The weather Home West has been so wonderful this year for all but tomatos. My friends who garden say it's been too cool. I have been loving the cool - almost cold nights. I am headed to the land of air conditioning, though - going back Home East to visit and to clear the last of the things out of my house there - have a renter moving in. Technically, this is a 'rent to own'; from my online research it seems that most of those do not end up buying the house. I'll know more in a year. But meanwhile, the house will be occupied and cared for, which is a great worry off my mind.
I have my clothes all laid out to pack. I am rarely happy with my selections when I get to where I'm going - is this common? I try to think ahead while I'm here, and as soon as I get there, I know immediately what I should have brought instead of what I did bring. I'm working on premembering that, this time. Was going to pack this morning before work, but now I think I'll wait until I get home tonight. I also always want an evening of leisure before a big trip - just hanging out, reading; but I rarely get that either. Hmmmm. Time to adjust my attitude there.
The house here is looking good, the lower side garden got shaped up with my roomie's help. Flowers look good, and the roses are blooming again. This is the first place in CA that I've had roses. Turns out I like them.
Ta for now. I hope to write from the road.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Friday, May 28, 2010
The spill is growing
And, still so cool to see my brother on TV.
John Amos, President of Sky Truth, on MSNBC, estimating the oil spill:
John on YouTube
John Amos, President of Sky Truth, on MSNBC, estimating the oil spill:
John on YouTube
Friday, May 14, 2010
I'm so proud!
Not because of the catastrophe, but ...
My brother! On CNBC and Bloomberg!
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232/?video=1481049904&play=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_R_7spiraU0&feature=youtube_gdata
My brother! On CNBC and Bloomberg!
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232/?video=1481049904&play=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_R_7spiraU0&feature=youtube_gdata
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Life in progress
I am see-sawing between personal productivity and sloth. Every time the weather goes rainy and cold I have a hard time doing anything, while thoroughly enjoying this long rainy winter/spring. But other days I am getting a lot done. Part of that is due to friends. I could not pick a new washer & dryer to save my life. Was out with Peri one Sunday, we happened to be driving by an appliance store, stopped in and preso! a great set was on sale, Peri had some knowledgeable discussion with the sales rep, and I bought them. I love them, so happy she was there to help.
Jane moved in a couple weeks ago; last weekend we did blitz gardening on the lower side patio - it looks fantastic! We bought flowers - marigolds and azelea bushes and geraniums and a couple of baskets of fuschia. I'll take and post some pics. She found a cleaning service, and we're splitting the cost. They came for the first tiem today, and that is great.
I've also ordered slatted blinds for the clerestory windows - I am hoping they keep the house cool enough this summer. They should show up in a couple days and then I call the installer and have them put in.
Last week, Thursday, I went out for lunch with a co-worker and we ended up at Evvia in Palo Alto one of my favorites!! Yay! And that evening, I planned to hang out with Renee and we ended up in Palo Alto at Patxi's - and the pizza was superb. PA twice in one day is quite a treat.
On Monday, I got to do 3 things for the first time: drove up to Millbrae and took BART to San Francisco (1); to meet a friend up there for dinner (2) and we dined at Jardiniere (3). The restaurant is beautiful. On Monday nights they do a prix fixe dinner with wine pairing each of the 3 courses. What fun! Dinner was great, it was interesting to take BART for the first time. The seats are upholstered and the cars carpeted. How unexpected.
Jane moved in a couple weeks ago; last weekend we did blitz gardening on the lower side patio - it looks fantastic! We bought flowers - marigolds and azelea bushes and geraniums and a couple of baskets of fuschia. I'll take and post some pics. She found a cleaning service, and we're splitting the cost. They came for the first tiem today, and that is great.
I've also ordered slatted blinds for the clerestory windows - I am hoping they keep the house cool enough this summer. They should show up in a couple days and then I call the installer and have them put in.
Last week, Thursday, I went out for lunch with a co-worker and we ended up at Evvia in Palo Alto one of my favorites!! Yay! And that evening, I planned to hang out with Renee and we ended up in Palo Alto at Patxi's - and the pizza was superb. PA twice in one day is quite a treat.
On Monday, I got to do 3 things for the first time: drove up to Millbrae and took BART to San Francisco (1); to meet a friend up there for dinner (2) and we dined at Jardiniere (3). The restaurant is beautiful. On Monday nights they do a prix fixe dinner with wine pairing each of the 3 courses. What fun! Dinner was great, it was interesting to take BART for the first time. The seats are upholstered and the cars carpeted. How unexpected.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Catching Up
It has seemed like a long, dark winter. Mind you, I am fully aware of how blessed I am to live in California! Still, it's been very rainy - which we need - and cold. I would have weeks of just coming home after work, getting right into my pjs and bathrobe, and heading to bed.
Still cold today, but sunny. I have travel for work upcoming, and this week will be to a warmer place. Phoenix, here I come!
A couple weeks ago, I had 4 friends over for a brunch/swap. It was a blast! I have been clearing out, slowly. Had built up a pile in the second garage. Took the car out of the first garage, put a tarp down and piled all the stuff in there. Made a few quiches, a batch of muffins and coffee and tea. The ladies started showing up, with stuff to add to the pile. We ate & chatted then a couple of them started rearranging the stuff in the garage, so we could all see it.
Everyone thought they wouldn't take anything home but they scored big! Pam, who is a size zero/two (tall and very slim build!) said: "I didn't bring clothes because they wouldn't fit anyone, and I don't expect that anything here will fit me." I reached into the closet and fetched out an evening coat I'd been hanging on to, for years. From my Grandma Amoses second husbands daughter. I could button it, but it was tight, even at my lowest weight. Handed it to Pam, it fit her beautifully. Later in the afternoon, Pam saw the Born sandals - "What size are those?" Renee chimed in, "Size 7 - I don't know why Mom bought me those, I'm a size 9!" Of course, Pam is a 7. She scored! Carol F brought a lot of clothes - and it turns out that she and Renee are just about the same size. Renee scored big, with a new wardrobe! I dug into a box of stuff I had set aside to see on eBay in 2005 - before I moved to Germany - and came up with 4 Tonka toys. Carol said "I will be the best Mom ever, bringing these home!" Her son Marek would appreciate them. Kristen brought a few nice things that didn't fit anyone. But she left with 4 things, and was planning on taking nothing. After the frenzy of trying and looking through stuff was done, we packed all the remains in my car and I drove to Goodwill and dumped it. Yay!!
Swaps are so much fun - everyone gets to try on things that they wouldn't normally even see in the stores. And they take home stuff to see if it will work, and if it doesn't, it goes on the next Goodwill pile. Easy!
Now I have room to do the next level of purge, and will do that over the next few weeks. Time to plan the next swap!
Still cold today, but sunny. I have travel for work upcoming, and this week will be to a warmer place. Phoenix, here I come!
A couple weeks ago, I had 4 friends over for a brunch/swap. It was a blast! I have been clearing out, slowly. Had built up a pile in the second garage. Took the car out of the first garage, put a tarp down and piled all the stuff in there. Made a few quiches, a batch of muffins and coffee and tea. The ladies started showing up, with stuff to add to the pile. We ate & chatted then a couple of them started rearranging the stuff in the garage, so we could all see it.
Everyone thought they wouldn't take anything home but they scored big! Pam, who is a size zero/two (tall and very slim build!) said: "I didn't bring clothes because they wouldn't fit anyone, and I don't expect that anything here will fit me." I reached into the closet and fetched out an evening coat I'd been hanging on to, for years. From my Grandma Amoses second husbands daughter. I could button it, but it was tight, even at my lowest weight. Handed it to Pam, it fit her beautifully. Later in the afternoon, Pam saw the Born sandals - "What size are those?" Renee chimed in, "Size 7 - I don't know why Mom bought me those, I'm a size 9!" Of course, Pam is a 7. She scored! Carol F brought a lot of clothes - and it turns out that she and Renee are just about the same size. Renee scored big, with a new wardrobe! I dug into a box of stuff I had set aside to see on eBay in 2005 - before I moved to Germany - and came up with 4 Tonka toys. Carol said "I will be the best Mom ever, bringing these home!" Her son Marek would appreciate them. Kristen brought a few nice things that didn't fit anyone. But she left with 4 things, and was planning on taking nothing. After the frenzy of trying and looking through stuff was done, we packed all the remains in my car and I drove to Goodwill and dumped it. Yay!!
Swaps are so much fun - everyone gets to try on things that they wouldn't normally even see in the stores. And they take home stuff to see if it will work, and if it doesn't, it goes on the next Goodwill pile. Easy!
Now I have room to do the next level of purge, and will do that over the next few weeks. Time to plan the next swap!
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Sitting in an airport waiting for my flight
Looks like agreat day for flying, sun is peeking out over some low fog. Headed to Chicago for a set of meetings with a sales channel partner. Yes, most of you reading know what a 'channel partner' is but I've started prepending 'sales' to that around the office - just to emphasize the importance of these people to us. Am lobbying for more resources :-)
I am paying much better attention to my internal dialog these days. I have given my inner voice a new job - to encourage and support me. She's not quite exactly sure what that means, but is tentatively starting that. So when the negative pops up, I catch it and think something better for myself. At this new level of self-awareness, I marvel that I was ever able to get out of bed previously!
But I don't seem to be breathing. For years I've been resisting any of the breathing practice that goes with yoga. Have finally unstubborned enough to learn some techniques and realize how much I use my breath to express discomfort. If I perceive a negative situation, my breath is very shallow. Today, it seems like I'm just not breathing. I'll realize it's been 10 or 15 seconds since I breathed in or out. I have no idea why.
Time to grab a coffee and download my email. Have a great day, all!
I am paying much better attention to my internal dialog these days. I have given my inner voice a new job - to encourage and support me. She's not quite exactly sure what that means, but is tentatively starting that. So when the negative pops up, I catch it and think something better for myself. At this new level of self-awareness, I marvel that I was ever able to get out of bed previously!
But I don't seem to be breathing. For years I've been resisting any of the breathing practice that goes with yoga. Have finally unstubborned enough to learn some techniques and realize how much I use my breath to express discomfort. If I perceive a negative situation, my breath is very shallow. Today, it seems like I'm just not breathing. I'll realize it's been 10 or 15 seconds since I breathed in or out. I have no idea why.
Time to grab a coffee and download my email. Have a great day, all!
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Jan 16, 2010
How did it get to be this date already? Seems I was just in Rochester for Christmas.
Dad is now fine, back in his apartment at Crimson Ridge. He's weaker and more frail, not walking at all if he can help it. He's accepting the aids changing him and showering him, which is a relief for all concerned. He was turning them away for a while. In mid-December, he fell 3 days in a row, then couldn't get up. We think it was a combination of being dehydrated from a new medicine and the stress of Christmas. Every time he sees the doctor, he comes away with a new pill. It's insane. He has regular checkups, and they keep giving him new meds that don't really help anything. Greg's talked with the doctor about stopping that. Andrea stopped it at the hospital while he was in there, and the reaction she got was "you're letting him go". He's 82, frail, not fighting for himself and every new med in the past year has not only not helped the symptom for which it was prescribed, it has had a bad side effect. Dude! Time to rethink care for the semi-ill elderly!
I read all the reports from his various CAT scans and other test from his week in the hospital. Nothing really stood out, he's got degenration of the disks in his lumbar spine, his bones show expected degeneration for his age (and it's time to rethink those expectations, too) and bunch of small calcifications throughout his body, whatever that means. In the early 70s, he got really ill - a perforated bowel. They thought it was a perforated ulcer, and started his surgery at his stomach. It was OK, and then they cut lower & lower. Ended up taking out a section of bowel. He was in the hospital in intensive care on IV antibiotics for a couple weeks, obviously recovered. But we now wonder if he was not absorbing calcium right ever since. And I am taking my suppliments and going to the gym to stay strong!
Except right now I have a rotten cold. Came on Thursday afternoon, I sneezed a few times. By that evening I was coughing and spluttering. Stayed home yesterday, did some work through mid afternoon and then I just crashed. Thank god for heating pads, my back ached so badly and the heat helped. I had made some food the weekend before - a big pot of meat sauce, heated some and cooked some pasta. Decided I wanted some cheese, so I started grating it - and just that got me out of breath! I do not understand how that happens with a cold. I'll be weeks getting back to my normal cardio capability at the gym, and since I dislike pushing myself that way, it's not that great to start with. Bummer.
And this is the first cold I've had with the braces on. Last night with my sinuses all full, my head was throbbing and my teeth were too. Too much stuff in my head, and the pressure was building. At the back of my mind I was flirting with a really savage bout of claustrophobia - I was thinking I might want the braces out RIGHT NOW. Fortunately, it passed without much effort. But man, the things I can do to me, in my head - I'd like to harness that power for building a business for me.
Still really like my job. It's getting ever busier as we grow. The company is changing big time - people leaving and coming in, jobs changing. I've struggled with that, which surprises me. I thought I was all down with change, having been through so much in recent years. I believe that some of my problem again is the braces - my head aches for a week after an adjustment, and every few days a new spot inside my ceeks is rubbed raw and hurts. I think that's had me a bit off balance to start. And I am working hard to flow with the changes, not take it personally. To those of you who have talked me off the ledge during this period, I send again my heartfelt thanks! And, I want a business of my own that provides profitable income - enough to retire mortgages and let me travel - and the time flexibility to do so. (Yes, that's a 2010 goal!)
I was going to go down to the Gilroy Outlets with friends today, but I'm thinking I'll be spending most of today in bed instead. The weather is cooperating by being cloudy. I have enough food - I think - and have recently discovered Hulu so I can pass some time as I recover. Tonight I might have a fire in the bedroom fireplace - haven't done that yet. I've lived here for almost a year. I still haven't finished moving in. I have a big resistance to spending more money on furniture and more time looing, so I don't have a coffeee table or the right shelves. My office is sort of set up, but not quite right. And the travel for work starts again next week, and I'm going to be traveling a lot this year too. Just keeping the place moderately clean, my clothes clean, and myself fed and worked out is all the time I want to allocate to my living place. Outside of being sick in bed, I prefer to spend the reat of my time with friends and doing things like golf and hike and bike ride.
Ugh. Everything in my head just solidified. Now I have to mouth breathe. Time to heat up some breakfast and have some coffee, hoping that will help. But the 'blink my eyes and what I wish appears' thing seems to be broken. Means I have to get out of bed. O bother!
Dad is now fine, back in his apartment at Crimson Ridge. He's weaker and more frail, not walking at all if he can help it. He's accepting the aids changing him and showering him, which is a relief for all concerned. He was turning them away for a while. In mid-December, he fell 3 days in a row, then couldn't get up. We think it was a combination of being dehydrated from a new medicine and the stress of Christmas. Every time he sees the doctor, he comes away with a new pill. It's insane. He has regular checkups, and they keep giving him new meds that don't really help anything. Greg's talked with the doctor about stopping that. Andrea stopped it at the hospital while he was in there, and the reaction she got was "you're letting him go". He's 82, frail, not fighting for himself and every new med in the past year has not only not helped the symptom for which it was prescribed, it has had a bad side effect. Dude! Time to rethink care for the semi-ill elderly!
I read all the reports from his various CAT scans and other test from his week in the hospital. Nothing really stood out, he's got degenration of the disks in his lumbar spine, his bones show expected degeneration for his age (and it's time to rethink those expectations, too) and bunch of small calcifications throughout his body, whatever that means. In the early 70s, he got really ill - a perforated bowel. They thought it was a perforated ulcer, and started his surgery at his stomach. It was OK, and then they cut lower & lower. Ended up taking out a section of bowel. He was in the hospital in intensive care on IV antibiotics for a couple weeks, obviously recovered. But we now wonder if he was not absorbing calcium right ever since. And I am taking my suppliments and going to the gym to stay strong!
Except right now I have a rotten cold. Came on Thursday afternoon, I sneezed a few times. By that evening I was coughing and spluttering. Stayed home yesterday, did some work through mid afternoon and then I just crashed. Thank god for heating pads, my back ached so badly and the heat helped. I had made some food the weekend before - a big pot of meat sauce, heated some and cooked some pasta. Decided I wanted some cheese, so I started grating it - and just that got me out of breath! I do not understand how that happens with a cold. I'll be weeks getting back to my normal cardio capability at the gym, and since I dislike pushing myself that way, it's not that great to start with. Bummer.
And this is the first cold I've had with the braces on. Last night with my sinuses all full, my head was throbbing and my teeth were too. Too much stuff in my head, and the pressure was building. At the back of my mind I was flirting with a really savage bout of claustrophobia - I was thinking I might want the braces out RIGHT NOW. Fortunately, it passed without much effort. But man, the things I can do to me, in my head - I'd like to harness that power for building a business for me.
Still really like my job. It's getting ever busier as we grow. The company is changing big time - people leaving and coming in, jobs changing. I've struggled with that, which surprises me. I thought I was all down with change, having been through so much in recent years. I believe that some of my problem again is the braces - my head aches for a week after an adjustment, and every few days a new spot inside my ceeks is rubbed raw and hurts. I think that's had me a bit off balance to start. And I am working hard to flow with the changes, not take it personally. To those of you who have talked me off the ledge during this period, I send again my heartfelt thanks! And, I want a business of my own that provides profitable income - enough to retire mortgages and let me travel - and the time flexibility to do so. (Yes, that's a 2010 goal!)
I was going to go down to the Gilroy Outlets with friends today, but I'm thinking I'll be spending most of today in bed instead. The weather is cooperating by being cloudy. I have enough food - I think - and have recently discovered Hulu so I can pass some time as I recover. Tonight I might have a fire in the bedroom fireplace - haven't done that yet. I've lived here for almost a year. I still haven't finished moving in. I have a big resistance to spending more money on furniture and more time looing, so I don't have a coffeee table or the right shelves. My office is sort of set up, but not quite right. And the travel for work starts again next week, and I'm going to be traveling a lot this year too. Just keeping the place moderately clean, my clothes clean, and myself fed and worked out is all the time I want to allocate to my living place. Outside of being sick in bed, I prefer to spend the reat of my time with friends and doing things like golf and hike and bike ride.
Ugh. Everything in my head just solidified. Now I have to mouth breathe. Time to heat up some breakfast and have some coffee, hoping that will help. But the 'blink my eyes and what I wish appears' thing seems to be broken. Means I have to get out of bed. O bother!
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