32:00.000-07:00

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

Summer movies I want to see

2007-05-12T23:03:00.000-07:00

Keeping track of movies coming out this Summer that I want to see at some point.

1. Spiderman 3
2. Pirates of the Caribbean 3
3. Harry Potter, The Order of the Phoenix
4. Shrek 3
5. Live Free or Die Hard
6. The Bourne Ultimatum

That's a long list for me..... looks like it will be a good (I hope) summer movie season.

San Francisco

2007-05-12T22:35:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've been to the City and spent any kind of time looking around. I had a chance to do that yesterday. I was planning on taking the day off but also wanted to get some paper work finished, so I offered to meet in San Francisco to pick up the paper work from the other party. I didn't leave as early as I had hoped but nevertheless had time to peruse.

I took BART in and went to the new Westfield Shopping Center - which is entirely too overwhelming for me. I took my time looking around and then went to the Embarcadero as that's where I had to go to pick-up the paper work. I was early, so I walked over to the ferry building. It was an overcast day but pleasant enough to walk around.

The downtown area sure has changed since I worked there (late 80s, early 90s). So much nicer now.

There is a statue of Mahatma Gandhi behind the ferry building, odd to have a statue of an Indian politician in San Francisco.... It's been there since 1988 and I've never seen it before! I guess I never went past the Embarcadero.

The person I was meeting was running late which allowed for a walk around the Embarcadero and the Hyatt.

I met up with the person and we had a very nice lunch at 1 Market. Must go back there again. I had a ham and cheese sandwich, which was exellent and it came with the best onion rings I've ever had.

I am about half way through the Bourne Identity. It's really quite a bit different from the movie. I have mixed feelings about the character in the book but in the movie he was very likable.

What I've been up to....

2007-05-08T22:17:00.000-07:00

I guess it was wishful thinking on my part that once the testing on my project was done that my involvement would lessen. When I was typing up the results of the test, I realized that I wasn't quite done yet and probably had another month's worth of work or more. But it's a bit better with the work loads, just the normal level of business although I am still working at good 11-12 hour day. Need to work on getting it back to 8 hours.

My dad is in town and my sister visited from Los Angeles this past weekend. Spent Saturday at a birthday party and Sunday lunch with the family and an afternoon with the cousins gossiping over Jamba juice. We were having fun talking about how each of us has had the opportunity at being the black sheep of the family and how when it's the youngests cousin's turn that there will be nothing scandalous left to be a black sheep about.

What else has been up - gave a presentation at the Taxi Commission on the project - it was held at City Hall with two 54" televisions in the meeting room. It was also aired on SF channel 26. A bit intimidating really but it went alright. Also had 2 other presentations to management on signage and the taxi project. Good to have all those out of the way and the stress over with. While the one at City Hall was intimidating, I think the one for the airport management was even more so.

The weather has been hot - much too hot for my taste but the fog rolled in today.

I am finally getting around to reading The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum, been wanting to read that for a while now and picked it up at the library.

Finally the end of the tunnel

2007-04-25T20:59:00.000-07:00

I have been working on a project at work for some time now and it's finally coming to completion. If you may recall, I took a trip to Europe in December for the testing of the equipment, well, it was all installed last week. Between the construction, the equipment install and now the training and testing, it's been non stop.

I can't believe that I am so close to being finished. Just the a few details really and getting the new users oriented and using the new system - which falls on someone else - I play a minor supporting role.

I hope to be spending more time on fun things soon.

My creation

2007-04-05T21:06:00.001-07:00

My creation
Originally uploaded by purple phoenix.

Look what I did with flickr toys.

He he - Happy Easter!

2007-03-31T21:55:00.002-07:00

At least it's not Slytherin

2007-03-31T21:55:00.001-07:00

I'm
a Ravenclaw!

Knitting get together

2007-03-24T21:37:00.000-07:00

We had a knitters get together at work and I asked Smariek to join us. Some of us wanted to learn to knit with two circs and she's just so good at it. She brough little M along. I picked up a bunny treat from the bakery for Little M and here she is enjoying it. I love how she's just looking at me, her expressions are just like her mom. Love the sun glasses and cap - such a doll.

The second picture is of all the projects that people brought to share - many of them cap karma caps.

I've been spending a lot of time viewing photos on flickr - it's a great photo sharing site, in fact my photo badge is on the right side - click on it to see the photos I've got there. I've found interesting groups sharing photos of common interests, including cats "gatti, gattini, gattoni". Also found an incredibly handsome kitty living a great life, assuming in Sweden, followed around by an incredibly talented photographer - check out their photos.

The last photo is Milo, sitting still for a change.

Funny!!

2007-03-22T22:11:00.000-07:00

Posting these here just in case I need a good laugh. The calculus problem I can relate to...

I don't think that's right....

2007-03-12T21:08:00.000-07:00

You Are 35% Left Brained, 65% Right Brained

The left side of your brain controls verbal ability, attention to detail, and reasoning.
Left brained people are good at communication and persuading others.
If you're left brained, you are likely good at math and logic.
Your left brain prefers dogs, reading, and quiet.

The right side of your brain is all about creativity and flexibility.
Daring and intuitive, right brained people see the world in their unique way.
If you're right brained, you likely have a talent for creative writing and art.
Your right brain prefers day dreaming, philosophy, and sports.

Are You Right or Left Brained?

Recovering

2007-03-07T19:53:00.000-08:00

I am just getting over the flu - it started with the chills and aches last Thursday and now I have laryngitis. It's been a bit comical really, started with the flu on Thursday, a rash on my arm on Saturday, pink eye on Sunday and laryngitis as of yesterday. I wonder what is next....

I recently went to the Home and Garden show at the San Mateo expo center, my aunt had free tickets. Nothing terribly exciting there, just checking out what's new and get ideas for home projects. The little garden vignettes are always nice to see but they didn't compare to the Flower and Garden show at the Cow Palace. I bought an orchid there - it's got sprays of tiny little flowers - need to take a picture to post here. Found some nice slate tile that might be nice for the fire place. The fire place is red brick from hearth to ceiling and we want to face that with slate on the bottom and drywall on the top and put up a mantel. The slate I liked was more of a panel than a tile really and it gives the look of different size slate bricks next to each other - not explaining that too well, am I?

Normal level of headaches at work - personalities, projects, yada yada yada.

Who comes up with this stuff?

2007-02-24T20:28:00.000-08:00

Me, level headed?? Heart on my sleeve is about right.

Your Brain is 60% Female, 40% Male

Your brain is a healthy mix of male and female
You are both sensitive and savvy
Rational and reasonable, you tend to keep level headed
But you also tend to wear your heart on your sleeve

What Gender Is Your Brain?

I am Hobbs! Like S!

2007-02-24T20:24:00.000-08:00

Which famous feline are you?

You're Hobbes. First of all, the makers of this quiz would like to congratulate you. You have our seal of approval. You are kind, intelligent, loving, and good-humoredly practical. You're proud of who you are. At the same time, you're tolerant of those who lack your clearsightedness. You're always playful, but never annoying. For these traits, you are well-loved, and with good cause.
Take this quiz!

2007-02-24T20:20:00.000-08:00

You Are Italian Food

Comforting yet overwhelming.
People love you, but sometimes you're just too much.

What Kind of Food Are You?

I am a Canna

2007-02-24T20:17:00.000-08:00

I am a
Canna

What Flower
Are You?

"You stand up for what you believe in, even if it gets in the way of what other people think. You are proud of yourself and your accomplishments and you enjoy letting people know that."

This and that

2007-02-22T20:47:00.000-08:00

I so hate dealing with computer problems!

Last month the laptop I use decided it needed a break and refused to work. I would turn it on and get this little blue screen that said something about memory dump etc and to call tech support. I tried to trouble shoot it a bit and realized that the C drive was still there but no way to fix the problem without reloading Windows. Wouldn't that have been great but no! There wasn't enough space on the computer to reload the software and I wasn't willing to lose any of my files (photos and such). With some guidance from Smariek, a little trip to CompUSA and the trusty desk top, I was able to rescue the files.

So I've slowly been getting the laptop back to what it used to be - first I reformatted, then installed the operating system, then video drivers, sbc/wireless, etc. etc. The computer is still downloading updates for something or the other. That was about 3 weeks ago.

As if that wasn't enough of a pain, blogger decided that I must upgrade to new blogger - which was harmless enough but they give you all these tempting features which required updating the template - that made a number of things disappear. Smariek helped me that again but it's not all right yet. Must admit I like the new blogger.

One of the annoying things with the new blogger is the center aligned text that came out of nowhere and won't alighn to the left. I think I've tried everything so I'll give up fixing that.

I guess I should update the template on cap-karma. Maybe this weekend.

Not much else going on, working, finished a cap a week or so ago, shown to the left. The pattern was by Smariek - it came out really nice. I have a hard time believing I knit it. I read a silly little book with short stories "A cat who had 14 tales".

Met up with Smariek for coffee a couple of Saturdays back. We always talk of getting together but don't. She gave me some very pretty dish clothes, much too nice to use! I love the ones with the cat and the cat paw. And the round swirl one is just so pretty.

The cat family is still working out their issues, not as bad as before but still working it out. There are some moments of harmony and improving every day. I noticed that through it all, Milo is the one that hasn't hissed but he sure is aggressive in his playing

It's just another manic Monday

2007-01-29T20:40:00.000-08:00

Today was one doosie! The phone wouldn't stop ringing. Don't remember the last time I was so popular. I've got a project getting into high gear and it's definitely keeping me busy.

Haven't posted in a while. So let's see, what's been going on....

Been busy with work - really busy. I've been trying to work through a crochet cap but the new kid (Milo, pictured below) in the family prefers to play with the yarn and I can't make much progress on it. Just finished reading The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette - interesting, somewhat fictional.

Been stamping a bit. I set up sessions at work to make Valentines and one of the ladies asked to make cards to send to the troops. So that's what we are doing. The first session was last Friday and another one this Friday. Looks like we will be sending about 30 - 40 cards.

Had a stamping workshop for T. at her place in Sebastopol - it's a really nice area and I love her place. Will have to go over and spend some time looking around more.

Smariek asked who those guys on the treadmills were in one of my previous posts - it's a music video called Here it goes again, by OK Go.

Almost time for 24 & Heroes.

2007-01-21T22:33:00.000-08:00

Complete light show at Grand Place - Brussels, Belgium

This is a 10 minute video of the Christmas light show in Brussels. The show was spectacular and I had wished I had a camcorder to record it.

I am so happy I found this online to see it again.

OK Go - Here it goes again

2007-01-21T21:44:00.000-08:00


OK Go - Here it goes again Check out this video. Wonder how they managed to get this all down without getting straining something

Working with.....

2007-01-09T20:18:00.000-08:00

I have long ago accepted that there is no perfect work environment but on some days dealing with things just isn't easy. One can only tolerate so much before losing it. What gets me the cluelessness on the part of the other person - "I blew your job but others could too, so it's OK" - OMG what kind of crazy logic is that??

Found this:

Working With Idiots Can Kill You!
Thursday November 21, 2002
By KATE McCLARE

STOCKHOLM -- Idiots in the office are just as hazardous to your health as cigarettes, caffeine or greasy food, an eye-opening new study reveals. In fact, those dopes can kill you!

Stress is one of the top causes of heart attacks -- and working with stupid people on a daily basis is one of the deadliest forms of stress, according to researchers at Sweden's Lindbergh University Medical Center.

The author of the study, Dr. Dagmar Andersson, says her team studied 500 heart attack patients, and were puzzled to find 62 percent had relatively few of the physical risk factors commonly blamed for heart attacks.

"Then we questioned them about lifestyle habits, and almost all of these low-risk patients told us they worked with people so stupid they can barely find their way from the parking lot to their office. And their heart attack came less than 12 hours after having a major confrontation with one of these oafs.

"One woman had to be rushed to the hospital after her assistant shredded important company tax documents instead of copying them. A man told us he collapsed right at his desk because the woman at the next cubicle kept asking him for correction fluid -- for her computer monitor.

"You can cut back on smoking or improve your diet," Dr. Andersson says, "but most people have very poor coping skills when it comes to stupidity -- they feel there's nothing they can do about it, so they just internalize their frustration until they finally explode."

Stupid co-workers can also double or triple someone's work load, she explains. "Many of our subjects feel sorry for the drooling idiots they work with, so they try to cover for them by fixing their mistakes. One poor woman spent a week rebuilding client records because a clerk put them all in the 'recycle bin' of her computer and then emptied it -- she thought it meant the records would be recycled and used again."

Also found this site: http://www.iworkwithfools.com/

Love their mission statement.

My dominant intelligence.....

2007-01-07T19:32:00.000-08:00

Interesting.....

Your Dominant Intelligence is Spatial Intelligence

You've got a good sense of space and how the world around you looks.
You can close your eyes and "see" images. You have innate artistic talent.
An eye for color and shapes, you're also a natural designer.
Since you think in pictures, visual aids and demonstartions help you learn best.

You would make a good navigator, sculptor, visual artist, inventor, architect, interior designer, or engineer.

What Kind of Intelligence Do You Have?

I have been tagged

2007-01-06T21:46:00.000-08:00

Smariek has tagged me for a meme. I am to list 6 weird things about me and tag 6 others to do the same. I've got a bit a of a problem with both, other than Smariek I don't know anyone else who has a blog to tag and I don't really think about all the things I do that are weird, I just kind of do them.

Here are the stipulations-“THE RULES:Each player of this game starts with the ‘6 weird things about you.’ People who get tagged need to write a blog of their own 6 weird things as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave a comment that says ‘you are tagged’ in their comments and tell them to read your blog.”

6 weird things about me:

1. I am incredibly compulsive about things I cannot find - it's not that I need them, it's just that I thought of it and must now know where it is. I will know where I last saw it, even if it was years ago, haven't used it since, don't need it know but must find it. I will go through the house for hours looking for it.

2. When I am at home, every few hours I must take inventory of the cats, ie where they all are. I do that before I go to bed as well. Can't sleep unless I know where they all are (they are indoor cats).

3. I am particular about food items and how they are normally used or eaten. For example, I am used to eating rice warm with something, so I will not eat it cold in a salad or as a pudding(not meant to be eaten as a salad or cold), I don't like anything sweet in anything but desserts and occassionally salads - so I won't eat yam, or raisins cooked in with something.

4. I don't like my food to mix, I want to taste the distinct flavor of each without something that shouldn't be there. Some people mix everything at buffet places and that just bugs the heck out of me.

5. I have trouble with throwing things away, I am sentimental and a pack rat and organizationally challenged. I am a bit of a shopaholic with craft things and supplies and buy things just in case I eventually think of something to do with them and between the two problems I am overwhelmed with stuff.

6. ??????

Who would I tag if I could tag them - TF, NP, RH, JE, JW, AH

Hello

2006-12-30T23:16:00.000-08:00

I know I posted something on Christmas - mostly just a greeting but blogger ate it. So a belated Merry Christmas.

I had to extend my trip in Brussels by a couple of days due to some unanticipated issues on the work portion of the trip. And while staying was the only real good decision to make, it made for a challenging week before Christmas. You never really know how much you need 2 more days until you don't have them. I had gifts to buy, a house to clean up (the clan was coming over to our place), jet lag to get over, etc. etc and work to go to. I did manage to get through it all - course I did give up a few things and was behind on some other things - ie I didn't make any cards this year and I still working on the souvenir thing I am putting together for friends from the trip.

I took about 1000 pictures on the trip - not all worth keeping. I have been working on downloading them onto the computer and then trying to figure out how best to share them with others. I had decided on flickr thinking that by using a smaller size file, I could manage with their storage limit - no!!! In addition to a size limit, they have a quantity limit. Also, when viewing the slide show, you don't see the photo titles and descriptions - arghhhhh - I spent all this time getting the photos up there, adding the titles and descriptions - grrrrrrr. I also need to give my cousin all the photos on a CD and even on that end, I can't figure out how best to give her the photos with captions. CNET had a high rating for some photo software that can do slideshows with captions from Adobe and it was free, so I downloaded it and it didn't work - geez. It's like these photos just aren't meant to be shared.

Now that I've got the family gatherings behind me, I can focus on other things. Like sharing the trip - started a separate blog for that. Want to read a bit and start knitting/crocheting again.

So what did Santa get me? Well, my trip was my big treat. Our family does secret Santa and I got a robe and socks and a kitty plack. I had been wanting a robe and you can never have too many socks and the cat plack is just great (The cat and it's housekeeper live here). My sister flew in, which was nice and we spent some time together. Got some cute earrings from friends.

Have a safe new years.

I hope it's not this cold in Paris

2006-11-29T22:16:00.000-08:00

It's been cold here - a bit colder than we're used to - 47 degrees Fahrenheit, 8 Celcius - cold. Doesn't help that I just got my hair cut and the protective layer around my neck is gone. At least I got one other thing off my list, getting my hair cut.

Picked up a 2 gig SD card for the camera, finally got a Paris map. Still need to pick up one of those plug things so I can charge stuff there, get some euroes (sp?), I need to make a list of all these little things - I thought I had but I can't find it.

Remember how I said I was going to fly to Brussels, I changed my mind. A friend told me that the train ride would be far more enjoyable and convenient. So I looked into the train again and found a great deal, 25 Euro! The plane was about 150 euro. Made that decision easier - got the train ticket online.

My class project hasn't been working out too well. I knew I could never do that painting justice but I am doing a horrible job, don't know enough about the program to do a good job with it. So I think I will be abandoning that one and starting with something else. Something not so ambitious. Aside from that project, I have one more project to complete and then I am done.

Progressing

2006-11-24T23:50:00.000-08:00

I've been making a steady amount of progress both with my class work and the trip to Paris.

The unfortunate part of doing my class work on a PC vs a Mac is that I don't have all the fonts that are available with the Mac, so I will have to complete the text portions in the lab next week. I picked my wild card project - Van Gogh's Starry Night. It's a challenge but any project I picked would have been.

So many decisions on the trip. Decided to fly to Brussels, vs taking the train. The train will take me to the other side of town from the Airport and where I am staying and I am really overwhelmed with all the other decisions to make and want to skip wondering about how to get from the train station in Brussels to the hotel. Although the train would have been nice.

I think I will go to 3 museums - Louvre, D'Orsay & Pompidou. Of course there will be the standard sites - the Eiffel Tower, the Arc, Siene, Notre Dame. I've got many links and emails to go through that I've been saving on places to visit. I will try to go through them Sunday. I want to keep this leisurely - with sites in the morning/afternoon and strolls/shopping in the afternoon-evening. Taking trips is so much work!

Braved the crowds today and picked a few things at a great sale. I picked up gloves and thermals.

Also working in a knitting project - cat blanket - the kitties have so many sleeping spots and not enough blankets.

So much to do

2006-11-23T00:36:00.000-08:00

I definitely need to cut out all the extracurricular activities between now and the trip. I've got so much to do and I've been busy reading and crocheting.... just like me isn't it?

I am done with Son of a Witch, since I had no expectations, it think I liked this one better in a way. Would have liked a happy ending though but in it tied up many things.

I was contemplating on what project to start on next but like I said, got other things I must get to before the trip. I've still got to wrap up the projects for my illustrator class. I will be spending a better part of the long weekend working on that. I have yet to figure out how I will be getting from Paris to Brussels - train or plane??? Probably be the train but since I haven't researched that, it's one more thing I've got to do. Time is ticking away.

Thankfully this year, I get to go to someone elses' place for Thanksgiving, minimal cooking, some driving though and it's on Saturday.

I suppose blogging is extracirricular as well, huh?

Happy Thanksgiving. Enjoy the eats, drive safe and happy shopping.

The second book, crafting and more

2006-11-19T23:01:00.000-08:00

I had my annual holiday stamping workshop over the weekend. It's just an afternoon of holiday projects to get the creative juices going for the holidays - unfortunately, I am the one who had the creative block and was stumbling through the process. I guess in a way it was good that I had trouble, that way the others got to see that I too, like them, have trouble with the creative process sometimes (often!).

K, Tania and Smariek came over. Smariek has never been to one of the stamping dates and appeared to enjoy it - it's always fun to be around other creative people. Smariek brought over her completed caps and we got to admire her handy work. Tania shared her wire wrap jewelry - very pretty rings - Tania had both Smariek and myself pick one out for ourselves - I wore mine all weekend. I will have to remember to take a picture and share it here. Smariek also got to try crocheting a bit with Tania - I don't dare teach anyone to crochet given my incredibly poor technique - I crochet like one knits. I haven't seen K in a while and she's been busy with all that lifes throws at people but it was good to see her and I am glad she was able to break away to come by.

Smariek bought me a French at a glance book for my trip - just what I needed! Now all I need to get is a map. Couldn't find fog in there though - found "it is foggy". I have a feeling that while I am there, I will be mixing in some Spanish in my attempts to communicate.

Also picked up a handbag that may comfortably carry these books, a camera and my wallet. Most of the bags I found were either too big or too small and for some reason I didn't seen any bags with long shoulder straps - I guess they aren't fashionable anymore? Forget that they may be practical. Still need some gloves - will try to take advantage of the Thanksgiving sales....

I've started reading Son of a Witch, the sequel to Wicked. So far just building up the story - not bad.

Picked up a new cat toy today and they're actually playing with it! Most often, the toys bought just sit around collecting dust with no interest from the little munchkins but this one was definitely popular - at least for this evening. That's Hobbs in there, getting all wide eyed.

The plans are set!

2006-11-14T22:46:00.000-08:00

Drum roll please!

After much consternation, the big details are set for the trip next month, tickets, hotels & dates all done. 6 days in Paris and then to Brussels. The only detail I need to finalize is getting from Paris to Brussels - there is a 1 hour flight at 7:30 am (7:30am!!!!!!) from Paris, and I am thinking maybe the train would be better.

Picked up this book today - lots of photos on just about everything. Funny, just read an email from S suggesting something like this.

I've been told it will be cold, so need to prepare for that - I have a nice cashmere scarf but need to get some gloves & some thermals. I don't know about a cap or hat, never been my thing but I may need it.

I need a tote/handbag that I can stuff the scarf and gloves into when I am not wearing them, along with the camera(s). Should I take the camcorder? Maybe I should leave all the shopping for when I get there? A coworker suggested I go with an empty suitcase and shop there for clothing - I am not sure that' such a good idea in many ways.

But that's enough about Paris and the trip. Got a nice card from one of the interns that worked with us over the summer. He moved on to Daytona Beach to be a pilot. It was nice to hear from him again. Was it only 3 months ago that he headed back to school?

I am done with Wicked. I am not sure what I had expected but I have mixed feelings after having read it. Some parts I really enjoyed, ie the times in college with friends, Elphaba's sharp wit, some parts were a bit depressing and some plain strange. Too many parallels with the real world. I had heard so much about the musical and figured it to be a good read and it was but maybe just a bit too descriptive and complex. I don't think I've ever seen the Wizard of Oz but know the story some what, but I guess I never knew a house would fall on the sister! I checked out Son of the Witch at the same time, assuming it's the story of the son. Didn't much care for his character in Wicked.

Better get to bed at a decent time tonight.

The cat will find the yarn

2006-11-13T23:45:00.000-08:00

A corner made for the cats which they never used. So I took it over for the air purifier and stashing yarn.... now a new cozy napping spot - how do they know?

It's been a while

2006-11-10T23:27:00.000-08:00

Gosh - it's been a while since I've posted anything here. Where did the time go?

I've been busy with the every day things. The time change has gotten the whole routine off a bit, especially since it's dark even before I leave work. Been knitting/crocheting caps and keeping up with Cap-Karma. Read a book - Prey by Michael Crichton. Starting Wicked tonight.

Other than the normal things, I've been trying to finalize my trip to Paris. Yes, I am going to Paris next month. I am pretty excited about it, a little anxious about being in a strange place by myself but that's what adventures and traveling are all about, right? It should be lovely there, right before the holidays - the city of lights in the season of lights. The extended family are all going on a cruise at the same time - got invited to join them but it was out of the question given my plans - but honestly, 11 days on a boat is probably way too much for me.

Before I get on that plane, I've got to complete my illustrator class - I am getting way behind with the assignments. This second class exercises are much more involved and challenging. I've also got to pick a "wild card" project, which is basically a free choice project that we pick to illustrate using the many techniques we have learned. Choice is not a good thing for me as it takes me forever to make creative decisions. I supposed I should decide on what I want to do this weekend since I have less than a month to finish it.

From one site to the next and discovered....

2006-10-26T21:13:00.000-07:00

I was going through my email and checked out a site linked in an email and went to another from there and came across a story about a boyfriend who hijacked his girlfriends' blog - check it out.

A day up north

2006-10-22T13:57:00.000-07:00

We're having a bit of the Indian summer around here - I have no idea why it's called an Indian summer but I think it just means unseasonally warm for the time of the year. It was 80 plus degress Fahrenheit.

I had plans to go see Tania. She lives up north. I haven't seen her in a while and she invited me over to see the new digs and possibly learn some lampworking. I got to a late start and ran into a lot of traffic and decided to take the scenic route - by the beach and through the Presidio. For once, it was a great day and I had my camera so I took advantage of both to capture the day.

According to Google map, she is approximately 60 miles from here but since I took the scenic route, it was probably a little longer. For the most part the drive was just fine until I reached closer to Petaluma/Santa Rosa and then it got a bit busy. Once past Santa Rosa, I had to drive west and I was sure I was headed the wrong way - I had followed the instructions Tania gave me but all I could see was vineyards and fields. I kept thinking where has she moved to? the sticks? If I hadn't called and checked, I might have turned back to make sure I didn't miss my turn.

She has a really nice place - a nice cottage feel - the details are just great but it was also a nice size. She showed me around a bit and then we walked downtown for lunch - yes, we walked just a few blocks and there it was. It's a nice town with pretty homes and interesting architectural details - I would just love to live there - well except for the heat and the commute and um the country and er spiders. Still love it though... well minus the spiders (can you see that I have a phobia here).

We had lunch at a Thai place and then walked around and checked out the stores. We went to a yarn place and picked up yarn - yes, I bought yarn. L wants a new cap and I picked up some very nice yarn to make a few caps. We also stopped by the bead store and the Pottery painting place that also has classes on fused glass (Tania was interested in getting information to take a class). To top it off we went to Screaming Mimi's for ice-cream and then walked back.

Back at her place, Tania demonstrated how to make a glass bead and then I got to try it. It was very interesting to make one for myself. That's me concentrating on the flame and bead. I am wearing the UV protective glasses - they make seeing the color of the work a bit difficult but being that the glass is molten, it's pretty much orange and I probably couldn't make out the color anyway. I put down a layer of white glass first and then a stripe of purple. While the stripe was not perfect, the bead is round! I had figured that my first one would be distorted but it was not.

Tania had made some caps for the Cap Karma project - I had her model them for that blog. Talked crocheting and knitting and the blog and who knows what else - oh yes, and stamping, flickr and wists......

Can't believe how much we squeezed into one day. By the time I got to leaving it was late and I had a long drive ahead of me.

Managed to stop at the Legion of Honor on the way home and took one last photo for the day.

Walking shoes, shin splits and monkeys.

2006-10-20T17:44:00.000-07:00

Overall not the best week I've ever had and the not worst either but I am glad it's over and tomorrow is a new day and next week a new slate.

I've been trying to keep up an exercise program - I've been brisk walking on a treadmill - I started about a month ago and for the first 3 weeks all went all - I managed to keep it up about 5 times a week for about 30-40 minutes. Last week my right leg started to hurt below the knee, never had that kind of pain before. Had to look it up but didn't know what to look up - it was suggested that maybe I was wearing the wrong kind of shoes - huh? Wrong kind of shoes - they are shoes you run in - Nikes at that - wrong kind of shoes? Well turns out that if you're a walker, running shoes can cause problems - still puzzled by this. They are well made well supported shoes..... Further research indicated that such pain is called shin splits and is known to be a problem with exercising on the treadmill and possible with wrong shoes. Derailed the exercise program for a week.

I have size 5.5 feet - any idea how hard it is to find everyday shoes in that size? Well it's even harder in the athletic shoe variety. I am sure the mall stores that specialize in athletic shoes would have that size and also charge 3 times more than they should for them. I found that to be true and didn't find anything in the standard places. I can't really tell the difference between the walking shoes and the running shoes, aside from what it says on the side of the box. There are definitely more of the running variety than the walking variety. Finally found some at the S department store in the mall - $30 (vs $80 in the mall specialty store) for a nice pair of reeboks - never had problems with reebok. BTW, what's with all the pink athletic shoes for grown women?

With the shin splits hurting less and a new pair of "walking" shoes, I am back to the exercise program. I am trying not to push as hard and go as fast.

Monkeys - should I talk about monkeys.... I will get into it a bit I suppose - what was so bad about this week? Well, work wasn't so great. What does that have to do with monkeys you ask. If you live in this country, you've definitely seen the ads by Career Builder about "working with monkeys" - they are actually quite funny. Early this year, Career Builder had a lot of ads at the airport with this campaign - so we had 6-8 foot tall monkeys on the walls with different puns - "We failed as a team but I blamed you when I told the boss", "Don't worry about your project while you're gone, I've already taken credit even before you've left"..... you get the idea. A lot of the coworkers have had opinions about the monkeys every where - it was definitely doing it's job of getting attention. So when I have bad days at work, I think about monkeys and jack asses (one tv ad refers to that as well) and well you get the idea. So do I think I work with monkeys? No, I don't. I just appreciate having it to laugh at when I have one of those days.

If you haven't seen the TV ads - you can find them here: http://www.careerbuilder.com/tv/

Almost done with HP6

2006-10-18T22:34:00.000-07:00

For those who don't know what that means - I am reading the 6th Harry Potter Book - The Half Blood Prince - again and am almost done. I read it last year when it first came out and now that it's out in paper back, I picked up my copy and read it again. When it comes to a good book, it's hard for me to do anything else until I am done, including sleeping. So I've got one more chapter to go and then I am done. I knew the end was going to be difficult to re-read and it was (OK, so I cried, you would, too, it was sad). SPOILER ALERT -- if you haven't read the book, be forwarned that I am giving away some of the suspense here. I had to re-read the book to find clues on whether or not the big "D" actually did die and whether the Half Blood Prince really did it. And I am not convinced of either. There is a lot of discussion on the internet regarding both and so I guess I am not the only one who'd like for it not to be true.

Until the next and last book, life goes on....

Christina at work just knit her first pair of socks, and ever since I saw them I've wanted to knit a pair - I know it's insane. I have been thinking about a pair of knitted Gryffindor socks. And while I am on a HP kick, I would also like modified Gryffindor scarf - friends big hints here. A Weasley sweater would be nice but this little one would be cute too - with a "V" of course.

Better get to reading the last chapter.

My creative outlets

2006-10-10T20:32:00.000-07:00

I noticed that while I talk about being a creative spirit I haven't actually said anything about my creative outlets - seems like a lot more work stuff here than fun stuff. Well, unfortunately, this creative spirit does have creative blocks more often than I would like. And between having more creative work to do on the job and the illustrator class, I get the creative outlet at work.

So what have I done lately....

1. I am crocheting a cap right now, standard double crochet just to get back into the swing of cap making.

2. I made an ankh rosary for Nik-nik - like a rosary only with the eygptian cross rather than the crucifix - to wear not to pray with. Don't think beading is my thing although I do dabble a little.

3. Crocheted a blanket for my aunt's dog - he loves it.

4. A little photography - just experimenting to see if I have an eye for it - I don't. I think Nik-nik got that talent in the family.

Haven't done much of the paper crafts, which really is my thing. But with the holidays looming I really ought to get back into it.

So what have I been doing with all my free time? What free time? Reading (James Patterson, Dan Brown, JK Rowling) I guess, surfing....

Nice Long Weekend

2006-10-08T23:27:00.000-07:00

It's a three day weekend thanks to Columbus Day.

Smariek and I went to the San Carlos Art & Wine Festival on Saturday. It was a really nice day, weather was warm but not too hot. The festival was nice - the art/crafts booths were better than I had seen elsewhere before. We took our time looking around and taking in all the booths - particularly the knit/crochet wares and the handmade jewelry. We stopped by one particular booth, that I had visited at another festival, to shop for earrings - we took our time going through 5 or 6 baskets of earrings and picked a few for gifts (and one, maybe more for myself). S noted that she couldn't possible do this sort of thing with her DH, and I agreed that this is definitely the kind of thing to do with girl friends and not men. We ended the day with a late lunch at Mimi's.

Today was another warm day - um, aren't we into fall - didn't it rain last week? What season are we in? I spent a lot of time sleeping - a perfect afternoon of napping in the sun - I guess the cats are rubbing off on me... hehe. Went into the office to finish up on my reading for the illustrator class - the exercises in the book need to be done with the software which I don't have at home. Now I am all caught up and ready for the final on Tuesday.

Plans for tomorrow? Nothing yet.... A lazy day reading or crafting? Definitely sleeping in.

Cap Karma

2006-10-07T10:56:00.000-07:00

Last year, I inherited a lot of yarn - more like a car full of yarn. I needed to do something with it that represented the person they came from, decided on making caps for chemo patients. There are a couple of knitting groups at the airport, so I offered up yarn to anyone interested in making caps to donate. The community responded in a huge way and we made and donated about 125 hats -many of the knitters & crocheters used their own yarn for the cause.

We are now ready for round 2. With this round, I've started the blog "Cap Karma" and given our project a place to share their creative spirit. My close friends know that knitting and crocheting is not my creative outlet of choice but I've really come to enjoy it more through this project. And it's surprising to me how this project has become such a cause at work and with some friends.

I've got Smariek (pseudonym) not just knitting caps but helping with the Cap Karma blog. And TF is also working on some. Last year at work, ladies I only passingly knew would walk up to me and start talking about what they've seen and how they are so excited about the project they are working on. I was surprised to find out how my emails to a few had been flowing through the community.

I'm having trouble deciding on my first project - all this pressure! Really, I am not that good at either knitting or crocheting.....

The blue angels!!

2006-10-05T21:34:00.000-07:00

The thunderous roar

2006-10-04T23:25:00.000-07:00

There is absolutely nothing like the thunderous roar of a fighter jet. And for me, there isn't any other rush quite like it.

I am grateful to be in a part of the world where the sounds of fighter jets are not associated with dread of what's to come. Although there was a time after 9/11 when I didn't like seeing fighter jets in the area.

It's fleet week (http://fleetweek.us/fleetweek), and that often includes the Blue Angels. The Blue Angels are the Navy's precision flight demonstration squadron - flying F-18 hornets. Both last year and this year, the Blue Angels have come into our airport for the event. And they really know how to get the buzz going with their fly by over the city.

They arrived today and will be practicing over the city the next two days. I got a glimpse of one of them coming in. All of them didn't arrive as scheduled probably because of the weather. Really tough getting a picture of a plane flying so fast!

Hoping to catch them out and about the next few days....

Preparedness Exercise

2006-10-03T22:14:00.000-07:00

On Sepember 20th, I participated in the airport's annual crash exercise. Airports' are required to have the preparedness exercises so that everyone that has a role knows their role should anything happen. It's a full scale exercise, with volunteers for passengers, family/friends greeters, the response teams from the Airport and surrounding mutual aid. Make-up artist to give people realistic wounds. The whole nine-yards.

When you sign up for the exercise as a volunteer, you get to chose whether you want to be a passsenger or a family/friend greeter. Being my first time, I figured why not be a passenger. I was chosen to be an uninjured survivor.

All passenger volunteers had to report in at 6am (6am!!!) for make-up but knowing that I was uninjured, I was told that it was OK for me to arrive a little later - 7:30am. A local high school helps out with the exercise by providing a bus full of students to play passengers. When I arrived, I saw people walking about with their make-up. It wasn't just make-up color, it had texture - very gory looking stuff.

The one thing that does not get exercised is the actual crashing of any planes. We just board the plane and wait till someone tells us to put our heads down and grab our ankles. As I was climbing the stairs to go into the plane, I noticed a kid in front of me had something sticking out of his ankle - it looked like bone - his bone - it really looked like his bone was sticking out of his skin - made me want to get sick. The plane was an old one used just for this purpose and quite small, especially considering all the teenagers on-board - at some point I was wondering what I was thinking signing up to be on a plane full of kids. But once the exercise started everything moved quickly. We were told if we were not simulating being injured we should walk off the plane - the folks that were simulating injured people stayed behind. About 3o of us walked off the plane and stood to the side on the field - we were out just in time to see the fire trucks arriving with their water guns blazing - it was a site. Shortly after that other fire engines - mutual aid - started arriving. In a real life scenario, the airport fire fighters would be fighting the fire and the others would help with rescue and treatment.

As we were standing by watching, ambulances started to arrive to simulate their roles. There was so much going on - it was hard to decide what to watch. The doctor from the clinic came to check in on the un-injured. The firemen came around to check on us and sort us by injuries - greens were OK to go, yellows needed treatment and red needed immediate treatment. The greens (including me) were loaded onto a bus and we were waiting there. A couple of the firemen (one very cute one) came to check in on us and so did volunteers from the Red Cross - all playing their roles very well.

Sitting on the bus, we could watch the "injured" being wheeled to the triage area and get sorted and treated. We saw ambulances taking people to the mock hospital and someone even got air lifted in a helicopter. Eventually the bus took us to the terminal to be reunited with our friends/friendly. As I was entering the waiting room, I was given a sheet of paper telling me who would be meeting me - an Armit Upadhay - never heard of him. I was greeted by a Red Cross volunteer who asked how I was and if I needed anything and then escorted to a seat where a Chaplain from a nearby city was going to aske me a few questions. All these years at the airport and I had no idea the extent of community involvement in such scenarios. The chaplain asked me if I was alright, if I needed anything and then filled out a form to help me get reunited. I had no trouble with my questions but was a little lost at on the greeter part since all I had was a name - I made up the rest and then went and took a seat. The other volunteers did the same.

In another part of the airport, volunteers playing family and friends were arriving to meet this plane and they had to eventually find out what had happened and try to get information on their end.

The exercise ended 2 hours after it had started. Some of the people had been reunited. A few minutes after the exercise, long time buddy Mark comes over and askes why I hadn't come looking for him, I told him I had no idea he was supposed to be Armit. Turns out all I had was a made-up name and he had a whole bio on me and my so called trip around the world.

Afterwards, all the volunteers met up for lunch - got to chat with Armit and a few of the other visitors. Got to hear all the comments from all the players. A very educational experience and I will be sure to participate again.

So what's next - Fleet week and the Blue Angels this week. Umm - isn't this supposed to be work?

Illustration - graphics

2006-10-02T12:19:00.000-07:00

Here are the graphics I was referring to in my previous posting on this subject.

The F-35 illustration - took hours.

The final product

Sleepless

2006-10-02T07:15:00.000-07:00

I haven't slept through the night since mid-July, since that awful cough. First it was because of the coughing, then the congestion and now it's just a habit? I feel I could use the sleep yet I am somehow functioning with about 5 hours. I now have those lovely eyes that I haven't had since college all nighters.

In the beginning, I would eventually fall back asleep but now it's taking longer and longer to get back to sleep or not at all. Not much on television worth watching - actually that isn't entirely true. I did catch the Oprah bra and jean fitting show - Oprah is on at 1am! Turns out about 85-90% of us are wearing the wrong size bra - who knew. Go get fitted ladies - Nordstrom does that. Not sure who else. And about the jeans, too many of us are wearing the wrong jeans for our shape - now that's not a surprise.

So what else is on in the middle of the night, turns out TNT shows reruns of X-Files at around 4am - I caught it on two Saturdays but it wasn't on this past Saturday but on again this morning - Monday. Who watches X-files at this hour? It's too bad they don't run it at a decent hour, I would like to watch that again.

The days are getting shorter and colder - burr. May even rain on Wednesday.

I guess I'd better get going. May as well get to working.

A nice Saturday afternoon.

2006-09-30T20:45:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, as I was walking through the airport, I saw this woman walking towards me, holding a green hula hoop in her hand. She came up to me and asked me if I had a little girl, looking at the hoop in her hand, I said no. She told me she wanted to give the hoop to someone and not throw it away. I told her she could take it on the plane with her and while that is the case, it was a bit cost prohibitive either to take it on the plane or to ship it. I felt quite bad, she told me that her friend had decorated it and gifted it to her. She was headed home to Australia and was sad about having to throw it away. Having attachments to such things myself, I knew exactly how she felt and offered to give it to my cousin Nik-nik (nick name). I assured her that it was going to a great person and a good home and I had promised to send her photos of Nik-nik with the hoop. I gave her a hug and got her email address.

Today I delivered the hula hoop and Nik-nik did indeed like it and got those pictures to send to email to the lady. It turned out to be a fun day. We went out shopping for a bit, checked out some clothes, went to Ulta, got some Starbucks and headed back to her place. While at Ulta, Nik-nik offered to straigthen my hair to see how it would look and I took her up on the offer, so we got right to it when we got back. It's funny, I used to fix her hair when she was a kid and now she was working on my hair. She did a really detailed job and my hair is straight as straight can be. While she was at it, she continued with some make up. It was a fun make over and so unlike me - I looked like I was ready for a night on the town. The straight hair takes a little getting used to but it looks good. Nik was so happy with herself, she said I looked so much younger - like a 21 year old - really funny that girl. Hehe, 21 years old - ha! But it was fun...

All in all it was a really nice afternoon.

September 21 column by Jon Carroll

2006-09-28T23:45:00.000-07:00

Tried to link right to the column but that didn't work, so here it is.

By Jon Carroll

We live in a left-click universe. We see the bedroom, we click on the bedroom icon in our brain, we walk into the bedroom. We see the on-ramp to San Francisco, we click on the on-ramp icon in our brain, and we drive onto the freeway. We see our sweeties looking pensive and devastating, and we click on the sweetie icon in our brain, and we advance toward our sweeties with purpose in our eyes.

Sometimes the system crashes, and we advance toward someone else's sweetie, but then we get the dialogue box from our real sweeties: "End relationship now? Yes. No." and we come to our senses -- or we don't, and we get the "fatal error" message, with the red X and the "clunk" sound, and then we are living in apartments with plastic furniture and vermin in the walls.

Our brains work the way our computers work because we made the computers. If the interfaces were at least marginally intuitive, they'd be worthless. Our brains do not crash as often as our computers do; on the other hand, our brains cannot retrieve the primary exports of Albania in .033 seconds.

Sometimes the two worlds overlap. Back in the '90s, I had a tiny problem with the game Myst and its successor, Riven. I played it to the exclusion of my duties as a human idea. I would start playing it at noon and look up 15 minutes later and it was dark outside. Total eclipse? No, addictive behavior. I wasn't much on the fast twitch games, but Myst waited until your brain figured out the puzzle. It did not taunt you. I like that in a game.

When I re-entered the real world from the Myst world, I noticed that my forefinger would still twitch. I'd see a manhole cover. "I wonder what's under that manhole cover," I would think, and my finger would jerk spasmodically. "Let's go in the building!" Twitch twitch, no, walk walk. Right. Real world.

I have often wondered whether the basic rules of computer repair might be usefully applied to human beings. The first rule is: Turn it off and turn it back on again; whatever is wrong will probably no longer be wrong. Going to sleep is sort of like turning your brain off, and it does work wonders. The problem may not go away, but the solution is likely to appear.

The second rule of computer repair is: Jiggle some wires around. I wonder if that could be a good new method of brain surgery. Don't cut anything or graft anything; just jiggle stuff around, close the patient up and see what happens. It's not very scientific, but computers are large machines that would appear to require scientific analysis, and yet "jiggle some wires around" is sometimes all it takes.

The third rule of computer repair is: Never ask why. If something good happens, accept that it has happened and move on. Not a bad rule for life either. "Deserving" doesn't come into it; who knows whether your computer deserved to be fixed. Who knows whether you deserve that new job. Say "thank you" and move on. Courtesy always helps -- although not with computers.

So we live in a left-click universe, and what we need is a right-click button. We could figure this whole thing out if we had a right-click button. Say you are at the on-ramp to the freeway, and you can see the traffic jam already starting. Right click on the on-ramp and select "Create shortcut." Already you want to live in the right-click universe.

Suppose you are somewhere you should not be, and you hear a step on the stairs, and you desperately want to be somewhere else. In the left-click universe, your only choice would be to hide in the closet and pray. In the right-click universe, you could "Open link to new window." Then you jump out the new window! Genius!

Or suppose you said something you should not have said. Right click, hit "rewind" and try it again from the top. On the other hand, if you really like what's happening, right click, select "loop" and you can do it forever. If you're not happy with your home, right click, select "quality" and click on "a lot better."

Or suppose you are out in nature, and you have walked to the top of the hill and gazed over the fabulous expanse of landscape, the fields golden in the setting sun, the sky overflowing with purple and red, and you wonder if anything could be more perfect, and you wish you could see this same view forever. Right click, select "set as wallpaper," and voila!
********************************************************
This is your brain. This is your brain
on a cord connected to
a doohickey
that can,
to be frank, perform miracles.

There shall in that time be rumors of things going astray, erm, and there shall be a great confusion as to where things really are, and nobody will really know where lieth those little things with the sort of raffia-work base, that has an attachment. At that time, a friend shall lose his friend's hammer, and the young shall not know where lieth the things possessed by their fathers that their fathers put there only just the night before jcarroll@sfchronicle.com.

Page E - 6 URL: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/09/21/DDG6PKEABO1.DTL
©2006 San Francisco Chronicle

My first original illustration

2006-09-28T22:51:00.000-07:00

I've been taking a class in Adobe Illustrator - mostly so that I can adjust graphics files when necessary at work. The class while not difficult has been challenging mostly because I've been using AutoCAD for 12 years and it's been confusing because I am so used to the commands in CAD and tend to want to use those commands instead. Also some things in Illustrator are not intuitive (nothing in CAD is intuitive but I've used it for 12 years and you do catch on after a while).

Adobe Illustrator is a far superior product for illustrations and CAD is for drafting and it does that well. It surprises me that the things that work so well in CAD haven't found their way into Illustrator.

So far all the illustrations I have worked on are either exercises out of the text book or projects created by the instructor. The other day, H, my manager, asked if I would make a logo for his remote control plane club. He had a concept in mind which included a jet and their club name. Course, I had to ask what kind of jet and he says a high performance jet (need to remind him that I don't have his background in jets.....) Anyhows, I created a silhouette of a blue angels ( http://www.blueangels.navy.mil/index.htm) plane (f-18), which looked pretty cool, but he comes back with F-35. What's the difference between a f-18 and a f-35 profile silhouette - not much to the untrained eye. So I drew the top view based on some illustrations found online. Took a while to get it done and give it the right shadows to create the curves and give it dimension but it did look pretty good. I'm not far along enough with my knowledge to tweak certain details but at the scale being used, what was done looked pretty good - at least he thought so.

Important lesson about doing these things, it's all about what the client wants. I thought the silhouette had a sexier look but it's all about the details on the plans for these guys - so top view of the f-35 it is.

I am going to keep this as a work in progress, I plan to keep tweaking it as I learn more.

So glad I don't illustrate for a living, with all my OCD, I'd never get a project done.

V.

In the fog

2006-09-27T22:09:00.000-07:00

It seems a bit silly but I've been wanting to do this for some time now and have been hung up on what to call my blog.

Somehow "In the fog" seems right in so many ways. Sometimes a state of mind, mostly the weather here (by the most beautiful city in the world). And so very coincidentally also what the weather was like in the town I lived in before I moved here.

I lived and went to school there for 3 years. On my first day there, I remember standing at the front of the building, looking out the gate to the hill beyond and the fog and mist rolling in. It's a boarding school, and so often when I am reading the HP books, I am reminded of my time there. I found a picture of the school online. It looks much smaller than I remember.

That's enough of a walk down memory lane.