woo HOO!! was that fun? or WHAT?!

please tell me...

that is will NOT become socially acceptable to walk around with your bluetooth headpiece on your ear even though you are not actively using it.

 

this will be unacceptable for the following reasons:

 

1. it implies that if it "rings" you will give that call precedence over the person who is in front of you; or any person you might run into; it means that you are giving precedence to your cell phone - period

 

2. people will begin to look more like robots, which means that it will not be long before it is socially acceptable to BE a robot

 

If you do choose to walk around with the thing attached to your ear like the cops in 5th element; then it should be because you are using it as an accessory, like a fashion statement; in which case, your outfit should fit the statement; ie you should NOT be wearing white leggings with visible panty line and a lime green tank top with bra straps showing!!!! This does not accompany the fashion statement of the BT headset!

Its not a good idea

to do the Flamenco escobia in an elevator because it makes you loose touch with up and down.

 

Geez... thanks Aaron for forcing my hand!

My work has a project in Mozambique. They are overseeing 6 projects that involve the evaluation of water infrastructure in Northern Mozambique for the Millenium Challenge Corporation. Each project has to comply to local and MCC environmental guidelines and they wanted to task me with overseeing that these are all done consistently. This will involve going to Moz... not sure how long, and then doing all the work. Its kinda in a wait and see mode right now.

We have put down the downpayment on getting the kitchen remodeled. We still have to make some final decisions on the counter, backsplash, sink, fume hood, and accent lights. But we have time while the cabinets are being built.

Next weekend, we're off to LV for AMVIV ()
I'm going to take driving lessons, and Greg may volunteer at the racing.

I know, I know...

I haven't posted anything in a while... its just that I have nothing to say!
at least, nothing that I think would be interesting enough to be considered a Musing!

oooo, something else

I have an ongoing theory that is in the "proof" stages that every Folb is related to all the rest. I know, lots of families are that way... but so far, I have been able to trace all Folbs to these 5 brothers who left eastern Europe at the same time.

yesterday, my theory was tested again. and it stood up.

I was contacted through Skype by David Folb - and I thought, is this my uncle? but the guy is from England????
Yup - some Folb brothers in England, David and Michael.

Martin also joined in, and we had this big Folb Skype session with the 4 sibs.
They seem like pretty fun guys....

now I need to find my geneology stuff so I can add them too it.

Problem with this getting older thing, is I have NO idea where I put it.
I can't even start looking 'cause I have forgotten if it is electronic or paper!

God, I'm hopeless!!!!

...and then in the continuing effort

to be COMPLETELY voyeristic...

There is now a list of blogs I visit daily in order to stay on top of what is going on in these people's lives.
and the other day, I realized that I had reached a new level.

I had begun to get to know the "friend" circle.

and I realized:
a) there is this WHOLE world of people who have created a COMMUNITY in personal Blogs!!
b) you really are voyeristic when you need to know who came over for dinner on Sat!
c) you are now cruising the family photo albums on Flickr, and you think of these people as FRIENDS!

and when you pass on to your friends that you are getting worried about yourself... you get this for a response:

"I know, what the hell is wrong with me that I am so freaking keyed into these peoples lives.... like, "I wonder when Heather and John get back from Amsterdam?
I wonder if Leta is really talking a lot now? What is Chuck up to? etc... Am I just a lame-o? Oh wait, you are engrossed in it too... "


... so I gave up and created a personalized Google homepage with only one "content"
Bookmarks...
to all these blogs...

I'm also very good at adding things into the Yahoo RSS feed function so that I can see the updates in my inbox.

so either I'm bored, boring, sick, or not into my job and life !

I wasn't gonna, but I will put in some....

master b.

Deetour

dooce

Big news for now, at least in my little world

We are going to remodel the kitchen. Our kitchen is on the west side of the house and there is a LARGE screen porch sticking out from its windows, so it gets no light. It also has a dropped ceiling, OLD oak cabinets, and gross tile on the counters and backsplash. Last summer we had to replace the fridge and dishwasher, so we have 50% new appliances. The contractor got the deposit this week, and so the cabinets will have 8-10 weeks to be built. We need to decide on counter tops, backsplash, fume hood, and sink before the date of demo/install. We are also installing 2 skylights, can lights, and pendants over the island. I think it will be SMASHING!!!

Other than that, live goes on... March is the month of Scottsdale Center for the Arts shows... we are in the middle of 3 in 2 weeks - whew! Considering we do this season ticket thing to have entertainment all year, we didn't do a good job of planning for this season.. oh well...

Office Views

Our new office building has this creative design where all of the "worker bees" have cubes around the perimeter which gives them windows with views, and the managers have offices on the inside with really stupid high windows that do nothing. Even though I approve of the philosophy that says that the workers spend more time at their desks while managers are in meetings, it sucks not to have a view. So here is my response: view 1 is the view out of the conf room window, view 2 is the winter view from Baker's Pittsburgh HQ office (was up for about a week!), view 3 is from the house we stayed at in Costa Rica, and I think this one is not going anywhere!

Busy Weekend

The Maloney's arrived on Thurs night around 10 and stayed with us. Greg had to work in the am on Fri, so I went with them to Wildflower...

Rachel and I visited aka Green on Fri afternoon 'cause they are thinking about their storefront and she wanted to see what they carry. We went to a dinner with Beth on Fri - which was good 'cause then the 3 of us could just catch up.

On Sat, we really just hung out.... Went shopping for food, errands, etc, We watched a lot of Olympics and just sat outside, which was good 'cause the weather was nice. Sat night went to 98 South with Beth and Jen. It’s a winebar in Chandler.... They told us they had no space (even though the restaurant was empty) and said we could order food at the bar. So, we were joking with the bartender, ordering lots of wine samples, and just having fun... The Beth asked the manager what the deal was about the empty tables.... And he told us that one of the band members was having a bday party and had reserved 50 spots (!)... Then the (jazz) band arrived to set up, and the people started arriving, and the band was VERY good! And the people were having a great time, and we were already "happy" from all the wine sampling, so it was a really good time. Then we went back to our place, Rachel and I had bought some decadent desserts from AJ's which we munched while drinking another bottle of wine, and then had a quick soak in the hottub.... All in all... It was a super fun evening. We met up with Kathryn at The Farm on Sun for breakfast, and then all broke up for other different activities (Rachel went for a S. Mntn hike with Jen and Jax) until the boys returned home at 3pm. We had a chili dinner at our house, the boys had a soak, and that was that. It was very fun...

Burning Man revisited

OK - I am by no means an expert; but I guess I know enough to be competitive. Burning Man is a community of artists that gather once a year to share their expression. How's that? I haven't read the book, or attended, but that's what I understand it to be. The community is created and uncreated every year the week of Labor Day; and culminates in a large burning man into which you can sacrifice your expression from that year. Burning man is in a dusty region of Nevada that noone else wants!

My brother, his girlfriend, and their gang of friends have been going for the last three years. I guess you can call them "burners" now.

Why go? because you are surrounded by incredible creativity with art installations that can blow your mind. Looking at the photos of these creations just makes you want to see them in person.

I think that's the gist - the rest is self experience.... and we have decided to take it on!

I finally got through the mess of cyber traffic and was able to purchase the tickets!!

burning man ticket update 2

now we get this:

"Due to an electrical circuit problem, we've been forced to pause ticket sales temporarily. We're getting it fixed, and as soon as we're able, we'll commence sales again. Please be patient, and watch this page for the latest information as it becomes available."

burning man tickets update 1

this site is driving me NUTS!!!

I got through to a purchase page, said I wanted 2 tickets, it takes it as if its processing, and then it goes blank!!!!!!!

how do I checkout!??

Burning Man

I'm TRYING to buy tickets for burning man!!!!!

They say that the site is overwhelmed with people trying to access it; but I have a feeling that whatever coding they were going to turn on today, didn't work! and its taken them TWO hours, and its still not working!! That's my theory, anyway....

I have been sitting here at work on a conf call hitting refresh. The screen varies between the "no webpage exists", screen, to the "check back" screen, to a promo screen for the company that's hosting the ticket purchasing.

Its getting very frustrating! Mostly 'cause I just want to buy the damn tickets and be DONE with it!!!!

I'm so bad about posting, I know... and then Dee is using this blog as a way to get me to go to DRP events!!!! so at least it has some sort of function.

Well, I finally went to an event... and Dee wasn't there!!! ;-)

I joined the parade of MINIs and minis around Phoenix Int Raceway on Sat...
It was much more nervewracking than I thought it would be... that's for sure!!

Going fast around turns is not in my comfort zone! I'm really glad that I have the driving school scheduled, and I'm hoping this is something that they cover, or at least that they will be willing to work with me on things that I want to improve - rather than just lectures.

Well.... there you have it.... a ramble!

Back home

been home from Costa Rica for 3+ days... trying to get used to having things to do.
Not sure I'm ready to go back to work - are we ever?
it makes me understand why my brother picked up, packed up, and moved off to a different lifestyle.

Had a good new year's with friends. We made a spectacular dinner and enjoyed all the rooms of our house, including the outdoor movie theater (proxima and laptop). This may become a tradition, I think, watching movies in the back yard.

Hope everyone had a good start to 2006!!

Costa Rica

We have made it through half of our trip. I am at an
internet cafe with my mom, who is sending email to
Adrian, so I figured I would post a post on the blog.
This is a Spanish keyboard and I cannot figure out how
to make apostrophes so there wont be any in this post.

We have had a very relaxing time. Martins house is on
the beach and we spend a lot of time just watching the
waves come in. The first day we say humpback whales
diving in and out of the ocean like dolphins. We also
saw monkeys at the house while we were unpacking the
car, and have seen them most days since. There is a
tiny baby that jumps around by itself every now and
again. We have been snorkling and seen morey eels,
pufferfish, and lots of colorful fish. We have surfed,
and walked on the beach, and collected shells. Weve
tried most of the restaurants in town and have been
ranking them based on how good we think the arroz con
camarones is. Weve looked at all the land for sale and
understand why people are trying so hard to live here.

We have 2 full days left and then back to reality,
desert, and dry. Yup, we are definately in a hot humid
rainforest!!

later...

Cookies revisited

Two things:
1. I figured out how to put a blog onto my.yahoo.com so that you can see if someone has updated. The only thing is they have to have the "site feed" preference turned on.... so comeon... turn it on!! and put the post on your site for the URL so that I can link to it!

2. The cookies are baked!! We started at 8:30am, Beth and I did the groceries, and then Elliott and Kathryn arrived, and we baked until about 2pm. It took a while to prep the boxes etc. Whew! What a lot of cookies!!

Blog updates

OK - this Blog thing is frustrating me because I can't "subscribe" to people's blogs and be notified when they are updated!!

 

I don't have time to keep checking all of these websites everyday!!!

 

What with all the other websites I have to check, its just annoying!

 

Why have these Blogger people not put in this function?? Or is this something that you have to do using that AdSense or WebLogs???

 

I WISH someone would see my blog and respond to me on this one!!!!

pleeeze pleeeze pleeeze!!

COOKIES

This weekend is cookie baking!!
Here's the list of cookies:

Coconut Chocolate Patties
Crunchies
peanut butter/kiss
black forest cookies
peppermint bark
chewy molasses-spice cookies
butter cookies
russian tea cookies
choc covered pretzel rods with red/green sprinkles
chocolate cookie surprise
earl grey tea cookie
lime meltaway
cranberry shortbread