Work & the Brain

I'm now being trained in Firmware...we'll see how it goes!

At least I'm busy and my brain has seemed to turn back on. However, my organization, memory, and control of daily life has taken a downturn...What the Heck!!! So is my theory right, that my brain can only so much at once or similar tasks. So I can either **think/learn** OR **be organized and remember daily life sh%t**?? What a choice! I'm going to question the ADD Doc about this. I'm still on the same dose of Ritalin but maybe the "genius" drug did reset or modify my brain somehow....

Cat vs Puppies (Yes I need to stay away from YouTube)

Tortoise chases cat video

Dansko Shoes **Love**Love**Love**

I broke down and bought really nice catering shoes. Danskos! They were expensive but I can tell already that they are worth it. Made for people who are on their feet all day especially on hard flooring. They were originally a barn shoe designed by a husband & wife horse trainers.

Just a little too weird

www.MyDeathSpace.com

Read an article about this website...have not visited it myself. It archives MySpace pages of people who have died. Started by a guy in the Bay Area...

Catering Carpool

My day job has a great little email distribution list for people to carpool. It's mostly a spontaneous day to day thing but it works great! So since getting carpool names from the Catering company staff was very difficult...I created a yahoo groups for an email distribution list. At each event I've polled for email addresses of interested people. It's slow right now but I've heard some people have had success through it. Yeah!

Grrrrr.....Got Towed

Saturday eve (Sunday morning) 2am after catering...walk out and find that my car was towed. With 3 carpoolers stranded as well. Luckily it was in the City only 20 blocks from my house but still..... SFPD put up poorly placed signs for "Special Event" parking. So $$350 later I have my car back. I'm going to contest it just to make them work for my money!!

Seattle

Seattle was fun. My cousin Kirstyn and I saw the tourist sites of Downtown. Olena and I hiked Mt Rainier and went to the Microsoft company picnic. More info later....

Here are the pics:

Downtown

http://www.flickr.com/photos/picturesofsharon/sets/72157600988022568/

Mt Rainier

http://www.flickr.com/photos/picturesofsharon/sets/72157600990326089/

Microsoft

http://www.flickr.com/photos/picturesofsharon/sets/72157600990350063/

**Stars*&*Celebrities**

Saturday I catered the 50th birthday party for Pixar’s CEO John Lasiter with a concert performance by Brad Paisley. My section had the two VIP tables which included the celebrities:
Robin Williams
Billy Crystal
Brad Paisley (country signer – great voice)
& wife, actress Kimberly Williams-Paisley (Father of the Bride)
Bonnie Hunt (Cheaper by Dozen, Beethoven, Green Mile)

The woman I carpooled with said Tim Allen was at her table and she saw Daryl Hannah and Nicole Kidman.

Now I would have loved to see Tim Allen and Nicole Kidman. Billy Crystal was cool and he had two pieces of cake : )

The weird thing is just looking and serving them I did not think much of it…but when they spoke and I heard their voice….I was like “Oh my God, that’s a celebrity”! Not sure why audio meant so much but I guess when you see them, you recognize them, but since you don’t really know them, it just seems like someone you have seen “around”. The voice combined with the face recognition cements the fact that they are the actor(ress) you know.

I'm totally going to continue catering just to see the celebrity & wealthy parties = ) Besides I like the luxury cash.

Master Plan

Through the years I've listened to my frugal & money-wise friends when they talk about their finances. I'm now caught up to the point where I can start acting like them!

1)I intend to put all my regular monthly finances on a cash back credit card and pay it off each month. (no interest if you pay off monthly) Things like: Student loan payments, Gas&Elect, Cable Internet, Cell phone, Car Gas, Groceries, Car Ins, Netflicks, Gym fees, etc. All the regular bills amount to $$$ that I will receive cash back on.

2)The money that will pay off the credit card can sit in the ING high yield savings account for a full 30 days to earn interest. Instead of being taken out at various times and lowering my daily balance which the interest is calculated on.

3) The next question is: Do I pay off the student loans quickly or save the money to buy my next car mostly in Cash??? Interest Rate vs Tax Savings. Banking math is not my math degree!

Everyone say Awwwwww....

"Askai, a 10-week-old Snow Leopard, hisses at photographers during his first public appearance at Berlin Zoo, Germany." (from BBC)

Orphaned squirrel raised with

puppies by Papillon mother.

Awesome Goat Cheese Recipe

The catering company used this as an appetizer (melon ball sized):

Goat Cheese dipped in finely diced Green Apple then dipped in chopped Pistachios.
You can serve it on a crustini, Melba toast, on a salad, etc.

New Shelving - Preliminary Pictures

The shelves are up!! It took 3 evenings to do all this! Now I have to put all the items I moved around to make space for the shelves(piles & piles all over the floor)...on the shelves. It's actually a lot more work then it looks! Before & After Pics

http://www.flickr.com/photos/picturesofsharon/sets/72157600668297289/

Vista Point Historic Sawyer Trail

Walked it for a mile or so on the Fourth of July. Pretty but very hot and not much shade. Saw 3 deer by the water though.

More pics Here

http://www.flickr.com/photos/picturesofsharon/sets/72157600668251635/

Baker Beach (Nude Beach)

Well actually only one small end is nude... I had been told it was a beautiful beach and family safe for most of the beach. Tuesday was a 1/2 day off for me so I took the girls there. I misplaced my camera for 2 days so no pics...but the view of the Golden Gate Bridge was beautiful! Lots of families with kids out. The weather was great, warm enough to wear a bathing suit. All the people walking dogs walked the whole beach so I did too. Even through the few nude men... One guy came up to us, fully nude, and started petting the dogs and trying to play with this huge Great Dane. A little weird watching a grown, naked, man try and run around the beach with a horse-sized dog... Anyway, one really nice gentleman put on his clothes and came to tell me all about his 2 Dal puppies and deceased 16 yr old Dalmatian. It's so funny how Dal people flock together more so then other breed owners = )

For all those freaking out about the nude safety factor: I walked the whole beach with a Great Dane owner who has been walking there for over a decade. She said the nudist part was safe and she has never felt threatened. And no, I'd never walk there at night!

Exciting Medical Discoveries (BBC)

Food Allergy Molecule Discovered
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6254576.stm

Brain Cancer Hope from Frogs
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6241764.stm

IVF Hope for Child Cancer Patients
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6259864.stm