path pics

This is what I really enjoy about gardening/weeding/pathmaking. I can look back and see that I've actually accomplished something. Unlike working infront of a computer for several hours and not having much to show for it, or having all I had to show for it disappear into a blue screen.



3 bags short, but still a nice accomplishment for this week/year. :)

bunbun

Went out to get the mail and BunBun was on the sidewalk. Got the mail, came back out with the camera, and he was still there. Granted, it could be any one of the multiple rabbits that hang out in my neighborhood, but I'd like to think it's BunBun, just slightly bigger than the last time I saw him. He stayed still long enough for this one picture, then took off - he is one fast little bunny.

SEARCHING FOR SECURITY

The weather has been so wonderful (around 70F) that I've been avoiding being on the computer. It's so much more enjoyable to be outside. Tonbo and I have usually go for a walk a day around the neighborhood. A lot of people still have their Xmas decorations and lights up. I like living my icicle lights up until New Year's Day. Did get around to putting away the interior decorations and stripping down the tree and cutting the trunk up for firewood. Also have most of the windows and the patio door open for the majority of the week. We'll probably pay for it with hard freezes and snow in February ... but that's 2 months away. :)

As Norton AnitVirus and Personal Firewall have insisted on reminding me, I've only got 2 days left on my subscriptions. Spent the evening researching various programs, emphasis on the free ones, and decided on AVG for the anti-virus and ZoneAlarm for the firewall. And Ad-Aware to clean up the spybots. Granted, if you search even a few sites, you can find someone that hates an item and someone else that enthusiastically endorses it. The good and bad of the Internet, as it were. Anyone, anywhere, can post anything - and they do.

Carefully setting several Restore points, I installed both pieces of software and nothing blew up. Or blue screened. Or even stuttered. Good way to end the year.

After more online research about iPOD batteries (doomed to be replaced within the 1st 2 years), I also bought the AppleCare extended product care for my iPOD at Circuit City, which is one of the Quixtar Partner Stores. Doing so for around $69 will save me around $30 when I need to replace the battery, which otherwise would cost $99. I can tell my iPOD doesn't last as long as it used to, which is what prompted the online research in the first place.

I really like Circuit City's online/offline set-up. You can order online, and then go to the store and pick it up. Why is that a good thing?
1) *much* easier to search for what you want online compared to wondering around the store, hoping it's on the shelf, if not, finding someone to see if maybe they have a copy in the back somewhere.
2) they have an 'online orders' line at the checkout. So while 7 other people stood around waiting to check-out from the single employee at a very slow cash register, I was in and out within 10 minutes.
3) as a Quixtar Partner Store, a percentage of my purchase will be added to my monthly point value total which will result in a bonus check to me next month.

FORBIDDEN CITY EXHIBIT

Met Mom at the DMA this morning and after slight confusion as to where the front of the building was, we walked through the Splendors of China's Forbidden City exhibit. It's about the life and rule of Emperor Qianlong. His grandfather, then father, can created a golden age in China, and Qianlong continued it for 60 years (1736–1795) before stepping down as emperor so as not to exceed the number of years that his grandfather ruled. He was very much a Renaissance man, excelling at both physical practices (archery, martial arts, horseback-riding, etc.) and cultural arts (calligraphy, poetry, etc.). He wrote over 44,000 poems in his lifetime, and the exhibit has examples of wall-hangings that have poems written on them in Qianlong's own script.

And he was all about the gold dragons. Only the Emperor could use a dragon which had 5 claws. Other lower members of the family could also use a dragon, but it must have 4 claws or less on its feet. In the family room, there is an enclosed glass case with one of the Emperor's thrones and a dining table with dishes. There are also two smaller tables, also set with dishes. These smaller tables were his 3rd and 5th wives (he had something like 26 wives and concubines and over 40 kids). Who sat where was dictated by the coloring on the bowls - green and yellow for the 3rd wife and red and blue for the 5th wife (I think, this is all from memory a few days later ;P. Apparently there wasn't a formal dining room anywhere in the city - where ever Qianlong wanted to eat, that's where they set up the table and served the food.

Lots of very exceptional items. I especially like a set of Jade tablets that are written in Chinese and Manchu, which looks very similar to Arabic to me, only written top-down like Chinese - very curvy/connected compared to the block, stroked look of Chinese.

Mom enjoyed a carved piece of jade that showed a girl in a doorway. It was basically a junk piece of jade, but Qianlong asked that it be carved in order to show that even 'leftovers' can have beauty.

The audio tour had a lot of good info, once we figured out how to make it work. And the Exhibit itself is quite large, over 10,000 square feet and featuring 400 items, some of which have never been seen outside China before. Dallas is one of only 2 places it will show in the US - it's already been through Chicago.

We had lunch at the museum cafe and then Mom had to leave. I walked her to her car and then spent some time looking at the permanent Asian exhibits of the museum. Also took a tour of the The Wendy and Emery Reves Collection, which is set up as if you were walking through their house. She had a very large collection of porcelain from China that was essentially made specifically for sale to Westerners (late 18th century). *Very* different from the stuff that was created for Qianlong. ;)

And the Winston Churchill room was interesting to me. In high school I went to England with a college literature class and met friends of my dad one weekend. We went out to Churchill's family house - Chartwell, which is where I first learned his interest in painting. Then, here is this museum, were several paintings Churchill had painted and given to the Reves.

Came home. Had a nap. Life is good.

EYE EXAM

Went down and had an eye exam before my ophthalmologist moves to Canada. ;)

For the first time since I started wearing them, I now have a different prescription for each eye. Guess I'll have to pay more attention to what power lens goes in what eye from now on. And I'm getting a new pair of glasses. They are exceptionally light, and have 2 magnets on the nose bridge which allow the sun-glasses to adhere to the front of the lenses. No rims. Dark gray. Very cool. And, as for most fair-skinned, blue-eyed people, it took an extremely long time for my eyes to un-dilate. Which meant every thing was extremely bright. And tiring. Took a nap when I finally got home.

Naps are really enjoyable. Being able to sleep in the middle of the day, because you're tired, because you want to, because you can.

Still very hooked on Prince of Tennis.

And Gunslinger Girl.

POST-XMAS SHOPPING

Ah yes, the post-Christmas sales where stuff you saw not just 2 days ago is now 20-50-70% off. Well, I've got at least part of my 2005 Christmas shopping done.

This is my last week of vacation, so the original plan was to get lots of stuff done.

The new plan is to enjoy my last week of vacation.

The weather has been warm, very warm for this time of year (70F), even for around here. So as much as I have to do that involves a computer, I'm going to instead spend some time outside and finish the last path in my garden.

That, and copying bit torrent anime to tapes so I can watch them over the next few months. :)

2005 THOUGHTS

Tonbo is off at his mom's, so I've got the place to myself. Nice and quiet.

My Things To Do (TTD) list is still much to long, but up until this point, most of my time was 'getting ready for Christmas'. Now, with that behind me, the next 'event' is moving into a shiny new year.

And what do I want to do with it ... ?

Have more income is pretty much #1 on the list. And while the company I work for is going well, relying on them for increased paychecks in not the way to financial freedom.

My Quixtar business is not what I want it to be, but that's because I don't work the business side as I probably should. That's my partner's genius, and I know it's part of his 2005 goals. I love the product side of the business, and that's my genius. So with that in mind, I am going to work on some projects that will help showcase how much is really behind that log-in. As well as keeping up with the Quixtar Shopping Guru.

Then there is my Amazon Associates income. Not much, about $30/quarter. Using the Associates Shop for my Cardcaptor Sakura vs Cardcaptors site should (hopefully) increase that a bit. I bought the last 2 CC DVDs (Times of Need and Star Power) so I can finish out my shop. Damn! I knew the episodes were butchered even more as the season went on, but I had no idea it was this bad! The original plan was to do the eps in order, but I think I need to move ahead a bit and tackle some of these later eps. It takes a lot of time, but now that my Mac has a new battery, it'll be possible to do some work on the site.

And then there's the Kestrel's Financial Freedom site itself...
and Fandone.com ...
with the OH kits ...
and a more comprehensive eCommerce back-end ...
and the (to be) SU8 CafePress store ...
with the (to be) 101WTSYB book ...
and the (to be) NYG graphics
and the (to be) ML book ...
and phping my anime music videos so they will be updated on an automated and regular basis
and I said I'd help A Mingled Yarn out with their templates ...
and ...
and ...

So, as you can see, lots of stuff to do, and just the same ol' 24 hours to do it in. Guess I need to sleep less. And exercise more (although I was extremely pleased to find out I can do push-ups again).

A year ago my wrists were so wrecked I couldn't put any weight on them at all. Amazing the different a Steelcase Leap chair can make in a lack-of-pain in one's wrists. I have one at work (more by sheer luck than anything else), and it's the only office chair I found which had pivoted arm wrests. This means I can let the weight of my arms rest on my forearms, not on my wrists. All those fancy wrist rests - bad idea. And I no longer have to sleep with wrist guards on, another big bonus. Lack of pain is a really, really good thing.

And thus ends my ramblings for Christmas Day, 2004.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

The parents came up to my house again this year. This will be our 3rd Christmas in my house ... and probably the last one with them here. Once they move to Okipoki in the spring, I don't really see them traveling down here for XMas much. We already have plans for me to visit them for Canadian Thanksgiving in October, since Halloween airtravel traffic tends to be a little bit less than end-of-November airtravel traffic. :)

We had dinner and dessert, all of which was ordered through my Quixtar biz and made for very easy cooking/heating up. And I have finally found a commercial cheesecake almost exactly like what my grandmother used to bake from Omaha Steaks. It's really very different from your standard restaurant cheesecake - much more of a cookie crust and has a filling that isn't as sweet. Anyway, I'm very happy and have adjusted other cheesecake spending so that I can order this kind from now on.

Presents were fun and Mom bourght up some white elephant gifts as well. Although with only 4 people, and fairly quiet, nice people at that, there isn't much conflict in the gift-taking. Dad did have my travel chopsticks for a little while, but I got them back. ;)

Tonbo was at a party where there were 25 fairly outgoing people involved in a white elephant and apparantly there was much taking and bargaining going on. He came home with Pixel, so now we have a cat that he can stand to live with despite his allergies.




I also passed on cookies to each of my neighbors. I really enjoy the area where I live and both neighbors are friendly and good people to have nearby. S talked about having an neighborhood get-together sometime next week which sounds cool. She's been here for over 30 years (saw her house and mine actually built), so she knows just about everyone on the street already.

And now that Christmas is over, I think I'll start my vacation ...

ARGH

Knitting is kicking my butt. But I'll get it because now it's personal. Although I doubt knitting will become my handicraft of choice. I'm still really partial to cross-stitch, even to the point of creating my own designs. But that's pretty easy since it can break down to pixel-equivalents.

Finally house cleaning and prep for Christmas at my house tomorrow evening. Most of the food is pre-cooked and just needs heating, plus what Mom's bringing. Also went shopping for supplies to bake vanilla kipfel. Haven't made these is years, but it's a really easy recipe.

And it would not have been possible to do on a tile counter-top.

Or with a broken oven.

I love my (new) kitchen. :)

KITCHEN PICS

Since there was a request from Design America Insider's Blog, here are some pics of my old & new kitchen.

BEFORE:


AFTER: new kitchen

SNOW

WooHoo! (Almost) White Christmas! Went out and took a bunch of pictures. Tried to make a small snow bunny, but it was very powdery stuff and didn't hold together at all.

Snowed pretty much on and off all day, and while there were a bunch of errand I wanted to run, given the fact that this kind of weather happens maybe once a year around here, and most people don't remember how to drive responsibly in it when it does, I'm safer staying home.

And watching anime.

Love the music in Gunslinger Girl. And the animation. Sad stories but the girls and men are interesting characters, each with their own backgrounds.

Also still reading Terry Pratchett's Monstrous Regiment. Brilliant, as always. Polly and her lads are the stars, but Sam Vimes has a part to play.

snowy backyard

SUESS TREE

"winter begins" - at least that's what the calendar says. And while they apparently had a real cold snap while I was away, I personally like this low 60s stuff. Tried to decorate the tree and it fell over. Tried again with the same result. Waited until Tonbo came home and we made a couple of attempts before nailing the base down to a board. And you'd think that a tree that looks extremely crocked from 3 out of 4 views ... and you'd be wrong. Tonbo has dubbed it the Suess tree.

KNITTING LESSONS

Knitting lessons with KtheBird. I want to follow Amy's instructions to knit a jayne hat, but being the utter beginner I am, I don't understand them at all. So K said she'd help get me started.

And as with any true project, it is not complete (or even really started) until there have been 2 trip to "the store". For home improvement projects, "the store" tends to Home Depot or Lowe's. In our case, it was Michael's, and then Hobby Lobby. I never knew there was so much math involved in knitting. Anyway, having found the correct sized needles (in both dimensions) and picked out yarn, I was on my way. Did a swatch of knits and purls, and I now have a lovely knitted blue bookmark. :)

Will continue on my own tomorrow and hook up with K later on when I need to change colors.

HEADING HOME

Morning meetings, then lunch at Benihana (woohoo!) and to the airport. Which we arrived at early, even for me, like 2.5 hours early. BBear used the airport's wireless system to do work. I don't ever want to be that important. DBA and I talked and watch people board other planes.

Then we saw a teen reach into the trash can infront of us, pull out a Starbucks sack, reach in, with surprised happiness, pull out the partially eaten bread-thingy, drop the sack in the trash, and wander back to his seat, munching on his prize. Everyone who saw was rather stunned. We stared at each other, at the trash can, back at each other, and someone actually said, "Did that really happen?".

In Austin there were always bums on the Drag and you just walked around them on your way to class. Waiting in the Detroit airport, you don't expect to see someone perform the same kind of acts as a street person would. You just don't.

And what was really funny was we told BBear about it when he came back from a break and he was able to pick out the kid entirely on his own. So much for first impressions.

1 day to vacation ...

GUESS WHAT? I'M COLD

More heating packs in use because, well, I'm cold.

Caught the last part of a re-run of the pilot of "Lost". Kinda neat. I'm a little more interested in seeing than I was before, although since I don't have TV reception, I'll have to find someone who's watching it to beg a tape copy off of.

2 days to vacation ...

STILL COLD

Have heating packs in my shoes and on my back. Still cold.

The company store is a good place for Tonbo XMas presents. And cups of hot water for chai and tea. Saw deer outside at the edge of the property. Also a red tail. And some Canadian geese.

For whatever reason my travel humidifier isn't working, so I'm resorting to laying wet towels across chairs and the heating vents. Will likely go through my entire bottle of saline just to keep my contact lenses from welding themselves to my eyeballs at night.

COLD

In Detroit. For work (obviously). High tomorrow is supposed to be 28F. Little bit of snow tonight already.

Catching up on the qshopguru. And an entry over here, mostly just for kicks.

Rough weekend, but Tonbo helped out a lot. End of this year is not going to be happy because I'm not where I want to be. Rather far from it actually, and that needs to be worked through because there was a lot of emotion and effort in just getting to where I am.

Looking forward to vacation.

5 days and counting ...

GOT TREE

A very nice, soft tree. Not decorated, not even out of the netting, but I now have a tree.

And I still need to pack for 4 days of very cold weather. Normal for them. Different for me (toady was a high of around 65F and gorgeous).

But I now have a tree.

WHAT WALLSTREET WON'T TELL YOU

Vote for Kim Snider's manifesto "What Wallstreet Won't Tell You" on Change This!

TIME WARP

I believe time somehow speeds up after Thanksgiving. Hours have less minutes in them, minutes less seconds, all of which contribute to shorter days in which to get things done. And some how this is also related to the increase of things to get done, although I'm not sure how. I just know I have less time and more things to do.

And don't even think of trying to drive anywhere near a mall. At those particular geographic spots on the planet time does another funny warp. Where at any other point in the year it will take 10 minutes to get from street A to street B while passing the mall; at this time of the season it will take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour. Just by the mere presence of the mall on the side of the road, the number of cars increase, tempers shorted, accidents happen, etc., etc., etc.

Or so I've observed.

Personally I love shopping online.

And gift cards. I don't know what's important or desired by some of the people I want to give gifts to, so let them pick out something meaningful for themselves.