Road Trip - Day 6 - Wednesday

Today we decided to drive up to Taos for the day. With sadness we checked out of the Turquoise Bear Inn. We had a wonderful time there, met many people and bonded with our innkeeper Steven. He was sad to see us leave and perhaps we'll see him Thursday night at the infamous Zozobra festival. We may be going with all the staff from the Turquoise Bear.

On the drive up our first stop was Santuario de Chimayo, one of the most famous churches in all of New Mexico. The story goes that over 200 years ago a man named Bernado Albeyta was leading a Holy week celebration when he saw a mysterious light coming from the ground. He began to dig at the source of the light and soon uncovered a crucifix. The crucifix was taken to the church of Santa Cruz, but miraculously continued to return, on its own, to its original location. The santuario was constructed around the cross so that it could remain where it belonged. It is said that people make a pilgrimage from all over to rub the dirt from that hole over their ailments and that it cures them. I rubbed dirt on my shoulder. It seemed to feel better, I forgot to rub it on my back as that was quite sore as well.

Then we drove up to Taos, shopped a little and visited the bridge over the Rio Grande Gorge. That's spectacular, its about a 600' hole in the middle of endless prairies. The gorge cuts across the entire valley floor, which is quite extensive. All I could think of was the wagon trains coming across for the first time and riding on this nice flat ground then they run into the gorge and the only word out of their mouth would be "Fuck!". Because there really is no way around it.

From there it was the Taos Pueblo. That truly was the highlight of the day. We got a guided tour and met several artists, one being Tom Ready to Hunt. We purchased a few pieces of jewellery from him and enjoyed our stay. No running water, electricity or modern conveniences allowed within the pueblo walls. If you are Taos Indian you always have a home here anytime you want, a mud wall adobe home. About 20-30 families living there fulltime with the population rising significantly during holidays.

Dinner was at a wonderful place called Gabriel's near our new digs, the Triangle Inn. We are about 10 miles outside of town, it's quiet. Gabriel's had the best food we've had since we've been here. For $ 40 we had margaritas, fresh made at your table guacamole (Fantastic!), sopapillas (best I've ever had) and more food than we could eat. Dena had these chile rellenos that were pure perfection.

Road Trip - Day 5 - Tuesday

Tuesday started off up early for the short 30 minute drive to the Tent Rocks NM. We spent a truly spectacular day hiking in the Tent Rocks National Monument. I've not been to a slot canyon, unless of course if you count Petra, which in my opinion is the slot canyon to end all -- perhaps the 8th wonder of the world. But I digress. How about we just say this was my first American slot canyon. The scenery was breathtaking and around every corner was another adventure.

Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument, is located 40 miles southwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico (near Cochiti), is a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) managed site that was established as a U.S. National Monument by President Bill Clinton in January 2001 shortly before leaving office. Thanks Bill.

After a snack we had to have a power nap after all that scenery and hiking. We then strolled to the plaza and shopped a little. But our heart wasn't in it. Dinner was at a restaurant called The Compound/ where we had a fantastic margarita called a Prickly Pear Margarita. We had a great dinner and spent the evening listening to the thunder and rain while watching A Fish Called Wanda. Great background soundtrack to a classic movie.

In regards to the Direct Services re-organization I heard yesterday that my job is safe and still the same but different.

Road Trip - Day 4 - Labor Day

Today was a low key day although a good one. We've met many people at the B&B's we've stayed at; one being a couple from Boston. They were going to some large as life art exhibit in southern New Mexico called the Lightning field. Apparently its a 24 hour experience. It looks boring to me and frankly, I'm not sure I'd want to be standing in monsoon season in a huge field of 200 lightning rods.......but that's just me.

The day was full of gallery hopping and the Georgia O'Keefe Museum. We had a great time, had a little nap in the afternoon and then went to see Death at a Funeral. Not as funny a movie as the trailers led you to believe, but entertaining.

My nerves jangle with anticipation of the announcement tomorrow of our company's division merger. I find out what my new position is, assuming there is one, and what changes in the organization will take place. Perhaps the anxiety dreams will stop after tonight.......

Road Trip - Day 3 Sunday

We left Albuquerque (thank god as its hard to spell in a blog) after a wonderful breakfast among the humming birds at the Bottger Mansion. We had an easy drive up to Santa Fe, NM and of course, opted for the road less travelled. We took SR 14 which is called the Turquoise Trail . We stopped at a small little remnant of a mining town called Golden, then on to the big attraction, Madrid. They say that if you turned New Mexico upside down and shook it all the loose screws, nuts and dolts would fall out and land in Madrid (apparently pronounced "mah-drid").

Madrid is a great artist's community with wonderful shops and galleries. Apparently the area around Cerrillos is only able to be mined by 5 different people/claims. Cerrillos turquoise is quite a bit different from other turquoise found throughout the SouthWest. These miners can no longer use heavy equipment but must mine by hand, pick axe, shovel type equipment only. I don't really care for turquoise normally but actually found a gorgeous pendant that I had to have. Then as we walked around I found the artist in another shop. She mines it herself with one of the 5 claims which she inherited from her father Whalen. He taught her the mining techniques, jewellry making and the art of inlay. We enjoyed talking with her.

Our easy 60 mile side trip landed us in Santa Fe in time to check into our new digs, the Inn of the Turquoise Bear. A gorgeous B&B made in the old adobe tradition with 6" thick walls and ultra quiet rooms. We had a lovely wine and cheese reception, met people from all over the US and then went out to Los Mayos for a traditional New Mexician dinner complete with sangria. YUMMM!

Road Trip - Day 2 - Saturday

We awoke in Kingman, AZ to another beautiful day and hopped in the car. We started out immediately with a detour opting for the longer famous Route 66 section between Kingman and Flagstaff. We weren't disappointed as the scenery was spectacular and the drive easy. We stopped for breakfast in Seligman at a German restaurant, rumored to be fantastic. There we sat among all bikers and hunters eating our wonderful pancakes. Needless to say we were the only people not wearing black or camouflage.

We cruised through Flagstaff and decided to stop at the famous Meteor Crater . You can read all about it via the link however, it was huge, only 6 miles off I40 and well worth the stop. They trained the Apollo astronauts there as it was so moonlike. You drive up to it and you can see the impact (literally hehe) it had on the landscape. Miles upon miles upon miles of flat high desert and then the ground rises up to this. Amazing.

Next we cruised through Winslow, AZ and played the Eagles song, "Take it easy" in honor of that one horse town. We again veered off the main interstate, opting for the road less travelled and headed up SR 191 for the Hubbell Trading Post. This is the last still operating trading post in the United States and lies on Navajo land. The Navajo exhibit their rugs, jewellery and still trade for foodstuffs here. Dena purchased a beautiful ring whose turquoise reminded me of 2 flowers coming out of a vase. I decided her Indian name was going to be "two flowers".

From there we blew thru the Navajo reservation coming into Gallup and patted ourselves on the back as our timing was going to be perfect. We were going to arrive in Albuquerque around 7:30 - 8:00p in time to check in and then go to a late dinner. Apparently old town ABQ rolls up at 9:00. This was not to be as we hit a tremendous thunder and lightning storm, construction and bad traffic. We rolled into Albuquerque at 9:00p hardly able to see the street signs and struggled to find our B&B the Bottger Mansion. We found it and the rain was just raging. The inn was closed and I ran up to the door found our letter with how to get in, meanwhile shivering in the rain, soaked to the bone and cringing from the thunder and lightning bolts. We made it in the house both soaked and pissed off. All the restaurants were closed and we ended up going to bed with a protein bar. A bad end to an awesome day.

Road Trip Blog -- Day 1

What an adventure we've had thus far. We left Los Angeles Friday afternoon at around 1:30 and our timing was perfect. Even though it was a long weekend we seemed to skim right along. Starting over the Cajon pass on our way into the high desert on I15 we started to see some awesome lightning strikes, while awed by their beauty we thought nothing of it until we ran into probably one of the biggest thunderstorms I've ever driven through. We were driving uphill and there was probably 1" to 3" of water on the road instantly. Dena kept watch to the sides of the road as we were passing the "Wash Road Exit", an omen to be sure while I kept my eyes glued to what I could see of the road. We weathered that and several other rain squalls and passed thru Barstow in record time.

We stopped in the little shithole of a town near the Arizona border called Needles at 6:30p and it was a balmy 113 degrees. Can you imagine what the damn temperature was in the heat of the afternoon? We gassed up and were on our way. We found out later from friends that Needles is the highest priced gas in the nation. Thank you very much. As we drove across the Colorado River into Arizona we started to see lightning strikes that made the ones over Cajon pass pale in comparison. That constant lightning show went on for an hour making us cry out over in over in awe and surprise. We drove into Kingman, AZ and visited some old work friends of mine. They showed us a good time, made Margaritas with a killer mix that involves 1/2 bottle of beer and shared there star filled backyard with us.

For Saturday September 1st, who knows what adventures we'll have. Perhaps we'll touch on the famous Route 66.

Marshmellow Warrior

Bonfire on the beach at Huntington Beach State Park -- what a great night with great friends. Thanks to the Toes on the Nose guys we didn't have to "camp" our fire pit all day like most people. We arrived in the evening, they built the fire, stoked it all night, set out the lawn chairs, provided s'mores fixin's. All quite civilized actually. Don't you love LA, all it takes is money, baby.

Back to the Lottery

Well, another post lottery day let down......No one won either the Mega Millions ( $ 300 million) or the Super Lotto ( ~ 86 million) I suppose that's good since I certainly didn't have the #'s. If I can't win then no one should, hehe

Let's dream for a moment here. Let's start small...... If the California lottery gave me $1,000,000 what would I do? Well, the feds would take $420,000 so I'd be left with $ 580,000. I certainly wouldn't quit my job. That's not enough cash to quit. I think I would take $80,000 of it and pay off a few loans and take the $ 500,000 and buy a condo on Kauai, probably in Princeville. Or maybe, a house in Hanalei Bay. Regardless, 500k is only a down payment on either. Hopefully, and I would have to do the math, this would bring the mortgage down to such a level that renting it out would pay for homeowner's dues, taxes, the remaining mortgage and make me a little cash every month. I'm talking about renting it out to tourists, not to locals. More money in vacation rentals in Hawaii than on local rentals.


That brings up a good point. If I bought a 4 or 6 unit apartment building on Kauai or even the mainland perhaps, then that could be good income. hmmmmm.......but then if I bought a condo in Princeville for vacation rentals then we could use it to vacation.........hmmmmm, but then friends and family would want to use if for free. That would be inconvenient. If you're giving it away all the time then you're not making any money. AAACCCCKKKK!!!! Obviously, I have to win more money than 1 million dollars! Isn't it amazing, with money comes problems. I have lots of problems with this $ 1 million and I haven't even won it yet. Dena would say that's my pessimistic self shining through, but frankly, I'm just a realist.

Praying to the Lottery Gods

Ah Lotto fever has certainly hit California. The MegaLotto (which is a multi-state lotto of which California is part of) is at 250 million (draw tonight, Tuesday) and the Super Lotto (the original, California only) is up around 86 million and that draw is Wednesday night. The estimated pot for just 5 out of 5 numbers minus the mega number for the Mega Lotto is around 1.2 million. That means you didn't win the big one, but you got 5 out of 6 #'s. I'm not greedy. I could go for 1.2 million.

But what if I won? How does all that lottery stuff work? Cash value, 26 annual payments, etc? Well, basically, if you choose 26 annual payments of your 26,000,000 (let's use that as an easy example) then the State of California graciously sets you up an annuity guaranteeing an interest rate of ~ 6.68 %. All lotteries are annuities. The total jackpot you see advertised is bogus. That money is not available. In a typical state lottery, the cash value is roughly half the face value. Modern lotteries, you see, involve a bit of financial sleight of hand. You've "won" $X million only in the sense that you'll receive that much if you're willing to wait 20 (or 26 in some states) years to collect it. What you've actually won is the cash value plus the interest that accumulates. So what should you take, the cash value or the annual payments? Well, can you and your trusted financial adviser make better than 6.68% on that money if you took it all at once? Then you'd be better ahead taking the cash value.

Regardless, the IRS will take its share as well. You will be taxed based on the tax bracket you're in. Well, you've just won $26,000,000 so regardless of whether you collect now or over 26 years, you'll probably still be in the highest bracket (42%) unless you're a tax magician.

So this blog started out as going to be what I would do with the money, but perhaps I'll dwell on that tomorrow. I got down a rat hole counting my cash.........and how California and the feds were going to screw me out of a bunch of it.

Ramblings

1. When you're short, buying capri pants is not really an option. They just look like you bought regular pants that are floods.
2. It doesn't matter how much lotion, face creme, etc nor how much many you spend on said cremes, you still get wrinkles. Getting old sucks.
3. Aleve is a wonderful anti-inflammatory.......it is definitely helping with my shoulder pain.
4. There is a family of vegetables called "nightshade" and they include tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and potatoes(minus yams) -- the superstition is that they all contain a toxin that is poisonous to humans. Nightshade vegetables are the single most common staple in the middle eastern diet. Hmmmm......perhaps this explains why they are all insane.
5. Since when did mom's start buying their kids lunches at 7-11? I see this more and more. What good can come of that? So they get a lunchables, a gatorade and a candy bar for lunch. Wow, that's healthy. No wonder American children are suffering such a high rate of obesity.
6. Men are dogs. At the gym I see men leering at women half their age. Not even trying to hide it, just leering openly. I mean, get real. Do you think she'd even remotely give you the time of day?
7. 90% of people at the gym have some sort of MP3 player, and of that 90% -- 75% of those are Apple Ipods........YAY! My stock appreciates your patronage.

Kittens Invade Greek Restaurant

Aren't they adorable. A mommy kitty had 5 kittens outside the Greek restaurant that we went to Saturday night in Edmonton. I just had a thought, I hope they are not out there in the winter! Anyways, they were absolutely adorable, I couldn't help, despite allergies, petting and holding them. Momma kat was very, very skinny as it probably takes a tremendous amount of energy to feed all these brats. Someone had put cat food out for them but momma was very watchful and probably has little time to eat.

Segway Test Drive

While in the West Edmonton Mall I test drove a segway. I was able to have lessons and ride around on both models, both the first generation and the newest model. While all models are body intuitive the new model is even more so with turning done with a slight lean and a small movement of the handle. There are now many different models of Segways - a golf model, an off roading model, a police model, etc. Check out their website

I had an absolute blast in my test drive and was able to get the personal transporter up to significant speed fairly quickly. As you can see in the picture there was a rocky area, turns, ramps, etc. It was a lot of fun!

Shoulder Saga Continues

I went to a new orthopedic surgeon today. The one that stuck the needle in my shoulder while I was on the x-ray table has been rumored to be unethical, etc. I got that info from a variety of sources so I elected to change doctors.

I am happy to report that this doctor -- Dr. Robert Wilson (such a benign name, eh) is a very nice, attentive surgeon whose first inclination is not to cut you open. What a novel concept. He said that 80% of people with my injury (severe rotator cuff impingement due to AC hypertrophy i.e. inflamed) recover with specific exercise and avoidance. So I have some very specific exercises I must do and I think the key is to avoid specific motions. Like golf :-( Actually, any movement > 80% high for my arm is not allowed. So, anything over shoulder height I cannot do. 80 is apparently the magic number. The second injury, the partial tear of the labral whatever it is, is "partial" therefore in time, with exercise and care, it should naturally heal. Now I personally noticed that the tear seemed partial when reading my own MRI but no one else mentioned it until this guy. See, those internet MRI reading lessons have come in handy.........

This news and doctor's visit certainly buoyed my spirits especially since I've found out that arthroscopic shoulder surgery means a sling for 6 weeks, then physical therapy. I'm not really thrilled with that......

It's a sad day when.....

You have to increase the font size on your blackberry......

KD Lang and Lyle Lovett at the Greek

What an awesome night it was. We attended this concert last night with the expectations that K. D. Lang was our focus and Lyle Lovett an after thought. Were we wrong. KD Lang performed first and her billing on the marquis was almost as a warm up band. She played while the sun was still up (the Greek being an outdoor amplitheatre) and it was a little weird. People were still arriving up until her last couple songs. People in Los Angeles find it challenging to get to any event on time. I don't know if its the Hollywood fashionably late thing or traffic or just poor planning. They do the same at Dodger games, come around the 3rd inning and leave in the 7th. Anyways, I digress....

She sang all her old standbys, her voice and range spectacular as always. She is probably the worst dresser on tour and has become a little chunky. Someone needs to help her dress for concerts. I think you can be unique and eclectic and still look good. She did sing one song from her new upcoming album in February 2008 which I thought was awesome and made me anxious for its release. This album is a collection of her own recently written love songs. I look forward to an original release from her. We haven't had any of her own written songs since 2000's "Invincible Summer." The new 2008 album is currently untitled.

Lyle Lovett was definitely the standout. His billing is Lyle Lovett and his Large Band. Large it is. With 4 backup singers, a trumpet, trombone, sax, mandolin, electric standup bass, cello, regular standup bass, slide guitar, grand piano, conga drums, regular drums, lead guitar, etc etc etc etc etc the band is monstrous. What a lively, fun, touchy performance. They first performed songs from their new album, "It's not big, it's large". Well, it's so new its not released yet. Set for release 8/28/07. I enjoy his music and WOW what a performance! Another standout here was Francine Reed, a gospel? singer from Atlanta. She sang one song on her own and had the crowd on their feet.

KD Lang and Lyle Lovett's styles are different yet similar in their uniqueness. That's deep, eh. They both write, perform and explore whatever music styles suit them at the time and that makes it very fun for all of us. I was surprised they didn't sing together.

The Shoulder Update

I managed to sneak into the ortho doctor this morning on a cancellation. I couldn't really see the need to wait another week to put off the inevitable. It was an interesting and long visit. He reviewed the MRI and decided that the main problem was my AC Joint. I've not really mentioned that to anyone before this as I was hoping it was just a genetic abnormality in me personally and not a problem. Apparently it is not genetic, but it is a major problem. I was bouyed by the fact that Dr. Kreitenberg wanted to perform one additional treatment prior to deciding on arthroscopic surgery. It makes you feel good about a surgeon who is not just a cut and sew man. Basically the AC joint is huge. He stuck a needle with cortisone and some sort of numbing stuff into the AC Joint,that was fun, left the needle there while they took an x-ray to ensure that it was in the right place. Just picture me laying on the x-ray slab with a god knows how big needle sticking out of my shoulder while they go develop the pictures and look at them. I was chanting to myself, "let the needle be in the right spot...." Fortunately, it was and then the fun really began. He then injected the cortisone and I just about lept off the table. The range of motion was almost immediately better and now I have 2 weeks of limited physical activity to see what will come of this. I thought I'd give you a pix of the AC joint for your perusal, that is actually from my MRI, not Internet downloaded.

The Labral tear is confirmed and will require arthroscopic surgery to repair but if this cortisone shot doesn't do any magic then they'll also shave a sliver off my collar bone to relieve the pain in the AC joint during certain movements. Sounds like loads of fun eh.

Here's the details of the "Mumford procedure"
The simplest type of surgery for AC joint injury involves resection or removal of the end of the clavicle using arthroscopic (mini-surgical) techniques (called a Mumford procedure). If the joint becomes painful because of DCO (weightlifter's shoulder) or arthritis, or the separation is only minor, this technique can be very satisfactory.

Official diagnosis is Hypertrophy of the AC joint and there is a pretty clear pic of it in this link. You can see on the Left a normal MRI (not mine) and you can see in the middle a MRI image almost identical to mine. Fortunately, it has not progressed to the image on the right. Definitely feel the pressing on the rotator cuff in terms of muscle pain in the front center soft tissue area of my shoulder. I think based on my internet research I'm destined for the Mumford.....

My Favorite Gas Station - Part 3

Well, I guess I had to go to 3 parts on this topic. In researching for the previous 2 posts I explored http://www.thegreencurve.com/ (the stations web site) quite extensively. I eventually made it to the personal section. I took the eco personal path test. I was a little startled to learn that I am only marginally above the average person in eco-friendly recycling. I guess I thought that I was doing my part. I learned I can do more. I've now moved 3 cloth bags, I get tons of these at trade shows and what not, so I have about 30 of them, anyways, I've moved them to the car so that when I shop I bring them into the store and use them and not plastic. That's certainly something....

I was surprised to learn that the plastic grocery store bags (from the Ellen show the other day) don't really decompose in landfills, that they just get smaller and smaller. The plastic kind of shrinks. And eventually an animal or bird will eat it or it gets into our water supply. It was a bummer to hear that. Also, we use like a million of these bags every minute. Just crazy.

Now I just have to convince Dena to change the AC powered lights in the backyard with solar and maybe I'll move up on the personal green curve a little. I don't like to be so close to average.....I prefer WAY above average.

A message to all that read this: Educate your kids, your grandkids, your nieces and nephews, no matter how young. They will change the world and hopefully begin to right the wrongs that us and previous generations have done to mother Earth. We must give them the beginning seeds of knowledge to motivate them and equip them to affect change.

My MRI on the Shoulder

I had an MRI (actually 3) on my shoulder this morning. Quite an experience I'll have to say. My orthopod prescribed 2 things -- a straight MRI and a magnetic resonance (MR) arthrography. The MRI had to be done twice, once each with the shoulder in a specific position and then one for the arthrography. I was in the office for almost 2 hours. I had no idea it was this sort of time committment.

So arthrography means they inject you with this lovely chemical dye (in this case a Paramagnetic substance - galadium) to highlight the joint area I guess. I have two pictures (not of my shoulder) but of what they do and what it looks like for you here. I can tell you that the injection was uncomfortable to say the least as there was a nice big needle stuck in my shoulder for what seemed like 5 minutes. My shoulder still feels very uncomfortable in the joint area. Almost like there is too much pressure in there. Wierd. Anyways, I'll see my orthopod in a couple days and tell you what is wrong with this damn shoulder soon!

First Tomato of the Season

We've got 3 varieties - Yellow stripe (Although our 2 ripe ones have no stripes), orange and yellow pear. So far we've had one orange and 2 yellow stripes and they are unbelievably sweet and tasty! There are so many

My Favorite Gas Station -- Part 2

There is SO much to tell about this station that I had to blog it twice. By the way, if you live in Los Angeles, GET GAS THERE --> corner of Robertson and Olympic.

More on the smart construction and the good people who work at this station:

--> Using construction waste - more recycling -- The small signs that identify the station’s earth-friendly features are made from scraps of steel left over from building the canopy. So is the restroom signage. And like the canopy itself, they can all be recycled years from now when the building is torn down.Little things add up. Recycling the metal in seven soup cans saves enough energy to run a 60-watt bulb around the clock. Our signs probably saved a few big dinners’ worth.

--> Lighting - efficient -- This station has “smart lighting” turned on and off in stages by timers and light-sensing automatic switches. This uses natural light as much as possible and only burns electric lights when needed, saving 1,400 kilowatt-hours each year. Also, This station uses LED (light emitting diode) bulbs in the sign, on top of the dispensers and in other places. They focus the light just where it’s needed so you can use a lower power bulb to get the same brightness.

The other day I stopped in there, as I try to do when I'm in the neighborhood and I met Simar. She's one of the staff that walk around talking to patrons every day at the station, educating them on the station, how to save gas and generally just making us happy. Simar gave me some of these little postcard things that are made from recycled paper. They contain tips on conserving fuel and when you're done reading, the paper is embedded with natural californai wild flower seeds. Last Saturday when our niece/nephew were over we planted these. They'll take about 3 weeks to germinate, but I'm stoked and the kids had fun while we discussed conservation. After all, isn't it today's up and coming generation that is going to make the biggest difference? Anyways, back to Simar and the other good folks at this BP station. Thanks to all of them, getting gas is a friendly, fun affair that makes you forget for a moment that you're in the big city of Los Angeles and feel like you're in small town USA.

My Favorite Gas Station --- Part I

First of all, my apologies for not blogging all week. Not only was it a busy week business wise but I just haven't felt like it. Personally, I have to be in the groove/mood to blog. So, I feel for all of you looking at my toes for a week.

On to my favorite gas station. BP -- British Petroleum has opened what I hope is a trend in gas stations. It's a green - eco friendly station. Certainly a dichotomy in terms - gas station - eco-friendly, but in BP's case I think it works and is very admirable. Let me tell you about the this station.

BP has created a working labratory in gas stations. They've taken an old, polluting station and used many, many different concepts to create something move environmentally friendly. E.G.

--> Solar panels on the roof, while this doesn't provide all the electricity the station needs it certainly helps. Gas stations need a lot of electricity due to pumps, valves and stuff under the covers we don't really see.

--> Recycles all the water it uses, and filters all drain water. Clean ocean. All the rainwater that falls on the big canopy above the pumps is collected and used to water the plants and flowers around the station. It keeps them nice and wet while it keeps you dry. It's about as low tech as tech can get, but it saves energy that would be used to pump water. And the plants seem to like it a lot. We’ve finally gotten smart enough to discover an idea that the Spanish settlers were using here 400 years ago.

--> Recycled glass in the concrete -- Certain kinds of glass can’t be recycled to make new glass containers. These include clear window glass and fluorescent light bulbs. But that doesn’t mean they have to end up in a landfill. The concrete in this station is made with crushed waste glass instead of sand. So the glass stays out of the landfill and the environment isn’t disturbed to get new sand. Also, the glass reflects the sun from the concrete instead of absorbing it. Concrete in cities stays hot/warm well into the night, contributing to global warming and micro climate changes in urban areas.

Check out the info on the station here.
A picture of the station will be up in the Part 2 of this segment.

My First Pedicure

Ruby and Jack are staying with us this weekend and Ruby and I went for a Manny/Pedy. It was my first pedicure ever. I had to be told what to do by a 10 year old because the people at the salon didn't really speak English --- I put Dodger Blue nail polish on and put a nice White "D" on my big toes for Dodgers, Dawn and Dena -- hehe

Sweeping up the Memories

We decided to do a purging of some of the items in the back house. A spring cleaning so to speak that has been going on for almost a year. It's been a process with that large almost unmanageable project, however, we're making progress. It's interesting as we proceed the memories that we have to wade through. First we started with the plethora of couches we had accumulated. Several of these couches were from both of Dena's grandmothers. It's only been recently that she's been able to part with them. We were able to donate several to a group that helps homeless women and the last one was purchased by a grandmother moving out of her daughter's apartment. The couches all seemed to go to good homes and causes and that made parting with them easier.

Recently we've purchased a new diamond cut shredder for the huge stack of boxes full of receipts and old bills, etc that I've collected. They went back all the way through 1985. Yes, I know you only have to keep 3 years. I was paranoid frankly that some group who remain nameless was going to audit me. I'm pretty much over that and over the course of several weekends we've shredded to our hearts content. We've oiled that poor shredder, it's over heated more times than I can count but we've got three 40 gallon trash bags full of shredded stuff. I feel cleansed.

Throughout all this shredding you come upon all the memories from the past 22 years. Dena and I's first major appliance purchase together (from Sears of course), the 3 accidents all in one year to my Black 4Runner. The Visa card theft, the purchase of our home, the refinancing of my condo, 3 times, our first joint checking account, my 6 months of working on my own in 1996 (where I worked like a dog and made a ton of $$ ), and on and on the memories rolled.

We still have a long way to go to turning that guest house into a usable space instead of a storage locker, but we're getting there. Along the way we're reminded of the past with every box top we crack. Some need to be remembered and treasured and some need to be just thrown away.

Hanging at the Cemetary

Saturday night found us at another interesting Los Angeles event. All summer long the Hollywood Forever Cemetary in Los Angeles shows film screenings against the crypt wall. You come at around 7:30 pm bring a picnic lunch, a bottle of wine and listen to a DJ spinning tunes. At 9:00 the sun has set and they roll the film. Saturday was The Haunting ( B/W 1963 scary movie). I've got the girls circled up in the pix in blue, with the flix being displayed on the crypt wall in front of them.

Famous people buried at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery include Johhny Ramone (his headstone is a large bronze statue of himself, playing guitar), Cecil Demille, Fay Wray (original King Kong girl), Mel Blanc (his epitaph says, "That's all folks!", and many, many more.

Information about these events can be found here

The official cemetery site is here

3 Little Birds getting older.....

There are obviously 3 birds, they are starting to get their feathers in quite a bit, I'm not sure how much longer they will be around. This picture from Friday June 22.

Summer is Here!!

Well spring has sprung and summer is getting rolling. We have a nest of babies to report, I believe they are a small jay, however, I need to look them up in the bird book. Definitely a jay, but not a blue one. Dena says there are 4 of them, hard to get a picture as the nest is buried deep in the azalea bush. Also, another one of our cacti is blooming. This one has also never bloomed in the 12 years we've been here.

Father's Day Catch at Dodger Stadium

What an exciting day we had Sunday! Marred only by the Dodgers losing and a couple other items...... But it was Father's Day and is tradition at the Chavez Ravine the Dodgers let people out onto the field for a afteroon of catch. I had checked previously with the Dodgers Guest Relations office and they said there was no gender specification. Unfortunately, when we entered the center field gates they were refusing to give us a ball and entrance. I talked my way thru that and got a ball and out we went. We had a blast, I'm not sure who was more excited about being out on the field, Jack or myself. We ran around, rolled on the grass, took pix on the warning track and had to drag the kids off the field. On the way out they were giving away something else but they refused to give it to us because there was no father. Discrimination sucks. What if those were my kids and we were just two moms, no dad? I can assure you I'll be up in the Guest Relations desk our next Dodger game bitching them out since they lied to me.

Friday, the sugarless day from hell

AAARRRGGGHHHH! What a miserable day of pain. No sugar. What a drag. I had a major splitting headache all day today that the chiropractor, 2 alleve and a vicodan (not all at the same time) couldn't touch. It was hard to focus and even laying down didn't really help. I can't wait until Saturday.

Caffeine, Sugar and on we go

Cutting out Red Bull from my life seems to be going well, although when I walked by the Red Bull fridge in the grocery store last night it called to me. "Dawn, buy me, try me, taste me", that's what it said, I kid you not. Thursday I also decided to add most sugar to that self-imposed limitation. I think in today's society its extremely difficult to get rid of all sugar (refined) in your diet due to the fact that fructose, cane sugar, refined sugar, etc is basically in everything. However, it certainly is possible to eliminate all sodas and whatever else that makes sense. I also don't want to get into the trap of substituting aspartame or other chemical sweeteners to get that sweet taste. Those chemicals are killing us all slowly I'm sure of it. I also know these sweeteners or at least phenylalanine is just as addictive as caffeine. I was addicted to Diet Coke and that withdrawal was brutal.

So, how's it going? Well day 2 dawned (no pun intended) with a headache like you wouldn't believe. Since I'm off caffeine I cannot blame that so it must be the sugar. I now wonder if it really was sugar I've been addicted to all this time. Time will tell.....

Poaching Eggs

Who knew poaching eggs could be so hard. For some reason I'm on this poached egg kick at home. I thought it would be an easy breakfast to poach a couple eggs, put them on a slice of toast, and voila, breakfast. Days later, I still haven't come anywhere near actually having breakfast..... I bought this cute poacher from Sur La Table the other night. What a pain in the ass. It doesn't take XL eggs, those spill over, and it doesn't really poach the yolk very well. Then there was the whole putting the pan inside a saute pan full of water trick without jiggling or spilling the eggs. Too much trouble, I'm returning it today. Then my sister told me that they do it the old fashioned way. You just boil a pot of water on the stove, (a proper egg boil apparently) and then drop your eggs in with a ladle. Well this was an experiment gone awry for sure.

The first egg I just dropped in, unassisted. It went swirling around the pot and took over. I gave up on it immediately as its white was completely out of control. However, it ended up being the most together one. The second I used a small ladle, broke the egg into the ladle, which was of course too small, egg everywhere. ARRRGGGHH So I threw what was in the ladle into the pot and that swirled around. Now for the third egg. I got out the big stew ladle. Broke the egg into that and slowly submerged this ladle into the boiling water. That seemed to work but when I tried to remove the ladle most of the white had stuck to it and I was left with yolk in the pot.

So now I have egg drop soup. A very dirty pot, 2 sticky ladles and one poached egg. Seems it was an unsuccessful venture this morning. Thank goodness the cleaning lady is coming today to clean up this mess I've made.....

The Caffeine Crawl

So the last Red Bull consumed was Friday morning. Today, after the Gay Pride parade, I felt sluggish, had a hell of a headache and couldn't get moving. I wasn't too sure whether the headache was from sun or from caffeine withdrawals, so I erred on the side of caution and had a Red Bull. This is completely within my withdrawal schedule, so, I felt justified. I had gone ~ 31 hours without caffeine. I feel strongly that I can make it > 48 hours or more this time. So, from 3:00p Sunday. We'll see.

The Caffeine Committment

Well, I've decided to quit caffeine, again. Or rather, let me clarify, the consumption of caffeine (not to mention the sugar that goes with it) thru Red Bulls and other so called energy type drinks.

I started on Wednesday, June 6th. I lasted until about 11am before I had to have my Red Bull. This is about a 5 hour difference, not bad. I find the best way for me to quit is to wean myself off. It provides a little less pain and suffering for those around me and it's a little easier psychology for me as well. Thursday June 7th was an off day, i.e. no Red Bull allowed. That was a hard day. Those sharp piercing headaches will kill you. I only needed 4 advil to get me thru the evening. If I quit cold turkey I'd need a Vicodan every 4 - 6 hours and 5 days off of work..... Today on the other hand is a glorious day. I got a Red Bull this morning as I'm at 48 hours. Woohoo! It tasted sooooo goooooood. yummy. Now, I get one more. Monday morning and that's it. Won't this weekend be fun? Aren't you glad you don't live near me?

Century Plant Flowers

Here are 2 pictures from Today, which Dena has been bugging me to post for days now......As you can see the plant is quite tall, I'd say 12'? I have to tilt the camera and stand back quite aways to get it all in.

Gas goes over $4.00 per gallon

I might want to use that peddle car in front of the sign if gas goes too much higher.....
This was the price of gas in Cambria this weekend. True, they gouge, however, it's not too far from a California wide reality

Century Plant Begins to Spawn Flowers

I'd say it's about 12' tall. I'll have to measure it....

Getting Highlights.....

If you can't laugh at yourself, who can you laugh at?

Davy Jones Locker and the Flying Dutchman

We just saw Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. The story is centered quite firmly around Davy Jones' locker and the Flying Dutchman. It takes a good deal of liberty off these legends to be sure. Davy Jones is actually a character in the movie and he is portrayed as a mutated cross between a man and an Octopus with a wriggling beard of tentacles, and limbs like those of a Crustacean (an image similar to Lovecraft's Cthulhu). The movie also expands upon the origins of Davy Jones. He appears along with his crew of half-human, half-sea creature sailors aboard The Flying Dutchman. In the movie, the story follows that Davy Jones was once an average sailor who fell in love with a beautiful woman (Calypso) as "changing and harsh and as untameable as the sea." When he could not have her, the pain was so much that he cut out his still-beating heart, and sealed it in a chest, so that he would never have to feel love, compassion or the pain that can come from feeling them again. Significant creative license was taken here as Davy Jones was never really a real person (or has never proven to be) but has always been a myth or indication for the depths of the sea.

In the scriptwriter's commentary on the movie's DVD, one of the writers state that Davy Jones' Locker is not death per se, but spending an eternity with the thing you hate or are afraid of most. For instance Jack Sparrow is forced to stay in a land comprised entirely of salt, as he loves the open sea.

Century Plant 2 Weeks Growth

Well it's been 2 weeks since we saw this incredible stalk growing out of our Black Tipped Agave. The growth has been rapid, growing somewhere around 6" to 12" every 24 hours. There was a time when I didn't notice any growth but that was just because there were no marks between the window and roof line, now, it's quite distinct the difference. Dena and I know for sure it's grown at least 12" since yesterday morning. My mom says to feed it Miracle Grow and see what happens. I don't think it needs any help......

By the way, this picture is taken further back than the previous posts. That was necessary as it has grown so tall.

Century Plant Continues to Grow

May 17, 18 and 19th

Charles Mingus - Epitaph

Dena and I attended a Jazz concert last night at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles which was spectacular. It was a playing of 19 + movements written by Charles Mingus , composer, Jazz musician, pianist and bass. The 31 piece augmented "Jazz" band was conducted by Gunther Schuller. I've never seen a jazz band so large. They say it was "doubled", meaning there were > 1 of the first chair of some instruments. There were actually 3 first chair trumpets, 3 first chair trombones and 3 first chair Saxophones, making a total of 6 trumpets, 6 trombones and 6 Saxes. There was an amazing array of instruments, a Vibraphone, 2 Grand Pianists, flute, clarinet, bass clarinet (you don't see that everyday), bassoon, tuba, guitar, alto sax, bass sax, those huge drums, what's the name of those? The list goes on and on.....

The concert was long, I wish it was on a Sunday afternoon rather than a Wednesday night. Half the crowd left at intermission, as it was already 9:40pm. The movements themselves were an amazing array of jazz, classical, tributes and frankly, just out there compositions. The music seemed alive, expanding and contracting in some places like a pulsating heart and in others, chaotic at first, then calm, almost as if each movement was a therapy session. I cannot imagine the practice and dedication that must have went in to preparing for this concert by each musician. Playing this type of complicated score with its variety and need for classical precision yet improvisational talent is a feat that should make them all proud.

Well done.

More on the Growing "Century" Agave

Here's my research -- The leaves are 10 to 18 inches long with long, sharp, terminal spines and shorter spines along the edges.(I can attest to the sharpness as they pierced my ankle and caused quite a bit of bleeding when i was thinning out this area of the garden) The stalk can be up to 4 inches in diameter. (It certainly is 4") Members of the Amaryllis Family (wow, that's interesting....) , century plants take many years to flower, although not a century. (Ours has never flowered in the 13 years we've been in this house) Yellow flowers composed of 6 petals, bloom June through August. Flowers grow in clusters and face upward at the end of horizontal branches, appearing only near the top of the stalk This unique native plant has a tall, thin stalk from 10 to 14 feet high that grows from a thick basal rosette of gray-green leaves.

The Century Plant provided Native Americans with a source of soap, food, fiber, medicine and weapons. Agavi americana, can grow up to 40 feet high (holy crap! That's high.....I guess there will be more pictures) with much longer leaves and larger stalk. This American Century Plant is sometimes grown in southern California as an ornamental. It is used commercially in Mexico as a source to produce the liquors tequila, pulque and mescal. (yum.....tequila)

You'll notice how the plant is now above the wall of the patio.....The difference between this photo and the previous is 48 hours.

Black Tipped Agave - Agave parryi

This is a plant in our cactus garden the front yard. We've never seen it flower before. Here is the start of it. Flowers: on large stalk held as high as 10-15ft above foliage, branched; pink bud opens to bright yellow flower; bloom in late spring or early summer; stalk persists if not cut down. We'll see what happens. So here is it's progress on Sunday.

Galactic DisneyLand Warriors

Notice that I am Space Ranger # 1 with the top score!

Green and Various Updates

Our local grocery store Whole Foods (organic, fresh and yummy) has gone more Green than they already were. I go over there as frequently as I can for lunch as they have the most amazing salad, food bar. Lots of delicious items, albeit expensive.....I dump a bunch of stuff in a plastic container, put some Miso Shallot dressing on it (my favorite) and voila, a healthy lunch. Well now they have these brown cardboardy like containers. Turns out they are made of bullrushes and they degrade in a dump or your backyard composter in 90 days. That's pretty awesome. They have always used paper napkins made out of recycled paper. Non-bleached paper or course, The bleaching of paper is the worst part of the entire polluting paper goods making process. Where do you think all that used bleach goes? A lot of it in my gramma's lake!
You can read about how Green Whole Foods is here.

Speaking of Green another neat product that has gone green is Annie Chun's noodle meals. They make all their bowls out of some sort of biodegradable material. So the meal is self contained, you microwave it at work or whatever in its biodegradable bowl, then throw the whole thing away. Annie Chun's is sold at Whole Foods and Trader Joes. Look for it. It's good too!

Further updates on life -- the Dodge Magnum appears to be leak free! Keep tuning in for the driveway cleanup sage.

The family/Gramma's 90th DVD got burned but the voices are out of sync with the lips. What is that all about??? More searching and troubleshooting and burning awaits me.....

I Love and Hate New Software

I bought some new DVD burning software today from Roxio. I downloaded it from the internet because I couldn't find anything at Best Buy. That, in and of itself is another blog. The fact that brick and mortar stores are failing to meet consumer's needs and the internet is. But I digress.... I installed it and it wouldn't run. It complained that my video driver was out of date. I have a Nvidia GForce very expensive graphics card. I had to upgrade the driver. I had to update my Windows Media player to 10.0 and patch it. Not sure what that has to do with it, but I had to do it. Another 30 minutes of my life gone. Then of course, I had to register the product. After all of this I could finally use the product.

After fumbling my way thru I was thrilled to get to the point of burning a DVD. I put a nice, expensive blank DVD-R into my DVD burner (which I've never used) and the burn button is greyed out and it keeps saying "drive empty". Well, it's not empty, I put the DVD-R in it! I checked the Roxio support website, it says I should update the DVD burner driver. Imagine that......so I did that. Another 30 minutes gone.....Reboot, relaunch, try again. Still greyed out. Can you hear the screaming? I then tried searching on Roxio discussion boards. Oh, I need to be a member? I had to confirm my registration which was in my email inbox. Sign up for an account, etc, etc. It turns out I had the DVD-R in the wrong drive. Sometimes, by the time you reach this point, you just have to smile. Otherwise, there would be more crazy people in the world.

However, after I figured all that out, waited 20 minutes for the DVD to burn, I'm getting an error message right at the end of the burn. I'm not looking it up, I'm just going to bed. This DVD is a combination of several DVD movies taken at my Grandma's 90th birthday party. I'm trying to combine them into one DVD and burn movies for the families. Like they say, no good deed goes unpunished.....

Family Picture

This last weekend Dena and I flew up to Morson, Ontario for my gramma's 90th birthday. Here is a family picture. Gramma has 11 children (10 still living), ~ 35 grandchildren and ~ 48 great-grand children. There's a lot to count so I may be missing some..... This picture only represents a small portion of those.

Various Notes

The Dodge Magnum has been in the shop 2 days now. They are making darn sure they've fixed the problem because, being the insane bitch that I am, I spoke with the service director and put the fear of God into him. They didn't call me today, so, I guess they are keeping the car over the weekend......

Here's me getting my hair highlighted....

Dodge Magnum drives woman insane

Wednesday I'm off for the 5th time to the Jack Ellis Dodge dealer in Glendale to have my 2006 Dodge Magnum serviced. The last 2 times they basically told me it wasn't leaking and sent me on my way. See previous posts, I won't rant about it again.

So, since some of you know me pretty well, you know that I don't like to be told I don't know what I'm talking about, which is basically what the Dodge dealer is telling me. Don't ever tell me that. So, in order to prove to my service woman, Astrid, that the friggin' vehicle is leaking I've been placing cardboard under the car. Now, the rest of this I'm going to tell you is bordering on insane, according to Dena. But hey, that's me. On the driveway, I've placed chock marks where the tires to the car go and the outside lines of the cardboard, so if it drips, I'll know exactly where. The reason that's important is because I've placed tupperware all underneath the car on the cardboard using duct tape of course. That way if I get some fluid in the tupperware, I know where to place the cardboard again. See, it's very logical.

I've had marginal success with this. You see the vehicle doesn't leak that much in a 24 hour period. My driveway is full of stupid little stains about the size of a dollar pancake. Some of them quite fresh from the recent leaking. Tomorrow morning I'm also taking a digital picture of the driveway and taking it to Astrid. And I'm taking the evidence, in tupperware, to her as well. Dena says that it's crazy. Frankly, that never occurred to me. It really seems a logical thing to do. Is that what crazy is like? Doing things that to you are extremely normal, but to other people are totally whacked? So, by the way, I have about 1 milliliter of liquid in my huge tupperware container. You can darn well bet that the top is going on and off to Astrid it's going!

3 Sisters at Venice Beach

Princess Ariel and Gramma at DisneyLand

The Coffee Experiment

Well, my mom and Aunts are here visiting and for preparation I thought I'd be clever and buy one of those single serving coffee machines. That way each one could have whatever flavor coffee they wanted in the morning. Being that they are all quite independant women, I thought this would be an excellent idea. I went out and bought the Braun Tassimo single serve machine. I was a little disappointed in that at Target they only had 1 kind of coffee and one tea, but thought I could pick up more somewhere else. We tried the machine and it has wonderful coffee with excellent brew control, i.e. each person can really tailor the strength of their brew to their tastes.

However, it only had one kind of coffee and I couldn't really find any others. So I decided to go back and return it and get the Phillips Senseo single serve which seemed to have coffee everywhere and all different flavors. Well last night we tried that machine. Everyone agreed that the coffee tasted funny, burnt even. We tried to make cup after cup trying to change things up, and each time they said the coffee just tasted bad. Not too strong, not too weak, just bad tasting coffee. So, guess where I'm going today......back to Target to return the damn thing.

It was fun while it lasted, I'm borrowing a regular old filter coffee pot from my friend and buying regular old coffee at the store.........perhaps I'll pick up a flavored creamer......
The moral of the story? If you're going to buy a single serve coffee machine, buy the Braun Tassimo, it's a great idea. And the real moral, if it works, just don't try to make it better, just use it!

Gramma's Adventures #1 -- California Speedway

Here's Gramma and Auntie Dawn at the California Speedway watching the Indy cars race. This is where normal people can rent a few laps in their dream car (Indy or Nascar) and race around the track. It was very exciting at this HUGE venue.

4th Time's a Charm?

Wednesday found me back at the Dodge Dealership in Glendale - Jack Ellis Dodge. My red magnum had been in for service on March 21st, again, for the leaking transmission. (see January 11th, 2007 post for history). I really like this Dodge dealer, I had first taken it to Carmax by LAX, but the place is very large, very impersonal and I had to wait a week for an appointment. Glendale Dodge is very small and after my 3rd time there I recognize a lot of people. It's sort of sad when you are recognizing people at the car dealership.....

Back to the 21st -- normally I take the car to Astrid the service advisor, a short little Hispanic dyke, but this time she was busy and Nick came out to the car. Nick is the antithesis of Astrid. Large, European, male chauvinistic, loud -- by the end of the day he had blamed my leak on Jiffy Lube putting in my oil filter cockeyed. A bullshit story I'm sure. Just because I'm a woman doesn't mean I'm stupid. He also claimed they cleaned the bottom of the vehicle so that if it leaked again (well of course it'll leak again stupid, you didn't fix it!) then they would be able to identify the location.

Off I go to the dealer again on April 4th as it leaked from the moment I drove it back into the driveway in March. Now when I say leak, it's not as bad as the December leak, it's more like over a 12 hour period I get a silver dollar size spot on the driveway. This time I made sure I got Astrid. She is very attentive and assured me she'd take care of it. I got a call later that day and they could not find a leak. She wanted to keep the car overnight, put a large pan underneath it as well as clean all the residue off the engine and the splash pan. (isn't that what that idiot Nick said he did?)

The next day I went to pick up my baby, which I truly missed as I was driving a Ford Focus as a rental. There's the biggest waste of sheet metal you've ever seen. My sister says that it's the only car that people laugh at you when you tell them what you drive. How true. On the freeway I felt that my feet could feel every single pebble on the road and the wind noise, wow. Back to the Magnum, Astrid said they didn't find any leaks but there was a lot of old oil and other residue in the splash pan. They cleaned everything and sent me on my way. And when the porter drove the vehicle around to me, guess what, Astrid had it washed. I was very pleased. I stopped and thanked her and she said, "I'm always thinking". Yes, that's what separates the Nicks and the Astrids of the world. Forward thinking thoughts.....

That car better not be leak anymore! My driveway looks like the Clampett's live here.

Spring has Sprung

More on the Shoulder Problem

I had to go back to the Ortho guy today because my Physical Therapy prescription expired. Fortunately, I was in the middle of a self imposed "body" experiment (I do these occasionally) and my shoulder was much worse. If there is something going on with me, I'll often do an experiment, like with the shoulder I abstained from all exercise involving the shoulder for 10 days. The shoulder actually got worse. That led to valuable info for the doctor, he feels its more muscular than joint related. Well, to tell you the truth, I could have told him that. But I was glad to hear it none the less.

So after much discussion we elected to treat the issue from 2 different avenues, as a chronic inflammation in the shoulder joint and as a muscular problem in the pectoral/shoulder region. So, I have 4 more weeks of Physical Therapy and today I had my first cortisone shot. I was fairly freaked out about that whole cortisone shot thing. I thought they were going to come after me with a 14" needle, but it was just a little needle, was actually less painful than when the vultures try to get blood out of my arm, and the shoulder hurts less already. Also, when we discussed that physical inactivity worsens the problem, he said to get out there and play more golf and go to the gym more! WooHoo!!!

Another update will follow in a few weeks, as I'm sure you're dying to know about my health....

Things that happened a long time ago....

It's interesting and disturbing how things that happen a long time ago affect us for the rest of our lives. I was just in Boulder, CO and something that happened to me ~ 10 years ago came up again. I've not told anyone except maybe Dena this story, but I'll share it with you now.

About 10 years ago I was in Calgary, Alberta working on a VoiceMail project for some oil company. I was staying in the Sheraton by the airport. One night I was sleeping and was awakened by noises. I laid there confused as I was just in a dead sleep. I heard loud banging like something was being thrown against a wall. I was still kind of confused. Then I heard a door slam and I heard what I thought was sobbing in the hall. It began to dawn on me that someone was beating this woman. At first I was momentarily stunned and a little at a loss as to what to do. I quickly regained my senses and got up and peeked out the peep hole. I could see nothing but as I had made my way to the door I heard someone open a door and probably pull her back in as the door slammed again.

Shaking, I reached for the phone and called 911. Well, as you can imagine there was a swift response. The hotel front desk was miffed that I didn't tell them first. Yeah right. The cops came and since I could not pin point which room they could do nothing. Sounds come from all over in a hotel and they are hard to tie a direction to. The floor was deathly quiet for the rest of the sleepness night I had. It makes me tear up now just writing this blog. I feel so sorry that my response wasn't quicker for this woman and often wonder what ever became of her and the asshole that was beating her.

Now, sometimes I lie in a hotel room, sounds freak me out. The other night in the Courtyard Marriot in Boulder I heard what I thought was either crying or laughing in the hall. I can assure you I was out of bed in a flash! They were right in front of my door and she was kind of laughing and the man was cooing to her. So, no 911 calls that night.......

Movie Review -- Departed

Don't read this if you haven't watched it.

*************** SPOILER WARNING ***************

This movie was not oscar material. It was entertaining for sure. It was typical Martin Scorsese, definitely. It was disappointing in that it was apparently a complete remake of a Chinese film called Infernal Affairs, actually, so much a remake that it was scene for scene. Infernal Affairs (called Mou gaan dou in China) it is said was actually better than Marty's take on it. And it wasn't like Marty was making a remake of a 50 year old movie either, the movie was made in China in 2002. Jeesh, what is it saying about us that not only are we getting product from China and lessons in globalization but now we have to get our film ideas from them too? Sad.......

So why did Martin Scorsese win? Let's face it, he was given the Oscar as recognition for all his work. Do you really think people will remember Departed as a ground breaking, memorable film for years and years to come? No. But people will remember the type of film that Martin Scorsese makes and for that, he deserves an Oscar. Should it have been this year? Should he have been "encouraged" to stretch and make something even more innovative? Who knows.....

Physical Therapy Update

OK, so awhile ago I posted how I put off going to the physical therapist because I was concerned about the $1,000 a year coverage limit. I finally couldn't take the pain anymore in my shoulder and went to the PT place. I asked them to check coverage for me, just to be sure. I didn't want to run over the limit. She called and checked, it's unlimited. WHAT! Woohoo!! So, now I'm like, well why did my insurance company screw me last year when I went for my neck and only cover me for $1,000 leaving me with a nice $400 bill before I was notified I was cut off? I called them to find out the scoop. After many menus, much button pressing and speech activated menu navigating, I finally got a real person. Although, I'm not too sure you can call them real since they read almost every single word in our 10 minute conversation from a script. I could tell because she wasn't a good reader. A little slow. That's the new thing you know, almost every call center of any size has "scripted" employees. They read all questions, answers, etc from a set of scripts. It can be very aggravating, but don't try to bypass it because they cannot function if you veer from their script. Automatons.....

So I discovered that my "health" plan has 2 special exclusions for physical therapy. If you go for your back or your feet (your feet, really??), you have a $1,000 limit per calendar year. Your neck is part of your back because it's part of your spine. How stupid. I'm sure these exclusions are because most people who need physical therapy need it on their back, or apparently, their feet. The US system allows insurance companies to basically deny or limit coverage based on any whim they may have. Let me just tell you how ridiculous the American health care system is. How rigged. How against the normal everyday person and frankly, to some degree against the doctors, too.

Life Update

Well, I thought I would just throw out some info about all that's going on in my life right now cause I'm sure you've been wondering why I haven't been blogging. I've been too busy! It feels overwhelming, invigorating and exciting to have so much going on. As I mentioned to you all before I've been going to physical therapy for my shoulder & neck. Wow is it hard and very painful. I had to go 3 times a week but now I have to go back to the Ortho guy for a re-evaluation. My therapist, Darlene (who I'm pretty sure is gay but she is very, very professional and cleverly doesn't let on about anything in her personal life) is recommending me for more visits.

I am currently planning for a 4 day scrapbooking getaway at the end of March. That'll be a blast but there is a lot of planning that goes into these sorts of things. How much alcohol to bring, which pictures to scrap, who the masseuse is going to be, etc.

My mom and 2 of her sisters are coming in April 6th. I'm very excited about this. We're going to have a lot of fun. They all come in 3 hours apart at LAX. So, all day Friday I'll be driving back and forth to the airport. We'll be going to Disneyland, the Griffith Observatory, the Huntington Gardens for high tea (that reminds me, I have to make reservations for that....) and all sorts of fun, touristy stuff. I hope to be blogging that whole trip so stay tuned for that.

Just Stuff

My personal trainer (yes, I have one. I live in Los Angeles don't I) suggested that I let my hair grow longer and have it cut to look like Ellen Degeneres. He says she has baby fine hair, too. What do you think? Think I'd look good with an "ellen" haircut?

On the way home from the gym I pass thru Beverly Hills. Today I saw 5 cop cars and 9 cops arresting a guy. There's a joke in there somewhere right? How many Beverly Hills cops does it take to make an arrest?

By the way, if you live in Los Angeles you MUST know what IMDB is. People use it as a verb or noun in conversations. It's THE movie website with all the scoop.

I love singing in the shower with my parrot. He cracks me up. He sings and dances with me. He's bobbing and weaving and squawking....I wonder if he thinks I'm bobbing and weaving and squawking?

Hey all those Canadians reading my blog. Big shout out to all of you! How many of you are out there??? You can post comments even if you don't have a blogger account by doing anonymous. Jeesh that's a hard word to spell.

Lesbians take the Academy by Storm

What an amazing night in Hollywood Sunday night. Unfortunately it's only now that I've had a chance to blog about it. When I saw Ellen Degeneres up on that stage I thought to myself, Wow, she's come a long way. Do you remember when she was practically run out of Hollywood for coming out on the Ellen show back in 1998.

The "Ellen Show" was successful enough in its early seasons to warrant annual renewal, due largely to DeGeneres' perceived appeal and comic ability, but it was never a huge critical or ratings success. Only with Ellen's coming out did the show make its way into the wide public conciousness and hit a critical plateau. However after the initial coming out frenzy the show's ratings declined somewhat and ABC began feeling the pain of an organized backlash from religious conservative groups regarding the "gay content" being exhibited. While the final episodes of "Ellen" continued breaking new ground and winning awards, they were also widely criticized for focusing primarily on gay issues -- a criticism begun in anti-gay circles but which spread very quickly to the mainstream media. The brass at ABC found the justification they needed to finally pull the show from the air in May of 1998 after five seasons.

Where are we now? Not only has Ellen just hosted a very successful and more importantly, funny Oscar show but she has a successful talk show. Not to mention she's probably wealthy beyond belief. You go girl! Way to keep plugging and overcome adversity. The power of positive thinking? Or a sign of the times? Right place......etc

And what about Melissa Etheridge taking home the Oscar for Best Song? Kissing her girlfriend on National TV in front of 100's of millions worldwide and then telling Oprah's buddy backstage that "Oscar will be the only man to see my bedroom". Hehe. We certainly have come a long way!

Acupuncture Treatment #1

I'm having a lot of pain in my right shoulder and while I am starting physical therapy, I thought I would also supplement it with Acupuncture. Since my health insurance only covers $1000 of physical therapy, which is only about 8 visits, PT isn't going to solve the problem. So, I'm trying to find an alternative. Here's some pix with all my needles.