On Vacation

Well, not really a vacation....we're going to see Greg's family in Indiana. Woo.

So I won't be heard from that much around here, but you may see updates to my Flickr site here and there while I am away.

I'm sure I will have many a story to tell when I return :)

How Observant Are You?

This is based on U.S. info, so use all lobes of your brain.

There are 25 questions about things we see every day or have known about all our lives. These little simple questions are harder than you think-- it just shows you how little we pay attention to the common place things of life.

Put your thinking caps on. No cheating! No looking around! No getting out of your chair! No using anything on or in your
desk or computer!

Can you beat 23? The average person only gets 7 correct. Write down your answers as you go. Check answers AFTER completing all the questions.

REMEMBER - NO CHEATING!!! BE HONEST!!! That means no looking around your desk for answers!

Here we go!

--
1. On a standard traffic light, is the green on the top or bottom?


2. How many states are there in the USA? (Don't laugh, some people don't know)


3. In which hand is the Statue of Liberty's torch?


4. What six colors are on the classic Campbell's soup label?


5. What two numbers on the telephone dial don't have letters by them?


6. When you walk does your left arm swing with your right or left leg? (Don't you dare get up to see!)


7. How many matches are in a standard pack?


8. On the United States flag is the top stripe red or white?


9. What is the lowest number on the FM dial?


10. Which way does water go down the drain, counter or clockwise?


11. Which way does a "no smoking" sign's slash run?


12. How many channels on a VHF TV dial?


13 On which side of a women's blouse are the buttons?


14. Which way do fans rotate?


15 How many sides does a stop sign have?


16. Do books have even-numbered pages on the right or left side?


17 How many lug nuts are on a standard car wheel?


18. How many sides are there on a standard pencil?


19. Sleepy, Happy, Sneezy, Grumpy, Dopey, Doc. Who's missing?


20. How many hot dog buns are in a standard package?


21 On which playing card is the card maker's trademark?


22 On which side of a Venetian blind is the cord that adjusts the opening between the slats?


23. There are 12 buttons on a touch tone phone. What 2 symbols bear no digits? (No looking at your phone!)


24. How many curves are there in the standard paper clip?


25. Does a merry-go-round turn counter or clockwise?



* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *












ANSWERS


1. On a standard traffic light, is the green on the top or bottom? BOTTOM

2. How many states are there in the USA? 50

3. In which hand is the Statue of Liberty's torch? RIGHT

4. What six colors are on the classic Campbell's soup label? BLUE, RED, WHITE, YELLOW, BLACK & GOLD

5. What two numbers on the telephone dial don't have letters by them? 1 and 0

6. When you walk does your left arm swing with your right or left leg? RIGHT

7. How many matches are in a standard pack? 20

8. On the United States flag is the top stripe red or white? RED

9. What is the lowest number on the FM dial? 88

10. Which way does water go down the drain, counter or clockwise? CLOCKWISE (NORTH OF THE EQUATOR)

11. Which way does a "no smoking" sign's slash run? TOWARDS BOTTOM RIGHT

12. How many channels on a VHF TV dial? 12 (no #1)

13 On which side of a women's blouse are the buttons? LEFT

14. Which way do fans rotate? CLOCKWISE AS YOU LOOK AT IT

15 How many sides does a stop sign have? 8

16. Do books have even-numbered pages on the right or left side? LEFT

17 How many lug nuts are on a standard car wheel? 5

18. How many sides are there on a ! standard pencil? 6

19. Sleepy, Happy, Sneezy, Grumpy, Dopey, Doc. Who's missing? BASHFUL

20. How many h ot dog buns are in a stand ard package? 8

21 On which playing card is the card maker's trademark? ACE OF SPADES

22 On which side of a Venetian blind is the cord that adjusts the opening between the slats? LEFT

23. There are 12 buttons on a touch tone phone. What 2 symbols bear no digits? * and #

24. How many curves are there in the standard paper clip? 3

25. Does a merry-go-round turn counter or clockwise? COUNTER

---

How many did you get right? I got 18. Who uses a pack of matches or has a VHF TV these days? Sheesh.

In Books, You'll Find Parts Of Yourself...

It's true. How so, you ask? Alan Bennett said it best.

"The best moments in reading are when you come across something -- a thought, a feeling, a way of looking at things which you had thought unique and particular to you. Now here it is, set down by someone else, a person you have never met, someone even who is long dead. And it is as if a hand has come out and taken yours." --Alan Bennett

Weekend Report

A lot happened over the weekend.

Revenge
Saturday morning Calvin was in the top bed of the carpeted cat tower and Abby was in the one right below him. I was sitting watching TV. Now, Calvin has always been a very clean fellow....always cleaning and licking. I think he might have some kind of skin allergy....or he might just be a virgo....who knows. Anyway, this means he gets hairballs a lot. So they are laying there and Calvin starts caughing and Abby is below him looking up wondering what the heck Calvin is doing. He leans over and...SPLAT! He puked the hairball right on Abby's head. And I mean right between the eyes. I laughed so hard......I think he did it on purpose. And it was a big wet yucky one, too. You should have seen her.....she jumped down and was walking all funny and unsure of how to get this disgusting stuff off her head. I cleaned her up and looked over at Calvin who was still in the top bed of the cat tower. I'm pretty sure he was smiling.

Couples Only
Saturday night we went to a couples only dinner. There were a total of 5 couples so it was a nice sized group. We all laughed and drank....it was a nice time.

Charles & Jessica Sittin' In A Tree...
Sunday we went to an ourdoor wedding. Goodness it was hot. So hot that they had to cut the cake right after the ceremony because the icing was starting to melt! The tiny blue flowers were sliding down the sides leaving blue smears. We passed on the cake. I learned in a cake decorating class that you never leave a cake out when it's hot because any milk in the icing or filling will spoil very quickly and all the guests will be sick the next day. The wedding was supposed to start at 1pm.....45 minutes later it finally started. We waited all that time for a 10 minute ceremony. I'm not sure if they cut the vows short because of the heat or if it was just slated to be that short, but it was the shortest wedding ceremony I've been to. Maybe they had to cut it short because they had to get to the cake!

Back At The Ranch
Sunday evening we were getting I little hungry....the mexican food from the wedding that afternoon was only enough to cover us for lunch. So I turned the oven on and was going to make scalloped potatoes. When I opened the oven to put the potatoes in, I braced myself for 450 degrees of heat.....but it was only mildly warm. Oh dear. Seems my 30 year old oven is finally biting the dust. *sighs* So now the washer and the oven are on their last leg. Being a home owner is nice....but at times not so nice.

That's my weekend report!

Recipe File

Chicken and Rice Casserole

2 14.5oz can green beans, rinsed and drained
3 cups diced cooked chicken (the rotisserie chickens from the store are good for this)
1 medium onion diced
1 8oz can water chestnuts, drained and chopped
1 4oz can pimentos
1 10 3/4oz can condensed cream of celery soup
1 cup mayonnaise
3/4 cup cookled rice
1 cup grated sharp Cheddar
Pinch salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients together and pour into a greased 3-quart casserole dish. Bake for 25 - 30 minutes or until bubbly.

Enjoy!

Local Fair And Fare

I just read that The Del Mar Fair (aka, The San Diego County Fair) isn't going to have deep-fried Oreo cookies this year.

Deep-fried Oreo cookies?!

What the heck? Sorry, that just sounds gross. And I know the whole line about don't knock something until you try it, but aside from the fact it sounds gross, it has got to be really bad for you. I guess they were a huge hit last year.....I just can't imagine people wanting to eat them. But the deep-fried Oreo cookie people need not fear, there will be equally bad things for them to eat this year. The deep-fried Twinkies will be back, along with two new hot-from-the-fat treats: deep-fried olives and deep-fried avocados.

Deep-fried avocados?!

Well, I guess people are eating this stuff or it wouldn't be there. Yeesh.

Anyway, for those who don't go for the food....which isn't many....but for those, daily entertainment includes a dueling pirate high-dive show with "spectacular stunts and an explosive ending sure to leave fair goers breathless”, The Kung Fu Assembly, a Chinese martial arts show featuring experts who bend sharp spears with their throats, break concrete slabs on their stomachs while lying on a bed of nails and support their weight using only two fingers. Now I'd watch the Kung Fu guys for sure, but I've been to Vegas and once you see the pirate show in front of Treasure Island, you've seen them all...so I'd pass on the dueling pirates.

The musical headliners are Hall & Oates, Heart, Melissa Etheridge, and KC & the Sunshine Band on closing day.

KC & the Sunshine Band?!

Huh? Are they still alive? I guess I should be asking...they are still getting gigs?

*Scratches head and is a little confused over this*

Okay, whatever...maybe they are still wildly popular and I'm just out of touch.

Other entertainment includes a something called “water's extreme journey”. It's a 1,000-square-foot exhibit that includes the evolution of the swimsuit with a daily bathing suit fashion show. I think I just gave all the guys a reason to go.

So that's a look at the fair this year. Have fun if you go. I'm sure they will sell loads of the deep-fried things. But why do I get the feeling a large percentage of sales for the deep-fried Twinkies and deep-fried avocados will be sold the night all the KC & the Sunshine Band fans pack in to close things out....

;->

Nature's Supermodels

Rebecca Romijn


Naomi Campbell


Claudia Schiffer


I think Claudia is the prettiest even tho her lower petals are out of focus.

Group Shot with a few friends

City Slickers

City Girl (me) and City Girl's best pal (Laura Sr.) went camping over the weekend. We had a good time.

This was the vew at our campsite


Laura picked me up on Saturday morning and we headed out. On the way we stopped and got bug repellent, a fan for the tent, sandwiches to have for lunch, and then we were back on the road again. When we arrived it was 11:30am andit was already pretty warm so we thought it would be best to get our hike out of the way before it got hotter. After spraying each other with bug repellent, we started up the hiking trail.

Here is part of the trail we were on


And a view to the south


The higher up we went, the more arid it became


An hour later and back at camp, we unpacked and had lunch. While we were hiking, our camping neighbors had showed up. It was a family and they were pretty loud.....especially one of the women. Her voice just boomed. It was rather unfortunate because our area was really close to theirs. There was a family on the other side as well, but I didn't hear them at all.

We surveyed the our site and put up the tent. Then it was time for a nap. We had considered not even needing to use our sleeping bags if it stayed as warm as it was....I'd say it was about 85 degrees. The fan didn't cool us off as much as I'd hoped it would...but it did help drowned out the volume of our neighbors.

Later that afternoon we were so thrisrty, and for whatever reason, soda just sounded soooooo good. But we only had one each and it was to drink with dinner....so that meant ROAD TRIP! We hopped in the car and drove 15 minutes to Julian to get sodas. City Girl's have to have their sodas, you know.

Ahhh....hit the spot. And it was a nice break from playing Yahtzee.

Back at camp once again, we played Hangman and Crazy 8's. We were forced to sit at the picnic table (each site has a picnic table and fire ring) because I had forgot to bring the chairs!!! Can you believe that? No chairs.

*City Girl rolls eyes at herself*

Of all the things to forget. Thankfully it didn't get chilly at night because I also forgot to take a light jacket or blanket. I guess it's a good thing Laura took care of getting 99% of the supplies.

After the sun went down we made a fire and sat on coolers and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. Nice nutritious dinner :) Then it was off to bed. I slept most of the night but that soda we had kept Laura awake all night :(

In the morning she cooked eggs and bacon and we had a bagel breakfast sandwiches.....yumm. I made chai tea for us. It was a nice way to start the day. However, it was already getting warm and it was only 8am. So we packed up and headed home. We could have gone on another hike, but the city girl in me said going home sounded better :)

I was happy to shower and scrub the bug repellent, sun screen, and dirt away.

That was my weekend.

Proud Evening Star

Proud Evening Star
Originally uploaded by photo kitten.

'Twas noontide of summer,
And mid-time of night;
And stars, in their orbits,
Shone pale, thro' the light
Of the brighter, cold moon,
'Mid planets her slaves,
Herself in the Heavens,
Her beam on the waves.
I gazed awhile
On her cold smile;
Too cold- too cold for me-
There pass'd, as a shroud,
A fleecy cloud,
And I turned away to thee,
Proud Evening Star,
In thy glory afar,
And dearer thy beam shall be;
For joy to my heart
Is the proud part
Thou bearest in Heaven at night,
And more I admire
Than that colder, lowly light.

FYI, I've fixed the comments now so anyone can post :)

Constant Company

I'm working from home on Friday's now...my kitten Abby likes to keep me company when I'm on the computer. It's always nice to have some company.



However, the company needs some entertainment. So that means I have to play with her or she will find something to play with....like maybe one of my expensive felt markers as seen above. I usually end up with a pile of things in my lap that have been taken from her....she does have a knack for finding the things she should not play with.



But it's nice to have her adoring face looking at me...



...even if that's only until she finds my dental floss.

Update!! Update!!

She sleeps....finally.

3:03pm

My plan to have a good day yesterday was moving along fine until 3:03pm came along. That's when I got an email message with the subject: Important - moving update! in my mailbox.

I'll be moving to my cubical on 6/29 at 9am. Oh joy.

This is an excerpt from the last part of the message:
"As we prepare for our upcoming move, we will have two meetings with representatives from the Faculty & Staff Assistance Program and Employee Relations to address issues related to this transition. These meetings are mandatory and will occur on the next two Thursdays (tomorrow, 6/15 and 6/22) in 1218 at 10am.

This is pretty much what made my day go down the drain. I knew it was going to be some bull crap meeting about "change is coming and you need to get over it". Yes, we do need to get over it and get on with things, but having a meeting (it was 2 hours, by the way) telling us to do that is just pushing us too far! This is a process we, the soon to be cubical dwelers, need to deal with in our own way. I'm dealing. I will not rant and rave. I will not have a hissy fit. I will not throw things around in fits of anger. I will try very hard to be polite and not say things that are inappropriate and border on insubordination to my boss.....I will think them silently instead.

Basically I will be good but I can't say I will be happy. That's just not something you can ask me to be right now.

I guess it's too much to ask for them to be a little sensitive to us right now and let us have some real adjustment time. And for crying out loud, we have not even moved yet and they already want us to be over it!

*sighs*

Yikes...

It's a good thing this interview wasn't done in person or one of them would have injuries....and I'd put my money on the "bimbo" being the one to give a well deserved ass-kicken' to the other. You'll understand when you watch it.

Crazy Woman Interview

peanut butter kiss

peanut butter kisses to all
Originally uploaded by photo kitten.

Monday was terrible. But I sort of knew it would be, so at least I had the warning and was ready for it. Yesterday was better, but only by a smidge. But better is better, right? Today I want to have a good day. I'm trying to keep that positive spirit. We'll see if it works.

I figured a good way to kick off the day was to get my camera out and snap some pictures before I had to get ready for work. There are thousands of things to photograph, but sometimes finding an interesting thing can be a challenge. I started hunting around and found a handful of peanut butter kisses. I sorted thru them all looking for a nicely wrapped one with a good tag to be my model. After 12 snaps....a few with the flash, a few without the flash, one or two on the macro setting, one on manual setting....this is what I came up with.

Peanut butter kisses to all of you and may be all be blessed with a good day.

Arr! Say my name!

This is by far one of the most entertaining quizes I've taken :)

----

My pirate name is:

Black Anne Rackham

Like anyone confronted with the harshness of robbery on the high seas, you can be pessimistic at times. You have the good fortune of having a good name, since Rackham (pronounced RACKem, not rack-ham) is one of the coolest sounding surnames for a pirate. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from fidius.org.

**Update! Update!
Turns out Laura Sr. is my pirate sister!

Iron Mary Rackham
A pirate's life isn't easy; it takes a tough person. That's okay with you, though, since you a tough person. You have the good fortune of having a good name, since Rackham (pronounced RACKem, not rack-ham) is one of the coolest sounding surnames for a pirate. Arr!

People always mistake us for sisters so it seems appropriate!

---

I did a search to see what kind of historical things have happened on my brithdate. Tell you what, nothing very interesting has happened. Of the two dozen things listed, this was really the only thing I found that was interesting....and only mildly interesting at that.

1973 - The Six Million Dollar Man premieres on ABC

It would have been more interesting if it were The Bionic Woman since I actually watched that. For some reason I didn't watch The Six Million Dollar Man.

So there you have it......it seems I'm the most interesting thing that has on October 20th ;-)

Have a good weekend

Originally uploaded by photo kitten.

It's been one of those weeks....ugh. Hopefully the weekend will realign my world.

Snack

Rush...

You're the whisper of a summer breeze
You're the kiss that puts my soul at ease
What I'm sayin' is I'm into you
Here's my story, and the story goes
You give love
You get love
And more than heaven knows

You're gonna see
I'm gonna run, I'm gonna try
I'm gonna take this love right to ya
All my heart, all the joy
Oh, baby, baby, please

Rush, rush
Hurry, hurry lover, come to me
Rush, rush
I wanna feel, I wanna feel you breathe in me
Rush, rush
I can feel it, I can feel you all through me
Rush, rush
Oh, what you do to me

And all I want from you is what you are
And even if you're right next to me
It's still too far away
When I'm not inside your arms
I get traumatic, baby, yes I know
But I want you
I need you
Oh, man, I love you so
You're gonna see

When you kiss me up and down
Turn my senses all around
Oh, baby, oh, baby
I don't know just how or why
But no one else has touched me so deep, so deep
So deep inside

I'm gonna run, I'm gonna try
I'm gonna take this love right to ya
All my heart, all the joy
Oh, baby, baby, please

--Paula Abdul

20 Years Ago

Laura Sr. and I took photos for our 20th high school reunion on Saturday. Below is our "before" picture and you can see the "after" picture here.




It's sort of amazing to think 20 years has gone by....it really does not seem that long ago.

Welcome!

Here I am...the new me.

A fresh new site. This isn't as cute as my old one, but I needed to change things. Some people I work with read my old blog and I wasn't sure it was a good idea for them to know some of the things I was posting about. Besides, we all need a change now and then, right?

So bookmark me here and if you want to read any of my old posts, that site will still be there for the archives....I could not just blow away all those posts. I started it back in 1/03!

My old blog

Cheers!