on the fly.....

Moving Day

2008-07-19T11:44:00.000-07:00

I'm Moving!

No, not moving houses..... I am moving my Blog! Blogger has been very good to me over the last few years, however, it doesn't seem to play to very nice with my new Mac. And I am not giving up my new Mac, so instead, I am giving up Blogger.

I won't be making any more updates to this blog, but I will leave the site up for while so everyone has a chance to bookmark my new blog site.

Link to my new blog site.

Picnic Double Header

2008-07-13T14:07:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a fun day as I had two picnic scheduled.

The first was a work-related picnic. I belong to a great organization at the company I work for; all great people to work and party with. We get together at picnic or other social gatherings several times a year, and this is our annual summer picnic. We had a good time grilling chicken, ribs, and salmon and after eating all that great food, we headed up to the ball-field and played a fun and competitive game of softball.

I hadn't played softball since my knee and elbow replacement, but the workout must be helping cause I was able to hit, throw and even run the bases with some degree of confidence and very little, if any,pain in the joints. Granted, today, the day after, I am a bit sore in places, but overall I was happy with being able to participate in a sport I used to enjoy. BTW, our team won with a clutch pitching save by yours truly.

After the fun of that picnic, I headed to a great park on the western shores of the Puget Sound to meet up with some old friends for a birthday bash picnic. These are friends I had in Seattle before moving to NYC and it was nice to catch up with them and their lives (and their kids!). Three of the folks ll have birthdays in close proximity, so we had a big cake for them and celebrated with more good food, great conversation, and a beautiful view of the sun setting behind the Olympic Mountains.

I was tuckered when I got home, but it was a fun way to spend a beautiful sunny summer day here in Seattle. Plus I managed to do both picnics without gaining any weight.... YAY!

Calgary & Banff..... A Year Ago

2008-07-11T17:39:00.000-07:00

Last year in June, I flew up to Calgary to visit a good friend of mine. We spent one day visiting the downtown area and the second day of the weekend we headed off to Banff in the lovely Canadian Rockies.

Well, I finally got the photos processed and up at my Smugmug site thanks to the wonderful efficiency of my cute little new Mac laptop.

A few sample photos ......

Olympic Fountain in downtown Calgary

Family of Man Statue in downtown CalgaryPanorama of BanffThe Banff Hot Springs

Loosing Weight

2008-07-08T21:01:00.000-07:00

When I last updated y'all on the diet at the end of May, I had lost roughly 34 pounds. I got back on track in June, but progress has been slow.

It is now early July and I have been at the weight loss thing for 6 months now. Per the scale this morning, I have now lost 38 pounds and over 2 full sizes of clothes. I am not complaining at all cause that is a great achievement for me. I went clothes shopping the other day for some summer shorts and it was so nice to go down 2 whole sizes in pants. I only bought 2 pair of shorts cause I still want to loose more weight and drop a few more sizes before I go out and pretty much have to get a new wardrobe. But, it is a great feeling to be able to take your jeans on and off without having to unbutton the waistband or unzip the zipper.

Then I read this article this morning and realized that when I started this diet, I kept a food journal for the first 3+ months. I stopped after getting back from Japan and that's when the diet stalled and the progress slowed down. I have only lost 8 pounds since returning from Japan in early April.... I should have lost more and I think the main reason the progress slowed is because I was no longer keeping the food journal and counting my calories daily.

So, today, I am back to keeping the food journal. Based on a recommendation from a friend, I use SparkPeople. Weird name, but it is a great website where you can keep track of your daily calories and food intake and keep account of your workout routine and weight loss. Plus there are recipes, forums, and a whole bunch more.

My goal is to loose 80 pounds total by the end of the year, so I got to kick it in gear and get busy loosing the weight. 42 pounds to go!

Fireworks

2008-07-07T07:00:00.000-07:00

July 4th means fireworks and I am lucky to have a pretty nice view of a great Seattle fireworks show over Lake Union.

Here are a few shots.....

More Firework photos are at my Smugmug Photo Site.

Mother Nature's Fireworks Show

2008-07-05T09:06:00.000-07:00

As Independence Day approached here in Seattle, Mother Nature decided she wanted to display a little bit of her own fireworks show. Wednesday night we had a rare lightning storm over the eastside in Seattle and thanks to a deck with a nice view and a bit of distance from said storm, I was able to get a decent lightning shot.

I also got some photos of the human version of a fireworks show from the 4th. They are in work and will hopefully be posted soon.

Seaside & Cannon Beach

2008-06-29T09:22:00.000-07:00

A few weekends ago I headed down to Oregon for a weekend in Seaside. This is a small little town along the northern coast of the Pacific. Right down the coast from Seaside is Ecola State Park and the town of Cannon Beach with their great beaches and beautiful sea-stack rocks lining the coastline.

I spent most of my time there exploring the area and doing a bit of photography. The rest of the time was spent relaxing.

Here are some photos from the trip. You can find the rest of the photos in the usual place, my Smugmug site. Enjoy!

New Toy!

2008-06-27T17:30:00.000-07:00

I totally forgot to tell y'all.

I got a new toy!

Meet my new Macbook Pro.

Yup, I am drinking the coolaid!

Bowling Pin

2008-06-26T17:16:00.000-07:00

In one of the blogs I check out now and again, they discovered this guy who took a bowling pin around the country for 6 years and photographed it in interesting spots. You can see his photos here. Some of the photos are fantastic and some present a challenge to even locate the bowling pin hidden in the photo.

Just something cool for y'all to kill a few minutes with.

It's Definately Summer

2008-06-25T17:09:00.000-07:00

And that means the rugrats are out en mass. Wednesday is my usual work from home day and I take my lunch break to go swimming at the local pool. Thank goodness for the adult swim time as the lap lanes are mostly empty and I can get in a good quick workout.

However, right after the adult lap swim time is the public swim and the ankle biters descended upon the pool like a swarm of locust. Screaming and talking with their outside voices (this is an indoor pool) and generally being in the way. Ugh.... I was so glad to get out of there as quickly as possible.

On a positive note, at least summer seems to have also shown up weather-wise. A whole week of warm temperatures and sunny skies. Finally!

Alaska Recap - Part 5

2008-06-24T17:00:00.000-07:00

Here is the last of the Alaska recaps.

The weather again turned rainy and miserable on Friday. We woke to gray rain clouds and a bit of fog. After yesterdays beautiful weather in Glacier Bay, this was a bit of a disappointment. But it didn't deter us from enjoying our last full day in Alaska.

We anchored near Lake Eva at the entrance to Peril Straight and hiking and kayaking were offered. Instead of having to choose this time, we had the opportunity to do both. All the kayakers gathered together and went for a quick hike prior to kayaking. We tromped through the mud and around a pretty little lake, taking in the lovely scenery. We saw swallows flying around the surface of the lake and were told they had just come up from South America. We got to spot overlooking a great little waterfall and that ended up being our turn around spot. Those wellington boots definitely came in handy on this hike as the ground was very muddy and very wet.

A group of us did a bit of a power hike on the way back and it was nice to work up a sweat. We got back to the beach and all our kayaks were waiting there for us. I met up with momma and we climbed into a kayak and sailed off. We headed back towards where we hiked, this time taking in the scenery from the water instead of the shore. We even tried to paddle upstream towards the waterfall, but due to the strength of the water, we only could get so far.

As we came back in to the area where the swallows were, we lifted our paddles and quietly floated around the small lake. We had swallows flying all around us at one point and it was quite a wonderful experience. After paddling around a while longer, momma and I headed back to the beach for a rather wet landing (think cold waves crashing down your back) and soon enough we were back on board the Sea Lion.

We spent the rest of the afternoon sailing around Admiralty Island looking for bears. We found two. One was a larger brown bear off in the distance, but he quickly went back into the woods as we approached. On the opposite shore, however, we found a young adult brown bear walking along the shore and we were able to get rather close. Bears apparently have better hearing than eyesight (both are good), so we kept as quiet as possible on the boat while we inched closer to the shore. The bear stopped a few times and even once looked right at us, but eventually he kept moving along the shore and then up into the woods out of our view.

That evening, we had our farewell dinner which consisted of "entertainment" from our Naturalists and some delicious white salmon. Yes, white salmon. Only 1% of the pacific salmon population are white (not the normal pink most are used to) and no one really knows why. Looks like Halibut, tastes like salmon. It is delicious with a slightly lighter, less oily flavor than regular salmon. Anyway... it was great and if you ever see this rare fish on the menu or in your fish market, get it and try it out.

Photos of Lake Eva Hike/Kayak & Bears!

We headed to our cabin to finish packing up that evening while the boat sailed through Peril Straight towards our last stop... Sitka!

Sitka wasn't that impressive. We didn't have a lot of time between when we got off the ship and when our plane left back for Seattle. We quickly said our goodbyes to the crew and boarded buses which whisked us off to a Sitka Museum with a large collection of totem poles. After that, we headed into town for some quick shopping and then it was off to the airport. I found out later that there was an Eagle Rescue place in town and I would have loved to visit that, but there just wasn't any time. I think if I had to do the cruise over again, I would reverse course, start in Sitka and get there a day early to visit the Eagle shelter.

Photos from Sitka & Flying Home!

Overall, it was a fantastic trip with lots and lots of photos. Alaska is a treasure and thank goodness some smart folks back in the day had the foresight to buy that chunk if land from the Russians.

Alaska Recap - Part 4

2008-06-20T10:16:00.000-07:00

We spent the entire day in Glacier Bay National Park trying to dry out after the previous day's drenching.

We started early and picked up the Park Ranger at Bartlett Cove and sailed into the park as the day was just starting. The only real way to see this park is by boat and the park is very strict on the number of boats let into the park. Per day, only 2 large cruise ships, 3 tour boats (this is what our boat is classified as) and a handful of small private charters and privately owned boats are allowed into the park. It a large park and the limited numbers make it feel as if you have the park to yourself. Plus, in order for those large boats to enter, they must pick up a Park Ranger who accompanies the boat throughout it's 24 hour time limit in the park.

It didn't start out as a nice day with dark clouds hanging over us, but we ventured into the park with our ranger. First up was a small island where we found numerous Stellar Sea Lions and birds of all sorts. This was our first view of the Tufted Puffin and we saw quite of few of these cute little birds flying near the rocks and just floating in the water. I did manage to get some nice shots of a puffin in the water near our ship's bow and a sequence of a puffin taking off from the water (not the most graceful of actions for the less than aerodynamic puffin). Also on this island was a lone sea otter still on its back on shore. I have only seen this guys in the water, so seeing one on shore lying out like it was suntanning was a treat.

We left the island and continued on along a series of cliffs where we spotted a lone moose and black bear off in the distance. Specks in the camera lens. Then came the mountain goats and we saw plenty of these guys quite close. How they ever manage to cling to those tall cliffs is bewildering, but it is easy to see how they survive the cold Alaska winters with their thick furry white coats.

The sun finally came out as we approached the far end of the park, 60 miles from where we had started that morning and the ship's crew surprised us with peppermint schnapps laced hot chocolate out on the deck to keep us warm as most of the passengers stayed outside enjoying the scenery and animals. That was also a nice treat and one of many we got while on board the Sea Lion.

At the end of that 60 miles, we came to a spot where two Glaciers flow out into the bay; the Grand Pacific and the Margorie Glacier. The Grand Pacific Glacier was the glacier responsible for carving out most of Glacier Bay and was all black and sooty with the silt and sediment it had carved up and pushed forward along its journey. The Margorie glacier was a little cleaner having flowed down from a nearby mountain top. These two glaciers were not a pretty as Dawes Glacier we had seen at the beginning of the trip, but the wide vistas of Glacier Bay created a stunning atmosphere.

After lunching near these two glaciers, we headed back down the bay dipping into several other arms of the bay to look at other glaciers and the beautiful, snow-capped mountain ranges that line the bay. We saw porpoise, dolphins, whales and sea otters swim or float past us as we continued down the bay.

We finished the day in Bartlett Cove where we dropped off our park ranger and got off the ship to take a short hike around the cove. This was my first hike and it was nice to get a bit of activity in other then the kayaking I had only done up to this point. The photography wasn't that good on the hike due to the quickly dimming light and my lack of a tripod, but I enjoyed the hike around the lakes and woods of Bartlett Cove.

We sailed out of the park that evening and headed back down Chatham Straight for our final full day on the ship.

Glacier Bay National Park Photos
Photo Sequence of Calving Glacier

What Does a Scottsman Wear Under His Kilt?

2008-06-18T15:41:00.000-07:00

I discovered the answer is compression shorts.....

I'm back home from visiting Momma down on Georgia. Love the jet lag and love sleeping on the couch. That is sarcasm, if you didn't pick up on it.

Here are a few photos from the Blairsville Scottish Festival that our family attended this past weekend.
More photos here.

Want some Haggis?

2008-06-15T14:43:00.000-07:00

This weekend, the entire family headed to the local Scottish Festival in town. It was fun, but hot and rainy (yes, both hot and rainy!). The bagpipers were great and I wish I could have heard more. We watched some of the Highland games, particularly men trying to throw a 56 pound block over a bar about 10' high in the air... all in their kilts.

We do have some Scottish in our background... through the Dunns & McKevitts that we have been able to trace, but we are mostly English and Welsh.

I head home tomorrow, so this is the last day with my nieces (nephews have already headed back to South Carolina). It's been fun, but I am ready to trade the couch I am sleeping on for my warm comfortable bed.

Hot Hot Hot

2008-06-13T17:00:00.000-07:00

Well, I made it to Atlanta and it is HOT here. Ugh! I forgot how hot is got down south here in the summer. Way to hot for me.

Brother and nieces arrived after noon and we headed for a late lunch and then went to the pool. I am keeping mom and me honest with our workouts. I had sweet tea for the first time in months, but I was good and only had one glass then switched to water.

We spent the afternoon doign origami, which was quite fun and quite challenging following the instructions.

We are off to dinner. Other bro and nephews arrive tommorrow.

Hot Lanta

2008-06-12T13:00:00.000-07:00

As this posts, I should be hurling through the air headed towards Georgia. That is assuming Delta can make an on time departure. It is family reunion weekend at momma's house. This is something that ends up happening every year around spring or summer as everyone kinda decides to head to momma's house. The past few years it was due to the Tour deGeorgia bike race coming through my mom's town and this year its due to the Scottish Festival. Since I don't get much opportunity to see my brothers or nieces or nephews, I buy the expensive airplane ticket to ATL. I am packing light to avoid all the new checked baggage charges and I am bringing along a muffin for food.

In other news... the diet is back on track. I finally broke the 35 pounds lost barrier yesterday after being stalled between 30-35 pounds lost for about 2 months. Lets hope the abundance of sweet tea and good southern cookin' this weekend doesn't ruin the progress I made this week.

Wish me luck and talk to you when I get back.

Alaska Recap - Part 3

2008-06-10T08:00:00.000-07:00

Tuesday morning we awoke in Saginaw Bay close to Chatham Straight. We got off the boat again and again I had elected to go kayaking.... this time with mom.

We got in a two-person kayak and headed out into the little bay. We spotted some birds along the rocks and then headed for the headlands where there were some supposed Indian rock paintings (not sure if the rock painting is old or not). On our way out to the headlands, mom and I we encircled by the videographer in his zodiac. Oh joy... we were gonna be in the DVD of the trip! We came back to shore along the rocky coast, enjoying the water and the scenery.

Back on board the Sea Lion, we spotted a lone sea otter floating near the ship. He was on his back eating working his paws feverishly. Every once is a while, he would do a complete spin the water, amazingly keeping is head and feet above water. What skill! As the sea otter floated away, we headed out of Saginaw Bay into Frederick Sound towards Chatham Straight. Our goal was to find whales! At the point where Frederick Sound meets Chatham Straight, there is the small Yasha Island. On this tiny island were hundreds of sea lions crowded onto the rocks. We couldn't get too close, but as we approached, many of the sea lions headed for the water while others stayed put and gave us curious glances.

Past Yasha Island, we headed out into Chatham Straight, but there were no whales as yet to be found. We sailed along and discovered a beautiful waterfall along the straight and we went to take a closer look. Eagles and a variety of ducks were near the waterfall. No great photos though since the sun was on the wrong side (the waterfall faced east).

We left the waterfall and continued north up the Straight and suddenly we heard "Whales ahead". YAY! Off the bow we saw two Humpback whales headed towards us. We watched in awe as they surfaced and blew water out their spouts and then dove for deeper waters with their signature tale high in the air. It was great to watch and being in a smaller boat, we even we able to turn the boat around and follow the whales as they ventured south down Chatham Straight.

After an amazing day of viewing all sorts of animals, we ate a delicious dinner. While we were finishing dinner, we noticed out the window a rather fast Dall Porpoise swimming right by the ship. I ran out of the dinning room and discovered the porpoise had moved up to the bow and was riding the bow wave. It was getting dark outside so getting a photo of this very fast porpoise was difficult, but it was amazing to see him riding that wave on the bow of the ship. Beautiful!

Photos from Saginaw Bay
Photos from Chatham Straight

The next day, Wednesday, I woke up not feeling particularly well and what felt like the start of a cold. The weather outside matched my health with nasty rain and swelling seas. Our opportunity to kayak that day got nixed pretty quickly and the crew managed to find a small inlet to offer hikes. I opted to stay on board and stay dry and I took a large amount of cold drugs and snuggled in bed trying to kill this cold as quickly as possible.

That afternoon as we headed up into Icy Straight near the entrance of Glacier Bay, the weather let up enough that we were able to spot and follow another Humpback whale. This guy was very close to the boat and at one point surfaced a mere 100 feet in front of the bow. Everyone was able to get great shots of him as he dove and produced his barnacled-covered tail one last time.

Although the wildlife was cooperating with us, the weather was not and our afternoon activity also got canceled. Instead, we headed to the small town of Elfin Cove, a adorable little village with no roads where the locals get around on a small network of boardwalks. Apparently only about 20 people live here in the winter, but its close access to the Pacific makes it a prime fishing lodge local in the summer months. We walked around the boardwalks, visited a few of the local stores, watched a man doing a honest to goodness chainsaw carving out of a tree trunk, and talked with some of the local fishermen in town. It was a very enjoyable time and I think Lindblad should add this quaint little town as a permanent stop on this cruise. We were told by some of the crew that they divert to Elfin Cove maybe once a season, so we felt lucky that we got to go there. It sure beat Petersburg.

It took us a while to leave Elfin Cove due to a old hand truck getting caught in the ship's anchor. They had all the crew working on that anchor for about 2 hours before they got the hand truck released. Once able to freely move again, we headed out into Icy Straight and docked overnight near the entrance to Glacier Bay.

Photos from Icy Straight & Elfin Cove

Weekend Travels

2008-06-09T12:05:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I decided that I needed a break from the world. Yes, I know I just got back from vacation, but when you travel with 55 other people on a small boat it is not very conducive to getting some time alone to think and refresh.

So, I grabbed my camera gear and headed down to Seaside, Oregon. I had never been to this part of Oregon and was looking forward to some alone time to photograph and just generally relax. They have this wonderful Ecola State Park nearby where there were hikes and viewpoints overlooking fantastic sea stacks and beaches. In nearby Canon Beach, they have the giant Haystack Rock quite close to the beach and at low tide you can walk among the rocks and view starfish and other sea critters exposed in the low tide. The weather wasn't the best, but it did lead to some nice "moody" photos.

The weekend definitely had the desired effect cause I was so calm and relaxed on the drive home and that usual feeling of having to drive at breakneck speed to get home just wasn't there. It was a nice leisurely drive back to Seattle and I got home feeling so great!

Of course, I will have photos sometime in the future.....

Alaska Recap - Part 2

2008-06-03T09:24:00.000-07:00

Monday, May 12th was one of those days that you look outside at the windy, miserable weather and head straight back to bed. We had sailed overnight down Frederick Sound to the mouth of LaConte Bay. Our plan was to get into the maneuverable little Zodiacs and boat around all the icebergs calved off of the nearby LaConte Glacier then head to the small fishing village of Petersburg where some of us would take a flight seeing trip in a float plane over the LaConte Glacier. As the weather got worse, however, those plans quickly changed. The water was too rough to do the Zodiac trips through the LaConte Glacier ice burgs (quite the bummer), so instead, our ship headed across the bay to the small Ideal Cove where hiking was offered. Now, I am not much of a hiker so I elected to stay on board the ship while everyone else went out and hiked in that miserable rainy weather.

After the rain-soaked hikers returned from their adventures, we ate another delicious lunch while the boat headed north to Petersburg. As we approached this cute little Norwegian town, we noticed about 20-30 eagles lining the shore. Apparently, these eagles were looking for easy pickings as this area was downstream from a cannery. Heh. Smart eagles. We walked through downtown Petersburg which really was only one street about a quarter-mile long. There were some nice little artsy stores in between the obvious tourist trap stores. Mom and I had fun window shopping and mom did find this beautiful drawing of eagles and totem poles which she said was what Alaska was to her so far. I stopped by a grocery store and picked up some snacks for the room and bought a few Alaska trinkets. After the quick walk through town, I grabbed the camera, covered it with a shower cap (makes for a great rain cover) and headed out along the numerous fishing boat docks. There were all sorts of neat things to photograph amoung all the various fishing boats, but to cold and rain starting soaking into my bones so I headed back to the warmth of the ship.

Before dinner we noticed two Stellar Sea Lions right off the ship. I am not sure what they were doing…. Either they were playing, fighting, or they were in the throws of some weird sea lion mating ritual, but they were splashing about all over each other occasionally coming up for air. We had fun watching & photographing them for a long time and eventually the sea lions headed off for other waters. For dinner, we had fresh Alaskan King Crab Legs! And whoa boy, were these things large and fresh. They kept bringing plate and plate piled high with this gigantic crab legs and we enjoyed cracking them open and eating the delicious crab meat inside. That was one of the best and most memorable meals we had that week.

Here are more photos.

Five Things

2008-06-01T11:55:00.000-07:00

I have been "tagged" by my buddy Joy (who was tagged by someone else) to do this.....

I am blowing off the "rules" that we were supposed to post cause I am not a big fan of chain letters or chain emails or chain blogs.....

What were you doing 5 years ago?
Hee. Where was I spring 2003? I was in NYC working hard at JFK struggling to adjust to the high cost of living in NYC, but generally enjoying the city. And just as Joy mentioned in her post on this, I turned on the TV to a little show on Fox and instantly became 12year old again for about 2 years. I don't regret most of that time as I made some great friends, took some fun road trips, learned a lot about concert photography, and generally felt young again at a time when my body felt soooo old.

What are five things to do on your to do list for the day?

Work on photos from Alaska
Grocery shopping
Vaccum
Water the plants
Read through my Canon 40D Instruction Manual (which I should have done before my Alaska trip)

I still need to vacuum and finish watering the plants (about half done) and the photo work is a ongoing, seemingly never ending task.

What are five snacks you enjoy?
I'm on a diet, so snacking is not something I get to do much of anymore and when I do, I try to snack healthy and low-calorie.

String cheese (these are a nice protein-rich, relatively low-cal snack)
100 calorie snack packs from Nabisco (grasshoppers & cheese-its)
Ice cream sandwiches (there are these great "Skinny Cow" low calorie ones that I indulge in every once in a while)
Oranges & Apples
Gummi Bears (my one true high-calorie indulgence, but I limit my purchase of these little delights these days)

What five things would you do if you were a billionaire?
That's a lot of money.

First I would donate a large portion of the money to organizations and foundations who are doing great things out there. American Red Cross, UNICEF, the ONE Campaign and their partners, 24/7 Prayer, World Vision, Stop the Traffik, International Justice Mission, Children's Defense Fund, the Global Fund, Make it Right, and Habitat for Humanity.

There are a few friends currently on mission trips right now that I would make sure had no more financial worries for the rest of their time in the mission field.

I would also like to donate to some organizations working in some specific medical fields looking for cures for Auto Immune diseases, Leukemia, Cancer, & Autism.

I would make sure my brothers and their families were all taken care of financially and my nieces and nephews all had their college paid for in full.

After all that, I would by a sporty little BMW for my mom so she could have a monogrammed car (her initials are B.M.W). That's been a running "If I won the lottery" joke in our family for a long time.

And finally, for me.... I would get all the cool Canon lenses I am drooling over right now, a bag big enough to pack them all in, and then I would spend a good year or two traveling around the world. And maybe I could hire a few really cool professional photographers to come with me on some of my travels so I could learn from the best.

What are five of your bad habits?

Procrastination
Food (thus the need for a diet)
Coca-Cola (I try and limit myself to one a day)
Stubbornness
Spelling

What are five jobs you have had?

Engineer
Technical Service Rep
HVAC Engineer (that would be Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning)
Worked at McDonalds when I was a kid
Photographer (I shot two wedding for money)

What five people do you want to tag?
None. The only person I would tag would be Joy and she tagged me.

An Interview with Vincent Laforet

2008-05-30T13:39:00.001-07:00

As most of you know, I love photography and if you have noticed, I have a link to one of my favorite photographers, Vincent Laforet, over in my links column.

I was checking his fabulous website today and during a later google search to see if he has any upcoming nearby seminars, I discovered a great interview with him. Just wanted to share.

Alaska Recap - Part 1

2008-05-29T09:36:00.000-07:00

So, I finally got some photos from my cruise to Alaska posted. YAY!

Mom, her friend Joy, and I headed to the Seattle airport on Saturday, May 10th for a quick flight up to Juneau, Alaska. Most of our fellow passengers seemed to also be on our cruise boat as some already were wearing their Lindblad/National Geographic hats and name badges. After arriving at one of Juneau's three airport gates (I love tiny airports) and dropping our bags off with the Lindbald folks, we boarded buses for a tour of Juneau and the Mendenhall Glacier.

Things about Alaska's capitol city that I did not know. The city of Juneau is almost as large at Delaware and Rhode Island combined with only a population of roughly 31,000 folks. Thats a lot of extra land. Juneau is the second largest municipality in the US, coming second only to the nearby Sitka, Alaska. Juneau was named for a gold prospector, Joe Juneau, after names like Harrisburg and Rockwell were deemed to boring for city names. Juneau has only about 40 miles of paved road and can only be reached via ferry or airplane.

We headed out of Juneau to our first Glacier... the Mendenhall Glacier. We only had a short time to visit, so I took a quick walk on the beach and up to a viewpoint. The Glacier is quite large, but has been steadily retreating since the early 1900s and rapidly retreating since the last decade.

It was back on the bus and into downtown Juneau where we visited the Alaska Museum. It was nice to learn a bit about the history of Juneau and the area, but I really wish we had spent more time at Mendenhall Glacier and less time at the Museum.

The ship was docked nearby and we got in line to check in. With only 56 passengers on such a small cruise ship, check in was quick and easy and soon enough, we were all on board and unpacking clothes in our cabins. Since there were three of us, I ended up with the single cabin on the main deck all the way up near the bow. This turned out to be a great cabin with only one minor flaw (will get to that later). We all meet in the lounge for a meet and greet with the boat's officers, staff, and our expedition team and then it was into the dinning room for dinner. We didn't depart Juneau until late in the evening as most of us were getting ready for bed.

In the morning, I woke up and looked outside my window to see huge chunks of ice floating by. We were heading into the Endicott Fiord towards Dawes Glacier. The weather was very moody as mother nature had thrown a thick gray blanket down low into the fiord. As we sailed on futher, the ice chunks got larger and more in number and ranges in color from transparent like the ice cubes in your water glass to this amazing blue color. We passed lots of small waterfalls trickling down the steep cliffs of the fiord and finally, we came around a bend in the fiord and there nestled under a thick low hanging cloud, was Dawes Glacier. It looked tiny from so far back but soon enough we would get a lot closer and realize how massive this Glacier was.

Another great thing about being on a Lindbald ship.... Zodiacs! The ship carries a small fleet of zodiacs which after anchoring, they put into the water. Donned in our parkas and wellingtons, we climbed aboard and headed closer to the glacier. The weather was lifting and the views of the glacier from a mere quarter mile distance became amazing. Dawes Glacier is apparently 200 feet high at its face and roughly 2 miles wide and it has this amazing blue color to it.

Zodiac-ing through the burgy bits and hearing the cracks and groans of the glacier as it moved and calved was an amazing experience. We would hear this loud crack and thunder and turn and notice a small section of the glacier had calved into the water. Often times, we would hear the cracks and pops of the glacier, but we would not see any calving; the insides of the glacier was moving as well as it inched forward in its travels from the faraway ice fields in Canada. We saw the white specks of mountain goats high up on the cliffs and wondered how on earth did they get up there and how do they move about without falling. We also saw tons of bird flying about and resting on bits of iceburgs in the water.

We got back on board and sailed out of the fiord. Next stop was a small little bay nearby where we were able to anchor. We again donned our parkas and mud boats and the zodiac took us to shore where we could either hike or kayak. I elected to kayak around the bay and headed over to a pretty waterfall cascading into the bay. I then kayaked along the shoreline enjoying the beautiful rock formations and plants. It was nice to get off the boat and find ones own quiet piece of Alaska to enjoy for an hour or so. I could have kayaked out there forever.

Soon enough, we were back on board, meeting new friends while enjoying a hearty dinner. Soon after dinner we headed to bed exhausted from a great first day in Alaska.

More photos:
Flying to Alaska, Mendenhall Glacier, & Juneau.
Dawes Glacier
Kayaking around Williams Sound

Holiday Weekend Ramblings

2008-05-25T12:14:00.000-07:00

Why is it the older I get, the longer I need to recover from vacations? Ugh! A week after returning from Alaska and I am finally starting to feel normal and have caught up on my sleep. Thank goodness this is a long holiday weekend.

Of course, it is a shiny sunny weekend here and I am locked indoors with the blinds drawn. Not necessarily to catch up on sleep (which I did do), but on Thursday, I scratched my eye during the night (dummy me left my contacts in) and now bright lights and sun are actually causing my eye pain and to water up significantly. Brilliant! I've done this stupid move before and it usually takes a few days for the eye to heal up and then all is fine, but I would have to do this prior to a beautiful holiday weekend. Oh well, it does give me chance to catch up on photos.

Speaking of photos, I should have the first set from Alaska soon... hopefully tomorrow. As you know I had to rent a Canon lens cause mine is still in the shop. I rented a Canon 100-400 zoom lens and I was thrilled with it while on the cruise. It made a significant difference in trying to get all those wonderful animals along the shore. I am now saving my pennies to buy one of these lenses.

Finally, wanted to fill you all in on the diet. I haven't mentioned it in a while, but I am still working on eating healthier and working out. The past vacations and returning from Japan kinda screwed with my routine & habits, so things were a little slow going for about 6 weeks. However, I am now back on the wagon and back to the good routine & habits. Overall, I have lost 34 pounds since the beginning of the year and dropped about 2 clothes sizes. YAY! I still got a long way to go, but I am very happy with how well I have done so far and how much better I feel overall.

Home

2008-05-19T10:46:00.000-07:00

We got home from our Alaska Cruise on Saturday. Left the cold and rainy Sitka, Alaska and flew to the HOT Seattle. Seriously.... it was 90 degrees when we landed in Seattle.

The cruise was GREAT! I don't think I will ever climb on one of those huge cruise ships with 3,000 other people ever again. We were on the Lindblad/National Geographic Sea Lion with 56 other people. The small boat carried zodiacs and kayaks and we were able to change course to follow whales and change itinerary to adjust for weather conditions. Well worth the expense.

Of course, now I want to go on several other Lindblad Expeditions.... Baja, the Arctic and the Galapagos are high on my list.

I took lots and lots of photos of lots and lots of different kind of animals and pretty scenery. Will post them soon.

Cruisin' Alaska

2008-05-16T18:46:00.000-07:00

Here we are on the Lindblad Sea Lion boat cruisin' through the Cabin Point Reef in Alaska's inside passage. We are in the lounge, with a child crying in background (I wanted the no kid section, not the no smoking section.... I am more worried about my sanity than my lungs), on the boat using the internet (I apparently won the lottery and the internet card I bought which was supposed to have a 30 minute limit had a 230 minute limit...so I am blogging while cruisin').

Today we saw two big brown (aka: grizzly) bear. We also hiked and kayaked in the cloudy rainy weather. Yesterday we visited Glacier Bat National Park which was beautiful.

I will post later once I get home with all the daily details and photos.... lots and lots of photos.

Alaska or Bust

2008-05-10T07:59:00.000-07:00

Well, today I am headed to Alaska for our cruise. It's my first trip to Alaska so I am excited to go and see all the prettiness. Of course the weather shows rain for the entire week so cross your fingers that we get at least some sunshine here and there.

The last few days around here have been stressful with work, hosting mom and her friend and trying to get ready for this trip. I will be glad when we finally get on the plane and I can stop worrying about everything and relax a little bit.

Oh... my repaired lens did not arrive in time so I went ahead and rented a Canon 100-400mm zoom lens. I am considering buying this lens, so using it during this trip will end up being like a test run. Plus, it gives me some length for the digital SLR which I didn't have in Africa. If I like the lens, I will start saving the pennies to buy one....

I am not sure if I will be able to blog/post while on board the ship. The information I have says that they do have internet access on board, but I am not sure how much time there will be to post or how much it will cost. I do hope to have some nice photos when I return.

safe journeys everyone!

Camera Resolutions

2008-05-06T09:03:00.001-07:00

One camera problem resolved. I found another FZ20 on ebay and was able to win the auction. Camera is slightly used, but in good shape overall.

However, I still don't have my new Tamron 28-300 lens back from the repair shop. I did hear from my local camera store that the damage to the lens is covered under the warranty so I don't have to pay anything for the repair, but I am not sure if I am gonna get the lens back in time before I leave for my Alaska cruise this coming Saturday. Ugh!!!

I did check and another local camera store does rent lenses, but that will cost me roughly $120 for a week's rental. So.... do I go ahead and rent the lens or do I use my FZ20 with 1.7x teleconverter (for a whopping 720mm zoom) for the long distance zoom shots?? I still plan on taking the Canon and the new 11-20mm super wide zoom and I have a 17-85mm mid-range zoom, but I probably won't have the 28-300mm zoom unless I rent it. What to do???

Last Days in Japan

2008-05-05T09:09:00.000-07:00

I'm finally posting the final photos from Japan (wanted to finish them prior to starting yet another trip).

The day after the visiting all the cherry blossoms around Tokyo, I ventured back to Harajuku and Shibuya. I had been to both these places my first weekend in Tokyo, but there were still a few things I wanted to do there. So I packed the camera and headed off to the Subway.

Once in Harajuku, I immediately spotted the famous area known for the Harajuku girls; girls who are dress is wild and weird clothing similar to our goth girls here in the states. The girls were in some interesting clothing and makeup and they seemed to love the attention from all the tourists. Their shoes were amazing.... huge platform shoes that made my toes ache just from looking at them. The place was filled with more than just goth girls as other attention-seekers were also there. The best one was a guy plainly dressed with a "Free Hugs" sign. Needless to say, he was getting lots of action.

Nearby the Harajuku area is Yiyogi Park where I found several troupes of 50s and Elvis-clad locals dancing to rockabilly music. I'm not sure why, but it was rather humorous to see Japanese men dressing in tight black leather with their hair all greased back, 50's style, dancing to old-time 50s rock music on boom boxes. It was definitely an interesting "cultural" experience. One even had a 50's style pink Cadillac. Heh! Also in the park were numerous garage bands lined up along a pathway vying for the attention of all the park go-ers. The amusing part was that they were all relatively close together and as you walked along, one band's music competed with the neighboring band's music becoming a horrid sympony of bad rock band sounds.
Photos from Harajuku & Yiyogi Park

After all this, I headed to Shibuya to try and get a better photo of the largest pedestrian crossing. After shopping through a local Tokyo department store, it had started to rain. All the folks in the crossing had umbrellas which made the scene interesting and different than I had previously seen. I was only able to find one location to take a bird's eye view of the intersection, but the windows had this wire mess across it, so not to good for photography. The Starbuck's, which had the best view, was way to crowded to find a seat near the window.

As the day was ending, I went up to the Shinjinku area cause I wanted to find this one area there which was the supposed inspiration for the movie Blade Runner. I found the street, but I am not sure if I got the connection to the inspiration. Granted, it's been 20 years since the movie and the place has probably changed, but at least it was a nice evening walk.
Photos from Shibuya & Shinjinku

The following Saturday was my final day in Tokyo and I roamed around the Imperial Palace while waiting for my afternoon flight home. You couldn't get into the inner Imperial Palace grounds of course, but it was a nice morning walk and I got some interesting photos around the moat and outer grounds. This also happened to be when my new Tamron lens for my new Canon 40D decided to break. The zoom ring apparently came off the tracks and the lens no longer zoomed out when turning the ring. I could still take photos, but I had to manually position the zoom lens where I wanted it cause the zoom ring no longer functioned. At least it was on the last day I was there and not the first.
Photos from the Imperial Palace

Two hours later, I was on my home back to USA.

Update

2008-04-30T10:31:00.000-07:00

Just a quick blog to report that I am still alive, but very busy at the moment. I am in another training class for work this weeks which means 6am report time again. Ugh... I miss my sleep!

I have also just signed up for a Japanese language class. It is a virtual class, but it means running around getting a headset with a microphone for the laptop and picking up the course materials before next Wednesday.

Then I have my upcoming Alaska cruise vacation that I am getting ready for. I ordered the awesomest pair of rubber boats for the cruise (they strongly recommended you get a pair for zodiac landings). Plus, I am trying to resolve the two broken camera situation before leaving. Ugh... great timing on the broken camera thing. I am thrilled.

6am is early!

2008-04-27T08:01:00.000-07:00

I know its been a few days since posting, but this past week I was on a different schedule. I was in a training class that started at 6:00 am. Yikes, that is early. With the commute, it meant getting up at around 5am. Yeah, I got off earlier in the afternoon, but I was so tired most of the time, the last thing I wanted to do was get on my computer at home.

I am working on photos today, so hopefully, I will have some more Japan photos for you later today.

Quiz

2008-04-19T15:27:00.000-07:00

1. What is your occupation? Engineer

2. What color are your underwear? Heh. Pink with red hearts. ;-)

3. What are you listening to right now? The TV. I'm watching the movie Enchanted. I have some great workout tunes on my iPod.

4. What was the last thing you ate? McDonalds for Breakfast.

5. Do you wish on stars? Only shooting stars.

6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Metallic Silver. Always loved that color when I was a kid.

7. How is the weather right now? Overcast right now, but it snowed last night. Welcome to Seattle!

8. Last person you spoke to on the phone? I was on and endless telecon at work yesterday.

9. Do you like the person who sent this to you? I like the person who's blog I got this from.

10. How old are you today? Old.

11. Favorite Drink? Coke, but I did discover Plum Wine while in Tokyo.

12. Favorite sport to watch? Probably Baseball. Go Red Sox!

13. Have you ever dyed your hair? I have had highlights, but not a full dye job.

14. Do you wear contacts or glasses? Contacts most of the time. Glasses when the contacts are bothersome.

15. Pets? Two lovable little fur ball kitties.

16. Favorite Month? March or April when everything starts blooming.

17. Favorite Food? Probably pepperoni pizza.

18. What was the last movie you watched? I'm watching Enchanted right now.

19. Favorite Day of the Year? Dec 31st

20. What do you do to vent anger? Plot revenge. :-)

21. Fall or Spring? I like both, both if I had to choose one, I would choose Spring.

22. Hugs or Kisses? A good hug always makes you feel better.

23. Cherries or blueberries? You can do a bot more with blueberries.

24. Who do you live with? Two lovable little fur ball kitties.

25. When was the last time you cried? I can't remember.

26. What is on the floor of your closet? A big pile of dirty clothes.

27. What friend have you had the longest? Probably my friend April who I have known since moving to Seattle right after college.

28. What did you do last night? Worked out, ate dinner, then watched the movie Michael Clayton.

29. Favorite smell? I love the smell of coffee even though I don't drink the stuff.

30. Who Inspires you? Bono.

31. What are you afraid of? Drowning and fire.

32. Plain, cheese or spicy hamburgers? Plain.

33. Favorite car? I miss my Jeep Liberty.

34. Favorite dog breed? If I had a dog, I would love a sheep herding dog like a Border Collie or a

35. Number of keys? >10

36. How many years at current job? >16 years at my company, but only about a year and half at the current job I have within the company.

37. Favorite Day of the Week? Friday.... most definitely.

38. How many States have you lived in? Six (South Carolina, Missouri, Ohio, Georgia, Washington, & New York)

39. How many Cities have you lived in? Too many to count.

Fish & Hanami Day

2008-04-17T19:30:00.000-07:00

Hanami means flower viewing in Japanese and that's what you and seemingly everyone else in Tokyo does the first sunny weekend when the cherry blossoms are in full bloom. The cherry blossoms only last a week or two and the Japanese take their Hanami very seriously as we soon discovered.

First up, however, a co-worker and I decided to get up at the crack of dawn and head to the local Tsujii Fish Market. This is the famous fish market where the tuna auctions are held. By the time we found our way into the sprawling market and wound are way to the back where the auctions are held, we discovered we had missed the actual auctions themselves. However, the auctions had apparently just ended and there was an incredible flurry of activity and piles of tuna still lying around. Folks weren't kidding when they said that watch were you were going and be prepared to get dirty. There were all these carts that they used to transport items and they were very maneuverable and could turn on a dime. You had to be very careful or you would get run over by an endless line of these little carts. And when you are dealing with lots of frozen and fresh fish, the place is bound to be a little dank and dirty. I smelled like fish the whole day.

Tuna was way larger than I imagined and there were hundreds of tuna in this one room with tags on them after being auctioned. We were allowed to walk around pretty much anywhere so we explored many of the nook and crannies of the entire fish market. In front of the tuna auction local, there were lots of individual dealers and vendors slicing/carving up their tuna or selling other seafood items and to one side of the fish market was this cavernous room with all sorts of fruits and vegetables being sold. It was quite a place and makes the Seattle Pike Place Fish Market look little and quaint in comparison.

After we had our fill of fish, we headed up to Ueno Park, a popular location for cherry blossoms. It was still early as we walked along the lakes through a wonderful pathway canopied with cherry blossoms. It was beautiful! We were headed towards the Ueno train station to meet up with another co-worker and as we sat there next to the rail station waiting for our friend, out poured the masses of folks. I am mean masses. Hundreds and thousands of people poured from the station in the 45 minutes we sat and waited. And they were all headed the same place we were.

Once we did meet up with our friend, we joined the swarm and headed into the park. The main area was another cherry blossom encased walkway, but this time, it was wall to wall people. And all along the grounds underneath the cherry blossom trees folks were picnicking on big blue tarps. The ground was completely covered in blue tarps and it looks as if some had come days in advance to stake out there little spot underneath the cherry blossoms. For me, the beauty of these fabulous cherry blossom walkways were ruined by the endless blue tarps strung along the ground and the shear mass of people you had to dodge.

I took the afternoon off to rest and to get changed out of the ode de seafood clothes I had one since the morning. I met back up with my two co-workers and headed to a nighttime cherry blossom festival complete with illuminated cherry blossom trees. Sounded kinda cool! Of course, the crowds that were in Ueno Park in the daytime appeared to follow us to this festival. We had to wait in line for about an hour just to get into the location of the illuminated trees. And it wasn't because they were limiting the number of folks in. No, the wait was just due to the shear number of folks filing through the small pathway.

Again, it was beautiful! This festival was along one of the moats surrounding the Imperial Palace and the trees on both sides of the moat were nicely illuminated creating this wonderful night-time walkway. Of course, the crowds were horrendous and for the first time, actually kinda rude at times with pushing and shoving. At the end of the long pathway, I was so sick of Japan and cherry blossoms, I wouldn't have cared if I never saw either ever again. I am glad I saw the cherry blossoms, but I don't think I would go out of my way to see them again.

More photos are at the links below:
Fish Market
Cherry Blossoms - Ueno Park & Night Illumination Festival

Janet Is......

2008-04-15T21:54:00.000-07:00

Crying *sniff*: Tonight as I was enjoying myself with a group of co-workers at the Mariners game, I accidentally dropped my sweet little Panasonic Lumix FZ20. Now I have dropped my camera before, but those were all little drops and the camera wasn't damaged. However, tonight, the drop was a good 3 meters onto concrete. When I turn it on, it makes horrible sounds and then puts an error message on the LCD screen saying to turn the camera off. CRAP. That can't be good.

I know I just bought a cool new Canon 40D Digital SLR, but this was my trusty everyday camera with a fantastic Leica lens that had a f/2.8 opening even at full 12x zoom. It is a great low-light camera. I LOVED this camera and now it is potentially kaput.

Of course, this would have to happen 3 weeks prior to me leaving for an Alaska cruise and 2 weeks after my brand new Tamron lens for my Canon also broke on it's 3rd use while I was in Tokyo. Me and cameras are not working well together right now apparently. ARGH!

So.... do I hunt down another FZ20 on ebay or look for another everyday camera?

Back to Japan

2008-04-14T14:34:00.000-07:00

No, I am not going back to Japan in the ear future, but I have managed to post some more photos.

The day after the trip up to Asakusa and the boat cruise, I took a quick tour of Yokohama's Chinatown. This is Japan's largest Chinatown and was an easy morning subway ride down a few stops to the entrance to the neighborhood. It has the Chinese gates you would expect in a Chinatown and I went to two shrines or temples (not sure what you call them... places of prayer?). The Chinese shrines are much more ornate & colorful than those I have seen so far in Japan, but all seem to be so lacking in actual spiritual presence ... at least to me.

Chinatown also had it fair share of Chinese restaurants. It seemed as if every store was a restaurant of some kind as there were very few stores selling anything else. My wallet was thankful at the dearth of souvenir stores, but I really was hoping to browse some unique Chinese craft or clothing stores instead of endless food stalls and Chinese restaurants. I was changing hotels this day, so I didn't hang around long before heading back to my hotel, packing up, and catching a taxi up to downtown Tokyo.

My new hotel, the fabulous Imperial Hotel, has a great location in downtown Tokyo right between the Imperial Palace and the Ginza district. Ginza is like the 5th Ave of NYC with high end shopping and great places to eat. I spent one night walking through the main Ginza area shooting some night-time street shots. Lots of neon and even at 10pm lots of activity and bustling of folks to a fro.

The one bad part about my change of hotels is that now, instead of taking a free taxi to work and back, I now had to navigate the Tokyo rail and subway system to work each day. Not easy when everything is in a foreign language. I managed to make it to work without a problem, but long walks in high heel shoes is not fun! I did come to love the area between my final rail stop and my hotel. There is this alley along the side of the rail road tracks where all these great yakitori (think chicken skewers) places were built-in underneath the elevated railroad tracks. It made for a great atmosphere and for me, the real side of Tokyo beyond all the glitz and money of the main Ginza distrcit. Here you could get a cold beer and a few skewers of yakitori for $7-8 dollars. Very reasonable and very yummy!

Up next.... Sakura. That's Cherry Blossoms in Japanese. They were in full bloom my final weekend in Japan.

Photos from Chinatown and Ginza are at my smugmug site.

Home Sweet Home - Part 2

2008-04-08T13:25:00.000-07:00

My friend Joy asked in the comment section of my last post what luxuries am I enjoying now that I am home from Japan.

I have four luxuries that I am enjoying now that I am back in the USA.
1) Hibernation from People. I enjoyed Tokyo, but there were just way to many people there. I was so fed up with crowds by the time I got home that I shut the doors and curtains and didn't emerge from my place for three days. Just me & my cats lounging around in PJs (me in PJs, not my cats) for three days was a nice break from the assault of people & noise that never seems to cease in Tokyo.

2) Pizza. They just don't do good pizza in Japan, so I have had pizza that last two nights. Yum!!!

3) TV. Yes, they have TV in Japan, but most channels are local Japanese channels so I didn't watch TV for a month (I did catch a few of the season opener MLB games in Tokyo, but it was all in Japanese). I spent much of this past weekend catching up on my TiVo'd shows.

4) Jeans & tennis shoes. We are expected to dress up for work in Japan so that meant a month of dress slacks, silk blouses, blazers and heels. Ugh! I am so happy to be wearing jeans and comfy shoes to work.

Things from Japan I miss....
1) Heated toilet seats (they are really awesome!)
2) Learning lots of Japanese cause not many folks spoke English.
3) Maid service. The best part of hotel life is they make your bed everyday!
4) Udon & Ramen noodles for lunch at the cafeteria every day. Hey, I lost 10 pounds in Japan so the inexpensive noodle lunches can't be that bad.

Home Sweet Home

2008-04-06T13:47:00.000-07:00

I'm home. I am not sure what day or what time it is, but I am home.

Amazingly, the cats still recognize me.

Amoungst the Masses

2008-03-31T19:51:00.000-07:00

Weekend #2 in Japan was a sunny and warm two days and I along with what seemed like the rest of Tokyo went outside and explored.

I took the long train ride from Yokohama up to the northeast of Tokyo to a neighborhood called Asakusa. Located here was another shrine area which seemed promising. I arrived at the front Kaminari-mon, a huge gate with a large red lantern. What I didn't expect was the sheer mass of people who were also there visiting. Inside the gate, there was this gauntlet-like street lined with touristy trinkets and other bizarre wares for sale. It seemed a little strange to have so much commercialism leading up to a religious temple, especially after the beautiful sereneness of the Meiji Shrine I visited last weekend.

Once in the inner courtyard, the rituals started.... First you went to one sport were there were small drawers and a silver canister. You shook the canister until a long thin stick popped out. On that stick was something written in Japanese. You matched the writing on the stick to a specific drawer and took out the piece of paper inside. I only briefly read my slip of paper, but it struck me no different than a horoscope fortune in the morning newspaper. After reading the fortune, you rolled it up and tied it to a bar... that is assuming you want your fortune to come true. New to this temple was the incense pot. One would take a rolled up tube of some sorts and turn it into a pot to get it smoldering. Then you took the tube over to a large cauldron where you put the tube in and then stand there waving the smoke at you. Apparently this is a ritual folks use for health. Those that are ailing do this for good health. Not sure how sucking in a bunch of incense fumes helps your health?!The Temple itself was a lot smaller than the Meiji shrine from last weekend with about 3 times more people. I am not sure how you find peace and spirituality with throwing a few coins in a box and praying for a minute or two, but I guess these folks would probably look at our US religious customs just as strangely.

Since the area just outside of the Temple seemed more like a large festival than a religious venue, it was pretty easy to find some good street food. That means Yakatori or small skewers of grilled meat and a soda. I lucked out and found a Yakatori stand with English menus and sat down in the tent and ordered myself a few chicken skewers. Delicious! After eating, I wandered around the nearby neighborhoods seeing life outside of the tourist traps. I liked this wandering so much better than the touristy areas. To me, this is the real Tokyo. without the swarming masses and crappy trinkets for sale. I made it as far as Kappabashi-dori, the street where they sell the plastic food dishes used at most restaurants in town. They are amazingly good recreations and also incredibly expensive.

After wandering, I headed for the Sumida River and a long river cruise down the river towards downtown Tokyo. I thought it might be nice to see a bit of Tokyo from somewhere other than a rail or subway station. The boat was crowded on a sunny Saturday, but I managed to find a seat near an open window. Unfortunately, a group of folks who insisted on feeding the nearby seagulls were also near me and for about half the cruise, you couldn't take a single photo due to the 30 or so seagulls flying y my window looking for a free handout. What made it worse was the touristas all taking photos of the gulls. Idiots! I hope they enjoy looking through their 100 photos they took of Seagulls while in Japan. Guh!

Once we got rid of the gulls the boat ride was nice, but nothing special, until the boat docked at our departing station, the beautiful Hama-Rikyu Gardens. Not major bloom-age of cherry blossoms yet (that comes in one week), but the plum trees had bloomed and there was a field full of yellow flowers. It was a nice walk through the gardens and a nice way to end a hectic day full of touristy kitsch and a ton of my fellow Tokyo-ians.

Sunday will have to be another post.....

PS: More photos can be found at my Smugmug site.

Two Notes

2008-03-26T10:02:00.000-07:00

First, up..... a little earth movement here in Tokyo.

I thought I just had a dizzy spell at lunch the other day. Turns out, it was a mild earthquake. No one in the lunchroom even blinked an eye.

Moderate earthquake shakes eastern Japan
Agence France-Presse
First Posted 12:31:00 03/24/2008

TOKYO -- A moderate earthquake with a magnitude of 5.3 shook eastern Japan on Monday, the meteorological agency said.

There were no immediate reports of damage.

The earthquake was 40 kilometers (25 miles) deep with an epicenter in the Pacific Ocean off Fukushima prefecture, some 200 kilometers (125 miles) north of Tokyo.

The tremor was lightly felt in the capital, rattling buildings in the heart of the metropolis.

Japan experiences 20 percent of the world's major earthquakes.

Second.... The Red Sox won their opening season game last night here in Tokyo in the 10th inning. The good news was that Japanese TV showed the entire regular game. Unfortunately, I don't think Japanese TV accounted for possible extra innings and they went back to regular programming after the 9th inning. So, I didn't get to see the end of the game. Bummer! But YAY for Win #1 of the new season!!!

ボストン・レッドソックス

2008-03-24T16:17:00.000-07:00

Heh. That Japanese text up there says... "Boston Red Sox" (I think?!). Yup, baseball's opening day is here.

Sunday, I was able to watch the last spring training game for the Red Sox.... here in Japan. The Sox were playing an exhibition game against one of the Japanese teams. Very fun!

On Tuesday evening, the Red Sox will open the season versus the Oakland A's here in Tokyo. Unfortunately, I could not get tickets for these two games as baseball, especially American baseball, is very popular here.

So, I will watch the game on TV. The good thing about that will be that I don't have to get up at 6am to watch the game like those poor soles in Boston. The bad, TV here in Japan pretty much sucks and they only block out 2 hours for the game. If the game is not over, they just switch programming to whatever inane Japanese variety program is scheduled to be on. It is bizzare to be watching JD Drew hit a grand slam at one moment and then the very next minute, there is a bunch of Japanese people screaming on some game game show. No more baseball unless you are watching the pay TV channels.

There are Way To Many People Here

2008-03-22T05:34:00.000-07:00

I used to think New York City was a large city. That was until I came here to Tokyo. This place makes New York City look like a small mid-western town. Tokyo is claustrophobic; 34 million people sharing the space of Hawaii. Guh!

Work picked up at the end of last week. We had visitors galore, so there was lots of escorting, meetings, and business lunches and diners that went along with those visitors. Tuesday night, we went out with our customers and had Shabu Shabu, a Japanese type meal where you cook thinly sliced beef (or pork) & vegetables in a hot pan of water. If your thinking... hey, that sounds like fondue, well you would be right. It is very similar to fondue, just with a Asian slant to it. It is also like fondie in that it is a very fun and social meal. I also discovered plum wine that night and am now looking for a bottle to bring back to the states with me. Yummy!

Thursday was a National Holiday here in Japan. It was the spring equinox and in celebration, everyone has the day off. And how was the weather on the first day of spring? Horrid. Cold, rainy, & windy! Welcome to spring everyone.... head indoors to your nearest mall. And man, they all did. I worked from the hotel that day and took lunch to walk through the mall connected to the hotel. Holy overcrowded batman! I couldn't even get near the Pokeman store. :-)

The weather got better for the weekend, but that is another post and hopefully it will come with more photos. The cherry blossoms are getting close to blooming.... one more week!!!!

Venturing Out

2008-03-17T17:08:00.000-07:00

I was informed recently that all I have posted on my trip to Japan so far were photos of toilets and my underwear. Hey, at least they were clean. Hee. Now I know there is more to Japan than their heated toilet seats and their impeccable laundry service, but for me, it is all part of the unique cultural experience I am having here.... so I post about it. Plus, I haven't gotten out of the hotel much due to long work hours and recovering from jet lag.

But, this past weekend, I headed out of Yokohama and braved the Tokyo subways. First stop was the Harajuku area and a visit to the Meiji-Jingu Shrine, the largest Shinto shrine in the country. Emporer Meiji (reign was 1868-1912) was the Japanese Emperor credited with Japan's modernisation and this temple was errected in honor of him and his wife, Empress Shoken. You enter the Shrine through the 36 foot high torii (gate), also the largest in Japan. The Shrine was re-built in 1958 after being destroyed during WWII. It is beautiful, but subdued.

The Shrine is also a very popular place for Shinto weddings as I soon found out. While I was there, there was one wedding group getting there photos taken, another wedding group in the midst of their ceremony, and several other groups waiting in the wings for their ceremony to begin. It was weird watching the ceremonys as you feel a bit like you are intruding on their special day; However, just like in the States, if you hold such an event in a popular tourist attraction, your gonna have to expect the gawkers and the photographers clicking away.

The bridal outfits were amazing, especially the brides hair which was dressed up in traditional Japaneses fashion. I couldn't tell you much else about the weddings other than they seemed like such serious events with very few smiles and very little of that party attitude you see at American weddings. Maybe that just comes later at the reception (if they even hold a reception... I have no idea).

After visiting the Meiji-Sjingu Shrine, I headed out of the park directly onto the Omotosando.... one of the few tree-lined streets and a swanky shopping district in Tokyo. I skipped all the stores like the GAP that I could easily find in the US and instead headed to the 6-level Kiddyland. This is one of the most popular toy stores in Japan and had an amazing assortment of insteresting toys and gadgets. I also stopped in at the Oriental Bazzar, which has many of the normal Japanese touristy items for sale including kimonos, fans, sake sets, etc....

After that, I was pretty exhausted, so I headed back to the train station to make my way home. I did make a train transfer at Shibuya and while there, headed out to the famous Hachiko crossing, the world's busiest pedestrian crossing. You have probably seen this crossing before in many movies and photos. It's like the Times Square of Tokyo. Every three minutes, a mass of people head in all directions across the intersection. I gather it is even more impressive at night, so I am trying to plan a trip there one night after work to get some photos of the crossing with all the neon, videos, and people.

About a 20 minute train ride and I was back at the hotel, thoroughly exhausted and physically tired. You forget how all the travel, noise, walking, and shopping wears you out, but I was glad to get out of the hotel area and explore a little bit.

You can see all my Japan photos so far at my Smugmug Site.

Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous

2008-03-15T17:31:00.000-07:00

While in Yokohama, I am staying at this swanky hotel on the top Executive floor. Its one of those hotels you need the special key card to access the top floors. It also has a separate check in area, breakfast and social areas and personal concierge and butlers. The only reason I am living the high life here is because my company has a special package deal with this hotel that includes rooms on the Executive level. Thank goodness for corporate credit cards. :-)

It's nice, but really, I am just a simple middle-class girl who is soooo not used to this type of lifestyle. I mean take a look at my laundry.... they individually wrapped each item of clothing, including the t-shirts and PJs. And they pressed everything including my undies. I don't think I have touched an iron in years and here I am getting my undies ironed by my personal butler & staff. Yikes!

If I ever get too used to this kind of lifestyle, please shoot me.

Can I fit one of these in my suitcase?

2008-03-14T04:34:00.001-07:00

Here are some photos of the wonderful toilets they have over here in Japan. Warmed toilet seats and built in bidets. This is the one in my hotel. The ones at work even have a button you can press to get some faux-flushing sounds. Not sure why you need faux-flushing sounds when you can just flush the actual toilet to get real flushing sounds. Weird. But I still want to take one of these home with me for the heated seats alone. Awesome!

Smile & Nod

2008-03-13T04:12:00.000-07:00

I'm still here in Japan. The jet lag has subsided some. I can now at least make it to 9pm before collapsing into bed. I haven't explored much beyond the hotel yet, mainly due to a lack of time. After 10 hours in the office then the commute, I am lucky to have enough time and energy to get in a quick workout and find something to eat.

My biggest anxiety about coming here was the language barrier, and it certainly has been a challenge. I have a few of the basic Japanese words and phrases down; "Good morning", "thank you", "excuse me", and the ever important "where is the toilet". But beyond that, communicating is difficult. At work, it is easier as most of the employees do speak a good bit of English. Beyond that though, a surprisingly few number of Japanese speak any English at all. When I ordered room service this evening, I asked what ice cream they had. The young lady on the other end of the line went through a list of three choices, of which, only one I could figure out after the third time through the (pistachio). I decided not to order any ice cream.

I have gotten very good at the "smile & nod" here. Shop keeps, hotel staff, the girls at the spa where I go swimming all babble off something at me in Japanese. I can tell that the phrases vary, but they are spoken so fast, I just can't pick out anything I recognize. I have no idea what they are saying. For all I know they could be calling me a fat American cow. I doubt it, giving their manners, but it is weird not knowing what they are saying or the proper response. I want to be polite back to them and not cause any offense, so how do you know what the proper response is when you don't know what is being said? See the frustration. So, I do the only thing I know.... smile and nod and keep going.

Don't get me wrong... I am not complaining.... just observing. The Japanese are an amazingly polite and well mannered society and all Americans should come here to learn a few things about customer service. The service here is simply impeccable. I just wish I knew more of the language so I didn't look like such a damn bobble head doll with all the smiling and nodding.

Jetlag....

2008-03-10T16:37:00.000-07:00

Sucks!

Man, I was tired last night. I did manage to find a cash machine and get some Yen. Found a cute little convenient store where I bought a coke (Thank goodness for coke's worldwide presence!). I also managed to find a restaurant with an English menu. Had a Japanese beer then went to my room, collapsed, and slept for 11 hours.

Loosing Time in Tokyo

2008-03-09T22:23:00.000-07:00

I'm in Tokyo. Lost a day getting here and I have a bit of jetlag, but I am here.

First impressions.... efficient, grey, industrial, not that pretty, sprawling, extremely organized, neon, polite, headrest doilies & warm toilet seats. Headrest doilies? I'll get to that in a second.

Efficient - After landing and getting off the airplane, it literally took no more than 15 minutes to walk the length of the concourse, get through immigration, get a luggage cart and my luggage, go through customs, find the airport limosine buses, purchase a ticket, and be on the bus headed for my hotel. I have never seen so much effieciency and I love it. The limo buses come a mere 5 minutes apart headed for destinations all over Tokyo. You line up in the corresponding line to your destination, two luggage handlers tag your bags, and when the bus comes, you get on and the baggage handlers get your luggage on the same bus.

I suspect this place has to have this level of punctuality and efficiency since Tokyo is so large (one of the largest cities in the world) or else everything here would collapse into gridlock and pandemonium. I just can't even imagine New York City running to this degree. Thing happen in NYC by brute force... people just do it and make it work. But if something goes wrong... eh, no big deal. That "no big deal" attitude just doesn't seem to exsist here in Japan. It was all very
impressive.

The bus ride was loooooong. I was going from Narita Airport to Yokohama on the far side of Tokyo from each other. Jetlag was setting in. I was sleepy but trying to stay awake to get on Japan time as quickly as possible. We passed most of Tokyo on the way, including Tokyo Disneyland and from the view from the bus, it seems such a vast, large, and sprawling city.
I never really figured out where Tokyo ended and Yokohama began. It is also a very industrial town. Smoke stack, factories, and port after port along the coast. I realized this morning that there just wasn't a lot of green to be found. It is a very grey town with lots of tall block apartment buildings. Maybe its because it is early march here and still winter, but I just didn't see many trees anywhere along the route from the airport to the hotel.

OK.... the headrest doilies. It seems like all the cars & buses have them. I am not even sure what they are called, but they are these white doily material things that fit over the headrests and armrests on the cars and buses. Its like my grandmother got a hold of all the cars and buses over here and crochetted little headrest doilies for all of them. I'll try to get a photo of these so you can see what I mean.

Jet lag had kicked in big time by the time I had hit the hotel. I don't really remember much about the next hour or so except that I am on the 25th floor of this really nice hotel overlooking the harbor in Yokohama. My floor is a special floor with its own elevator and its own breakfast/ social gathering area. At night, from above, the city gets prettier. All the neon lights stand out in the darkness and all that grey industrial-ness disappears. It is very pretty. There is an old-time amusement park with lots of twrily neon lights near the hotel. I may explore there one night with the camera to see what I can come up with photo-wise.

Ah... the toilet seats here are sent from heaven. They are heated and the toilets come with built-in bidets. My mom would love it. How on earth am I ever expected to go back to non-heated toilet seats now that I have sat on the heated ones?

I'm With Stupid!

2008-03-07T09:14:00.000-08:00

I seem to be losing my mind. I've pulled to boneheaded moves this past week. First, while getting dressed after swimming the other evening, I managed to put my underwear on wrong. Not inside out or backwards... we are talking the legs in the wrong holes. I was trying to get dressed in a postage stamp sized stall while not dropping any of my clean clothes on the wet & dirty floor. Basically, trying to be a human pretzel. But still, one leg opening of my undies was around my waist. How did I screw up so badly on that.

Then last night. As I was combing through my closet trying to pick out clothes to pack for my Japan trip, I somehow managed to hit myself with a wooden hanger right between the eyes. And we are not talking a little tap; it was hard enough to bruise and leave a bump this morning.

Now, I know I am extremely distracted and stressed with this upcoming month-long trip to Japan, but still....

Quiz Answers

2008-03-01T07:59:00.000-08:00

Number 1... This was probably the hardest one of the 3. What is it? If you look closely at the middle of the 5 large Saturn 5 rocket engines on the photo on the right, you can see where I zoomed in to take the photo.

Number 2 was the easy one of the three. Yes, they are space shuttle tiles.

The last one was tough, but doable. Someone guesses something wet... which was true. And someone guessed a bird, which was also true (but not a crane). Its the back of a Pelican. We went fishing one day in Miami and the Pelicans came in a swarm when we docked looking for free fish handouts. Its like they were just stepping up to the counter with their order.

Janet is....

2008-02-28T16:30:00.000-08:00

Learning. I am trying to learn a bit of Japanese before heading off to Tokyo for a month. It seems like a fairly easy language to speak.... very hooked on phonics kind of pronunciation. But I am not even gonna attempt to write this language. All those characters... eek! Of course, its all those characters that somehow has me all intimidated about my up coming trip to Japan. I have lived in friggin' New York City, but I am a little scared of Tokyo. I am pretty sure it is the language barrier that is causing the anxiety.

Purchasing. After my old Minolta digital SLR conked out on me down in Miami, I broke down last night and bought the Canon 40D that I had my eye on. It was time and I'll have the Tokyo trip to get used to the new toy. I traded in most of my entire Minolta camera set which included 1 camera body, 4 lenses, and a gaggle of other accessories. Unfortunately, due to the digital bodies recent fit, I was unable to t5rade it in... and it was by far the most valuable thing in my Minolta collection. Crap. I got in return (plus a some added dinero) and Canon 40D body, a 17-85 IS lens, and a 28-300 IS super zoom lens. Its a start and I am looking forward to trying it out.

Reading. A while back, I read Cormack McCarthy's The Road. I really loved the book even though it is a bit grim. I really liked the way in which McCarthy tells his stories; not your normal style of storytelling prose. So, I am now reading his No Country for Old Men. I heard the movie (now an Academy Award winner) was a bit violent and to an extent the book is too, but I guess not any greater in violence than any Bourne movie I've seen recently. Of course, the main difference is that a lot of the violence in this book is that horrible random acts of violence kind. It's disturbing. Even more disturbing is that there are probably actually folks like this out there in real life. It's a good book so far and I am enjoying reading it.

Cooking. Tonight I am making Cincinnati Style Chili. I am having a diner party tomorrow night and the guest of honor is a friend, who like me, grew up in Ohio. So Cincy chili it is. I LOVE the stuff, but it can be an acquired taste. Its not like the chili most people eat. It is basically a meat-y spaghetti sauce kind of spiced chili that you put over spaghetti or make into coney dogs.... my favorite. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. Can't wait!

Pop Quiz!

2008-02-26T09:30:00.000-08:00

Today is pop quiz time.
Can you tell me what the item in each photo is?

Answers will come later this week.

Japan Bound

2008-02-25T08:00:00.000-08:00

I found out last week from my boss that I will be headed to Tokyo, Japan for a month long business trip. I get back from Miami, have two weeks at home, then head across the Pacific for a month. Yikes!

The good: I'll be there during the cherry blossoms time. The bad: my poor kitties are gonna forget what I look like!

In other news, American Airlines dropped off my "delayed" bag yesterday.

LOST

2008-02-24T12:02:00.000-08:00

Congrats to American Airlines for being the first airline to loose my luggage. Technically, it is only "delayed", but since we are approaching 24 hours after my arrival and I have yet to hear from them, I gonna call it lost until proved wrong.

And what the heck was that craptastic display of airport operations in DFW yesterday? We arrive and are headed to our gate. Oops, gate change. Now lets taxi to the other side of the airport. Opps, there is still a plane in our gate. Wait. Wait. Wait. Oops, the plane has left but where is the crew to tow the airplane into the gate? Wait. Wait. Wait some more. Oops, where is the gate agent to bring out the jetway to meet the airplane? Wait. Wait. Wait some more. Finally get off the airplane with about 5 minutes to catch my connecting flight and I am directed to the tram to go across the airport (our original gate was only 4 away from my connecting gate). Get on the tram and go one stop. Oops, this tram is going out of service.... please get off the the next stop. Crap!

By some miracle, I made the flight just in time (I was paged with a "last call"), but needless to say, my luggage did not make the flight.

So, I already HATE United Airlines and American Airlines certainly did nothing to endear it to me yesterday. Which US airline am I supposed to fly now?

Gone Fishin'

2008-02-22T07:49:00.000-08:00

Today is our last day of training. We finished everything we had to do early, so we are headed over to Miami Beach where a few of us are going fishing. I've been fishing before, but never successfully caught a fish. I just hope the ocean is relatively peaceful cause I am not looking forward to hurling over the side of another boat on this Miami trip.

Yesterday after work, we went out to the Everglades and caught an air boat ride. It was fun, but I wish the boat could have gone a bit faster; we kinda just putted along for most of the trip. We did see more alligators and turtles and birds and it was a beautiful sunset as we were boating along, so it was all-in-all good. I've always wanted to go on an air boat ride, so I am now able to cross that off my life's "To Do" list.

Photos of the air boat ride and the fishing will hopefully be coming soon.

Key Largo

2008-02-17T06:20:00.000-08:00

Business trips to Miami in February are so rough.....

We have the weekend free here in Miami, so yesterday, I headed to Key Largo along with a fellow co-worker. One of our other co-workers had headed down there Friday night and got a room at a nice Marriott resort on Key Largo and we joined him on Saturday morning. The two gents wanted to go scuba diving in the John Pennencamp Marine Sanctuary, so I tagged along. I don't have a diving certification, so I snorkeled instead.

We climbed in the boat and headed out to the Atlantic and the shallow reefs south of Key Largo. First stop was a sunken World War 2 U-boat. It was used as target practice after it sunk so the boat was pretty blown apart, but I could still see the wreckage even from floating along the water's surface about 30-40 feet above the sunken shipwreck.

Loved snorkeling through the bubbles from the divers below; it was like a mini massage. The seas were a bit rough however, and my weak little stomach didn't like the constant tossing and motion either in the boat or floating in the sea. Let's just say I don't have to count those calories from lunch and I fed the fish well that day. Yuck, I know!

The best part however came when waiting to get back on the boat. I had been the last person off the boat into the water cause i wanted to let all the divers with their heavy gear get into the water first. So, when it came to getting back on the boat, I again waited for all the divers to get on the rope line and head back in. As I was treading water nearby, one of the dive guides all ready on the boat shouted, "Sarah behind you.... Dolphins!". I turned around immediately and saw fins, but when I looked underwater, I could not see the dolphins. So, I swam towards them. I looked underwater again, and holy mackerel batman..... there were about 7-8 dolphins all swimming together right in front of me! My guess is that they were about 5-10 yards away; they felt so close I actually reached out as if I could touch them. I couldn't believe what I was seeing... a pod of wild dolphins swimming right in front of me. I really wish I had an underwater camera right about that time. Oh well, that image will be marked forever in the memories in my head. Very cool!

The second dive stop was called French Reef and was pretty cool from above, but the sun had hidden behind some clouds it seemed so much colder in the water without the sun. Plus no dolphins. Hee. Once we were back on shore, we got dried off and headed to dinner at a cute little Mexican place right on the water. Again, the temperature was perfect... not too cold and not too hot. I headed back to Miami after dinner and a little over an hour later I was in my hotel room.

I think I really like Key Largo.

I have a few more photos of my day in Key Largo at my Smugmug site.

Miami

2008-02-14T14:52:00.000-08:00

I've been here almost a week and really haven't seen more than the immediate area around the Miami Airport. Fun, I know! The class I'm here for is located near the airport and so is my hotel, so I just haven't had much time to venture beyond the airport area. A few of us are headed out tonight to Coconut Grove, FL for dinner. The restaurant is on the waterfront, so hopefully, it will be nice. The weather is certainly very nice.

I finally got all my photos from Kennedy Space center off the camera, so I hope to have some of those for you soon.

The diet has been a challenge while here in Miami. Hotel rooms are just not conducive to eating healthy. I have been doing ok meal-wise, but certainly not as well as I was doing before I left. They do have a workout room here and a pool, so I have been trying to workout after the training class each day. The pool is not a lap pool, so I have had to create a lane to swim in... kinda angling along the longest length of the pool's dimensions. Fun! My goal in this two weeks is to, at a minimum, maintain the 15 pounds I had lost prior to heading to Miami.

Happy Valentines Day!

Am I Still in the USA?

2008-02-09T19:31:00.000-08:00

I've landed in Miami and it is hot here. Ugh! Also, I think I am the only person here not speaking Spanish so I had to wonder if I was even still in the States.

Lift Off!

2008-02-08T10:03:00.000-08:00

The Space Shuttle lifted off from Florida yesterday at 2:45pm eastern time. Poop! That will probably be the closest i'll ever get to seeing a shuttle take off.

Oh well. I leave for Miami tomorrow bright and early. Pray for a smooth transfer at DFW cause I only have a 45 minute layover. Yikes! Also pray my luggage also makes the transfer, cause Miami without clothes could be interesting.

A few of my co-workers and I still plan on driving up to Kennedy Space Center on Sunday to see the site and take a tour. Should be a fun way to spend the day.

Janet is.....

2008-02-04T14:52:00.000-08:00

Enjoying: The fun that was Superbowl Sunday. I didn't really care who won the game, but I was thrilled it was close and exciting. Bravo to the Giants for a great game and bravo to Eli Manning for stepping out of his big bro's shadow.

I hosted a party for the game and we had a great time grilling out on the deck, socializing, and cheering on the game. And I actually had guests who helped me clean up before they left. How nice is that?!!

Replacing: My trusty old Foodsaver Vacuum Sealer finally bit it and went to the 'ol kitchen appliance heaven in the sky. Poor thing just couldn't hold its seal anymore. But since I LOVE my vacuum sealer and save so much money in keeping food unspoiled (especially cheese), I went out and bought a new Foodsaver unit.

Traveling: Next week, I am headed to Miami, FL for a two-week business trip. Miami in February! Rough, I know. I am looking forward to the training class as I think it will be a great learning opportunity, but I am also looking forward to a few of the off-work hours activities. I am taking my camera and hope to spend some time in the Everglades National Park and maybe the Florida Keys.

Hoping: I have always wanted to see a Space Shuttle launch live and in person. To see the shuttle clear the tower and hear and feel the roar of the rockets as they lift the Shuttle into Space would be awesome. Unfortunately, I arrive in Florida 3 days to late, so here's hoping that the Shuttle launch gets delayed until Feb 10th (shuttle is set to launch on Feb 7th @ 2:45pm). Hey NASA, a launch anytime on Sunday the 10th would be best for me, so pleasepleaseplease delay until then. :-) If NASA can't accomodate me, then my co-worker and I still plan on heading up to Kennedy Space Center for a tour of the facility.

Purchasing: I have been using my old trusty iPod during workouts for a while now and have found it to be just so big and bulky. It's way to big to clip onto the workout gear and I certainly don't need the 2,000 plus songs the large iPod holds. So I visited the always fun Apple Store and got myself this cute little iPod Shuffle. It perfectly holds my workout playlist and weighs next to nothing. I also got an armband and some new earphones that actually may stay in my midget sized ears. I also spent a few minutes drooling over the MacBook Air.... *sigh*.

Pats vs. Giants

2008-01-31T15:36:00.000-08:00

The Superbowl is almost here and even though I am not that into professional football, the Superbowl is always a good reason for a party. Bad food and funny commercials with good friends usually makes up for the non-exciting game on TV.

So I am hosting a Superbowl party at my place with friends from work. My only goal is to make it through the day without entirely blowing my diet. I am planning on working out the three days leading up to Sunday to make up for the extra food I will be eating during the party.

Not sure who to root for. I was rooting for the Giants to beat the Packers two weeks ago mainly cause I really like the Mannings. I adore Peyton and am glad to see Eli with this chance to step out of his big brother's shadow. But being a big Boston Red Sox, I, by default, like the Pats. I can't help it. Plus it was just be awesome for the Pats to finish their undefeated season with a Superbowl win. So, since I can't decide who to root for, I plan on just enjoying the game and hoping it won't be blowout.

Over the Hump

2008-01-26T13:55:00.000-08:00

I've been at this "non-diet" eating healthy, getting fit thing for 25 days now and so far things are going really well. After loosing a quick 6 pounds, I found myself gaining 2 pounds early in the 2nd week. Ugh! But instead of getting upset and going on a binge of eating, I pushed through it, continued working out and eating well. Now that I am over that 2nd week dieting hump, I am now down 11 pounds. YAY!

I definitely feel better and have more energy, but haven't yet seen a reduction in size, although I have a long way to go, so an 11-pound loss may not show up this soon.

I've added swimming to the exercising routine to try and relieve some of the pressure off the joints. There is a pool nearby in my neighborhood and they have lap swims most nights. I've also been adjusting the diet to lower calorie foods. It's amazing what you discover when you start reading the nutrition panel on the back of the food products.

Janet is.....

2008-01-22T08:50:00.000-08:00

Reading: Currently working through Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris. A subtly funny book about life in the corporate world during a time of layoffs.

Buying: A Tokidoki by LeSportsac purse. I happened by the display in Macys and fell in love with these cute purses with adorable Japanese style designs. Its the most I have ever paid for a purse, but I have gotten so many complements on it. My design is slightly different than the one shown here. My design is called Transporto and has all modes of transportation on it from high speed rail to hot air balloon to skateboard.

Cooking: In my current effort at eating healthier and loosing weight, I discovered this recipe for Oven Fried Chicken. I made it last night for myself and some friends who were over watching the football games. The chicken came out quite well and is fairly good for you.

Pondering: I currently have a Minolta Maxxum 5D Digital SLR, but due to Minolta's exit from the camera world, I am looking to finally make the leap over to Canon equipment. Which means basically starting over.... I really like this little baby pictured here. A Canon 40D Digital SLR. Great rating with lots of features.

Watching: I caught the new show, Terminator: Sarah Conner Chronicles on Fox the other night and to my surprise, it was good. Along with the rest of the world, I had seen the 3 Terminators movies and this TV show nicely fits, plot-wise, into the Terminator world. I also must add that the kid playing 15 year old John Conner in hte TV series has an amazing similarity to the actor, Michael Biehn, who played Kyle Reese, John's father, in the very first Terminator movie. It's good fun for TV and I am enjoying watching.

More Eagles

2008-01-21T10:39:00.000-08:00

I was able to work on my eagle photos late last night (I'm struggling with severe bouts of insomnia recently) and I got them posted on my Smugmug site. They are not the best photos as the eagles were so far away, but there are a few decent ones.

Enjoy!

The Eagles Have Landed

2008-01-20T19:55:00.001-08:00

Yesterday, I traveled up north a bit to Washington's Skagit Valley to photograph the eagles. Every winter around this time of year, hundreds of bald eagles descend upon the tiny Skagit Valley to feast on the spawning salmon. I'd always wanted to go see the eagles when I lived in Seattle the first time, but never did. This time around, I wasn't gonna waste the opportunity.

So, I packed up my gear and headed off into the rain. That rain turned to snow as I climbed up the valley towards Rockport, WA. Much of the river between Rockport and Marblemount, WA is protected eagle area and apparently a prime salmon spawning area, which makes ripe feeding grounds for the eagles. This time of year is at the end of the eagle season as most of the eagles are transiting through the area from Alaska and Canada. Plus, this year was an off year with low eagle counts. They had the current count yesterday at 162 eagles while last years count was upwards 600+ eagles. I was told it all depends on the salmon and how well the salmon runs are year to year. On a peak year, there can be over 800 eagles in this five mile stretch of river. That's the largest concentration of eagles anywhere in the USA. Amazing!

Once at Rockport, I walked over to the bridge over the Skagit River and pretty quickly saw several eagles perched in the trees and flying overhead. Although it was snowing on and off and pretty cold, I was able to see many eagles and photograph them. They certainly are beautiful and majestic creatures and it is good to see them thriving so well.

Unfortunately for the photography side of things, the weather (rain & snow), made photographing difficult and the eagles we did see were somewhat far away. Despite that, I was able to get a few good photos and I learned a few things that will help if I get to come back next year.

Welcome to Hollywood

2008-01-16T16:00:00.000-08:00

Was I the only person in America last night that wasn't watching American Idol last night? Good grief! 33 million Americans tuned into the opening night of the new season (what are we on now...season 6?) of Fox's American Idol.

Since getting extremely wrapped up in Idol during season's 2 battle between Clay and Ruben, I have since only casually watched the show and haven't picked up a phone to vote. I am well over my Clay infatuation that consumed my life in the 2 years after Season 2 ended and even though I still enjoy his music, I have moved on from both Clay and American Idol. Mind you, I have no regrets for that time period as I made some great friends, took some very fun road trips, and learned lots of great lessons, especially about internet fandoms.

So, American Idol won't be on my DVR Season Pass this season. I am breaking away from flock of sheep....

I Am Legend

2008-01-14T15:15:00.001-08:00

I saw the movie, I Am Legend, yesterday. This movie is based off a 1954 novel of the same name by Richard Matheson and has been previously made into 2 other movies, 1964's The Last Man on Earth and 1971's The Omega Man.

The Movie follows Robert Neville, a US Army Corporal and virologist, who seems to be the last healthy and uninfected man in creepy and very empty New York City. We see Neville go about his day to day routine of finding food, researching a cure for the virus, and battling the remaining infected (and rather alien looking) inhabitants of New York. Through a series of flashbacks, we get filled in on how the virus started, the quarantine of Manhattan, and Neville's attempt to get his family out of the city.

I really enjoyed the movie although a few scenes were a heck of lot scarier than I would have liked, but the movie kept its pace well and kept me on the edge of my seat. A very good and suspenseful thriller. I've walked or driven many of those NYC streets they showed in the movie, so it was particularly unsettling to see them so empty and overgrown from non-use. Yikes!

I liken this movie to Castaway with Will Smith and his lovable dog Sam romping around NYC replacing Tom Hanks and Wilson the Volleyball romping around some isolated pacific island. And like Hanks, Will Smith did an amazing job with mostly only a dog to act against.

TGIF

2008-01-11T16:28:00.000-08:00

This is one of those days I could easily skip the whole workout thing after work. Its the end of a long week and I am tired. Add to that, I feel a cold coming on (damn!) and I am a bit achy in the joints.

The old me would have gone home, changed into PJs, eaten an entire pizza, and then climbed under the comforters. That was the old me. The new me is determined to get healthy, so I am headed to the workout place for an hour of exercise despite just not feeling motivated to workout today.

I may still have a slice of pizza later tonight after working out, but it will only be a slice and it will be after the workout, not in lieu of the workout.

Off I go......

A Good Start

2008-01-10T10:04:00.000-08:00

I am one week into my new health & fitness program (I'm not gonna use the word "diet") and I've lost 6 pounds. YAY!! I know that seems like a lot, but believe me, I started with a lot of poundage and I have a long way to go. But at least it is progress in the right direction.

Thoughts so far:

1) Why are bicycle seats so damn uncomfortable? My butt is the one really sore body part after 40 minutes of stationary bike riding the other day.

2) I don't think I can ween myself off the coke just yet. I am down to 1 coke a day which really is a accomplishment for me. However, the two days I went without coke at all, I severely struggled to get up the next morning. Like slept through my alarm struggled. Ugh!

3) Salad isn't half bad.

4) Still haven't developed that taste for water, but I am drinking a lot more of it than before.

5) I've found that I don't like being at home cause the fridge is just to tempting. I'd rather be at the gym after work than come home early to the temptation. I take that as a good thing.

6) Whoever invented that elliptical machine should be shot. That thing is torture (and I've only been able to survive 5 minutes on it).

7) Onward to the 2nd week......

So Far So Good

2008-01-07T08:29:00.001-08:00

The new health program is going well so far. The first week was a tough transition, especially the one coke a day thing. Not that I was grumpy, but I found myself sooo tired during the week and struggling to get out of bed each day. But I got some good rest this weekend and Monday morning wasn't so bad.... only one snooze button.

I thought this weekend was gonna be difficult being at home with a tempting fridge full of food, but I did ok. I was able to cut the food calorie intake by roughly 500-1000 calories over the weekend. I did some grocery shopping and picked up a whole bunch of healthy foods with a lot of fruits and broccoli. There were a lot of tempting stuff I put back on the shelf after reading the nutrition panel on the item. Yikes, there are lots of calories out there in food. Even in so called "healthy" food, I found some very high calories. Like the Lean Cuisine pizza that had more calories than the Red Baron "regular" pizza. I was able to enjoy a Panera lunch and still stay relatively healthy with a 1/2 of Assagio Roastbeef sandwhich and some fat-free chicken noodle soup. Yum....

I overdid the Friday evening workout a bit (hips!), so I took it easy these past two days and will start back at the exercise today. I also haven't tried to pool thing out yet. I got the goggles and swim cap, but I need a new swim suit. I have swim gear, but they are the fancy, cute kind of suite that aren't really designed for swimming laps. Unfortunately, it is a little early in the season for the stores to stock the swim gear. I need to look around a bit more though.

I am also still looking for a good 30 minute aerobic workout that works your abs, back, and arms. Most of the machines are so geared towards you legs. I'll have to ask the fitness center staff about that.

But overall, things are going well. I am starting to feel better overall and even the pants had a bit of ease to them this morning.

Resolutions

2008-01-04T12:18:00.000-08:00

To many, New Year Resolutions are dread. What am I gonna have to live without for the upcoming year... or month... or week for most folks.

I'm sure diets are the most popular resolution, and for me, this is my only resolution for 2008. Yes, I am headed for diet-land. After a lot of "I'm approaching my 40th birthday and I fell like crap everyday" soul-searching in December, I decided that this was gonna be the year I get into shape. I am not necessarily focused on "diet", but on just getting healthier and feeling better.

For me, this is a three-pronged approach.

1) Reducing the intake of Coke. Gasp! I know! I love coke and will readily admit I am addicted to the stuff. But there is no way that crap can be good for you. I don't think I can quite cold-turkey and I still need my morning does of caffeine (and I hate coffee), so I am limiting myself to 1 coke a day. Plus, I am not allowing myself to buy that case of coke for the home fridge.... just too tempting. I can get my one coke a day at the cafeteria at my work place.

2) Eating Healthier. Not necessarily a diet as in the traditional sense, but trying to cut the fatty, processed, & carbs food down. I started a food journal and now count calories. It is amazing to discover how many calories are in something as simple as 1 tablespoon of ranch dressing. By counting the calories of what I am eating, it certainly makes you re-think your food choices.

I am not putting myself on any kind of calorie limit per day, cause I just think that leads to a quick failure. Instead, I looked at my normal daily calorie intake back in December and am trying to work to cutting that down by 500 calories a day, especially in the fatty processed food department. My normal caloric intake was in the 2500-3500 range, so I think I can easily drop 500 calories a day without feeling deprived. It takes 3500 calories to equal one pound, so by cutting 500 calories per day, I could drop a pound a week.

3) The final step is to get in shape. I joined my companies activity center prior to the holidays and have also checked out the local indoor pool. I'm gonna start the exercising slow due to my arthritis, but I want to work up to working out 4-5 times a week for 1-1/2 to 2 hours. I started on Wednesday with about an hour of exercise; 30 minutes of treadmill and a 30 minute step class. I did pretty good and wasn't too sore the next day, so I will stick to an hour of exercise for a week or two before adding more.

I also found this website, which is a great resource for calorie-counting and calorie-burning. They have a nice large database on the calories in most foods and the calories you burn in exercising. I have found this site very helpful for my food journal.

So, three days into this, I am doing ok. First day was great, 2nd day was a struggle (due more to a bit of PMS than anything), and I am back on track today. I'll keep you posted as I progress.

Happy 2008!!!

2008-01-02T10:08:00.001-08:00

I am back from our families holiday vacation. Everything got so busy right before the break with lots to do and parties and just the business that comes with the season.

I flew down to Albuquerque, NM where I met up with the rest of the family and we headed up north to the Taos area for a week of skiing, snowmobiling, and shopping. We had a great time and, as always, spoiled my nieces and nephews rotten.

Got back from a long week and was just too tired to celebrate the new year, so I just slept in and relaxed watching football games.

I hope all of you had a great holiday and are refreshed and relaxed and ready for a fabulous 2008!

Quiz Time!

2007-12-19T09:39:00.000-08:00

Which Sesame Street Character Are You?
	You are part Big Bird. You are something of an eccentric, and not everyone always gives you credit for your inventiveness and intelligence. You may not always know everything, but people turn to you for your sound, unique logic. Plus, you have a big heart. Really big.
	You are part Elmo. You are lovable and ticklish, and always inquisitive. Sometimes, though, your excitement about the world can make you seem childish, naive, and occasionally irritating to others.
Find Your Character @ BrainFall.com

"....unique logic" & "occasionally irritating to others." Yup, that seems about right. :-)

O Tannenbaum

2007-12-19T09:11:00.000-08:00

I'm weird. I know most of y'all already know this about me, but I bet you didn't know I have a weird Christmas Tree fetish. Hee.

I like Christmas tress. I have a Christmas tree in every room of my house with the exception of the laundry room. But I don't have normal green trees, I have funky & colorful trees.
Above is the tree I have in my bedroom. It is made of white feathers and has lighthouse ornaments all over it (to match my lighthouse decorated bedroom).
Above is the bright gold tree I have in my spare bathroom. It has Georgia Tech & Buzz ornaments on it. I love this tree!!! I am still looking for an appropriate GA Tech tree topper for this tree.
Next is the shimmering multi-colored fiber-optic lighted silver tree in my kitchen. Decorations are simple blue-hued glass balls cause the highlight of this tree is the fiber-optic lights. Awesome!!!
Above is the tree I have in my master bathroom. It is lime green (w/ green lights) and has handmade swirly patterned ornaments on it to match the swirly patterns in my bath.
And finally, this is my tree in my living room. It has African decorations on it as well as African animal print boxes below it. Plus, I took a throw blanket I had and used it as a tree skirt.
And these are my awesome Baobob trees from Africa all decorated up in the holiday spirit. I forgot to take a photo of the tree in my spare bedroom, but be assured that it is also decorated up to match the US Southwest/Mexican theme of my spare bedroom (compete with little pepper ornaments).

And finally..... A while back I had asked for suggestions for photos for my mantle. After taking into consideration all the feedback that everyone provided, I realized I just couldn't make a decision on any of my African photos. So, I went another route as you can see below.....
I bought three African made baskets from one of my favorite stores, 10,000 Villages, and hung them over the mantle. I like the end result and got a lot of compliments at my party this past Saturday. The track lighting in the living room is also new.

Christmas Plans

2007-12-18T15:46:00.000-08:00

My work party on Saturday (that I hosted) went very well. The weather could have been a heck of lot less windy, but we all had tons of food and drink and laughter. However, spilling your drink on your boss not once, but twice, probably isn't the best career growth move. :-) I was mentally and physically exhausted on Sunday and more than realized I am not 25 anymore where I can party all night and stay up until 2am. My body just won't allow that anymore.

Things are still end-of-the-year busy with tons of work stuff and parties and xmas gift shopping. ACK! I finally got the presents off to UPS and YIKES!, that was expensive to ship. I haven't had any time to even think about our upcoming family trip to Red River, NM. I'm looking forward to hanging with my nieces and nephews, doing a bit of snowmobiling, and just relaxing for the week. Next year is sure to be busy, so the break now is needed to re-energize.

Busy, Busy, Busy

2007-12-10T18:55:00.001-08:00

I realize I haven't posted much lately, but this December seems to just be flying by. A list of things to do a mile long is keeping me quite occupied. Fixing up the condo with Christmas decorations, getting the last of the frames hung up, getting the condo ready for a work holiday party I am throwing at my place this coming Saturday (Yikes!), to attending other work & friends' holiday parties both on the weekends and during the week. And all that doesn't even include braving the malls to shop for presents or get ready to head to New Mexico for our family get together over the Christmas break.

There is just way to much to do and not enough time to get it all done.

Photography Hero

2007-12-05T10:41:00.000-08:00

My friend Joy had this quiz posted on her site, so I thought I should also partake. My results.... also hit the nail on the head. Grew up admiring Ansel Adams photography and mainly focus on landscapes, so this result makes sense.

Which famous photographer are you?

Ansel Adams: Known for large scale silver gelatin landscapes especially of Yosemite National Park

"Sometimes I do get to places just when God's ready to have somebody click the shutter."

Click Here to Take This Quiz
Brought to you by YouThink.com quizzes and personality tests.

SNOW!

2007-12-01T17:13:00.000-08:00

It's December 1st and it is snowing here in mild-weathered Seattle. WHA?!?!? I don't think I have ever seen snow here this early. Awesome!

I'm Back

2007-11-28T08:11:00.000-08:00

I flew home yesterday and now I am back at work. Tired and struggling with the time change. I just hope I don't get caught napping at my desk today. :-)

Sweet Tea

2007-11-26T05:11:00.000-08:00

Well, we lost the football game. Bummer. It was so cold and windy up on the upper deck where we sat, that we only lasted until the end of the 3rd quarter. Tech was down by over 2 touchdowns at that point so I don't think we missed much.

Have I told y'all how much I love sweet tea. Sweet southern nectar. Yummy! I am getting my fill of the stuff while here cause you don't find the sweet stuff up in Seattle.

Will head home tomorrow. It's been fun as always visiting mom.

Football Finale

2007-11-24T06:32:00.001-08:00

I am in Georgia visiting mom for Thanksgiving and today is the final day of the week of Football Craziness I mentioned in my last post.

Today is the Good 'ol Fashioned Hate game. The Georgia vs. Ga Tech game.
UGA is ranked 8th in the nation at 9-2 and I would love nothing more than knocking them down a rank or two by upsetting them today. However, my Ga Tech team is not quite up to par this year, so I am not expecting miracles. For me, this game is more about enjoying it with my mom who has never been to a Ga Tech vs. UGA game and she is very excited about this. It should be fun no matter the end score.

In other news, I love spending my mom's money. :-) Mom wanted some new furniture, so we visited a few local furniture stores and got mom a new leather couch and matching large chair, a recliner chair that isn't from the same set, but matches in color, and a new queen bed and mattress. We grew up with mis-matched and often contrasting colored furniture so it will be nice for mom to have new and matching living room furniture. Mom also wants a new small TV for her bedroom, so that is next on the shopping agenda.... after the game though.

Hope y'all are having a splendid holiday. Safe travele everyone!

Football Craziness

2007-11-17T10:15:00.001-08:00

This next week, I think I will be overdosing on Football.

First, this Sunday, I am headed to a Seattle Seahawks football game versus the Chicago Bears. I have only ever been to one other professional football game in my life and that was ions ago back in Atlanta. And we sat in the nosebleed section of the old Fulton Co. Stadium. Yeah, it was that long ago.

So, tomorrow, I will be in Row 2 courtesy of a co-worker friend of mine and long-time Seahawk season ticket holder. YAY! I Can't wait. I am hoping the weather gets better than the gray, miserable, rainy day we are having today.

Later in the week, I will be joining the hoards of travelers heading home for Thanksgiving. The joy! Yup, I am headed back to mom's house in Georgia. Maybe I can take some of the rain we are having here back with me. Lord know, they need it. On Saturday, I will be attending the awesome GA Tech vs. Georgia game courtesy of my mom who is a long-time season ticket holder. This game... huge, long-time rivalry. GA Tech isn't having the best of years football-wise, so I am not expecting a win, but it would be nice.

It will also be nice to see mom again and hang with her for the long weekend. Plus, not work for 2 days, so you know, always a bonus.

Book Worm

2007-11-14T09:54:00.000-08:00

Shhhh. Don't tell my mom, but here is her Birthday present. As I mentioned in the post below, back in July, we went up to Vancouver Island for a visit of Victoria and the Butchart Gardens.

We had a great time and I know mom loves these books, so I put together a book of my photos from that trip for her for her upcoming birthday.

This is my 3rd Blurb book and I am a devoted Blurbarian. Who needs scrapbooking when you can easily put together one of these fantastic custom books for roughly $30-40. Well worth the price for a hard-bound custom-made book.

Now, if I only had time to get all of our Africa photos finished so I can get that book started.

Of Memories Past

2007-11-07T10:11:00.000-08:00

I am really, really bad at getting all the photos I take on line for firends and family to view. Now that Christmas is fast approaching and gift giving is being planned, I am trying to do a bit of catch up.

So, I recently went through my photos from July of this year when mom and I took a lone weekend and went up to Vancouver Island to visit Victoria and Butchart Gardens. Here are some photos from that trip.

And here is the entire photo album on my smugmug website.

The Evil Empire

2007-11-03T09:42:00.000-07:00

I was writing out my property tax check the other day. Ugh, I know! Once the check was filled out, I procured a envelope and safely tucked said check inside. Licked and sealed the envelope and added my return address sticker to the front.

Next came the stamp.

I had recently gotten the Star Wars sheet so I looked over my remaining choices of interesting Star Wars characters. And then it hit me. Darth Vader! There seemed no better choice than the ultimate symbol of evil to put on my property tax envelope.

Hey, its not everyday you get a chuckle from paying your property taxes. :-)

Cape Cod Photos

2007-10-28T18:52:00.000-07:00

In honor of the Red Sox's World Series victory (YAY!!), I am posting my photos from my recent trip to Cape Cod.
The rest of the photos are here at my Smugmug site.

Homeward Bound

2007-10-24T07:02:00.000-07:00

I am sitting at the Hartford, CT airport awaiting my flight home. It was a great weekend spent with Joy cheering on the Red Sox and touring around Cape Cod. We had a very good time, took some photos, shopped, and ate some good (and bad) food. I tried bush tea for the first time at the Dunbar Tea Room. Very good.

It's a long flight home (through Chicago) and they are calling our flight to board so talk to y'all later....

Game 7

2007-10-21T17:04:00.001-07:00

Here I am with my bestest buddy Joy sitting in a nice "villa" (their description... not mine) out on Cape Cod, MA. We had a nice drive down here today; the weather and colorful trees were beautiful. We did get here late so we went off to find dinner right after checking in to the "Villa".

I will fill in the details later on the adventures of the fuzzy lobster roll, that is. if I survive tonight. But I will definitely hold on long enough to see the Red Sox win tonight's ALCS Game 7 and head to the World Series.

GO RED SOX!!

Off I Go!

2007-10-19T20:01:00.001-07:00

Ahhh... I LOVE air travel. Crowded airports, whiney kids, cramped seats, and long days in a dry-aired, uncomfortable seat, in a high altitude pressure barrel. YAY!

I am off tomorrow to visit my bestest buddy Joy, which makes all the toils of the trip worth it. We are going to Cape Cod, do some photography, and probably shop a bit.

It should be a geat weekend and I am so looking forward to seeing Joy (it's been about a year since I moved from NYC). The added bonus is that I get away from the freaky weather we are having here in Seattle. It hailed today and seemed to be raining non-stop for the last week. Ugh! I need some sun and warmth.

So, off I go tomorrow. Wish me safe travels.....

And GO RED SOX!

In the Kitchen with Janet

2007-10-17T09:20:00.001-07:00

I'm off second shift and back to first.... which means "real" first shift of 6:00 am and not the cushy engineering first shift of 7:30-8:00am. So I went form late nights to early mornings.

The one good thing about 1st shift is that you get home in the middle of the afternoon and I have used that time to do some cooking.

First up, lollipops!

I have been getting some cookbook/recipe books from the library recently and I saw this recipe for lollipops and wanted to try it out. I picked up some basic round lollipop molds and some sticks from a local cake decorating store and went to town. The result........
They turned out pretty good. Just some sugar, corn syrup, water and a dash of strawberry & banana extract in a pot heated up to 300 degrees and poured into a mold. I had some difficulty getting the suckers (heh...pun) out of the molds so the lollipop were a bit rough around the edges. I read later that you can brush oil into the molds to help extract them easier. I will have to try that next time.

Next up was something a little more healthy. Butternut Squash Risotto. I am still on my risotto kick, but wanted to mix it up a little bit. While purusing the clearance shelves at Barnes&Noble recently, I ran across a very inexpensive cookbook on just risottos. I will be trying a few of the recipes in the book over this cold, wet rainy winter we appear to be headed into.

After making a complete mess in the kitchen, the risotto turned out pretty good. Still working on perfecting my techinique, but this one was the best yet.
That's some feta cheese and sage in there with the squash and rice. Yummy!

Identity Theft

2007-10-16T08:36:00.000-07:00

I am very careful with my credit and credit cardsas well as anything with my address or other personal information on it. In our new digital age, fears of identity theft are very real and I am diligent in protecting my personal information; shredding mail and receipts and anything with personal information on it, especially the endless credit crad offers I seem to get.

This weekend, I recieved a box from some Literary Guild. Not sure what it was, I opened it to discover a box full of books. Apparently, I had signed up for some book club. Except, I never did. I called the company yesterday and discovered that someone had signed me up for this book club using my credit card. Eeek!

Needless to say, the very next call was to my credit card company to cancel that card. A few other small fraudulent charges were also discovered, so I am glad I discovered this when I did. I asked the credit card guy why someone would put such small charges on my card (were are talking under $50) and he indicated that sometimes they will do that to see if you are paying attention to your account. If you don't notice, they will eventually charge for high ticket items.

Still not sure how someone got my credit card number, but I am checking all my credit cards for any unwanted activity just to make sure.

I also don't get why, if you are fraudulently using my credit card, why also use my address to have stuff shipped to? Not very bright.

The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly

2007-10-11T11:43:00.001-07:00

The Good: I am getting more used to 2nd shift and even more used to all the walking I have been doing. My legs and feet no longer feel like they are gonna fall off at the end of the day, so that is indeed good news. I'm not as tired by 11pm and the nights are going quicker. I still like 2nd shift, mainly cause the office is so quiet after about 6pm, you can actually get some work done.

The Bad: My DVR is apprarently on the fritz as it failed to record the last two nights of prime-time TV. I've come home to nadda on my DVR. Not sure why, but after a few late night tests last night, I think it is working correctly again.... will know more late tonight when I get home from work. If it failes to record for a third night, it is going back to Comcast for a replacment tomorrow morning. Argh!

The Ugly: I work in an industry heavily dominated by males. I am used to it and rarely have problems with any percieved slights or bias. However, yesterday, male idiotness reared its ugly head again. Twice yesterday, the male co-worker who is training me and the two other young male co-workers I am training with went off to the training facility without bothering to notify me.

The idea is that we follow our trainer around to learn from him. So how am I supposed to learn if they don't even bother to tell me when they are headed out to the training facility? Needless to say I was pissed. One slight like this I can deal with, but twice in less than four hours took me over the edge. I vented to two supervisors, letting them know that this was unacceptable and disrespectful.

I don't think it was deliberate... more likely just very young fresh out of college guys who just haven't learned how to appropirately communicate in the workplace yet. But if management is going to have these young guys be trainers, then they need to have the interpersonal skills as well as the technical skills to do the job effectively.

We will see how tonight goes.....

Late Night with Janet

2007-10-08T20:52:00.000-07:00

It's almost 9pm and here I am still at work. I thought I was doing ok on this 2nd shift thing, but boy am I tired tonight. I like waking up in the morning and not haveing to rush off to work; kind of ease into the day. Plus, in the morning, I am getting a lot more done around the house cause I am not exhausted like I usually am after a normal work shift. So I guess my exhausted-ness is still at the end of the day, however, now I am at work at the end of the day instead of being at home after work.

I am also walking A LOT! Its a good 1/2 mile round trip out to our test facility and back and we make that trip 3-4 times a night. Good for the fitness, but that probably adds to my exhausted feeling. Maybe I will loose some wieght this week while on 2nd. That would be an added benefit.

2 hours to go before I get to go home....

2nd Shift

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

I started 2nd shift work today. The Joy! This is for a short project here at work so I will only have to be on 2nd shift for one week, then back to first shift for the final week. The biggest adjustment will be getting up in the morning at a decent time instead of wanting to sleep in to 10 am and then going to work at 2pm. I did pretty well today, but lets see how the rest of the week goes.

What's On Janet's TiVo - Round 2

2007-10-06T10:00:00.000-07:00

Week #2 & 3 of TV premieres are now pretty much over so it is time to check in on the new shows....

First up, Bionic Woman on NBC. It was ok. It wasn't great, but it wasn't horrible either. I liked Katie Sackhoff (from Battlestar Gallactica) as the 1st evil Bionic Woman and the action sequences are certainly fast paced and entertaining. Will keep watching for now. The 2nd week of this show is still sitting on my TiVo unwatched, so I am not sure what that says.

Next up was another NBC show, Life, a crime drama about an ex-cop wrongfully jailed for 12 years and then released. He goes back to being a cop for some reason and freaks his new partner out with his zen-like attitude. This show is OK. The head guy is quirky, but I am not sure we need yet another crime drama. Again, the 2nd week of this show is still sitting on my TiVo unwatched.

ABC's Dirty, Sexy, Money comes next and is yet another soap-ish drama about rich New Yorkers, this one not so overtly focused on the teenage set. The show is about the uber-rich and uber-dysfunctional Darling family and their normal family lawyer played by the uber-cool Peter Krause. The thing that will save this show is that despite being a drama, it's characters are quite over the top in their dysfunctional-ness. They are quirky and funny and this is a show that doesn't take itself too seriously. Unfortunately, my TiVo (or my control of it) brain farted and somehow I missed recoding the 2nd week of this show, which I was bummed about.

Carpoolers wasn't that good. As much as I love Jerry O'Connell, I didn't find this show funny or engaging. It's already gone from the TiVo.

Pushing Daisies was interesting as the main character can bring dead folks back to life by touching him, but if he touches them again, they are permanently dead. A very quirky crime drama/comedy and unlike anything on TV. I will definitely be watching this again.

I did catch the Moonlight and Cane premiers, but neither are worth further watching.

All that is left is Sunday's CW family show, Life is Wild where a NYC family up and moves to Africa. I'm watching it simply for the Africa part of the show.

As for shows I was already watching....

My favorite show, Supernatural finally premiered this Thursday and did good despite its location in the toughest time slot in TV (Thursday @ 9pm). The brothers Winchester are as pretty as ever and the show looks to be quite kick-ass this season. I only wish more people tuned in to this hidden gem of a show.

Criminal Minds is good as always, but Mandy Patankin is leaving???? Wha?!?!? I guess I will see what the dynamics of the show are like without him and/or with whoever replaces him.

Risotto - Part 2

2007-10-05T11:18:00.000-07:00

So, I cooked Risotto (a rice!) again last night and did much better this time out. Instead of the boxed up version I had treid before, I just had a bag of plain arborio rice and some ingredients. At the end of the simmering process, I folded in the parmesean cheese, and holy cow, that was good! I also cooked some sous-vide chicken with thyme which came out very juicy and delicious.

Maybe I will become a decent cook after all. :-)

And one day I will remember to take a photo of the finished product for y'all to see.

In the Event of a Water Landing.....

2007-10-03T09:02:00.000-07:00

I spent the last two days at a Advanced Cabin Safety Training class. This class is basically a simplified version of the 5 week class that Flight Attendants go through before starting their jobs.

We got to use crash axes to puncture holes through closets, put out real & fake fires with fire extinguishers, slide down an 737 escape slide, jump into and out of a huge aviation life raft at a nearby pool, and run through several emergency scenarios in airplane cabin mockups.

It was very educational and certainly builds your confidence if ever in a situation were any of this was needed, but it was also very fun. Its not every day you get to jump in a 48 person aviation life raft and float around a pool in a life vest. Very cool!

What's On Janet's TiVo - Round 1

2007-09-26T11:00:00.000-07:00

I have watched the first batch of new shows and so far.... eh. It's been OK.

First up is K-Ville An interesting concept with two cops working in the post-Katrina New Orleans. It is your typical buddy-cop crime drama, and I just don't think it will hold much interest after about 5 shows. Anthony Anderson just doesn't resonate as a passionate cop determined to rebuild New Orleans and Cole Hauser, although rather hunky, is just not believable as a con who escapes jail during Katrina and turns his life around and becomes a cop. Huh? Yeah.... me neither! Update: I TiVo'd the second episode this Monday, however, I have watch several other Monday & Tuesday shows first and it is still sitting on my TiVo unwatched. Things are not looking good for this shows continued life on my TiVo or otherwise (last weeks decent ratings significantly dipped in its 2nd week).

Next up is Gossip Girl on the CW is brought to us from the creator of The O.C. It's basically the O.C. moves to NYC. Whiny & troubled rich kids in Orange County who attended their parent's lavish parties (and who at least had a sense of humor) are now whiny & troubled rich kids who throw lavish parties themselves and guzzle down martinis. Wuh? I don't feel a lot of sympathy for most of these kids. Apparently Gossip Girl was a popular book series, but the jury is still out on this show for me. I'll give it another week or so, but it doesn't look promising as a new addition to my TiVo Season Pass. Update: Ratings for this much hyped and promoted show were rather disappointing, especially on the CW.

Kid Nation on CBS was next on the TiVo. I grew up reading Lord of the Flies, a book about a group of kids stranded on an island and their attempt, and ultimate failure, at creating social order. So, a TV show about 40 kids "stranded" in some old western town in New Mexico sounds like an interesting social experiment. At first look, it is indeed interesting to see these kids, 8-15 years old, work through things like cooking and how to hold a meeting without talking all over each other, but with the competitions and rewards and phone calls home, it may turn out to be more like a kid version of Survivor. Update: Ratings were considered "modest".

Chuck was a fun show about a cute computer nerd who suddenly finds his brain filled with the nations secrets. He also finds himself with a cute agent girl and the target of others. Kinda a Beauty & the Geek meets Alias. Chuck's sidekick Morgan was hilarious and the take-of on Best Buy's Geek Squad (Nerd Herd) is humerous. This show has potential, but I worry about shows like this become redundant; bumbling Chuck stumbles onto some national crisis and he and his super agent girl save the world. It's on my TiVo for now. Update: Ratings were "disappointing", but it had tough competition with Dancing with the Stars.

Journeyman was much better than I thought it would be. Rome's Kevin McKidd play Dan, a married man who unexpectedly finds himself time-traveling back into the past to right certain wrongs. His wife is understandably upset when Dan disappears for days at end and how do you explain that? Still some holes as to why Dan is suddenly time traveling, but he does run into his long dead former wife while back in time, which adds some intrigue to the mystery. Will stay on my TiVo for a while longer. Update: Rating were not that great for this show, espeically compared to last years Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.

Reaper was also better than I thought it would be. Sam finds out on his 21st birthday that his parents sold his sole to the devil long before he was even born. Very funny concept, and Ray Wise as the Devil is genius casting. Tyler Labine plays Sam's friend Bert and is the typical "that guy" and he really steal the show with his charaters antics and lines. Though billed as a comedy, I was glad to see a touch of seriousness here and there, but I hope they don't go overboard with the drama part and stick with the comedy aspects. Update: Ratings were ok for the CW but certainly nothing to write home about.

As for shows that I do watch regularly, I caught the 2nd season opener of Heros. Still good, but I should have Netflixed the first season and caught up a bit cause I got confused at times during the show. I guess I purged some of last season's plot out of mind over the summer.

Prison Break may be quickly falling off my "occansionally watch" list of shows. I haven't had the desire to watch the 2nd week's show thats been sitting on my TiVo since Monday.

Survivor has started out ok. They are in a very wet China this time around. Too soon to tell if this season will be good or bad.

And I need to update my list after I realized I forgot a few shows (additions marked in purple):

First, here is what is currently on my TiVo Season Pass....
1) Supernatural - my guilty pleasure.
2) Heros - who doesn't have this on their season pass?
3) 24 - Jack rocks, even if he is a bit ethically & morally challenged.
4) Top Chef/Hell's Kitchen/Iron Chef - Love the cooking shows

Shows I watch occasionally, but only if I am home with nothing else to do.
1) Prison Break - Enjoyable if you can get past the HUGE plot holes, but I watch 24, so I can do that.
2) Criminal Minds - I'm so over most crime dramas, but I still enjoy this show.
3) Survivor - entirely depends on casting each season....some are good, others aren't.
4) The Amazing Race - see Survivor
5) Jericho - Fun, but I mostly watch for Skeet. Yum!
6) House - Love Hugh Laurie, but I can only take this show in small doses.

New shows I plan on watching at least once....stay tuned...Will they make my Season Pass?
1) K-Ville - Cops & Crime in New Orleans
2) Gossip Girl - The O.C. moves to NYC.
3) Kid Nation - An interesting concept. Did you ever read Lord of the Flies?
4) Chuck - Who doesn't love a geeky cute guy.
5) Journeyman - Looks interesting
6) Reaper - Comedy about parents selling their kids sole to the devil.
7) Bionic Woman - Since I practically am one myself with 2 joint replacements....
8) Life - Wrongfully accused cop goes to jail & then is set free.
9) Dirty Sexy Money - The O.C. in NYC grows up
10) Carpoolers - I have always been a Jerry O'Connell fan so I will give this comedy a shot.
11) Pushing Daisies - Probably the show I am most looking forward to.
12) Kitchen Nightmares - Gorden Ramsey trades in newbie chefs for nasty restraunts.
13) Life is Wild - NYC family up and moves to Africa.

New shows I won't even try:
1) Private Practice - HATE Grey's Anatomy (over-rated) so I don't think I will even try this spin off.
2) Cane - Never been a Jimmy Smits fan.
3) Moonlight - Um... I don't even know what this is about.
4) Big Shots - A male version of Desperate Housewives. Yuck!
5) All the half hour comedies

Janet's Mantel - Part 2

2007-09-24T12:32:00.001-07:00

Thanks for all your comments, and if you still want to vote, scroll down to the next post and read.

So, based on the comments so far, specifically the fact that my living room may be starting to resemble an African museum I made a few changes this weekend. I see now that maybe I have an overload of African items on the mantel and a african animal photo may be overloading an already overloaded situation.

I have moved the zebra mask and the two baskets hung on the mantel to other walls in the living room. Spread things out a bit. I also bought some wheat-like fake foliage to put into the black vase to add more height & color. Hopefully that eases up on the "african museum" feel a bit.

I like the possiblity of the photo collage that Jane mentioned in the comments section, but the spot there above the mantel is not large, so at most, four 8x10 photos would fit there. But that also means selecting 4 photos which is only slightly better than trying to select one. So, I tried out some photoshoping to see what it would look like with one photo or four 9 (I also photoshopped out the zebra mask & baskets). So the photos here are my mantle area with one single large photo and the other is with 4 smaller 8x10-ish photos. I am still figuring out which photo(s) to use, so I just picked random ones here for example. Whatever photo I choose, I want to try and match the wood from the fire place to the frame(s) for the photos.

So, what do y'all think? One or four photos......

Leave a comment and let me know what you think.

What's on Janet's Mantel?

2007-09-22T10:18:00.000-07:00

The picture to the left is my living room.

After returning from Africa, I sorta redecorated my living room in an quasi-African theme. Still nice, warm and metropolitan, but with a few African accents here and there. Those accents are mainly items I picked up while in Africa.... the baobob trees on the black bookcase, the handwoven cloth on the wall, the tall black wood-carved figurines and baskets on the mantle, the cool graphical pillows on the couch, and the zebra bowl and hand-painted table runners on the dinning room table.

But over the mantel I had this large signed by the photographer photo of the Statue of Liberty. It doesn't quite fit the whole "African" theme, so I have moved that photo to another location in my condo. Now the question is: what goes in its place?

I am thinking that I should frame one of my photo from Africa for that spot. As you can see to the right here, the spot above my mantel is vertical, so I am limited to mostly vertical photos. So I scoured all my African photos and came up with a few choices below.

Help me choose by letting me know which photo you think will look best on my mantel. Leave a comment in the comment section below as to which photo you think would be best for the mantle.

Here are the choices:

Cute little meerkats

Elephants

Some landscapes.... grass, vast pans, & pretty sunset

Animals.... Cheetah, Giraffe, Zebras, Leopard, & Lilac-Breasted Roller

The Okanvango Delta

Aerial Views (the 2 horizontals can be turned vertical since they are a bit abstract)

Don't be shy... leave a comment by clicking the "comment" link right below here. Let me know what you think and I will show you the result later.

TV is BACK!

2007-09-21T07:30:00.000-07:00

The new fall TV season is not upon us. No more reruns... well at least until October. I thought I would post a bit about the new shows I'm watching and I will be letting you know if they are worthwhile or not (in my humble opinion).

First, here is what is currently on my TiVo Season Pass....
1) Supernatural - my guilty pleasure.
2) Heros - who doesn't have this on their season pass?
3) 24 - Jack rocks, even if he is a bit ethically & morally challenged.
4) Top Chef/Hell's Kitchen - Love the cooking shows

Shows I watch occasionally, but only if I am home with nothing else to do.
1) Prison Break - Enjoyable if you can get past the HUGE plot holes, but I watch 24, so I can do that.
2) Criminal Minds - I'm so over most crime dramas, but I still enjoy this show.
3) Survivor - entirely depends on casting each season....some are good, others aren't.
4) The Amazing Race - see Survivor
5) Jericho - Fun, but I mostly watch for Skeet. Yum!
6) House - Love Hugh Laurie, but I can only take this show in small doses.

New shows I plan on watching at least once....stay tuned...Will they make my Season Pass?
1) K-Ville - Cops & Crime in New Orleans
2) Gossip Girl - The O.C. moves to NYC.
3) Kid Nation - An interesting concept. Did you ever read Lord of the Flies?
4) Chuck - Who doesn't love a geeky cute guy.
5) Journeyman - Looks interesting
6) Reaper - Comedy about parents selling their kids sole to the devil.
7) Bionic Woman - Since I practically am one myself with 2 joint replacements....
8) Life - Wrongfully accused cop goes to jail & then is set free.
9) Dirty Sexy Money - The O.C. in NYC grows up
10) Carpoolers - I have always been a Jerry O'Connell fan so I will give this comedy a shot.
11) Pushing Daisies - Probably the show I am most looking forward to.

New shows I won't even try:
1) Private Practice - HATE Grey's Anatomy (over-rated) so I don't think I will even try this spin off.
2) Cane - Never been a Jimmy Smits fan.
3) Moonlight - Um... I don't even know what this is about.

I LOVE Waiting

2007-09-20T17:21:00.000-07:00

You make an appointment for a 9am travel shot and show up early at 8:45am. 9:45am comes around and all the other folks in the waiting room who didn't have appointments are all gone, there names gloriously called out by the nurse. And there I wait. UGH! When I inquired as to when my name would be called, they asked if I could reschedule. WTH? I drove 40 minutes in the opposite direction from my regular workplace to get this shot, I am not leaving without it. Grrr!

Thank goodness that was my last travel shot.

on the fly.....

Moving Day

Picnic Double Header

Calgary & Banff..... A Year Ago

Loosing Weight

Fireworks

Mother Nature's Fireworks Show

Seaside & Cannon Beach

New Toy!

Bowling Pin

It's Definately Summer

Alaska Recap - Part 5

Alaska Recap - Part 4

What Does a Scottsman Wear Under His Kilt?

Want some Haggis?

Hot Hot Hot

Hot Lanta

Alaska Recap - Part 3

Weekend Travels

Alaska Recap - Part 2

Five Things

An Interview with Vincent Laforet

Alaska Recap - Part 1

Holiday Weekend Ramblings

Home

Cruisin' Alaska

Alaska or Bust

Camera Resolutions

Last Days in Japan

Update

6am is early!

Quiz

Fish & Hanami Day

Janet Is......

Back to Japan

Home Sweet Home - Part 2

Home Sweet Home

Amoungst the Masses

Two Notes

ボストン・レッドソックス

There are Way To Many People Here

Venturing Out

Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous

Can I fit one of these in my suitcase?

Smile & Nod

Jetlag....

Loosing Time in Tokyo

I'm With Stupid!

Quiz Answers

Janet is....

Pop Quiz!

Japan Bound

LOST

Gone Fishin'

Key Largo

Miami

Am I Still in the USA?

Lift Off!

Janet is.....

Pats vs. Giants

Over the Hump

Janet is.....

More Eagles

The Eagles Have Landed

Welcome to Hollywood

I Am Legend

TGIF

A Good Start

So Far So Good

Resolutions

Happy 2008!!!

Quiz Time!

Which Sesame Street Character Are You?

O Tannenbaum

Christmas Plans

Busy, Busy, Busy

Photography Hero

SNOW!

I'm Back

Sweet Tea