Monday, December 31, 2007

Veryvery pleased

I have now gotten my wireless router up & running, and my office computer up and running and everything working together. Yay!

It has been a super busy month. As soon as I returned from California on Nov 28th, I did laundry, packed and headed out again on Nov 30th for another girl's weekend with Beth & Maggie. Beth is a fan of Air Tran, a local short-haul cheapo airline. She'd researched and found that we, in Roch, and Maggie, outside Boston, could get 1-way tix to Charlotte, NC for $70. Deal.

We went to Charlotte because a) it was bound to be warmer than Rochester in early December; b) Beth's been there and wanted to show us some sights; and c) Beth knew there is a huge outlet mall and she needed a party dress. Didn't matter to Maggie & me where we met, so Charlotte was just fine.

We got there Friday afternoon. Beth & I flew first to Baltimore, and amused ourselves in the airport for 90 minutes till the final flight. The new exercise machine on display in the Shaper Image store stopped us both in our tracks. It's supposed to simulate horseback riding. Imagine a lurid purple saddle-like seat rotating and grinding around. "Oh my!" said Beth. "I'm not sure they could show that in Rochester." I speculated about a thriving market for add-on attachments and wondered where they would screw in. Aaannnd girls' weekend is off to a ribald start, at 8 a.m. in the Baltimore airport.

After a quick breakfast of mini-cheeseburgers we caught the flight to Charlotte. Waited there for an hour for Maggie to join us, she had to fly to Atlanta and backtrack. The Charlotte airport offered no good amusements. Bummer.

We got the rental car, headed to the hotel, dumped our stuff and zoomed up the way. Beth wanted to take us to the race car shop. I have mentioned that her husband, Bob, works for Troyer building specialty parts for race cars. He also is the crew chief for Donny Lia, on the NASCAR circuit. I was interested to see the shop.

We pulled up in front of the shop - big building. We were to get a tour there and then head to the gift shop, Beth had to buy a couple things. So we walked into the lobby of the shop - extremely impressive. 3 real cars on display. Maggie and Beth are lurking in the background of this one, both of 'em photo-shy.



I'm wandering around, ogling the cars and starting to notice something ... familiar ... a stylized '3' everywhere. (K, you real fans are waaay ahead of me.) I asked Beth "Ummm, the '3' is that ... Dale Earnhardt?" "Yeah, he raced for Richard."



HOLY CRAP - I am Richard Childress Racing, for whom Dale Earnhardt drove. I am at ground freaking zero of NASCAR ROYALTY. I started to slightly hyperventilate. I am now so impressed I'm practically beside myself. Then, Royce came out from the back shop to take us on our tour. Nicest guy, what must he have thought about taking us three through the race car factory, but he was unfailingly polite. He did ask us if we knew about racing. Beth stepped right up and threw down all she knows, which is a whole bunch - by the end of the tour they were comparing notes about having been taught how to do lap timing by a legend.

I so wanted to take pictures in the 'shop' - the factory. The 800,000 square foot factory. With floors so gleaming nd shiny I was glad I was wearing jeans. With legions of Snap-On tool boxes, 5 or 7 cranes holding up the templates that measure that a body is stock, with several cars being worked on at various stages. Royce even took us into the 'trailers' that ferry the crews to the races. Wow - satellite dish, high-speed internet, wide screen TV, gleaming white lockers for all the tools, pluse seating area on the upper deck with even more space above. All in all, RCR looks like a great place to work. And everyone there is really really happy to be there. How cool!

Then we went across the parking lot to the 'museum', really a gift shop. I refrained from outfitting myself like a newbie fan. (It wasn't easy!) I am really looking forward to catching some of the races in 08. And visiting, a lot, when Beth & Bob move to Charlotte - it's in the plan but nothing definite yet.




Me in front of the Richard Childress Racing museum

After all this excitement we went for wine tasing at the Richard Childress vineyards. Opulent place, and they're making the best they can from the local soils. I still think, eeeeych. My palate is branded for Monster California Reds. Oh well, could be worse. I could think that east coast wines are good. ;-) We had the rudest 'pourer' I have ever encountered. We had to buy one of 3 wine tasting packages, which was a flight of 6 or 8 tastings. She allowed no time for us to really get the nose or the taste. "Nyext wine now. You teste." (She was Russian, I think) But we ended up buying 2 bottles.

Went to Speedy's BBQ for dinner. Here's the first culture clash: "Smoking or non-smoking?" the hostess asked. My reply was "My God, you still do that here? How last century! NON SMOKING." The BBQ was served within 4 minutes of ordering - hence the name. And the servings were bigger than our heads. Beth ordered a dinner, Maggie & I opted for sandwiches only. We all lunched off the leftovers the next day.

Saturday we started off at a mall that the bartender had recommended, the night before. We started in Dillards, a Macy's-ish place. Beth had in mind the style of dress she wanted. And it looked really really bad on her. At this point, we pulled everything in her size and started forcing her to try them on. "But I don't like this one." "But you've got to try it on so we can see what works and what doesn't - neckline, sleeves, fabric." "Oh, OK..." At one point Maggie & I started sounding like Stacey and Clinton. And Maggie grabbed what turned out to be the dress. Flattering, pretty, and even on sale. We snapped a picture with Beth's phone, sent it to Vicki (her fashion-conscious daughter) for approval. The comment back - "Nice dress. I love the socks." (She had left those on for the try-on) Beth started to say she was wearing the socks with it the night of the banquet.

We shopped there a bit more, forcing Beth to try on pretty jewelry that might go - you'd think this wouldn't be hard! And we stopped at Macys and forced her to try on shoes with heels - Maggie's doing again. Beth had been joking about wearing fuzzy slippers. And was more serious about ballet flats. She does have trouble with her knees and wanted to be conservative. Maggie made her buy shoes with heels - the nerve! - and relented on ballet flats as a back-up for after pictures were taken. Oh yeah, the dress was for the racing banquet, where Donny Lia's championship win was celebrated. Many cudos to Bob, the crew chief and coach.

Sat evening, we drove to downtown Charlotte to see A Tuna Christmas. If anyone else has seen this, let me know. Is it a bit racist?? A couple of points in the play had us Yankees exchanging glances - they didn't just say that, did they? The big giggle point came when one of the frumpier charcters came on stage in an outfit that included a sky-blue Christmas decorated knit vest and Beth muttered "I have that vest" in a quiet tone of outrage. Then she added "Vicki hates it." I laughed, she laughed and I kept making sotto voice snarky comments about wrapping up for Christmas until we were both in tears. Maggie, on the other side of Beth, caught a contact fit of giggles. Thought they were gonna throw us out!

Sunday we had time for a quick drive-by of the race track, and some sightseeing in the country side. We got to the airport with plenty of time, the rental return went very fast. So we sat in the airport and finished the sweet wine from our tasting purchase. Went well with the bagels and peanut butter were were having for breakfast.

And another girl's weekend successfully had. We haven't yet planned the next, although I think I volunteered to start research.

Man, I do love witing for this blog when I sit down to it. Gotta run now, to hit the stores before they close to get stuff for the party tonight. I'm going to Kathi's for a low-key friends & family thing.

Happy New Year, all!

Thursday, December 20, 2007

More adventure

The house is quiet, with the 3 cats settled down for the morning. All 3 doing well in their temporary home - Emma was gregarious right away. Phineaus took a day, but he's out & about and getting everywhere. I found him in the wardrobe under my blouses this morning. Note to self, keep doors closed! Alex, the most shy/unsettled by change has been walking around a bit today. He prefers the far corner under my bed, but it was good to see him out and getting something to eat.

I've been finally putting things away in the house, clearing shelves and tables - those cats are great jumpers and extremely curious. I've also been prepping for my human guests - looked around and discovered that I needed towels and more bedding. Last time I had guests it was summer. So, shopping during the Xmas frenzy. Ooof - I'm so glad I'm able to get out during the day when it's not quite so busy.

Today I head out for a ski trip. More adventure. This was planned way in advance of the reality; I've been shopping the sports stores like a crazed thing - looking for ski gear at reasonable prices. And I'm not really sure what I'll want. I tell myself that the jacket shell & fleece, and ski pants, will come in handy for cross-country skiing as well, so it's not a bad investment.

All this frenzy has given me the excuse to not have shipped Christmas cards this year. O bother. I plan to do New Year's cards, now. It's down in writing, now, it will happen.

I'll let you know how the trip goes soon. Wish me grace and elegance!

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Blizzard. I has it.

A very cold, snowy blustery day outside. I'm workin on my list of ToDos. It keeps getting longer the more I think about it. But I have made some progress around the house in the past week, reorganizing things. I have to - got several guests coming over. First are Alex, Fineaus and Emma - Tanya's cats are coming to stay on Tuesday. Then my brother John & sis-in-law Amy come on the 23rd or 24th. So I must curious-cat-proof, and also get the guest room rehabbed. (It is where my suitcases exploded after my recent trips.)

Some musings:
* Dust - where does it come from? I have electric baseboard heat, and the windows were closed and heat off while I was in CA, yet there was a layer of dust on everything when I got back.
* Dust - much of mine is fuschia-colored! I have a chenille throw and beautiful silk rug in that color. I think they're doing the textile equivalent of out-gassing. One day I may go downstairs to find the throw has completely dissolved.
* Time passes so much more quickly in Rochester than in CA. I think it's the relentless march of the seasons. My time in CA seems like ages ago, it was only a couple weeks. I think people age faster here than there - visible proof abounds, too.
* Christmas cookies seem to be multiplying like mice around here. Was invited to a cookie exchange last weekend, so I spent Sat baking. Went on Sunday and between meeting lots of women and eating cookies I ended up like a 2 year old on a sugar high. It took me hours to come down! Not fun. And there are still cookies here, I've started giving them away by the plateful.

And helpful advice, redux:4 things you really really will be glad you did, if your parents are still living.
1) Visit at least twice a year. Pick one room each time and help them clear it out.

2) Get power of attorney and health care proxies in place for their state. Get their wishes very very clear and detailed - much can be made of the phrase "for my comfort" for example - what exactly does that mean to your Mom or Dad? Being parked in a chair in front of Jerry Springer at high volume? Having a radio on to classical music? Get details - imagine they can't move and are being cared for by not you.

3) Move them to a location you want to visit/live in for a while. One with no snow. (Ooops, that would have been my preference. See what happens when you don't plan ahead?)

4) Get them to talk with you about money. If they resist, play on how much of a mess it might be if you need to decipher their accounts, house ownership, insurances, etc. under the stress of someone having landed unexpectedly in the hospital. Money is energy - to be used and accounted for. It's really hard to figure out someone else's; and if you have to get professional help it's very expensive.

OK, time for me to start dinner - get the oven going and warm up the downstairs!

Thursday, December 6, 2007

The Yurt!

My recent trip to the Left Coast was beautifully bookended - the exhilarating, inspiring, healing Quantum Leap in Vegas to start with, and a trip to the incomparable Big Sur Coast to finish. I am so fortunate to have been able to stay a couple days with Pat and Jamie in their yurt. This is, of course, the famous Feng Shiu’ed yurt.

Jamie is the ginger one!








The Yurt is about 550 square feet. Well, being a Yurt, it's of course not square. There are 12 segments that radiate from the central skylight. Pat is grooving on the small, efficient space. She quoted a friend who said that "If you have to unplug the vacuum and move the cord, your house is too big!" (My little houseen meets the criteria on each floor. Course, it does have an extra long cord. But it's nowhere near as compact as the Yurt.) The Yurt feels very spacious, and of course there's such wild beauty just outside. Pat does have a bathtub on her deck. She's not one to cavort in the famous Baths on the other side of the property, which are clothing optional but no one does. Go in clothed, that is.


I arrived at Esalen on a cool, foggy day. The area is beautiful no matter what the weather.






Molly’s Celica was perfectly messaged to fit right in.




The baths are perched right over the sea. The natural hot spring water smells slightly eggy. Sitting in the baths watching and listening to the Pacific is something I plan to do rather a lot the rest of my life. It’s heaven.






Me at the Buddha shrine.




And I find Quan Yin wherever I go.




Sadly, THIS is my current view. Brrrr!