S I C K

I am not feeling well at all. Hopefully, I'll feel well enough to come back online later to play some gammon ~

Until the next post, laterz.

Priceless

My plans for Saturday: Take Meerie out to this Chinese restaurant that serves this great soup (I know what it's called, but any attempt on my part to spell it will fail). Anyhow, I go to Meerie's house to pick her up. I wasn't surprised to see Kim when she opened the door (she's @ Meerie's often).

Kim and I do our ritual hellos:

Kim: "Hey Nerd Woman!"
Me: "Hey Kim."
Kim: "FADDY'S HERE!" she shouts into the house (according to Kim, nobody has a name until she christens you with one. Unfortunately, she has seen fit to give me about 316 of 'em).

I walk into the house straight to the dining room and see Meerie's friend, Lana sitting in the breakfast nook and Jennifer right next to her. At this point, I'm thinking, "Okay, what's going on? Where the hell did these people come from? And crap! I look like shit!"

Then Meerie walks out of the kitchen all grins.

"Hi faddy," she says (yes, the love-handle has stuck thanks to KIM).
"Hey mom." I give her a hug.

And then it hits me. These wonderful aromas are coming out of her kitchen. Her kitchen looks all creamy and NEW and there at the counter is my brother preparing salmon.

"Well, what do you think?" Meerie asks.
"Wow!" I exclaim as I survey the kitchen. "Hey Buv!" I say to my brother.
"Karen," Buv says in greeting (he's always acting cool, but we all know he's a dork - heh).

"I can't believe ya finally had your whole kitchen done!" I say to Meerie.

For years, Meerie has been talking about having her kitchen redone, which basically, has been way over due since she first moved into the place about 20 years ago. It was retro 70's. Avacado green decor. It was pretty atrocious. Not to mention it was all falling apart. You had to learn how to open the drawers a "special" way or else the damned things wouldn't budge. The shelves were so worn that even the contact paper ran screaming from them every time we attempted to lay it down.

But now, it's all so snazzy! It's all this fantastic color of cream. Her counter tops are just beautiful (no more ceramic tile crap), she has molding above her cupboards. All her appliances match her color scheme (she went and got a brand new stove, microwave and fridge). And, she has all these cool pull out drawers and swinging shelves. Very modern.

I had no clue she was doing this, but everyone else did. Meerie wanted to surprise me :)

And the best part is that she celebrated her new kitchen by cooking the most fantastic feast ever (dayum my mom is a good cook!). So, let me list what we had yesterday to celebrate Meerie's new kitchen:

Poached salmon (it positively melted in my mouth);
Chinese pork ribs;
Jumbo prawns;
Pansit;
Chinese greens/sprouts; and of course
Steamed rice

Dessert consisted of tapioca pudding, homemade apple pie (compliments of Jennifer) and a lemon cake.

Missing eating soup @ Hop Sing's?

Priceless.

*wigglin' browz*

Tetris

Maim: "Mom, let me lower the skill level."
Me: "No, I have it Maim - I can play it like this."

One minute later: Game over.

Maim: "Mom, are you sure? Here let me --" She reaches for my control. I lift it out of her reach.
Me: "I'm telling you, I have it! Just start it over and let's play.

Less than two minutes later: Game over.

We look at each other.

Maim: "I'm lowering it."
Me: "Okay."

Two minutes later: Game over.

Maim: "Wow. You still lost."
Me: "Okay Maim, you don't have to state the obvious."
Maim: "Yeah but, I put you on level 1 while I played on level 5."

Silence.

Maim: "How about some TV?"
Me: "Sounds good."

It's Late

I'm very tired and do you think for one damned minute I'd go to bed? Heck no. Why?

I
do
not
know


what
am
i
?

Restless and tired.

I should be after messing with a script on my page - it still doesn't work. It's been driving me nuts. Kinda like when a guy decides to do his own wiring. When he's finished he goes to test his handy work, flips the switch and instead of the kitchen light going on, the ceiling fan in the dining room starts rotatin'. Nothing like losing your mind over scripting. I did change the color of my layout and added a new title image, then I went and tinkered on my 100 Things page.

Uh-oh. I feel a case of the ramblings comin' on....Quick! Run, for Godssake!

Hey!

Wait for me!

I Love You, Man!

I can't believe I left that comment at A Small Victory. I should have just written, nice blog - thanks.

Dennis Miller - Part II

Thank you kindly, Victor for pointing out that my "Bless you, Dennis" post was not written by Dennis MIller, but by W. Wayne Schields. You can find the original letter here.

Kids

Mari: "Mom, can I borrow $20?"
Me: "No you cannot."
Mari: "Geez, it's only $20."
Me: "OK, do you have $3 that I can borrow?"
Mari: "Mawwwwmmmm!"
Me: "Well, it's only $3."
Mari: "Fine. I gotta go."

30 minutes later the phone rings.

Me: "Hello?"
Mari: "Hi mom!"
Me: "Hi Maim."
Mari: "What're you doin'?"
Me: "Working on some web pages."
Mari: "Oh. Can I borrow $10?"
Me: "Did I not tell you no?"
Mari: "Mom, that was for $20. So, can I?"

Bless You, Dennis Miller

Dennis Miller........

All the rhetoric on whether or not we should go to war against Iraq has got my insane little brain spinning like a roulette wheel. I enjoy reading opinions from both sides, but I have detected a hint of confusion from some of you.

As I was reading the paper recently, I was reminded of the best advice someone ever gave me. He told me about the KISS method ("Keep it Simple, Stupid"). So, with this as a theme, I'd like to apply this theory for those who don't quite get it. My hope is that we can simplify things a bit and recognize a few important facts.

Here are 10 things to consider when voicing an opinion on this important issue:

1) President Bush and Saddam Hussein.....Hussein is the bad guy.

2) If you have faith in the United Nations to do the right thing, keep this in mind. They have Libya heading the Committee on Human Rights and Iraq heading the Global Disarmament Committee. Do your own math here.

3) If you use Google Search and type in "French Military Victories," your reply will be "Did you mean French Military Defeats?"

4) If your only anti-war slogan is "No war for oil," sue your school district for allowing you to slip through the cracks and robbing you of the education you deserve.

5) Saddam and Bin Laden will not seek United Nations approval before they try to kill us.

6) Despite what some seem to believe, Martin Sheen is NOT the President. He just plays one on TV.

7) Even if you are anti-war, you are still an "Infidel" and Bin Laden wants you dead, too.

8) If you believe in a "vast right-wing conspiracy," but not in the danger that Hussein poses, quit hanging out with the Dell computer dude.

9) We are not trying to liberate them.

10) Whether you are for military action, or against it, our young men and women overseas are fighting for us to defend our right to speak out. We all need to support them without reservation.

I hope this helps.

Monday

What can be worse than opening an e-mail at work from a friend and find a singing penis playing a guitar?

Having one of your managers walk in behind you just as it finishes downloading. Maybe he thought it was a singing weiner playing a guitar instead.

Yeah right. And, chicken have lips.

Him or Me

At 2 AM this morning I was awaken out of a sound sleep by a man and a woman having a conversation right outside my apartment window.

Man: Him or me?
Woman: (indecipherable)
Man: Him or me?!
Woman: (indecipherable)
Man: Say it! Him or me?!

Bootylicious and Some Adventures

Well, I've updated my site somewhat; changed my mood indicator to "bootylicious." I just love what that word brings to my mind. There's nothing like feelin' bootylicious good.

I've included a 100 Things page on my site. It is accessible via the "about" link. I'm also needing to build up my qb quilt and have already submitted trade requests. It's been quite awhile since I've traded patches.

Kim is over this weekend. And, as usual, I'm loving it. We sure have some good laughs together. She was telling stories about the adventures that she and Buv (my brother) had during the summers when they were kids. I was rarely part of these adventures always preferring to staying at home and reading while they were out exploring creeks, skateboarding in the downtown circular parking garage, trying to make money by having cupcake sales and a whole bunch of other adventures too numerous to list here.

Kim had me laughing as she was telling me about the time her, Buv and our good friend Doug took a bus to town then spent all their money on cookies forgetting to save enough for their bus fare back.

"So, what'd you guys do; walk?" I asked her.

"No way," Kim says. "We begged people for money."

I may have been boring as a youngster, but Kim and Buv were squirrely. There are some adventures they had where I am surprised that they didn't get hurt or killed. Then, of course, there were times they pissed me off.

Like for instance, I remember catching them throwing our two dogs off of the roof of our house on to this mobile hammock that Meerie had gotten dad for Father's Day. I was livid. The dogs did not get hurt, but they were terrified.

"I'm telling mom!" I yelled at them from the ground just as they were ready to throw down Koko.

"Ok, ok!" Buv said. "We'll stop."

"I don't care; I'm tellin'!" I said and ran back into the house and called mom at work. Almost immediately Kim and Buv were beside me giving me dirty looks as I told Meerie what they had done. I handed the phone to Kim after Meerie told me to put them on.

I heard them telling her they were sorry, that they wouldn't do it again. They were near tears. I finally heard them hang up and seconds later they were outside in the backyard. A few minutes later, I heard sounds coming from the roof. Curious, I went outside and found Kim dangling from the roof while Buv was watching her.

"What are you doin'?!" I asked.

"We're practicing jumpin' off the roof 'cos mom said that when she gets home, she wants us to jump off the roof so that we can feel what Koko and Loyloy felt like."

Despite the anger that I had felt at them, I felt sorry for them because I knew they were scared. Meerie rarely just talked a good talk - she also walked her talk, so I knew they believed she was going to have them jump off the roof.

"Come on you guys - she ain't gonna make you jump off the roof." I said trying to make them feel better.

"Yes she will so leave us alone - we're practicing!" Buv said to me.

"Yeah Karen!" Kim piped in tearfully.

Of course Meerie never had any intention of making them jump off the roof. Their punishment was the fear they felt in thinking that they were going to have to do it.

Admin Networking Event

Today, eight of us admins from work were chauffeured around in a limo - we went wine tasting. We call this an Admin Networking Event. Our managers: "Have fun!"

Okie doke!

I have to tell ya, I became inebriated after we hit the first winery. It was my first time ever to go wine tasting. I drank everything that was poured into my glass. I did stop occassionally to rinse it out with water so that I could taste each wine with great meticulousness, but after my fifth wine, I couldn't taste any difference in them, unless of course, if the wine was red or white - har har har.

I did invest in two bottles; one was a 1998 red table wine and the other one an almond flavor champagne. I'd like to fix lasagne to go with the red wine, but since my cooking skills are not too keen, I'm gonna wait until Kim (my sister) arrives tomorrow. She's a damned good cook.

Our limo driver, Larry, was as pleasant as can be and received on top of the gratuity we paid him a gift of $50 + because we all seemed to have fucked up and had to cough up $1 each time we did. See, the rule was we couldn't mention where we work or anything having to do with work. We failed pretty miserably.

Poor Larry, he was trying to do the gentlemanly thing by helping me remove my jacket for me, but I didn't realize it and was swatting at him while saying, "What are you doin'?"

"Karen," An admin from global IT says to me, "he's trying to help you off with your jacket - Don't kill the limo driver!"

Then, I nearly had a panic attack when I couldn't find my purchases that I had made until someone tells me, "Geez Karen - Larry took them to the limo for you."

Do I get out enough or what?

Proud to be an American - Part II

I've been surfing and visiting quite a few sites and maybe because it's been "my lucky day," [insert sarcasm here] most of these sites that I came upon are very verbal about their thoughts on President Bush and how they are unhappy in how he is running our country. It bothered me a lot that so many people had nothing but negative things to say about the USA. So, I come back to my site and wrote how I felt about it. I received a couple of comments. One person took my comments personally.

Please don't take my posts personally unless you see your name written on 'em (sighs). Anyhow, I don't think the person read my post with an open mind, but instead with a defensive one.

Lighten up, ok?

The second comment I received appeared to be polite but cautioned me about just because a person disagrees with what the president is doing does not mean they are bashing the USA. Well, to me it is bashing the USA because the president represents the USA.

My challenge: Does anyone have anything pleasant or encouraging to say about our country? Puhlease don't comment unless you do.

By the way, mobius and raven, thanks for your comments to my entry "Proud to be an American." :) Shine on you two!

I Bet

I bet that if men were the chosen gender to have periods, it would be quite acceptable for them to miss work at least 5 days per month. Plus, I bet that our population wouldn't be so big either. After all, a male's threshold for pain is low so it is most likely they'd stop giving birth after just having one child.

Of course, I believe that male and female balance each other in many aspects; each gender's strengths makes up for the other's weaknesses.

But I bet ya the foregoing is true anyhow. =:Þ

Mah Tennis Shoes

I bought these tennis shoes that are platforms. Remember Pee Wee Herman's white platform shoes? Well, that's my tennis shoes but the toes are rounded and they wear like mules; I just slide my feet in 'em and they're on. At first I thought they were pretty cool, then I walked in 'em.

Folks I feel like I'm walkin' on pillows because they're so cushy (I swear I expect them to squeek with each step I take like those kiddie shoes from Korea). Then at the same time they're so heavy that my toes get a workout just tryin' to keep them on my feet with each step I take.

Wanna bet some clown attempted to return his novelty shoes for a pair of normal ones and got away with it?

If you're out there, Flippo da Clown, I gots your shoes. Send me e-mail - let's do some talkin' ~

Proud to be an American

Hello - I don't have links to online news sites that will take you to articles about peace protestors being arrested by our government. Nope. There are plenty of sites out there that are doing that - everyone is gettin' on that ever-lovin' band wagon and bashing the U.S. Frankly, I'm getting sick of it. I am tired of hearing and reading about what is wrong with my country. There's a lot of good things about the United States and so many people have chosen to forget all about them.

And, I think President Bush is doing a great job considering the crap he has to deal with.

Shine on Mr. President.