Last Day of the Year

hmmm, need to decide on a New Years Resolution...
I was pretty good at keeping my resolution this year, I did not talk or text on my cell phone while driving. I failed on the post on my blog every day resolution but that's why I amended the resolution.

I adopted a crazy ass Puggle this summer, we're still in the learning stage. He turned two in November, I'm his third owner and he has some "issues." He's coming along and I will take full responsibility for any failure on his part. He is a super smart dog and I believe if I spent more time with him he would really come around. That will be one of my goals for the New Year, get Jake to come when I call his name...every time; not just when I have a carrot.

I was finally able to get my memorial garden planted and expand my vegetable garden. Nearly finished painting my house. I only have one triangle left on the house and the big garage out back to paint. I can't paint the garage until I replace a couple boards so it's going to wait until Spring.

gotta run, more later...

Fireball!

Curled in the Fireball 500 this weekend. Had a really fun time. Our first game was Friday night at 8 PM; we lost but it was a fun game and I was happy with my rocks. Stayed out a wee bit too late Friday but our Saturday game was not until 11 AM so it wasn't too bad.

Saturdays game was great our entire team threw good rocks and we were victorious! Winning Saturday meant that we did not play again until Sunday morning at 9 AM. The team we played against on Saturday was a lot of fun and we had a lot of laughs both on and off the ice.

Went on the Fireball 500 pubcrawl Saturday night but wimped out before the last bar. I seriously needed some food and sleep. I was home by about 12:30 and in bed by 1 AM. Lash had me up at 5:30 with his whining. The dogs are used to getting up at 4:15 so he was ready for breakfast. After letting the dogs out and feeding them I was wide awake.

Got to the club about 8:30 this morning and grabbed some breakfast and coffee. I have to say I was a bit disappointed that we lost this morning. I usually don't get disappointed but I really wanted to win. Most of the time I'm pretty neutral about my curling but we were having such a good game that I was really bummed when we lost. Had we won this morning we would have competed in the second event! It all came down to the 8th end, last rocks. Unfortunately we did not get the point needed to win :(

Playing with Eric, Julie and Kristin was a lot of fun. Eric and Julie are both very laid back and complementary, which is a change from my league teams. They tried talking me into skipping this morning, but I was just not "feeling" it and I'm glad Julie agreed to skip. The team we played against have been curling their entire lives and I would have been totally out of my league.

All in all it was another great time at the curling club! I'm already looking for my next bonspiel. I think the Women's Cold Cash is next on the agenda. I'm not sure who I'll be playing with, I've talked with several people but haven't confirmed anything yet.

Now it's time to relax and get ready for my week...

People Are Strange:

We have a water cooler at work and about a month ago the drip pan went missing. No one would admit to taking it, losing it or breaking it. Some how it just disappeared!

Fast forward to about a week ago. The drip pan reappears! One day it's gone the next it's there. And get this, now it's Superglued in place so you cannot remove it.

What good is a drip pan if you cannot remove it and dump the water?

I don't know; people are strange.

Favorite Status update on Facebook:

"I'm out like a boner in sweatpants!"

Shout Out to Mariah

Part 2 Obama Addresses HRC

When no one has to fear walking down the street holding the hand of the one they love...

None of us Wants to be Defined by Just One Part of What Makes us Whole

Facebook

It could ruin your relationships!

Gluten Free

It has been suggested that Val try a gluten free diet. She has a couple audio-immune issues. Well, in support of my pal I've started checking out; first what the hell is gluten and how do you cut it out of your diet. Let me tell ya, gluten is in lots of stuff! The first thing I did was "google" it, what is gluten? I found this wonderful blog Gluten Free Girl; she explained everything. I learned more than I really wanted to know about gluten.

Another blog I stumbled upon was Fat Free Vegan; and being a vegetarian this one was right up my alley.

After reading various blogs and websites I realized I don't have a ton of gluten in my diet. When I turned 40 I put myself on a pretty strict diet in order to dump 25 pounds. The first things to go were bread, pasta and beer. I've kept the bread and pasta to a minimum, Lord knows I'm not giving up my beer forever. One thing that surprised me was the gluten in veggie burgers. I'm now going to attempt to make my own veggie burgers, this has been on my "to do" list for a long time and I think this is a great time to cross that off my list. It will save me money and I'll eat healthier.

I spent the last hour cruising recipes, now I'll need to find guinea pigs to help me taste est them. I have a list made and I'm off to the market...

Sexuality Update

Locasexual n. An environmentalist who applies locavore logic to affection and, on principle, will date only locally. Refusing long-distance attachments and coolly calculating "sex miles," this carbon-conscious canoodler makes love as romantic as a spreadsheet.

Demisexual A "demisexual" is someone who is experiencing a level between sexuality and asexuality. The person does not experience sexual attraction to people based on appearance but rather on their level of intimate connection with the person.

Next up; Word of the Gay!

Just Realized...

It's been over a month since I've written anything. I'll blame it on Jake, he's my new dog. A trouble makin' Puggle; if he wasn't so cute the job of training him would be much easier. I got Jake from my cousin back in June, I'm his third owner and he has not had much for training and the little he has received has not been consistant. He's pretty good with sit and lay down but getting him to come to me when I call his name is a challenge. One would think he were deaf or something. He does not play fetch but loves it if you chase him around the yard. I'm not one for chasing a dog so we are working on other games. He loves to take my shoes and/or socks and run off with them. If I give chase he is in heaven so I've learned to distract him with something else, trade a toy for my shoe/sock. Does that mean he's training me?

I spent the last two days well if you count today three days dealing with him being sick. Seriously sick. Jake loves finding things in the backyard and chewing on them. I have know idea what he got into but he started puking Friday night. Jake is normally full of energy and driving me crazy. Friday evening he was sleeping pretty early and I thought I had finally figured out how to tire him out, don't let him take any naps during the day but I guess that wasn't it, he was sick. Jake continued being sick most of Saturday; I'm not going go into the gross details but let's say there was blood involved so I took him to the emergency animal clinic. Fortunately there is one close to my house. I called them ahead of time so I did not have to wait as long as some people but even so I was there for about 3 hours. They took x-rays to be sure he did not have a blockage then ran a series of blood and urine tests. Around 6 pm last night it was decided that he would stay over night at the clinic so they could hydrate him and administer some anti puke drugs and antibiotics. I picked him up this morning around 5 AM and he's been feeling pretty good. I have a couple medications I need to give him and he's on a "bland" diet for the rest of the week. So far today he has kept down his food. His energy is slowly coming back. They could not find out what was wrong with him, guessing it was something he ate.

Aside from Jake entering my life not a lot else has changed. I'm spending a lot of time at home which was on my game plan for this year. Trying to save money and complete some of my house projects. I've made contact with some old friends and it's been fun catching up with them.

I started playing Bocce ball on Sunday evenings, it's been a lot of fun and I've made some new friends. The league I'm playing in is not competitive at all, just a group of people out having fun. Just the kind of sport I like.

That's all folks...

Hard Boiled Eggs

Today when I got home from work I decided I had better use the avocados I have before they go to waste. I've been working on my guacamole recipe for a while and I think I may have perfected it today. I like it pretty spicy but I know most people don't so I try to make it medium hot instead of burn your lips off hot.

Once my tomatoes start coming in I will probably have to revise my recipe so that I can use the fresh tomatoes. As it is now I use two avocados, a 10 ounce can of RO*TEL diced tomatoes and green chilies (drained, seriously drained or it gets too runny), oh about a tablespoon of fresh chopped garlic, a little salt and pepper, ground cayenne pepper and cumin. Mix it all together, put some plastic wrap over it making sure I get out as much air as I can, then pop it into the fridge for a few hours. I use guacamole on most anything, veggie burgers, in a sandwich, scrambled eggs, I toss some in a tortilla with shredded cheese and salsa, and of course nachos one of my favorite deliciously sinful treats.

Anyway, as I was going in and out of the refrigerator I remembered how over the weekend I had had a salad and there were hard boiled eggs in the salad. I really like hard boiled eggs and never seem to make them so I decided I would boil a few up to take in my lunch for work. This got me to thinking, how do you hard boil an egg?!? I know this sounds silly, I've boiled eggs and colored them a million times and when Anne was living here they were a staple in our diet. But for the life of me I could not remember how long to boil them. So of course I googled it and came up with 2,770,000 results.

I found out a lot about how to hard boil an egg and why they turn out or don't turn out in some cases. That dark green color around the yolk is caused from over cooking them. You want to use eggs that are a few days old, using fresh eggs will lead to eggs that are difficult to peel.

Here's the method I used and they turned out just fine:

Put the eggs in a single layer in a saucepan, covered by at least an inch or two of cold water. Starting with cold water and gently bringing the eggs to a boil will help keep them from cracking ( I had one egg crack but it gave me an excuse to eat it for dinner). Adding a tablespoon of vinegar to the water will help keep the egg whites from running out of any eggs that happen to crack while cooking, but some people find that the vinegar affects the taste. I did not add vinegar and the egg that cracked was not a big deal. Adding a half teaspoon of salt is thought to help both with the preventing of cracking and making the eggs easier to peel. I added a splash of salt but as I said I had one egg crack but it was easy to peel. Put the burner on high and bring the eggs to a boil.

As soon as the water starts to boil reduce the heat to low. Let simmer for one minute. (Note I skiped this step because I didn't notice the eggs boiling until they had been boiling for at least a minute! Also, if you are using an electric stove with a coil element, you can just turn off the heat. There is enough residual heat in the coil to keep the eggs simmering for a minute.)

After a minute, remove the pan from the heat, cover, and let sit for 12 minutes. If you are doing a large batch of eggs, after 10 minutes you can check for doneness by sacrificing one egg, removing it with a slotted spoon, running it under cold water, and cutting it open. If it isn't done, cook the other eggs a minute or two longer. The eggs should be done perfectly at 10 minutes, but sometimes, depending on the shape of the pan, the size of the eggs, the number of eggs compared to the amount of water, and how cooked you like them, it can take a few minutes more. When you find the right time that works for you given your pan, the size of eggs you usually buy, the type of stove top you have, stick with it. I boiled 6 eggs, let them sit for 12 minutes and they turned out fine.

Either remove the eggs with a slotted spoon and place them into a bowl of ice water (this is if you have a lot of eggs) OR strain out the water from the pan, fill the pan with cold water, strain again, fill again, until the eggs cool down a bit. Once cooled, strain the water from the eggs. Store the eggs in a covered container (eggs can release odors) in the refrigerator. They should be eaten within 5 days. I drained the water out of the pan, filled it with cold water, repeated this a couple times them dried them and put them into the fridge. Oh yeah and I didn't use a slotted spoon I used my fingers, after rinsing in cold water a few times they were no longer hot.

I think it is so funny that I can forget something as easy as boiling an egg. While I was on google I also looked up recipes for using rhubarb, it looks like I'll have a bumper crop this year. I'm not a huge fan of the stuff so I'm always looking for ways of using it in recipes. I found a couple I'm going to try, ones a rhubarb chutney and the other is rhubarb cream cheese cake. I believe I already have the ingredients needed for the cake so if it rains tomorrow like they forecast then I'm going to give it a try. I can always take it to curling with me on Thursday and get my team mates to help me eat it.

OK, so that's my egg story.

Church vs Church

An article in Time caught my attention this morning as nearly every article about Gay marriage does these days. I have never been a huge advocate of the institution of marriage but this issue for me is not about "marriage" it's about equality, equal rights under the law. "Freedom and Liberty for all."

They're discussing whether "Gay Marriage" will pit churches against each other or not. This is something I just don't understand. I fully believe a church has the right to discriminate against those who do not share their beliefs. If the church does not want to perform marriages between two men or two women then they don't have to do it.

This is what I don't understand about these churches they make it out as though by giving equal rights to Gay people they will then have to perform Gay marriages. As far as I'm concerned they can keep on preaching their ideas and beliefs, I don't agree with them but they have a right to believe whatever they want.

I do understand their concern that if Gay people are allowed equal rights then Lord forbid we might have to start thinking their "chosen lifestyle" is OK. We can't have that! I mean really how can the church continue to dictate how we live our lives if we were to start thinking maybe what they are teaching is BS?

I wonder what would happen if people actually picked up a copy of the bible and started to read it! We could have a revolution on our hands. Can you imagine a group of Catholics actually reading the bible for themselves and not having a Pope tell them what is in it?!? Imagine if a person was to read more than one bible, something other than King James version. That always gets me "King James" version that should tell people right away that this is someone elses interpretation of the original. And who wrote the original, a group of men attempting to control the masses? The bible should come with disclaimers on it like any book of fiction, "this is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously."

I don't know I guess if the biggest issue facing our country is whether or not Gay people should be able to marry and be treated equally under the law then our country is not that bad off. Here I thought we were in an economic crisis, we have terrorists hovering over us ready to attack, global warming, people dying of diseases, living in the streets, a war against drugs, a war in several countries...

I'm happy to know our biggest worry is those damn Gay people wanting equal rights.

Canada Knows Math

So the other day I'm entering a contest to win a new energy efficient refrigerator and upon reading the rules this is what I found:

"If a Canadian resident is selected as a winner he/she will be required to complete an unaided mathematical skill questions before being declared an official winner."

I kid you not!

I'm not sure if this is their way of getting Canadian residents to learn math or you need to know math in order to use a refrigerator?!? Hmm, I'm not really good at math but I've never had a problem using the fridge and the size of my ass can attest to that!

I think this is actually a good idea, we Americans are always getting bad academic scores and we're obese. If you have to answer a math or any question for that matter before you can open the door to the fridge that could help solve both problems. The questions could be generated for your age group and there could be bonus drawers in the fridge where all the "good" stuff is kept. You only get fruit and vegetables for the easy questions but you will be rewarded with chocolate or beer for the super hard questions. This could be applied throughout the kitchen and pantry. And vending machines! I think most schools have vending machines, the kids would have to answer a question correctly before they get that candy bar or soda. If you don't answer correctly you lose your money. I think I'm onto something here. Wonder how I could get this idea rolling, I bet there's money in this idea... remember you heard it here first, don't be swiping my idea.

A Gaygathering Storm

A Gaythering Storm from Jane Lynch

Today's Horoscope

April 19, 2009
Capricorn (12/22-1/19)
Something big is coming, and it might come before you are completely ready for it! So preparation is the big theme for you today, and you'd be wise to double check your finances. Look for opportunities to travel -- do you have all your shots? Is your passport valid? There are clues dropping regarding all things romantic, and by the end of the day you will probably have enough information to make an educated guess. Things are going to start getting exciting!

New York Govenor David Paterson

"We come to this debate with the wind at our back. The events in Connecticut and Massachusetts, the decisions in Iowa and in Vermont, give us the feeling that we can be effective. Rights should not be stifled by fear. What we should understand is that silence should not be a response to injustice."

Hitchhiker

I guess it's another sign of Spring when the bugs come out. This little fella latched on when I got into my car at work and stayed with me until about a block before my house. Nice travel companion.

Who Says Hard Work Doesn't Pay?

Look at what I found while raking leaves...



A nice shiny new quarter

Weekend of Curling

Talk about yin and yang, last weekends curling was a disaster and this weekend it redeemed itself. The Mixed Wind Up is a super fun bonspiel and really well organized. The bonspiel started Friday night with dinner at 5 and our first game at 6PM. We played against, the McHugh team (Margeaux's team) and they pretty much handed us our asses. Not that we played poorly or anything we just could not get the closest rock to the button, sometimes it just goes like that; they one pointed us to death.

I found myself in a bit of an odd position though; Loafy was playing on the sheet next to us and so she and I were chatting a bit while playing. She pointed out to me that the skip on the opposing team (Margeaux's team) was not releasing his rock before the hog line. I had not been paying much attention as that does not happen often. Most people I've played against release well before the hog line. Anyway, that got me to start watching him and sure enough it appeared as though he held onto the rock and released it after the rock crossed the hog line. Loafy saw it twice and I saw it once so I mentioned it to my team mates thinking it should be something the skip of my team addressed.

During the Women's 5 and Under in March the opposing team thought that I held my rock past the hog line and said something to my skip who in turn mentioned it to me, so I made sure that it did not happen.

I don't think Bob (our skip) said anything to him and I wasn't sure how to address it so I just left it alone but it did make the game a little less fun. Their skip made a lot of really good shots and I had a hard time not thinking that they should not count because he was crossing the hog line before releasing. I finally just gave up watching him shoot. Aside from that it was a fun game and as I've learned this year it put us into the bracket that we should be in for the rest of the bonspiel.

Saturday morning started at 8:15 with a game against team Albers; Loafy's and Nancee's team! YAY, what a fun way to start the morning. It was a fun back and forth game with it coming down to skip's rocks. They won! We had a nice break of about an hour then back on the ice for our second game of the day against team Johnson (Rebecca's team). Another fun close game and this time we won! YAY now onto game three.

At 3:30 we went up against team Strack (Muffy's team) the winner of this game goes onto play in the 4th event! The way things were shaping up if we win and if team Albers wins we could meet them again in the 4th event. Tada! We won! YAY onto the 4th event at 5:30. Fortunately a couple games went a little longer which gave us about 20 minutes to relax before the final events were to be played.

At 5:45 we took to the ice against team Weber; I didn't know anyone on this team but Nancee and Lisa had played against them and lost so I wasn't sure how we would fair. The final events were supposed to be 8 end games but most teams had decided to play only 6 ends or less. I wanted to play 8 but was out voted so the plan was to play only 6 ends. Afterwards I was glad for it as I was seriously hungry. The first two ends were fine but the 3rd end was a disaster they scored 4 on us. Oops, how are we coming back from that with only 3 more ends to play. Well we did it! The game was tied to start the 6th end and they had the hammer. Clay had been skipping this game and he really stepped up to the plate with a fantastic shot! He promoted one of our rocks to the button with a whole lot of guards in front of it. The Weber skip tried her best with her final rock but was unable to put a rock in the house.

We won the 4th event! What a great way to end the season.

An Unholy Alliance part 3 of 6

Changing of the Guards

Wow, guess I blew that New Year's resolution. I haven't posted here for quite some time.

Tomorrow is the changing of the guards in the union office. I won my election but the other guys on my ticket did not so that kinda sucks. I had coffee with the new Craft Director last week, he asked if I would meet with him for a chat. He came with hat in hand, very humble wanting me to help him out. He pretty much admitted that he has no clue on how to process grievances or what to do in his new position. He was really relieved when I informed him that I was certified to process cases at level 1 and 2 and also that I had taken the Labor courses at the U of M. I let him know that I plan to continue the work I've been doing for the past couple years and that I'm willing to help him out.

He explained that he was pissed off about an overtime issue and that's why he ran for office. Exactly what I thought.

I'm trying to stay open minded about the whole thing, my first obligation is to the people I represent. There are some in the office who are seriously pissed off and are refusing to help the new administration and several people have resigned their positions effective April 1st. I'm just not that kind of person. I figure if I train in the new guy then he'll do things my way, it's a win win situation for me.

It also allows me to keep an eye on what's going on, these are the people with the sweetheart deals. I think it's funny that I'm the one who busted up this guys overtime deal with management, and now he's coming to me asking for help.

It should prove to be an interesting day in the office.

Life and Death

What a turn of events I've experienced this weekend, high highs and low lows. Here I sit, the sun has gone down, I finished reading my book and I'm feeling rather melancholy. I've had a weekend of curling, Friday night I played with my regular mixed team at 5, we won and I played with the Strassman team at 7 and we won that game too. So Friday ended on a fairly high note.

Saturday I woke up with a fierce allergy attack, I think the weather played a large part in it. Now that things are starting to warm up, the plants are budding and there is a lot of mold in the air. Anyway, I felt pretty crappy when I woke up but fortunately I did not have to curl until noon so I was able to take an allergy pill and I was feeling pretty good by the time we threw our first stones.

I received a phone call as I was getting ready to leave Saturday morning but was unable to get to the phone. I listened to the message and it was my nephew Jason asking me to call him back. The first thing that entered my head was that something had happened to my brother Rick because Jason never calls me. Then I told myself to not think like that and just call him back. Jason informed me that he and his wife are going to have a baby! YAY, I was really surprised excited to hear that and it made me feel good that he called me to tell me. What a wonderful surprise, it put me in high spirits as I headed off to the curling club.

We had a great day of curling, we won both of our games, had a fun time at the banquet. The theme was "Rockstar," most people dressed as their idea of a "rockstar." It was a lot of fun. I came home early as directed by my skip. I have to say it was difficult, my car wanted to swing into the bar parking lot on my way home. I mean hell, I had my 'rockstar' clothes on, hate to see the leather go to waste. But I was a good girl and directed the vehicle home.

I was up bright and early this morning and had the coffee brewing by 0600. I love watching the sun rise in the morning. I drank coffee, played on the Internet and watched the sun rise. This was the day, my team is in the 1st event and we're playing against the Anderson rink. We could not have asked for a better opponent. I think it is funny how Amy was supposed to be on our team but there was a conflict with her broom ball team so she couldn't play with us. We found another player and two days later she finds out that her broom ball tournament is a different weekend so she plays with Loafy's team. And that's the team we are going against in the final event, go figure. We had a fun game, I little disappointing in the 7th end, they scored 6 points on us. We just could not get their rocks out of the house! It was a little weird I had said to Rebecca that I was hoping we would be tied in the eighth end so it would come down to final rocks. Well, that's not quite how it happened, we were down by two and had the hammer in the eighth end. We tied the game and had to go into an extra end. They won! I can't complain we had a fun game and if we have to lose I am happy it was to that team. After the game we hung out at the club for a while then I came home.

When I got home I could hear that my answering machine was beeping, I had two messages. I'm not usually too anxious to listen because it is usually solicitors calling. I hit the play button and received a message from dad that my cousin Doug had died last night. I knew he was not doing very well. When I was in Colorado mom had called and told me that they did not expect Doug to make it and that my aunt and uncle were heading to Seattle to see him. Doug had been battling cancer for quite some time, there just wasn't anything the doctors could do. Mom was pretty upset and I spent quite a bit of time on the phone with her so when I received the message from dad today I wasn't really surprised just bummed out.

Life and Death, I get a called Saturday morning saying we're getting a new member of the family and received a call on Sunday saying we've lost a member of the family. It's the story of my world and it always gets me to thinking.

I spent the rest of the afternoon outside because that's where I always run to when I need to think. I took Lash to the park then worked in the backyard. I guess I just needed to see a little more life. The trees are budding, the grass is turning green. I raked leaves off the flower bed looking to see if any bulbs were coming up. I knew there wouldn't be, it's too early and the ground is still frozen but I had to do something. It's how I think, keep moving, let the thoughts flow.

Whenever someone dies it makes me wonder, what happens when we die??? I have my ideas, I have my beliefs but we never truly know until we die. I'm not afraid to die, I think living is scarier, getting hurt is more frightening, watching someone else die really sucks, but dying itself doesn't really scare me. It's kinda morbid to think about; at least that's what people tell me. But I'm sure we've all thought about dying. What happens? Does it hurt? Where do we go? Do we just die? Is there an afterlife? Is there a God? All great questions.

I've had lots of great conversations about Life and Death and most everyone has a different idea. Personally I believe there is a separation between the physical and the spiritual self. We live in and create our three dimensional physical reality and that can die. Our spiritual self does not die. Our bodies are our vehicles with which we propel ourselves through this physical reality. Just like a car, when it gets old and worn out we replace it with a new one. When our car dies we don't necessarily mourn the loss of our car and I don't think we will mourn the loss of our bodies when we decide to leave it. When someone dies I mourn the loss of that person, the spiritual entity and the connection we shared.

It's interesting to me how we can connect so profoundly with someone in an instant and other people we can know our entire lives and never connect with them. I could go on and one about this, it's where my brain is at tonight but I think I would do myself better if I just meditate on it. I tend to find more answers when I shut up.

Friday Morning Weigh In

Ok, I've put this off long enough! I have not weighed myself since, I don't know when, I'd have to look back at past posts. Anyway, this morning was it, I had to step on the scale. I was seriously apprehensive, I've been eating and drinking way too much the past month. February was nothing but a festival of decadent behavior.

I avoided the scale until just before I jumped into the shower which was after about 4 cups of coffee, that way I could always use the excuse of "water weight" ;)

Todays weight: 140 lbs. whew, not as bad as I thought. Yes, it sets me back but not as far as I thought I would be. I'm right back to the beginning with 48 days left to reach my goal. This is going to be tough, I still have two bonspiels to get through.

The USWCA 5 and Under is this weekend and the clubs 5 and Under is at the end of the month. I better get my ass out on the bike, whether it be on the trainer or not!

An Unholy Alliance part 2 of 6

The Golden Triangle: Burma, Thailand, Laos
US Secret Army = Hmong
CIA = Opium, Heroin

March 10, 2009

1. Capricorn (12/22-1/19)

   It's a wise idea to team up today -- whatever you want to do will be more enjoyable and more rewarding if you do it with someone else. Combining forces is always a good way to get further faster -- and have loads of fun while you're at it. You have been going it alone for some time and doing a heck of a great job with it, but now it's time to mix it up and explore other ways of doing things. You need someone else's perspective to inform your actions.

More Great News About Free-Range Eggs

More vitamin A, more omega-3 fatty acids, and now it turns out that free-range eggs also have more vitamin D than supermarket eggs — three to six times as much!

The results are coming in from Mother Earth News’ latest round of pastured egg nutrient tests. Once again, pastured egg producers are kicking the commercial industry’s butt — yippee, go free range! Their previous tests found that eggs from hens raised on pasture — as compared to the official USDA data for factory-farm eggs— contain:

• 1/3 less cholesterol
• 1/4 less saturated fat
• 2/3 more vitamin A
• Two times more omega-3 fatty acids
• Three times more vitamin E
• Seven times more beta carotene

I've always said, eggs are the perfect meal. Go Free Range!

Check out Mother Earth News for all the details.

An Unholy Alliance part 1 of 6

This 1996 documentary examines the CIA's connection to the global drug trade, with a focus on opium and heroin. Posted on YouTube with the permission of Director Chris Hilton, who now makes his home at Essential Media and Entertainment:
http://www.essential-media.com/index.php

Laugh Out Loud

I have to say thank you to the guy who was driving the big ass white SUV down the avenue today. He made me laugh out loud. The snow has been melting all day and there are puddles everywhere. Well I'm driving down the avenue heading to the Interstate and this SUV in front of me swerves to the right hand lane. At first I thought "what the hell, is there something in the street?" But then I realize he swerved over there so that he could plow through a huge puddle of water in the street. The water went everywhere, a huge stream of it. He did it intentionally, made me laugh right out loud. The only thing better would have been if someone was walking down the sidewalk at that exact moment; they would have been soaked. Except of course if the person was me ;)

This ranked right up there with Lashley's adventure this morning, he was so happy when he discovered the big mud puddle in the backyard. The mucky sod; now he needs a bath but I think I'll wait until the yard dries out a bit. He will just keep getting muddy. I should put a little t-shirt on him, that's what I used to do with Ayla and Tasha. It doesn't keep them dry but it keeps the mud off.

Welcome to Spring in Minnesota!

Election

I threw my hat into the election ring again. I'm running for Maintenance Craft Trustee, it's the officer's position that I currently hold with my union. Not sure I'm going to win this time but I didn't think I was going to win the last time either. I have more experience and education than either of the two guys running against me but for most people it's a personality contest and not about who is best qualified to do the job. My main reason for running is not so much about the position as it is about who will be in office in the next two years. We have some major changes coming down the pipe and I want people in office who have contractual knowledge, not a bunch of guys from the "good ol' boys" club.

Most of the officer positions went uncontested but the ones that were are important positions. President of the local, Maintenance Craft Director and my position Maintenance Craft Trustee. Of the people running against the incumbents, not one of them has the qualifications to do the job. They each have some union experience but they are all known for their sweetheart deals with management. I know this because I've discovered and put an end to a number of their deals and it's pissed off a lot of people. I've always held the belief that if you start making "deals" with management then they have you, your credibility as a representative is shot. My platform has always been and always will be Contractual Compliance, as long as you are consistent in your application you earn the respect of the people you represent and management.

We have a lot of changes in our future, downsizing, new equipment, moving to the new building, contracting out our work, etc. this will affect everyone. This election is one of the most important ones that we've ever had, the people in office the next couple years will be the ones to see us through these changes. I can only hope the members vote for the people with the knowledge, skills and abilities to get the job done and lead us into the future. Our jobs are at stake, I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

This could be some serious trouble for the Maintenance craft and the Local union as a whole if the "good ol boys" get into office. The ballots were mailed yesterday and will be counted March 21st, I guess we'll know then.

Seed Catalogs

I know Spring is just around the corner, I received my first seed catalog today! Now it's time to start planning. I can hardly wait to get out in the backyard and start digging. I have so many ideas for my gardens. I'm taking out the two raised beds on the West side of the house and rebuilding them along with a third bed. The compost bin is heading back behind the garage. I'm creating a memorial garden for my dogs, I have Mercedes', Ayla's and Tasha's ashes and plan to bury them. I have most of that garden planned already, so as soon as I can dig I'm putting in some River Birch and getting started on that one first. I also need to find some plants that bloom in June and July, the yard was pretty absent of color during those two months last year. I also hope to add some lighting to the yard.

I promised myself that I would stay home more this Summer, as much as I love to ride my bike I need to spend some time at home. So I have to figure out a way to do one without jeopardizing the other.

I think I could start another blog dedicated to gardening; now there's an idea...

I thought this a very fitting horoscope as I'll be in a public place nearly all day. I sure hope I find a new hair style; I am seriously bored with the one I have now.

February 28, 2009

1. Capricorn (12/22-1/19)

   Whenever you are in a public place today, enjoy the show! The people watching will be something to behold -- the array of unique fashion statements and goofy behavior will make you glad you have the time to sit and watch the world go by for a few minutes. Your observations could also be educational -- and even inspiring. A tidbit of overheard gossip, lingering eye contact with a cute stranger, or a new hairstyle could get your mind going in new directions. Let the outside world influence you.

Come OUT!

Stop US Occupations & Torture for Empire!
Sunday, 15 February 2009

© 2009 - World Can't Wait

Olympic Trials

I've been in Denver for the last few days, volunteering for the US Curling Olympic trials. Not a lot of people attending. It's been fun watching all of the teams. There are 39 people from Minnesota in the trials; I think about half are from our St. Paul club. I worked 4 hours on Saturday and 8 hours on Sunday, pretty easy work, just guarding the entrance to the ice. No streakers so far. I'm scheduled to work again Thursday but only if there is a need for tie breakers. The semi-finals are Friday followed by the finals on Saturday. Because we've volunteered we can get into the events for free! I like free.

The weather in Denver has been fantastic, today it was 63 degrees! Went for a couple walks, one to the market for groceries and the other along the Cherry Creek. Very nice. Dinner was at Vesta Grill, excellent food and great ambiance.

We head up to Boulder tomorrow and have an apartment rented. This should be fun, we have 5 of us staying together. Margeaux, Loafy and I will check in tomorrow, Amy and Hannah arrive on Thursday. I'm really looking forward to our stay in Boulder, the weather is supposed to be good and I plan to go out riding. The place we are staying has three bikes, if one of those don't work for me I'm going to rent one and hopefully go for a nice long ride. Nothing like fresh mountain air to cleanse the soul. I also plan to get up into the mountains, either Frisco or Breckenridge. I have a friend in Breckenridge so that may be the place to go...

Connie Talbot

Mile High City

Spent the day traveling to Colorado. Loafy arrived at my house about 0520, Margeaux arrived shortly thereafter. We packed up the VW and were on the road at 0600. Loafy did a superb job of driving, I love it when I don't have to drive. We made excellent time arriving in Denver around 1930 central standard time, a quick 13.5 hours. We located the house, unloaded the car and cracked a bottle of wine, ahhhh. Pizza and beer for dinner, a game of scrabble and off to bed we go.

G'nite

Gay Education

Quote of the Day

I read this quote the other day and it seemed very fitting for me and where I am in the world:

"Though no one can go back and make a brand new start; anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending."

- Carl Bard

I'm workin' on that new ending...

GoGirl

Simply put, GoGirl is the way to stand up to crowded, disgusting, distant or non-existent bathrooms. It’s a female urination device (sometimes called a FUD) that allows you to pee while standing up. It’s neat. It’s discrete. It’s hygienic.

GoGirl is made with medical grade silicone and easily fits in your purse, pocket or glove box. You can dispose of it after use or clean and reuse it as you like. Now that sounds kinda nasty to me but I love the concept. I can't tell ya how many times I've had to pee in some not so nice places. With GoGirl I would not have to worry.

The best part is; they're cheap only $4.99 each or 3 for $11.99 that's less than a latte. I've already put in an order for a three pack. What the hell, I'll toss them in the car and who knows, it sure beats having to pee in a nasty port-a-potty. Maybe if I practice I can write my name in the snow some day :o

OOPS!

Ok, I have no excuse for not posting the last several days other than I was busy. Let's see...

Went to the United States Women's Curling Association (USWCA) National Championship games in Wauwatosa Wisconsin, Wednesday through Sunday. Great fun and merriment. We piled into Kim's truck Wednesday afternoon and drove 5 and a half hours to Wauwatosa, or 'Tosa as the locals like to call it. We found ourselves a little misplaced when we first arrived but we stopped for directions and found the curling club. We attended the kit party for a spell then headed to the hotel, got ourselves checked in and dropped our luggage in the rooms. The four of us, Kim, Brigid, Tracey and I met at the hotel bar and proceeded to have many, many cocktails. We met ourselves a couple entertaining fellows, Jim the China pornstar, Ray Ray the bartender and Mustache Man. Between the three of them I don't think I had to pay for many drinks. We all stayed up way too late as we had to curl at 0730 Thursday morning. Not sure what time I finally crawled under the sheets but I know it felt like I had just drifted off to sleep when the alarm went off. 

Thursday we found ourselves on the ice at 0730 tossing out the first rocks against a team from Bowling Greens. We had a mighty fun game, we did not win but I think for it being the first time the 4 of us had ever played together we did pretty well. It came down to the final rocks in the 10th end. After our game we hung out with our opponents and had a chance to know them better. 

Thursday night was the banquet, a nice opportunity to meet more people and find out about the USWCA. After the banquet we headed back to the hotel bar and low and behold Mustache man arrived again this time bringing Tom Tom with him. Three other co-workers of Mustache man stopped by for drinks as well. We met an Italian porn star on Thursday nights adventure. We spent a few more hours at the hotel bar then called it a night. 

Friday we had a 1010 draw time playing against the Mayfield team. This time our game went into an extra end, whew 11 ends! We did not win this game either but it was fun and we again met some great women curlers. After our game we chilled at the club for a while, then headed out to Milwaukee to check out the Harley Davidson museum. We arrived at the museum a little too late to be able to take the tour so we checked out their retail shop and had dinner at the Motor restaurant. Good food, excellent beer and delicious dessert, I think I could have used wheelbarrow to get out of there. 

We had a second game Friday  night at 2050 against a St. Paul team. Yay! we finally won a game, again it came down to the final rock, they had a chance to tie us. Whew. The club was shutting down after our game so everyone headed back to the hotel and we all gathered in the hospitality room for socializing. It was nearly 0330 by the time we called it quits. 

Saturday's game was at 1010 against team Nutmeg. This was not one of our better games, we just couldn't seem to get it together. This loss meant the end of our curling for the weekend. We met our third porn star on team Nutmeg :) Boy 'Tosa has a lot of porn stars.

Saturday evening we had dinner at the hotel then went back to the club to watch more curling. We found ourselves sitting with some fellow St. Paul curlers and partied the night away. 

Sunday we headed to the club early to cheer on the team from Bowling Greens, then started our trek back home. I can't speak for anyone else but I sure had a fun time. I was able to meet a lot of new people, had to opportunity to get to know Tracey, Brigid and Kim better. And the ability to be able to play in this type of tournament was wonderful.  I would love to do this again next year. And Tracey, she made me laugh, what a riot, I seriously need to hang out with her again. 

Tracey, Brigid and I have decided we are getting curling rock tattoos, Kim's not much interested but says she'll watch us. Now we just need to find a good picture of a rock.

Val, Tara and Raleigh came over last night, we had a couple beers and caught up on what was happening. Tara is getting laid off, bummer. She will work until the end of March and collect severance pay until December but then she's on her own. They should be fine, Val makes more money than I do and I know their mortgage is less than mine so I'm sure they can handle it for a while. Plus Tara is collecting a pay check until December so she should have enough time to find another job. 

Boy am I tired today, I was up at 0430 and at work at 0600. I was the only person scheduled and it was a mess! Dave had to work alone the last 4 days while I was out of town and there is no way one person can get everything done. I walked into a lot of work this morning but I have to say I did some serious damage on it. There is only a few things for me to get caught up on tomorrow. I had dinner with Ann Marie and Jody and now I need to start thinking about my Colorado trip. We leave Friday morning.  

Ok, time to call it quits. 

$3 TRILLION !

$3 Trillion - WTF!

I thought $800 billion had a lot of zeros in it. Wall Street investors sent stocks plunging! What? Now they're holding the government hostage? Give us more money or we fuck over the stock market!

$1 trillion to make loans more widely available to consumers - isn't that what caused this problem in the first place? People not able to pay on their loans?

Political Urgency!

Bush ran us headlong into war with Iraq.
Obama is running us headlong into??? Bankruptcy? Where the hell is all this money coming from? China?

Funds for school construction? Where? Schools in the cities are closing, we don't need more built.

$50 billion to help homeowners facing foreclosure - what about those of us paying our taxes, paying our bills, on time I might add. No free money for us. Hell NO! If you pay your bills, your reward is more taxes.
Overspend, pile up your bills, foreclose on your house, file bankruptcy, here comes the cash cow to save the day!

$500,000 limit on annual compensation for top executives - oh okay I feel better now, they only get a half million dollars, poor bastards how will they ever survive?

Give me a break! This is some crazy shit we got going on.

New Year's Resolution Addendum

I almost changed my New Years resolution tonight, but thought maybe I should just make an addendum to it. While I was checking out the bicycling.com website I came across an article in the Boulder Report about a man who was killed while riding his bike, the first person killed this year in the area and after reading the article I thought; "that should have been my New Year's resolution, stop talking on the phone and text messaging while I drive." I don't text very often but I cannot say that I don't ever do it and I do talk on my cell phone while driving. It's usually on speaker because I drive a manual transmission and need to shift and steer at the same time so I can't very well hold the phone to my ear too.

So in addition to my original New Year's resolution, I resolve that I will not text message or talk on my cell phone while I am driving a motor vehicle. Notice how I did not say "my car," I said motor vehicle, that way no matter what I am driving I am committed to my resolution. And I thought posting on this blog every day was going to be difficult. I think this resolution is going to rank right up there with giving up cigarettes and diet coke.

Iron

As a non-meat eater, I need to be careful to make sure that I get enough iron in my diet. Even when I was a meat eater I would sometimes be low on iron so it's something I need keep an eye on.

Many people believe spinach is a good source of iron and it is but it needs to be cooked first. Vegetables such as spinach are non-heme sources and need vitamin C for absorption. Spinach contains oxalic acid (oxalate). Oxalic acid binds with iron, inhibiting absorption.
1 cup cooked spinach = 3.5 mg iron
1 cup raw spinach = 1 mg iron

Iron absorption enhancers:
meat, fish poultry, oranges, orange juice, cantaloupe, strawberries, grapefruit, and other vitamin C rich fruits, tomato and tomato juice, broccoli, brussel sprouts, green and red peppers and believe it or not white wine.

Recommended iron intake for men and post-menopausal women is 8 mg, pre-menopausal women is 18 mg.

Saturday night

Just a quick post to keep with my NY resolution. No more closing the curling club on a Friday night. I sleep too late on Saturdays, today I did not get up until after 0800 which cut into my ability to get my chores done. I was planning to attend the Royal Slacker Grand Match this afternoon but didn't make it. I spent most of the day cleaning and doing laundry then ran errands, made dinner and worked out. Man are my muscles sore, I guess that means I'm doing something.

I'll be heading out of town in a couple days so I'm trying to get everything done before I leave. The next three days are going to be hectic.

I think we finally have our Denver plans set. We leave February 20th and return sometime March 1st. Loafy says she loves to drive so I say let her. I cannot imagine what it will be like to spend 12 hours in the car with Loafy and Margeaux it will either be fun as hell or we'll drive each other crazy.

Ok, I gotta get to bed, I'm exhausted, my body hurts and 0430 comes around real quick. I am seriously getting old, it's only 2115 on a Saturday night and I'm talking about going to bed.

My Life

I was a little late on my weigh in this morning. I like to get it done right away in the morning before I have anything to eat or drink but this morning I got caught up in a few things and didn't realize until it was after 1000. Oh well.

10:15 AM = 138 pounds. I thought I was going to weigh in higher, I haven't had as much exercise this week as I had planned, but I think the stress from work may be helping.

I just had another case dumped in my lap on Wednesday. My last case or should I say cases, were resolved in the grievant's favor. She got her job back and full back-pay! YAY, I knew management fucked it up. It's just too bad it took so long, the woman was out of work since last July.

The case I have now is going to be even tougher, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) is involved. Under the Bush administration the OIG was put into place under the umbrella of Homeland Security to take the place of or work alongside the Postal Inspectors. Anyway, these guys will get an employee in a room and scare the hell out of him/her.

That is exactly what happened with the guy I'm representing. They took him in a room, closed the door and talked to him like they were his best friend then put down the hammer on him. By the time he realized he was in trouble and asked for a union representative he had already incriminated himself. Now I get to pick up the pieces.

This is going to be an interesting case. In all my years in the PO and as a union representative I have seen and defended a lot of people for everything under the sun. I have represented guys in fist fights, threatening co-workers, attendance violations, viewing pornography while at work, intoxication etc. and the union has been successful in saving the person's job. The one thing I have never seen success on is when someone steals from the PO, and that is exactly what this guy is accused of doing.

I thought when I represented a couple guys who had gotten into a fist fight on the docks and I was able to get them their jobs back at Step One of the grievance procedure, that was setting the bar high. It was the first time in the Mail Handler union's history that anyone had been able to get one person's job back at that level and I was able to get two people their jobs back!

Now this, wow, have I got my work cut out for me. I spent most of Thursday reading, reading and reading. The man is a 10 point Vietnam veteran, the OIG is involved and postal management. I have three avenues I have to cover. On one hand I'm happy I have the case, it will be a challenge, I get to interview Special Agents and I will learn a lot, on the other hand, this is going to keep me up at night. But as I always like to say: Bring it!

The Word of the Day for February 05, 2009 is:

girandole • \JEER-un-dohl\ • noun

1 : a radiating and showy composition (as a cluster of skyrockets fired together)

*2 : an ornamental branched candlestick

3 : a pendant earring usually with three ornaments hanging from a central piece

Example Sentence:

"I sat in my usual nook, and looked at him with the light of the girandoles on the mantelpiece beaming full over him…." (Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre)

Did you know?

The earliest uses of "girandole" in English, in the 17th century, referred to a kind of firework or to something, such as a fountain, with a radiating pattern like that of a firework. Such a pattern is reflected in the word’s etymology: "girandole" can be traced back, by way of French and Italian, to the Latin word "gyrus," meaning "gyre" or "a circular or spiral motion or form." By the 18th century "girandole" was being used for a branched candlestick, perhaps due to its resemblance to the firework. The word’s third sense, referring to a kind of earring, did not appear in English until the 19th century.

Mileage Tax

The state of Minnesota might replace the gas tax with a new tax on the miles you drive. At first glance this seems to me like a good idea. Gas tax revenues are running about 3 to 5 percent below expectations, despite gas tax increases since last April totaling 5.5 cents per gallon. It appears that the gas tax won't be an adequate source of revenue so the state needs to come up with another way of funding the transportation systems.

A mileage tax recognizes that future vehicles may use less gas than today's but still have an impact on roads and bridges. Heavier vehicles would pay a higher tax. A mileage tax would likely be assessed using satellite tracking, in addition to tracking mileage the system would involve communication of safety information between vehicles and roadside devices. Global-positioning technology to track individual drivers; this is where the idea gets a little scary. I'm not a fan of big brother watching me.

I drive a small, fuel efficient vehicle and I do not drive a lot of miles in a year so for me I would probably come out better than most on this type of tax, but the idea of a satellite tracking me, I'm not sure I like that.

Octuplets'

Something about this story disturbs me, a 33-year-old single mother, already had six children ages 2 to 7 when she gave birth to her octuplets (8 babies) on January 26, 2009. Nadya Suleman gave birth to six boys and two girls a week ago. How did this happen? Humans are not supposed to have litters. The woman had embryos implanted, who in their right mind would do such a thing? And what doctor would go along with it? There is something wrong here. She already has 6 children, how on earth can she take care of them? She obviously doesn't work for a living, there is no way you could hold down a job and have that many babies, you would be pregnant all the time.

Today I read that this woman is being "deluged" with deals, book deals, TV shows and other business proposals and to top it all off she has hired a spokeswoman! WTF? OK, did someone forget to tell her that there is a problem with the economy? I try very hard not to judge people, except politicians and religious leader, but sometimes the things people do just amaze me. I am just blown away by this story. Who is going to care for these little babies, there are 8 of them! Plus the other 6 at home. Fourteen children and she is only 33-years-old. I can tell this is going to be one of those stories I'm going to get obsessed with it.

Lesbian Paradise

THEY called it a lesbian paradise, the pioneering women who made their way to St. Augustine, Fla., in the 1970s to live together in cottages on the beach. Finding one another in the fever of the gay rights and women’s liberation movements, they built a matriarchal community, where no men were allowed.

Lesbian Separatists, women or maybe I should say womyn who choose to live in a separate lesbian world. It was the summer of 1988 the first time I heard of lesbian separatists; I was at a womyn's music festival in Michigan. I learned so much that week, what an eye opener. I believe they still have the festival every summer and I recommend it to anyone who has not experienced it. There's nothing like an entire week of naked womyn, music, food, fun and laughter.

There are about 100 below-the-radar lesbian communities in North America, known as womyn's lands. I don't think, no I know I couldn't live that lifestyle. Being separated from the rest of the world is just not my thing. Now as a retirement place it does not sound bad, a plot of land in the woods, I could handle that. It seems these types of places are not surviving though so I don't think it will an option when I can finally retire.

Sometimes I Just Don't Understand...

One minute my life is moving along nice and easy and the next minute I have people getting all pissy with me. In the last week I have had people get angry with me for things I have absolutely no control over. Now how do you defend yourself when you have no control of the actions of others. I'm not one to defend myself anyway, I figure if someone is mad at me then they need to deal with their feelings and we can resolve the issue when they are no longer angry. I do not like being blamed for things I did not do and for things other people are responsible for. And then instead of talking to me, they just send nastygrams, not even a phone call. Do NOT send me an email if you are upset with something you think I have done, you need to at least pick up the phone. Or better yet talk to me face to face. Passive aggressive behavior drives me nuts! If you cannot say something to my face then do not send it in an email, do not say it behind my back, just keep it to yourself and deal with your feelings. 

Anger to me is just a cover up for other feelings, find out what they are and handle it. Whew, I guess I'm a little pissy now. I need to let it go and allow them to deal with their issues. 

Steelers just won the SuperBowl! YAY, I bet Marlayna is a happy camper, I'll have to give her a call. Val's going to be bumming, she put money on Arizona. I'm happy they won, I like Pittsburgh. I did not watch much of the game and I spent a considerable amount of time getting set up for it. I hauled the TV and the cozy chair upstairs so I could be comfortable. My big TV is in the basement and it's too cold down there. I should probably have ridden my bike for a while and watched it that way but Sunday's are my relaxation day and I wouldn't want to mess up my system by exercising out of order ;) I drank way too much beer this weekend so I've probably gained back the three pounds I just lost. 

I have another busy week ahead of me so I am off to bed early tonight. 

Butt Crack Quarters

Whew, I spent the better part of  today nursing a nasty hang over. I have not had one of those for a very long time, don't normally drink that much. I was just enjoying my evening so much I wasn't paying any attention to how much beer I was drinking and those shots to Fireball did not help any. 

Friday, I had a fun email bantering session in the morning, I did a few things around the house then met MJ at the Red Robin for lunch, we had a nice leisurely lunch. MJ is one of my favorite people to sit and chat with, she has wonderful stories and great insight on things. Very open and to the point, I love it when people are honest and straight forward. 

I curled at 5, we played against Loafy and Nancee's team that was fun. I'm not sure what is going on with Bob and Clay this year, maybe it's that I'm finally starting to understand the strategy of the game and now I just cannot figure out why they call the shots they do. I'm thinking I need to maybe find another team; one that I can grow with because I'm really not learning anything from this team. I know Cheryl is frustrated as well. 

I subbed on a 7 pm team that was a fun game, I played well, I was getting pretty tired by the eighth end, I think I needed more food or something. After the game I sat with the team for a bit, had some fries then went over to Loafy's table, she was sitting with Ralph and Aaron. Ralph, Loafy and I discussed the possibility of going to Arizona next week. Ralph and Sally have a timeshare they are trying to sell. After the second pitcher of beer the idea sounded really good. 

I saw one of the funniest things at the club, butt crack quarters. I have never played this game nor have I seen it, Loafy says she played in college and they did it naked. That's probably why I've never seen it, I didn't go to college. Anyway a person puts a quarter in their butt crack and walks with it to a cup and drops the quarter into the cup! Oh My God, I laughed so hard. Loafy was saying when she played they would drop the quarter into a glass of beer and if they made it they could pick the person who had to drink the beer. YUCK! I don't think I would have played, just getting naked in front of people would have kept me out of the game. 

I was up way too late, and slept too late, ate up most of my day sleeping.

I received a call tonight, Rhory's pregnant! I'm not sure how I feel about it, I'm really happy and excited for her, she has been wanting to have a baby ever since I have known her but I also feel a little hmmm unsettled about it. I've known Rhory since 1995, we were friends for 5 years and then started a relationship which lasted 3 years. After our relationship ended we have remained really close friends. It just seems odd to me, someone I have known that long and has always been a lesbian decides one day that she's going to start dating men. It almost feels as if our relationship was fake. I know that's not true but it still feels that way. I was the first person she has told besides her baby's daddy that she's pregnant, she hasn't even told her family yet. She plans on telling everyone this week. I am really happy for her and I can see her having a little girl, a little Rhory. It's going to be fun to share that experience with her. I hope everything works out with her and Rick, I have yet to meet him. Maybe once I meet him I will feel better about it. It's seems weird that I'm unsettled about her having a baby with a man, hell that's the natural way to do it, I know I would have no issues if she were in a relationship with a woman and got pregnant. Something new I've discovered about myself, I think I'll have to think on it a little more. 

Friday Morning Weigh In

0815 this morning = 137 pounds, wish I had a digital scale, I had to put my glasses on to read the numbers.

I've discovered quite a lot about my caloric intake over the last couple weeks.
1 I don't eat as much as I thought I did
2 most days I eat less calories than I'm allowed
3 portion control is the key
4 coffee does have calories, not many but they are there
5 remember to add the liquid calories, beer, wine, vanilla latte, etc.
6 two hours of curling burns 508 calories, at least for us leads, you skips probably not so much

On the whole I eat pretty healthy so this has not been too difficult. I've been really surprised by how few calories I eat, and my protein intake is really quite high for a vegetarian, I average about 72 g of protein a day, I only need 64. Using The Daily Plate to track my calories, protein, sugar, carbs etc has been working great. I can also track my physical activities and how many calories they burn. I'm sure I am taking in some hidden calories, a piece of candy here, an extra beer there but I figure I burn them off one way or another.

WORDLE

Wordle is a toy for generating "word clouds" from text that you provide. Very fun! I created a wordle today; I named it Immortality, check it out. Create your own. I might even print and frame mine.

NEGOTIATE YOUR BILLS!

I know I've said this before but it's worth repeating. Call me weird but I look at every bill that arrives in my mailbox, yes I still mail in my payments, to see exactly what I am being charged for. Today, my phone bill arrived, I'm sure I'm one of the few people who still have a landline, but I need it for my security system. Anyway, I noticed right away that my bill was higher than last month, so I checked the charges and I also took a look at the "important information" booklet that came with the bill. Sure enough there was a rate increase, my bill has gone from $23.39 to $25.01 a month. Well I discovered in the "important information" booklet that there are two types of Residential Monthly Telephone Rates for Minnesota; Flat rate and Measured rate. Hmm that got me to thinking, what is the measured rate? I promptly picked up my cell phone and dialed up Qwest. 

After pushing several buttons to get to the extension I wanted and a short wait I was able to talk with a representative. I inquired about the measured rate, what's the cost, how does it work, etc? I was told that the measured rate allows limited hours of use, great, I don't use my landline. What's the cost? 

Local Measured Service Usage Charges*: customers pay 2 cents a minute for every minute over their usage allowance of 180 minutes (3 hrs) a month. Hook me up! There is an installation charge of $18.35 which I tried to get out of but couldn't and you still have to pay taxes and other service charges, but obviously they will not be as much as before. I will be saving about $15 a month by switching. Another thing I learned is if I were to switch my cell phone from AT&T to Verizon I could save $5 per month on my landline! Hello? I'd then only pay $4.70 a month for my home phone. 

Now it's time to contact Verizon and see what kind of deals they have. I know I can get a discount through work and the fact that I have three phones, one for me, one for mom and one for pops, I should be able to negotiate something good.  

* I looked all over the Qwest website to find information about the Local Measured rate and could not find any.