Let There Be Light!

After a 64 hour blackout from storms last Thursday, we again have power! Electronics, oh how I have missed you.

Such Addictive Fun!

I downloaded the web browser Opera yesterday just to see what that one was like. It has this thing called widgets (much like the google desktop thingies you can have).

I added SimAquarium and have found it quite addictive.

You should try it.

Better

A while ago I posted about a local restaurant website that was so horrendous (the website, not the restaurant) you could barely stand to view it.

They've made a few improvements again and it is much better. For one thing, there are no spelling errors on the first page - which is a huge improvement!

Now what's the problem? Music on the site. And not good music either. It doesn't make you fancy, it just makes your site irritating to use.

Brain Damage

I haven't mentioned going to a Roger Waters (Pink Floyd) concert in June. My sister and I bought tickets for my dad and step-mom for their birthdays. We were in the 14th row and let me just say that it was (one of - note: husbands don't appreciate your wedding day being put as a close second to a concert) the BEST. NIGHT. EVER!

(Warning, this is SUPER loud. It was taken on my camera phone at the event.)


Anyway, my point, every time I hear Floyd on the radio - in particular Brain Damage/Eclipse from Dark Side - I am filled with a quiet sense of joy from remembering how awesome the concert was. I turn my radio up just a little and smile to myself while sitting at my desk at work.

It's Back, Baby!

I was home for lunch today when DHL delivered my fixed laptop! It took Dell only 4 days, including transit times, to get it fixed. That's good enough that I can't even complain. Except about one thing... The return address had Apt 1B listed on it - which confused the DHL driver because we live in a neighborhood with lawns and (picket fences) houses, not apartment buildings. Strange. I guess I should be glad they got the address close enough that it got delivered. And I am. I have so missed the laptop.

Why I Hate DHL

So, I have referenced my complete disgust in the shipping company DHL in past posts. I work at a cricket farm and my main job is to process the orders for shipping. I.E. I decide upon which shipper to use and what shipping method to choose (ground vs. 2nd day air). In order to get the crickets to the customer alive, they (generally) have to be delivered within 2 days of when we ship them. If out for 3 or more days, especially during the very hot or very cold seasons, the crickets will arrive D.O.A. and we will have to issue a credit or reship them.

Without going into more details than anyone wants about what makes us choose which shipper, suffice to say that when it is hot we often choose DHL because they have smaller delivery vehicles which often have climate control inside for the drivers. The UPS trucks are big and brown and not cooled or heated so we have trouble getting the crickets to customers alive (although at LEAST they get them!!). If not for this, we would probably rarely ship via DHL because their transit and delivery is so completely unreliable that we never know if the shipments are going to be delivered on time.

I have started to track every package we ship via DHL and file claims for each one that doesn't get delivered within the quoted transit time they post on their website. I do this every Monday now for the previous week, simply out of principle.

They make it a habit of denying my claims for a list of rediculous reasons. Last Friday, I had been pushed over the edge and this is the following email I wrote - which, by the way, has still not been replied to or addressed by DHL:

I have now spent close to an hour total trying to receive credit on this one shipment which was not delivered on time according to the DHL quoted transit times for this location. Additionally, my coworker spends hours checking every shipment on our bill every week because the DHL billing system is so inaccurate. When shipping a live product, we choose the shipping method based on the quoted time in transit. The DHL transit times have become so unreliable that we will soon be forced to choose our alternative shipping company for most, if not all, of our ground and second day service shipments. The fact that we have to spend considerable time bickering with DHL service employees regarding credits when DHL fails to provide the service they promise will only hasten our decision to switch carriers on a more permanent basis.

On a weekly basis we ship an average of 125 2nd day service and 125 ground service packages via DHL. I'm certain you have customers who do more business than we do and I am not dropping numbers to impress. Out of these shipments we have an average of 40 or more packages weekly which do not get delivered to our customers withing the quoted transit times for their locations. When the packages are in transit longer than the two days maximum we depend upon, our product DIES. Of these shipments we usually must reship - at our cost - the product, often using a next day service - again at our cost. We do not EVER as for reimbursement for the product or shipping materials. We understand there is a nominal risk shipping a live product and are reasonable about what we ask for as credits. If we were shipping sweaters, believe me, we would not be so concerned with receiving the service we are promised by the companies we choose to ship for us.

I find it exceptionally frustrating getting the run around by several levels of customer service representative regarding credits for service failures. Often, the fact that the shipment was delivered several day outside of the quoted transit time is completely ignored and we are given ridiculous reasons for denial such as "hazardous materials" and "excessively large dimensions". These are, once again, DHL errors. We never ship hazardous materials and the maximum dimension of any shipment which leaves our facility is 24x12x18.75 inches. The average package size is 12x12x6 inches.

Below is a copy of the latest denial request I have had forwarded back to me. PLEASE pass this along to any superior who can take care of this (these) issue(s). Our customer service representative does the best he can and is very helpful, but often finds his hands tied by the red tape and jumping through hoops required by DHL bureaucracy. I am, by no means, complaining about the service we receive from him.

While investigating this request (Service Adjustment Request: xxxxxxxxxxx, Airbill Number: xxxxxxxxxxx) please look into these other two which I am certain will have the same email sent back to me telling me to contact your department.
Service Adjustment Request: xxxxxxxxxxx, Airbill Number: xxxxxxxxxxx
Service Adjustment Request: xxxxxxxxxxx, Airbill Number: xxxxxxxxxxx

Thank you for your time regarding this matter.

Mr. Haskins Is Dead!

Dell replied promptly and addressed me by my own name! They are sending a DHL box for me to ship my laptop out for repairs (yeah, I could rant about that, but they didn't bicker with me for 3 days and make me call them before they decided it indeed needed repair, so I suppose I can stand to send it DHL. It'll probably take 7 weeks to get delivered and Dell will probably not get a credit for the shipping failure, but [shrug] that's their problem).

R.I.P., Mr. Haskins. R.I.P.

The Return of Mr. Haskins.

My laptop is acting up again. Same deal from last December. It overheats and shuts down. Same deal as referred to in the lawsuit against Dell here.

Same problem Mr. Haskins was supposed to have gotten fixed in December of 2006. Mr. Haskins is AGAIN not pleased. Mr. Haskins just sent Dell another tech request. Mr. Haskins is curious to see who Dell replies to this time. Will it be Mr. Haskins? Will it be Melissa? Will it be a new alter-ego I apparently have? We shall see.

I Got...SSSteam Heat.

The window unit has been in for about 2 hours now. The temp has gone from 86* to 83*, which may not seem like much, but the humidity is coming out of the air so it really is making a difference. At the least, the dogs are no longer panting. They aren't active (which is actually a hidden blessing) but they aren't miserable anymore.

As The Sweat Trickles.

So, furnace is "unfrozen", if that was the problem, and still not coming on. It now will kick on when you flip the switch and blow glorious air for about 15 seconds, then shut off. (When you are sitting in a 85*F room with the humidity close to 70% it is all you can do not to cry when it stops running; especially after a night of no sleep.)

The dogs are quite displeased by the whole thing. Poor Booker is a panting fool. Chewie crawled (squeezed) under the bed last night and proceeded to whimper and pant until about midnight. I finally got them up and took them to the dining room where the sliding door to outside is and left the door open so they could come or go (from hot and muggy to just as hot and muggy). I gave them their bowl of water with (bonus!) a tray of ice cubes in it. Chewie proceeded to pluck the ice cubes out one by one, trot them back to where he was laying, set it down, run back to get another, and so on until he had them all out and surrounding him. Then he started crunching and guarding. How DARE Booker think he would get even one of The Chew's cold squares!

I drifted in and out of having my eyes closed but never quite sleeping until 6:30 when we went back to bed to make sure Craig got up for work. Craig is putting the big window A/C unit into the living room so the dogs and I don't melt. We'll be calling the repair guy today, I guess. Sigh.

How Hot IS IT?

Yeah, yeah. We don't live in the deep South so we really shouldn't be complaining about the heat. BUT. Today when I got out of the car after lunch, my glasses fogged up it was so hot and humid outside!

And then tonight when we had been home for an hour or so, we noticed that it kept getting warmer and warmer in the house. A quick glance at the thermostat said it was 83*F in the living room. We then noticed that the blower was no longer blowing. The AC unit outside was chugging away, but the big fan thing (like my technical terms?) in the basement wasn't doing its part. We think (hope) it has frozen up from the humidity and constant running over the last 2 weeks of 90*F plus temps (it hums when we flip it on, it just isn't blowing). So, we've turned it off and put a fan in the bedroom window for a long, uncomfortable, night of - I suspect - very little sleep.

Tomorrow, if it still won't kick back on then we call the repair guy and get out the box units from the garage so we (i.e. the sled dog and his black furry brother) can stand it until the repair guy can make it over. We may have to shave the dogs.

I Shall Now Rant About an Electronic Superstore

Today we brought our reasonably new camera back to Paramount Purchase to see if they could "fix" (i.e. exchange for another) it. It has the ability to record video and recently the ability has been waning. The video plays perfectly on the camera but the video playback on the computer is about triple speed, no sound, pixilated, with great square blobs of green throughout. I downloaded the video onto 3 different computers (yes, we have 3 computers for the two of us), used different methods of file transfer, removed the memory card and recorded directly onto the camera hard drive, blah, blah, blah. I am not so electronically challenged that I don't know the basic tests the "professional" will do.

We pack up the camera and trot on down to Paramount Purchase - extended warranty in hand. To the service desk we stroll. The girl at the desk takes one glance at our problem and refers us to the Nerd Posse. We go over the issue with Nerd Posse Employee. He stares blankly at us and mumbles something about needing to ask if he needs to "send it in". He toots off to ask Nerd Posse Member Two in the back room. He strolls back and asks, "So you say the playback is fine on the camera but not fine on the computer?"
"Yes."
"You need to bring the computer in."
"We have tried it on three different computers and it does the same thing."
"It is a data transfer problem not a problem with the camera."
"We have transfered the videos off the camera using multiple modes of transfer and it does the same thing." (i.e. not using the camera at all, and pulling the file right off the disk using a card reader; using the dock as a drive rather than a transfer port, etc, etc)
"You'll have to bring the computer in."
"We have the dock. Why can't you plug it into one of the 10 computers I can see right there behind you and test it out right now?"
"I can't, we don't have your software."
"But we just told you that we have moved the files directly off the camera without using the software to make sure the software wasn't the problem."
"You need to bring your computer in."
"So, you are telling me we have to go home, pack up one of the three computers we have tested it on, bring said computer into the store so you can try what we already have tried."
"Yeah."
"Oooh-kaaay."

We calmly walk out of the store before I start shouting about how disgusted I am. I haven't used the video on the camera since May because we haven't had time to take it in to the store. We are going to the zoo this weekend and I wanted to have the option of taking video.

So, we storm home - stopping at Culver's to pick up some custard to sooth our nerves. I release the hounds and follow them out to take a video. Craig takes the video off the camera and watches it. Tech junky that I am, I have about 4 different video players on the main computer. It plays poorly on Windows Media Player, but it plays fine on another program I bought to convert video from my cell phone.

The big question is: Will our videos that I take at the zoo play fine or will they all be corrupt? We shall see. Needless to say, I am still disgusted by the Nerd Posse and if my videos from the zoo are ruined, I will stomp my way back with my camera and my laptop and heads will roll.

Dead Man's Chest

So, yesterday we got a package in the mail and it wasn't for us. It was for a previous owner of the house. Not even the last owner of the house. The one before. So, what's the big deal? Nothing really, except that I know he is recently deceased. For some reason that bothers me.

(We bought the house from my co-worker, they bought the house from her step-grandfather. It has been at least 5 years since he lived in the house.)

It bothered me enought that I trotted the package up to my friend's house (she only moved a few blocks away) and dropped it off last night, just to get it out of the house...

Little House on the Prairie 2007

So, this weekend we decided, on a whim, to make butter. It was awesome!

This...


Plus this...


Turns into...

And...


And then... TA DA! FRESH BUTTER!!!

D.I.Y. Home Improvement 101

To preface, I would like to say that Craig offers to help when I am playing handyman around the house even at the risk of my wrath. We both know that the fastest way to a fight is to try to work together on one of my projects. (I've been told that I can be "abrasive" in these situations). This in no way reflects his ability or desire to do any of the improvements.

This weekend I decided to tackle the deteriorating state of our bathroom. The only "before" picture I have (below) doesn't show the worst of it - mostly because for almost 2 years we've had shower curtains on 3 of 4 sides. The walls had cracked grout that leaked shower water into the basement. The previous owners hadcaulked over the grout with clear caulk, but somehow all that did was seal in moisture and create strips of mold you couldn't scrub off. Needless to say, we haven't had several thousand dollars handy to have it professionally repaired so we went with the shower curtain option.




THEN, about 8 months ago, the faucet started dripping. Then leaking. And seeping through the tiles into the drywall behind the fixtures. The hot stem was essentially rusted away and the faucet handle broke off. We are now using a pliers to turn the water on and off (and still leaking).

I bought a repair kit of some kind to replace the faucet parts. Not as easy as it would seem. I made several attempts (which included ripping a hole in the hall closet to be able to access the fixtures from behind) and only succeeded in creating a 3x3 tile-wide gap around the fixtures. NOW we had a gaping hole to the basement. I did the only obvious thing to do and duct taped a garbage bag over the hole and the faucet handles.

We removed the "stem" (as I now know it is called) and headed to Home Depot. After spending probably 30-45 minutes bickering about which part we might need we (Craig) asked an employee. He looked it up and ordered the part. A week later we had the part, new knobs, no drips, and still a hole in the wall. That was several (probably 6) months ago.

A few months ago I bought some tile-like board stuff (It is MDF with tile pattern on one side) to put up on the wall to repair the hole. Now is the first time I have had a chance (and the energy) to do anything about it.

I cut, I measured, I drilled, I glued. The hole is covered. I then decided that the off-white (I think it wasn't to start with) tiles needed something. I decided to first paint over them with an oil based primer/sealer to fill the grout issues. That was left to dry on Saturday night. Then I painted over those with an oil based paint. That was left to dry during today. Then I applied the caulk strips and filled in any spots that looked like it needed extra water proofing.

It is by no means a professional job. Probably not even a mediocre job. BUT, the hole is gone, the grout isn't leaking and the garbage bag and extra 2 shower curtains are retired. Plus it looks nice from afar. Bravo to me.

33 Years Ago I Was Traversing The Birth Canal.

Well, not really. I was breech. With a dislocated hip. I was actually being yanked from the warm confines of the uterus to be poked and prodded under the bright lights. Regardless. It's my birthday today. Yeay Me. :)

Why I LOVE my Prius.

Gas - $3.49 9/10 per gallon.
Average MPG - 46.1
Current MPG - infinity
Fill up every 3-4 weeks for less than $30. Priceless.

Annual Junk Day.

Every year the city we live in has a junk pickup day where they allow you to put all the big junk that you can't figure out how to throw away out on the curb. This is spectacular since it has made it possible to rid ourselves of the pool of shame. HOWEVER, it also brings out the trashpickers. I had only had the junk out on the curb for less than 15 minutes and already had a trashpicker browsing the pile. So far we've had probably a half dozen or more trucks stop and pick crap up. And when I say crap, I mean it. The P.o.S. literally smells like a really bad zoo (it was out stewing all fall, winter, and spring). We have (had, they are gone now) about 200 feet of 4' tall fencing which we took down upon the completion of our new 5' fence, some of the cheap-didn't-keep-the-puppy-out-of-the-garden wire fencing stuff, a computer chair, and some cardboard boxes. Not even worth stopping, but on they come, the cheapest humans on Earth, to pick through other peoples junk. It's like a garage sale where you don't have to bicker the seller down from $0.05 to $0.04! Sad.

Afterthought: we had two trashpickers come this evening DURING A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH A TORNADO WARNING! Saddest.

Pet Peeve

When ordering dinner tonight we decided to choose a local pizza joint that is down the street from our house. We logged onto the website to get the menu and were excited to see that they had a new (and vastly improved) homepage. This particular website had been in the not quite finished stage for several years (Insert your text here). As I clicked further into the site, however, I was first confronted with horrendous and ridiculous navigation. Further into the site I was distraught by the grammar errors and random misuse of words.

Every morning at 9:00 am we begin making the dough for our famous crust. The yeast we use comes from a special strand given to us from a bakery in Italy. It’s mixed with just the right amount of flour, spices and filtered water that is a precise temperature. We mix it up together in our Hobert mixer for 11 minutes 13 seconds. When it gets to its perfect consistency we sheet it into pizza balls. The pizza balls proof in our walk in cooler...
(strain. Hobart. Can't sheet into balls. You can tray the pizza dough balls, and once they are proofed you can then sheet (roll the ball into a sheet) them, but you can't sheet the balls)

I was willing to forgive them for all this - at least it was completed - until I decided to look for a suitable coupon for our meal and found this:


When one chooses to use a web design template, one must follow through and make sure ALL pages are complete (or removed) prior to publishing!! It irritates me immensely when I click on a link and find the page filled with the gibberish filler paragraphs that templates use to show the user what it will look like when complete.

Squirrel in our backyard

This squirrel roams our backyard frequently. For those of you who don't know squirrels, this is not a normal color. We like to call this particular squirrel the "Chew Squirrel" or "Mini-Chew" because it is the same exact color as the puppy. We also have black squirrels (which look like tiny little cats with long fingers).


Look at his lips. It's like it's thinking, "oh, you caught me!"

Uh oh.

Note the current high (70*) and the high tomorrow (36*). It's going to get ugly tonight.

Sigh.

Nothing can make you get up on the wrong side of bed the morning after like harsh lighting and full length mirrors. I hate clothes shopping.

I curse thee, McD!

Today I requested a mocha from McDonald's for lunch. Their coffee machine was broken...again. It has been broken at least 3 times a month for the last 3 months. In addition, my co-worker tried to get ice cream for her kids yesterday at the same McD's - also broken. I'm very disgruntled.

To make me even more irritated, when I drove past the same McD after dropping off Craig at work after lunch, their message board (the red dot ones that change every few second, what are those called?) had "Need a little pick-me-up? Grab a mocha". Well, I would, IF YOUR MACHINE WAS WORKING!!!

If your machine is broken, do you want to advertise something that isn't available? Take it off your sign.

Meet the who?

Today we went to see the 3D version of Meet The Robinsons. Cute movie, quite enjoyable. We could think of nothing better than to put the 3D glasses we got at the movie on the dogs. Neither dog was impressed.

I've lost my hairdresser! and other miscellaneous stuff.

My hairdresser (MJ) relocated recently. According to Craig we discussed receiving a postcard from her saying where to find her. I have no recollection of this discussion and can't find the postcard! MJ if you are out there reading this, please send another card or call me at the farm! I'm desperate for a cut and need my eyebrows waxed. I'll tip double if you call! :) Update: I found MJ and I'm making an appointment in the morning!

Yesterday, in honor of my new pedicure, I wore sandals to work. I got bit on the toe by a cricket! I've worked here 5 years and worn sandals every summer and never been bitten by a cricket. I didn't even know they bit. My co-worker T also got bit yesterday. Do we have some freak batch of nasty ones running around? Can I blame this somehow on global warming?

Last night we took the dogs for a w-a-l-k. It was perfect weather. About 76 degrees F and the sun was starting to set so it wasn't blazing down on us. Chew hasn't started shedding his winter coat and was just ROASTING. When we got home he got into the tub and waited for me to turn on the shower for him. He laid in the tub basking in the rain of cold water for several minutes. Then he got out and shook - all over me.

We get a second estimate for a fence tonight. Hopefully this one will be more reasonable, because the estimate from Lowe's was pretty obscene. Update: We had a local fence company come out tonight. He was extremely nice and helpful and he was shocked at the quote we got from Lowe's. We are awaiting his official quote, but he expects it to be 1/3 of the other one. Even if it weren't, we'd go with them because he was so helpful.

We finally broke down and special ordered a portable dishwasher. It arrives Friday. Yeay.

Have I mentioned recently that I LOVE my car? We've had the Prius back from the body shop for a little more than a week now and every time I get in I breathe a sigh of appreciation. I just love that car.

We are leaving next week on the Amtrak for St. Louis. I've been looking forward to this trip for months. I need a vacation. We're going to the zoo and the Gateway Arch for sure, not sure what else we will do.

That's all the "miscellany" I have for now.

The Moment of Truth.

We recently bought a Dyson vacuum cleaner (off of QVC, I hate to admit - they had flex-pay, so we could finally afford to buy one!). We've been in the market for a new vacuum for a while and wanted to get a Dyson because the old one was limping along and with 2 heavily shedding large dogs, we really needed a better cleaner. I also HATED dumping the canister of our old vacuum. It got crud all over the place, including my lungs, when you had to pull that stupid, filthy, filter out of the center of the canister.

Well, we are doing our Spring cleaning today and putting the Dyson to it's first major cleaning. I had the moment of truth a little while ago when I had to empty the canister for the first time. I LOVE THIS VACUUM! Push a button, squeeze a trigger, canister is empty. That alone makes this vacuum worth every penny! Plus (at the risk of sounding like a commercial) there are no filters to clean or replace, no belts to break, it is lighter, it's quieter. One drawback, it's purple and red and makes me feel like I'm pushing a little old Red Hat Society lady around my living room.

Oh, and, as an added bonus, I got a child sized vacuum with it too. Not that we have kids. I'm thinking of teaching Chewie to push the baby vacuum around the room.

It was a glorious day for fence running!

Woo Hoo!

Happy first day of Spring!! Time for spring cleaning, robins, worms, tulips, daffodils, cooking out, and new dog fences! Woo Hoo! My favorite season!

Canine Gastronome

Recently, we have been having some issues with dog eating disorders. Booker has always had issues with bulimia. It comes and goes. Right now we've (and by we, I mean Craig) been cleaning vomit up at least once a day for several weeks. You're probably yelling, "Why haven't you taken him to the vet!?" We know it is because he inhales his food sans mastication and then vomits it all up 15 minutes later. He's always had the problem. We think it is from his early life of living on the streets. We never yell at him for it, but recently he has started trying to hide it by covering it with whatever he can. The other day Craig found some under a washcloth and I saw him pulling a blanket and a towel over it.

Chewie, on the other hand, has never had issues with food. We got him much younger and he's always had the bin of food in the corner that he knows that he can get into in case of "emergency". He likes to graze rather than binge. However, he recently decided that he really doesn't care one way or another if he eats. He just sniffs at it, takes a kernel, drops the kernel, sniffs again, walks away. He'll eat when he's hungry but it makes it a challenge when Booker stakes out Chewies dish waiting for us to look away so he can steal a few gulps before we catch him.

In light of these issues, we decided to go to the pet store and browse the dog foods to find an allergy food for Booker. We read and compared the bags and finally decided on Natural Balance Potato and Duck Ultra Premium Dog Food. No soy, corn, wheat, rice, eggs, or dairy; especially for dogs with allergies or sensitive stomachs. You've never seen happier dogs! Booker hasn't hurled in 24 hours and Chewie picks thru the mix of old and new food for all the new food and then resigns to eat the rest. Then they beg for more. Apparently, our dogs are as big of food snobs as we are. Who'd've thought?

A Few Comments on Fingers

Yesterday at work my co-workers were comparing their manicures. Both had lovely, long, painted, filed nails. My nails, in contrast, are chewed stubs with torn cuticles. Even if I didn't chew off my nails, I couldn't have long nails. I've tried, but they interfere with my typing (75 wpm) and with making frames. As it is I slice the nails with the chopper blades when making cuts on the frames.

On another finger related note, I burned the daylights out of my thumb and fingers on my left hand last night. Never grab a metal handle just out of a 400* oven to hold your pizza stone while cutting your pizza. No blisters, I guess I got them under cold water fast enough. However, I had 150 frames to make last night and the burns were making that difficult. I sent Craig to the office supply store for some "finger condoms" (or whatever they are called) and in the meantime concocted some finger protectors out of rubber bands and duct-tape. It amused me so I thought I would share. They actually worked better than the finger condoms since those only came in Med-LG and didn't fit on anything but my thumb.

Mr. Chew's Mini-Me.

Mr. Chew


Lil Jon

Flickr issues?

So... Our photo hosting site seems to be having some issues. The thumbnail images of our sets and links are not the photos we've uploaded (i.e. they are someone elses pictures). Some of them are not-so-nice. So, if you've been to our site(s) and seen something nasty (I have), please be aware that it is an error with Flickr and not a picture we posted!! Yikes.

Happy Chinese New Year of the Boar

This weekend I spent in Chicago with my sister, Kevin, and my mother. We went to the Museum of Science and Industry for a symposium which Kevin was on the panel of and to see the Body Worlds 2 exhibit. Museum was crowded (as usual) and we didn't get to go to any of the exhibits because my mother is slow. We enjoyed the symposium and found it quite informative. We then spent 2 (hot) hours in the Body Worlds exhibit. No picutues allowed, look at the link, it was very interesting. By the time we finished in Body Worlds, the main museum was closed and we (except my mother who rode in the wheelchair we rented so we could progress faster than a snails pace) were exhausted.

Today we headed over to Chinatown to celebrate Chinese New Year. The year of the pig starts today. My mother is a pig. (HA!) Mother was exhausted from the walk from the car to the train and the train to the parade, so she went into the resaurant and had tea and spring rolls while Laurie and I stood and watched the parade. It was about 26*F but still quite fun. Afterwards we had lunch and were glad she held a table because the line was out the door (literally). Great food, good company, nice day. (Tradition has it that the dragon comes into the restaurants and markets after the parade. We were right in the middle of the action for this! It was great!!

One thing here is not like the others...

You can see better if you click on the picture and then select Original size.

I was searching for squirrel pictures (long story) and stumbled upon these results.

Not having a good day.

We were broadsided in the parking lot of Craig's work this morning when a SUV was going too fast and couldn't stop at his stop. We had the right-of-way and were going only about 5mph and couldn't move in time because the lot was slippery. Chewie was in the backseat (belted in, of course) and had glass from the rear passenger window rain down on him when it blew out. The SUV had a slightly bent bumper and a furious driver. He, of course, blamed me. If I may point out in my defense, his truck would not have ripped the metal of our car if he had been going the speed limit (of 10 mph) or lower (since conditions warranted that). It would have just dented if he had been. We're all fine (other than being pretty irritated that our new car is smashed up.)

Update: Our insurance company found us to not be at fault (and was appalled that this much damage was done in a parking lot!) so we don't have to pay our deductible. Yeay!

Mad Dog! Mad Dog!

Our little escape artist is mad because he is now pulling a small tire attached to his leash around whenever he is out. He's made a try for freedom 3 times in 48 hours and now has to be supervised every time he is out until we can make some alterations to the fence. Nice of him to choose the coldest week of the year.

He is stewing in the middle of the yard.

Mr. Haskins is pleased.

Mr. Haskins received the computer back from CrappyComputer.com. Of course, it was addressed to Greg and shipped to the wrong address, but when Mr. Haskins took it home at lunch and opened the box, it did have a fixed computer inside. Mr. Haskins cannot complain too much.

Mr. Haskins and Greg shall play RuneScape together tonight while Mr. Haskins sits inside in the recliner instead of outside in the garage workshop.