Sharondippity

Not digging it

2009-02-26T13:54:00.000-08:00

Leaky roof, leaky dog, leaky eyes. I had a melt down Tuesday evening when the leak from my roof caused a hole in my ceiling. In my bedroom. I saw the leak Monday morning, drip...drip, very slowly by the corner of my closet nearest the atrium. Call a roof repair guy recommended by my boyfriend. He'll come by Tuesday. Tuesday, he finds the cracked seam and says I'll fix it tomorrow. Relief was short lived when my sheet rock started falling apart near the leak Tuesday night. Fiberglass, sheetrock and acoustic ceiling matter plunked down on my head as I looked up at a newly formed crack. A hole I could see right through to the timbers holding up the roof. F word. Melt down. Boyfriend Gary to the rescue. I was in a drug induced coma Tuesday night when Gary heard/saw another chunk about to fall down making an even bigger hole. More blankets and buckets, a then moving my brand new precious mattress to the side bedroom. I keep a side bedroom empty, and now I am very grateful. The damage is isolated to the sheet rock in the ceiling, and my psyche. The roof was fixed yesterday, and I have a drywall guy coming next Friday to replace the damaged sheet rock, remove any wet insulation, remove all the acoustic popcorn and re-texture the ceiling to match the walls. It will cost me $320 for the interior work, and the roof repair cost $315. Thank goodness I know a contractor to recommend good home repair people.

From Pot Pourri

So my side bedroom is truly a bed room. Three to four feet around two sides of it only. But it is very cozy, white and beige and serene, which I really need right now.

Tonight Jan and I will do an extra vigorous workout and tomorrow evening it's dinner with friends. Therapy.

Dog is my co-pilot.

2009-02-21T17:47:00.001-08:00

Moxie's 2nd favorite toy

2009-02-21T13:05:00.000-08:00

This may be Moxie's 2nd favorite toy, but it's my #1 favorite. When I find it looking at me I crack up.

The Ferry Building

2009-02-19T15:00:00.000-08:00

The Ferry building in San Francisco is a really fun place with restaurants and a farmer's market feel to it. Taking the ferry from SF to Sausalito is fun and the view on the way back at night is awesome. Pretty tough to get a still shot though.

Skiing will never be this good ever again

2009-02-12T13:52:00.000-08:00

This shot was taken from the lift, look how there's no one else on the chairs. We had the mountain practically all to ourselves. How amazing the day was.

PictureMail

2009-02-08T19:15:00.001-08:00

I am obsessed

2009-02-08T09:09:00.000-08:00

With my new Samsung Instinct. It's kickass! It's $99 after rebate and two year contract, not bad. Sprint's "Everything" plan is hard to beat. Let's see, how do I love thee phone? Let me count the ways:

GPS navigation
great camera
big screen
touch qwerty keyboard
landscape viewing of web pages
did I mention web pages?
full versions of "The Office" on Sprint TV
it plays TV!
it plays youtube
live search where you say something into the phone, and it will get a list of those things in your area
email - multiple accounts, push delivery
texting
removable mini memory card for music, etc
it's also a music player
radio
and it's pink

What I was stunned to find was that the phone came with a spare battery, which is in a case that the charger plugs into. So you can charge the spare battery without having to tie up the phone. The case is a nice touch too.

I was also stunned to find that the removable memory card was included.

All these nice things that were included and they didn't include the wrist strap. Oh yeah, you can put a wrist strap on it like a camera, and I think it'll help me from dropping it.

Who's there?

2009-02-02T12:29:00.001-08:00

Still deciding

2009-02-02T12:26:00.001-08:00

What to do with my new walls.

a quick tour

2009-01-31T09:47:00.000-08:00

This is a pomello. When I ask people if they've ever eaten one, they typically look at me as if I'm from outer space. This is a relatively small one, next to an ordinary pen for size reference:

Peeling it is a bit of work. It's worth it. It has a lot of thick white stuff; it feels like you're tearing hair out of someone's head. Peel these when you're really mad at someone who's not bald yet.

The membrane stuff peels right off, the inner cells don't break and run like an orange or lemon might. They're easy to pull out and eat, and the taste is amazing. It's a mild grapefruit taste without any bitterness and sweet without being overly sweet. It's wonderful. Try it or I'll pull your hair out.

Interesting find on Crispin Glover

2009-01-30T13:41:00.000-08:00

He truly is a s creepy as Blagojevich.

A series of bad decisions...

2009-01-29T12:28:00.000-08:00

Alrighty, a quick story I just remembered last night at Jack in the Box. It explained why I finally had to give up my treasured Ford Explorer Sport. I loved that car, two doors, zippy engine, short enough where I could truly see out the back to park, pop out windows that my dog couldn't jump out of in the back seat. Loved that car.

So, my story. I was home sick for a few days, wanted something other than orange juice or chicken soup to eat, and madly craving a soda in a paper cup with ice and a straw. Not kidding. Why is it that soda in to-go packaging appeals to me so much more than at home in a glass? I even like the sound the ice makes in the cup. But I digress.

I'm sick, in my jammies, don't even bother to put on shoes, I put the dog in the car, off we go to the drive through, yay! I want some of those 2 for a dollar tacos and a big diet coke to go! It's pouring down rain at night and this is what happens after I place my order in the drive-through:

My car dies. Dead.

Honk honk from behind, panic panic, a wave of feeling completely lame, and a large desire to start crying comes and goes in a flash. I look at what I'm wearing and it's horrifying. I'm in mis-matched pajamas, no shoes, no leash for the dog, no coat, no umbrella, what the fuck was I thinking? Honk honk honk.

For no reason at all my car started up after a few minutes. I got my grub and skeedaddled home. The end, that's my Explorer JITB story.

The problem could not be replicated at the dealer no matter how many times I brought it in, and it died on me a couple of times after that. I ended up trading it in on my Mountaineer which I adore, but wish it came in a 2 door.

RIP Explorer:

From I like cars

What'd I do?

2009-01-28T06:44:00.000-08:00

This is why I took out all the carpet in my house.

Evidence

2009-01-26T19:48:00.000-08:00

Here's proof. Among other things, I learned that it is impossible for me to paint with my mouth closed, and that ladders can be rented. I don't want to hang up any pictures on my pristine walls now.

From PaintingProject

Separated at birth?

2009-01-26T15:14:00.001-08:00

Does Rod Blagojevich = Crispin Glover? They're both creepy and have a hairline down to the middle of their foreheads..

Three day weekend update

2009-01-21T07:25:00.000-08:00

G ary and I saw Slumdog Millionaire last weekend. What an awesome movie. We also started painting my hallway. This is only the tip of the paintberg. I am painting the living room and the hallway. The hallway is a real PITA since it has 6 doors to paint with trim. The living room has three walls that go up 14 feet skeery!

Painted last night after work. Tonight, I'll be painting after work. Tomorrow, hmm wonder what I'll be doing.

I was so tired this morning I put the coffepot back in the fridge.

I just wonder..

2009-01-18T13:17:00.000-08:00

Did anyone remember to use their seat as a flotation device, and did it help at all? And how soon before they get back on a plane? I just wonder.

Girl's Night Out

2009-01-16T11:06:00.000-08:00

And it's not like you'd think, there's no gossipy high voicy cackling in our pack. A bunch of cool chicks having drinks and relaxing. Last night was fun, and the storytelling was especially enjoyable. I just love a good story. My friend Debs came up with this monthly GNO and it's pure genius. Just what the doctor ordered.

Tangerines

2009-01-13T10:20:00.000-08:00

Home grown tangerines are incredible, but I guess eating 15 in one day is excessive. So excessive that I had hives by the evening and I was itchy twitchy last night. I still have some on my scalp, no that little scratch does not mean dandruff. It means citrus. Or something.

Back from England

2009-01-06T13:47:00.000-08:00

Jetlag. It's not just a buzzword, it's real. And it's kicking my ass. I keep getting up between 3:30 - 4 a in the effing m. I can't stay awake past 9pm, just can't. So here I am waiting to go to work.

Okay, so England. Went to a lot of pretty places there, parks, a castle, London, the Ritz, and some neat pubs. We stayed at a flat that belonged to a relative of Gary's, that was away on vacation. They let us use their car too. It was right along the Thames (pronounced tims) river in Kingston Upon Thames. The flat was very nice and clean and charming. Here are some oddities I found interesting:

No central heat in the flat, only radiators, and there was no radiator in the master bedroom
No freezer in the house!
No shower, and the tub is raised, narrow and long.
Separate hot and cold water faucets
No clothes dryer, they use a drying closet, and then iron a bunch of stuff
No plug outlets in the bathrooms. Cords for hairdryers and curling irons are 6-7 feet long
TV stations go off the air at night
People are so used to the cold there, I was freezing and they were sitting on benches chatting on cell phones and not even bothered by the cold. I saw the neighbors standing in the back yard in short sleeves, drinking beers with frost on the grass.

Things I found interesting in the grocery store there:

Their whole milk is our half and half. People drink half and half there ha ha. Lots of heavy cream and clotted cream. They love their dairy.
Cheese is really cheap there. What we'd pay $4-5 for brie, goes for about a dollar there
The whole store was full of appetizer type food, and ready to eat dinners. Lots of Indian food.
Vitamins (they say vitt a mins) come in glass containers.
Not much green in the produce department.
More varieties of potato chips (crisps) than I've ever seen in my life. Flavors such as prawn cocktail, roast chicken, and their BBQ flavor tastes like smoke, and nothing at all like our BBQ chips
You have to put a dollar (pound) coin in the shopping cart to unlock it, and you only get it back if you return the cart to the cart area
They charge you to park at the parking lot at the grocery store
You have to bag your own groceries and the clerks at the registers sit in chairs

We took the train to London a couple of times, and it's very relaxing if you get a seat. The above ground train station has shops in it and the vending carts sell beer. The underground trains in London make you feel like you're a mole walking from tunnel to tunnel with turns and stairs down and up. I had no idea where I was at any given time once we went down to the underground trains.

People love their dogs there. I never saw a loose dog anywhere.

We stayed at Weir Cottage at Leeds Castle in Kent on New Year's Eve and the night following. It was a (now) funny ordeal when we got there. We got there at dark (4pm ish) and after getting through the main gate, and driving down the dirt road to the cottage, we find that the key doesn't work. Oh yeah, skeleton keys are still used over there. We drove back to the main gate where the guard walkie talkied the maintenance man. After a 15 minute wait in the car he informs us that the maintennce man will meet us at the cottage, "he's up a ladder at the moment"
About 20 minutes later, maintenance man shows up. He tries our key like we are key impaired. After it doesn't work, he decides that he needs to go get his keys! We wait another 20 minutes ( in the car, cold) for him to return with his keys which do not work. He calls a locksmith whom we wait 30 minutes for. Locksmith gets his ladder to crawl in through an upstairs window which is not latched. Another hour later, a new lock is installed on the door (all the time working with the door open) Brrr, now we get to start to warm up the place. The cottage is adorable, but I was glad we brought the electric blanket Gary bought for me for the flat. We drove over to the castle to enjoy the midnight fireworks show that was spectacular.
We spent the next day exploring the castle and the grounds. The castle has black swans there, one was pretty friendly so we took too many pictures of him. Leeds castle has the only Dog Collar Museum. The collars were impressive.

We went to the National Gallery In London one afternoon and saw original Van Gogh's and Monet's paintings. No photos allowed inside, so I could only take pics in the foyer.

We drove in to London one evening to enjoy an elaborate dinner at the Ritz, complete with champagne and live music. We lingered as long as we could in the dining room, then had a cocktail in their bar. Photos are not allowed inside, so all the bad photos were a result of us sneaking pictures.

We spent another day in London walking about and taking photos. We went up in the London Eye, which is how we got the aerial shots. The Eye is totally worth the price and was a nice, warm and slow bubble where you could see most of London. We walked through London's Chinatown, I looked everywhere for "Lee Ho Fooks" as mentioned in Warren Zevon's Werewolves of London song, but it's not there anymore.

We went to an out of the way pub for some pub fare and beer. Their pints are imperial pints which are 22oz, not 16, bless their hearts. The weirdest food I ate and liked, was called whitebait. Yes it has bait in the name and I ate it. It's tiny little fish fried and you eat them whole. They're so small there's no detectable bones or scales. Their little eyes are still there ha ha. It was yummy.

The cars there are all weird. I didn't see one pickup truck while I was there. They have Ford cars there, but they have models not sold in US. GM has a line called Vauxhall or something, there. I saw one and only one Corvette that was parked in someone's driveway.

The sun doesn't rise very high in the sky there, and the days were pretty short. It never rained or snowed the 8 days I was there. It was just about freezing in the mornings and just under 40 degrees during the day.

There was hardly any fat or bald people there. Smoking is not allowed inside there now either, so that was nice.

That's all for now, I'll write about my flight home hell later. The flight out there was very easy. Not so much the way home

The Switch at Boswell's

2008-12-23T11:02:00.000-08:00

Once again I visit the Regal Beagle (Boswell's) at the Pruneyard to catch up with friends, dance and drink a little. Funny how I see the same people every time I go there. This is TBone and I fake-smiling as we wait for the flash which didn't go off.

From Friends

Moxie wubs me, awww

2008-12-16T21:38:00.001-08:00

These birds know how to party

2008-12-12T11:32:00.000-08:00

I always marvel at how pigeons bunch up on lights or wires together. I wonder what they get out of it? I can't imagine that it's warmer, it's out in the windy open.

Mondays blow

2008-12-08T12:25:00.000-08:00

I hated leaving Moxie at the kennel today. It's only for the day, to get her used to the place, but she was frantic not to go in, I hate that! I could have easily slept another 4 hours this morning.
Gary and I had Irish breakfasts yesterday at the Grand Dell in Campbell, with the Andersons. Our only agenda yesterday was to eat, drink, come home and take naps.

Saturday we went to the shooting range and then played video games till late, after having kickass oysters at the Fish Market with happy hour prices.

How awesome is that! I want a do-over.

Waiting for a court

2008-12-04T07:52:00.001-08:00

Jan and I played badminton last night in Campbell. What a hilarious workout. If Gary hadn't introduced it to me, I would have never guessed that badminton was taken so seriously.