Anything can happen if you let it...

The Ninja is conducting for the Youth theatre group's rendition of Mary Poppins, and she'd been hinting at how cool it would be to have the Mary Poppins bird from the end of her umbrella as the handle for her baton...

We looked at decorative birds at Home Depot, but none of them were a good size or shape... and there was still the problem of getting the baton stick into the head and making the two fit together nicely... and not *look* decapitated...

Well what feels like four days ago "it would be really super cool" turned into my next "emergency arts and crafts" project, and I dove head first into a previously unexplored medium!

There were so many open questions when I started like "Will it melt... Or explode?!? Is it even possible?!?", that I felt like Han Solo responding "I never ask that question 'till after I've done it!"

I went through a few beak iterations that were too big, but good practice. Then settled in to getting the rest of it fleshed out.

I started to get a little nervous the closer I got baking it, and did some emergency Googling and a test bake to make sure the white wouldn't scorch (thanks for decreasing my perceived optimistic liklihood of success Google). Despite my new found fears though it went well! I got some good tips, although there was one in particular I should have followed and didn't... Supporting said project in a bowl of baking soda... I thought it would be okay, but it cracked a little where I'm guessing that the handle inside melted and bent a bit. Remembering other notes that said it didn't harden up until it had cooled though, I busted out a rubber band and strangled his little neck back together as far as it would go whilst cooling it.

The end result? *Practically* perfect ;) But I must say that I am nonetheless satisfied with my efforts, and more than happy with the astounded reaction I received upon presenting it -mere hours before the first upbeat- to its proud new owner, working wonders of her own in the orchestra pit below the stage.

If I was five again, I would camp in the livingroom!

Ha! My Mom said when I grew up that I could do whatever I wanted... I later discovered the "catch" was that a whole new set of rules apply, like not being able to burn off cake every night for dinner *le sigh*

But I don't *have* to be five to camp in the living room... although granted at some point my roommate's tolerance for a tent in the living room will diminish to zero... (see, this is one of those new rules) but until then... 

*yells* Whooohoo!!!! Camping in the living room!!!!! *grins*

I'm seriously questioning the intelligence of owning a tent larger than a space indoors to put it up in... nevermind, it fits in the livingroom is now the livingroom! While it is nice to be able to stand up in it, it's gonna be a bear to dry it out or do any kind of maintenance.

...and whilst undergoing the tedium and sticky fingers of seam sealing it, I know in the depth of my wet innards that the hours spent here will be well worth even the briefest of time keeping my outer bits dry and warm during a rainstorm... *ahem* however unlikely that may be in California

Check out my new rack!!!

My new bike rack arrived Wednesday catalyzing the expenditure of a weeks worth of pent up excited energy and anticipation!

I spent a good chunk of the evening installing it, and overall am impressed!

My only disappointment is in the cable locks, I know they're only supposed to be a deterrent... but it just seems like they did such a good job of making them integrated and easy to use, that the implementation of the actual lock bit falls short of my expectations.  It just doesn't feel that secure to me, like maybe if I reefed on it the right way it would just pop open :/

That aside, I love the rack so far! It feels super secure in the hitch, and my bike feels super secure in the rack and when I try to wiggle either the whole car moves rather than jiggling... which makes me happy :)

Adventures in healthcare

So I finally got set up so I can set an appointment to get my healthcare checkups and had to go through the standard questions.  Some of these I routinely struggle with on paper, but of course it was more comical trying to answer them out loud with an audience.

Assistant: Marital Status?

Me: Uh... What are the options?

Her: Married, Single, Divorced... *I glazed over* for some other options that definitely didn't apply...

Me: Siiiingle?

The other assistant laughed and said "You don't sound too sure about that!". I retorted that it was process of elimination and that answer was the closest ;)

Her: Race?

Me: White.

Surprised she looked up quickly, and I conceded... Well I'm not Black, I'm not Hispanic, I'm not Latino or any of the other minority groups, and it's probably under Caucasian... *restraining an eyeroll*

Unfortunately I forgot my friend's awesomest answer to this question: "Race? I am part of the HUMAN Race"

Her: Ethnicity?

Me: *looking truly confused* Canadian?

*laughter erupted and ensued*

Come on, how is that even a valid question anymore?!?! Seriously, I'm part British, Czech, and who knows what else coming out of the middle European countries that are all super close together and invaded each other frequently... and most of the people I know are of unknown mixed ethnicity for similar reasons. 

Even when you think you know, there's that person in the family that traces the tree back and goes "Hey did you guys know, we're part Scandinavian? Apparently four generations ago this guy got stranded when he was hired to invade and they couldn't pay the raiding party, so a bunch of them settled down and took local wives"

Hopefully with the advances that are being made in healthcare they'll figure out a better way to group people together rather than relying what we think we are.

Seesig shortcut number one

Last night we had a traditional? fried pork Filipino dish called Seesig... which we'd picked up most of the ingredients from a local Mexican supermarket when Trav asked:

Auntie, how do you cook the meat for this?

She lowered her voice and confided "First, I let the Mexican man cook it for me..."

Women and cardinal directions...

Don't ask me North, South, left, right!!!!

...

So you're okay with East, West, up, down?!?

I had a dream the other night...

I was hiking up an old logging road, it was dirty, and dusty and extremely rutted... and it was steeper than it should have been.

Semi-regularly there were plastic silver pins in the road with the NHL stamp on the top, almost like survey markers... I recognized them but couldn't quite place them...

For some reason I had a large backpack, despite which I was making good time and marveled at how effortlessly I threw my bag up a particularly steep section and jumped up after it passing a "runner" who was red, panting and practically crawling up.

Just beyond that there was another steep section, and as I climbed up I saw a lady pushing a cart on her way down and realized that it was the Stanley's cup. I respectfully stepped out of her way, watching in awe as she descended to my level.

She was *the* Cup bearer. She was the one in charge of the Cup while each player took it wherever they wanted for a day.

I asked if I could take a selfie with it, realizing in a panic that I didn't have my phone on me.  She smiled gracefully and assured me that she could take a picture of me with it on her phone, and that she could send it to me.

Somehow I ended up hiking down the mountain with the small group, some hockey player Gonzales that I'd never heard of who for whatever reason was still in a navy blue and burgundy uniform *skeptical look* and was the player of the day. I got to hang out with him and some of his closest friends as they told me about all the other places they'd taken the cup in their 24 hours with it.

It was amazing, it sounded like they'd had a blast and it was incredible to be able to share the evening with them. I woke up feeling as excited as if I'd seen the cup in person ;)

Flux always makes me think of flux capacitor

I've been working on a project whereby a light will come on when someone has left the garage door open (even just a little bit), and that light will be visible from both down and upstairs... of course as we discovered last night, that only works if someone is home to see it *sheepish grin*

Of course there is a pipe for the hot water tank pretty much in the exact spot I wanted to drill through the garage wall, so I ended up having to feed the wires through a vent... which meant I was soldering things in awkward places, like at the top of the ladder.  (which isn't nearly as bad as trying to start a chainsaw at the top of a ladder *coughs* Daaaad!)

Anyways, while I was up at the top of the ladder applying flux from the lid to the wires I was going to solder, the bottom of the container containing the majority of the flux fell *gasp* bounced a couple times and then wedged itself ever so neatly between the leg of the ladder and the hot water tank. Sideways.  Sideways as in it was mostly the edge I was looking at, with a little bit of the bottom.

Now flux is a little gooey, kind of like the consistency of crystallized honey... so when it wedged itself suspended above the floor I'm pretty sure I literally held my breath for a few seconds... I realized that there wasn't any on the floor yet, so it was either slowly dripping, or starting to drip and that time was of the essence! Sloooooowly as not to upset it's precarious balance I crept down the ladder... and managed to extricated it, flip it, and tap-tap-tap it all back in! *exhales*

Afterwards I did find some errant flux strands that must've flown out during it's decent, but I managed to save most of it!

Did you know that...

Apparently in America they've never heard of pencil crayons, they're called "coloured pencils"... sorry *ahem* "colored" (we don't use the Queen's English down here)... sometimes I'm not sure who's English we use...

I guess it makes about as much sense though... *shrugs*

Easter fun :)

Our rendition of "Kiss me" by Sixpence none the richer...

One more drop in the Ocean

Yesterday the ocean kicked my ass... and I cried a little, both in it, aaaaaaand again when I got out...

I just got so frustrated... hell I'm still frustrated!

Like confidence crushing frustrated like "maybe I just can't do this..." and "maybe I should just give up and go in" and "maybe I really didn't use to pick things up naturally, maybe that was just everyone being nice" *sigh* Pairing all that with my natural stubbornness I probably stayed out longer than absolutely necessary before I decided that I really was tired nay exhausted, and that the possibility of getting up  (remote as it had been when I started) was quickly diminishing to a big fat ZERO.

For something that I've done before, and enjoyed up in Tofino... It sure sucks not being able to get up when I can see other people getting up down here, and then on top of that getting stuck in the wave crush zone on the way out so that by the time a nice wave comes in again you're too tired to get up...

Or it flips you over, and rips your board out of your hands... and tugs on your board leash...

Or sucks you under and tumbles you a little bit just for fun... and tugs on your board leash again...

Or it chucks you off face first and forcibly rinses your brain out through your nostrils...

Or gets you all excited like you might actually do it this time, and then just rolls on by...

I'm pretty sure the Ocean was toying with me yesterday, and I'm pretty sure I have salt water in my brain... because I definitely have sand in my ears.


On a lighter note, the sunset was gorgeous... as was the bronzed lifeguard that ran up the pier and jumped off to assist a kite boarder that had managed to get himself tangled up...

A time for every matter under heaven

We all have families we are born into, and some of us are lucky enough to have families that have embraced us and welcomed us into their hearts and their lives.

Tonight the second half of my family is one less. 

Aunt Heather, the one who warned me "Whatever you do, don't tell Don you're a treeplanter"

And welcomed me to the family with "Would you like something to drink? The glasses are over there and you know where the fridge is.  You made your first mistake when you called me Aunt Heather, family serve themselves around here."

And I couldn't have been happier with that, I would much rather blend in and help out where I can than be waited on and be part of the stress of having company over.

I will forever hold her in the highest regard for her ability and aptitude in organizing a kitchen and quickly whipping up meals for any size party. I once witnessed her out-laws show up unannounced 10 minutes to noon in full force. By the time they had pulled around the corner, she was upstairs running through a shower and had me boiling eggs and chopping celery... within 15 minutes we had egg salad sandwiches, some kind of chicken and other odds and ends of just-in-case food laid out in what looked like a well planned lunch. I am still in awe of that to this day, even more so after having planned parties with less people, made shopping lists specifically for the event and still wound up with items missing.

She always had room for one or two more at the table, and we would plan our road trips to coincide with meals at her house. Even on her "bad days" her cooking was something to aspire to, one of my favorites on a particularly bad day was "Mount Vesuvius cake".

My favorite meal never to be duplicated involved putting dinner on, asking Uncle Daddy Herb to stir, driving a friend home, getting the car stuck after singing the praises of just how easy it was to get my chains on, then backing out of a really long driveway in about a foot of snow with said chains on, only to return home and find that the hockey game had gone into overtime and the chicken having not been stirred at all had perfectly caramelized.

She was a force to be reckoned with, a fountain of candid advice, and brutally honest. But she had a heart big enough to match the best breasts to cry on, and an enveloping hug that could close out the world and make everything okay.

I sure could use a hug from her today.

I'm sure going to miss her.

Wicked awesome!

My best friend just took me to see Wicked (the musical) and it was ah.Mazing!

I love love love LOVED IT!

I had heard from a few people that it was good, and if I ever got the chance to go see it, and that I would probably really like it... but none of that prepared me for experiencing it in person, from the edge of the balcony! *grins*

I was in awe of the entire backstory, and how they fit all the pieces together and picked up and wove in all the threads. It is basically the pre-story to Wizard of Oz, and fills in the experiences and circumstances that made the wicked witch wicked, but also brings to light the beginnings of the cowardly lion, the scarecrow and the tin man.

One casualty of the night, was that I lost a whole lot of respect and sympathy for the tin man... but my heart went out to the scare crow, the good witch and the wicked witch.  And it struck a chord with me that despite everything else going on, the friendship between best friends is stronger than love.  The idea that once that bond of true friendship has been forged, there's nothing tearing it apart.

The entire evening was magical *happy sigh* and while I loved the whole new best friends popular scene, my favorite songs were "Defying Gravity" and "For Good".

Couldn't resist, my new favorite hoodie... *squeeeee*

Apple watch me! Watch me!

This year I got an Apple watch, and thus began the comparison against my beloved FitBitch...


I don't know anyone else with one yet, so the interaction with friends bit is unfulfilled and will have to wait. 

The cool factor for me is being able to measure my own heart rate, and see what is normal for me.  Currently my range is anywhere from 46 bpm while sleeping up to 120 bmp while running around which is pretty cool!

Similarly to the FitBitch, floors climbed seemed to not work as I would expect... which softened the blow I had initially given the Fitbit over the same matter... until I recently read that the altimeter portion is contained within the paired iPhone and not the watch.  Given how many things they had to cram into the watch I understand why it isn't in there, but it left me feeling like it was inaccurate.

The charge time on the watch is about a day and a bit, which makes it relatively ineffective for capturing sleep habits and heart rate. I've found that if I do wear it overnight, I end up charging it during an awkward time the next day and subsequently forgetting to put it back on, or not wearing it when I'm actually doing something.  Not that big of a deal unless you're getting credit for your workouts somewhere else.

I had thought that the watch was going to help eliminate lugging around as much tech during workouts, however due to the altimeter and gps functionality residing in the iPhone it actually increases the amount of gear you've got.  Of course it gives you the added functionality of heart rate monitoring, which at the moment you would have to strap on a heart rate monitor to get any other way... so it's not that bad, and at least is more comfortable than trying to keep a heartrate monitor in place.

Overall they've done a good job, but it still has a ways to go in terms of being more than a glorified heartrate monitor for me. 

Yes it brings some of the functionality of my phone conveniently out of my pocket, but I wasn't someone who was really that bothered by taking my phone out of my pocket to do things in the first place.  For me, that's like people who complain about webpages being too long... and that everything should fit on the screen. Quite frankly I'd rather scroll than have to click through 10 different pages of screen sized content if it doesn't really make any sense to split it up in the first place. Scrolling is not that difficult. Get over it.

FitBitch!

Late last year I got a FitBit, affectionately referred to as a FitBitch by my friends...

Initially I was excited about my fitbit, because I figured it was going to change my life!

Correction: Nooooo, it will not change your life.  You still have to do that for yourself.

It does provide some valuable feedback though, and I found it makes me more aware of what I'm doing (or not doing) and how much I'm eating and snacking.  In that regard, it has improved my health/wellness to some extent.

I like the sleep tracking feature, but it falls into the category of personal interest at the moment. I haven't really figured out a way to act on the info it's providing other than to note that I should probably start going to bed earlier.

I am disappointed in the number of floors climbed, it seems to be way off pretty consistently.  I'm also disappointed in the distance reported from the sense that there's no training or calibration step.  It would be easy enough when you get your fitbitch to link it up with your phone, turn on gps, and walk a given distance and use that info to calibrate how long your normal walking strides are... this info could also be updated any time you log a walk or run by matching up the time stamps.

Community is where the fitbitch makes up for its previous pitfalls though, it wasn't until I had added my brother and his wife that I rediscovered my competitive nature and logged a ridonkulous number of steps in a single weekend.

Also battery life of the Fitbit Charge rocks, although the icon that displays after the app has synced with the device doesn't seem to have any bearing whatsoever on actual battery levels.  I do find though that since it stays charged longer, I'm more likely to be wearing it and keeping better track of things.


Although it comes and goes in waves, I think I'm more consistently logging exercise hours which ultimately is what's going to balance out my junk food intake so all in all? I love it and I can't wait to see further improvements.

Oh California :p

As I pack for our camping trip this weekend I can't help but laugh at the  range of clothing I'm bringing... from my bathing suit through my toque and down vest... 

Surprise! Spring has sprung!!!!

At some point in the last... oooh say a day over three weeks ago, I'd posted something about it being winter... and ten seconds later spring is bursting at the seams like a small child unable to contain their enthusiasm.

I don't think I ever posted it, but I took a picture when I was living in Cupertino of *all* the trees on the block next to our office in full bloom at the same time. I had  an introspective post, along the lines of fully understanding the term "sickly sweet" on a deeper level than I had thought possible.

But I think I've topped that level, as these latest blossoms have a scent reminiscent of the ones in Cupertino... only it sticks to the back of your throat, and is one part pretty and one part pretty disgusting :p

To top it all off I'm hacking like a 70 year old smoker who started at the age of 12. 

Thanks Spring, welcome back... No we didn't have time to miss you here in California. Some things haven't even stopped blooming so we can prune them!

I've had better mornings... I've also had worse

*stormcloud scowl*

The dog just puked on the carpet.

I haven't even finished my coffee yet.

I don't know why it always has to be on the carpet, or why she's a double puker... puke, move a little bit and puke again... or why I don't notice that she's puking soon enough to get something under it.

All I know is that it's not a good way to start the day... it probably isn't for her either though, poor puppy dog

Winter in California

Random note

I don't know how often this happens for the rest of the general population of flyers, but I consistently get at least one "Z" (Zed) in my airline confirmation codes down here. Its like there's a secret flag on my name because I'm Canadian. Despite being down here for more than a year now, my conversation at the check-in desk still goes something like this:

Airline agent: "May I have your confirmation code please?"

me: "K. L. M. X. Y. Zed..."

Airline agent: *looking slightly concerned* "I'm sorry could you repeat that? KLMXY...?"

me: "Sorry, K. L. M. X. Y. *Zee*"

Airline agent: *relieved* "Ah yes, there it is"

I'm not sure what letter they type in when I say Zed, it's not like it sounds like anything else... but shockingly enough it never seems to bring up my reservation.

Shelf of holding

No crazy stories, nothing exceptional in any way... I just have a shelf of holding for my soap, razors and toilet paper now.

Although I did balance it on top of the garbage can so I could screw it in by myself, everything went according to plan for once :p

*happy sigh*

#1 reason not to get a flu shot

True to natural cycles I picked up the flu this Christmas, probably somewhere in the airport...

*fake smile* It's the gift that everyone just keeps re-gifting!

About the only upside I can think of to having the flu after Christmas, is that once you've puked up twice your body weight, and completely and utterly exhausted yourself by being sick waaaaay past the point of being sick... you either come out of it lighter, or at very least a net zero in regards to the extra pounds you gained complimentary of those second and third helpings of scalloped potatoes.

It also gives you a greater appreciation for the health and well being that you've experienced up until this point when you realize just how quickly and effortlessly you can be reduced to a sniveling helpless blob of biomass.

In fact, this tried, tested and true formula has been refined for thousands of years... and is completely natural! Forget that lemon-cayan cleanse that everyone at work has been talking about doing that lasts all week, this baby'll clean you out in 24 hours or less*!!!

*Disclaimer: It may take more than a week for you to recover...

The force awakens... as do we at 2:30 am

Shockingly enough we made it to the theatre in record time at 3:45 am and found a decent parking spot only to realize that we were going to have to run the gauntlet of people who had just finished watching it and were no doubt talking about it. right. now.

At least no one looks pissed... that's a good sign. 

My eyes are burning and itching but my adrenalin is pumping and excitement and anticipation are coursing through my veins. Despite this my thought process is running at half throttle with a significant delay, and even simple tasks like going to the washroom take longer than one would think.

The wait is about to be over, where we find out if they were able to stay true to the spirit of the originals or if Star Wars as we know it is about to jump the shark at lightspeed.  

Also we have been dreading the possibility that the characters we've met only through advertising could potentially turn out to be Jar-Jars...

No spoilers, but I loved it, and would like to see it again... maybe like at least 3 more times, in addition to that I am looking forward to seeing where the rest of this story goes!

Ungodly hour in the morning after the show, to the guy whipping through the parking lot:

You better slow down dude, I know you're excited to see the movie but if you hit me I'll spoil it for you.

*unstoppable tired giggles*

Overprotection

Why on earth is this "sealed for your protection"... I'm not planning on consuming this, I'm not even planning on touching it.

BCAA, never leave home without it!

I'm slightly ashamed to admit as a Canadian, that I bought a brand new set of chains for our trip to the Grand Canyon and it didn't even cross my mind to bring a window scraper...

Luckily it was a perfect frost, and came off like burnt eggs on one of those fancy new Teflon pans.

She's not a friend of Spock

Standing in line for the washroom I overheard this Mom talking to her daughter...

"Don't do that, it makes me uncomfortable"

Wha??? Out of the corner of my eye I saw the little girl doing the split finger "Live long and prosper"

"I know, I see that you can do it, but Mommy can't do that... No, stop it I don't like that."

"It's fine that you can do it, just don't show me."

If only bottles grew on trees...

Oh but they do at the bottle tree ranch! 

Random and pretty in an eclecticly creative way... with a touch of abandoned wind chime middle of the desert creepyness ;)

In all seriousness though I wish we'd been able to meet Elmer? apparently this is what he does to keep himself out of trouble, and walking through spotting pieces of historical items hidden in his creations and going "Hey I remember that!" or "I wonder what that used to be for..." was pretty darn cool.

PIAA!

So bright I can seeeeah when you're even *thinking* of doing something stupid!

Super-Sam!

I love playing against ball teams that don't know that I can hit *grinch smile*

It means that I can hit the ball and run really fast, and even if it isn't out of the park... sometimes I can still get a home run ;)

Running so fast!

*sings* I don't wanna go to girl guide camp!

I was just in an elementary school washroom that brought back memories... in Obi Wan Kenobi's voice...

Only instead: "Now that's a smell I've not smelled in a long time... A long time."

In fact, the likes of which I have not smelled since Girl Guide camp when someone invariably added too much Detol to the latrine cleaning water. The worst by far was when the soles of Megan's shoes started "steaming"

Kids...

Student: I have two questions...

              1. Do clarinets and saxophones use the same reed? 

Teacher: That's a very good question, yes they sometimes use the same reed.

 

Student: And 2. Where can I buy a pumpkin big enough to fit over my head? 

Teacher: *?!?*  ...have you tried looking in a grocery store?

And you thought that your music teacher would be best person to ask this of?

You look like you need a hug

I know you used to be one of us, it's okay I still love you!

Silver lining

Listening to the gentle snoring of peaceful slumber...

On one hand it sucks, because I want to be snuggled up sleeping too... but on the other hand I'd rather be working while they're sleeping than missing all the fun they'll have while they're awake.

I'll treasure this little piece of time that is mine, and more thoroughly enjoy the time we spend together later today, however hectic it may be.

Roommates are awesome!

Because in that moment when you realize you took everything out of the bathroom in order to paint the vanity, including the toilet paper... you aren't in an immediate dilemma.

Choose your percentage of drunk

Hmmm I don't know how Math works in Japan... but from what I recall your level of Math is usually higher than our level of Math... but I'm pretty sure this isn't how alcohol percentages work in Canada (I would say America but they're using common core math, so who knows what they've done to percentages) 

Is this some kind of new alcohol percentage Math that I don't know about? Because if it is, I've been doing it all wrong!  I thought that no matter how much you put in the cup, it would still have the same relative percent of alcohol... No?  

The best laid plans...

I had plans this last weekend... plans to finish projects, clean the house, and go grocery shopping... among a few other odds and ends of 10 second tidying before my friends come visit.

Little did I know the Aunties didn't have plans, and would drop by with brunch and that we would then spend the rest of the day looking for garage sales, eating and spending money on things I didn't even know we needed at Costco (we did get some really good deals on stuff we're going to use anyways... I drew the line at 24 rolls of paper-towel - we don't need a 2 yr. supply of the stuff).  Now don't get me wrong, I made some poor decisions, I could have opted to stay home... but then I wouldn't have gotten 6x as many razor blades for the same price as usual, or found that perfect cabinet for over my toilet that I've been searching for ;)

It was slightly overwhelming, and a little nerve wracking wondering how I was going to get the bare minimum done in time, when I realized that it was great having everyone over and seeing them all, and that my friends, are coming down to visit me... not my house, it's just a box to hold all my stuff and keep me cool during the day.

I was also reminded that although family may be the people that drive you the most crazy, they're also there when it counts.  I'd like to sincerely thank Auntie Mayweather for cleaning my shower floor, I was hoping to get it half that clean, and she spent the better part of her morning before work scrubbing away my dirty footy-prints. 

It. looks. Ah-maze-ing! So amazing in fact, that I have resolved hence-forth to wash my dirty feets *before* getting into the shower.

Thank you Auntie Mayweather. No seriously. Thank you, so much... I owe you one.

Adventures in bathroom fixes

One phone call to my Dad for moral support (to see if he thought I could do it) as well as some safety first on how to check if something's *hot*... (preferrably the right way, not the 'just touch both wires with a screw driver while holding the plastic handle - and if it sparks it's hot' kind of way)

Also, I had colour coded the wires with tape so I could plug the fan I took out back in the right way, but I wasn't sure if there was a way to tell with the new one I was getting, which way it should go... Also I wanted to check if they had mickey-moused it by just twisting the wires together - Apparently not, as that's totally standard as long as they have those caps on, and since it's a/c it really doesn't matter which way you wire the fan in... which was good for me because they clipped the plug and wired it into two black wires.

Note from common sense: If you use these comments for home or bathroom reno's of any kind you're an idiot, I'm not a professional, and this is not an advice column.

One replacement upgrade kit later, that was much too large... partly because I guessed the worn off model number wrong, partly because I got excited about 50% stronger and 25% quieter! ...and partly because there's no perspective for how big something is online... *sigh* Oh well it will probably fit the downstairs bathroom :p

Once I had the boring replacement unit I still had to unscrew and flip the nuts around that hold the damn motor together, and swap on the old fan blade because the new one wouldn't fit through the hole... no upgraded fan experience for me :(

It sure is nice to hear the white noise of my bathroom fan again this morning though... for something I don't usually notice, I sure missed you ;)

"Day"-ja vu

That feeling that you've already been here today...

Oh wait, we have.

We literally went everywhere twice yesterday... except garage saling first thing in the morning...

We drove all the way out to Pomona to move the Ninja's cousin into his new place for school, drove all the way back picked up some stuff from Home Depot and then got the phone call to meet up for dinner at Gen Korean BBQ... back near Pomona...

Got cleaned up and organized, and on our way out there the plans changed... to Gen Korean BBQ near where we had just passed on the freeway, we exited, saw this Stop Korean BBQ place and researched it on the way back to the other one...

The other one had just opened and was crazy packed, so we changed plans and looped *back* around to Stop Korean BBQ via the freeway... which was less busy, and was able to seat our party of 8 when everyone got there *phew*

That's not all though... here's the kicker:

After dinner, we were going to play pool but the pool hall was a little more upscale than our collective skill set... so we ended up going home and playing at Scratch... which is in the same complex as the Home Depot

I'm not sure how it happened but it felt like something out of an episode of circus-circus

:p

Labour day weekend, how appropriate

562 trips to Home Depot and the project we started last weekend has an end in sight... of course that's what we thought yesterday... and the day before that.

Before we discovered that we needed just one more floor tile and they wanted to sell us the entire case... before a nice guy said this case is already open, its garbage to me (you can have that one)... and we hastily exited the store whispering "Start the car! Start the car!!!" Before we cut one wrong...

and as a desperate last measure cut it in half with mad exacto knife skills and made an overlap to fit ;)

Which was just before it turned 11 and was too late to nail in the base boards for fear of waking the neighbors... So here we are again, 12 hours later caulking the baseboards because they "mostly fit" and the end is still in sight...

The list is getting smaller, but each item has sub items you don't even know about until you get there... *fingers crossed* the end is drawing near, I can feel it!

Lady luck

I've come to the conclusion that lady luck smiles on different people in different ways... some people are lucky with parking and some with cards...

But me? well I'm just lucky. 

Not in any predictable way of course (because that might be useful), but I consider it the very best kind of luck.  I'm lucky when I need it, and sometimes when I don't think I need it or deserve it, like good karma.

Sometimes I win raffles, I get this tingly feeling literally just before it happens, like I just know it's going to happen, and then it does! Sometimes I have good shopping days, where I find everything I'm looking for, and it's even in my size! I've even had days where I'm able to find things someone else is looking for... in *their* size!

I think one of my favorites, was my Dad picking out a girl at a ski swap saying "You look about the same height as my daughter, go pick out a pair of ski boots" and she found me a $275 pair of boots (that still had the price tag on the bottom) which Dad picked up for ~$20... Which I then proceeded to wear for the next 18 years, until they were so completely and utterly packed out they hurt my son's and my feets. I never got to thank her, but I wish I could because they were wonderful! 

Recently I've been contemplating buying a wet suit so I can surf in the "winter" (who am I kidding, I'm acclimated and wussy now), but the trouble is that each brand fits a little bit differently.  I'd been looking at the swap meet because I don't need a new one, but was really struggling with sizing, some looked good in the top but then the legs were for someone with treetrunk thighs and the crotch came down to my knees :/ others were a good length, but were designed with Peter Pan in mind and there was no way they were going to fit over my boobs... 

So this last weekend we had gone to the swap meet with a list, the top item being a surf board bag... and we hadn't found it anywhere (so I bought a punching bag instead)... and then the Ninja found me the leather jacket I've been looking for for ages, and *then* while I was buying a churro because I was starving...

 

she found the surfboard guy we'd missed earlier! He said he didn't usually sell board bags, but since she was so charming and we'd come to the swap meet looking for just that and he *happened* to have an extra one he'd make an exception and sell it to me, and then I spotted this wetsuit over in the corner...

I liked it, and it looked like the most likely to fit candidate so far, but I was still wary about buying it without trying it on... and then he said I can give you a deal on the board bag and the wetsuit together, and tell you what, I'm here every Sunday... if the suit doesn't fit you can exchange it until you find something that works for you. 

*mentally SOLD*

At which point I had to ask the Ninja how much cash she had... *grins* I think we literally walked away from that swap meet with $4 left... in her pocket ;)

Oh, and the wetsuit? Fits like a glove *grins*

How convenient?!

The recipe called for two yolks, and I thought I was going to need two eggs.  Luckily I cracked this one first!

It isn't a wedding until...

Recently before a wedding I found myself with two of my roommates' cousins helping with a few of the last minute things that needed to be done.

With half an hour till "go time" we beat a hasty retreat to get ready.  The plan from that morning was to change at one of the other cousin's hotel rooms which was only two blocks away allowing us to walk from and to the wedding and not have to worry about parking in downtown Boston.

We got there only to discover that the magnetic strip had de-magnitized itself since the morning hand-off...

Great.

E! went down to the front desk to try to get it set it up again... He was escorted back by the host who said something along the lines of "I need you to identify a couple of articles in the room so I know you've been in there before" *totally routine*

*bites lip* well the thing is, we haven't been in there before... and we all knew that none of us were in a position to guess anything other than "uhhhh twin's stuff?"

While all this was going on we had called the room owners who were already at the wedding and kept them on the phone with us, and they quickly described a couple key items to identify (my favorite being "in the luggage closest to the door, if you open it up you'll find a burgundy dress shirt, and multiple star wars t-shirts") They also gave us the names and the address on the account...

He stopped, looking concerned and said "We don't normally do this over the phone, usually it's in person, excuse me for a moment I need to consult with security"

"Of course, no problem" we replied... He retreated down the hall a ways but we could still overhear snippets of his conversation including "This could be a set up" 

Awesome. So we're either about to get escorted out of the building... or possibly arrested...

What felt like 10 minutes later he returned, listened to the few items we'd been given to use as identification and unlocked the room saying "Give me a couple minutes to check this out" I'm pretty sure we were all trying to remain nonchalant and not make him any more nervous than he already was...

My favorite part of the whole ordeal happened, after he took a few steps inside the door and radioed back "Yep, I'm still alive"

Dude! We're standing here with dress shoes and clothes because we need to get ready for a wedding, not because we're trying to break into a room on the 10th floor with your help. Security already knows about this, and has probably positioned themselves appropriately... or at least hit 'record' on their closed circuit camera feed *sigh*  

Less than a minute later, he had confirmed everything to his satisfaction, let us into the room and everything resumed as normal.

Everythin except that we had significantly less time to get ready.

I took the fastest shower I've ever taken in my  life! (faster even than a cold water shower - TC's Mom would be proud) The rest is a blur of E! speed-ironing his clothes and Mr. Beauuuutiful standing in the bathroom in his underwear and dress shirt watching a You-tube video on how to tie a bow tie.  By the fourth or fifth iteration I was ready enough to help him find the elusive hole he was missing and we were on our way!

I put my pretty shoes on in the elevator, and we walked into the wedding half an hour late, which it turned out, was just *after* the bride had walked down the aisle, so all in all we really hadn't missed that much after all ;)

How do you feel?

Well enough to hit a home run, and run all the way around the bases! *grins*

It figures, that the time I'm trying to take it easy while recovering from being sick is the time that I launch it past the outfielders...

But the way that it felt and sounded when I hit that ball... was so perfectly wonderful, that I'm not complaining. In fact as much as it will frustrate me, it's totally worth every second of being exhausted today ;)

Happy Birthday Mama!

My best friend's grandmother is turning 100 this year, or at least they think she is, record-keeping being what it was in the Philippines back in her day, well that and while visiting relatives she found out she was actually four years older than she thought she was...

They put a call out for videos and pictures of everyone "Doing something cool and wishing Mama a happy birthday" This is our submission:

To elaborate a little, we probably waited in line for over two hours, as due to the limited time left to submit we only had one shot at this!

Luckily we were placed in front, and as we waited for the final checks they ran through the plan again.  Ok, it's going to turn right, right, right, right, and then left... So basically when it changes direction, you need to lean as far forward as you can and smile because that's where it takes the picture.

Ok, I got it, I can do that.

We were whizzing through the ride, turning, turning, turning always to the right... the new things they've added for the 60th makeover are amazing and totally capture my imagination, I really do feel like I'm blasting through space!

All of a sudden there's a commotion in front of me, as the Ninja unfurls the banner.  What's this?! We haven't turned yet I think, as her cousin yells "It isn't tiiiime yeeeeet!!!"

It sounded like an angry tarp on the highway beating itself to death, as she tried to stretch it across to her cousin... *pause for blinding insight* she realized there were two things we didn't take into account: the wind factor and that in order to do this she wouldn't be hanging on to anything... *unpause* She caught air on the next right turn where it then acted as a drag chute and pulled her all the way to the left, I thought for a moment I was going to have to grab her leg on the way by!

Somehow she manged to miraculously get it back under control without ripping it in half, her cousin meanwhile was dealing with an ear malfunction, I was laughing uncontrollably... and that's about where this picture was taken ;)

Happy Birthday Mama!

The Engineer's daughter

We were driving along when I saw this billboard and blurted out "They're all turned the wrong way!"

my friend: "What?'

me: "The faucets, they're all open"

her: "How do you know?"

me: "Because of the type of valve they are, those are usually closed when they're perpendicular to the pipe..." 

I trailed off, as I realized just how nerdy the words coming out of my mouth were... smiled and said "My Dad would be so proud of me" I need to send this to him.

And how do you catch a princess?

Why by angling for them of course!

California Surf #2

If someone were keeping score last weekend it would have read something like this;

Waves : 20, rocks : 2.5 and Sam: 1

But that 1 point was totally worth the 2.5 holes I have in the bottom of my left foot, and made it oh so much sweeter when I was finally able to pop up and surf towards shore with a modicum control. It was amazing and incredible and everything I remembered surfing to be from the last time I tried it *grins*  I can't wait to do it again :)

It was ridiculous how many people were out surfing and attempting to surf last weekend, and yet they were friendly and well mannered. 

Of the other times I don't count that I sort of popped up, my favorites include the first when I rode in standing way too far back on my board, awkwardly, like a penguin... and couldn't move to fix myself or do anything other than think about how ridiculous I looked.  The next I was up, and suddenly headed towards a Dad and his kid, I thought I might be able to lean around them until I saw the look of concern and fear in his eyes... I jumped ship with enough room that my board wouldn't bite them, even at the end of it's leash.  I think my favorite of the day though, was losing my balance on the way up and fighting it the whole way... and doing a cannonball butt first, if it were a cartoon my hands and feet would be getting dragged away from where they were trying desperately to maintain their surfing position.

The most pathetical moment of the day was paddling so hard to catch a wave, and then not having enough energy to pop up, and just riding it in on my stomach. *pleh* I obviously need to do more push-ups or something...

Dog Barf... Achievement Unlocked!

After a year of living here, I finally managed to catch dog barf on a scrap piece of paper, rather than with the carpet. My previous attempt at "the football carry" to the bathroom was unsuccessful, and nowhere near the desired outcome. 

I'm sorry blank piece of paper, you may not have been scrap before... but you were the closest one, and I'm willing to sacrifice you for the cleanliness of the carpet.

Dude!

I bought a cheap "foamy" surfboard!!!

The cutest thing was our neighbor literally jumped out of a moving car when his wife said "Oh look Sammy got a surfboard". He was *so* excited for me, and said the best thing about them is that when you get dumped you don't have to cover your head and face like with the old wooden surfboards... he got 15 stitches from one once! 

I'm so super stoked you have no idea! 

Almost embarassing beach story... because everyone has one

I was trying to bodysurf this wave in to shore when I got "Maytagged" (like the washing machine) about half way through I realized the lower half of my bathing suit was making a break for it!!!

I immediately abandoned all pretenses of swimming and caught it down around my knees, with the wave in control I was immediately bouncing along on my head, with my knees and feet flailing around out of the water, while I pulled my suit back into place... 

Sputtering sea water I surfaced cautiously, double checking my suit placement before walking out of the water... acting as though nothing had happened...  judging by the people and their dogs carrying on as though I hadn't just exposed myself to the world... nothing had happened.

Huh. I guess it is true, nobody really cares what you're doing...

I literally brought half of the beach home with me in my bathing suit *sigh*

Darth Paw

Lookout!

Dog with a light sabre!

Thoughts on getting older

It was weird, as I waded through the legal jargon spelling out the representative agreement, and the documents giving my brother power of attorney should something happen to one or both of our parents... I realized it didn't feel personal.  It was like the documents I was signing were for someone else, I mean *my* parent's are "Mom" and "Dad"... who are these people?

When I got to the section dictating the resolution of conflicts I knew that "these people" were one and the same with my parents.  I could see the dissolution of the legal mumbo jumbo into a striking clarity with the statement:

 " ...and any conflicts shall be resolved by coin toss"

Waitaminute... whaaaaat?!?

There they are, those are definitely my parents you're talking about. *smirk* I can just imagine the consternation of the person drafting this document... the mental grinding of gears as they stumble through it while reading it this time, and every time after *satisfied grin*. It doesn't fit the standard, and I like to think of it as a very Canadian, passive aggressive way of throwing a wrench in the works *sticks out tongue*

As Dad said chuckling when we talked about it later... I know you guys are smart kids, and I trust you to make decisions in our best interest. If there's a conflict it's probably because you're both right, and there's no point in agonizing over it.

It echoed this sentiment, something he used to say all the time ...

"Do something! Even if it's wrong..."

It hearkens back to the oldest form of decision making, let whatever gods may be decide the outcome of my fate.

Patience isn't always a virtue

Someone said something along these lines the other day, and before asking if they meant "infinitely" I thought about it... and realized that it described certain situations perfectly:

"There are some people in our lives that we are intimately patient with."

 

Monkey see, monkey do

A friend of mine recently re-laced his ball glove with paracord, which didn't seem like a bad idea... and when I got to thinking, I realized that it meant I could pick from any number of the brilliant colours that paracord now comes in *grins*

Of course having thought that, it didn't take long for the pocket of my glove to blow out... so after limping through an afternoon of catch using a shoelace, I picked up some pretty green paracord and embarked on my own re-lacing journey...

You know that moment, when you reach a natural breaking point in something you're working on? That moment where you should stop and call it done, but you're feeling overly confident with your recent progress so you keep going. Like the longer you keep at it the faster you're going to get... that is until you hit that plateau...

Yeap, definitely should have stopped at re-lacing the pocket and the sides...

I've learned a few things though, be ye so foolish; 

You should undo the lacing around the bottom of the palm first rather than last... as it would have opened up waaaay more options for fishing the other lacing pieces through.  I've learned that although handy, forceps, needle-nose pliers, zip ties and masking tape in any of the combinations you can think of... are not the appropriate tools for the job.  Also the tensile strength of a paperclip is not up to the task of fishing doubled over paracord through a leather hole with pliers...

Paracord does not like to be tied the way nice rope likes to be tied, nor does it melt and shrink up neatly the way anything with the appropriate amount of nylon in it does... but a couple tubes of electrical shrink wrap and a hot glue gun later, I fixed it's little red green wagon. Ha!

So here you go, it may not last long... but I think it looks pretty!

Riding bikes, always better with a friend!

Fast forward a few weeks from our nocturnal laps, and we went from the relative safety of an empty complex loop... to the bustling narrow albeit paved, bike path that overlooks Huntington Beach!

I would like to say that you did an amazing job successfully navigating through wandering pedestrians, other bikers who weren't paying attention, untrained dogs on leashes, more pedestrians, and a hill larger than anything we have at home...

There might have been some white knuckle moments, and perhaps even one or two moments of panic but you did it dude! You didn't run into anything, or even frighten anyone... you didn't crash, or add any battle scars to your bike or your body. As far as I'm concerned that's a pretty good scale to measure against, and classify it as a successful ride.

You're tired and out of breath but we rode a whole lot further than anything we've ever done before, so that's exactly as it should be.  Tomorrow, and possibly even the next few days you may be sore in places you didn't even know had muscles, but the secret is that's what means you're still alive.

It will get easier, and it will come to be more enjoyable. I promise.  When it doesn't take every ounce of concentration to ride, you'll be able to appreciate the places that we're riding and the beautiful views there are to see.

What I'm trying to say, is In the end it will be worth it.

Eating leftovers. So much easier with a microwave

I'm the first person to go "Really? $70 to install that for me? I bet we could probably do it..."

Long ago, my father tried ever so hard to teach me that your time is worth something.  So while you might be *able* to do something (like changing the oil in your car). You should assume that your time is worth at least $30/hr and if it takes you any longer than that (plus parts) then it's actually totally worth the $40 - $50 they charge at the drive through oil change places which only take ~15 mins ...also sometimes there are some really cute guys working there ;)

So while my brother and I are both extremely cheap in this regard (we must be related) and will err on the side of "doing it ourselves" I think it's good to have that sober second look.

Someone who points out that the new microwave weighs in at 69lbs, and that the old one is probably heavier.

Someone who says with a dubious look on their face... "Yeah we probably *could* do it... but we would have to move the stove"

And as I sit here watching two big strong men manhandle the old microwave almost literally out of the wall, I'm satisfied that it probably would have taken us much longer, and there would have been a whole lot more heartache involved.

Soooo hot-pockets for dinner?

New to me dresser

It became apparent that I needed a dresser, to try to tame the entropic pile of clean and semi-dirty laundry in my closet... being that it was going inside my closet, I didn't want to pay a whole lot for it.

We looked and looked and looked, scoped out prices at the local thrift stores and finally I settled on one.

It was a little larger than I had envisioned, but I was excited to get it home and see how it was going to transform my life!  That excitement was short-lived when we discovered we couldn't actually get it in the back of the car *sigh*... They were nice, and despite being busy refunded my money, only giving me a mildly hard time about it because they "don't do returns" until I pointed out that I literally could not get it out. of. the. parking. lot.

I was a little bummed... but we resolved to keep looking, as that must not have been the right one anyways ;)

The next one I liked I found at the swap meet, I was happy with the drawers -they slid nicely, it was a decent price, and it wasn't made of particle board like everything else these days.  I ended up tipping the guy $10 after he single-handedly manhandled it up the stairs like a hero, carried it 30' down the sidewalk and deposited it into the back of our car.

When we got home I was even more impressed when we unloaded it, and considered it well worth the extra $10.

I spent the next ~3 hours cleaning, wiping, and pledging the dirt and grime off of it. While removing the drawers to clean them and vacuum the dust out I was rewarded with a clean pair of socks, and guys boxer shorts -also hopefully clean- from where they had fallen behind.

Moving along, this far into a cleaning project I'm in the groove... I'm working away, I've got the shop-vac swishing around inside doing it's thing, pushing out enough white noise to drown out the dogs next door, when suddenly there's something there in the drawer... something that wasn't there before. Not so far from where I was *just* vacuuming. Something black. and shiny. withlegsandfricken' HUUUUUUGE!!!!!!

I levitated backwards at least a foot and half screaming obscenities I'm sure the neighbours 3 doors in either direction heard.  I also scared at least a year and a half off of my roommate who had been working away behind me on something else...

She was yelling at me for scaring her, until I pointed out the *size* of the black widow that had started the whole thing.

We skipped the raid and went straight to the heavy duty bug barrier that's supposed to kill things dead in their tracks. She sprayed it, and dripping it staggered sideways and then just continued along?!? She sprayed it again and it dropped down, but kept walking towards us! I whipped out a trusty flip-flop and *splat* it was all over.  We figured that it had probably eaten everything else in sight, but I very carefully double checked anyways ;)

And now? Here is the dresser that has transformed my life closet, see what a good job it's doing?  I would have taken a before picture, but you'll just have to trust me... it was much too embarrassing to show the world.

What? you like my Granny's buns?

Heh, don't worry... you aren't the first person to say that.

It always takes me a few tries when I move to a new place, but I think I finally "got it"

Here are my Granny Buns:  

There's magic in the air

One of the most wonderful sounds, is that of unbridled glee bubbling up out of someone unbidden.


As I ran alongside in the dark for moral support, at an hour in which most people are in bed, it was a rare treat, listening to my best friend giggle in the nervous pitches of an elementary school-girl...


The look on someone's face when they are simultaneously thrilled and terrified... the expression of loving going faster than you can run, tempered with the knowledge -born of the wisdom of your years- of how much it will hurt if you fall... and throwing all caution to the wind for the wonder of it all.

Bearing witness to it was incredible, thank you. It's only been about 20 years... but I do believe it's true what they say about riding a bike ;)

I am an IBMer

It's always exciting for me when I get business cards, I always have to show them to everyone I know.

Like "Hey look! I really do work for this company!" *glowing*

I think partly, its a sign of trust. Because once my name is associated with the company's name, I'm an extension of their reputation. 

I think being in IT, since you often aren't customer facing... there isn't usually much "need" for business cards, and quite frankly you're replaceable.  So getting business cards is kind of a big deal, like the company thinks you're going to be around long enough to be worth getting them for.

It's so good it makes you cry

This is some goooood horseradish she says to me...

Almost brings a tear to your eye? I ask

She nods, smiling through glassy eyes

It's so good I keep putting more and more on, although I probably shouldn't she said... just before a giant crater opened up where her nose used to be...

Yeap, might've put a little too much on that one ;)