Living in a Fur Filled Snow Globe

Better Off Ted

2009-03-29T16:13:00.000-07:00

The TV show Better Off Ted is hilarious! Anyone who has worked in the consumer products industry should find this show very funny and apt. (Although I'm sure it applies to many other industries/companies as well)

From abc.com
"Need cow-less meat grown in a test tube? Done.

Need pumpkins that also double as weapons of mass destruction? No problem.

Better Off Ted is a satirical office comedy about successful good guy, Ted, who runs research and development at the morally questionable Veridian Dynamics. No achievement is too far-fetched and no invention too unorthodox for Veridian. Ted's a single dad to a seven-year-old girl, and he loves his job, but he's starting to take a closer look at the company's extremely dubious practices. Do you manufacture the best teeth whitener ever if it could also kill off all of the planet's fish? Probably not, but... "

Ukraine's Varying Past

2009-03-28T21:58:00.000-07:00

Phrase from a BBC news article about the Ukraine:

"Locals will tell you about the typical 20th Century Lvivite, who was born in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, grew up in Poland, got married under the Nazis, had children in the Soviet Union, and retired in independent Ukraine... all having never left the city. "

Wow, that's a lot of regimes to live through...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/7966317.stm

Canine Joint Supplement

2009-03-28T21:53:00.001-07:00

At my request, Ari's swim therapist highly recommended the supplement "Joint Strong". 1.5 weeks after starting Ari on Joint Strong, Ari was a total powerhouse during her swim session. I was elated and decided that if she swam that well two weeks in a row then it definitely was the supplement.

Today was her second swim session while on Joint Strong and she was again stronger and had more endurance. So we are now going to order the 7lb bag from k9power.com who has cheaper prices and free shipping!

Home Internet is Working!!

2009-03-14T22:53:00.001-07:00

Thanks Dad for getting my internet working! Now I can do a better job keeping up with my blog.

Favorite Commercial

2009-03-14T22:50:00.000-07:00

I just love this commercial....

Ari's first swim therapy session

2009-01-18T19:24:00.000-08:00

Ari had her first swimming therapy appointment on Saturday. It went very well and she did an excellent job of swimming away from the scary therapist and towards me = ) (The therapist was actually very nice and good)

The therapist had me walk in front of her and call her to swim to me and she stayed to the back/side of Ari to help her if need be. The first few laps she would stop Ari in the shallow end and stretch/massage her muscles. It was a good workout for Ari and wore her out so that she let a little girl pet her (a lot) in the lobby ; p

Last night I was watching Ari's movements and assessing her mobility. It does seem a little improved. Maybe the warmer weather is helping as well. I had her sit a couple of times for a treat and she didn't seem to have as much of a difficult time lowering to the sit/squat position. And her ability to turn while standing on the bed (soft surface that requires balance) was better as well.

Maybe after a month or two of once weekly swimming therapy, we can go down to a once or twice a month maintenance schedule. That would be great!

Driving through rural CA makes me dizzy

2009-01-18T18:17:00.000-08:00

Interstate 5 between Los Angeles and Northern CA is very very flat. When most of my view is sky, I get dizzy. Over 2/3 of the pictures below is sky. Imaging seeing this for a few hours and you'd get dizzy too!!

Dogs are more intellegent due to human interaction

2009-01-18T17:40:00.000-08:00

Dogs can read emotion in human face
Excerpts from the above website
"Dogs are the only animals that can read emotion in faces much like humans, cementing their position as man's best friend, claim scientists.

When humans look at a new face their eyes tend to wander left, falling on the right hand side of the person's face first.This "left gaze bias" only occurs when we encounter faces and does not apply any other time, such as when inspecting animals or inanimate objects. A possible reason for the tendency is that the right side of the human face is better at expressing emotional state.

Researchers at the University of Lincoln have now shown that pet dogs also exhibit "left gaze bias", but only when looking at human faces. No other animal has been known to display this behaviour before.

A team led by Dr Kun Guo showed 17 dogs images of human, dog and monkey faces as well as inanimate objects. Film of the dogs' eye and head movement revealed a strong left gaze bias when the animals were presented with human faces. But this did not occur when they were shown other images, including those of dogs. "Guo suggests that over thousands of generations of association with humans, dogs may have evolved the left gaze bias as a way to gauge our emotions," New Scientist magazine reported.

"Recent studies show that the right side of our faces can express emotions more accurately and more intensely than the left, including anger. If true, then it makes sense for dogs - and humans - to inspect the right hand side of a face first." Surprisingly, when the dogs in the study were shown an upside-down human face, they still looked left. In contrast, humans lose their left gaze bias altogether when shown an inverted face. "

Dogs have a sense of right and wrong
Excerpts from the above website
"Dogs have become more intelligent, and even learnt a sense of right and wrong, through spending time with humans, a study shows.

They possess a moral compass too, in order to negotiate the complex social world of people, adds Prof Marc Bekoff from the University of Colorado at Boulder.
He argues that the fact that rough-and-tumble dog play rarely escalates into full-blown fighting shows that the animals abide by rules and expect others to do the same. In other words, they know right from wrong.

Dr Friederike Range from the University of Vienna, Austria, has found in experiments where one pooch was given a treat and another denied it that dogs possess a sense of fairness too, though she stresses that the data are not yet published. "Dogs show some aversion to inequity," she says. "I prefer not to call it a sense of fairness, but others might."

Akiko Takaoka from Kyoto University, Japan, played dogs recordings of unfamiliar voices - both male and female - with each voice followed by a photo of a human face on a screen. If the gender of the face did not match that of the voice, the dogs stared longer, a sign that the image did not match their expectations and yet more evidence that they have been honed to communicate with people.
Meanwhile, Dr Juliane Kaminski at the University of Cambridge has examined how dogs can use human gestures such as pointing and gazing to find hidden food or toys and concludes that dogs do understand that we are trying to tell them something. "Domestication seems to have shaped dogs in a way which enables them to use these gestures from as early as six weeks," she tells New Scientist."

Collection of Interesting Articles

2009-01-18T17:31:00.000-08:00

Animals

Mouse bites Venomous Snake to Death

Dog Owner Punches Shark After Pooch Bitten in Florida in Weekend Attack

Sea Otter from "famous youtube video" dies. Was survivor of Exxon Valdez oil spill

Kenyan Elephants Text-Messaging Rangers

Rare footage of only venomous mammal caught on camera

Chinese Pandas Fed Homemade Chicken Soup to Fight Off Holiday Stress

HELP! HELP! Pony's blue eye turned YELLOW! (Scroll down for pics)

Medical

"Divorce gene" linked to relationship troubles

Playing Tetris Good Treatment for Trauma

NASA Test Subjects Paid to Stay in Bed Three Straight Months

Girl's Disease Turning Skin to Stone

Brittan's Fattest Teen

The wonder pill that may stop dieters putting weight back on

Other

Frightening - Researchers in Disguise Successfully Commit Bank Heists

Even More Frightening - Powerful Solar Storm Could Shut Down U.S. for Months

See, LA really is hell - Southern California Hot Spot Hits 812 Degrees, Baffles Experts

I hope they don't have kids...

Crooked House in LA

2009-01-18T17:10:00.000-08:00

All sorts of weird "Hobbit" houses in LA

Ridding Your Disposal of Potato Peelings

2009-01-18T15:24:00.000-08:00

Ridding Your Disposal of Potato Peelings: A How To Guide

This works great!!!

1) Boil water.
2) Dump boiling water into the disposal and allow to sit several minutes. This cooks the peelings which softens them up and unstops the sink.
3) Repeat if necessary. Run the disposal and viola!

Foods to NOT put in the garbage disposal
Any kind of grease
Hard shells from shrimp, crabs and other shellfish
Unpopped popcorn kernels
Celery (and other extremely fibrous foods)
Corn husks & cobs
Banana peels
Potato peelings (and any vegetable peelings)
Onion skins

Two Turnips

2009-01-17T21:31:00.000-08:00

Childhood friend's catering business website, "Two Turnips", in Southern Michigan. Their last name is Turnipseed!

Two Turnips

Fat Boy, the drunk pony who fell into a swimming pool

2009-01-17T21:29:00.001-08:00

With a happy ending = )

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1077831/Pictured-Fat-Boy-pony-got-drunk-fermented-apples-fell-swimming-pool.html

Swedish twins run into oncoming traffic (multiple times)

2009-01-17T21:22:00.000-08:00

Crazy crazy video

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article1739401.ece

The Foods That Made America Fat

2009-01-17T21:07:00.000-08:00

Very interesting article on The Foods that made America Fat

Calories per day
1961 -2882
2000 -3816

Calories per day
Butter
1961 -65
2000 -40

Eggs
1961 - 67
200 - 55

Red Meat
1961 - 140
1200 -23

Poultry
1961 - 64
2000 -186

We’ve been told to; eat less eggs, eat more margarine – avoid butter, eat less saturated fat, eat less red meat, eat more grains, use more vegetable oils.

Calories per day
Added Sugars
1961 - 515
2000 - 665

Vegetable Oils
1961 - 267
2000 - 634

Grains
1961 - 627
2000 -869

The statistics indicate that this advice has been followed. So why have the calories in our diets increased and waistlines increased?

Author's Blog

OMG, lost my desire to visit Australia

2009-01-17T20:48:00.000-08:00

This is truly terrifying. I do not want to go anywhere there are spiders (or any insects) this big! Ever!

Article here

More pics here

'Death Map' Shows Where Americans Most Likely to Die

2008-12-18T17:08:00.000-08:00

Here's a cherry map, 'Death Map' Shows Where Americans Most Likely to Die

Beautiful Picture - Rare Snow Fall in New Orleans

2008-12-11T17:30:00.000-08:00

Love this picture. Reminds me that I would like to visit New Orleans (not necessarily in winter).

Woman Becomes First Pilot With No Arms

2008-12-10T17:13:00.000-08:00

Amazing Story

A Woman born without arms earns pilot's license. She gave up prosthetic arms in childhood and her feet have become so agile, that a recent X-ray showed her toe joints looked more like fingers.

Great Pics here!

Time disappears

2008-11-28T17:59:00.000-08:00

"Have you ever met someone whom, when you’re with them, time just seems to disappear? You are talking to them for what feels like five minutes and all of a sudden you realize it’s actually been five hours."
http://www.davidwygant.com/blog/lost-in-time/

That is so how I've felt about my three "serious" boyfriends. If I don't have this feeling, I don't want to date the person. = )

Related links: Online dating tips for women and Online dating tips for men.

Funny excerpts from Online Dating tips

2008-11-25T16:36:00.000-08:00

1. Stop posting four different photos from four different stages in your life. This leaves a man wondering, "Who is this person?" If I ever would have embarked on online dating I probably would have done exactly this... and now I know better!

3. List your exact body type. It seems like on the Internet EVERYBODY is "athletic and toned," "petite" or "fit and trim." He will find out what you look like!

4. List your real age. In the world of Internet dating, it seems like there's an abundance of 29- and 39-year-old women.

5. I'm really glad you had a great time on your vacation, but you don't need to post 10 photos of your trip to Italy WITHOUT you in them. This is a dating site, not a trip advisor.

6. Keep your profile short and to the point. Make your paragraphs very short. I've seen too many women's profiles that look like romance novels. Take a look at Yahoo! Sports and read an article in the sports section. All paragraphs are short so men can digest that information in short bursts.

8. Don't list your financial desires like you're posting a want ad. I've seen too many women write, "I'm looking for a man who will spoil me, buy me great things, and take me on great trips." You come across as a gold digger. Instead say, "I like the finer things in life to share with somebody," so you don't come across so harsh.

9. No baby talk! Even if the number one priority in your life is to be a mother, nothing scares a man off more than if you write in your profile about how badly you want kids. He may feel the same way, but he is going to think, "This woman will marry ANYBODY to have kids."

14 Fatel Online Dating Errors Single Women Make

10 Fatel Online Dating Errors Men Make

What a difference

2008-11-20T16:57:00.000-08:00

How makeup can alter an appearance. I would never have guessed this was the same person.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,442202,00.html

Sylmar Fire (LA Fires ) 11/14/08 - ?

2008-11-16T20:21:00.000-08:00

The fire was at the North to North Eastern edge of the San Fernando Valley (LA county). I live smack in the middle of the Valley and Vikki is North and East of the Valley.

Lanciero, the $75k dressage horse, had to be evacuated at 6am Saturday morning. Carin, the trainer, was loading horses up while the roof of the stable was on fire! There was a miniature pony at the stable and 5 firefighters put him in the back of the pickup truck. Carin is really pissed that the owner of the farm never called her to tell her to evacuate. Carin does not live on the property and went to bed before 10pm Friday night so she did not know about the fire that started at 10:30 in Sylmar. Very Scary!

It was really interesting to watch the (hours and days) of continuous news coverage of the fire. The commentary was very educational and the footage really illustrated how the fire spreads so rapidly.

The fire spreads due to the dry vegetation on the ground, however, the Santa Ana winds pick up live embers and deposit them blocks away. Those embers start a new fire and it quickly grows. The fire crews have a helicopter that uses a spotlight to show where the new fire started. Then the next "water dumping" helicopter flies to the lite spot and dumps it's load. However, the fire is so hot much of the water evaporates before it even hits the target. The live footage of these events was very illustrative!! Look at the Santa Ana winds in the picture from the BBC.

I'm learning so much in LA: how fire spreads, how to thwart the police in a car chase, .... All good things to know...?!? Why did any person every say, hummm, dry desert, fires, crazy winds, Lets Settle Here! Crazy Settlers!

Good vs Evil..........Too True

2008-11-16T20:19:00.000-08:00

Good vs Evil

Lion reunited with owners...Awesome video!

2008-11-16T20:12:00.000-08:00

Check out this too cool video!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/3348328/Amazing-film-of-a-hug-from-a-lion.html

Vikki's new shoes

2008-11-16T20:10:00.000-08:00

The new farrier did Vikki's front feet today. He said she's missing at least 1.25" from her toes. That's how cut back she was!! Ouch! And her frogs actually stick out further then her hoof wall!! I knew that was bad! I don't remember it sticking out like that when she first had her feet trimmed in LA but I did notice it the last couple of weeks. Well now, she has inverted pads (pad in the toe instead of heel) on her front feet that are acting like a hoof wall. Her back feet were cut back too so we didn't touch them and will just wait for them to grow. With her shoe off waiting for him to fit her, it was very painful for Vikki to stand on her right foot. The left wasn't as bad.

When I walked her back to her paddock, it was feeding time and she trotted a few steps in her eagerness to get to her food. I haven't seen her attempt to trot in weeks! That's a good sign. I feel much better already knowing that she will be hurting less!!

Dr Cox, the foot specialist, also recommended Natural Vitamin E (vs synthetic) and they are shipping it to me today. He likes the way it helps muscle development in older horses. Her weight is low but has been stable since the switch to the low-starch food. Once we are completely switched over to Wellsolve, I'll up her feed some and see if that helps. He's not a fan of the Isoxsuprine because of the inconclusive evidence so I'm not going to give it.

For all you wine drinkers

2008-11-16T20:07:00.000-08:00

You like the taste of wine because you have lots of mouth bacteria.......Ewwww! I'm so glad I can't stand the taste of wine.... I HAVE A CLEAN MOUTH!

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,451906,00.html

Vikki's feet (hooves...whatEVer)

2008-11-16T19:53:00.000-08:00

Results from appointment with Dr Cox - foot specialist. (As best as I can relay them...)

We only looked at the front feet because they are causing the most pain right now (and we have X-rays already). Once the front feet improve, we will evaluate again.

The attached pictures show:
Front/back view of the hoof
1. Medial/lateral hoof/coffin bone imbalance.
Side view of the hoof
2. An excessively high coffin bone palmar angle.
3. Coffin bone resorption at the tip.
4. Lack of solar concavity.

Problems #1,2 and 4 can definitely be improved with more appropriate hoof care. Problem #3 can often be halted when 1,2 and 4 are taken care of.

Problem 1: Have farrier trim to correct medial/lateral imbalance.

Problems 2,3,4: Use a 3 degree wedge with the thick portion at the toe to reduce the pressure(pain) at the top of the sole where the coffin bone has very little cushioning. This should help with coffin bone inflammation which leads to the coffin bone resorption. Essentially this acts as her hoof wall while it regrows. And continue with 1 gram 2x/day to reduce said inflammation along with soft bedding.

The farrier for the horse we trailered met us for the appointments and received specific advice from Dr Cox on how to proceed with trimming and shoeing.

I believe the new farrier I used in LA was responsible for trimming the walls level to the sole (why??). And possible trimming the toe too short. I had never seen her soles that flat, almost convex looking in SF. However, for the past 9 months, we were trying to get the heels off the ground more since she has a tendency to have a very low heel. She didn't seem to have a problem in SF but maybe 9 months was still too fast to raise the heel...

Poor Vikki had to be off the bute for the examination and was really sore by the end of it. So I loaded her up on 2 grams of bute before hopping in the trailer for the ride home. By the time we got back to the ranch, she was much more comfortable = )

&#$*%$%# LA is making me FAT

2008-10-03T16:08:00.000-07:00

LA has been so freakin hot since June that I don't want to step foot outside or work up any additional sweat! I sit around inactive and depressed, eating ice cream to stay cool... I have been riding the horse a lot (before she got sick) but that's not really aerobic. SF's cool weather year round, 50-60s, just made you want to go hiking or walking around the city.

Plus, I got into a great enjoyable routine of riding the exercise bike during lunch at Leapfrog's tiny on-campus gym. Current company doesn't have any sort of gym and it takes away so much time to drive to the gym at lunch. I only get 30min on the bike and that just doesn't cut it weight loss or maintenance.

And now I'm flying off to school 3 night per week and don't have time. Plus I've noticed exercising earlier in the day takes off more weight then after work, weird. I get a massive headache if I exercise before work or outside in the sun during lunch.

(The school and horse have pushed me off my Eat to Live diet but I'm starting to get back on it and plan to completely once the horse is better.)

Grrrrr.

Classes, finally

2008-10-03T15:59:00.000-07:00

I am finally taking college classes! Introduction to Computer Networking and Computer Architecture and Organization (assembly).

I told myself that I would stop catering and take college classes when I achieved in-state status in CA. I didn't have enough time to get the paperwork done in SF before the Spring 2008 semester which is a big bummer since I was laid off 1 week into the semester and would have had plenty of time.

CA has a good community college system with cheap classes ($20/credit) and most are offered in the evening. SF did seem to have a better offering of classes (anyone surprised there) but LA does have some that I want/need. My plan is to take all the lower level Computer Science classes I did not have (Math Major) in college. The I will proceed to take Graduate classes.

Unfortunately they are M and T/R evenings. That's a lot but I couldn't find a second class that met just once a week ; ( So between classes, working 9 hrs a day, and a sick horse I'm completely underwater. I haven't cooked, cleaned, etc for the last two weeks. I did do laundry but haven't put it away.

Sick Horsey

2008-10-03T15:19:00.000-07:00

I called the vet out Saturday 9/27/2008 to see Vikki. She seemed really sore in her left back or hip. I was thinking I'd call a chiropractor this week but when she hesitated to turn around and her leg shook when she put weight on it I kind of freaked out. She did get new shoes a week ago and was a little sore when the farrier lifted that leg all the way up but Sat, she didn't want to lift it at all for me. Plus she's lost a lot more muscle the past 3 weeks and I getting increasingly worried about that.

The vet said the soreness appeared to be in her hip and prescribed bute and light exercise for a couple of weeks. She took some blood-work to check for an ulcer since Vikki is a cribber and has had a lot of stressful changes the last couple of months (boyfriend moved, bully horse, moved to another pasture for protection from bully, move to LA). She also said Vikki is starting to get some points on her teeth but they are not bad enough to bother her (we do have a call into the horsey dentist for several horses at the farm). She prescribed bute, pain and anti-inflammatory medication, and light work for a couple of weeks.

The vet also mentioned that Vikki seemed pretty sore in several joints and she may be suffering from osteo-arthritis due to age, etc. That was a strange statement to me. Vikki has only been slightly off in the right hock and left knee before. She's very athletic and I certainly wouldn't put her in training if she couldn't handle it physically.

I relayed the vet's words to the farm owner, who is a nurse, and she stopped me and said "you said Vikki had a tic sore recently...did the muscle atrophy start before or after the tic...?". Right then I knew where her mind was...Lyme disease. The main symptom of Lyme disease is joint pain. The muscle imbalance did indeed happen after the tic sore but I assumed it was from not being worked (sore was at the girth). So I called the vet and asked if she could test for Lyme with the blood sample. I looked up Lyme disease on the Internet and in both horses and people the main symptom is

According to the Internet, the bacteria from a tic is transmitted 12-24 hours after latching on (and staying on). "A clinical case of Lyme disease occurs when a person is infected by a tick bite. Symptoms follow after an incubation period that may last between two and thirty days. However, on some occasions, the bacteria do not cause disease straight away. The bacteria can enter a phase in which they do not cause symptoms but are still present. They may still have the potential to cause active disease at a later stage."

Vikki's test came back positive on Wednesday but a positive test is not a definitive diagnosis in horses. Lots of horses test positive due to the antibodies in their system. Usually horses are exposed but develop immunity without getting the clinical symptoms. Vikki was under a lot of stress the last 3 months and that may have weakened her immune system enough for the Lyme disease to take hold. If it is indeed Lyme causing her symptoms, they should greatly improve after 2-5 days on the meds. The treatment is a course of antibiotics (Doxycycline) and/or immune system boosting treatments. So we'll see!

Ummm, did I mention I don't like SoCal??

2008-10-03T14:59:00.000-07:00

And yet another reason why I don't like SoCal...

Guess what kind of spider this is...?

Yes, It's a Black Widow!!!!!!!! There are everywhere here in the brush. Pick up any wood or rock or shoes left outside or check around window sills and there are Black Widows. The seem to like the large pretty landscaping around the house. Bushes, tree, shrubs, etc. Haven't seen them at the stables, don't think they like the desert. I didn't really like the desert but now I'm much more of a fan!

WHEN (more like IF) Chigo comes to visit me, he has volunteered to stick his thumb next to one for a size reference. What are friends for = )

(funny, blogger rotated these two pictures when uploading them...)

Rachel's awesome room

2008-10-03T14:36:00.001-07:00

Rachel's awesome paint job and excellent placement of my cool shelves!! Check out the Victorian detail on the rope molding. That was a lot of work! Kudos to Rachel for finishing it...I definitely don't have that much of an attention span!!

Decorative Wrought Iron

2008-10-03T14:07:00.000-07:00

Both San Francisco and Los Angeles have a lot of decorative wrought iron, which I love love love!

This is a very cool wrought iron gate on Buena Vista Park West, SF.

SF City Pictures

Olympic protest in SF (realized I never put on blog)

2008-10-03T14:01:00.000-07:00

I caught a picture of the Olympic protesters in SF while driving to the stable... They were hanging very high up on the Golden Gate bridge.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/picturesofsharon/sets/72157607703123334/

ITT wins $44.9 million contract to upgrade Sweden's air defense radar

2008-10-01T16:21:00.000-07:00

http://mae.pennnet.com/Articles/Article_Display.cfm?Section=ONART&PUBLICATION_ID=32&ARTICLE_ID=332835&C=ONEWS&dcmp=rss

Brain activities make you hungry

2008-09-04T16:50:00.000-07:00

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20080904/sc_livescience/thinkingmakesuspigout

I am totally in agreement with this article. In college, I found I did best on morning exams if I ate chocolate chip cookies and milk for breakfast!

This picture makes me very dizzy...

2008-09-04T16:43:00.000-07:00

From the bbc News...
"Nepalese Hindu women dance after paying homage to Shiva, the Hindu god of destruction, in Kathmandu. During the three-day Teej festival, married women pray for long lives for their husbands."

Dolly's mouse

2008-09-02T14:58:00.000-07:00

My mom jinxed me by saying I need SuzyQ to catch another mouse for Sangria, the snake. So last night around 10pm I hear this weird garbled cat noise then Dolly jumps onto the bed with a mouse in her mouth! She then dropped it and chased in off the bed and around the house.

Second Video of SuzyQ searching for the mouse after I removed it from the house = )

Eat to Live - 2 weeks on

2008-08-28T19:06:00.000-07:00

Since I've moved to LA I've been eating comfort food like mad! Lots of cheese, cheese products/food, peanut butter, and ice cream treats. And I know I was gaining some weight. I wanted to eat healthier but in the last 6mo my stomache has ached when ever I eat veggies & some fruits. I went through a battery of test around Christmas last year to find out some answers, however all tests were normal.For 3mo I actually cut out veggies from my diet and my stomach stopped hurting. But I knew this wasn't the healthy way to live.

After seeing a couple of articles recently, I looked into and started the "Eat to Live" concept by Fuhrman (book).The premiss is by eating a high nutrient diet, regardless of calorie count, you will consume all needed vitamens/fiber/carbs/protein that your body needs and loose any excess weight until your body archive's it's ideal weight. Another benefit of a high nutrient (no/little bad foods) diet is many conditions improve: hypoglycemic symptoms, autoimmune disorder symptoms, cholesterol/blood pressure, etc. Dr Furhman is a practicing doctor who treats patients who need to loose weight and get healthy fast! And unlike Atkins, this diet seems very plausible from a healthy standpoint. (I never could wrap my head around eating only meat & fat is good for you)

He gives the example that 1 lb of broccoli has more protein then 1 lb of steak. At first you don't believe it but has anyone ever seen 1 lb of broccoli served? When you see the size of 1 lb broccoli it makes more sense. He also explains that what we consider normal hunger symptoms: headache, weakness, dizziness, stomach pains etc are all just withdrawal symptoms from eating so many fats/starches/salt. If you look at clinical symptoms of withdrawal and Americans' "hunger" reactions they are the same. Very interesting point. Not sure I completely believe it but from my 2 weeks on the diet, my weird food reactions have mostly gone away. And when I do eat a high starch meal...they come back...hmmmm.

The goal is to eat 1lb each of raw veggies, cooked veggies, & fruit per day. After eating 3 lbs of fruits & veggies there is not much room in your stomach left for bad foods! He recommends a 90/10 for most people. 90% of the time you "Eat To Live", 10% you indulge. I'm probably at 80/20. He discourages snacking between meals which I do not follow but I don't eat as much per meal as his book recommends. I prefer splitting it up into 4 meals & 1 snack. There are some actually good sounding recipes in the book too. And they aren't too involved, great since I'm a lazy cook. It does take a little more prep time then opening that microwave dinner... so I've devoted 2 hrs on Sunday to steam tons of veggies, enough for a week, and only prepare breakfast & wash lettuce during the week.

After 3 days my cravings almost completely dissapeared. (Very weird since I'm so craving prone & don't have the will power to stick with a restricted diet.) Haven't even wanted meat once! I have lost a few lbs (2-3) according to the scale but I look thinner and my measurements have decreased. Best of all, after 2 days my stomach no longer aches when I eat fruits & veggies!! According to his formula(Women: 5ft = 98lbs, 4lbs for every additional inch), I should be 116 lbs. We'll see if I get there. If I do everyone is getting this book for Christmas = )

Practice Practice Practice (more horsey stuff)

2008-08-28T19:03:00.000-07:00

Last night I decided to practice some of my newly learned techniques on Vikki. Since there is no one to longe us, I decided we'd neck-reign in the round pen = ) Vikki actually neck-reigns decently...wonder where she learned that??

Anyway, I forgot my shoulder harness so I really had to concentrate on keeping my upper back straight. Keeping my hand on the cantle at the trot helped my back and once I felt like I had the correct position on her, I went back to both reigns. Poor Vikki was a little confused and wasn't consistent in her gates with my odd behaviour ; )

Back with both reigns, I started to feel when I was sitting right and when I wasn't. I tried to keep the reins fairly loose and soft on her mouth so as not to balance off her as much. She seemed to even out with her balance and gaits as well. She slowed down and I got the feeling that me sitting back was making her use her back more...or it could just be my imagination. I did notice a big difference in out canter departs by sitting back! And I think I did better on her cantering then on Garfield two days before.

Interestingly, my saddle didn't hurt me so much when I was sitting back more. Still had the gel pad on. Maybe it's mostly me seat and Vikki's thinness right now? That means I won't have to drop $1-2k on a new saddle soon!

I'm so excited! After my several year hiatus from riding due to allergies, I'll finally advance and become a better rider!

1st Lunge Lesson (non horsy people may just want to skip this)

2008-08-28T18:54:00.000-07:00

Okay is is lunge or longe? I've seen both, which is it!!

My longe lesson went really well. I rode a 6yr, 17h, warmblood gelding named Garfield ; )

First, I've found it helps so much to wear my shoulder harness while riding. If I don't I just can't keep my back straight and sometimes even try to absorb the motion with my shoulders !?!?

The trainer really explained the dynamics of the seat really well. I had quite a few misconceptions about the leg/heel/knee/seat position. I'd hear phrases people would say during lessons and emulate that but the phrases by themselves w/o a detailed breakdown caused the wrong assumptions to be made.

Misconceptions:
Heels down heels down heels down heels down. So I'd jam them down. Turns out, a visibly down heel is a hunter thing. Jamming heels down tightens the leg and causes the toes to jack out. And heels down in dressage means "don't have your heels up" ie. relax your heel and put a little weight in your stirrup and your heel will be parallel to the ground or slightly down.
Don't have any weight in the stirrups. Which came from the statements: you should be able to post w/o stirrups & don't stand in the stirrup, weight in your heels. Which I took to be: how can you post w/o stirrups if you have weight on them... and weight in your heels means not on your toes. So I ended up tightening my legs and pinching with my thighs.
Keep your abdominal muscle relaxed not tense. So to achieve that I think I start leaning forward to balance w/o using my stomach muscles. Actually you use a lot of your upper 6 pack to maintain you balance. The lower muscles also are engage to maintain balance but not as much and tighten up in a different way to "ride the horse your seat".

Carin had me post with outside hand on the pommel and inside on the cantle. This put my upper body in the correct position which of course felt like I was totally leaning back too far. Then she had me sit two strides/post one. Once that improved we incremented to sit 3 strides/post one...etc. We also did some canter departs and I found that holding the cantle/sitting back really helped my canter depart! (I've known I've had a bad canter seat forever) I understand much better now how my canter seat is supposed to work I just need a lot more practice!

More practice and strength! Wow, the amount of pressure need to make Garfield go! I now understand when SF trainer said something like Thoroughbreds don't really need a gas pedal just brakes, warmbloods need a constant pressure on the "gas pedal".

Now I have to build up strength to hold my leg on the hair & post/sit with my leg in an unnatural twist to hug the horses belly. Sounds Easy! No Problem! (kind of reminds me of the Chinese binding feet...)

I miss my morning commute & carpoolers!

2008-08-28T18:51:00.000-07:00

Warning: This may sound weird/disturbing to those who have no problem waking up alert or can't imaging enjoying a different lifestyle.

I miss my morning commute! In SF, I had a 50min (rush hour traffic) commute to LeapFrog. Only 17 miles but half through the city with 35 mph speed limit.I also picked up carpoolers that were on my direct route to the Highway.

The longer drive combined with chatting with carpoolers apparently was an excellent "brain wake-up" activity. Plus I learned about places/events in SF, gossip about the company, and other factoids from my carpoolers. (Not to mention the gay talk show on the radio - Sassy Sports, "If they're playing with balls...I'm all over it!")

Now living so close to work I thought, Oh it will be nice to have that time back. Wrong! Just getting out of bed and ready in the morning doesn't get me out of that post-wakeup fog. After only a 10min drive I arrive at work feeling like I'm sleepwalking. It reminds me a lot of how I felt at Lexmark. It takes me 2-3 hrs to really come out of "the fog". It doesn't effect my work if I have a lot of programming to do. However if I'm just planning or documenting or have a little less work due to product cycle,I'm dead in the water. It feels like I'm treading water in the ocean, surrounded by islands, but I don't know which Island to swim to. So I keep spinning around looking at the islands and trying to discern which one it is. Very frustrating.

It's funny because in Lexington I thought I could never commute. Giving up my freedom of arrive/leave times at work. I didn't think I would like having people in my car... etc. When I was approached about morning carpool I didn't think I would like it but I thought I'd give it a try. Now being the driver and having the car probably makes a big difference. But then again, if I were to try to be just a rider, I may end up liking that too.

Moral of this story is: keep an open mind and try it! You may or may not like it but you can't know until you try! AND MOVE BACK TO SAN FRANCISCO!

I'm buying a $75k Dressage Horse...

2008-08-28T18:40:00.000-07:00

...vicariously through a friend at the SF stable, also named Sharon.

Actually $75k is a little over her budget but it got your attention ; p

Lanciero is a $75k, 9yr, 17h, Hanoverian training in Prix St George level (Dressage). He is in Burbank so I went to check him out before Sharon and our trainer came down to LA.

He has a very calm & sweet temperament. When I rode him I didn't feel like he was testing me and he didn't seem aggravated while trying to figure out my very novice commands. Interestingly, when sitting on him I didn't feel like I was on a 17H horse. (5'8" at the withers, where the back meets the mane, for the non-horse people) That's freakin huge! Although quite common in the dressage/warm-blood world. But compared to my little 15.3h thoroughbred mare (5'3") that's big. Plus, it's not just the height, they aren't just tall and skinny, the taller they are the bigger all over they are. Yikes!

Anyway, he was a sweety and Sharon & my trainer are planning on coming down to see him in September. They will stay with me and give me a few lessons with Vikki = )

I liked the trainer who was selling Lanciero and she has higher level horses to give lessons on. I've been wanting to take lessons on a higher trained horse to work on my skills. On Vikki I have to train her and learn which takes longer and it would be nice to learn the skills first before having to teach her. I signed up for lessons and we are going to do a lot of work on my seat on the longe line.

More pictures & video clips on Flickr (click on play button at bottom of pics)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/picturesofsharon/sets/72157606898273911/
And two videos on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nWMGVmPTzU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ExGPwNceic

Outback Copycat Recipies

2008-08-28T18:29:00.000-07:00

Here is a copycat recipe for Outback's Cajun Ranch dressing. It's easy and taste's GREAT!
I toss the salad and dressing together in a large mixing bowl before packaging or eating. This action coats each piece of lettuce so there is more flavor per piece of lettuce and you end up needing far less dressing to get the same taste.I also love the taste of canned garbanzo beans with this dressing. Very Yummy!

Outback Ranch dressing
Ingredients
1 tablespoon hidden valley ranch dressing mix
1 cup mayonnaise (the real stuff - lowfat)
1/2 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon coarse black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

1) Mix all of the ingredients in a medium bowl.
2) Chill at least 1/2 hour before serving which is the key step to maximize flavor.

Outback Bushman Bread (bread machine)

Dough
1 1/2 cups warm water
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 cup honey2 cups bread flour
1 2/3 cups wheat flour
1 tablespoon cocoa
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 teaspoons instant coffee
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 teaspoons yeast

Vikki is in LA!

2008-08-25T18:23:00.000-07:00

Vikki arrived at Cobblestone farm on Monday Aug 18th!

Monday/Tuesday she was quietly curious about her new surroundings. Wednesday/Thursday she was very depressed : ( I felt so bad for her. She seemed kind of pissed at me too.

Friday and Saturday she perked up. We went on a trail ride with some ladies from the barn. They are a pretty active group and trailer off the farm quite frequently. I want to get in good with them so we can go fun places!

The dogs are loving it out there...they are allowed off leash and at night there are a lot of bunnies to chase ; p

Long anticipated Beach Trail Ride

2008-08-12T19:15:00.000-07:00

So the swimming things was the coolest ever...well this was 2nd coolest ever.

This was our (Vikki & me) first trail ride off the farm. Pierre & his horse Enzo took us to Limantour Beach in Point Reyes National Park. I wasn't sure how Vikki would do trail riding off the farm more or less the ocean & crashing waves.

She was great! She was definitely curious but calm and not freaked out. The crashing waves & noise didn't scare her but she wasn't so sure about the water flowing towards her toes = ) She would try and dance away from the waves. I made her stand in a few but when the water flowed back out she'd walk sideways with the water. It was pretty funny to see and feel!

We galloped about a mile of beach (which tired poor Vikki out!), then walked out and back on the coastal trail, then galloped/walked the mile on the beach back to the trailer. By that time we had quite an audience of beach goers and they got a kick out of us. We had pictures taken of us, questions about the horses, and many horsey pettings. Vikki handled her celebrity status very well ; )

We untacked the horses and took them back to the beach to roll in the sand. The beach gave a collective Aaaaaaawww when the horses rolled. It was pretty funny!

No pictures because my trainer had a sick baby and couldn't come. Next time!

Sucks that I finally have horse buddies & trail riding partner that won't accept gas money!

Vikki's new LA home

2008-08-12T19:13:00.000-07:00

This will be Vikki's new home. Cobblestone Ranch near Santa Clarita, CA. Only 17miles from my house, 20 min w/o traffic. Unfortunately there are no pastures here just paddocks. I'm upgrading and Vikki will have her own 24x36 paddock. I could have two horses in the 24x36, as long as they were great together (Vikki & Cato), and I would get a discount on board #2, but at $500 for one, I couldn't afford two at this farm.

The owner was really nice, the staff & families live on-sight in nice guest houses, and the ratio is 40 horses to 3 permanent staff. I do like that ratio because the staff will get to know the horses well. There is a dressage trainer there, a brand new dressage ring, trails close by, and dogs can go on the trails, and on the farm after 3pm. Now the trails are desert and not that scenic/exciting and the Angeles National Forest apparently has territorial drug lords that grow pot, Yeah. I don't plan on trail riding alone until I get to know the area.

But they feed hay not the dangerous(cheaper) cubes. The only a-la-cart option they have is turn-out, which is 15+ minutes in one of the arenas ( I so don't get the SoCal mentality). I do have the option of turn-out with another horse as long as they get along... Any other services are free: graining, blanket removal, medicating, etc. That is pretty cool.

One other drawback is it does get cold in the winter at this farm. Sometimes down to the 20s at night (desert weather is weird). Considering I'll be riding after work/dark in the winter, do I want to deal with cold weather again??

Southern California boarding issues...
So far all I have found for pasture board is 24x36 or 48x48 paddocks with shelters for shade for one horse or 1/2 acre paddock with up to 4 horses it in. People just don't fence in
larger areas. It's very old west feeling to me...horses in corrals. Anyway, my main concern is what would be best for Vikki for a permanent farm? a 24x36 paddock with horses on either side or a larger paddock with several horses in it? I don't like the idea of her being alone in a paddock but I'm uneasy about several horses in such a small area (

Our recent difficulties at Meadowbrook have made me nervous about putting her in a small pasture with other horses. I don't remember this many getting along issues in KY but I think the # horses/smaller space plays a big role.

Java...what happened to embedded/firmware??

2008-08-12T18:52:00.000-07:00

I am now a Java Application Developer, wahoo. Not exactly what I wanted out of this job... But my friends & ex-coworkers pointed out that there are lots of Java jobs and if I do it for 2yrs andget good enough it could get me back to the SF bay area!!

I am fast becoming a layout manager guru! And my OO skills are growing daily!

Check out this (awesome) guy. He is a swedish fighter pilot by day and expert Java programmer by night! How cool is that!! And he is cute with a sexy accent = )

pdf MigLayout

Rental Car Upgrade

2008-08-12T18:32:00.000-07:00

Surprise upgrade by Avis. The girls were Styln'. Too bad they didn't enjoy the top down. It freaked them out, Wussies = )

Vikki's boyfriend Cato

2008-08-12T18:31:00.000-07:00

Cato and Vikki would walk around the pasture just inches apart. They shared the same hay and Vikki didn't lay her ears back if Cato tried to get the treats I was feeding her.

Unfortunately his owners keep going back and forth on giving him up. So the poor lovers have been separated for now ; (

EeaarrrrrrthQuuuuaaaakkkkeeeee !!!

2008-08-12T18:26:00.001-07:00

Funny Judge Judy video. They were taping an episode of Judge Judy when the 5.4 Chino Hills earthquake hit.

Link

It lasted a long time for an earthquake. It started out shaking a little and I though Oooh Earthquake, then it kept going and I thought "when's it gonna end", Then it got stronger and I thought "Is this the big one?!?. It kept shaking but lessened in intensity and then stopped.

Jon and Kate plus 8 (kids) reality show

2008-08-12T18:21:00.000-07:00

Twins and Sextuplets for one couple.

Eye opening show and surprisingly addicting! This and the Baby Borrowers are excellent show for birth control education for Anyone!

http://tlc.discovery.com/tv/jon-and-kate/jon-and-kate.html

http://www.sixgosselins.com/

http://www.nbc.com/The_Baby_Borrowers/

Here it is again The 4th Annual Smallest Coolest Apartment Contest

2008-08-12T18:20:00.000-07:00

2008 4th Annual Smallest Coolest Apartment Contest

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/contests/2008/small-cool/

Garlic truck

2008-08-12T18:13:00.000-07:00

Rural California is all farm land. Each trip LA to SF in June I saw trucks full of garlic on the highway.

This past trip Aug 8-10th I saw at least 7 trucks of tomatos.

Grasshopper on steroids?!?

2008-08-12T18:12:00.000-07:00

WTF?!?

Does smog cause grasshoppers to grow to enormous proportions???? Yikes! This was in my landlords' backyard (TG I have vicious dogs & cats to protect me)

LA is too damn bright!

2008-08-12T18:00:00.000-07:00

You think you've seen bright sun in WI, KY, San Francisco (on a sunny day), ... but NO! The sun is so bright here you can barely look down at the sidewalk and your eyes hurt! It's actually depressing... I just wish it would go away! A foggy day here and there would greatly improve my depression from the glaring sun.

I really really miss the SF fog!!!! Not that I want it overcast (I grew up with that in MI and I hated it). The fog is not overcast...it's a cool entity of it's own and fun to watch roll in. When you drive past the GG bridge (pictured on the right) you drive up a hill and into a tunnel. On days like this, where it's sunny and the fog starts to roll in, the fog comes tumbling off a cliff above the tunnel entrance and it looks like it's raining cotton balls & stuffing.

I just want nice sunny days (not glaring sun) with an occasional day of fog here and there. Is that too much to ask!!!!

CoolMedics - cooling products/clothing

2008-06-29T19:45:00.000-07:00

I bought so many products at the Dressage Olympic Trials... we need heat control products since I've moved to Hell, er... I mean LA (San Fernando Valley to be exact).

http://www.coolmedics.com/

I bought the vest and beanie(under riding helmet) for me...Large 56"x36" blanket for the dogs, the neck scarf for Ari, and I'll probably end up buying something for Vikki. Top options are poll-cap, hock coolers, and neck wrap or 1/4 sheet. The cooling saddle pad also looks intriguing. And I may end up buying a lot of gifts here for friends/family.

I wore the vest at the show on the 2nd day and it really helped! Ari is already enjoying it but Lady hasn't made up her mind yet. I'm sure she will like it once it's past 90 degrees again ; ( Dolly is actually laying on it too, surprising since it is slightly damp. I plan on getting small cooler beds for the cats. They sound cool but there is a quality issue and they tend to rupture at the seams after about a year. But they are not damp to the touch and I think the cats would like them better. Plus cats are much lighter then the dogs and the seams might last longer.

Canine Cooler Pet Beds
http://www.chillow.com/cc.html
http://www.chillow.com/chillow.html

I love Algorithms!!!!!!!

2008-06-29T19:37:00.000-07:00

I have finally found my passion in life(work life that is)...ALGORITHMS!! Turns out I will happily code logic until "the cows come" home or maybe it's "Dalmatians come home"...

Anyway, I still want to pursue embedded work and classes, because it will be good for future employment, but I'm also going to look into classes & career paths that include lots of algorithm programming. Who knows...maybe I'll end up back in Image processing !?!

There is tons of Digital Signal Processing in the Radar so I plan on checking that out. However, I didn't really like DSP in school so I'm not sure if I'll like it now.

Much anticipated Vikki swimming video clip

2008-06-29T19:19:00.000-07:00

Here we are! It was my first time swimming on any horse and I wasn't sure how to guide her in the water or where the deep parts were. We did much better the 2nd day where there was no one to film us, of course...

Links to the other Vikki videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HucyWL0Ph-0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLP8VoOmtao
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjCfMWJgoBE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ePlL__G4Aw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9u4hem4FSs (above video link)

Street Racing in LA

2008-06-29T19:02:00.000-07:00

So I'm driving home from the 2008 Olympic Dressage Trials in San Juan Capistrano at 11pm Saturday night on Hwy I-5 when out of nowhere two cars go zipping by crazy-fast in and out of traffic. They cut across 5 lanes of busy traffic right in front of me going at least 90mph. And the space between the cars was not much at all. It looked like something from the movies, seriously.

It was actually really neat looking yet terrifying in case they caused a big pile-up right in front of me. It only lasted 20 seconds or so before they were out of sight and I believe they exited soon after. I'm assuming you can't go to far on the Hwy like that before someone calls the cops...

Orphan Trains

2008-06-24T22:28:00.000-07:00

Watched a very interesting A&E program on the Orphan Trains (which I have never heard about in US History). The ran from the mid 1800s to the early 1900s and was the basis of today's adoption and foster programs.

The Orphan Trains took homeless children from large eastern cities by train to small rural towns where they were adopted. Straight off the train station platform or in the largest building in town, usually a church or city hall.

http://www.orphantraindepot.com/

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/orphan/

Ari mastering the doggie door

2008-06-24T22:24:00.000-07:00

A few peanut butter cover treats later and Viola

Coolest thing EVER!!!

2008-06-24T22:13:00.000-07:00

Here's a preview and the YouTube videos will be available shortly....

My former boss, Brant, says that he no longer gets nearly as excited about events/things as when he was a kid. I definitely agree with that statement...

except this is the exception! Vikki and I went swimming! In this tiny swimming hole on the farm. She only swims a few strides before her feet hit ground. Plus it was my first time and I didn't really know how to guide her or where the deeper part was ; )

Look close...her tongue is sticking out. Silly horsey.

First Impressions of Los Angeles

2008-06-24T21:54:00.001-07:00

1) Helicopters everywhere in the sky all the time. (I feel like we are under a terrorist attack all the time)

2) Baskin Robbins! They are on every corner. (Probably 'cause it's hotter then hell here...)

3) Car Incidents: car fires, car chases, bad wrecks on suburb streets, car chases on the news, etc.

4) Psychic (Palm) Readers. Lots of houses with the sign Psychic readers on them. Is that now code for brothel instead of good old Massage Parlors?

My new Digs in Sherman Oaks, LA

2008-05-29T20:14:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics of my new Guest House rental... It's like a tropical dollhouse!! And only 5 min from work!!

Living Room open to the kitchen. Love the wall of windows!!

Bedroom Nook

Doggie Door and small backyard. Patio where I plan on putting a small shed for storage.

Ummm....Yeah...Ouch

2008-05-29T20:12:00.000-07:00

Tourist gets bitten on the penis by deadly snake in Australia....

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article1221513.ece

My Question: Squatting by the road...In my limited experience...don't most men pee standing up???

The girls on our apartment hunting trip in LA

2008-05-29T20:00:00.000-07:00

Being all Squirrelly on the Hotel Bed

BIG NEWS

2008-05-16T10:05:00.000-07:00

I have a job!

I've accepted a job as an embedded software engineer in Los Angeles, CA at ITT Corporation in the Radar Systems Division. I will be working on a Coastal Radar for Sweden. Sounds pretty cool.

I was also interviewing for Microsoft(Xbox) in Mountain View CA and Covedien in Boulder, CO. The Covedien position, software engineer for medical devices, sounded pretty good but I just didn't want to move that far this soon. I will consider them in the future though. Microsoft was more of an embedded/operating system/chip test position and I just think that the other two positions were better suited for my career path.

The new job is in Van Nuyes, which is close to Burbank, and I'm thinking of living around Calabasas, Woodland Hills, or Topenga. These areas are actually pretty which cannot be said for most of LA. I do hope there is a dog park beach somewhere close though. That is one thing the dogs and I will really miss. SF is just sooooo dog friendly... you can take your dogs anywhere off leash here. Don't think LA will be the same : (

There is really good horse country around Agoura, Thousand Oaks, Moorpark, and Simi Valley. I've heard there are lots of open spaces and state/national parks located close to the stables to trail ride.

Tentative start date is June 2nd YIKES! That's 2 weeks away!!! I'm now packing like mad and will hopefully find a place by then.

The Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report ??!???!??

2008-05-16T09:14:00.000-07:00

There is a CDC website called Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report..........How... MORBID!!!

Oh, and you can get Podcasts! Yeah, who wants to be depressed! Why not have a screen saver of all the 9-11, Katrina, Tsunami, Cyclone, Earthquake victims while you are at it!! I feel violated and I'm not even sure why.

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/index.html

My Favorite Cancer Doctor

2008-03-17T00:01:00.000-07:00

My favorite Cancer Doctor has a website now...

http://www.thyroidcancerdoctor.com/

Does your dog have Convulsive Fits...I mean dreams??

2008-03-06T09:48:00.000-08:00

Ari's doggie dreams... more like an earthquake!

Cool Rock Sculptures

2008-03-05T22:26:00.000-08:00

From Dec 24th:

There was an "artist" making really cool rock sculptures in Sausalito, CA. Incidentally, the nudists at the nudie beach had some similar sculptures going on today. I did not snap a picture of those. It would probably be removed by eBlogger admins....

Really Really Windy

2008-03-05T22:19:00.000-08:00

(from the winter months)

As you can see...it was a really windy day at the beach. It was lightly raining but it was soooo windy that the sand only stuck to the dogs faces... The girls were embarrassed and didn't want to pose for the picture = ) (They know when they are dirty and sulk, thinking they will get a bath upon arriving home!)

Cat Tree

2008-02-22T19:40:00.000-08:00

The cats, or more importantly !SuzyQ!, really like their new-to-them Cat Tree. SuzyQ has been keeping me up at night knocking over stuff - all night long! So I figured she needed some stimulation.

Enter Freecycle and a nice woman who had a 6' cat tree she was willing to give away.

Here are the kitties on their new tree. SuzyQ has been on it most of the time since I brought it home = )

My Fav "Definitions for Horse Lovers"

2008-02-19T23:40:00.000-08:00

Vikki is (or was when she was younger...) 2,3,4,5,7. Especially 3 & 7 = )

1)Pinto: Green coat pattern found on freshly washed light colored horses left unattended for 2 minutes.

2)Well Mannered: Hasn't stepped on, bitten, or kicked anyone for a week.

3)Nicely Started: Lunges, but not enough health insurance to even think about riding him.

4)Easy to Load: Only takes 3 hours, 4 men, a 50lb bag of oats, and a tractor with loader.

5)Easy Rider: Rides good in a trailer; not to be confused with "ride-able".

6)Feed: Expensive substance used to manufacture manure.

7)Light Cribber: We can't afford to build anymore fencing or box stalls for this buzz saw on four legs.

8)Three Gaited Horse: A horse that. 1) trips, 2)stumbles, 3) falls.

9)To induce labor in a mare? Take a nap.

10)To cure equine constipation? Load them in a clean trailer.

11)To get a mare in foal the first cover? Let the wrong stallion get out of his stall.

12)To cure equine insomnia? Take him in a halter class.

Dark Kabaret (Nov 2007)

2008-02-19T11:20:00.000-08:00

This was a blast. I didn't know it was a costume show until that day. Next year I will have a more burlesque outfit with a corset and fishnet stockings ; ) I really enjoyed Eric McFadden and band. I downloaded some of his music off of iTunes.

The "Lady" in the pink dress is the male clown (with mustache) in a costume on huge stilts. The exaggerated boobs and butt were just hysterical!

The best part was actually a puppet show. When they set up the puppet stage I thought, "What!?! are you kidding a puppet show?" Then I was blown away on how amazing it was! The three skits were: an artist and an art critic, turtle and the rabbit race (the best), and duck vs. snake. Unfortunately, I can't find any information on the puppeteer ; ( I would love to see him again!

This YouTube video is just a promo and has clips from past shows. Website.

Who's a genius like me.... = )

2008-02-19T11:14:00.000-08:00

Can you find all 11 faces in this picture?

The answers are here... but be honest did you see all before you looked at the answer??

I can find 10 and I'm pretty sure the cyan circled one is the 11th. **Update: the red one is the 11th but I still maintain that the cyan one looks like a small face ; )

Work...what work

2008-02-11T15:16:00.000-08:00

Job Search...what's that !?!

I didn't exactly make great strides in my job search today. Instead we had a great time chasing squirrels at the park, finishing my taxes, now have a refund!, as well as going to an initial apointment at the Chiropractor's. Mix in a few houshold chores, some grocery shopping, and cooking and it's been a full day.

Layoff OR a new opportunity

2008-02-10T15:25:00.000-08:00

Layoff OR a new opportunity...
I'm not upset about being out of LeapFrog. It was just such a poorly run organization. I didn't feel like it was a good fit until recently when I landed in the Firmware department. I would have liked to get 1 more year of firmware experience before moving on...but I'm excited to find a new (hopefully better) job. Financially I'll be fine for a while. Unemployment will be $450/week. I have 3 weeks severance and will be getting the company bonus March 15th. Not sure what it will be but hoping it's good. Plus I have my "laid-off nest egg" which will supplement. And I'm getting $1k back from taxes. So I can easily be off work for 3mo, or 6mo but I really hope to have another job by then.

I'm just so glad I'm not laid-off in KY with that *%^* house! Here I'm so much better off financially that I don't have to worry about the money issue. And there are millions of companies around the whole bay. I'm just hoping to find something close to SF and not all the way down in San Jose.

I've been contacted by some recruiters that found my resume online. And I've contacted other recruiters I know. Now I just need to study up for the interviews ; )

Yes, I've been a slacker....

2008-02-04T19:51:00.001-08:00

But now I'm laid off so I'll have plenty of time to update my blog = ) Next week I'll be on the beach instead of at the office!

Plastic "Garbage Island" in the Pacific

2007-10-30T15:24:00.000-07:00

Ewww, yuck! I've never heard of this...it's terrifying.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/10/30/MNT5T1NER.DTL

Things to ponder...

2007-10-17T19:51:00.000-07:00

From email...these were my favorite...

Isn't making a smoking section in a restaurant like making a peeing section in a swimming pool?

I thought about how mothers feed their babies with tiny little spoons and forks, so I wondered what do Chinese mothers use? toothpicks?

Why do they put pictures of criminals up in the Post Office?What are we supposed to do, write to them?Why don't they just put their pictures on the postage stamps so the mailmen can look for them while they deliver the mail?

If it's true that we are here to help others, then what exactly are the others here for?

Fleet Week 2007

2007-10-16T13:10:00.000-07:00

The only Fleet Week activity I went to was the airshow. By chance, I ended up in a great spot at the base of the Golden Gate bridge. I thought the harbour would be a great backdrop for the airshow. However, It turns out that the planes fly right over my spot on their way down to the bay. When you looked up the hill it looked like the planes were coming directly at you. That was really cool! Especially when the plane flying at 700 miles per hour flew over!

In addition to the airshow we had an aquatic wildlife show. In between planes I noticed two dolphins swimming right below us. For the next 30minutes, while some boring plane performed, everyone was taking pictures of the dolphins ; )

Check out all the sets: FleetWeek Airshow, ...Blue Angles, ...Dolphins

Slacking Off

2007-10-16T13:08:00.001-07:00

I know I haven't been updating the blog much at all. I'm finally over my sickness but I have been catering a lot and pretty busy, for a change, at work.

I will endeavor to do better. However all my catering will pay for my plane ticket to KY for Monica's wedding reception and to see all my friends ; ) November 3rd and surrounding days are my target dates for KY.

Anyone get the name of the horse that hit me ??? ; )

2007-10-01T09:42:00.000-07:00

Sunday was the first day I “really” rode Vikki. We are talking trot & canter. I am SOoooooo sore today!! Riding is similar to swimming & skiing…it’s a whole body activity and you end up with sore muscles everywhere. Catering immediately after probably didn’t help any either…

However Vikki did very well. Her trot was nice and bouncy and I was able to keep her at that instead of a stung out trot. And her canter take-offs were nice and controlled with no bucking!! We do have a lot of bending work to do at the canter once she is in shape.

Vikki is also out of her subdued mood. She wanted to be all fruity yesterday. Plus there was a lot of activity going on and it was slightly windy. More pictures… here.

Probiotics

2007-09-28T11:33:00.001-07:00

I raided Whole Foods today for Probiotics...anything to keep me healthy instead of contently sick like the last few months. I'm still a little sick from the virus/sinus infection I got 3 weeks ago.

Last year I was under complete stress from June-March and only got sick once for 4 days. Since March I've been sick almost once a month. Even my Add Doc mentioned it. I do have a very sensitive immune system that freaks out a lot. I get cold symptoms for a day or two after a sunburn?? And after an activity that gives me sore muscles?? My sinus flip out after I inhale particles in the air, even though I'm not allergic to any airborne items. And to temperature/humidity changes overnight...which is why I don't camp out.

I do think there is a possibility I'm getting another food allergy and that completely destroys my immune system! I'm looking for an allergist that will do a more comprehensive food test.

Your Money or Your Life

2007-09-28T11:23:00.000-07:00

"Your Money or Your Life: Transforming your relationship with Money and Achieving Financial Independence."

I've just started reading this book with the objective of being smarter about money. The first exercise it has you do is very interesting:

1)Total your gross earnings from the time you started working...I've made almost $500,000!!
2)Total your money, ie 401k, savings, life insurance, home equity, etc
3)Total your debts
4)Record and total the cash value of everything you have if you were to sell it. List possessions as prices you could get at a garage sale or consignment. This makes you realize how much stuff you have when you have to itemize everything! It helps you get over the "I need" or "I don't have" when you look at a spreadsheet of thousands of items you own.

Sleepy Ari

2007-09-17T12:49:00.000-07:00

Ari was wiped out by the swimming. Poor thing. She is actually sound alseep with her mouth & eyes open. She didn't move/flink/flinch when the flash went off = )

Yosemite on the way home

2007-09-17T12:27:00.000-07:00

Yosemite was pretty. I like the Eastern side better. More white rock & desert like. The main Yosemite attractions are in Yosemite Valley which is in the Southwest of the park. There are the sites: Half Dome, El Capitan, Yosemite Falls, Bridalveil Falls, & lots of other Large Edifices. We drove around and took pictures but didn’t get out and hike. We were on our way back with the girls & dogs are not allowed on Yosemite trails.

Half Dome on right ---->

El Capitan \/ Yosemite Valley \/ To Yosemite Valley \/

Panum Crater

2007-09-17T12:24:00.000-07:00

Panum Crater was more fun then Mono Lake in my opinion. Although it is just from a Volcano not an Asteroid or UFO…that would have made it really cool! The crater is water drop shaped. There is an outer rim and then an inner splash/plug if you will. On the inside is a lot of Black Obsidian rock.

Ancient Bristlecone Pines

2007-09-17T12:21:00.000-07:00

So the Bristlecone pines are very cool. I would like to go back and do more hiking there and in surrounding areas. It was very quite and peaceful. The trees are neat looking because they are so gnarled. The video was quite fascinating at the visitor’s center. The living trees are up to 4000+ years old. The oldest trees are called Methuselahs. The dead trees on the ground date back 7000-10,000 yrs old because there is so little decay in the high dry elevation. The Bristlecone pines mostly live in the White Mountains because they seem to like the Dolomite mineral which makes the rock white.

Apparently the trees actually verified & corrected the carbon dating technique. They took core samples of many trees, marked the rings, then lined the marks up. This way they were able to line up marks for up to 7000 years. Then there is a gap from 7000-10,000 then the marks start up again for another couple thousand years. From this they compared wood from archeological sites and were able to date that wood which dated the artifacts in turn. Even though the wood from the archeological site may have been from the another continent, the average environmental conditions for earth were comparable which affects tree growth & the tree rings. That is how the comparison was made. Pretty cool from an anthropological standpoint.

On a side note…I always like anthropology: how man evolved and the first ancient civilizations.

Pictures here!

Bishop, CA

2007-09-17T12:20:00.000-07:00

We stayed in Bishop and it was a cute little town. North of Death Valley & East of Yosemite. It sits along Route 395 which is a main drag through the Eastern Sierras…from Las Vegas to Reno essentially. They did have a really neat Dutch bakery there...Erick Schat's Bakkery.

It was neat to see such different scenery. I’m so used to East Coast/Midwest that the California/Desert/Sierras just seems so exciting. Funny though I’m just not fond of the Oregon/Washington/Southern Alaska “rainforests” with all the Coniferous trees. Hiking Mt Rainier was fun & pretty but I don’t want to see that all the time. I’m not sure why but it bugs me??

I was also surprised I didn’t have more of a problem hiking in the heat/dryness. The first day I had a few issues but once I did some serious hiking & used up that adrenaline I was fine.

I hope Nam had a good time being dragged through half of CA ; ) He drove the whole time and has a ton of Dalmatian hair in his car to prove it. He also has this really cool GPS hookup from his laptop which came in handy in Yosemite @ 11pm at night where there are very few useful road signs… We were actually going the correct way though!

Mono Lake

2007-09-17T12:09:00.000-07:00

Mono Lake was neat but I wouldn’t make the 5hr trip just for it. The Tufas were okay but nothing too special. . I did prefer the sand Tufas to the Calcium Tufas in the water.

The Lake is 10% salt solution so you do float which was neat. The natives cultivated the Alkali flies as their main protein source…eewww.

Here is video of a Seagull scooping up flies from the shore...

We did go back a second day to take the dogs swimming on the way home. By going in the water I did get both girls to swim. It did seem a little easier for them too because of the buoyancy. And they managed to find a jackrabbit around the sand Tufas = ) The whole adventure wore the girls out!

Here is a video of Ari still doggie paddling even when I hold her out of the water!

Busy Busy Busy

2007-09-12T12:06:00.000-07:00

This has been a busy month…First I was stressed with Vikki…Then I took the trip to Bishop…then more Vikki stress…Catering 5 days in one week…Then being totally ill STILL! And Vikki should appear this coming week and I’ll probably be somewhat sick for another week. Whew!

So now, on to the vacation diary (with YOUtube videos!)

Google Street view...my front door

2007-08-29T23:08:00.000-07:00

This is cool...Nathan did this on his blog, http://www.nathanvalentine.org/, and it has taken me three tries to figure out how to do it.

My front door my car is not there : (

Nathan's car at his work

I'll be a famous photographer.....

2007-08-29T11:29:00.000-07:00

I received an email stating that one of my Reno, NV photos on my Flickr page was selected to be in the 3rd edition of the Schmap Worldwide Travel Guides - Reno edition.

I'm so surprised and proud, "tickled pink" if you will = ) Either my picture is great...OR they can't find many pictures of Reno. I'm betting on the latter... Anyway here is the photo they like.

3.0 Earthquake - Was 3 miles from center

2007-08-28T16:27:00.000-07:00

Latest Earthquake centered in Berkeley. It felt like a car ran into the building. A hard Jerk. A few things rattled and a picture frame fell in the HR loft upstairs. It lasted all of 3 seconds. Then everyone turned around and said "Did that really happen? Was that an earthquake?"

Real Time Shake Maps - I entered my info = )
http://pasadena.wr.usgs.gov/shake/ca/STORE/X40200915/ciim_display.html

Info
http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/recenteqs/Quakes/nc40200915.htm

Baker Beach Pictures - AKA Nuddie Beach

2007-08-23T14:35:00.000-07:00

No nuddies on the beach yesterday ; ( The waves were pretty big and had a nice crashing sound. I'll try to post the video file later...

More pics here.

Amazing Dalmatian Rescue Footage

2007-08-21T22:27:00.000-07:00

Great Video of a Dalmatian rescue
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/living/2007/08/21/wsaz.dog.dug.out.affl

Living in a Fur Filled *Snow* Globe