Once again my father has sent me a ridiculous message but at least this time it's not about religion. And I'm sad to say he's not the only one who sent it.
It's that same stupid Pearlas Sandborn one about how Bill Gates wants to share his fortune with you just for forwarding some email to all your friends. Eventually it is my hope that each and every computer user will learn that this email is designed merely to annoy everybody in your address book, but I fear that will never happen considering that it's been around in one form or another for around ten years. This exact letter has been submitted as far back as 2003; I think that 4 years of clogging up the internet is enough.
I'm tempted to label anybody who forwards it as, at best, naive, but there is something about the tender hope that simply by forwarding an email, one may not only possibly collect thousands of dollars oneself but also allow one's friends to do so also. It is a little bit touching. Possibly I say so because I hold the other person who sent it to me in such high regard.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
An Eel in the Family
I'm going to brag on my kid for a moment. Now, I know that it's normal to be proud of your child and I try not to act as if the sun rises and sets on mine (although we all know that it does, don't we?), but I'm going to go ahead and take a moment to be all braggy and then I'll stop. Bear with me or don't read this post. :)
The small fry is attending swim lessons at the local Y. She is 3 and so are the other kids in her class, all boys. One of them, Sam the Crier, is slowly mastering his deathly fear of the pool. The first day he cried the whole half hour and tried to leave the pool altogether more than once. I gathered from listening to his grandmother and the instructor talking that this is his second time taking lessons.
Delia has never had fear of water, of having water in her face, that sort of thing. She is uneasy in deep water and understands that whole thing about you need to be able to keep your head above water, I don't mean that she's unaware of the dangers, but if she is in water that is not too deep she will happily play and splash. She has been known to stay in the tub for upwards of a couple of hours and still protest when it's time to finally get out.
This is also her second time in lessons. She went in June, twice a week for four weeks. After the second lesson I found her submerging herself in her bathwater and creeping around on the bottom of the tub, repeatedly, for fun. She leaps into her kiddie pool with impunity. Other moms and grandmas come up to me at the pool and ask me whether we have a pool at home after they watch her throwing herself into the water like a sea lion.
Today the instructor had the kids hold her hands with theirs in the time honored V-in-front position while she pulled them a short way in the shallow water. When it was Delia's turn, she let her go and watched her glide through the water, kicking her feet. Then she asked Delia to lay on her back in the water, which Delia happily did, allowing the instructor to tip her chin up so that her ears were under water. The instructor then stood up and asked, "Whose is this one? How old is she? 3? She's ready for Eel. That's unusual for someone under 6 years old." After the lesson she came and told me that she's way ahead of most kids in how comfortable she is in the water. Now comes the coordination and the attention span development.
OK, all done bragging. :)
The small fry is attending swim lessons at the local Y. She is 3 and so are the other kids in her class, all boys. One of them, Sam the Crier, is slowly mastering his deathly fear of the pool. The first day he cried the whole half hour and tried to leave the pool altogether more than once. I gathered from listening to his grandmother and the instructor talking that this is his second time taking lessons.
Delia has never had fear of water, of having water in her face, that sort of thing. She is uneasy in deep water and understands that whole thing about you need to be able to keep your head above water, I don't mean that she's unaware of the dangers, but if she is in water that is not too deep she will happily play and splash. She has been known to stay in the tub for upwards of a couple of hours and still protest when it's time to finally get out.
This is also her second time in lessons. She went in June, twice a week for four weeks. After the second lesson I found her submerging herself in her bathwater and creeping around on the bottom of the tub, repeatedly, for fun. She leaps into her kiddie pool with impunity. Other moms and grandmas come up to me at the pool and ask me whether we have a pool at home after they watch her throwing herself into the water like a sea lion.
Today the instructor had the kids hold her hands with theirs in the time honored V-in-front position while she pulled them a short way in the shallow water. When it was Delia's turn, she let her go and watched her glide through the water, kicking her feet. Then she asked Delia to lay on her back in the water, which Delia happily did, allowing the instructor to tip her chin up so that her ears were under water. The instructor then stood up and asked, "Whose is this one? How old is she? 3? She's ready for Eel. That's unusual for someone under 6 years old." After the lesson she came and told me that she's way ahead of most kids in how comfortable she is in the water. Now comes the coordination and the attention span development.
OK, all done bragging. :)
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Crispy Fish Snack
My blogfriend Mel has a post about finding a Freaky Gigantic Grasshopper in her shoe and one of the commentors left a link that I found very interesting:
https://www.thailandunique.com/store/index.php?main_page=index
If you nose around a bit on this site you will find many fine foods and beverages including Crispy Fish Snack. I want to make a blog named Crispy Fish Snack now. Or start a band, or something like that.
There is also a product called Fluffy Pork Snack, a name I prize just as highly. Decisions, decisions!
https://www.thailandunique.com/store/index.php?main_page=index
If you nose around a bit on this site you will find many fine foods and beverages including Crispy Fish Snack. I want to make a blog named Crispy Fish Snack now. Or start a band, or something like that.
There is also a product called Fluffy Pork Snack, a name I prize just as highly. Decisions, decisions!
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Triathlons for Dummies
Who's the dummy here? Why, me of course. I'm doing the Danskin triathlon in about a month. Am I ready? Um. No. Do I have time to prepare? Um, again, no. Am I gonna do it anyways? Hell yes.
The first year I signed up for the Danskin, which is a five-thousand participant women's sprint length triathlon, I missed the swim for reasons I can't really go into. I almost threw in the towel and walked away in disgust but my better half encouraged me to finish it anyway since I was there and all. So I did.
Then last year I signed up again but for yet more reasons I can't go into, had to bail on the whole thing. Didn't even show up. I did do the Summit to Surf ride, with the assistance of my very good friends Karen and John, who kindly drove me there and picked me up and took me to a huge meal afterward. It is a 36-mile ride from Mt. Hood Meadows down into Hood River, Oregon. Lovely ride, chilly on the way down but quite thrilling. It winds through orchards laden with fruit, the trees so heavily burdened that the branches are supported with long boards to keep them from breaking and to keep the fruit off the ground. A large part of it is downhill but a lot of it is also not downhill so not to worry, it's not a free ride. It's work.
It is a fundraiser for diabetes research and I am happy to say that this year I am doing it again and will meet my modest fundraising goal, thanks to many generous individuals who ponied up the cash. It is in about a week and a half.
Tonight I went on a short (12.8 miles), easy-paced ride with a local bicycling club. I took my neighbor from down the street. I mentioned to her some time ago that I was doing a tri this year and she mulled it over for a while, then decided she wanted to do it too! We are not doing the same race but we can help each other out training. She was very nervous about the ride tonight but made it just fine and we have some plans to ride again next week as well as do some open-water swimming too. It's nice to have a friend to do some of this stuff with. The women who took us on the ride were super nice, very friendly, nobody ridiculed anybody else's bike or anything like that. We just rode. And, because this was an estrogen-fueled event, we stopped and gabbed a lot, and were all super supportive to each other before the two "minor" hills.
One of which I stood up and powered my way up when it got steep! I haven't done that in years. So there, hill! Eat my padded shorts! MUWAHAHAHA!
And now I need a wee lil' nap. Goodnight all.
The first year I signed up for the Danskin, which is a five-thousand participant women's sprint length triathlon, I missed the swim for reasons I can't really go into. I almost threw in the towel and walked away in disgust but my better half encouraged me to finish it anyway since I was there and all. So I did.
Then last year I signed up again but for yet more reasons I can't go into, had to bail on the whole thing. Didn't even show up. I did do the Summit to Surf ride, with the assistance of my very good friends Karen and John, who kindly drove me there and picked me up and took me to a huge meal afterward. It is a 36-mile ride from Mt. Hood Meadows down into Hood River, Oregon. Lovely ride, chilly on the way down but quite thrilling. It winds through orchards laden with fruit, the trees so heavily burdened that the branches are supported with long boards to keep them from breaking and to keep the fruit off the ground. A large part of it is downhill but a lot of it is also not downhill so not to worry, it's not a free ride. It's work.
It is a fundraiser for diabetes research and I am happy to say that this year I am doing it again and will meet my modest fundraising goal, thanks to many generous individuals who ponied up the cash. It is in about a week and a half.
Tonight I went on a short (12.8 miles), easy-paced ride with a local bicycling club. I took my neighbor from down the street. I mentioned to her some time ago that I was doing a tri this year and she mulled it over for a while, then decided she wanted to do it too! We are not doing the same race but we can help each other out training. She was very nervous about the ride tonight but made it just fine and we have some plans to ride again next week as well as do some open-water swimming too. It's nice to have a friend to do some of this stuff with. The women who took us on the ride were super nice, very friendly, nobody ridiculed anybody else's bike or anything like that. We just rode. And, because this was an estrogen-fueled event, we stopped and gabbed a lot, and were all super supportive to each other before the two "minor" hills.
One of which I stood up and powered my way up when it got steep! I haven't done that in years. So there, hill! Eat my padded shorts! MUWAHAHAHA!
And now I need a wee lil' nap. Goodnight all.
Sunday, July 08, 2007
Phone Manners
A few minutes ago my cellphone rings. My caller ID does not ID the number so I don't know if it's someone I know or not. I answer, despite not knowing who could be calling me at 11:30pm, because I am old and unhip and uncool and nobody calls that late unless it's an emergency. What if it's an emergency?
Me: Hello?
Teenage Girl: Um... is Sara there?
Me: Sorry, you have a wrong number.
TG: Oh... sorry. -click-
A few minutes later, it rings again, still no ID. I answer again strictly for the potential pleasure of telling off some annoying kid who calls numbers late at night without being sure they are correct.
Me: Hello?
TG, Possible a Different One: (largely unintelligible declaration about staying away from her boyfriend or she will, and I quote, "smack me.")
Me, in a slightly hostile tone that probably just sounded peevish: Hi, I have no idea who you are or why you are calling me. (Pretty snappy, eh?)
TG,PaDO: -click-
If she calls back, I will let it go to voicemail so she can listen to my non-teenage, unhip muppety voice identify myself by my first name and tell her to leave a message. I'm hoping that this ends the matter, but if it does not, I hope at least to capture her number so I can initiate a series of irritating crank calls.
When did I get to be such a dork?
Me: Hello?
Teenage Girl: Um... is Sara there?
Me: Sorry, you have a wrong number.
TG: Oh... sorry. -click-
A few minutes later, it rings again, still no ID. I answer again strictly for the potential pleasure of telling off some annoying kid who calls numbers late at night without being sure they are correct.
Me: Hello?
TG, Possible a Different One: (largely unintelligible declaration about staying away from her boyfriend or she will, and I quote, "smack me.")
Me, in a slightly hostile tone that probably just sounded peevish: Hi, I have no idea who you are or why you are calling me. (Pretty snappy, eh?)
TG,PaDO: -click-
If she calls back, I will let it go to voicemail so she can listen to my non-teenage, unhip muppety voice identify myself by my first name and tell her to leave a message. I'm hoping that this ends the matter, but if it does not, I hope at least to capture her number so I can initiate a series of irritating crank calls.
When did I get to be such a dork?
Thursday, July 05, 2007
Gee My Foot Smells Terrific
It's hot today. Damn hot. Inferno hot. Tarzan couldn't take this heat.
Well, for here it's hot. Like in the 90's. Sweaty hot.
I chose today to run some errands because I am not all that smart. The small car does have air conditioning but it hasn't been recharged since we bought it new in 2001. It still works, but not all that fabulously -- I'd call it merely adequate. Yes, I do plan to have it recharged some time soon.
At any rate off I drove, in the hottest part of the day, to do a little banking, buy some yard & garden products at YardGardenHomeBuildingMegaloMartDepot, then hit the MembershipCo for coffee since it is right across the street from YGHBMMD. It seems ridiculous to buy just one item there when you can buy enormous quantities of anything you please, but it was the only thing I needed there and it's cheap and surprisingly good if you get the kind they roast on the premises. Then you must grind it yourself, either there on the supplied grinders, or at home if you're some kind of masochist, er I mean purist. We have a small home grinder but I find it annoying to deal with more than occasionally and am not that fussy. Probably owing to the fact that I don't really drink coffee unless it's embedded, by someone else, in a latte at a shop. All the little rituals involved in making, creaming, sugaring and drinking coffee in the home are lost on me.
At any rate I poured the beans into the grinder and started it up, only to be pinged on my 2-way cell radio feature thingy, and so I became one of those mindless yakkers who isn't paying attention to what they are doing. Don't we all just hate those people? I know I do. And so I didn't notice that the bag sort of collapsed and was therefore not really catching the grinder's output.
And that is how I came to have a left sandal filled with freshly ground coffee.
Well, for here it's hot. Like in the 90's. Sweaty hot.
I chose today to run some errands because I am not all that smart. The small car does have air conditioning but it hasn't been recharged since we bought it new in 2001. It still works, but not all that fabulously -- I'd call it merely adequate. Yes, I do plan to have it recharged some time soon.
At any rate off I drove, in the hottest part of the day, to do a little banking, buy some yard & garden products at YardGardenHomeBuildingMegaloMartDepot, then hit the MembershipCo for coffee since it is right across the street from YGHBMMD. It seems ridiculous to buy just one item there when you can buy enormous quantities of anything you please, but it was the only thing I needed there and it's cheap and surprisingly good if you get the kind they roast on the premises. Then you must grind it yourself, either there on the supplied grinders, or at home if you're some kind of masochist, er I mean purist. We have a small home grinder but I find it annoying to deal with more than occasionally and am not that fussy. Probably owing to the fact that I don't really drink coffee unless it's embedded, by someone else, in a latte at a shop. All the little rituals involved in making, creaming, sugaring and drinking coffee in the home are lost on me.
At any rate I poured the beans into the grinder and started it up, only to be pinged on my 2-way cell radio feature thingy, and so I became one of those mindless yakkers who isn't paying attention to what they are doing. Don't we all just hate those people? I know I do. And so I didn't notice that the bag sort of collapsed and was therefore not really catching the grinder's output.
And that is how I came to have a left sandal filled with freshly ground coffee.
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