More Serious Kitty Check In

It appears the stress has taken a more serious toll on Abby recently. She was hospitalized this week. We had noticed a decrease in weight and food consumption and figured it was due to stress. That became even more serious in the last few days. When Gary left for his trip to Rhode Island, we think she pretty much completely quit eating. I was able to hand feed her a little bit, but she basically wasn’t eating. We took her to the vet on Tuesday and they kept her overnight to give her fluids. She was eating a little bit at the vet and they are giving her an appetite stimulant. The lack of eating has caused some liver problems. We brought her home for the evening last night, but she didn’t eat anything the whole time she was at the house. She’s going back to the vet to have more fluids today. We are hoping to get her eating again and hoping that will kick-start her liver functions back to normal… really hoping she hasn’t done permanent damage to her liver.

Christmas 2005

Christmas 2005
Originally uploaded by rkbk03.

Here's a family picture from last night.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Prep

I'm happy to say that I'm almost finished Christmas shopping. I believe I have 2-3 items left to pick up, which shouldn't take too long...the Christmas cards have been mailed... everything I've already bought has been wrapped and put under the tree. I think I'm almost ready.

Now it's time for Christmas cookie baking. :-)

I'm also happy to hear that the weather is expected to be very nice this weekend.

Winter Weather

I think my parents brought the cold weather with them. :-)

They arrived here Saturday, so at least they got to enjoy one really nice day before the weather turned to more of what they are used to. The scary thing is that even this weather is nicer than what they would be dealing with in ND. The good news is it will be back to the 50's by the weekend.

We usually only get one or two episodes like this per year and I'm very glad to have the ability to work from home this year. I left work early yesterday before the roads got bad and I'm working from home today also. It's very nice to have the choice to not go out.

22% Yankee

Holy Crap! I've been in Dallas for too long. According to this test, I'm only 22% yankee.

For what it's worth, my answers were:

A-B-A-B-B
B-A-C-C-A
A-A-A-A-C
A-A-A-A-B

< Update >
I've been informed that, on this particular test, a low score means I'm more of a yankee. My score makes much more sense now.

And ... I managed to score a 79% on their spelling test. The quiz contained commonly confused and misspelled words. It was quite difficult, I thought.

Good News

Good news... Gary got a new job.

Better news... He's taking time off between jobs and we booked a Hawaiian cruise during that time.

Woohoo - can't wait. :-)

Kitties

Well for an update...

They are getting along ok, but not great. There is still a lot of hissing and growling going on.

I'm not sure who is winning between Molly and Isabel. They seem to be equally matched and I have spotted both of them chasing the other. I never really see who starts it.

For Molly and Abby, Molly is often doing the chasing but they keep their distance more because Abby is definitely doing the most growling. The good news is, it appears Abby is losing weight from all that being chased and going up/down stairs. She has been much more active and playful than I have ever seen her. Gary actually had her jumping up and batting at a cat toy... I've never seen her do that. :-)

They are definitely all enjoying all of the attention and company.

Kitty Check In 2

I'm working from home today, so Abby has really enjoyed the company. She's been on the couch with me most of the day. She's still growling at Molly whenever she sees her.

Today Molly and Isabel were chasing in a bad way. I'm not sure who was chasing who or what exactly happened, but I heard some mean screaming (in cat language) at each other. I yelled at them and they ran in opposite directions as they came down the stairs. :-(

Thankfully I wasn't on a conference call or something at the time. :-)

They seem to be fine now so I'm not sure what that was all about.

Last Chapter

After getting the school and tuition reimbursement folks on a 3-way call yesterday, I decided to give up. I just wasn't getting anywhere.

Last night I went ahead and applied and put the fee on my credit card.

Wouldn't you just know it... today I got an email from the tuition reimbursement people that although they normally require fees to be associated with a class for approval, they have gone ahead and approved this for me.

Now, I'll see if the nice folks at the school will reverse the charge on my credit card and accept the payment from the tuition people. The school was much more reasonable to deal with yesterday, so I think that may work out fine.

That thing I do

My company issued a press release today, announcing a line of wireless and wireline softswitches that will be marketed in the US. Almost makes me well up with pride and burst into the official company song.

Anyway, I mention it not because I get a commission on each item sold (though maybe I'll drop that little idea in the suggestion box), but because friends, relatives, and coworkers (go figure!) sometimes ask me what I do at work. Well, here it is: I help figure out how to make these things work here in the states.

You see, telecom gear talks different languages (or at least dialects) depending on where you are in the world. There's a whole maze of regional standards to navigate. Then there are the regulatory considerations. Each country tells us how to do things like 911 and wiretapping a bit differently. Finally, we need to iron out various stuff with the customers themselves. For example, our equipment needs to generate billing records just so, so it can be easily fed into their accounting systems and you get your bill at the end of the month.

We're a little informal about job titles around here, but this would generally fall into the category of "systems engineer" or maybe even "systems analyst." I figure out what the thing's supposed to do (requirements analysis) and then tell the engineers (requirements specification). Then, the engineers ignore me (design and implementation) and, lastly, I beat them with a stick until it works (quality assurance).

So that's it in a nutshell. Not so complicated after all, huh?

Oh ... and did you notice the title of the article? "Samsung unveils plans." It sounds kinda ominous, doesn't it? As in, "Samsung unveils plans ... to rule the WORLD!! muahahaha!!!"

Hmmm ... another idea for the suggestion box.

The Saga Continues

Would you believe... the tuition reimbursement people have now denied my application because "any fees need to be associated with a class". I ask you... how can an application fee, which the policy clearly says it covers, be associated with a class??? UGGHHHHH! Getting angrier...

Not Sure It's Worth It...

My employer provides tuition assistance and I recently decided to take advantage of that by going back to school to work on an M.S. in Finance. However, I almost decided not to go back because while working on my M.B.A. (which I finished in 2003), I had nothing but problems with the whole tuition reimbursement process. However, I decided it would be a shame to pass up the opportunity solely because I don’t like dealing with them. Today, I’m re-thinking…. Ugggghhhhh.

So… they cover application fees and I submitted the paperwork for the application fee on 11/1. First of all, they told me it takes 2-3 weeks. It’s due 11/15, so I don’t have that long. When I talked to someone though, he was nice enough to tell me that although they say to allow 2-3 weeks, it was currently averaging 3-5 days, so I should be fine.

They reviewed the application on 11/4. That was good, but unfortunately, they marked it “incomplete” and asked me to re-submit. The comments say the dates were missing… which they weren’t!!?? So, I re-submitted and sent along an email asking them to tell me specifically what was missing. Their response (which I just received today): “The dates were missing, but it looks like they are there now, so we will review and get you a response in 2-3 weeks”. Although I know they are really only taking 3-5 days right now… the point is they screwed up… I have no idea what they were looking at the first time… and the 11/15 date is fast approaching. So irritating!!

Kitty Check In

It appears that Molly and Isabel may be starting to play a little bit. They are chasing each other around and we *think* it’s in a good way. :-)

New Roommates

Gary and the kitties made the big move this weekend. Abby and Isabel are slightly upset and confused after having been uprooted from their home and moved to a strange place… with another cat. (eek!) They are even hissing at *each other*.

We did really enjoy the first night with Abby and Isabel each on opposite sides of the bed growling (sarcasm). Gary gave them a good talking to about the manners of joining us on the bed only to sit there and growl. Low and behold, it must have worked because last night was better.

Overall though it’s gone fairly well. We think they’ll “work things out” and be able to live together. Molly seems more interested in them than upset by them… but then she doesn’t have to also get used to a new environment, so I guess it’s expected that she would not be as bothered.

As for the rest of the move, I felt like we accomplished a lot. We packed and moved several loads while sorting things for a garage sale. Gary got the PC’s hooked up after a couple trips to Fry’s. So far there’s enough space although the pantry was a challenge already and we haven’t brought all the food from his place yet. Of course we are talking about someone that has three different jars of bay leaves!!?? So there may be some opportunity for reduction. :-)

Halloween Pic

Gary Rachelle Halloween
Originally uploaded by rkbk03.

Here's a pic of Gary and me from Halloween.

Excuse me...

Molly Halloween
Originally uploaded by rkbk03.

I don't think she likes the witch... what do you think? (The witch is kind of in "her" spot).

The Ballet

I’ve always liked dance (various types) and this year when I got an advertisement for the Texas Ballet’s upcoming season, I decided to buy season tickets. The season consists of fours shows: Romeo and Juliet, The Nutcracker, Stars and Premieres and Cinderella. It sounded like a pretty good lineup to me.

Although Gary wasn’t particularly interested, I figured I could find friends to go with me and I’d at least get him to one. This past weekend was Romeo and Juliet and Gary graciously agreed to go with me. I thought it was good and I believe Gary felt it was tolerable. :-)

The fun part of the evening was going down to Sundance Square beforehand to have dinner and then to Marble Slab (woo-hoo) for dessert. I do really like the downtown Ft. Worth area. It’s nice to just park and have everything in close walking distance. Of course, Bass Hall is beautiful. I’ve only been there once before (for The Nutcracker a few years ago).

Camping Trip

Gary and I went camping this weekend. We went up to Oklahoma to Chickasaw National Recreation area. I've been before and I think it's a nice campsite. We did have fun, but there were a few problems to deal with...

1) The extremely loud/drunk group in a nearby campsite the first night. We moved the second night because of them and we did so in the laziest way possible. We didn't take down the tent, we simply lifted it up and carried it down the road to a new site. I'm sure we looked a little silly, but it worked out pretty well.

2) It was just a tad bit chilly at night, 50 degrees the first night and 52 degrees the second night. One more blanket probably would have done the trick.

3) We took our bikes and did some cycling... but gosh those hills about kicked my butt. It was very hilly. I did get up to 30 mph on a downhill and actually had to use my breaks... fearing how fast I would be going otherwise. I'd hate to hit a rock at that speed and lose control.

4) I did the packing and actually managed to forget chairs. Oops! At least there was a picnic table on the campsite, but that's not exactly ideal for sitting by the campfire.

All in all though, it was fun and I started making a list on my computer of "things to take camping" so that I wouldn't forget important things like chairs, soap and cups next time. :-)

Dancing Away

Gary and I had our second dance class last night. We started to learn the swing and then learned how to intermingle the foxtrot and the swing. It was really fun. I do however think we have a lot to learn. This class is kind of an introduction, so we may want to look into taking a class on a particular type of dance when we finish this. Next week's agenda: the rumba.

Been Keeping Busy

Gosh, I’ve been pretty busy this last week.

Wednesday – I went to watch Gary play volleyball. This is actually a weekly thing. They won 2 of their 3 games this week, so that was good.

Thursday – Gary and I started a dance class. We learned to foxtrot in the first class. It was fun. Next week… swing.

Friday – We headed to see “Wicked” at the Music Hall at Fair Park. It was excellent. I really enjoyed it. The fair is going on now, so we went into the fairgrounds for a quick bite to eat beforehand. Mmmm – fair food. :-)

Saturday – We did the October Velo Bash Bike Rally in the morning. It was 29 miles. This is the first rally we’ve done in cool weather since that very first ride we did in Muenster this spring. It was in the low 50’s and it did rain a little bit on us, so it made for a rather cold ride. Padded shorts are good until they get wet. Then it takes forever for them to dry. Other than that it was a pretty good ride. The rest stops were strangely spaced (first after 12 miles, second after 16 miles, and then we had to go the remaining 13 miles – so that second stop was in a strange spot). Police traffic control was excellent – they were at pretty much every intersection. And the best part was it was in Frisco – very close to home.

Saturday evening - We went to the movie “Serenity”, which we both really liked. I recommend it.

Sunday – We ventured to the State Fair. I have lived in Texas for 10 years now, and I had never been to the fair, so I figured it was about time to check it out. Of course, we had to cheat on the diet a bit for some good fair food. Other than that, we walked around and saw lots of things, but honestly can’t imagine doing it every year. It wasn’t all that exciting to me. Maybe if we had caught the pig races… ha ha.

One More

ND Oct Storm3
Originally uploaded by rkbk03.

I got an email from a friend that said they were really having trouble with the trees snapping off because of the weight of the snow. A quote from the paper: "This time of year, with leaves still on trees - two things happen. One is when high wind comes up, the leaves more or less act as a sail. The other thing is, heavy snow will collect on the leaves and that will increase the weight on the branch."

The Big Storm

ND Oct Storm2
Originally uploaded by rkbk03.

Here's a pic from the big storm I mentioned. Notice the green leaves on the tree - lol.

The Rest of the Pictures

The rest of the pictures from San Francisco can be found on my Yahoo Photo Album.

San Francisco Trip

Gary and I went to San Francisco this weekend. We had a great time, but we didn’t have enough time to do everything we wanted to do.

I did manage to get an earlier flight so I got there shortly before noon. We headed for Golden Gate Park and the ocean. We found a cool restaurant with a view of the ocean for lunch. Afterwards, we strolled down the beach, however it was really foggy and visibility was not very good. We ventured out for the evening via the subway and then cable cars to go to Chinatown for dinner. The cable cars are certainly a unique experience.

Sunday we went to Fisherman’s Wharf area and rented bikes. We biked across the Golden Gate Bridge and then on to Sausalito and Tiburon – about 16 miles according to the map. (I did really miss my computer on my bike). We had lunch in a cute café in Sausalito. We took a ferry back from Tiburon, going right past Alcatraz. It was a fun day. For dinner we went to a nice restaurant near the hotel.

Monday we headed to Muir Woods – a Redwood forest, via the “49 mile scenic route”. The drive was nice and the forest was very pretty. It would have been nice to have more time there, but we were then off to the airport to catch our flight home.

It was a really fun trip though and it will be nice to return sometime to hit the rest of the city that we didn’t have time for.

San Francisco

San Francisco Oct 2005
Originally uploaded by rkbk03.

A quick picture of us from San Francisco.

I Wonder Why I Left?

An article in today's Fargo Forum stated:

"North Dakotans were bracing for the first major snowstorm of the season, with some areas of the state expecting as much as 8 inches just a few days after high temperatures topped 90 degrees."

And my favorite quote:

"We're tired mowing grass, raking leaves," he (street department worker) said. "But by the time Christmas comes around, it's 'That d___ snow.'"

A winter storm on October 4th/5th??? Yep - I don't miss that. :-)

I'm Off Again For Another Adventure

This weekend I’m off to San Francisco to meet up with Gary. He’s leaving today for a meeting he has there tomorrow. I’ll be heading out Saturday (hopefully morning) to meet him. I actually have an afternoon flight, but I am going to try to fly standby – which is actually a first for me, so should be a little adventure to start my adventure.

I’m looking forward to seeing the sights. I’ve been to California, but not to San Francisco, so I’m excited. Now I just have to figure out how to pack light while packing warm clothes. The highs will be in the 60’s some days. It will be weird to go to that when I’m used to 100 degree days here.

Ahhhh....

I haven’t had a chance to update this to brag a little. My boyfriend is sooo sweet. Tuesday was our 10 month “anniversary” and he brought me 10 roses. It was so out of the blue, it was *really* nice. He said he hoped to make my day and he did.

Thanks Gary! :-)

Picture from Rhode Island

Gary and Rachelle in RI
Originally uploaded by rkbk03.

Here's a pic of Gary and me in Newport.

Catching Up

I guess I haven’t been up to a whole lot lately… I just realized I haven’t had anything to write since I returned from RI.

I did have lunch with my friend, Angela, last week and it was fun to catch up with her, as always. I also had dinner with my friend, April, and again… nice to catch up.

As for the weekend… Friday night, Gary and I went to see Paula Poundstone at the Improv. She did the whole show, no opening act. I kinda like that since the opening acts are hit or miss. I really enjoyed her performance.

Saturday morning we intended on going to the Greenville Cotton Patch bike rally, however when the alarm went off at 5:30… we quickly decided, “why go all the way to Greenville for a bike ride, we can just go around White Rock Lake”. So we went back to sleep and then did that at a much more reasonable time. We did the White Rock Creek Trail plus the lake for the first time, so it was 23 miles. It was fun, but it was pretty hot by the time we finished – very close to 100 degrees.

Saturday night we went to the Ranger’s game with friend April, her boyfriend, his son, my sis and her boyfriend. It was a really exciting game. We won in the last inning. There were fireworks afterwards, which were also really good. There seemed to be a lot of unique ones that I had never seen before, so it was really cool.

FSMism

There has been much debate about the theory of Intelligent Design. More specifically, about whether it’s an appropriate topic for a science classroom. I think this open letter to the Kansas School Board makes an interesting point. And, extra credit, it’s amusing.

I like the artwork on the right side of the page. And don’t miss the theory on global warming. Clearly, there must be some causality.

Rhode Island Trip

Gary and I went to Rhode Island last week... got back Sunday. It was a fun trip. I got to meet his family and see lots of sites. We went to the casinos, the beach, Newport (including a tour through The Breakers mansion), and up to Amherst to see where Gary went to college. The weather was really nice, most days. The day we went to the beach was mid 80's and sunny.

We also went to a couple fun events. Friday night there was an End of Summer outdoor concert by the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra. Saturday night we went to a Paw Sox baseball game.

Note for Liz... The Rhode Island paper has a section similar to Dallas' Guidelive. I was checking it out to see what was going on and guess who was on the cover?? The Spankers! They were at the Rhythm and Roots Festival... we didn't make it to the festival, but I thought it was kinda cool to see them on the cover.

It was a very nice trip.

Birthday Gift Ideas

I asked Gary what he would like for his birthday and the idea of an espresso maker came up. Today, he sends me a website link that says, “Espresso is messy. Really. If your significant other likes a tidy kitchen your relationship may not survive a home espresso machine."

I wonder if this should convince me that this is the item to get? Do we think an espresso maker is a good idea??

Ah well, it was funny. He did point out that line to me...

IKEA

We checked out IKEA this weekend. In a nutshell… I liked it! It was a cool store with a lot of things in the style I like. We only made it through the second floor. It was *really* crowded and it was huge. I’ll be looking forward to going on a weeknight, in a month or so. :-)

Red Hot Chili Pepper Bike Rally

Gary and I did the Red Hot Chili Pepper bike rally this weekend. We had fun, however I would have to say I was rather disappointed with the rally for several reasons.

First of all, it was difficult to get to the Calumet Community Center starting point due to the road being blocked. The directions on the website said to come in off of Jefferson and follow the signs to the rally. However the route to the center from Jefferson was blocked. We eventually found that it would have been much easier to come in from Davis on the North.

Unfortunately, due to the problem getting to the community center, we were off to a late start. The 20-mile route participants started at 8:00. By the time we got going, everyone else was gone. This also caused us trouble in determining where to go. We had a map, but it is rather unusual based on the other rallies we’ve been to, to not have the turns marked. We’ve started late before and never had a problem finding the route. In this case, we got to the end of the driveway of the community center and had to consult our map. OK… our fault for starting late, but not totally since the late start was caused by the first problem.

The next problem was that the route immediately took us out on to high traffic roads. Again, since we were late we didn’t have the luxury of the police blocked roads. Once we were out on Davis (which was a 3-lane busy road), a police car did come along and tell us that he would help us get through the Loop 12 intersection. The rest of the route, we found the police support rather lacking. It was understandable on the first part of our ride, since we did start out late. Everyone else would have already passed and the police could certainly have thought there were no more riders. On the second half of our ride however, we were in amongst riders who did the 40 & 60 miles routes. There was one particularly bad intersection where we had to cross 6 lanes (3 each direction) and the cross traffic did not have to stop. There was a hill, which would have made it difficult for the drivers to see us. I really don’t understand why they wouldn’t have had police at that intersection all day. Everyone had to pass that point twice. The police were there the first time we crossed it, but they weren’t there on the way back.

The rest stop was also disappointing, consisting of warm water, uncut oranges and some cookies. There were port-a-potties but no shade or chairs. We normally see rest stops with water and ice, sliced fruit (much easier to eat), cookies etc. and they are usually located somewhere with some shade.

There was a large hill at the end, which we knew about from reading the website. The problem with the hill was it was on Davis (the busy 3-lane road). Most cyclists took to the shoulder of the road since they were probably going 10mph at best. The shoulder was *covered* in glass. I’m surprised I only saw one person fixing a flat along there.

On top of all this, this was the most we’ve paid/donated to do a rally. The website indicated that they raised the price this year in order to have more police assistance. Hmmm…. I would hate to see what last year was like, if this year was an improvement.

I think I’ll pass on this rally next year.

Stupid Google Tricks

This just in … google the word “failure.” The top results indicate a vast [left/right]-wing conspiracy.

Night Out with Fargo Friends

Here's a pic of the group when we went out Friday night in Fargo.

Family Reunion Pic

2005 08 06_17_George Leroy Richy Allan Jim Bertha Emma Albert Martha
Originally uploaded by rkbk03.

A photo of my dad and siblings from the family reunion. Dad is back, center.

Friday Feast 8/19

Appetizer
Do you get excited when the season begins to change? Which season do you most look forward to?
- - - I wouldn’t say I necessarily get excited when the seasons begin to change, but I most look forward to spring. Which is probably carryover from growing up in ND. After the long winters there, it is wonderful to see the snow begin to melt and warmer weather become more and more frequent. I also love rain, especially the nice, light, steady rain we tend to see more of in the spring as opposed to thunderstorms. (Although I like them too).

Soup
What day of the week is usually your busiest?
- - - Weekends in general tend to be the busiest for me. We seem to pack a lot of fun into those days. There is always something going on and I'm usually beginning to plan on Mondays!

Salad
Would you consider yourself to be strict when it comes to grammar and spelling? What's an example of the worst error you've seen?
- - - Yes, I would say I’m fairly picky about spelling and grammar. Or at least I try to be, although I would certainly not profess to be perfect and I definitely do not have the best vocabulary. Worst error… hmmm… I think it may be ironic based on last Friday’s question… but how about “good vs. well”? That one always stands out to me, as do other adjective vs. adverb errors.

Main Course
Who has a birthday coming up, and what will you give them as a gift?
- - - The two most important guys in my life both have birthdays coming up. My dad’s birthday is September 2nd and Gary’s birthday is September 5th. Of course, I can’t say what I am getting them as gifts because they will probably read this. Sorry fellas – no hints. :-)

Dessert
If you could have any new piece of clothing for free, what would you pick?
- - - Gary would probably expect me to answer this question with shoes of some sort, but I don’t think there are any that would be at the top of my list. Maybe… just maybe… that’s because I already have everything I need in that department. Since I’m thinking of something I’d like for *free*, it would have to be something expensive. So, perhaps a special occasion type of dress.

Friday Feast 8/12

I found the Friday Feast a while ago and look at it occasionally. I have decided to start answering the questions...

Description: "While our questions may sometimes be related to food, the main idea here is to feed your mind by asking thought-provoking, mind-stimulating questions. Each Friday when you visit this meme, you will find 5 enticing courses for your mind to gobble up":

Appetizer - quick, tasty morsel to get you started
Soup - smooth and warm to soothe your mind
Salad - nutritious blend of "veggies"
Main Course- hearty portion that is sure to satisfy
Dessert - light concoction for your sweet tooth

This week's questions:
Appetizer
Did you sleep good last night?
- - - Yes, very well
Soup
What is your current computer desktop image?
- - - Picture of Gary in a hammock from our cruise
Salad
When was the last time you planted something, what was it and where did it go?
- - - I planted a cactus in my backyard last spring. It's still there.
Main Course
What's your favorite condiment?
- - - Ketchup
Dessert
Share a quote that you like, for whatever reason.
- - - It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.

Review: A Long Way Down

Review: A Long Way Down, by Nick Hornby

This was the selection of my monthly book club. I read it last week while traveling - though not in time for the book club meeting. My bad.

Hornby certainly has a gift for narrative and dialog. The book was a pleasure to read and occupied me during the plane and car trips. By my measure, though, that wasn’t enough to overcome it’s fundamental flaws: a contrived plot and comic and dramatic misfires.

The plot revolves around four individuals who choose, quite coincidentally, the same time and place to commit suicide. We all know that suicide rates increase around the holidays, and fair enough, midnight on New Year’s Eve has a poetic ring to it. But who knew there’d be a line forming at the top of the building?

The four of them manage to talk each other down from the ledge and form a sort of club. But, wouldn’t you know it, they couldn’t be more different: A self-absorbed morning-show TV personality whose shenanigans cost him his job, marriage, and, for a time, his personal liberty; a dowdy shut-in overwhelmed by the perpetual demands of caring for a disabled son; a wild and wacky teenager coping with a family tragedy, and whose parents just don’t understand her; and a thirty-something rocker with a stalled career and an ex-girlfriend. Despite (or rather because of) their differences, they find themselves in a number of predicaments as they gradually help each other to realize that, hey,  maybe they don’t want to die after all.

I wouldn’t mind the contrived premise so much if it just led somewhere interesting. Billed as a dark comedy, it fails on both counts.

I’ll grant you that, as topics go, suicide’s pretty dark. The thing is, I just never felt for these characters. In their own voices, they explain what they did and why they did it, but I never felt the depth of their desperation and depression. The supporting characters were also wasted. We should’ve felt the withering scorn of the jilted wife, or the despair of a couple incapable of easing their daughter’s pain. Instead, we’re given supporting caricatures, not characters. The book reaches a dramatic climax of sorts when someone finally does off himself. But it’s almost a throw-away moment with no lasting impact.

So, that just leaves the comedy. I liked the witty repartee between the characters (see, I said he has a gift for dialog), but it wasn’t enough to make up for the sitcom-esque plot turns. The quartet finds itself in the media spotlight and they behave badly. The quartet takes a trip to the beach. Cue the laugh track.

This is the first Hornby novel I’ve read. Some of his other work has been turned into first-rate movies, though (About a Boy, High Fidelity), so I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. My recommendation: pass on this one and pick up one of those instead.

The Rest of the Trip

Gary came to Fargo on Thursday and spent a long weekend. I showed him around a bit, but since there is not much to see, I mostly showed him the significant things in my past - like my high school. :-)

We did go out with a few of my friends Friday night. We went to a nice restaurant downtown and I was really impressed with the things Fargo has done to the downtown area. They have some really nice places down there. We went to a restaurant called Monty's - described as "upscale but not uptight". Afterwards, we tried to go to the Hotel Donaldson for drinks, but it was a little crowded there, so we ended up at the Great Northern on the patio, which is the old train depot. It was a little cool but really nice to sit outside. All three places were really cool to visit.

Saturday was a high of 65 degrees, so we decided to go to the lake - LOL. Good timing on that plan. We went to see my aunt and uncle. My cousin (their son) is building a house next door, so that was fun to see. He was just out of the hospital after falling on a ladder a few days earlier and injuring his lung.

Sunday, Gary and I went to some new construction open houses. I always find it fun to see what they are building in Fargo in comparison to Dallas. There were some nice houses.

Our flight home was about an hour late getting into Dallas so that made for a late night.

It was a fun trip home.

It’s Been a Long Time…

Today my mom had me helping her make pickles. First, I got the fun job of washing the cucumbers. Then, I helped her with filling the jars, etc. I decided to try to cut my finger off when I was doing the dill (my mom does believe in sharp knives). Other than that it went well. My finger hurts a bit and I don’t believe I’ve ever cut myself this deeply, but we all decided it wasn’t deep enough for stitches. It was a lot of blood though and I got a little light headed. Blood has never had that affect on me before. :-(

Tuesday

My mom’s sister from Washington is also currently visiting Fargo. She retired in April of this year. Her and her boyfriend have spent quite a bit of time in North Dakota this summer. Last night, my aunt, mom, sister and I drove to St. Cloud, Minnesota to see one of my cousins. We had dinner with her, her husband and her little boy who none of us have ever seen. (He’s two). It was great to be able to see her and they’ve done a lot of work on their house since I have been there, so that was cool to see. It was a 3-hour drive each way, which is a little far for dinner, but I think it was fun and was worth it.

Back to Fargo

We got back to Fargo on Monday and I hooked up with my best friend since 1st grade, Kim. We went to dinner, did a little shopping and she drove me around West Fargo to show me all that has changed. (I went to school in West Fargo school district). It was great to have her as a tour guide. She’s a teacher so she knew everything that was going on around town. It was really wonderful to see her again.

Tuesday morning she brought her kids by so we could all see them and they are adorable. They change so much in a year!

Family Reunion

I’m home in North Dakota with my sister for a small family reunion on my dad’s side. I say small because it was mainly for my dad and his sisters (3) and brothers (4). A few other cousins were there but it definitely wasn’t our normal reunion, which can easily be 150 people. My dad’s two sisters in Harvey, ND were nice enough to host, even though they are both in their 80’s (another reason for the reduction in size this year). The good thing is that all remaining siblings made it… from Arizona, Alabama, Michigan, Minnesota and North Dakota. It was really nice to see those that were 1) invited and 2) came. Sounds like it’s time for the next generation to take over so that we can once again have the full-blown version and see everyone else.

Roberta and I stayed in Hurdsfield, ND with our aunt and uncle. Hurdsfield is the town where my grandma lived all my life, so I have fond memories of it, which has now shrunk to a size of about 85, with most of those being over 70. I did go around town and take pictures of the places I remember spending time as a child, as I doubt I will ever have the opportunity to visit the town again. It’s probably been 15 years or so since I’ve been there.

Looking Forward to Visiting Home

I was reading the news from my home town today and found one reason why my upcoming trip home will be a pleasant visit:

"About 400 new statutes passed by the 2005 Legislature go into effect Monday. Most notable is the smoking ban. It prohibits smoking in public areas and places of employment, with a few exceptions for bars, designated hotel rooms, private homes, rented party rooms, tobacco stores and a few other circumstances. Bars inside restaurants must be smoke free unless the bar is in a separately enclosed area."

Right underneath that story was a reason why it may be a scary place to visit… mosquitoes!!

"N.D. reports two human cases of West Nile virus. Twenty human West Nile cases were confirmed in the state last year, and the mosquito-borne virus was blamed for two deaths."

Cycling is an Adventure

Gary and I were off to Paris, TX this weekend for the Tour de Paris bike rally and we ended up having quite an adventure.

Our adventure began Friday afternoon with trying to find a place to stay in or near Paris. (It’s a 2-hour drive from Dallas). Gary was nice enough to call around. All the hotels in Paris were full, so we decided to check out campsites. Gary talked to the nice owner of an RV Park Campsite… asking her if she had any spaces for tents. She was nice enough to offer to “mow a spot” for us or to let us stay in the office which “has a futon and a refrigerator”. Gary very politely told her we’d keep looking. :-)

We ended up booking a spot at Cooper State Park. They said that they were only a quarter full so there was no need for a reservation. They also warned him that it was raining “like cats and dogs”. Once we finally found the road to the campsite and started down the extremely wet, muddy road (it had stopped raining by then), we quickly figured out why they were only a quarter full. No one could get there!! The road was getting worse and worse, so we decided to turn back. Of course, we got a little stuck trying to turn around and Gary got to push us out while I drove. Thankfully we made it back to pavement without too much trouble. (I think Gary was disappointed to find out the Jeep he was driving did not actually have 4 wheel drive to help us out of the situation). :-)

Unfortunately, with no way to get to the campsite, we decided to drive back to the closest town – Commerce. We were lucky enough to find a hotel there, although it was considerably more expensive than the campsite would have been.

The Tour de Paris was a good rally. We managed to start on time and not get any flat tires. Yay! There were lots of rest stops, which I really enjoyed. It’s nice to stop every 4-5 miles instead of every 10 miles. This one was 24 miles. The fire department was nice enough to open up their showers to the public after the rally, so that was a bit of an adventure too. Overall, it was a fun rally. I know I saw a photographer take our picture this time, so I’ll look for that and post if I find it. (Yes, I was actually riding my bike this time).

Tour d'Italy Photo

Tour d'Italy
Originally uploaded by rkbk03.

I just found this photo online. Apparently there was a photographer at the Tour d'Italy and he was nice enough to take a photo of me *walking* up a hill (not my shining moment). :-)

Another Fun Filled Weekend

Going into this weekend, Gary and I had almost nothing planned and somehow we managed to be really busy.

Friday night we joined my sis and her boyfriend, Dave, for a Frisco Roughriders game and fireworks. It was a good time and you can’t beat the fact that the tickets were free (through Dave’s work). Unfortunately the Roughriders lost the game.

Saturday, I went to a book club and discussed Misfortune by Wesley Stace with 6 other folks. It was a good meeting. Most of us liked the book overall with a few complaints about various things that could have been better.

Saturday night we got invited last minute to a get together at a friend’s house. I hadn’t seen her in quite awhile so it was really good to see her again.

Sunday we went jet skiing with Roberta and Dave. Dave has two jet skis, so Dave and Gary were driving with Roberta and I as passengers. Gary had never done this before… he caught on quickly and did quite well… except for making us fall off twice. Oops… probably wasn’t supposed to share that part. :-)

Sunday night we went to see Riverdance, which was the only thing we originally had planned for the weekend. It was great.

Maybe with a 3-day weekend coming up we’ll actually get to relax a bit.

Tour d'Italy

Gary and I ventured to Italy this weekend for camping and cycling. Yep – that’s Italy, TX. Italy is about an hour south of Dallas. We drove down Friday after work and camped out at the high school (where the bike rally was to begin on Saturday morning). The weather was not *too* bad. It was a little hot setting up the tent, but it cooled off somewhat before it was time to try to sleep. Gary was none the less surprised to wake up in the morning and see me actually under the covers. I actually got a little chilly with just the sheet and I was glad I also brought a light blanket.

The good parts of our ride on Saturday:
- We managed to set a record distance
- The route was good – the last 2/3 was quite flat
- The people working the rally were very nice
- It was nice to be able to camp out and use the showers in the school

The bad parts:
- Being awoken at 6am with music blasting from the loud speakers and announcing the pancake breakfast was about to begin in the school.
- The pancake breakfast was a little disappointing
- Although the advertised distance was 28 miles (which was a stretch for me), the actual distance ended up being 31 miles – even more of stretch. I was *really* ready to quit at 28 miles.
- I got a flat tire on the road. This was the first time we’ve had to fix a flat actually on the road. We’ve previously always been at our car or there was one time I had to take the SAG wagon back because we didn’t have a spare tube anyway.

Overall, it was fun… but gosh were my thighs tired!! :-)

Working From Home

Today is my first day working from home and I am so excited. I'm really enjoying the short "commute" - ha ha... and also working in my shorts in the comfort of my own home. I'm really going to like this. :-)

Catching Up

OK, I haven't posted what's been going in "my world" lately.

This past weekend was fun. Saturday, Gary and I went to Six Flags for his work picnic. Man, that company knows how to treat their employees nice. Our "package" included tickets to the park, parking, the picnic and $20 Daffy dollars to spend in the park. How sweet. For him-it was just the two of us. For employees with families... whew that's really sweet.

Saturday evening we went to Poor David's Pub with Liz and company to watch the Asylum Street Spankers. The opening act was Idgy Vaughn, who I really liked as well. It was fun.

Sunday, my friend Melissa was in town from Virginia and I went to a pool party to see her and other friends.

I started golf lessons last Monday and although it's rather hot, they have been really good. Two lessons down, 3 to go. I've already learned a lot more than the first lessons I took in the fall.

Yesterday, I had dinner with Roberta and helped her learn how to use her new cell phone. We both bought the same one. :-)

So... I've been busy and been having fun. :-)

Gift Idea

Come on... look at the *savings* for buying this on Amazon. :-)

I got an email advertisement on this today... as "someone who recently purchased literary classics"... although I sure can't think of what that would have been.

Darth Vader's a big meanie

Appropos of nothing, I came across this blog entry today, the recounting of a little boy's visit to see Darth Vader in a shopping mall, circa 1980. It just sorta cracked me up. My favorite paragraph is when he compares it to visiting Santa Claus, but read through to the end to find out just how mean Darth Vader really is.

Busy Monday

I'm glad I had a nice, relaxing weekend because today has been crazy so far. I've finally got a moment to take a little break (and it's well derved).

My weekend was good. I had lunch with Liz on Saturday and that was really fun. It was fun to catch up on the girl talk... we left the boys at home.

Last night a group that Liz organized went to the Improv. We saw Aries Spears. He was quite funny and the opening two guys were also very good.

Tonight, April and I are starting golf lessons. I'm hoping they will be better than the lessons we took last fall. They are offered through the community college, so I expect they will be. We'll see.

Ahhh.... Warm and Toasty

Yep... I got my space heater in the mail over the weekend and I hooked it up under my desk today. It's great to be able to wear summer clothes instead of sweaters! :-)

Mini Vacation

I had a nice holiday weekend. I worked 4x10’s last week so I could have Friday off.

Gary and I got caught in the rain on our Saturday bike ride around White Rock Lake, but it was still fun. We also celebrated the 6-month “anniversary” of our first date this weekend.

Sunday night we went to see Flip Orley at the Improv with my sis and her boyfriend. That was fun and Flip was very good, as always.

Monday we went to the Parade of Homes in McKinney. It was a good day for it – less busy than what I have seen previously and the weather was decent… not *too* hot.

I took Tuesday off in order to have Verizon come out to install Fios (fiber optic cable). Now I have broadband internet access and can work from home – yay. I’m looking forward to that.

Brrrrr

I wish I had Liz's problem right now... I'm FREEZING. I just went online and ordered a space heater. My cubicle is in the corner of our building and I have *three* air conditioning vents blowing at me. Ugh.

Quilt Quest

I’m happy to say that after visiting *six* Kohl’s stores in the past two days, I found the solid red quilt that I’ve been scouring the stores for. Gary and I went to two on Sunday. Yesterday, I hit one store at lunch with no luck. On my way home from work I went to three. I was about to give up after that 5th store, but I’m oh so glad I had the thought: “I won’t be satisfied unless I know for sure that the last store remotely close to my house doesn’t have it either”. I almost jumped up and down in excitement when I found it. I refrained. :-)

The Rest of the Weekend

As usual (or so it seems lately), I had another busy weekend. Saturday after the bike rally, Gary and I went to the YAP book club. Six people showed up to discuss The Plot Against America by Philip Roth. Only 3 of us actually finished the book. Group consensus, in a nutshell, was that it wasn’t very good.

Next, we went to the new Star Wars movie. It was OK. We both had a lot of criticism, but I thought it was decent.

Sunday we went shopping and then Gary took me on a tour of his workplace. We had biked by it on Saturday morning and Gary was going to take me, but his badge was in his car and we were in my car. It was neat to see where he spends his days. :-)

Richardson “Wild Ride”

Saturday morning we were up bright and early (which was hard since the Rangers game had us out pretty late) for our next bike rally adventure. This rally was part of the Wildflower Festival. We’re setting a trend with getting a late start - had another flat before beginning. We did 17 miles and I thought it was a good route. This one was more city streets than the previous ones we have done, but there were police directing traffic at major intersections. The best part was it was fairly flat. It *was* a little warm (mid 90's by the time we finished). Good thing it did start early.

We were thinking of going to the festival, mainly because I saw The Blenders on the schedule of musical entertainment. The Blenders are a group of guys from Fargo that I knew growing up. They’ve been to Dallas before during the holiday season, so I thought it was possible that it could be them. However, I checked out their website and found that it wasn’t on their calendar. I emailed them to ask if it was them and their website just wasn’t up to date or if it was someone else. Turns out it was another group. Ironically, I “tattled” and the note back from The Blenders said their lawyers would get in touch with this group… since they have the name copyrighted. Anyway, since it wasn’t them, we skipped the festival.

Rangers Game

Friday night a few friends and I went to the Rangers game. There were fireworks afterwards that were really cool. And as a bonus… the Rangers actually won the game against the Houston Astros. It was fun.

Bike Rally #2

After our first bike rally, you might think we would like to avoid hills and would avoid a bike rally called “Rolling Hills Rally”… but I guess those hills didn’t scare us off.

Sunday morning we were at it again at the Rolling Hills Bike Rally in McKinney. We were aiming for 20 miles. There were hills, but nothing like the Germanfest rally. There was some wind, but it wasn’t too bad.

We did have some mishaps. Gary got a flat before we even started (airing up the tires). Thankfully we had a spare tube and got that changed. We started out later than everyone else, but that was actually nice since we didn’t have to constantly pass or be passed by other cyclists. There were two rest stops and the second one was actually only a couple miles from the end. The brochure said the last two miles would have the most intense hills. Unfortunately… or maybe fortunately… for me, I didn’t get to find out. I got a flat and since we had already used our spare tube… no more riding for me. The SAG wagon picked me up. Gary finished those last two miles and encountered his final mishap – throwing a chain. He was able to fix that and finish.

We had fun. The scenery was pretty and the weather was nice. The location was good. The rest stops were nice and at the end there was pizza. It was a good time. We increased our average speed from the last rally - 13 mph. Of course, I can’t imagine going any *slower* than the Germanfest rally – since I walked up several hills there. :-)

Airport Fun

I just remembered that I wanted to share my airport story from my St. Louis trip.

This was the first trip where I decided to just use a carry-on and not check my luggage. After seeing many people struggle on other flights, I was a little nervous about getting on early enough to make sure there was enough room for my luggage in the overhead bins. Leaving St. Louis, I was in "group 6" to board. I decided I would just go in with "group 5". I don't think they would have stopped me... but unfortunately my seat was “flagged” to be searched.

What irritated me most about this was they didn’t tell me what was going on. They just asked me to stand off to the side while one of the guys started typing at the computer. I then hear him pick up the radio and call for a female inspector to come to the gate. I’m thinking, “Surely that can’t be for me”. He turns to me and asks me to have a seat and says the problem is “because my boarding pass was torn a little bit in the corner”, not mentioning the inspector at all.

So, I wait… and someone else asks me if I’m waiting on the inspector. I said, “I have no idea what I’m waiting for, he didn’t tell me”. She then tells me that yes, my seat was “randomly flagged” to be searched. Now I’m thinking... “Was it random or was it because my boarding pass was torn? Or… which one of you is trying to break the news gently”.

The inspector arrives and proceeds to thoroughly search my luggage and me. Luckily for me, one of those small-town bars had given us souvenir condoms, which I had in my purse!! Yep. The inspector, of course, did not say anything, however it was not the highlight of the search process for me!!?? :-)

I was the absolute last person on the plane... in fact the gate people had to rush the inspector a little bit to get me on the plane in time. I could not believe my luck! Thankfully the passenger sitting next to me was very observant and knew which overhead bin (which were by now all closed) had some space in it. I would have been really ticked if I had had to check my bag because of all that.

St. Louis Pics

A link to the pictures from St. Louis.

Nice, Relaxing Weekend

I had a very nice weekend. Friday evening, I had a few friends over for game night. It was a Mexican theme in honor of Cinco de Mayo (good excuse for a party).

Saturday I did do some yard work, but the rest of the day was rest and relaxation with Gary. It was really nice to not have anything we had to do.

Sunday we went for a bike ride around White Rock Lake (9 miles). The rest of the night was more rest and relaxation. It was great.

It was a good weekend, but I wish it had been longer. It was really hard to get out of bed this morning, even after all that resting. :-)

Weekend Trip

Now that the surprise is over, I can talk about my trip. I went to St. Louis for a friend, Tozsha’s, surprise 30th birthday party. Another friend, Melissa, and I arranged our flights to meet up there and spend the weekend with Tozsha. (Melissa is from Dallas, but is currently living in Richmond, VA).

Tozsha actually lives in Troy, which is a smaller town outside of St. Louis. From hearing her talk about it, we expected it to be much smaller than it actually was.

We did some touristy things – shopping in a cute little old town section of St. Charles, went to a Casino (I won $8 – woo hoo) and visited the Arch. Unfortunately, the Journey to the Top at the Arch was sold out so we didn’t get to go up – bummer. However, it was still cool to see it and we checked out the museum.

Tozsha has told us so many stories of her hometown-country-living, that Melissa and I were probably most interested in her pastime of bar hopping in the small towns around her home town. We managed to hit a few of them. First was Little Dick’s in Troy. Like I mentioned though, Troy isn’t really very small, so this place seemed like any little hole in the wall bar you would find anywhere. Next the plan was to go to a little bar in the town of Silex, “If it is still open, because they just kind of set their own hours.” This was around 10pm on a Friday night. We were in luck… they were open. Unfortunately they served *only* beer. (I don’t drink beer). Oh well, we got our fill of the locals there (all 4 of them) and then moved on to one of Tozsha’s favorites in Onley (No link - couldn't find any data on this town). Again, some interesting locals and we really got a kick out of the waitress.

So… You know you are in a small hick town bar when you hear the following:

• Amy (Friend of Tozsha's) – “Do you have wine?”
• Waitress – “Yeah, we have that pink stuff in a box, I can’t remember what it’s called.”

• Melissa – “Could I have a Vodka and Tonic?”
• Waitress – “What all’s in that?”

• Melissa orders a second
• Waitress brings it in a plastic cup and says – “Sorry we’re out of glasses”
• Melissa looks around the bar and determines she is the *only* person drinking out of a glass. Hmmm….
  

I’m sure all of the above were funnier in person, but I had to share. We really got a laugh out of them. Overall, we had a great time in Missouri and it was great to see Tozsha and Melissa. Missouri does look quite similar to North Dakota, so it made me a little homesick. I'm ready to go home for a visit now. :-)

At the same time, I couldn’t wait to get home since I was really missing Gary. :-) He picked me up at the airport (brought me tulips– what a sweetie!!). Hopefully I’m not embarrassing him by writing that here. :-)

2 Do Before I Die

According to this website, “Writing a list of things you want to do before you die is a great way of reminding yourself exactly what it is that sparks your curiosity, captures your imagination and keeps you involved.”

I ran across this website in January, which is a fitting time… with everyone writing New Year’s Resolutions. I thought this was a nice alternative to the typical resolutions… and you get your whole lifetime to achieve them. :-)

I forgot I had bookmarked the site and ran across it again today.

I did start a list in January, but got nowhere near 100. I remember reading at the time that they suggested “100” because you really have to dig deep to come up with that many things. I didn't actually spend much time on it in January, but perhaps I'll work on digging deeper.

Here’s the things off my list that I don’t mind sharing (mostly hobby stuff, I'll keep the personal stuff to myself):

1) Take a European Cruise
2) Take a cruise out of San Juan
3) Visit Washington, D.C.
4) Learn to play the piano
5) Take a photography class
6) Learn to develop black and white photos
7) Take more golf lessons
8) Build my dream home
9) Go on a cycling tour

What’s on your list?

“Enchanted” Evening

I went to a play last night with Liz. Read about her “blonde moment”, because I did think it was pretty funny. However, even if we hadn’t gotten into the play, I enjoyed dinner, the margarita and catching up with Liz enough to make the evening really good anyway. However… the play ended up being quite good as well so that was a bonus. It was called “Enchanted April” and I agree with Liz that it was a girl kinda play. I would recommend it also.

And speaking of April (ha ha)… I’m having dinner with her tonight. I haven’t seen her since the cruise and we’re exchanging photos with each other, so I can’t wait to see hers. Afterwards I’m off to feed Gary’s cats and then I’ll be packing for my weekend trip. It will be a busy night. It is kind of a bummer I’m leaving town the day Gary gets back to town, but I do think my trip will be fun and I’m sure he will need the time to recover from his jet lag anyway. More on my trip later, it’s a surprise for a friend of mine, so I don’t want to mention it just in case it were to get back to her.

On the bright side, I made it through my week of working 4 10-hour days. I’m glad it’s over. I’m rather sleepy today.

Working Towards a Goal

I decided this week that in order to take Friday off, I would work 4–ten hour days. This is difficult since I’m not a morning person. However, in order to get 10 hours of work in, I can’t come in *too* late.

Thankfully, the idea of Friday off without having to take vacation has been enough motivation to get out of bed. Also, with Gary out of town this week, I’ve been going to bed early, which has helped with not being overly sleepy in the morning.

So far, so good. Yesterday I made it in at 7:15 and today at 7:30. I think my co-workers and employees are having fun with this. They don’t usually see me this early, so everyone has a comment for me.

Unfortunately I do see a trend in these two days – slowly getting later. Tomorrow I need to make it by 7:00 so I can leave at 5:00 (skipping lunch, if you are doing the math). I think I can do it, since needing to leave at 5:00 will increase my motivation to get out of bed. :-) I’m headed to dinner and a play with Liz tomorrow night, which I am looking forward to.

Anyway, I’m proud of my little accomplishment. :-)

I also thought that the workday would really drag on, but yesterday went quite fast and today is going pretty quickly so far also. We’ll see how the next two days go.

We Made It!!

I’m happy to say that Gary and I completed the 22-mile course at the Germanfest Bike Rally. The course was down a country road to a rest stop and back. The trip down was “a breeze” – literally, since it was windy and the wind was on our backs. There were a lot of hills, but they weren’t a problem on the first leg of the course. The way back was another story. That was tough. I think I could have done just the hills or just the wind, but both of them together made things difficult. There were several hills on the way back that I had to just get off the bike and walk. Gary did much better than I did, he didn’t have to walk at all, but he was nice enough to stop with me when I needed a rest.

So… it took us 45 minutes to the rest stop and 1 hour, 15 minutes to get back. I believe I averaged 10.5 mph, which isn’t bad since there was some walking involved. Maximum speed (down a hill) was 30 mph. That was fun… however we did see the aftermath of an accident on the very first hill. A cyclist was apparently taking the hill a little too fast and wiped out. They were loading him/her in the ambulance when we got there. I assume that was someone in the group that was doing the 63-mile course, because they staggered the start times for the three distances.

The event itself was very nice. There were 1400 cyclists. They had everything well organized. The rest stop was stocked with fruit, cookies, and Powerade. They had sag wagons for support that were very attentive. And we saw several ambulances. (We only saw the one “in action”, but others went by with lights on, so I assume there were other accidents). It was a bit chilly – around 55 degrees when we took off at 11am. I wasn’t quite prepared for that. I had worn my short sleeve cycling jersey. Thankfully, I had a sweatshirt, but I just didn’t look as *cool* as most other cyclists. :-)

We were pretty beat when we finished, so we didn’t actually go the Germanfest. Maybe we’ll check that out next year. :-)

Is it only Thursday?

It really seems like it should be Friday. It has been a long week. I am already looking forward to the weekend. Gary and I are going to the Germanfest Bike Rally on Saturday. We’ll be doing the 22-mile (shortest) route. I’m a little nervous after reading this review (3rd paragraph) from last year. We did 15 miles last weekend and I felt like I could have gone further without much trouble. However, that ride was fairly flat and there wasn’t much wind. I’ll have to hope that the weather is favorable as far as wind, but even so… I’m not sure I’ll be able to handle 22 *hilly* miles. We will see.

Gary is off to Korea on Sunday, so I guess I’ll have time to recuperate. Wait… no… I guess I need to do yard work. The weeds and mulch are calling my name. Oh well, I can probably take it easy part of the day at least.

Cruise Photos

Here are my Cruise photos – choose “April 2005 Cruise” and then I recommend selecting "view slideshow" in the upper right corner.

Descriptions in order of appearance:
- Formal night
- Men of the Rhapsody “strip” show
- The Solarium pool – my favorite location on the ship, where we spent a lot of time.
- Ice carving demonstration
- Key West
- Key West Sunset Sail
- Rhapsody Quest – adult scavenger hunt game. You can see that it progressed from tame, to men taking their pants off and then retrieving them, to the finale: Men wearing a bra, earrings, women’s shoes, lipstick and carrying a purse. It was hilarious. My team was #31. There were 5 girls and 1 guy, so the one guy was a good sport.
- Grand Cayman swimming with the stingrays
- The Midnight Gala Buffet
- Passion Island in Cozumel - This was a little private island with a buffet, hammocks, beach chairs, beach volleyball, and some little shops. It was a nice excursion.

Busy Weekend

Sorry to say, I still haven’t had a chance to link up my photos from the cruise, because I had such a full weekend. However, I think I’ll be able to get that done tonight.

On Saturday, Gary and I ventured out for our first group cycling ride. It began at a Plano bike shop @ 7:45am. Yes, I was up riding at 7:45am. How about that? It was 15 miles too. Not bad. That’s the farthest we have gone yet. It was a little chilly for me starting off (about 60 degrees), but it warmed up fairly quickly. It wasn’t as difficult as I expected it to be, but we were doing a rather slow pace. There were 7 folks in the group, however one guy had some mechanical problems and had to call for a rescue.

After a nap to recuperate we had lunch and then went and did one of my favorite pastimes – looking at model homes. I always have fun dreaming. :-)

Saturday night we went to the Ranger’s game. Unfortunately, we lost 0-8 to the Toronto Blue Jays. I enjoy going to games, but my main reason for going to this particular game was because they were having fireworks afterwards. So, although the game was a bit disappointing, the fireworks were very cool.

Sunday we went cycling on our own and did 9 miles around my neighborhood. We’re getting a little more comfortable with being out on the road. I think I like the roads better because the trails are so busy, it ends up being a lot of maneuvering around people.

I guess we weren’t worn out enough from the bike ride, so we washed our cars Sunday afternoon. My Jeep *is* actually blue. Amazing. It’s been so long since I’ve seen it. I won’t mention Gary’s. :-)

Of course, since we did that yesterday, it appears it’s going to rain at any moment today. Oh well. It was soooo dirty, it just had to be done.

Last night we were ready for a relaxing evening, so Gary grilled for us. (He’s great). Then we watched a couple movies (“Garden State” and “Without a Paddle”).

So overall a fun packed weekend. :-)

Not a good sign ...

I got a friendly call today from the leasing office at my apartment complex. My lease is about up and they've apparently drafted the renewal paperwork. The woman added that there may be some "substanial increases" in rent this year, but not to be too freaked out because it is negotiable.

Needless to say, I'm a little freaked out.

April fools

I know it's a little late, but the editors of Scientific American published a pretty good April Fools piece.

Cruise #2

April and I really had a fabulous time on our cruise. The food was great, the activities were great, the weather was great and the ports were great.

After our first dinner, which consisted of an onion tart appetizer, shrimp ravioli and key lime pie for dessert - April declared, “This is going to be a good week”. The food continued to impress us throughout the cruise and most of our table quickly took to the practice of ordering two appetizers and/or desserts. On Lobster and shrimp night, I believe everyone had an extra Lobster tail. We had a great table assignment with 8 other folks.

With all the food, it was probably a good thing our cabin was on Deck 2 (lowest deck). We had to climb a lot of stairs. We did also manage to go to a few workout classes and April did many laps around the jogging track on Deck 10. (My heel has been bothering me, so I had to skip that activity). After my official post cruise weigh in this morning… only gained 1.5 lbs. That’s not too bad.

The entertainment and activities were also very good. We took part in a couple of the games, including an “adult scavenger hunt” which was hilarious. I’ll post pictures soon.

We had good weather throughout the cruise including our days in port. There was a forecast of rain in Grand Cayman and Cozumel, but we got lucky and it didn’t materialize in either port. Swimming with the stingrays in Grand Cayman was really cool. We enjoyed all of our shore excursions and the days at sea were very nice for relaxing.

Overall, it was a really good cruise and now I have that “can’t wait to go again” feeling.

Ready for Vacation

It’s been a busy week and I am ready for vacation. I’m off for my cruise bright and early Sunday morning. April and I will drive to Galveston that day and then the ship leaves at 5pm. Tuesday we will be in Key West, Thursday in Grand Cayman and Friday in Cozumel. As of right now, there is a forecast for rain in Grand Cayman. Hopefully that won’t come about. The forecasts for the other two locations look good.

Now I just need to get my packing and errands done and I will be all set… the stress before vacation. Funny how one gets all stressed out with things to do before going to relax for a week.

Yesterday, I needed some stress relief. Lucky for me, we had planned on going to the Improv to see Kathleen Madigan. She was very good and the two opening acts were really good also. They were filming Kathleen for the Golf Channel last night. Yes, that’s correct… The Golf Channel… go figure. Apparently, there will be some clips from her act on a show called “Makeover Challenge” (her sister is the actual subject) and will air on May 10th. I did see him take one scan of the audience… might have to check it out to see if any of the group I was with will be visible.

Birthday Tulips

Here's a picture of my tulips from Gary. We went to Jinbeh (Japanese steakhouse) for dinner on my birthday, and although it was rather slow service, it was a nice dinner.

Happy Birthday to Me

Yep, that’s right… it’s my Birthday. And my profile on here promptly updated my age! How rude!!?? LOL. Oh well, time flies when you’re having fun. I sure don’t feel 34. :-)

Roberta took me to dinner last night, along with our boyfriends. She did let me choose the restaurant although, it went something like: “You choose… How about Red Lobster?”. I actually chose La Hacienda Ranch (not out of spite, of course, but in interest of going somewhere all 4 of us would like). Plus, I figure it is my favorite restaurant because I would have to say Mexican is my favorite type of food and La Hacienda Ranch is my favorite Mexican restaurant. Therefore, La Hacienda Ranch is my favorite restaurant. How’s that logic? We had a nice dinner and since it was Easter, it was not very busy – imagine that.

Today, Gary surprised me with a delivery at work… I received some beautiful tulips – my favorite flower. (He remembered me saying this previously, how sweet). He’s taking me to dinner tonight… hmmm… second favorite restaurant?? I’ll have to think about that.

It was also the 4 month anniversary of our first date yesterday, so perhaps double celebrating is in order. (And perhaps, by my posting this note here, he may actually remember when 5 months comes upon us). :-)

Second Outing

Good news… Gary and I went out on our second cycling outing last night and my butt doesn’t hurt nearly as much this time. However, it did become glaringly obvious that I’m really out of shape. Will keep working on that… getting in shape is certainly a goal in doing this.

My friend, Brian, told us about a bike rally in mid-April that he is doing with a group and suggested that Gary and me might like to go too. Brian is doing the 63-mile course. (I can’t yet envision being able to do that). The shortest is 22-mile. We’ll see if we can be prepared for 22 miles by then. I’m not sure how far we went last night… my next cycle related purchase will definitely be a computer - to tell distance, speed, etc.

I am also going to miss out on a week of cycling when I go on my second cruise with my friend, April. Speaking of which… April and I got signed up for our shore excursions yesterday and we are looking forward to: a sunset sail (in Key West), swimming with the stingrays (in Grand Cayman), and a beach escape (in Cozumel). Can’t wait! That cruise will be 4/3-4/10.

Molly

I'm learning to post pictures. Has everyone seen my adorable kitten? This is Molly at 4 months old. She's almost a year old now, so she's a little bigger. She's an Exotic Shorthair.

Reserved Practical Intellectual Giver?

That’s how this relationship test that I ran across today describes me… along with the more detailed analysis:

You are a RPIG--Reserved Practical Intellectual Giver.

You are loyal, kind, thoughtful and conscientious. You're a good person. You make everyone around you happier and better, even if you yourself are not at your happiest or best. You just care so much about your friends and loved ones that you can't help giving them everything of yourself. It can wear you out, but you'd never let on.

You're successful, smart and fun to be with, but your self-esteem could use some boosting. You don't like conflict, and you don't like demanding things for yourself, so you can feel unappreciated. But then you wonder if you don't deserve to be appreciated. You do!

You have many small crushes, but it takes you ages to get to a serious stage with someone. You get so caught up second-guessing yourself and worrying if the other person really *likes* likes you that you never dare to make the first move. Generally you end up with another clever RPIG who knows one when s/he sees one. This adds up to one long courtship. Fortunately this also adds up to one long marriage.

You would never cheat. You would never hurt anyone's feelings. You are so sympathetic and give so many second chances that it takes a lo-o-ong time for anyone to get on your bad side.

Your only problem is you can be *too* thoughtful -- you can end up worrying and getting hung up over nothing. You may be a boy scout.

I thought this was kinda fun, give it a try and share if you’d like. :-)

Cycling is a pain in the ass

First, let me start by saying, simply, that my butt hurts.

Now, let me explain that, over the years, I've tried various types of fitness-related activity: running, weight training, racquetball, volleyball. Never cycling, though. Not that I didn't have any interest - I just always found reasons not to. It was usually a three-tiered mental progresion:

1. I don't have a bike; followed closely by
2. Bikes are expensive; which led me to
3. How many months out of the year could I expect to use a bike in Texas, anyway?

My practical, thrifty alter-ego just wouldn't give me the go-ahead (where's that person when I'm considering computer equipment, anyway?). But, what can I say? People change. So, when Rachelle recently expressed interest in buying a bike and getting into cycling, I thought "why the hell not?" I figure that half the battle in trying something new is finding someone (or some people) to enjoy it with. And, in that regard, I've already got a head start. So the calculus of the equation was slightly altered, and the practical, thrifty alter-ego finally lost the argument.

So this weekend we marched over to a local bike shop. And, after a brief four hours of browsing, hounding salespeople, and test riding a half-dozen models, walked out with a couple of shiny new bikes and the assorted accoutrements.

A few miscellaneous thoughts on the experience:

1. My butt hurts. It hurt a little bit after the test ride. It hurt more after our maiden voyage yesterday. They say this is normal, and should get better over time. I say, why the hell didn't the practical, thrifty twit in my head mention that little factoid before?
   
2. We had a great time riding yesterday. It was an incredibly beautiful, perfect day for it. Didn't want to push it too hard, so we just rode for an hour. Then, we went to the movies. Don't want to get too much nature, ya know?
   
3. I found it ironic that, even though Rachelle was the major impetus behind this endeavor, the staff at the bike shop seemed to think it was all my doing. Case in point: we each bought the same model, but they only had one in stock. Guess whose bike is on order? I'm not sure how that happened, exactly. They did fix her up with a loaner, so I guess it's not that big a deal.
   
4. Cycling has lots of cool accoutrements. Tools and toys and gear and equipment. Not quite as much as camping, but then, it's more expensive. Btw, have you noticed I like saying the word "accoutrements?"
5. Ok, truth be told, my butt doesn't hurt at all. But Rachelle's does (or so she told me), and I wanted her to feel better, so don't mention this part, ok?

My Bonus Purchase

It’s annual bonus time at work (last paycheck) and therefore it’s time to spend some money on myself. OK… I would have done this without the bonus, but it seems to be nice justification for a large purchase.

I’ve been interested in getting into cycling, so Gary and I decided to hit Plano Cycling’s big post-construction sale this weekend (apparently the grand opening for their new showroom). Based on the pre-research we did on the Internet, it did seem they were having an excellent sale and we decided it was time to buy. We both bought a Specialized Allez Sport 27 (in black), and then, of course, all the “gear” needed to get into the sport. (Padded shorts – woohoo).

It was a beautiful day yesterday for our first journey out. Being new to this, we decided to hit a bike trail. Amusingly, the first trail I knew of that we tried was all of about 3 blocks long. The second attempt at a trail was much more successful at a nice park in Coppell. We had a lot of fun. Although, even with the padded shorts, I do have to say, my butt is *quite* sore today. :-) But, I’m anxious to go again. I can’t wait for daylight savings time to make evening riding more of a possibility.

The Cruise

Since I mentioned the cruise... That seems like a good place to start.

Gary and I went on a cruise the weekend of March 3rd-7th. Here's a link to the photos. The cruise was from Galveston (TX) to Cozumel and back on the Carnival Ecstasy. It was a nice trip, but the water was very rough on the way there. I found this particularly unfortunate since this was Gary's first cruise and I told him he would barely feel the movement of the ship. There were a lot of people sick. I'm lucky - it didn't affect me.

There was one formal night, so you'll notice the photos from that. In Cozumel, we went snorkeling and then to a private beach that had some activities to do. We enjoyed the hammocks. Ok... I look like crap in the photos on that day since I had already been snorkeling in most of them. Please excuse that. LOL. We also got lucky with the weather. It was forecasted to rain in Cozumel on the day we were supposed to be there, but it didn't and it was beautiful.

When leaving Cozumel, the Captain announced that we were having technical difficulties with the propulsion system, which would affect our maximum speed. They were announcing at that time that we would be "significantly late" (10pm) getting into Galveston. We were supposed to get in at 8am. We did actually get in earlier, around 6pm and managed to get off the ship and to our car by 8pm (and we were one of the first people off the ship). Gary and I decided to go ahead and make the 5 hour drive back to Dallas that night, but we both took an extra day off work to recuperate.

Overall it was a good trip though and I enjoyed the company immensely.

Getting On The Bandwagon

My friend (Liz) and boyfriend (Gary) have inspired me to get into this. It seems like a good time to start since I've been emailing everyone about the cruise I just took. I figured I could just keep everyone informed of the big events this way. We'll see how it goes.

New Year's Resolution

This isn't exactly timely, but I just came across it. I had wanted to make a new year's resolution, but I couldn't think of anything good. And today, I find the answer to my problem: The random new years resolution generator. Here's mine. What's yours?

In the year 2005 I resolve to: Never use chapstick. Get your resolution here

Try this at home

Here's an exercise I've seen floating about various blogs lately (I've seen it attributed to here, but who knows). It's supposed to give some insight into your personality.

Go to the address bar in your browser, type in the letter 'a', and see what the autocomplete function turns up. Repeat for each letter. Here are my results:

A: Apple, also ATrpms (a linux download site)
B: Blockbuster Online, and BugMeNot (a site for bypassing subscriptions to otherwise free content)
C: my blog, also CNN and Cinemark
D: a couple linux-related download sites, also the Dallas Morning News
E: Epicurious.com (I ordered a couple magazine subscriptions as christmas gifts), also evite.com (for my oh-so-busy social life)
F: Froogle (google's online shopping site), also FedEx (for tracking inbound christmas presents)
G: a couple yahoo groups of which I'm a member, also some linux mailing list archives, google (surprised it wasn't first), and GoldenPalace (not sure how that got there.)
H: h was amazingly weak. a link to a 'weird news' story that I must've followed from somewhere else, a link to someone's house for sale, and halloweencostumes4u.com (presumably from my less than successful quest to find a costume last year)
I: the Internet Movie Database (one of my fav sites), but also a bunch of ivtv sites (a linux tv project), and ipodsdirtysecret.com
J: another weak letter in my chain. The *only* thing that came up was from an ad in the dfw.forsale newsgroup
K: website for the Kidd Kraddick in the Morning radio show and the official linux kernel website
L: a bunch of linux sites, also liz's blog
M: my.yahoo.com (naturally), also the Miami Herald, some articles from money.cnn.com, a mythtv (a linux tv project), and this (must've been from dave barry's blog. honest!)
N: news, news, and news ... from bbc, NY Times, and newsday
O: had absolutely nothing ... maybe if I were an Oprah fan
P: various people's yahoo photos pages, but also this, and more linux mailing list sites (but really, I'm feeling geeky enough by now)
Q: nothing for q, but that's no big suprise. it's the unloved letter
R: roger ebert's website, radio shack
S: my favorite comic strip, Sherman's Lagoon
T: not much of interest here (more linux sites), so I'll post this
U: USA Today, and a surprising number of articles about urinals (again, I blame dave barry's blog)
V: video4linux.net
W: woot.com, also washingtonpost.com, and Dave Barry's blog
X: empty
Y: a bunch of yahoo sites
Z: zipzoomfly.com (online discount retailer)