How hungry were you?

(In your best Filipina accent)

If I'd seen a cow, I would have taken a bite out of dat cow!

Wherein "smart" is not a reference to the person using the phone...

I saw something once, that people back in the days of Einstein would be appalled if we told them that we carry something in our pockets that had near-instantaneous access to a vast accumulation of human knowledge... and we used it to talk to each other and take pictures of our food...

It brings a little perspective to the power we literally hold in the palms of our hands

Don't get me wrong, I'm fully guilty of this also... but I've realized that having this literally at my fingertips, means that I don't make the effort to remember things "because I can just look it up again"

In some ways we're a generation of idiots...

"Weekend" DIY projects

We are in the midst of working on a "minor" weekend deck project that went big.  In fact, we're took it into the next weekend.

We decided last weekend that we wanted to put up a trellis, like the one our cool neighbors have, but in wood because it just looks so much warmer.  Of course the fence we want to put it on top of isn't level... and it's a 12' gap where prefab trellis comes in 8' lengths, aaaand then we decided we should put in a shelf for planter boxes... yeah, you know how it goes ;)

Anyways we spent a good couple hours wandering around Home Depot figuring out what we were going to do, comparing prices, sorting through wood all the way down. to. the. bottom. to get pieces that weren't bent and warped and otherwise munched or weird, and gathering random other supplies...

Checked out and realized that at the end of the day the prefab trellis was going to cost pretty much the same as all the parts AND wouldn't require nearly as much monkeying around with. 

We turned around right there in the parking lot, and returned half the stuff we had just purchased, went back to the lumber section and sorted down. to. the. bottom. to get the two prettiest prefab trellisesss.  As an added bonus it also fit in the car better, and was easier to tie down ;)

Once home, we cut, dismantled and otherwise mangled the one prefab section into a beautifully framed shorter trellis... only to discover that we had done it to the wrong half. *facepalm*  Seriously I was so proud of us, it looks like it came like that! (For those of you doing the math in your head and thinking that shouldn't matter because we cut the one trellis in half... I lied. The space is actually 12' at the bottom and ~146" at the top - It's California! Things get shifted and re-settled regularly)  Annnnd of course, the way we did it meant that we couldn't just "undo" it and "do" it to the other one... yeah, we "did" it good.

Two "emergency skype" calls to my Engineer Dad later and we had a few different options... along with various notes of things to watch out for, things to remember, and things to be careful of... and most importantly, how to level the fence. 

Another trip to home depot for paint... a few jugglings of which pieces are going where, an evening of painting the various pieces, and we're just about ready to put it all together! *phew*

Despite my worst efforts

My orchid is blooming again,  I didn't kill it!!

This has been so cool to watch it open over the course of about the last three days :)

Debunked

Straightened misconception from my childhood/highschool years: Fried green tomatoes is not about smoking weed.

You're right,  I'm crazy but the only thing I can think of is:

a) I did not at any point see a preview or trailer and b) the only thing that got talked a lot about at my highschool was weed, and so in the absence of any other logical explanation (because really, who would want to eat fried green tomatoes?!), I assumed it was another euphemism for smoking that I just wasn't cool enough to know anything about...

Hehe, it is a pretty good movie though, I'm glad I finally saw it ;)

ADDDDDDDD

You might have ADD if in the amount of time it takes between one turn and the next... you forget that you've already got *two* hits, but haven't actually sunk the battleship... and then start looking for the next one :p

Sometimes it's better not to wonder...

Last night for instance...

One moment I was wondering what would happen if while gargling Listerine I relaxed my throat just a little bit more... aaaand the next moment I was gagging on the fresh burning sensation on the back side of my nose flap, and drooling profusely.

I've often wondered, where that point is. When something switches from you thinking about it, to the reality of your body following through with it.  Especially when it wasn't something you ever intended to *actually* try...

*sigh*


Sometimes, it really is better just not to know.

Some things never change

Her: Are you all done with that sir?

me: *hehe* yes, I am thanks

Her: *apologizing profusely* I'm so sorry, I wasn't really looking, and I saw your R2D2 hat and I just assumed...

me: It's ok, no worries

The ninja: Dude. You're like a 36-D right now!

me: I know, and it still happens to me from time to time *shakes head*

Wonderful

Some of the best things in life are free.

Like lying on the deck blowing bubbles into the night sky, and watching them sparkle like gems in the reflection of a flashlight... although the surroundings are a little bit different, its still as magical as the first time I saw it at Girl Guide camp.

If you've never blown bubbles at night before you should try it.

Look we found nature!

I am loving the green from all the rain we've been having, and as you can see there's more on the way!

It was a beautiful day for a walk!

Oh right...

That's why you shouldn't leave things open in the shop...

Well that was exciting

Let's go for a soak I said, relax a little I said...

Half way in to our twenty minutes of bubbles we hear shattering glass and the sound of a screen door being wrenched off it's hinges.

We look at each other like is that seriously happening? Is someone actually breaking into a place in the middle of the complex? Are you kidding me?!?!

Aaaaand we're sitting in the hot tub. Awesome.

The ninja has the presence of mind to tell me to call 911. It took forrrrreeeeeever like a dream in slow motion to dial the number, and then time caught up *zap!* like an elastic band back to reality as I explained to the dispatcher we were witnessing a break in.

I gave her the address, described what we saw and heard... she asked me to stay on the line with her until dispatch arrived. Yep, not a problem... aaand no sooner than that...

*wuppa* *wuppa* *wuppa*

Damn! That's some response time! Well that's good to know! Buuuuut now we're sitting in the hot tub in the helicopters spot light... and I'm still talking to dispatch.

me: So uh, should we get out of the hot tub? (Nothing like being on the phone in a tub of water, safety first you know ;).
Dispatch: No, stay there, they know where you are.
me: Ok, well at least it's warm in here.

Dispatch: Can you describe the person? me: Nope, it's too dark.

Dispatch: Do you know the aparment number?
me: Nope sorry.

*thinking* I don't live in that one... and I'm not about to walk over and check, that's why I called you guys.

Dispatch: Which side of the complex is it on?
me: Well it's on the right when you drive in...
Dispatch: *prompting* East? North?
me: *visualizing Google maps* looking at the palm trees trying to get my bearings and muttering under my breath "Never Eat Shredded Wheat" East! It's on the east side of the complex. *phew*

So much for relaxing, with skill testing questions like these.

I honestly don't know why they can't follow the damn instructions, turn right when you come in. I know a lot of guys who use compass directions all the time and that's great, admirable even, but I don't think in compass directions. So any that I give you are translated, and I'm pretty sure the chance of an error goes up tenfold under duress.

So dispatch has me meet the squad car out front and direct him to the apartment,  at which point he casually radio's in "yeah, I think it's the same one from earlier today"...

The helicopter was still doing loser laps over our complex, and it was clear after the third squad car arrived that they didn't have anything more important going on...

Anyways, turns out it's this bipolar chick who used to live here... like 3 months ago. Her ex has moved out, changed the locks, and shut off all the utilities, and even obtained a restraining order but every once in awhile she forgets, decides she lives there again and breaks in... Apparently this will be the third time.

The disappointing part though, was that despite their record response time, we were the third call in that day... So even with this unfolding in the same way it usually does, I guess they can't *do* anything until she has broken in again?

Which just seems kind of silly to me. What happened to "keeping the peace"?

Dinner bell

You're in timeout at least until I'm done cooking, because steam does not constitute an emergency situation.

Are you sure I was there when this happened?

Sometimes we have these conversations where its like I'm having it with someone else...

I guess you do too though, it's like my alter ego answers for me and then doesn't bother to tell me about it...

You can't take me out

The only trouble with eating at nice places where you have a napkin on your lap... is later when you're eating and wipe your hands like you *think* you have a napkin on your lap ;)

Ahhhh!

Look Mom! I have the coolest roommate ever!!

I don't even know how many years ago, I got balloons and a pump for my birthday so I could learn how to make balloon animals... unfortunately the pump was broken :(

After all this time though, I'm still fascinated by the things you can make... with a little imagination ;)

This is Jango, and he's a little scared, that's why his tail is straight up, not because I made his body too big okay!?!

Oh California...

Apparently since its "mostly hot" down here, they don't bother insulating the hot water tanks...

And while I don't think it'll make any significant difference in any of the bills we're paying, it hurt my little hippy heart to heat the garage. For no reason whatsoever.

So it's not the prettiest, but I think it'll do!

Pleeeeeease, can I go play outside?

Yeap, I think it might be time to move them outside... Yah think?

Let it rain, oh let it rain

It's been raining for four days, and I'm loving every second of it!

I've missed the sound of rain on the roof, the raging torrential downpours, and the softness of rain caressing my skin... and pictures like this.

Abdomen riot!

"My uterus just punched my kidneys with her fallopian tubes"

...

"Now she's throwing eggs at them"