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  • Tuesday Update

    Yesterday, I took a nap after work.  Then we had leftovers for dinner and we watched some episodes of Star Blazers.  We are on season 2, The Comet Empire.


    Today, I took a nap after work.  We are cleaning the house cause we have people coming over for gaming.


    Tomorrow, I will probably take another nap after work.


    This covering the morning shift and part of the afternoon is different but can't do it for ever.  Looking forward to getting more people into our department again.

  • Potter Reading Update - No Spoilers

    I got the book around 10:30 am, but as I expected, I was busy with on call work in the morning and part of the afternoon.  I am on Chapter Four now, on page 56 of 759. 


    I believe I started reading Harry Potter when there were only three books, so I could read them all in order.  That was around 1999 or 2000.  I remember I bought them at CostCo.


    --Update as of 3:00 pm Sunday--


    Saturday, I got up to page 200 or so.  Now, I am up to page 456, reading on the floor with a pillow.  Fell asleep and had dreams about the novel.


    Doubtful I will finish today.  Now I am crocheting while listening to some old time radio podcasts.  Maybe I will pick it up again later this evening.


    --Update as of 12:05 am Monday--


    Finished the book right at midnight.  It was very good read and a very good ending to the series. 

  • No Spoilers Please Update

    After work ends on Friday, I plan on not looking at any computer or live television program until I have completed reading the seventh Harry Potter book.  If all goes well, I should have a copy delivered by Amazon on Saturday.


    Considering I am on call that weekend, I don't think I will be able to finish it, but I will try my hardest to do so. 


    In the meantime, I am requesting no spoilers please.   If you must post something about the book in the week following its release please put the words spoiler in there with plenty of white space so I may avert my eyes.  Please refrain from placing spoilers in comments, images, text pages, or even voice mail. 


    Thank you for your time and cooperation.

  • Travel Meme Update

    Tourist Traps
    Bold indicates a visit.

    1. Times Square, New York City, NY: 35 million visitors every year
    Twice:  1988 and 1993

    2. National Mall & Memorial Parks, Washington, D.C.: About 25 million
    1985 and 2000

    3. Disney World's Magic Kingdom, Lake Buena Vista, Fla.: 16.6 million
    1979

    4. Trafalgar Square, London, England: 15 million

    5. Disneyland Park, Anaheim, Calif.: 14.7 million
    2004?

    6. Niagara Falls, Ontario and New York: 14 million

    7. Fisherman's Wharf/Golden Gate National Recreation Area, San Francisco, Calif.: 13 million
    1997 - 2000 worked at a hotel on the wharf
    2006 was most recent visit.

    8. Tokyo Disneyland/DisneySea, Tokyo, Japan: 12.9 million
    1987/88: Celebrated New Years
    1991 - 94: Several visits

    9. Notre Dame de Paris, Paris, France: 12 million
    1980

    10. Disneyland Paris, Marne-La-Vallee, France: 10.6 million

    11. The Great Wall of China, Badaling area, China: About 10 million
    1992

    12. The Great Smoky Mountain National Park, Tennessee/North Carolina: 9.2 million
    1999

    13. Universal Studios Japan, Osaka, Japan: 8.5 million

    14. Basilique du Sacré-Coeur de Montmartre, Paris, France: 8 million
    1980

    15. Musée du Louvre, Paris, France: 7.5 million
    1980

    16. Everland (amusement park), Kyonggi-Do, South Korea: 7.5 million

    17. The Forbidden City/Tiananmen Square, Beijing, China: At least 7 million
    1992

    18. Eiffel Tower, Paris, France: 6.7 million
    1980

    19. Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure at Universal Orlando, Fla: 6 million

    20. SeaWorld Florida, Orlando, Fla: 5,740,000

    21. Pleasure Beach (amusement park), Blackpool, England: 5.7 million

    22. Lotte World (amusement park), Seoul, South Korea: 5.5 million

    23. Yokohama Hakkeijima Sea Paradise, Japan: 5.4 million

    24. Hong Kong Disneyland, China: 5.2 million

    25. Centre Pompidou, Paris, France: 5.1
    1980

    26. Tate Modern, London, England: 4.9 million

    27. British Museum, London, England: 4.8 million

    28. Universal Studios Los Angeles, Calif.: 4.7 million

    29. National Gallery, London, England: 4.6 million

    30. Metropolitan Museum, New York, NY: 4.5 million

    31. Grand Canyon, Ariz.: 4.4 million

    32. Tivoli Gardens (amusement park), Copenhagen, Denmark: 4.4 million

    33. Ocean Park (amusement park), Hong Kong, China: 4.38 million

    34. Busch Gardens (amusement park), Tampa Bay, Fla.: 4.36 million

    35. SeaWorld California, San Diego, Calif.: 4.26 million

    36. Statue of Liberty, New York, NY: 4.24 million
    1987

    37. The Vatican and its museums, Rome, Italy: 4.2 million
    1996?

    38. Sydney Opera House, Sydney, Australia: More than 4 million

    39. The Coliseum, Rome, Italy: 4 million
    1996?

    40. American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY: 4 million

    41. Grauman's Chinese Theater, Hollywood, Calif.: 4 million
    1999, 2005

    42. Empire State Building, New York, NY: 4 million
    1987

    43. Natural History Museum, London, England: 3.7 million

    44. The London Eye, London, England: 3.5 million

    45. Palace of Versailles, France: 3.45 million

    46. Yosemite National Park, Calif.: 3.44 million

    47. Pyramids of Giza, Egypt: 3 million

    48. Pompeii, Italy: 2.5 million
    1996?

    49. Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia: 2.5 million

    50. Taj Mahal, Agra, India: 2.4 million
    No, but I have been to Agra, Oklahoma several times.  That probably doesn't count, does it?

  • LJ Cross-post Update

    Q: How did you spend summers when you were a kid?

    A: Short answer: I visited my grandparents.

    Long answer:


    When I was a kid, I lived in Chicago and Oak Park, IL with my parents, Jimmie and Nancy. We would visit all my grandparents, who all lived in New Mexico. My father's parents, Grandma and Granddad (Emily and James, lived in White Rock, a suburb of Los Alamos. My mother's parents, Helen and Ralph (cause that's what Mom called them), lived in Hobbs with Helen's mother, Granny. Her real name was Sicily Olive but usually went by Ollie.

    A couple of times we went by train. Other times we drove. And sometimes we flew. Some summers Mom and/or Dad had to teach summer school, so I would fly by myself. Usually I would spent a certain amount of time with one set of grandparents, then they would drive me to the other grandparents' house.

    When we were in White Rock, we would play Yahtzee, go for walks in the desert with Grandma's dog Nipper, part Husky part Hound dog, and visit their neighbors. And we would go to church, something I did not do when I was at home. Later I understood it was a Baptist church.

    When we were in Hobbs, we mostly stayed at home, but I also remember going to church there too, but Helen was a member of one church and Ralph another. Methodist, Episcopal? Can't remember.

    In 1976, Helen, Ralph and Granny moved to San Angelo, TX to a retirement community centered around a hospital, Baptist Memorial. They lived in a house and Granny lived in the hospital. Unfortunately, Granny passed away in August 1977. I remember because I was in San Angelo at the time. We had been planning for Ralph to drive me back to Chicago, but Granny got sick and stayed in the hospital with Helen at her side until she drew her last breath. Mom flew down and I sort of remember a funeral but it could be the memory of some other relative.

    For a while, they had a second home in Alpine. It was originally a one bedroom block of a house they bought somewhere and had delivered to a plot of land in this small town in the Davis mountains. So I would arrive in San Angelo and stay a night, and then at the crack of dawn we would drive over to Alpine. Ralph liked to get an early start on any trip. I usually wound up falling asleep in the back seat. We visited relatives while in Alpine, and we also drove down to Big Bend National Park at least once. Each year I went back to Alpine, I found they had added a bit onto the house. A trailer became the guest wing with its own bathroom, connected to the house by a large enclosed sun porch.

    Also in the mid-late seventies, Grandma and Granddad moved from New Mexico to Agra, OK, a small rural town between Oklahoma City and Tulsa, far off the Turner Turnpike. If I said it was between Chandler and Cushing, maybe that would give you a better idea of where it is. However, they didn't live in the town. They bought a farm, eighty acres, upon which they raised cattle, kept hens and even a vegetable garden.

    The first couple of years they lived in a tiny house near the highway while Granddad built a house. I remember playing in the house in its different stages. We would go for walks with Nipper twice a day: once in the morning, before breakfast and in the late afternoon, depending on the heat of the day either before or after "supper." "Dinner" was the noon meal, unless I mixed that up again.

    Once they moved into the new house, Grandma's brothers, Uncle Art and Uncle Lee moved into the old house. They had been living in Agra proper. Somedays we would visit with them. I mainly remember them rolling up their own cigarettes and smoking outside.

    I think it was here that the church became a large part of their lives because in addition to going to Sunday school and listening to a sermon in the morning, we went back in the evening to hear another sermon. Then one year, we also started going on Wednesday evenings. But they were not just attending church; they were involved with it by teaching Sunday school, helping with special events and participating in business meetings.

    Of course we went to other places besides church. There were visits to the cattle auction, the bazaar, and for very special occasions, Kentucky Fried Chicken or Braums Ice Cream.

    Eventually, I grew up and went to college and later worked in Japan, so my visits to my grandparents became more infrequent.

    Helen and Ralph sold the house in Alpine. Later, after Uncle Art and Uncle Lee passed away, Grandma and Granddad sold their farm and bought a house in Alpine.

    As an adult, I still visited them when I could. One summer, Chuk and I drove from SF to Texas and visited Grandma and Granddad in Alpine. He dropped me off and then went back to El Paso so he could drive into Mexico and visit Chihuahua. He had been taking lessons in Spanish. Then he drove northeast to go back into the US. My grandmother worried about him most of the time he was gone, so we were all very glad when he returned safely.

    The next night, we drove to San Angelo to visit Helen. By that time, Ralph had already passed on and she was suffering from Alzheimer's. She still recognized me, but despite having met Chuk several times before, she kept thinking he was a new person. He would exit the room, come back and she would act like she had never met him before.

    So this year, I am planning another road trip, but it will be to drive Grandma and Granddad back to Oklahoma so they can attend a high school reunion. Still hope for all the plans to come together.

  • Quick Monday Update

    Yesterday, watched more episodes of the Tomorrow People.  Worked on a second baby blanket.  Resting from the other one until I get a sturdier crochet hook.


    Today, we have gaming (switched from Tuesdays). 


    Tomorrow, have to work.  Hopefully, more DVD's will come in.

  • Patriotic Baked Goods Trilogy Update

    Yesterday, I watched the American Pie trilogy all afternoon while working on a baby blanket.


    Chuk didn't want to watch it since we recorded it on the USA network and all the expletives were munged or deleted.  e.g. MILF is now the anagram Mother I would Like to Feel.


    Also, many of the inappropriate scenes were cut, including the really famous one from the first movie, the one with the apple pie.


    Usually, I don't like coming of age movies, but even with the butchering, I still liked them.  Now, I understand the different shades of meaning of "And this one time at band camp.."


     


    Possible Spoiler Alert (like you care)


    The first movie, American Pie, deals with 4 high school friends and their quest to "get lucky" before Prom.  The accident prone main character tries to get it on with the exchange student but accidentally broadcasts the event to the entire neighborhood on the internet and becomes the laughing stock of the school, unable to get any date except a member of the band.  The hard working jock falls for a girl in jazz choir and later must make a choice between the final game and the state choir recital.  The effete book nerd has a rumor spread about his sexual prowess, but is sabotaged by a jealous classsmate, angry jock.  The boy in a relationship tries to go all the way with his girlfriend, but is waiting for the absolute perfect moment to say I love you.  Eventually, everyone gets what they want or deserves.


    The second, American Pie 2, features no pastries.  It deals with the same 4 friends after the first year of college as they stay at a house on the lake and hold down a summer house painting job.  The accident prone main character tries to reconnect with the exchange student but ultimately goes with the band camp girl.  The hard working jock has maintained a relationship with the jazz choir girl but their attempts at phone sex are stymied by the angry jock any other circumstances.  The effete book nerd saves himself for one specific woman, who doesn't arrive until the credits are about to roll.  The boy in a relationship is not actually in one as they broke up but he learns to be friends with her and her new boyfriend.  Oh, and the angry jock finally gets one of his dream fulfilled.


    The third, American Wedding, starts with the accident prone main character proposing to the band camp girl after they have graduated.  He promises her the wedding that she wants, so he is forced to go on a series of quests and undergo some trials, accompanied by angry jock, effete book nerd and boy-not-in-a-relationship.  Hard working jock didn't make it to this movie, but honestly, I didn't notice until the end.  There is more story arc regarding the angry jock, as he passes himself of as a soft-spoken preppy to ingratiate himself into the band camp girl's family and eventually become the ring bearer.  While he has the reputation for being conniving, he has a hand in making the wedding a success.


    Wins a dance-off in a gay bar to get the wedding dress made.


    Teaches the accident prone main character ballroom dancing.


    Mobilizes the high school football team to redo the flowers after he accidentally destroys the arrangements.


    Helps convince the jewish grandmother (did we mention that the accident prone main character's family is Jewish? Surprise!) that it is okay for her grandson to marry outside of the faith (the band camp girl's family is Roman Catholic).  Okay, maybe he didn't "convince" her but she seemed pretty pleased with everything at the wedding and did not make a fuss.


    In summary, all three had lots of funny parts.  Highly recommended if you just want to laugh and not think too much.

  • Simpsons Update

  • Sad but True Meme

    I am a d6

    Take the quiz at dicepool.com

    Ummmm.... Yahtzee!!

  • Sunday Update

    Sorry it has been busy so I haven't blogged recently.


    On Saturday, we went to the Farmers Market on Allemany to get some fresh vegetables.  I was very pleased with the ratatouille I made that evening.  We also got some peaches and melons. Chuk is going to make a peach sorbet.


    Today I made potato leek soup.  Not your average summer dish but it gets chilly here.


    I have been watching episodes of the Tomorrow People and Doctor Who (David Tennant) which crocheting.  My current project is a cream colored baby blanket that has shells and popcorn.  Sounds tasty doesn't it?  I recently completed the granny square baby blanket, but the intended recipient has not yet been born, so I have stashed it away.


    We cut my hair today.  I have been complaining about my long hair for a month.  My main problems with having long hair have been that it would get in my eyes or my mouth, even when I did my best to keep it in a pony tail.  I also didn't like the extra time it took each morning to get ready.  So I finally decided yesterday that I would cut my hair today.  And we did.  So there.