First try at focaccia.
--Sent from my Virgin Mobile!
Location : lat=37.692, lng=122.168
--
Sent from my Virgin Mobile
21 September 2010
Rosemary Focaccia Test
First try at focaccia.
--Sent from my Virgin Mobile!
Location : lat=37.692, lng=122.168
--
Sent from my Virgin Mobile
20 September 2010
Blogging on the Go
As my mind continues to meld with or melt into this portable touch-screen soul stealing freaking awesome new "cell phone," and I forget what it was like not to look up most of the time, of course now I've started looking for even more stuff I can do with it. I have succumbed.
Instant blogging is a bad idea. But because I can now, it seemed like a good idea to be totally prepared in case it suddenly became a good idea.
It's 2am now, almost, and here I am propped up in bed thumb-typing on a device I can't even see without my glasses. Hardly an emergency blog scenario. Well, for some people...
This is actually a test to get the old blog going again, something I've considered for some time anyway. There are still a million unwritten stories from days gone by and who knows what's in store in the next hour and beyond Some day I may see Kathy Griffin on a 30 Stockton MUNI bus and need to upload a photo and text to prove it immediately.
Instant blogging is a bad idea. But because I can now, it seemed like a good idea to be totally prepared in case it suddenly became a good idea.
It's 2am now, almost, and here I am propped up in bed thumb-typing on a device I can't even see without my glasses. Hardly an emergency blog scenario. Well, for some people...
This is actually a test to get the old blog going again, something I've considered for some time anyway. There are still a million unwritten stories from days gone by and who knows what's in store in the next hour and beyond Some day I may see Kathy Griffin on a 30 Stockton MUNI bus and need to upload a photo and text to prove it immediately.
07 November 2007
Too Many Topics
My apologies to those who come here looking for more stories about Okinawa ("The Rock") that I mentioned at the Okinawa Brats website. Once I thought I had nothing to write about. Now I realize I'm about 50 years behind schedule and losing more time every day.
But it's not like I haven't tried. I'd sure like to have all the money back that I've spent on diaries over the years. Most of the time a few pages got used and then, later, burned. I've come a long way from keeping secrets to publishing blabber for the whole world. As they come to me, I will keep writing stories from my past.
Tonight, after servicing the cats in my care for my neighbor, I sat down to read the paper. First, I wanted to rest. Second, I haven't read a newspaper in ages. Third (but probably First), I wanted to lure Bingo to my lap. And it worked. She passed by a few times but didn't stay. While I was lost in some story, I didn't notice her rubbing on the stereo. Suddenly, I heard the voice of woman singing. Both of us jumped nearly out of our hides. She had somehow turned on the stereo and a CD had started playing. It's not fun getting freaked out in someone else's house.
I've just been reading the results of a search for "alternative plantar fasciitis treatments" online. I found a video fromt he American Academy of Podiatric Sports Medicine that demonstrates how to evaluate a good, supportive athletic shoe. Of course I immediately got my recently-purchased New Balance 474 and put it to the test. Yay! It passed. But I'm sure there are better shoes than the ones I have.
There was an ant invasion in the kitchen this afternoon. I stopped it before it became a full-scale attack on all fronts. But that required me pulling the fridge out from the wall; a very difficult task. When it was delivered, the little black rubber wheels got pushed the wrong way and they ended up in more of a D shape then an O shape, making moving the monstrosity very difficult. But I did it.
The port of invasion was where the water line for the fridge comes out of the wall. I saturated it with "earth friendly" poison and then sealed it up with tape. But I couldn't get the fridge to go back against the wall. The solution was a trip to Bed Bath and Beyond (with 20% off coupon in hand) to buy some E Z Sliders. Quick solution. I got the big variety set to reduce the chances of hurting myself on future missions. Seems like I'm always moving something heavy the hard way.
I also found myself wandering around in Long's Drugs tonight and ended up staring at the vitamin and supplements. Since melatonin was on sale (buy one, get one free) I decided to go for it. I took one about a half hour ago. I'm hoping to stay awake just long enough to finish this and then head for the first of many very restful nights of sleep. I told Brad that I'm going to experiment with it. He'd never heard of it and asked me if it's something "illegal."
I decided to try it first and then talk to the doctor about it. If he blows a gasket, I'll ship it off to someone who can use it. Or not. It depends on how well it works. But I can say that I'm pretty sleepy right now and am really starting to lose focus.
Seems like a good point to quit. Hope I wake up tomorrow!
But it's not like I haven't tried. I'd sure like to have all the money back that I've spent on diaries over the years. Most of the time a few pages got used and then, later, burned. I've come a long way from keeping secrets to publishing blabber for the whole world. As they come to me, I will keep writing stories from my past.
Tonight, after servicing the cats in my care for my neighbor, I sat down to read the paper. First, I wanted to rest. Second, I haven't read a newspaper in ages. Third (but probably First), I wanted to lure Bingo to my lap. And it worked. She passed by a few times but didn't stay. While I was lost in some story, I didn't notice her rubbing on the stereo. Suddenly, I heard the voice of woman singing. Both of us jumped nearly out of our hides. She had somehow turned on the stereo and a CD had started playing. It's not fun getting freaked out in someone else's house.
I've just been reading the results of a search for "alternative plantar fasciitis treatments" online. I found a video fromt he American Academy of Podiatric Sports Medicine that demonstrates how to evaluate a good, supportive athletic shoe. Of course I immediately got my recently-purchased New Balance 474 and put it to the test. Yay! It passed. But I'm sure there are better shoes than the ones I have.
There was an ant invasion in the kitchen this afternoon. I stopped it before it became a full-scale attack on all fronts. But that required me pulling the fridge out from the wall; a very difficult task. When it was delivered, the little black rubber wheels got pushed the wrong way and they ended up in more of a D shape then an O shape, making moving the monstrosity very difficult. But I did it.
The port of invasion was where the water line for the fridge comes out of the wall. I saturated it with "earth friendly" poison and then sealed it up with tape. But I couldn't get the fridge to go back against the wall. The solution was a trip to Bed Bath and Beyond (with 20% off coupon in hand) to buy some E Z Sliders. Quick solution. I got the big variety set to reduce the chances of hurting myself on future missions. Seems like I'm always moving something heavy the hard way.
I also found myself wandering around in Long's Drugs tonight and ended up staring at the vitamin and supplements. Since melatonin was on sale (buy one, get one free) I decided to go for it. I took one about a half hour ago. I'm hoping to stay awake just long enough to finish this and then head for the first of many very restful nights of sleep. I told Brad that I'm going to experiment with it. He'd never heard of it and asked me if it's something "illegal."
I decided to try it first and then talk to the doctor about it. If he blows a gasket, I'll ship it off to someone who can use it. Or not. It depends on how well it works. But I can say that I'm pretty sleepy right now and am really starting to lose focus.
Seems like a good point to quit. Hope I wake up tomorrow!
05 November 2007
"Docent of the Summer Quarter"
Yesterday's meeting at the zoo was important. Yes, the one I missed. As the editor of the docent newsletter, The Scoop, I'm also on the Docent Council Executive Board. I don't know why since I don't hold an elected position. It's just a position I inherited with the job.
But I really should have gone to that meeting. It was a big, semi-annual meeting for all docents. Had I gone, I would have been very embarrassed by what happened there but it would have looked a lot better for me had I been there to accept the award I was given.
This evening when we got back home from an abbreviated shopping trip, there was a phone message from someone at the zoo wanting me to call her back. She wanted me to know "what happened at the meeting." Her tone of voice sort of bothered me. It sounded serious.
Even though I'm very appreciative of the recognition, I'm certain they chose the wrong person to name as "Docent of the Summer Quarter." I rarely make it to the zoo any more. I'm a lousy docent. I haven't put in any public contact hours in months. But I do work hard to produce a monthly newsletter. Still, I think they should give awards like that to docents who appear at the zoo once in a while.
As much as I enjoy volunteering at the Oakland Zoo, I've sure had problems since I went through training as a docent including pneumonia (I was in the hospital for 10 days), plantar fasciitis with all the associated leg and back pain and other complications and events that I don't really want to think about right now.
I will be getting a certificate, some kind of "gift" and an opportunity to hand-feed the giraffes. The latter is something I did when I was in docent training and it was an amazing experience. I'm totally psyched about doing it again. And I'm hoping they'll let me take Brad along to share the experience.
Below is a photo I didn't ever upload to Flickr. It shows the giraffe keeper, Amy Phelps, at the feeding deck which, as you can see, is at their eye level. It was truly one of the best experiences of my life. I look forward to doing it again.
Other than that, it was a very low-key day. The Amazing Race premiered tonight. I love how people who do crappy things to others on the show always seem to get what they dish out. Tonight the team who stole a cab from another team ended up being the first to be eliminated.
Better than that, though, was the third episode of The Amazing Mrs. Pritchard on PBS. Jane Horrocks (Absolutely Fabulous, Little Voice) is a fantastic actress and the show is great. PBS continues to be the one reason to own a TV.
Oh, by the way, all the Halloween stuff is still at the bottom of the stairs. Looks like I'll be hauling it all up by myself tomorrow.
But I really should have gone to that meeting. It was a big, semi-annual meeting for all docents. Had I gone, I would have been very embarrassed by what happened there but it would have looked a lot better for me had I been there to accept the award I was given.
This evening when we got back home from an abbreviated shopping trip, there was a phone message from someone at the zoo wanting me to call her back. She wanted me to know "what happened at the meeting." Her tone of voice sort of bothered me. It sounded serious.
Even though I'm very appreciative of the recognition, I'm certain they chose the wrong person to name as "Docent of the Summer Quarter." I rarely make it to the zoo any more. I'm a lousy docent. I haven't put in any public contact hours in months. But I do work hard to produce a monthly newsletter. Still, I think they should give awards like that to docents who appear at the zoo once in a while.
As much as I enjoy volunteering at the Oakland Zoo, I've sure had problems since I went through training as a docent including pneumonia (I was in the hospital for 10 days), plantar fasciitis with all the associated leg and back pain and other complications and events that I don't really want to think about right now.
I will be getting a certificate, some kind of "gift" and an opportunity to hand-feed the giraffes. The latter is something I did when I was in docent training and it was an amazing experience. I'm totally psyched about doing it again. And I'm hoping they'll let me take Brad along to share the experience.
Below is a photo I didn't ever upload to Flickr. It shows the giraffe keeper, Amy Phelps, at the feeding deck which, as you can see, is at their eye level. It was truly one of the best experiences of my life. I look forward to doing it again.
Other than that, it was a very low-key day. The Amazing Race premiered tonight. I love how people who do crappy things to others on the show always seem to get what they dish out. Tonight the team who stole a cab from another team ended up being the first to be eliminated.
Better than that, though, was the third episode of The Amazing Mrs. Pritchard on PBS. Jane Horrocks (Absolutely Fabulous, Little Voice) is a fantastic actress and the show is great. PBS continues to be the one reason to own a TV.
Oh, by the way, all the Halloween stuff is still at the bottom of the stairs. Looks like I'll be hauling it all up by myself tomorrow.
04 November 2007
Surprises
It's 1:21AM, soon to be 1:21AM again since this is the night we turn the clocks back one hour. And I just finished working on a project about which I can say nothing because it's a surprise and the person for whom I'm surprising stops by and reads this. It's making me crazy because I'm terrible at keeping secrets. Growing up I frequently told people what their Christmas presents were before Christmas because I couldn't contain the excitement of giving them something neat.
So this is a good ending to a day that started out badly.
Last night I took a whole Trazadone tablet instead of one half because I really needed some good sleep. With chronic insomnia and being recently diagnosed with sleep apnea, sometimes I need help getting some rest. Even being physically exhausted doesn't guarantee a restful night.
But Trazadone is a harsh drug. It dries out my sinus, gives me a headache and only helps me fall asleep, not stay asleep or sleep peacefully. I try not to take it. And as soon as I swallowed the whole tablet I remembered that it was probably going to make me miserable.
And it did. My alarm went off at 7AM and I turned on my lamp. I was supposed to have gone to a meeting at the zoo but I was really miserable, still tired and my legs and feet were really aching. Bad morning. So I stayed in bed. I didn't even get up to go to Napa with friends.
I made it out of the house by 1PM to run errands. I tried to drop off the rent checks at the agency but they're located inside a building and it was locked. It frustrates me that they don't have an after-hours drop box. What a waste of gas and time to drive clear across town and couldn't even leave the envelope there. So I decided to mail it. But since I rarely buy stamps, I discovered that postage has gone up twice since I last bought any. Fortunately I had some extra 1-cent and 2-cent stamps. It took three stamps to come up with enough postage.
At OSH, I picked up three 40lb bags of wood pellets. I use it for cat litter. It's cheap and natural. One of the bags was for my "job" as a cat-sitter for a neighbor. She's using something similar that costs a lot more. I laughed out loud when I saw her litter box. It's something I saw in a SkyMall catalog on a recent flight that made me laugh out loud. I'll let the photos speak for themselves.
Okay, maybe this isn't too funny. But in the catalog, the "planter" was located next to a sofa in the living room. Now THAT was funny! Honestly. Can you imagine having guests over when suddenly there's a digging sound followed by the pungent odor of cat poop coming out of the corner? I don't know about your cat but when my cat finishes in the box, he must feel light as a feather and full of energy because he runs around like he's on Benny Hill.
Another high point of my day was using a Dyson vacuum cleaner for the first time. I don't know why but I kept thinking about our old Kirby and wondered if they're still around. Now that was a vacuum cleaner! Sure, dust leaked out of the bag. But it sucked up way more than it leaked so it worked out fine. These modern plastic things are all too wimpy.
It took HOURS tonight to pack away the Halloween stuff. And now all five storage containers are waiting for someone else to carry upstairs. I know I'll end up doing it but I just want to see if that particular someone else surprises me and lends a hand. It's sooooo unlikely but every once in a while I like to test him...
So this is a good ending to a day that started out badly.
Last night I took a whole Trazadone tablet instead of one half because I really needed some good sleep. With chronic insomnia and being recently diagnosed with sleep apnea, sometimes I need help getting some rest. Even being physically exhausted doesn't guarantee a restful night.
But Trazadone is a harsh drug. It dries out my sinus, gives me a headache and only helps me fall asleep, not stay asleep or sleep peacefully. I try not to take it. And as soon as I swallowed the whole tablet I remembered that it was probably going to make me miserable.
And it did. My alarm went off at 7AM and I turned on my lamp. I was supposed to have gone to a meeting at the zoo but I was really miserable, still tired and my legs and feet were really aching. Bad morning. So I stayed in bed. I didn't even get up to go to Napa with friends.
I made it out of the house by 1PM to run errands. I tried to drop off the rent checks at the agency but they're located inside a building and it was locked. It frustrates me that they don't have an after-hours drop box. What a waste of gas and time to drive clear across town and couldn't even leave the envelope there. So I decided to mail it. But since I rarely buy stamps, I discovered that postage has gone up twice since I last bought any. Fortunately I had some extra 1-cent and 2-cent stamps. It took three stamps to come up with enough postage.
At OSH, I picked up three 40lb bags of wood pellets. I use it for cat litter. It's cheap and natural. One of the bags was for my "job" as a cat-sitter for a neighbor. She's using something similar that costs a lot more. I laughed out loud when I saw her litter box. It's something I saw in a SkyMall catalog on a recent flight that made me laugh out loud. I'll let the photos speak for themselves.
Okay, maybe this isn't too funny. But in the catalog, the "planter" was located next to a sofa in the living room. Now THAT was funny! Honestly. Can you imagine having guests over when suddenly there's a digging sound followed by the pungent odor of cat poop coming out of the corner? I don't know about your cat but when my cat finishes in the box, he must feel light as a feather and full of energy because he runs around like he's on Benny Hill.
Another high point of my day was using a Dyson vacuum cleaner for the first time. I don't know why but I kept thinking about our old Kirby and wondered if they're still around. Now that was a vacuum cleaner! Sure, dust leaked out of the bag. But it sucked up way more than it leaked so it worked out fine. These modern plastic things are all too wimpy.
It took HOURS tonight to pack away the Halloween stuff. And now all five storage containers are waiting for someone else to carry upstairs. I know I'll end up doing it but I just want to see if that particular someone else surprises me and lends a hand. It's sooooo unlikely but every once in a while I like to test him...
02 November 2007
Thinking About Starting Again
I've been thinking about getting this thing going again (and hopefully not pissing as many people off) and I've been trying to figure out how to place videos here like a friend does on her blog.
Here's an attempt to post a little video I made several months ago:
I have so much video that needs to be edited and turned into something watchable that I doubt I'll ever get it done. Whenever I travel, I take a lot of what I call "raw" video thinking that some day I'll chop it up and make something decent out of it. I usually have at least 5 minutes of every 60 where I accidentally leave the camera rolling and end up with a sickening segment of motion sickness inducing garbage.
Anyway..
Today was the first day of a week of cat-sitting for a neighbor I just recently met. She put an ad on our community bulletin board looking for someone to take care of her "girls" while she's away on business. She's a lovely woman and her cats are warming up to me nicely. She thought that I'd never see one of them but it approached me right away when I went over to meet them all. How great is that? I must have inherited a little cat charming magic from Mom. Instead of running under the bed, they came right up to me when I went over to meet them. My neighbor was very impressed!
Here they are:
Gotta get all the Halloween stuff down and put away and the house ready for the next big event on November 10th. Another 35 people or so will be here for our annual wine and cheese party. I'm not a big fan of wine (except that muscat is mui delicioso) but the cheese selection is always totally amazing. I wonder if Patti will bring a can of Easy Cheese again.
Okay, that's enough for now. This is just a test to see if I want to get this started again.
08 August 2007
Sadness
It's now November 2, 2007. I was working on getting this thing going again when I noticed a "draft" I created back in August but didn't ever post or finish. I still don't remember creating this post and didn't know what it was so I published it to see what was going on.
This was the day my cat, Pewter, became seriously ill and we took him to the emergency vet in San Leandro. A few days later I had to send him to heaven to wait for me. It was an awful weekend. This reminds me of so much sadness. But since I started to make a post, I decided to finish it and explain what happened.
I miss him so much. I love my surviving kitty, Cootie, but Pewter was really special. He was so sweet. He scratched the crap out of Brad's furniture but that was because he was kinda stupid. But he was beautiful and we both loved him very much.
Life is rough. Sometimes I feel totally ill-equipped to handle all it dishes out.
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