I totally missed yesterday so I will be making two posts today.
Mondays completely stink and I think they should all be taken out of the calendar. It was not a complete trainwreck of a day but I totally got my wires crossed with my cousin as to where we would meet at Disneyland and we completely missed each other. Compounded by the fact that I left my cellphone at home. I don't call it an electronic leash for nothing.
Then, the strategies that seemed to work for motivating K to do her homework last week did not work yesterday, so it took K two hours to do one math worksheet. *facepalm* Hopefully, today's homework will go much better.
The good news is that the Phillies won last night, forcing a game six!
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Sunday, November 1, 2009
NaBloWriMo
It is November 1, so it is National Blog Writing Month (coincides with NaNoWriMo - National Novel Writing Month). I am not confident with my ability to write fiction, so I will just be blogging every day in November. This exercise will test my ability to focus on a project and stick to it, because I have the attention span of a Tse Tse Fly. We shall see.
Today, so far, has been a really good day. We took the Brownie troop and the Tiger Cub den to the Pacific Marine Mammal Rehabilitation Center in Laguna Beach. The Brownies all earned a special "Marine Life" try-it today. Try-its are the Brownie version of merit badges, they have to actually complete four different related tasks to earn them.
We learned about the difference between sea lions and seals, learned about what they do at the center to help sea lions, seals, dolphins, and small whales. The volunteer, Kathy, showed us some of the hazardous things these sea mammals encounter, and how these hazards harm them. We also got to watch the staff feed the sea lions and seals. The kids even got to see a sea lion's eye (it was in a jar, preserved, so people can see how large their eyes are. Some of the girls were pretty skeeved out by the eye in a jar, but K was very interested. K has mentioned that she wants to be a veterinarian when she grows up, so it is a good thing that the eye did not creep her out.
It was a very nice outing, and we had a gorgeous day, as far as the weather goes, to go there.
On edit, I forgot to add that the H1N1 flu has hit K's school. We ran into one of the parents at Target yesterday and one of their kids got diagnosed with it on Friday. They also found out that out of 25 children in that child's class, 13 were absent on Friday. Still no injectable H1N1 vaccine here in Orange County. To say that I am nervous about this is a severe understatement.
Today, so far, has been a really good day. We took the Brownie troop and the Tiger Cub den to the Pacific Marine Mammal Rehabilitation Center in Laguna Beach. The Brownies all earned a special "Marine Life" try-it today. Try-its are the Brownie version of merit badges, they have to actually complete four different related tasks to earn them.
We learned about the difference between sea lions and seals, learned about what they do at the center to help sea lions, seals, dolphins, and small whales. The volunteer, Kathy, showed us some of the hazardous things these sea mammals encounter, and how these hazards harm them. We also got to watch the staff feed the sea lions and seals. The kids even got to see a sea lion's eye (it was in a jar, preserved, so people can see how large their eyes are. Some of the girls were pretty skeeved out by the eye in a jar, but K was very interested. K has mentioned that she wants to be a veterinarian when she grows up, so it is a good thing that the eye did not creep her out.
It was a very nice outing, and we had a gorgeous day, as far as the weather goes, to go there.
On edit, I forgot to add that the H1N1 flu has hit K's school. We ran into one of the parents at Target yesterday and one of their kids got diagnosed with it on Friday. They also found out that out of 25 children in that child's class, 13 were absent on Friday. Still no injectable H1N1 vaccine here in Orange County. To say that I am nervous about this is a severe understatement.
Monday, October 19, 2009
I Hate the Media
Because both K and I have asthma and I have a compromised immune system, it is important for both of us to get the flu shot. Well, this year adds another wrinkle, we also need to get the H1N1 shot. But we cannot get the nasal spray version of it because that is live virus and it would be dangerous for the both of us. So we need to wait for the injectable attenuated virus immunization.
Last week, I went to my clinic to get my regular flu shot. They did not have the pediatric dose of the regular flu shot (WTF???) and I was told to call every week on Wednesday afternoons or Thursday mornings to see if they got regular peds flu vaccine in. Okey Dokey!
We have been put on the waiting list for when H1N1 injectable attenuated vaccine comes in. Meanwhile, the news media is acting like all the H1N1 vaccine is readily available, when NOBODY has the injectable attenuated version. Worse than that, they are reporting that people who are at highest risk really should have gotten the vaccine by now, because people are already dying. UM, THANKS, assholes. Nice to foment a shitstorm of hype about this when there is absolutely nothing people can do but wait and hope their providers actually RECEIVE the vaccine and that there is enough vaccine for everyone that needs it (I have my doubts about that). I am nervous enough as it is, without the damned hype and doomsday scenarios. I have enough personal drama, thank you very much.
Last week, I went to my clinic to get my regular flu shot. They did not have the pediatric dose of the regular flu shot (WTF???) and I was told to call every week on Wednesday afternoons or Thursday mornings to see if they got regular peds flu vaccine in. Okey Dokey!
We have been put on the waiting list for when H1N1 injectable attenuated vaccine comes in. Meanwhile, the news media is acting like all the H1N1 vaccine is readily available, when NOBODY has the injectable attenuated version. Worse than that, they are reporting that people who are at highest risk really should have gotten the vaccine by now, because people are already dying. UM, THANKS, assholes. Nice to foment a shitstorm of hype about this when there is absolutely nothing people can do but wait and hope their providers actually RECEIVE the vaccine and that there is enough vaccine for everyone that needs it (I have my doubts about that). I am nervous enough as it is, without the damned hype and doomsday scenarios. I have enough personal drama, thank you very much.
Friday, August 7, 2009
Unadvised endeavors
I am going to start this post stating that I am amazingly and wildly out of shape. Four months of pneumonia and the cascade of asthma plus the ensuing depression makes it really difficult to get motivated to work out.
Two weeks ago, at my daughter's swim meet, they had a "Parent's Relay". The original email stated that each parent would swim 25 yards (one pool length). So I got myself signed up to do the relay. The day of the relay they told us we would be swimming 50 yards. Well, I was not going to back out, what is one more length of the pool, right?
They had us do a warm up lap or two (I chose to do only one lap, to preserve my energy, especially since I had forgotten my inhaler in my other handbag, so did not have that available). I felt pretty good, confident that I would be OK out there. How very wrong I was.
I opted to swim second for my team. That was probably a good thing. So I bellyflopped off the blocks when it was my turn, swam to the end of the pool. No problem, so far, so good. About half way through the second lap, I started gasping for breath. So I tried to slow down and breathe. Then my body just stopped working. I was trying to will my body to do the freestyle stroke and really nothing was happening. So I did the only thing I could think of, I flipped over to my back and started to do the backstroke. I was still very winded, and not moving very well. I started to panic and cry, thinking I was going to die out there in the pool, making a complete ass out of myself in front of my daughter and everyone. I finally made it to the end of the pool, but could not climb out on my own and had to be pulled out. I really should have dropped out of the thing once I found out it was 50 yards. What on earth was I thinking?
I take a bit of pride in the fact that I DID finish my leg. And I did not die out there.
The next day, we had a family kayaking day for the Brownie troop. Matt, K, and I rented two
kayaks, one single and one tandem. I put Matt in the tandem with K, because if I got stranded I did not want K stranded with me. I was really nervous about the kayaking, especially since I had really gotten in over my head swimming the day before. But it was a lot easier than I thought (and way easier than canoeing, which I have done before). I almost capsized my kayak a couple of times, and got seriously soaked, but it was really fun. I really want to go again.
Two weeks ago, at my daughter's swim meet, they had a "Parent's Relay". The original email stated that each parent would swim 25 yards (one pool length). So I got myself signed up to do the relay. The day of the relay they told us we would be swimming 50 yards. Well, I was not going to back out, what is one more length of the pool, right?
They had us do a warm up lap or two (I chose to do only one lap, to preserve my energy, especially since I had forgotten my inhaler in my other handbag, so did not have that available). I felt pretty good, confident that I would be OK out there. How very wrong I was.
I opted to swim second for my team. That was probably a good thing. So I bellyflopped off the blocks when it was my turn, swam to the end of the pool. No problem, so far, so good. About half way through the second lap, I started gasping for breath. So I tried to slow down and breathe. Then my body just stopped working. I was trying to will my body to do the freestyle stroke and really nothing was happening. So I did the only thing I could think of, I flipped over to my back and started to do the backstroke. I was still very winded, and not moving very well. I started to panic and cry, thinking I was going to die out there in the pool, making a complete ass out of myself in front of my daughter and everyone. I finally made it to the end of the pool, but could not climb out on my own and had to be pulled out. I really should have dropped out of the thing once I found out it was 50 yards. What on earth was I thinking?
I take a bit of pride in the fact that I DID finish my leg. And I did not die out there.
The next day, we had a family kayaking day for the Brownie troop. Matt, K, and I rented two
kayaks, one single and one tandem. I put Matt in the tandem with K, because if I got stranded I did not want K stranded with me. I was really nervous about the kayaking, especially since I had really gotten in over my head swimming the day before. But it was a lot easier than I thought (and way easier than canoeing, which I have done before). I almost capsized my kayak a couple of times, and got seriously soaked, but it was really fun. I really want to go again.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Adventures in Air Travel
Note: these two entries were written longhand on my trip back to Orange County from Minnesota. Also note that there is some rather blue language, which I am not going to edit.
MSP ---> DEN
Our flight was originally scheduled for 7:10 PM Central time. When I checked online about the status, it said the flight was delayed to 7:40 PM. So we left later for the airport than originally planned. At 7:40 PM we did not even have a plane at the gate to board yet. I started to freak out in the airport (quietly to myself, anyway). Somehow we got a plane at the gate and boarded. We were able to pull away from the gate by 8:10. The original schedule had a 1:06 layover in Denver. But the flight is leaving one hour late. Now I am totally freaked. Captain just came over the PA system and said the flight takes 1:37, according to my calculations we have already missed our plane in Denver.
I fucking predicted this when I actually thought about the itinerary. I so wish the flight had been overbooked and they had asked for folks to take the first flights out in the morning. We would have stayed another night in the Twin Cities. I am certain we will be spending the night in the Denver airport. We are so fucked. And I am so upset.
DEN ---> SNA
Okay, I freaked a bit much on that last leg of the flight. I also forgot about Mountain Time, so we did not miss the plane. There were 5 of us on the MSP flight that needed to be on the flight to SNA. The flight attendants had us raise our hands and told everyone else that they needed to let us off the plane first. That totally rocked. Frontier airways rocks. No tray table ads!
We ran the three gates to get to the new plane and they had just finished up the pre-boarding (because of my hip, I always pre-board), so I was able to get right on the plane. Razor thin margin of error. We are now settled in on the new plane. A huge bolt of lightning just hit nearby, so we will be delayed leaving the gate. As it is, we are cutting it really close to be able to land at SNA due to the curfew. All planes must land by 10:55 PM. No exceptions. All later planes are diverted. Fucking Newport Beach NIMBYs. At least we will make it home tonight, and will not be sleeping in the airport. I hope if they divert us, they choose to divert to Ontario or Long Beach, rather than LAX.
Oh good, we are finally pulling away from the gate. Flight attendants are being instructed to sit down for takeoff! And now the complete douchebag accross the aisle from me has pulled out his cellphone and started making phonecalls. AFTER everyone has been instructed to turn off and put away all electronics. RULES asshole! (This same prize - later in the flight pulled out a laptop, an iPod, his crackberry, AND a portable DVD player and set it all up on the three seats in his row.)
We landed at 10:53 PM. Just barely made it. That crew was AWESOME.
MSP ---> DEN
Our flight was originally scheduled for 7:10 PM Central time. When I checked online about the status, it said the flight was delayed to 7:40 PM. So we left later for the airport than originally planned. At 7:40 PM we did not even have a plane at the gate to board yet. I started to freak out in the airport (quietly to myself, anyway). Somehow we got a plane at the gate and boarded. We were able to pull away from the gate by 8:10. The original schedule had a 1:06 layover in Denver. But the flight is leaving one hour late. Now I am totally freaked. Captain just came over the PA system and said the flight takes 1:37, according to my calculations we have already missed our plane in Denver.
I fucking predicted this when I actually thought about the itinerary. I so wish the flight had been overbooked and they had asked for folks to take the first flights out in the morning. We would have stayed another night in the Twin Cities. I am certain we will be spending the night in the Denver airport. We are so fucked. And I am so upset.
DEN ---> SNA
Okay, I freaked a bit much on that last leg of the flight. I also forgot about Mountain Time, so we did not miss the plane. There were 5 of us on the MSP flight that needed to be on the flight to SNA. The flight attendants had us raise our hands and told everyone else that they needed to let us off the plane first. That totally rocked. Frontier airways rocks. No tray table ads!
We ran the three gates to get to the new plane and they had just finished up the pre-boarding (because of my hip, I always pre-board), so I was able to get right on the plane. Razor thin margin of error. We are now settled in on the new plane. A huge bolt of lightning just hit nearby, so we will be delayed leaving the gate. As it is, we are cutting it really close to be able to land at SNA due to the curfew. All planes must land by 10:55 PM. No exceptions. All later planes are diverted. Fucking Newport Beach NIMBYs. At least we will make it home tonight, and will not be sleeping in the airport. I hope if they divert us, they choose to divert to Ontario or Long Beach, rather than LAX.
Oh good, we are finally pulling away from the gate. Flight attendants are being instructed to sit down for takeoff! And now the complete douchebag accross the aisle from me has pulled out his cellphone and started making phonecalls. AFTER everyone has been instructed to turn off and put away all electronics. RULES asshole! (This same prize - later in the flight pulled out a laptop, an iPod, his crackberry, AND a portable DVD player and set it all up on the three seats in his row.)
We landed at 10:53 PM. Just barely made it. That crew was AWESOME.
Friday, April 10, 2009
High Speed Car Chases
Woke up this morning to the "breaking news" of a high speed car chase in Orange County. The chase today was a particularly crazy one, a woman in a Scion box (whatever the heck the model is that looks like a box on wheels) was chased from Long Beach to Rancho Santa Margarita. This chase spanned several freeways and lasted over an hour and included her stopping dead in the toll lanes of the 91 freeway, her doing donuts in the median of the 241 toll freeway, her slowing the car down to a slow crawl and getting out while the car was still moving, her gesturing to the police out of her windows, her turning her car around and driving the wrong way on the 241 toll road, and her car finally being "pitted" and swarmed by several CHP cars.
Car chases are considered high entertainment here. What I fail to get is what makes people think they are going to outrun the police, especially in a Scion box? Even if she could have outran the police, they likely got her license plate numbers and could certainly radio ahead to more remote law enforcement units and eventually she would get caught. Is it the 15 minutes of fame? Seems kind of silly since neither her name nor her photo were included in the news coverage of the chase.
And isn't it against all the laws of physics for a Scion box to go over 100 mph?
Car chases are considered high entertainment here. What I fail to get is what makes people think they are going to outrun the police, especially in a Scion box? Even if she could have outran the police, they likely got her license plate numbers and could certainly radio ahead to more remote law enforcement units and eventually she would get caught. Is it the 15 minutes of fame? Seems kind of silly since neither her name nor her photo were included in the news coverage of the chase.
And isn't it against all the laws of physics for a Scion box to go over 100 mph?
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Signage
One of the most frustrating aspect of living here in southern California is the signage here. Seriously. There are billboards on top of billboards lining all of the freeways here. Quite frankly the billboards are an eyesore. We are constantly inundated with superfluous information on needless signs everywhere.
The thing that frustrates me the most, however, is the lack of signage for important stuff like freeway entrances. Most of the main thoroughfare type roads here are 3 lanes going each way, and people are very resistant to letting others change lanes. It chaps my hide to no end to discover that a freeway entrance is going off to the left when I am in the right lane, and the only sign telling me that is 200 feet before the entrance. There are numerous instances of this type of thing, especially in Orange County.
And then there are signs that are just plain stupid. Like the two signs I encountered today on the 405. Well actually one of the signs was on the entrance ramp to the 405 south from Bristol Street. It was one of those diamond shaped caution signs, which read, "Landscape Ahead". Really, Landscape Ahead? I thought I was in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The second sign read, "Landscape Ends". This sign was located about 1/4 mile before the Jamboree Rd. exit. I guess if the landscape ended, I must have been driving a hovercraft.
Please, southern California, I am begging you, post fewer unnecessary signs, and post more signs that give useful information, and post them in more appropriate locations.
The thing that frustrates me the most, however, is the lack of signage for important stuff like freeway entrances. Most of the main thoroughfare type roads here are 3 lanes going each way, and people are very resistant to letting others change lanes. It chaps my hide to no end to discover that a freeway entrance is going off to the left when I am in the right lane, and the only sign telling me that is 200 feet before the entrance. There are numerous instances of this type of thing, especially in Orange County.
And then there are signs that are just plain stupid. Like the two signs I encountered today on the 405. Well actually one of the signs was on the entrance ramp to the 405 south from Bristol Street. It was one of those diamond shaped caution signs, which read, "Landscape Ahead". Really, Landscape Ahead? I thought I was in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The second sign read, "Landscape Ends". This sign was located about 1/4 mile before the Jamboree Rd. exit. I guess if the landscape ended, I must have been driving a hovercraft.
Please, southern California, I am begging you, post fewer unnecessary signs, and post more signs that give useful information, and post them in more appropriate locations.
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