whispers from wendy ...

... words to live by

Begin from the bottom if you're anal about staying in chronological order.

Saturday, August 11, 2001

I'm watching Samurai Jack.

 

Friday, August 10, 2001

Graphic photo-journalism about pregnancy and childbirth.

 

Thursday, August 9, 2001

Here's info regarding the SirCam worm and how to remove it once infected.  TROJ_SIRCAM.A - Trend Micro Virus Encyclopedia

Mosquito Facts
*  Only females bite.
*  They prefer adults to children, women to men and pregnant women most of all.
*  They find ovulating women more attractive than those menstruating.
*  But, mosquitoes are opportunistic — they bite whomever comes along first.
*  Movement attracts mosquitoes, so swatting at them is a good way to get them swarming around you.
*  The main things that draw mosquitoes to their victims are carbon dioxide, heat and lactic acid (left on the skin by sweat).
*  Frequent bathing in cool water to lower the temperature of your body surface and wash away the buildup of lactic acid on your skin should reduce your attractiveness to mosquitoes.
*  Contrary to popular belief, colors of clothing are not very important to mosquitoes because the other attractions are so much stronger.
*  Most fabrics are only 1 mm thick, but a mosquito's proboscis is 2 mm long and can easily bite through clothing, especially clothing that clings to the skin.
*  Citronella is not as effective as a lotion or spray containing DEET.
*  DEET won't keep a mosquito from approaching, but it can stop her from biting by jamming the cells in the insect's antennas that are sensitive to lactic acid.

 

Wednesday, August 8, 2001

Way cool!  A friend of mine was named Web Entertainment's Independent Artist of the Week.

 

Tuesday, August 7, 2001

If you can stand more about this last clusterfuck of an election we just had, here are some great perspectives.  It's written by real people (isn't that the dumbest expression?), about their real disillusions.  {fray} hope - I voted 2000

 

Monday, August 6, 2001

Now, I can't get my printer installed back onto my laptop.  I'm thinking it's because I have Win2000 Service Pack 2 installed.  Maybe I need to uninstall that, install my printer, and then reinstall the service pack.  I'm frustrated and challenged all at the same time.

 

Sunday, August 5, 2001

We watched the movie 'Vertical Limit.'  I didn't much care for it.  Overly dramatic and highly unlikely.

 

Saturday, August 4, 2001

Online Guide to the Snakes of Florida

 

Friday, August, 3, 2001

Hey, BellSouth finally called me back yesterday.  I told them that I already had to reformat my laptop to fix the problem since they couldn't help me for 5 days.  The woman sounded relieved that it was one less thing for her to worry about.  Nice!

For those of you who are forever answering stupid questions or remarks, there is now StupidRemarks.com.

 

Thursday, August 2, 2001

Laptop re-formatting number three.  Or, is it four?

Recipes from famous foods.

Wednesday, August 1, 2001

August already?

 

Tuesday, July 31, 2001

Did I mention that I hate BellSouth and the way that they run their tech support?  Yesterday, I was assigned a case number so that level 2 would call me back.  Today, I called to check on the status of my case number.  I was told that they don/'t work with case numbers.  Aaaargh!

Okay, not too bad.  Reinstalled Windows 2000, and Lotus Notes.  Tomorrow I'll do the rest.  And, guess what?  My modem works.  Yippee!!!!

 

Monday, July 30, 2001

I still am having laptop problems.  BellSouth sucks!  I asked some of my friends for help on this, and their best advice is that the registry is probably corrupted.  So, tomorrow, if I don't hear from BellSouth level 2 tech support soon, I will wipe out my laptop and reinstall everything.

 

Sunday, July 29, 2001

We watched the Godfather last night until 2am or so; but, I fell asleep before it ended.  Galahad had to fill me in on the end.  Then, we watched Godfather Two --- 3 hours and 20 minutes, with no intermission.  How did people do that in 1970-era theaters?  I could barely take that in the comfort of my own bed.

Saturday, July 28, 2001

Wow!  I'm having quite the time with my laptop.  It's all f**ked up, thanks to BellSouth & their ineffectual DSL.  I spent 4 hours with their tech support today to try to undo the problems.  No such luck yet. 

Friday, July 27, 2001

Feeling pretty good today.  Last night was Tequila Night, but I didn't get to drink any since my head was iffy.  We had a great time.  Galahad's mother even came last night.  I'm kind of bummed that a friend of mine told me he was coming and then never showed up.  When we called him, he said he had a dinner party.  I  completely understand if other plans come up.  I even try to understand if I get pre-empted for more preferred company.  But, what I don't understand is why he couldn't just call me or email me and tell me he wouldn't be there.  Should I ask him or, let it go?  Email me with your opinion.  I felt really stupid holding a table for him and him not showing.  It ended up working out okay because another friend showed up unexpectedly (bonus!) with a new girl, so we needed that spot.

I hate when I develop high expectations and then I get let down.  It's a neurosis of mine.  Because I know that about myself, I try really hard to either have low expectations or none at all.  But somehow, I slip one of those higher ones in once in a while --- like last night for my friend.  Now I feel let down by him, and really, he's a great guy, so I'm sure he didn't do it maliciously.  

Galahad said he doesn't want to do another Tequila night with everyone again.  I'm kind of there with him on that.  It got me too tense last night trying to coordinate people and seats even though I had so much fun seeing some friends who I hadn't seen in years.  And, on a side note, I met a woman who is from Eritrea.  I thought she was making that up, but I checked Rand McNally and it truly exists.  Amazing to learn of a new country that I had never ever before heard of.   No one at our large table had heard of it, and quite a few of us are well-traveled and knowledgeable about many areas of the world.

Thursday, July 26, 2001

Nice.  It would seem that our new state nickname is "Florida - the Please Don't Bite Me State."

BTW, my head is still not better.  Now, I know why though.  We had the most amazing lightning & thunder storm last night that I can remember.  It went on for hours.  The thunder came in big rolling amounts.  And, the lightning just lit up my whole house.  It woke up both of us out of sound sleep (in my case, medicated as well).  Some day, maybe I'll figure out why my head hurts when the weather changes and how I can avoid it.  Maybe voodoo?

Wednesday, July 25, 2001

Owww!  I woke up with a migraine today, and it hurts me!

Tuesday, July 24, 2001

Great.  All of the so-called leading weather experts are saying that hurricane season here on the East coast of the US will only be getting worse.  Here's a photo of Floyd before it hit, luckily for us not Florida.  I remember thinking that was such a scary sight.  Three states at once, plus the Bahamas, were under Hurricane Warning.  The Bahamas really got nailed, and then it weakened and went up to the Carolinas.

Here's a map of where they've hit in the last century or so.

Monday, July 23, 2001

Need to look up an acronym?  Aren't you tired of people speaking in jargon just to make themselves appear more important?  Me, too.  Now, you can look up whatever the hell they were trying to say without letting them know you were completely lost.

Sunday, July 22, 2001

Want free jelly beans?  A friend of mine suggested this, but I hate having stuff mailed to my house because then I'm sure that they sell my address to a bazillion other companies who send me even more mail.  As you might have read previously, I'm always trying to catch up on my mail.

Saturday, July 21, 2001

Wow, it's really storming here!  We needed it though.  I just heard that Orlando is being flooded.  Weird how we can be in a drought and have flood conditions all at the same time.

Galahad and I read all day long.  Nothing better than a good book, yummy food, and a rainy day.

Friday, July 20, 2001

I changed my hair color yesterday!  Yikes!  I'm not sure if I like it yet.

Thursday, July 19, 2001

The Jargon File - a little difficult to navigate in but well worth it

LIVE Lightning Tracker in Florida

Wednesday, July 18, 2001

Our banana tree fell over.  I guess that means the bananas are ripe now!  ;-)  Or maybe a little overripe, so I will attempt to bake banana bread.  I used to love my mother's banana bread.  Then, my father took over the tradition when she couldn't anymore.  So, it must not be too difficult, right?  

For those of you who have no idea of my culinary skills, well --- it's not pretty.  When I was little, I set fire to our kitchen while attempting to make popcorn.  My older brother put out the fire for me.  When my parents came home and saw what I had done, my father woke me up and made me scrub the kitchen until 3 or 4 am.  Since then, I've never had a desire to go back into that room unless there was food readily available to eat.  Once, as an adult, I burned a kettle when boiling water.  (short attention span)

I looked up a recipe for banana bread, actually several recipes because I like to do German over-engineering.  Then, I combined the features of each that I wanted.  By the time Galahad came home late from work and a meeting, it was almost done.  And, actually it's not too bad.

Tuesday, July 17, 2001

I just seem to never be able to catch up on all of my mail, both email and snail mail.  I think it procreates while I'm not looking.

Monday, July 16, 2001

Follow-up to Tennessee paper-clip project

Sunday, July 15, 2001

I woke up feeling like I had been hit by a truck and lived to tell about it.  My migraine was barely there.  One Excedrin kept it away.  And now I was voraciously hungry.  It had been lunch time yesterday since I had really eaten anything substantial.

They had gone out for Korean sushi the night before and brought back leftovers.  What's better for breakfast than that?  And, his wife made us chimpa's (I probably spelled it wrong).  They are like dumplings but of a different consistency with red bean paste inside and are really delicious.

And that began my final day of food orgy...

From there, we went to a Korean Chinese restaurant.  [It confused me, too.]  I had the ja-chung-myun, based on our friend's recommendation.   It was absolutely scrumptious.  For those of you who don't speak Korean, it's noodles with a black bean sauce but much better than it sounds.  Everyone stared at us at this restaurant.  We were the only round-eyes there.  At one point, the whole table across form us turned and looked at us.  I was trying to give the benefit of the doubt and asked Galahad if there were a beautiful painting just above my head.  But, no, it was an air conditioning vent.  Oh well, I get curious, too.

We came back to his house, where his wife made us some fried dumplings and bulgogi.  And then, it was off to the airport.  Somehow, I still had room for the snackie goldfish on the plane.

It felt so good to be back in our own bed at midnight.  I swore I would never leave again --- until my next trip.

Saturday, July 14, 2001

Time to check out and see the city for the day.  Then, off to NJ to visit a good friend, who happens to be Korean.

We went to Battery Park and walked around and had lunch.  I started getting a headache, so I medicated very quickly.  But, somehow, not quickly enough.  So, I medicated some more.  But, not enough apparently.  

By the time we got to NJ, I was in serious pain.  Luckily for me, our friends there understood about migraines.  [He gets them, too, but that's a whole different story.]  I went into our room and gave myself an injection.  That felt like nothing more than a mosquito bite.  By this point, my stomach wasn't doing too well, so I was a little nervous about taking something else.  Pain won out, and I took an Amerge tablet.  That usually does the trick, but it's very hard to get, so I ration it.  Nothing.  I was into full blown panic mode by this time, asking to go to the emergency room.  Fortunately for me, first friend's wife (also a good friend of mine) offered to massage my neck and shoulders to relieve some of my pain.  She is amazing at it (she also deals with similar pain to mine sometimes).  By 10pm or so, I was feeling nice and drowsy despite the pain.  About f**king time -- I had taken enough meds to stop a charging rhino.  

Friday, July 13, 2001

Last day of class.  Things are starting to come together a little bit, but this class is still not at all what I expected.  We all agreed to work through our lunch and break and just leave early for the day.

So, I met up with Galahad and a friend of his and went out to lunch at a Ukrainian restaurant.  We puttered around all day wandering our way through the village and SoHo.  Basically we would stop and have a drink (fine tequila for Galahad, a sip for me and then water, and Coke for aforementioned friend) at any place that had a restroom clean enough for me to pee in.  I did lower my standards quite a bit, so we didn't have to go back to my hotel.  <grin>  We also stopped every time I got hungry, so I could have a little snack.

Our friend's wife drove into the city after work and met us for dinner.  Spain was the country of choice for this.

Thursday, July, 12, 2001

Breakfast at the deli across the street.  Yummy, inexpensive and best of all, no hairs in it!

Class is getting better.   Lunch --- we added one more person to our group and went for Italian food.  Mmmmmm!  

Destiny's Child was at the MTV studio for TRL.  There was quite a crowd in the street for them.  Of course, they all came over to the window and waved at everyone.  They seemed to take the time to read their fans' signs, too, which I thought was nice.

I saw some very talented kids doing a break-dancing show on the sidewalk.  I tipped them $1 but left when they got hostile instead of happy with their proceeds.

Dinner was Afghani.  The appetizer was scrumptious, but I could take or leave the main meat dish.

Yeah, Galahad finally arrived!  I walked over to Port Authority and met him as he came off of the shuttle from LaGuardia airport.

Wednesday, July, 11, 2001

Ewwwww!  I found hair in my breakfast --- not a great way to start off my day.  I won't be eating at my hotel anymore.

Lunch was Thai with 3 classmates -- we gained one.  I did get lucky with my little group.  The class may not be the most informative, but I am having quite a bit of fun.  

After class, some of my group suggested that we purchase half-price tickets to a Broadway show, so I went along for the ride.  It turns out that half-price is still overpriced in my eyes.  We paid nearly $50 for great seats to a so-so show, Kiss Me Kate.  To be honest though, it seemed like many other people loved it.  I thought it was rather low-brow humor.  I did enjoy the costumes and the set, though.

I actually wanted to see Eat the Runt, but my classmates didn't, so I didn't push it since I had no real expectations of either show. 

Before the show, I had a quick sushi dinner.

After the show, I walked right by Crystal Bernhard, who stars in Annie Get Your Gun.

Tuesday, July 10, 2001

First day of class.  I froze last night!  The damn hotel room has the air set at full blast.  I called down to the front desk today, and they came and turned it off.  Nice, huh?  Full blast or off.

Class was fun but didn't feel very meaty yet...

Lunch, on the other hand, was marvelous.  Two classmates and I ate at Ruby Foo's.  They have Pan-Asian cuisine.

For dinner, I went out to a Turkish restaurant with a friend.  It was fabulous!  Get ready to read about my weeklong orgy of eating....

Monday, July 9, 2001

Fly to NYC!  I forgot how hot it can get here.  And, I really forgot the smells and the dirt and the noise.

I'm staying at a hotel in midtown Manhattan.  I love being near everything and being able to walk everywhere.  I feel so healthy with all the exercise I'm getting, but that is counteracted by all the pollution around me.  My room is on the 10th floor with one very slow elevator, so I've been taking the stairs down all the time.  I decided not to try climbing up just yet.  I wouldn't want to have a heart attack in the city and not be able to get my ambulance through all the traffic.

Sunday, July 8, 2001

Getting ready to go to NYC!

Saturday, July 7, 2001

Well, I just sunk to a low level this morning.  There was a squirrel in our mango tree, which I didn't want there anymore.  I wouldn't have minded so much if he just ate one or two mangoes.  The problem was he was eating a bite out of several mangoes.  We were sitting in our living room watching cartoons, minding our own business when this squirrel just mocked us like that.  I went out, yelled at him, and clapped my hands loudly.  Poor thing.  He just froze up with fear for three whole minutes.  I felt so terrible that I went back out with cracked nuts as a piece offering.  Do you know what that bastard did?  He went right back to eating the freshest prettiest mango in the tree.  Then, a woodpecker came over and started nibbling also.  That set me off again, and I ended up throwing the nut shells back at him to scare him out of the tree.  He stopped temporarily.

Then, right back to that perfect little mango hanging just so.  Galahad charged out the back door, picked up a BBQ grill brush and winged it at the squirrel.  Damn if that wasn't the best aim I ever saw!  He hit the branch it was on from over 60 feet away.  I was so thrilled to see my man out there brandishing this grill brush like a club, defending his territory and fending off maniacal squirrels.

Friday, July 6, 2001

Very cool!  I saw one of my very best friends online last night.  What's the big deal you might ask?  She now lives in Australia, while I am still here in Florida.  And, she just gave birth to her first child.  If she ever sends me his photo, I'll put it up someday. [hint, hint]

Thursday, July 5, 2001

I guess I'm not the only one with a problem with Sprint PCS.  Check this page out -- Sprint PCS sucks.

Wednesday, July 4, 2001

Happy Independence Day!  We are just gorging ourselves on mangoes from our tree.  They are fabulous but falling too fast to keep up with.

Tuesday, July 3, 2001

Fortuitously or not, I happened to be in the vicinity of the Sprint store this morning.  So, I stopped in of course.  (See yesterday's entry if you're confused.)  I asked for my software update which they gave me.  And, I may have vented a bit of my past frustration and let him know how shitty their service is.  To this, my Sprint helper asked me not to engage in any more profane remarks that apparently offended his 24 year old ears.  I apologized and asked for a manager.  

First, I was told that she wasn't available.  When I wouldn't leave this poor innocent boy alone, she magically materialized.  Amazing how that works!  They were willing to give me 60 minutes of additional time.  Does anybody get the fucking point that I'm not looking for additional minutes that I can't use anyway?!!!  I guess not.  That would take way too much comprehension on their part and too much thinking outside their small realms.  God forbid that they actually make an unhappy customer a happy one.  Her whole attitude was "That's not my problem.  I did what I was supposed to do."  [I know you're dying to know if my phone is any better after the software update.]  

Did I tell you yet that I'm supposed to get this software update every 3 - 4 months at random?  They won't notify me when it's ready.  I just have to check back in.  When I mentioned to the manager that it would have been nice for the Sprint employee who initially activated my phone to mention this at that time (or the Radio Shack employee who sold the phone to me), she responded with, "Did you tell her you were getting dropped calls?"  This is the fucking manager!  What part about getting my phone activated didn't she understand?!!!  Then, when I finally (maybe) got her to understand that, she told me that it was written in the Terms & Conditions in my user manual if I had bothered to read that.  How she kept a straight face during that pronouncement, I'll never know.  Who the fuck reads those cover to cover?  It's over 150 pages long and much of it in tiny kill-my-fucking-eyes print.

And, NO, my phone isn't noticeably working any better.  Yes, I was going to write one of my famous letters to let Sprint know EXACTLY how I am feeling.  But, since this is a company phone, I am trying to follow company protocol first before I make another fucking scene.

Please excuse my profanity.

Monday, July 2, 2001

Wow, it's been so nice to read every night instead of watching TV.  Except, I think I have eyestrain.  Galahad & I are just plowing through books.

I called up Sprint to complain about my cellphone service, or lack thereof.  They were completely unhelpful.  I prepaid for 2500 minutes and was able to use only 400 or so because my phone either had no service or it dropped my calls.  They offered me a courtesy 15 minute credit.  Bumbocloth!  (Jamaican for WTF, or so I'm told.)  They also told me that I had to get a software update for my new phone.  I just bought the phone and the service about 30 days ago.  Apparently, it's already out of date.  It would have been nice for Sprint to let me know this when I first got it instead of letting me suffer all this time to the point where I detest them, their service, and their phone.

Sprint did inform me that they do not guarantee their phone to work inside any building.  Why exactly do I need their phone then?

I drove over to Radio Shack, where I bought the phone, to get my software update.  It turns out that even though they have a HUGE sign that says Sprint PCS Communication Store, that they're not *really* a Sprint PCS store.  Nice, huh?  Can you feel my frustration with me?  It turns out the the closest Sprint store is across town.

Sunday, July 1, 2001

Galahad & I went out last night to listen to a friend perform at a West Palm Beach bar.  While it was nice to get out and socialize, I still prefer being a recluse most of the time.  I don't have to worry about someone smoking near me and getting me sick.  I don't have to worry about the proper response to an acquaintance who's definitely had too much alcohol to drink and says stupid shit.  Although, I guess if he's had too much to drink, then he probably won't remember if I say something stupid back.  Somehow, that never seems to work.  If I'm mean, drunks usually get oversensitive and overly emotional and beg me not to be mad.

Saturday, June 30, 2001

Country's smallest post office

Friday, June 29, 2001

Yeah, it's Friday!  

Thursday, June 28, 2001

I get to start testing fresh (although I should have been testing all week) with my data.  Yeah!

Probability of ending the Florida drought

Wednesday, June 27, 2001

Went over to a colleague's house who has a whole network that simulates our standard office.  Similar problems there.  Finally, at the end of the day, we made the decision to use my personal test data instead of the generic sterile data that was created for this purpose.  It looks like that is what was causing me so many problems.  The man who put it together didn't understand completely what he was doing.

Tuesday, June 26, 2001

QA Testing new version of my company's software and its compatibility with our billing software.  Somehow, I'm not doing too well.  I'm finding too many problems which stop me dead and not having enough time to actually test.

Yesterday, I tried loading the data from a CD they sent me, but it crashed my laptop twice -- Windows 2000, the uncrashable.  I guess I had a bad CD.  So, they overnighted me a new CD for today.

Monday, June 25, 2001

48 hour rain forecast for Florida.  How do they do it?  And, what do the acronyms ETA, MRF, & NGM mean?  Email me if you know.

Sexiest Geek Alive

Sunday, June 24, 2001

Two parties for us today.  We are such recluses these days.  Okay, bite the bullet & be social.  The first one is a 1 year old birthday party for one of Galahad's former employee's son.  And, the second is a good friend of mine, who has these large parties with lots of food.

We are absolutely exhausted, but we had lots of fun.  I really need to get past my social anxiety.  Too much working at home?

Saturday, June 23, 2001

Galahad & I went to the library today and then to the store to get snackies.  Mmmmmm!  I started reading Carl Hiassen's "Sick Puppy."  OMG, that is so f*cking funny!  Somehow I ate too much, though.  Pizza & Pringles® & biscotti --  Oh my!  I hardly ever overdo it when it comes to eating.  Time for the Alka-Seltzer®.  

We were going to go see the movie, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, but then we both got caught up in our books...

Friday, June 22, 2001

All kinds of web-cams...

Beach water samples

Invasion of privacy?

81 yr old man having a baby doesn't seem right...

Thursday, June 21, 2001

Tequila Night Tonight!  I love going to these.  We found out about this one at the last minute, so we've invited as many people as we could find at such short notice.  Baja Cafe, home of over 200 types of tequila, hosts these parties every so often, where they invite a major tequila company or margarita-additive company to pour out samples.  They have this great hollow ice sculpture of a cactus, in which they pour the tequila through, and it comes out the bottom nicely chilled.

Wednesday, June 20, 2001

That felt like a much longer trip than it was, somehow.  As soon as my plane landed, I had to go to my local office and work all day there.  I didn't get home until almost 9PM.

Tuesday, June 19, 2001

Off to Orlando...

I met up with my niece & my former roommate for dinner at Ran-Getsu, a sushi restaurant of course.  They hadn't seen each other since my niece was a little girl and had been rendered homeless by Hurricane Andrew.  She, her mother, & her infant brother stayed with us while they looked for another apartment.   What a weird sushi experience.  The company was wonderful, but they have a show there.  It felt like I was at SeaWorld.  They feed the coy every couple of hours and make a production out of it.

Monday, June 18, 2001

Time to start boycotting Zephyrhills water.  Too bad because I really like it.

BUT:  1]   It doesn't look like it's coming from a healthy place.....
           2]   Florida can't afford to lose any water right now, especially to put millions into Nestle corporation's pockets..

Sunday, June 17, 2001

Happy Father's Day to all you fathers out there, even to the ones who aren't very good but who are trying hard to be better!  

Saturday, June 16, 2001

Yeah, it's finally raining!  Good thing because I just couldn't get up early to water my plants.

Friday, June 15, 2001

I got paged last night again while I was sleeping.  I almost ignored it but thought that since I was acting manager, I should answer it.  Good thing I did since I was the third person paged.  MCI is doing a terrible job lately with our pagers.  The first two people never got theirs, I'm sure.  Mine were coming in about an hour late.  Maybe sunspot activity?

Somehow yesterday I got a stiff neck.  I think my chiropractor damaged me for making fun of chiropractors in relating the Simpson's episode about same.  I have iced it this morning and taken an Aleve but still feel not so good.  Owww.

Thursday, June 14, 2001

Looking for Father's Day gift ideas?   Try this.

Wednesday, June 13, 2001

I really had to wear my manager hat today.  I had my first irate client who wasn't one of mine.  ;-)  I think I calmed her down a bit.  I let her rant for awhile, and actually she kind of had some valid points.  I never really know what to say to that.  Am I supposed to say, "You are so right.  We f*cked up so badly!" ?  If any of you out there have suggestions, I'm all ears.  Email me.

After I finally hung up with her, I raced out the door to watch my nephew get awarded his brown belt in karate.  Very Cool!

Tuesday, June 12, 2001

Last night, we heard this giant crash at 1:30am.  A large oak tree had split in half & fallen down right in front of the house.  Fortunately, it didn't hit anything.  Wonder what caused it?  Lightning maybe but there wasn't any just then.  We were weirded out because we had just been standing Monday evening chatting with a neighbor in the spot where it hit.  Dude!

Off to a client site...

Wow, this whole managing thing is kind of tricky.  I'm holding down the fort for my department while our manager is on vacation.  Who knew he did so much?  

Monday, June 11, 2001

Wow, back to work....  I just got hit with a sh*tload of business emails to answer.  Nice.

I'm feeling overwhelmed......

Sunday, June 10, 2001

Galahad got brave & decided to tackle some more landscaping.  (We had originally planned to drive down to Miami with my brother for a bamboo show.  But, we had done enough driving already.)  The heat was absolutely heart-stopping.  I tried to help a little, at least to keep him company, but my head started hurting.  There was a major front moving in which slammed into me.  I took a triple dose of Imitrex just to get to sleep.  

Saturday, June 9, 2001

What a long drive we had last night.  I was singing KC & the Sunshine band trying to stay awake.  I know!  It worked, though.  Although Galahad was driving, I felt that not only was it polite to stay awake but safer as well.  He kept saying to go to sleep, but I insisted on bad vocals quite a chunk of the way back.  He thanked me for it later.  I know how miserable it is to stay awake while driving when tired.

We pretty much slept all day today, waking up only to order & eat pizza.

Friday, June 8, 2001

Today, we have to check out of the Banyan.  :-(      but... our friend, Bill Blankenship, is taking us out on his boat.   

Wow, what a great time mixed with not so great.  On our first stop, Mr. Blankenship explained that we were swimming where the bull nose sharks breed in the winter.  He said it's packed with them then.  That really made me want to get into the water...

While in the water, just swimming around, somehow I got seasick.  I know, WTF?!  Galahad & Mr. Blankenship went off snorkeling as I was lying back in the boat trying to settle my stomach.  Galahad was having a marvelous time, as was Mr. Blankenship, since he had a buddy  to snorkel with.  He was disappointed that I had not brought a snorkel nor had I mentioned that tidbit before we left his house.  I was actually perfectly content to hang out by the boat, swim around, and laze around on the boat.  He had a large bimini top, so there was plenty of shade for me.  I tried eating a bite of my sandwich to settle my tummy.  Then, I decided that maybe I'd better not eat too much.  Me, not eat!  You can tell I didn't feel good, aye?  It was a beautiful day, and I actually enjoyed myself when my stomach settled down a bit.  Can you imagine if we had taken the Dry Tortugas trip?!  Two hours each way on a high speed boat.  I might have been okay because I don't always get seasick.  But what if I hadn't been?

Our next stop was to an underwater shipwreck.  They both had fun snorkeling there.  Galahad tried his hand with the spear gun.  However, there were so many rules of which fish he could spear & which he couldn't that he never found one he could.  This fish had to be at least 26 inches, that one at least 12 inches -- too confusing.  Plus, they all look so similar.  He did see a small jewfish, which as I understand it, is still fairly huge.

Next stop, picnicking at a uninhabited island.  I was so happy to be walking on land again.  I almost got my toes snapped at by a crab that was within a few inches of where I was walking barefoot in the shallows.  Sitting on that island, enjoying lunch, & listening to the gentle slap of the waves on the shore, I felt like we were in a Corona commercial.

One final stop of the day before our long drive back up to the mainland...  We went to another shipwreck that was used as target practice by the Navy many years ago.  Lots of cormorants hang out atop it now and nest there.  Galahad & Mr. Blankenship circled a few times trying one last time to catch some dinner.  No sushi for us tonight.  [Look at these links I found while looking up cormorants.]

Back to dry land for a landlubber like me.  He punched it (do they say that about boats?) on the way back.  I was bouncing all over the place  -- I thought I might bounce out.  It sure was fun and what a lovely breeze.  All the personal watercraft kept following us & jumping our wake.

We stayed & chatted for a while with Mrs. Blankenship.  I hadn't seen her in a year. 

Thursday, June 7, 2001

Yesterday, we tried to make plans to take a boat out to the Dry Tortugas.  Both boats were sold out, which may have actually been quite fortuitous for me. More on that later...

We thought we would sleep in seeing as how we had nowhere to be, but the killer chickens took care of that plan.  There are hundreds of wild chickens roaming the island & cock-a-doodle-doing at 5:30 or 6am.  We had both just heard last week what a problem they were, and now we literally heard firsthand.  Sucked to be us just then.

We spent the whole ENTIRE day lying around by the pool until it was dinner time.  Galahad drank a never-ending supply of margaritas from their Tiki bar, while I ordered another sandwich every time I got hungry.  Mmmmmm.  Fortunately for my sensitive cancer-prone skin, there was always plenty of shade and a nice cool breeze to keep us copacetic.  We just read our books & relaxed until they closed the Tiki bar.  Then, on to the showers and dinner again.  Luckily for us, we managed to find another sushi restaurant again, Origami.  We actually went to an Italian restaurant on the recommendation of one of our resort-neighbors.  However, once we saw the sushi restaurant next door, well there was really no decision left to be made.  The fish is so fresh & absolutely delicious.

Wednesday, June 6, 2001

Not a very comfortable bed, and the sheets were scratchy.  Well, now Galahad can see firsthand what I go through when I travel for business.  Except then it's worse, because I'm missing him, lying in an uncomfortable bed with scratchy sheets.

Well, off to Key West...

We stopped for lunch at some little place named Boondock's.  I love all of these little casual places to eat.

Checked into the Banyan Resort.  We love that place!

We walked over to Mallory Square to watch the sunset & some of the local artists & freaks.  Then, off for a LONG walk to Kyushu, a sushi restaurant -- what else?  That was fabulous & worth the very long walk.  We happened by a police officer while we searching for & hiking to this place.  So me being a woman, I asked for directions.  He gave us directions (since of course he knew where it was - the island is only 2 x 3 miles).  And then, I asked if it was safe to continue walking that way since we had just passed through a tropical mini-crack town.  He had the f&*ing gall to be offended.  Like Key West never has anything bad happen there.  That's where so many of the drugs come in.  What a dillweed.

Tuesday, June 5, 2001

Time to drive down to the keys...  <GRIN>

We're staying at the Cheeca Lodge in Upper Matecumbe Key.  On the way down, we took Card Sound road & ate lunch at a quaint place named Alabama Jack's.  It was so beautiful & relaxing.  The laughing gulls entertained us while we ate.

After we checked in to our room, we drove back a few miles to tour a wild bird sanctuary at mile marker 94.  We saw all kinds of birds, but definitely a plethora of egrets, herons & pelicans.  Many had permanent wing injuries -- poor things.  Somehow, we didn't plan well and left our mosquito repellant at the room when we checked in.  So, we were bitten unmercifully.  Poor Galahad is allergic to them, and his bites swelled into giant welts.

Well, I certainly feel like a Peeping Peggy, but I found someone else's photos on the web with scenes from the keys.  If you want to peep also and have a look at some of the things I saw & some I didn't but that they saw, click here.  Found some more and these are better.  I guess I have no pressure now to get ours developed & up on the web.

Note to self:   Never leave photos up that others should not see.

We went to Lorelei's for dinner & sunset.  The food was grand, the ambience was perfect, and the company was exquisite.

Monday, June 4, 2001

Hey, did you know it's National Headache Awareness Week?  Think of me whilst you observeth it.  Carry some extra aspirin around just in case you run into anyone who is in need of it.

Wow, I just saw green parrots in my backyard.  Very cpol.

OMG, I just stumbled across such a funny site.  Well, maybe funny isn't the proper word.  More like f&%^ing ridiculously funny!  Check it out.

Sunday, June 3, 2001

What a great day we had yesterday!  Our first day of vacation --- absolutely lovely!

We went walking through a nearby arboretum in the rain.  It was so peaceful.

Then, I tried to find a white bikini top, which turned out to be nearly impossible.  I'm getting a little bit pissy about this female swimsuit thing.  I bought some board shorts and wanted a bikini top to match.  What a f*$@ing arduous task!  I'm tired of worrying about every single inch of my body.  Men have it much easier in this matter.  They don't care.  Well, I'm almost at that spot of not caring.  If I truly didn't care, I wouldn't be looking for a white bikini top.  Rather, I would have bought the white jog bra that I saw yesterday, but didn't look very flattering on me.  You know, that smooshing effect.  So, here I am, trying not to care too much --- wearing shorts instead of  strings covering strategic spots like I used to.  Much more comfortable now.  But, I'm probably still going to try the string thing on top.  My niece suggested a white tank top, but then I have that transparency-when-wet factor to worry about.  I will be out in public and maybe don't want to be that brazen anymore.  Hopefully, a bikini top will have a liner sewn inside.

I'm going to have a great vacation if that's the least of my worries, huh?  Now, if I can keep my migraines at bay for a while...

Saturday, June 2, 2001

Gator & Garden Cam    
Today in Florida History    
Look up your ancestors who came through Ellis Island, NY

Friday, June 1, 2001

Finishing up the last few things before my vacation!  Yippee!  My new pager arrived today.  I don't even feel like messing with it.  I think I'll wait until I need it next week.  Also, I got my new Sprint phone hooked up.  What an onerous task that was.

Damn, my migraine is back!!!!!!

Thursday, May 31, 2001

Another demo this morning.  The client put me through some paces but overall seemed pleased with our software.  Yippee, I can go home & see Galahad now.

I bought my new cellular phone today.  Way too many choices out there.  And, mine isn't even cellular.  That was so last year.  Mine is PCS, and I can hook it up to my laptop and dial out.  How cool is that?!

Wednesday, May 30, 2001

I'm flying up to Orlando today.  I'm not too pleased about it since I still have a migraine.

Ken Jenne, Broward County Sheriff, was on my plane.  I can't believe how much security they have for him.  I guess he's important, but who knew how much?  He was filling out an application for a gubernatorial-appointed application.

My demo at the client went well.  Everyone was very friendly.  Now, on to my drive to Tampa...

Tuesday, May 29, 2001

Time to make an emergency visit to my chiropractor.  Hopefully, he can fix my head!

Monday, May 28, 2001

It's lovely to have another day off.  I almost took it in stride as just an extra weekend day except that Galahad happened to put on NPR.  They had quite a show on.  It made me contemplate just how fortunate I am to have not lived during a major war.  Somehow, the Gulf War counts but doesn't really.  Also, it made me silently thank all the men & women who did go off to fight for my country's sake.

I ended up getting a killer migraine.  Maybe it was the pizza?

Sunday, May 27, 2001

We're both pretty tired of lazing around all day.  So, we tackled the yard.  Galahad planted several palm trees that my brother had given us.  He also moved some shrubbery around.  It was kind of similar to rearranging the living room but a lot dirtier.  The humidity was stifling at first, but then I re-acclimated.

Galahad's mother called this morning, distraught about the orchid plant we had given her for Mother's Day.  Apparently someone had stolen it from her front porch.  We went shopping to try to find another one, but they were all sold out.  Hopefully, they will get some more in.  How shitty is that to steal someone's Mother's Day present?!  It was almost definitely an inside job since the plant wasn't easily spied from the street.  So, the perpetrator knew the story behind the plant and how much she loved it.  Rat Bastard!

Afterwards, we went to his parents' house to have dinner.  On the way, we stopped at my brother's house to drop off some bones for his dogs.  They were so excited to get those, & they made short work of them.

Saturday, May 26, 2001

What a fabulous day!   Galahad & I stayed in bed all day, being decadent & watching movies.  We both caught up on a few hours of sleep and a few more movies.  Plus, as a bonus, it rained most of the day.  Boy, did we need it!

Friday, May 25, 2001

Woken up this morning at 4:30 by my pager and an unhappy client.  The day didn't get a lot better until it was time to fly home.  Then, I got my first class upgrade and had a mostly okay trip home to see my lovely Galahad.  Shot some adrenaline through my system on the drive home.  A car accident happened right in front of us on the freeway while we were traveling in excess of 65 mph in a light rain.  Fortunately, Galahad has great reflexes & great karma.  We missed the accident and all of the debris.  It looked like the two cars were banged up but no serious injuries.  Also, two other cars stopped as witnesses & to give assistance, so I was able to make my way home after a long day with a clear conscience.

Thursday, May 24, 2001

Much better table today.  I think I got some conceptual solidification out of this class.  At least now I will understand my salespeople when they speak this seemingly mumbo-jumbo to me.

Went for sushi tonight at a former Sumo wrestler's restaurant in Issaquah.  Excellent food.  And, they had moochi!

Wednesday, May 23, 2001

Much better breakfast of smoke salmon & dill sauce on toast points.

Time for my Miller Heiman Conceptual Selling course.  It was a little tricky to make it applicable to my job duties, but our instructor really tried to do just that.  It was kind of difficult to go through this class with salespeople.  Somehow, salespeople and techies don't mix really well in classroom settings.

At dinner with my fellow techies, I vowed to switch tables (& hence groups) tomorrow.  Mine was not a good fit for me and not conducive to my learning.

Tuesday, May 22, 2001

Breakfast was weak at the hotel.

Jet lag is kicking my ass!

Went through some semi-educational meetings at my company and then on a "nature" hike through a questionable park for at least 4-5 miles, some of it up a hugely steep hill.  Afterwards, we went downtown and wandered about aimlessly for a couple hours.  My legs were burning by the end of the day.  Dinner back at downtown again at some seafood touristy place.  I brought back some leftovers to put in my hotel room refrigerator so I would have a decent breakfast tomorrow morning.

Monday, May 21, 2001

Very disappointed in last night's episode of the Soprano's.  And, the X-Files finale was a little weak also.

Long flight from Ft Lauderdale to Dallas.  No first class upgrade for me.  I thought the flight from Dallas to Seattle would be just unbearable.  But, I sat next to a very sweet older couple from Asheville, North Carolina.  They were on their way to take a World Explorer cruise in Alaska.  I had such an enjoyable time with them, and her especially, that I never even opened up my book.  For those of you who don't know me, I am a book fanatic.  I read when I have 10 extra minutes in between anything.

I had dinner with my brother & sister-in-law.  It's been great seeing them so many times this year.  Usually I see them once a year, if that much.

Sunday, May 20, 2001

Getting ready for my trip to Seattle tomorrow.  Catching up on laundry, mail, and yard work.  We ended up cutting down a sizeable portion of one of our trees.  Now, I'm all sweaty & sticky with sap.  Ewwww!

Saturday, May 19, 2001

Galahad & I slept in, watched some cartoons, and then went over to go out on his father's Donzi.  That was lots of fun.  We were home & back in bed by 8PM.  That's what I call a perfect Saturday.

Friday, May 18, 2001

Yeah!  I figured out how to get my business Internet access software to work on Windows 2000.  Actually, I had it installed just fine.  It turns out that it needed me to enter my old password instead of the one I changed it to on my previous laptop.  Weird, huh?

I went in to my local office today to watch a friend & co-worker of mine get awarded the esteemed & prestigious President's Award by our esteemed & prestigious company president.  My friend was just bursting with pride & happiness.  He definitely deserved it, which is why I had written a long letter to our pres. to explain that.

After that, my manager and I went out for sushi so that he could give me my annual performance appraisal.  It went very well except the money part.  My company is notoriously cheap when it comes to merit raises.

Since my manager was in from out of town, I showed him the sights and took him to one of my favorite nearby parks --- the Arthur R Marshall National Wildlife Refuge.  And, finally, we met up with Galahad and went out for sushi again.

Thursday, May 17, 2001

I'm getting really frustrated with my DSL nonsense.  Supposedly BellSouth is sending me another modem to try, but I've heard that line before.  I also cannot seem to figure out how to install their software on my new laptop with Windows 2000.  I called their tech support, but they don't support it.  Nice, huh?  Hopefully, I'll have Internet connectivity when I'm away in Seattle next week.  Otherwise, no email for me for a week.  Won't I be jonesing (any idea how that is spelled?)?

Wednesday, May 16, 2001

I'm searching for a whale-watching tour for my trip to Seattle next week.  Look at this cool clip of an Orca breaching.  Another site has a Live Orca Camera.  

Tuesday, May, 15, 2001

I cried yesterday.   The Mother's Day sadness finally hit me on the drive over to my father's new home with his new wife.  I guess listening to Moby didn't help much either.

While leaving my dad's condo, a young man approached my sister-in-law and I and gave us invitations to a Dennis Rodman Birthday Bash at a local nightclub.  Think we'll go?

Monday, May 14, 2001

Received my new laptop!  I'm so excited.  'cuz I'm a supergeek, supergeek, supergeeky, yeow!  

Sunday, May 13, 2001

Today is a difficult day for me.  My mother died a little over a year ago.  So, mother's day sucks for me mostly.  I do have Galahad's mother in my life, for which I am very thankful, but it still feels weird not to have my mom.

Saturday, May 12, 2001

We stayed up way too late last night, but we had a grand time.  My brother hung out with us after giving us some of his palm trees and a very LARGE terra cotta pot.  Now, we're just trying to recuperate our sleep deprivation.

Friday, May 11, 2001

There is a firefighter doll named Wendy!  Go know...

Thursday, May 10, 2001

I'm so excited - my head feels good now!

Wednesday, May 9, 2001

My niece, who is down from college, came over today, and we had a chance to hang out & chitchat.  I ended up having her, her boyfriend, their new puppy, my brother, his dog, and then later, my sister-in-law & my nephew, over to my house.  For those of you who know me, this is a BIG deal for me.  Plus, my brother's dog went swimming in my pool.  I called Galahad at work (he usually works later than me) and let him know that I was having a party here without him.  Poor thing, by the time he came home, almost everyone had left.  He was a little disappointed and probably a little relieved.  I think he was pretty exhausted at this point in the evening.  

Even though my day started out badly (I woke up many times throughout the wee hours of the morning with a major migraine.  I even dreamed about it.  Yuck!), I had quite an enjoyable time today.

Tuesday, May 8, 2001

I'm a little fed up with being a human barometer these days.  As happy as I am that we're getting some rain, my head is f**king killing me!  Three doses later, I'm starting to feel better.  And, I still have two bruises on my legs from my last two injections.

Time for a family dinner tonight.  Maybe it was a blessing in disguise that I needed to be medicated tonight.  Not that I don't like & get along with my family, but they can be difficult to cope with when we are all together.  Sometimes, there is a weird dynamic created that disintegrates & feeds off that & then disintegrates further.  It can become a vicious cycle.  Tonight felt like one of those times.  It reminded me of a novel by Terry Brooks that spoke of these nebulous creatures called feeders, which fed off of hostile human emotions & ambience & provoked further unseen bad energy.

Monday, May 7, 2001

Can you believe that my foot got sunburned yesterday?!?!  I don't think I've ever had a sunburned foot.   

Sunday, May 6, 2001

Today, we're going to the Air/Sea Show.  Poor Galahad - he's really sore & fatigued from yesterday's stump removal ordeal.  But, he did get the whole stump out.

The air show was absolutely worthwhile.  What made it even better is that we viewed it from our friend's private beach instead of being thrust into the masses of humanity at the regular beach off of Sunrise Blvd.  I put on SPF30 and then was able to have a big umbrella & lounge chairs to use.  After a while, I actually got cold because of the wind.  

The Navy F-14 Tomcat was by far my favorite --- because when the pilot flew down by us away from the crowds, he broke the sound barrier and did the huge ka-boom thingee.  There was a little boy who got so frightened, he was bawling for at least 15 minutes.  I felt pretty sorry for him.  Actually, I was pretty startled as well.  There was the loudest roar imaginable and then I felt this explosion rock my body and my lounge chair.  Galahad had to explain to me exactly what had happened and who with.  He was my narrator for the entire event.  Who needed to hear the official announcer?  Galahad gave me all of the facts & figures I needed (and maybe even more than that) about all of the planes we saw.  After 8 years, he still amazes me with what he knows.  My friend walked over from his house and told us that all of his windows had rattled and he was certain that some people's windows must have broken from that.  He also said that an ambulance went screaming down his street shortly afterwards.  Someone's heart may not have been able to take that pressure/noise.  

Saturday, May 5, 2001

Happy Cinco de Mayo!  

It was nice not to wake up with the birds so that I could legally & rightfully water my plants.  Yesterday & the day before, we'd been deluged with 2-3 inches of much needed rain.  

Cartoons are a repeat this morning, so Galahad is already outside surveying his domain.  He looks so adorable when he does that.  Today he decided to tackle the avocado stump removal.  It's been over a year since he and his friend chopped down the rest of the tree.  It had bad-tasting avocadoes on it, but I still had a hard time letting go.

Friday, May 4, 2001

New look for this page.  Any comments?  Email me.  Not sure if I like it yet, either.  I may have to change the colors again.

Getting excited about trying to see the Air & Sea Show this weekend.  Not sure where the best place is to watch it & avoid the crowds & avoid too much sun & not get too hot.  Did I mention that I'm a princess?  The sun avoidance is a result of my cancerous skin and should not be held against me for my princess requirements.

Thursday, May 3, 2001

Yippee!!!!  I finally got my DSL running & networked again.   Wow, I was really going into withdrawal.  BellSouth kept giving me such a run-around that I was determined to figure it out myself before I had to suffer further with any more of their senior techs.  I deleted & re-installed my network & DSL modem about 5 times, in varying order.  Works like a charm now.  Of course, maybe the 5 or 6 times they reset stuff on their side did something, too.  Somehow they lost connectivity to a whole batch of IP addresses on Monday, and now it became my problem when it knocked my network & DSL down.  

Don't forget to vote for the SEXIEST GEEK ALIVE.  I'm doing the whole girl-power thing & voting for a woman.  I know that may sound wrong, but women have so much working against them in this industry (& many others) that for one to do as much as she's done, she has to be a supergeek.  Someone should redo that Rick James song, 'Superfreak.'  Where's Weird Al when you need him?

And, while you, my avid reader, are in a charitable mood, check out this site, Tennessee Class Project for the Holocaust, and do a good deed.  (Tennessee & Holocaust seem like they shouldn't be in the same sentence together, huh?)  Well, I have some paper clips to mail out.  See ya'

Wednesday, May 2, 2001

That was fun.  I just spent TWO hours on the phone with BellSouth's technical support for my DSL.  And, of course, they swear everything is working just fine on their end.  Well, maybe they could check into a few more things after I got cranky with them.  I did have fun playing with my neighbor's beagle puppy.  She is so cute.  Since I had my headset phone on, I went outside & played with her in-between LaRon coming back to ask me to try something else.

Well, off to the pool store to get chlorine for the pool.  It's starting to turn a slight shade of green.  I just took Excedrin & am wired right now, so pool cleaning should give me something to do.  Last night I was fine until about 10PM.  Then, at 10:05, my head started hurting just a bit.  By 10:25, I was in serious pain & had to give myself a shot.  That came on fast!  But, it meant rain for our drought-plagued land.  It's kind of a curse being a human barometer.  At least I didn't have to get up early to water our plants this morning.  

More time wasted on the phone with BellSouth.  What a pain in my ass!  It's been escalated so many times, until they came back and tried to tell me it was my problem.  It's hard to defend when I'm using Windows ME.  But, it was working not too long ago, and I didn't change anything except for what they told me to.  They just want to be able to say it's not their problem.  Great customer service, huh?

Tuesday, May 1, 2001

Time to move all of this to a new page so it doesn't bog down anyone's system too much.  Click the link at the bottom to find previous day's ramblings.

Man, I've been working like a dog today.  Thank goodness I finally got off my lazy butt & bought a headset telephone.  My ear is feeling fine right now instead of being bright red & achy from 4 hours of phone fun with clients.  I have a stack of mail sitting on my entry table looking at me with accusing bills.  Maybe I'll tackle that pile tomorrow. 

Back to Top