Drama at work

Wow, one of my favorite coworkers narrowly escaped serious injury or even death yesterday! Her husband was driving her to work when a car crossed the center line and slammed into them head-on! Apparently, the guy in the oncoming car either suffered a heart attack or lost consciousness due to some problems with his medication; the details have not been made available yet. Fortunately, he was driving a Subaru Legacy and the car my coworker was in was a Subaru Forester so the cars were pretty evenly matched. All occupants had their seatbelts on and Rosemary's husband saw the car coming toward them, so he was braking rather than going 45MPH (the speed limit where the accident occurred). Her husband's tibia was broken and he has severe soft tissue bruising and swelling in both knees from the air bags. She has a black eye and soft tissue bruising from the air bags as well, and a cut that required stitches on her left index finger, but they're both okay. Their car is a total loss. The dash was pushed right up into them and they had to be cut from the car, but they are both going to be okay, thank God! The man who hit them is in serious condition and was heart flighted to the hospital in Coeur d'Alene. He was 79 and not in the best of health. His wife usually drives him around so everyone is curious why he was driving. I'm sure we'll learn more in the next few days as he is the mayor of a small community just 8 miles to the east of Sandpoint. The story made page 3 in the local paper (link).

I just adore Rosemary. She's a fellow Italian and we generally take our lunch breaks together and talk about growing up Italian. I'm going to miss her while she recuperates over the next two weeks, but I'm so glad she's okay. The spot where the accident occurred has been the site of a couple of fatal head-on collisions in the past, so she's really fortunate to have escaped with mostly bruises and bumps.

No one is reading this so....

I should just stop posting. I guess the masochist in me - or the eternal optimist - keeps posting "just in case" I do have a fan or two. I wouldn't blame people for not reading when I've gone weeks without updating. Not much worse, or more boring, than an un-updated blog. I should adopt the approach of Nilt, and write whatever random thoughts, no matter how nonsensical, enter my overworked little mind. At least it could provide a laugh to anyone who stumbled across this blog. I'll give that idea more consideration.

On a completely random note, I watched the finale of The Amazing Race this morning (thank you, TiVo!) Though I'm sure most people were rooting against Rob and Amber, I was rooting for them. I was bummed they didn't win, but Joyce and Uchenna are an awesome couple, they love the Lord, and they really ran the race well. They totally deserved to win, which Rob and Amber acknowledged. Most people thought Rob was underhanded and devious and didn't play the game fairly, but as he stated several times during the race, it is a race. It is a race for a million dollars! You do what you have to do, without cheating, to try to come in first. At some point in all the past races, the winners have done underhanded things to try to get an edge on the competition. I am sure the producers showed all the conniving things Rob and Amber pulled to play up that aspect of the race and of Rob's personality as we came to know it from Survivor. They probably didn't show the dirty tricks pulled by the other teams to make Rob and Amber look worse by comparison. Anyone who thinks otherwise is very naive.

Interestingly, at least to me, is how "wholesome" all the teams seemed this season. Sure, Ron and Kelly fought with each other like children, but overall, the competitors had good relationships with their partners and engaged in very few arguments. Maybe that was intentional after last season's horrible pairing known as Jonathan and Victoria. Ugh. That guy needs help! He claimed, on Dr. Phil's interview with him, that he was portrayed badly and that they actually get along swimmingly. Yeah, right. Any guy who will call his wife the awful names he called her, humiliate and ridicule her the way he did, blame her for everything that went wrong like he did, and then, shove her roughly like he did, needs some serious counseling. She needs to figure out why she stays with a guy who treats her that way! It was upsetting to watch. So, maybe to counter that season, they only showed teammates getting along, encouraging and supporting one another for the most part - or maybe they all really did get along that well. Let's hope it's the latter.

Okay, that's enough randomness for now...

Now, this is more like it

It's raining. It's been raining for days now. We've had to squeeze lawn mowing in between rainstorms, which translates into very long, very wet grass that has to be bagged instead of mulched. Ugh. Bagging makes the 3 hour job more like a 4 hour ordeal. It also usually means the lawn doesn't look so hot and has to be recut just to even up all those strands of grass that refuse to stand up and be whacked the first time around. On the up side, the lawn is incredibly green and lush, the flowers are growing like mad, and we don't have to wash the cars - my least favorite chore in the world.

Rain in May is normal for this part of the country. After an abnormally dry and hot April, the rain is welcome and much needed. It's been mostly raining at night and just sprinkling off and on during the day - about the best way for rain to happen. It does make for dark skies throughout the day, but when you're stuck inside working, that's not so bad. As long as it's sunny on the weekend.... which is rarely the case, of course, so why even hope for that? I can dream, can't I?

Friday I go to Whitworth to move Jonathan back home for the summer. As sad as it was having him gone in the fall, it's going to be so weird having him back home. Last September I couldn't go an hour without crying because I missed him so much. And contrary to what I thought back then, I did get used to him not living here eventually - about a month or so ago - just in time for him to move back home. Mind you, I wouldn't have it any other way, but it will be different to have to make dinner for him again, to have his hulking figure stretched out on the couch watching TV with us, and to have him eat us out of house and home again. On the other hand, it does mean I will have some help unloading the dishwasher and mowing the lawn again for a while. And about the time I get used to having him home, he'll be off to college again and I'll cry buckets for weeks and weeks. Weird.

Jonathan's college roommate won't be his roommate next year and that makes me sad. Nathan is going off to study in the British Isles in August and won't return to Whitworth until Jan Term. That's so awesome for Nathan, but so not awesome for Jonathan. Though they didn't exactly hang out this year, they coexisted quite peacefully as roommates. They never really fought about anything, they played a lot of World of Warcraft together, and they actually did some stuff together. I think, if they had remained roommates, they might have started doing more and more together eventually. But maybe that's just wishful thinking on my part. Nathan has been a great, calming influence on Jonathan, who has a tendency toward impulsivity at times. I think they were very compatible roommates.

Next year Jonathan will live in the basement in a huge room with two other guys. One is a pretty stable guy who goes to bed early and gets up early. The other has been Jonathan's partner in crime during most of his "escapades" this year - they are both bad influences on each other - so I'm a bit concerned about them actually living together. On the other hand, they spent all their free time in Steve's room so maybe it won't be so different. Having Nathan and his calming influence as a roommate didn't stop Jonathan from shaving his head last week on an impulse. Yeah, shaved his head! Happy Mother's Day, Mom! He looks like a cancer patient. He's always wanted to "Bic" his head, but we've managed to talk him out of it in the past. After his pal and future roommate, Steve, dumped crushed up Kix in his hair, he decided it was the perfect excuse to shave it off as opposed to just washing it. He has way too big and round a head... it does not look good. Thankfully, it grows quickly, so in a month he should look like he does most summers. That sort of impulsivity is what worries me about next year's living arrangements, though. I'm hoping both Steve and Jonathan learned their lessons when they got in trouble earlier this semester for their pranks and breaking of the rules, and will have matured a bit more by next fall. I can hope, can't I? Steve does, at least, seem to study hard and do well in his classes, so that's a plus.

Well, today is staff meeting day and I have to make a presentation for which I'm unprepared because I forgot we had this special meeting scheduled. I have to go in early to prepare for the meeting so I have to get into the shower NOW. I also am the notetaker at the meetings. After years of very poorly written notes from the meetings taken by hand by one of our staffers, I volunteered to take notes on the laptop, typing what everyone says as close to verbatim as I can. I've been doing this for the past three months or so and the staff is thrilled. I email the notes to everyone within a day. They used to have to go to the staff bulletin board and read a xeroxed copy of the handwritten notes, which were usually 1-2 pages in length. They now get the notes in their email and they are generally 6-8 pages in length - much more comprehensive. My goal is to try to capture the flavor of the discussions in our meetings by recording what each person says in detail as opposed to just summarizing the topic discussed. So far, everyone is really happy with the new approach. Thankfully, I type fast (about 100-110 wpm) but I wish I had trained as a court reporter and had one of those cool court reporter machines. Wouldn't that be amazing for taking notes verbatim? Usually I type in "shorthand" and then expand the "shorthand" later into whole words and sentences. Crazy.

I'm looking forward to Friday. I get to see the Harrisons (Nathan's folks). We're going to move our boys out and clean their room together. I really like them and will miss them at Parent's Weekend next year. I'm glad I get to see them this week. I'm hoping maybe they'll come up to Sandpoint and go camping this summer! It would be so cool!

Well, it's 7AM... shower time...So.... off I go.

Lycos did me in too!

So, what's up with Lycos anyway? First Nathan's Lycos account was closed mysteriously for no apparent reason, forcing him to develop a new site. Now mine is closed, meaning any photos I had linked to that site now show up as little red x's in my blog. Fortunately for me, I have a web server at work from which I can host my photos. The big pain is that I now have to go back and change the links on any photos that are MIA in past blog posts. Ugh. Lycos - you suck!

Ew! My keyboard is disgusting!

I sat down to post and made the mistake of looking at my keyboard. With my new glasses I can now see every speck of dirt and debris on every key. Ewwwww! It is soooo gross. I don't even really eat at my keyboard and it's still disgusting. It's dusty and there are little crusty spots on some of the keys. I can only imagine what germs I'm infesting myself with every day. But then, they are my germs, so maybe it's not so bad. I really need to take every key off and clean this thing thoroughly. I could just go get a brand new keyboard from my supply closet and avoid the ordeal of cleaning this one, but there's a problem. This keyboard is special. It is a wave keyboard, for one thing, and it has a touchpad in the keyboard, for another.

I love this keyboard. Most keyboards with touchpads - well every one except this one - have the touchpad in the middle under where your two thumbs go, like laptops. I hate that location. It's too easy to accidentally hit the touchpad with your palm or your thumbs. This keyboard has the touchpad under the arrow keys. It's the perfect spot. I scoured the internet for every keyboard with a touchpad that was available and none of them had the touchpad in this location. My keys were wearing out - the letters were worn off of at least half the keys - and I needed a replacement. So, I contacted Cirque, the makers of this keyboard, to see if I could get another one. They had 2 left in stock - that was it. They were no longer making this keyboard. So, I did the logical thing and ordered both of them. I put one of the new ones in place of my existing keyboard and was dismayed to find that they had changed the texture of the touchpad on the new keyboards so it wasn't as slick and didn't seem to be as responsive as my old keyboard. So I took all the old keys off my old keyboard, took all the new keys off the new keyboard, and switched them. Voila! My keyboard had great new keys and my old favorite touchpad. I just hope the touchpad doesn't wear out. Anyway, it's been a while since I did that, and now that I can see, I see that it's time to clean the keys. How do the sides of keys, the part you don't ever touch, get so dirty? It's mind boggling.

Guess I'd better start pulling keys off.....

What season is this?

First - I'm a bad blogger. I have been so lax in blogging lately that I'm sure I've completely lost my readers, the three I used to have. Guess I'll just blog for my own entertainment.

Second - this is the most bizarre weather year ever. We barely had a winter this year, which was both good and bad - bad for skiers, snowmobilers, and the water situation, but good for those of us who hate driving in snow and ice, shoveling driveways, gray winter days, and stuff like that... you know, those of us who grew up in Southern California where, as we all know, it never rains (tell that to the So Cal folks this year!). Now, here it is, April 26, and it was 82 yesterday! EIGHTY-TWO!!! In Sandpoint, Idaho! In April! I've already mowed my lawn three times! I've lived here for 22 years and have never, ever seen an April like this. WARNING: It could still snow before summer actually arrives.

The accepted logic here is you can't plant your garden until "the snow is off Baldy" - a medium-sized mountain under which the town sits - and it's not, but I think this year all the accepted norms should be tossed aside because nothing is normal. Everyone was saying before winter we were in for a bad one. The caterpillars were really fuzzy or something like that, the geese left early...well, bzzzzzt! WRONG! So, I'm thinking it's definitely time to plant SOMETHING despite the fact that it's only April 26 (which is also my son-in-law's 30th birthday). I think this weekend I will put my patio pots together. It is weird though - my grape hyacinths are barely blooming, the tulips are still just buds, and daffodils are still bright and perky, so how can I even ponder putting together a pot of geraniums, pansies, nemesia, and the like? It's just not synching in my brain...

Speaking of this weekend, Sunday, May 1, is Bloomsday, the largest timed road race in the world. I have "run" this race about 10 times or so. My first one was May 1987. My husband and I ran and pushed a stroller with Jonathan in it. He was not yet a year old. Right before we crossed the finish line, I got him out of the stroller and let him walk across on his own. We had entered him so he got a t-shirt too. We ran it for the next three years, with Tom carrying him on his shoulders for 7.46 miles when he was 3 and weighed about 45 pounds. He finally got too big to carry and they stopped letting stroller pushers run so we took a break. We ran it again a few years later when he was big enough to do the whole course on his own two legs. Now I do it with some co-workers or my daughter and her friend. Last year Shana and I did it, just the two of us, and without any advance training on my part, we finished in 1:43 - pretty good for someone with two bad knees who doesn't run and hadn't trained at all. This year I don't expect to do as well. I'm about 20 pounds heavier (ugh) and my knees are worse than ever AND I haven't even been walking in advance of Bloomsday. I'll be happy to just finish under two hours. At least this year the weather should totally rock.

So, one of my favorite TV shows is Joan of Arcadia. I love the way she is so sarcastic to God and yet does what he asks her to and sees how what He asks her to do affects others. Anyway, I read that it might not come back next year. That would be tragic. So, if you like Joan, I suggest you join me in emailing or writing CBS on behalf of Joan. It is a great, wholesome show and needs to stay on TV.

Ciao! Sieze the day!

A chip off the old block

Jonathan called yesterday to say he wasn't so sure he wanted to continue to major in computer science. His exact words were "I can't see myself sitting in front of a computer coding all day." Deja vu! I said words very similar to that back when I was in college majoring in electrical engineering. I think my comment was "I don't see myself sitting in a cubicle punching out punch cards all day" (I date myself with punch card comment). I changed my major to art, hoping to study graphic design. Unfortunately, UC Santa Barbara didn't have a graphic design department, just a fine art department, so I majored in art with an emphasis in painting. Ah yes, such a lucrative major. And I SO never used it....

Now Jonathan is repeating my lament, pondering his future. It's what you do in college - explore things you never got to explore in high school, figure out what you want to do with your life - I totally get that. But I can also look back at that fateful decision in 1974 and see how shortsighted I was. I made that comment after trudging through the horribly boring courses you have to take as the foundation to prepare you to do the more exciting, fun stuff. Being an engineering major didn't mean I was doomed to cubicle-sitting for the rest of my life. I didn't have an advisor that knew me from Adam to help me think through my decision, and computing was a relatively new field then (they didn't even have a computer science major at UCSB then), so who was going to talk to me about all the cool, creative stuff that I could end up doing if I'd just do the drudgery of the first couple of years? No one. Jonathan, on the other hand, has a great advisor - a guy who actually worked at Microsoft - and he KNOWS Jonathan from Adam so, I did what any good mom would do - I told Jonathan to talk to Pete. Hopefully, Pete can give Jonathan a little insight into what might lay ahead for him. Maybe Pete will see that CS really isn't his thing and point him toward what Jonathan has always said he wants to do - computer animation and graphics - or maybe he'll be able to point out how the two can be combined. I don't know what he'll say, but I'm going to trust him to do his best to help Jonathan decide what to do.

If Jonathan does decided to pursue the more artistic end, I know the struggles he will face. I changed to art and entered a world in which I had never before walked. I was surrounded by kids who had been "artists" their entire lives. These kids had taken art classes for as long as they could remember. I had taken only the one I needed to fulfill the graduation requirement. I'd always liked to draw and paint but had never considered myself an artist, and besides, I was too busy taking math, science, foreign language, and advanced English classes to have time for art or photography - both of which I love now. Jonathan has followed much the same course - except he's never taken even one art class. It can be daunting to take a design or drawing class and see masterpieces being created by your classmates while you're scratching out something that looks like a 3rd grader drew it. Been there, done that, it wasn't fun. But who knows, with some guidance, some training, he might do really well. He does seem to be a natural when it comes to photography (according to his photojournalism teacher) and he obviously has an artistic eye. From what I could gather from the Whitworth catalog, he could take the digital art/printmaking track and not be forced to take ceramics, sculpture, painting, and drawing like I was. He would have to take design - a very good thing - and then could focus on the digital aspect and throw in some computer graphics, Photoshop, and photography. So, we'll see. He certainly has more options than I did for combining his analytical and artistic sides. I just want him to be happy and thrive.

I do worry that one reason he is rethinking CS is because it's hard and "not fun". How do you tell your kids without them rolling their eyes at you, that a lot of college is hard and not fun? If it were easy, everyone would go, and do well. Jonathan is not used to working hard for things, especially in school. Too much has come too easily for him and what hasn't been easy he's been satisfied to just get through. He needs to learn that, at some point, you do have to work really hard at stuff that's not fun so you can get to the fun stuff. I hope maybe Pete can help him see that too.

Off I go to do some not fun hard stuff at work....

Terri Schiavo

I am so upset about the latest ruling by the appellate courts. It seems to me that this time Terri will die and that makes me so sad and so angry. I just don't get it. Her husband claims she would not want to be kept alive in this state based on some comment she made back when she was a young woman. Okay, so maybe she did say that, but how many of us have made statements in our twenties only to find ourselves feeling exactly the opposite once we've matured? I know I have changed a lot since my 20's. The fact is, she didn't have a written document stating her wishes. In my opinion, if you have family members willing to care for the ill person, why is there even a question as to whether to sustain life or not? Let the family members who want to take on the burden do so! What does it hurt Michael Schiavo to let Terri live? I just find it hard to believe that he loves her so much that he has fought for her "right to die with dignity" for so long and yet he shacks up with and has children with another woman. It really does seem to be about money. Let it go, Michael! Let the Schindlers take care of Terri and spend their lives with her. After all, they have been her parents a LOT longer than you were married to her (pre-heart attack). Shouldn't they have some say? It just makes no sense to me. It's not like Terri is on a respirator and ventilator and lying in bed like a zombie. She can do everything but swallow. That doesn't seem like a state of being that is so awful as to warrant pulling the plug. Heck, who knows what she is aware of? Look at the woman who was in a persistent vegetative state for 20 years and then recently suddenly "woke up" and started talking!!! It can happen! Let Terri live!

As for living wills - I think we don't think through all the scenarios when we draw these things up. We say "oh, I don't want to be kept alive artificially if something happens to me". Okay.... But what constitutes "kept alive artificially"? I could understand if you were brain dead, or maybe unable to breathe, eat, etc. on your own, but what if you could breathe, move, make noises, respond to stimuli, but just couldn't swallow? Would that change your instructions about being kept alive artificially? Look at Stephen Hawking - the guy is pretty much unable to move, can't speak except through a computer that he controls with nearly invisible movements.... I don't know about whether he can eat on his own or not, but it sounds like he is in a state very similar to Terri's and yet he is one of the most brilliant men on earth. He went from being "normal" to his current condition thanks to ALS but I don't see anyone clamoring to take away his ventilator or stop feeding him. Anyway, back to living wills.... If you are in a coma, on life support or being fed through a feeding tube like Terri, what difference is it going to make to YOU, especially if you aren't aware of your surroundings, if a loved one doesn't want to pull the plug? Theoretically, you're oblivious. If it makes your spouse, children, siblings, or parents happy to be able to visit you, communicate with you, etc. Why should they be denied that opportunity just because you, in all your wisdom, wrote out a document that says "pull the plug"? I think you should write out a will that says "pull the plug unless my (family members of your choosing) don't want to". You never know - some miracle "cure" or breakthrough might occur during your time in a coma, or you could awaken magically one day. Why remove that option? I feel the same way about funeral wishes. People make comments or put in their wills that they don't want a funeral or they want this or that done after they die. Excuse me, but aren't you dead? What difference does it make whether or not you liked funerals and want one? If your loved ones want a funeral service to celebrate your life, they need to have one! My mom hated funerals and said she wanted to be cremated and sprinkled out over the ocean. When she died, he just had her cremated and the Neptune Society sprinkled her ashes over the Pacific. Okay, Mom got her wish, but the rest of us never got to say goodbye. We were young and didn't know any better, but as we got older, the lack of closure started to bother all of us and her brother. Several years ago we all chipped in and bought a headstone and had it put in the cemetery in Santa Maria so that someone 100 years from now traipsing through that cemetery will see that Lynda Filippi lived and was loved. It may seem silly to some of you, but for us, it helped give us closure. We wanted to have a service for her but have yet to get all of us together from across the country t do that. So.... My dad has in his will "no funeral"....Tough darts, Dad. We're having one. You'll be dead so it really won't matter to you, but it will matter a lot to us. That's sort of the same way I feel about the whole living will and dying with dignity issue. Let those who are alive, who love you and care about you, have at least the option of maintaining life support for you if they want to. If you're coherent enough to say "I don't want to live like this", well that's another story and a different matter. If you are brain dead or tests show no response whatsoever, then pull the plug, but if there's any doubt at all, let your loved ones make the final call.

That's my rant. You can disagree as you like. You can think I'm an idiot. But it won't change my position. We should stop being so darned selfish and let those who love us do what they need to do.

There and Back Again

So, we just got back - well, on Saturday we got back - from our Spring Break vacation. This was a really random trip that turned out really well. We hadn't really planned to go anywhere during Spring Break, though Tom had bid the vacation days last March. We like to try to schedule his vacations to coincide with Jonathan's school breaks as much as possible cuz you just never know. Well, this year it turned out to have been a really good thing.

About a month ago I decided we should try to at least go somewhere for a few days just to get away. That meant we'd be driving so our destinations were somewhat limited. We all decided we did not want to go to the Oregon Coast. We've done that before in April and it's cold and windy and not a lot of fun after the first few hours. Seattle, on the other hand, has so much to do regardless of the weather. So, Seattle it was. Then I had the brilliant idea of also going somewhere I've always wanted to go - Victoria, BC. I talked to a friend who has been there often and was informed that, though it's early and not a lot of flowers are in bloom yet, it would still be worth a visit. So, I started planning. Initially, I thought we'd stay the week in Seattle and maybe do a day trip to Victoria. My friend suggested I consider staying in Victoria since the exchange rate is favorable and it's not high season so rates are low. What a great suggestion that turned out to be! I got a great price on a room ($50 a night), the ferry ride over turned out to be half price, and I got half-price discounts for almost every "attraction" we visited!

Anyway, we headed to Seattle on Sunday, arriving about 4PM at the La Quita Inn & Suites Downtown where we get a great FedEx corporate discount (just $70/night). After we got situated in our room we headed over to the Space Needle and Science Center just to walk around and look at stuff and take pictures. It was about a half mile walk from our hotel - a piece of cake! We decided to go ahead and go up in the Space Needle - something I haven't done in over 18 years. We had to cajole Tom into going as he is not fond of heights. Once we got to the top, he was glad he had come. The weather was perfect! We could see Mt. Rainier - a rare thing - and all the islands and everything. It was beautiful! I have never been to Seattle on a more perfect day. Jonathan took tons of photos, getting some really beautiful sunset shots and cool nighttime shots. There was a guy up there with a great Canon digital SLR setup taking photos. Jonathan finally went over and started talking to him about his camera setup, what he was shooting, etc. Jonathan has really caught the photography bug and is talking about working two full-time jobs this summer so he can buy a digital SLR. I must say, he seems to have a great eye for interesting photos. He didn't get that from me. I tend to take very touristy photos. Jonathan has learned a lot about how to look at the subject matter from a very different perspective from his photo teacher and is putting that to good use. Anyway, we had a great time up there looking at the city, watching the sun set, drinking lattes, and then browsing the gift shop at the bottom.

Day 2 we trekked to Pike Place Market. What a cool place that is! We got there early - before a lot of the merchants were even open - so we walked all the way down the zillions of steps to the wharf. We walked around down there for a while, then headed back up to the market once it was fully open. Again, photography sort of ruled the day. I did get to talk to some of the guys at the World Famous Pike Place Fish Market about the fact that the management team at the library read the book When Fish Fly, a book about management and customer service written by the owner of the fish market. I saw the owner buzzing about and tried to talk to him, but he was really busy so I never got to say hi to him. Anyway, we walked up and down the market several times, had a great Russian pastry at one of the shops across the street from the market, took more photos, and walked some more. Then it was time to head to the Crab Pot Restaurant for lunch. This "event" was Jonathan's main reason for going to Seattle. They dump this huge pot of shellfish, corn-on-the-cob, potatoes, and sausages on your table and you just dive in. Here is a photo of what the pile of food looked like:



It's not cheap - $29/per person - but it's sooooooo delicious and filling!!!

After lunch we walked back up the stairs to 1st Street and then headed down to Pioneer Square. On the way back we stopped in at this shop that has every imaginable caramel and candy apple you could imagine and had their Explosion apple.



The Explosion is the one on the second shelf in middle section. You can't tell how huge it is in this photo but it's easily twice the size of the other apples. It's enormous and has seven layers, one of which is peanut butter, all on a nice Granny Smith apple. It was amazing. After walking around Pioneer Square, we headed back to our room. By this time we had walked about 8 miles (I wore a pedometer). The plan was to get the tripod and go back when it got dark to take some more photos then go eat at the Red Robin on the wharf. Well, we did get the tripod and did go back to the market to take the photos, but the thought of walking down those zillions of stairs and back up again was just a little daunting. So we headed back toward our room looking for some place to eat that was not fast food. We ended up eating at a Mexican restaurant in a shopping center that reminded me of River Park Square in Spokane (upscale shops, AMC theater on the top floor with eateries around it). It was okay food but very expensive and the service was slow. By this time, it was late and we still had quite a walk back to the room. We pretty much crashed into bed and fell asleep almost immediately.

And that was all just day one! (to be continued)

That's Level 3000 in WoW Years

Yesterday I hit the half century mark. I also realized I have been with my husband for half my life! That milestone was almost harder to grasp than my age. Wow, half my life! Actually, as of July we will have been living together for 25 years. We got married in June 1981, but we began cohabitating in July 1980, so yeah, half my life.

This was an awesome birthday. It started on Monday. My best friend, Kate, took me to lunch for my birthday. It has been our tradition to take each other to lunch for our birthdays and Christmas. My folks were coming to town to take me out on my actual birthday, so Kate and I went on Monday. There is this awesome restaurant in town called Cafe Trinity. They serve Creole style food that is well-prepared, beautifully presented, spendy but deliciously worth it. It is always fun to get away from work and just visit with Kate and Monday was no exception. The food only added to the enjoyment of the occasion.

Upon my return from lunch, as I walked by the information desk, one of the staff persons pointed to this huge dieffenbachia sitting on the counter and said "Gina...." I looked at her quizzically, completely confused. "Huh?" "That's for you!" I still had a really puzzled look on face and it just wasn't sinking in that this plant was for me. What had me really baffled was I couldn't begin to imagine where it had come from. I thought perhaps Robyn (the staffer) had gotten it for me as a thank you because I've been helping her with some projects for the business she and her husband have. I walked to the plant and saw a card. It was from my awesome sisters, Kristi and Richele!!! This plant is beautiful, as you would expect a plant from a florist would be. Immediately I realized that they were both lying little "tricksy fellows". Kristi had called me Saturday to ask me if I was going to be at work this week, claiming she might forget my birthday and wanted to wish me happy birthday "just in case".... Rikki did the same thing Monday claiming she was booked up all day Tuesday and wanted to say happy birthday just in case but wanted to know if I was going to be at work or not.... Liars! They wanted to make sure I was going to be in so I would get the plant! I called both of them immediately and greeted them both with "You liar!!!" which was met with gales of laughter by both of them. What a wonderful surprise!

Tuesday morning we had a staff meeting scheduled. I now take the notes on this laptop so I have to be sure to be there on time, something I'm not known for. I rushed in at 8:26 - the meeting starts at 8:30 but we are to be there at 8:25. As I walked into the meeting area I was greeted by a chorus of voices saying "there she is!" On the table were platters of fresh fruits, donuts, and pastries. I was wished happy birthday by everyone. At the head of the table was a chair that said "Gina's chair". I sat down, smiling, and got the laptop out to begin notetaking. Wayne, the boss, said to put it away, that we were not going to have a regular staff meeting. They then wheeled out on a library cart a huge chocolate cake that said "Happy Birthday, Gina" on it. There was a beautiful bouquet of flowers, a gift, some cards, and a balloon bouquet. Molly came over and placed a very gold plastic tiara on my head. We had ice cream cups and juice as well. I cut the cake and thanked everyone profusely. It was so wonderful. I have never felt so appreciated! Molly got me a beautiful crystal bell to add to my bell collection. She has an amazing knack for remembering what people collect and manages to get them the perfect gift for their birthday or Christmas. She is so thoughtful! The flower bouquet was from Sue E. She is another wonderful, thoughtful, amazing person who is the Mother Theresa of squirrels. She has two pet squirrels and feeds an entire squirrel community at her home. Whenever a squirrel is injured or a baby is found without parents, she nurses them back to health. She's incredible. I got several cards, a cool little birthday pop-up book, and some other nifty little gifts. When the meeting was over, I went up to my office. It looked like a garden in there! Kate had given me a big basket filled with primroses of every color with a cool frog Mylar balloon attached. Robyn had given me a bouquet of daffodils and another balloon, and there were other little gifts on my desk. Sue M gave me a beautiful peach latte mug with two biscotti and some Lowry's Fogcutter blend coffee (she so knows me!) It was amazing! Then, moments later, I was called down to the info desk to get another delivery! My wonderful husband had sent me a beautiful spring bouquet! (Nieman's Floral made a killing off my birthday!) So, my office really DID look like a garden!

Unfortunately, my office is such a disaster I had nowhere to put all the wonderful flowers and gifts so I decided I had to finally clean it up. Our finance person, Denise, is the most organized person you will ever meet. Ever! She came in and asked if I needed help. Was she kidding? Uh, YE-ES! So, we started dividing stuff into groups - computers that work and that we're keeping, computers that work but we're selling as surplus, and computers that don't work and that we're tossing. The same with parts. By 11:30, just a little over an hour later, we had made some pretty amazing headway. My folks arrived to take me to lunch so we took a break.

My folks took me to Joel's, this cool little Mexican food place that used to just be a stand but became so popular he had to expand and provide some indoor seating. The food is awesome and cheap. Joel is a character, very friendly, funny, and likeable. His wife is even better. They make you happy just seeing them. I had a fish taco - sooooo delicious and only $2.50. Mom and Dad had the carne asada burrito with a chili verde burrito to go. All that food and a Diet Pepsi for just over $10. It's more than enough food too. So, we ate and visited and had a great time. I have to say, it was one of the best visits I've had with them. It was truly enjoyable.

When I got back to work, Denise went back to attacking my office. I'm happy to say that 1/3 of my office is clean - clean enough that I can display my flowers and gifts on my workbench. Today she and I will start on the piles and piles of paper on my three desk surfaces. That's going to be interesting. The ultimate goal here is to rearrange my office, putting my desk over by the window instead of opposite it and hopefully opening up the space a bit more by rearranging the desk, workbench/tables, shelves, and storage cabinet areas. I have it all planned out in my head and I can envision it. It's just going to be interesting to see how it all really looks. The furniture is big, heavy, and cumbersome so moving it around will be a feat, but Dayton, our building manager, said he is more than happy to help, even disassembling and reassembling as needed. It would be cool if I could get it done before we leave on vacation next week for spring break!

So, to end my birthday, my daughter and son-in-law came over and made dinner for us. YUM! It was a kind of shepherd's pie but made with pork, apples and onions with mashed potatoes on top. It was delish! We had steamed asparagus and salad as accompaniments. The dessert was a homemade from scratch (cake flour and the whole bit) chocolate cake. Tyler, my 3 year-old grandson, when I asked Shana what kind of cake it was, said "chocolate, chocolate, chocolate!" Turns out, that's exactly what the Martha Stewart for Kids cookbook called it! :) It was quite the delicious chocolate cake and soooooo moist! And the biggest surprise of all... they got me a beautiful amethyst ring! It's simple (the way I like jewelry) with a beautiful square cut amethyst set on the diagonal (so it looks diamond shaped when you look at my hand) in a very simple gold setting. It's exquisite. Purple is my favorite color so, when she couldn't find an aquamarine she liked, she opted for the amethyst. Smart girl! I have a ring my dad got me for my high school graduation - an alexandrite in a very simple antique gold setting that looks like a small flower - that I have worn every day of my life for 33 years. The new ring fits on the same finger (right ring finger) so I have to decide whether to have my old ring resized for my pinky or just alternate rings. I'm still pondering that option. But what a wonderful surprise the ring was. I am thrilled to death!

So, that was my 50th birthday. At 9PM I finally talked to Jonathan who reminded me that I was now officially an old fart. He said "wow, you're level 50 - I mean...." and started laughing. I could hear his roommate, Nathan, laughing the background. Jonathan went on to explain that he'd been talking about World of Warcraft with Justin and was playing at that moment so his mind was on levels.... So I figured, it seems like these guys level about 5 levels a month, which means about 60 levels in a year, give or take (I could have this totally wrong and I'm sure one of them will set me straight, but for the sake of argument, let's just say I'm right), so that would make me about level 3000 in WoW years. Happy birthday to me!

The birthday/holiday/event months

February and March are crazy birthday months for us. It begins on February 5, which is my sister-in-law's birthday. From there, it spirals madly out of control. February 11 is my son's wedding anniversary. February 12 was Lincoln's birthday as well as my father-in-law's and ex-husband's birthday. Then, of course, there is Valentine's Day, which is also the birthday of one of my aunts (I just love her to death) and of a good friend of mine. They are followed immediately by February 15, the birthday of two co-workers and another friend. February 20 is my other aunt's birthday (Dad's sister). She turned 77. February 21 this year was President's Day. Every year it is my friend Sharlene's birthday. February 22 is my husband's birthday, which he shares with our first president. Sharlene's husband's birthday is the 23rd, as well as that of a very close friend from high school. Another good friend (his daughter is at the same college as my son and his wife and I gave birth just one week apart) has his birthday on the 25th. Now comes March - my daughter-in-law's birthday is the 4th. Mine is the 8th. I share that with my former assistant, Carl, and my recently deceased stepdad, Pat. My grandson's birthday is the 16th (I begged my daughter to have him on the 8th, but Tyler didn't comply) and my grandmother's birthday was the 19th. She'd have been 97 this year. She passed away just last summer. She and the aforementioned 77 year-old aunt lived together for years and years. They were quite proud of being Pisces and happy to include me in that club. Another close friend has his birthday on the 20th. My sister's birthday is March 25, to sort of cap off the madness. Oddly, I remember every one of them by heart every year. But I'm a numbers sort of gal and generally always remember birthdays.

Unfortunately, Tom came down with the flu or something yesterday. He had a miserable day at work. He couldn't keep anything down - or in - not even water, so he was very dehydrated and weak and he had to work. Jonathan came home last night to talk to us - he'd gotten into a bit of trouble at school and needed to tell us about it. Sadly, Tom just wasn't in any condition to really talk to him, but he listened and gave his comments. I have always believed that Jonathan is at Whitworth for a reason, and this latest incident has strengthened that feeling. He didn't do anything horrible, just broke a rule, for which he has consequences to pay. The good news is, it has caused him to think about what he's been doing, where he's headed, etc. and to actually start to think about his spiritual life. That's an awesome and something I have been praying for. I'm hoping the changes he wants and intends to make will expose him to new people and give him an opportunity to make new friends. He is going to go to church with his RA on Sunday - that totally rocks! He really likes his RA and feels he can really trust him. He opened up and shared a lot of really personal things with him - something he's not usually inclined to do. It is working out totally for the best. I just am so thankful that God has a plan - even when I might think He doesn't - or think I have to have one "just in case". God does have a plan and He will accomplish His purpose, despite our foolishness.

So, back to the birthdays - Tom is feeling much better today. He was dreading going to work because it's also the day of his annual review. He figured he was going to have to fight with his boss about his on-road numbers. Surprise, surprise! She told him he got a 7 - the highest you can get - in that category. He was convinced he wouldn't because they've been set so high he has only been achieving about 85% in on-road productivity most days. They talked so long about that part of his review they didn't get to finish it, so he'll have to finish it tonight or tomorrow, but so far, it looks good. He's used to getting a 6.8, 6.9, or 7 on his review, and has for 18 years. Anything less, for him, is simply unacceptable. So, a sort of birthday present - knowing he got a 7 in on-road. He probably will only want soup for dinner, so no fancy birthday dinner. I am going to get him a little present - nothing big, just a nose-hair trimmer - and just try to make tonight as nice as I can for him. He is now officially a senior citizen - 55.

I finished my e-rate application last Friday. That was the deadline. It was so hectic. I applied for over $40,000 in discounts! If we get fully funded, we can do all sorts of stuff we would have had to wait a couple of years to do. We will only have to pay $20,000 for $60,000 worth of services and equipment (new servers, voice mail system, etc.) so it's very cool. We're also going to switch from T1 to DSL in this building, providing us with 7 times the download speed, and from 256k to T1 at the branch in Clark Fork, which will be huge. The gross costs will be the same as we're paying now. The net costs, once e-rate kicks in, will be so much less than we're paying now it's going to be great.

So, that's the latest. I've been so busy with work and haven't had anything I felt was interesting enough to write about - not that this is all that earth-shattering - that I've neglected my blog. I will try to get back on track. Not that anyone is reading this... but you never know...

Ol’ Blue Four Eyes

I started wearing glasses in 7th grade. I distinctly remember the first day in class after I got my glasses. I remember looking at the clock in the classroom and was surprised to see that there were dots noting the minutes between the numbers. I never been able to see them before. The reason no one had noticed my vision problems before 7th grade was that I was one of those kids who always sat in the front of the classroom, so I could see the blackboard just fine. Turned out my vision was pretty awful - 20/425 in my right eye and 20/375 in left. So, from 7th grade on, I wore glasses. I officially became a nerd and totally looked the part. We were poor growing up. When wire rimmed glasses came into style, I wanted a pair so bad. I was convinced wire rims would make me cool. We were on public assistance during my junior high and high school years. The good news was, for the first time in our lives, we kids got medical, dental and vision care. The bad news was, MediCal would only cover plastic frames, not wire rim frames. Goodbye cool. By the time I was a freshman in college, I decided I really wanted contact lenses. But in 1972, the only contacts regularly prescribed were hard {crunch} glass lenses. They were notoriously difficult to adapt to. Then, a scientific miracle (to me at least) - soft contact lenses!! By the end of my freshman year of college I had saved enough money to get them. I'll never forget the first day I had them. I could see everything, no frames, no borders, I could see! I adapted to them very quickly, wearing them all day within a week. I was in heaven!

I endured the mixing of saline solution to clean them, the boiling to disinfect them, the milky white spots that would form on them, necessitating replacement lenses (later discovered to be protein deposits that were cooked on during the boiling process) a couple of times a year. I was one of the first to get extended wear lenses back in the early 80's. I've done it all when it comes to soft contacts. I've worn them exclusively for 32 years. I never saw any reason to wear anything else. But my astigmatism in my right eye has gotten worse, necessitating that I wear a toric lens in my right eye. Unfortunately, for some bizarre reason, the lens wants to twist off axis when I wear it. I've tried about 5 different brands. Some are worse than others, but they all twist. Even when the doctor sees that the lens goes off axis 10 degrees to the right, and orders a lens weighted to sit 10 degrees to the left, hoping to negate the twist, it still twists. He doesn't understand it. He did say there are about 200 brands from which to choose, and one is bound to work, but it's getting frustrating. Adding to the problem is the fact that, with my contacts in, my near vision is not as good as it used to be. If the light isn't bright enough, if the print is really small, I need reading glasses. Without my contacts, I can read anything in any light, I just can't see past the end of my nose (well, it seems like that anyway). So, I decided it was time to get glasses that corrected my myopia, my astigmatism, and my presbyopia, and just accept the fact that I need to wear glasses during the work week. So, I ordered drill mount (rimless) glasses with progressive lenses. I've been wearing my "backup" glasses (they don't correct my near vision) for the last few weeks while at work since I've been getting headaches trying to deal with the twisting right lens, lifting them up to read small stuff in poor light. I figured the new glasses would look better (less like I'm wearing glasses) and let me see everything in every light condition. So, they came in last night. Actually, they came in day before yesterday at the optician in Coeur d'Alene I had to go to in order to take advantage of the vision coverage I now have under Tom's insurance. I had Tom pick them up on his way home last night. I put them on only to discover that they are in serious need of adjustment. I'll get that done this morning at the WalMart vision center. Beyond that, wow, is it weird to have this portion of the lenses magnifying everything. If you don't look through them properly, like tip your head down a bit to look at the computer screen so you're looking through the myopia correcting part of the lens and not the presbyopia correcting part, you can't see. Tip your head to the side and everything gets distorted. I hope I can adapt to them. Millions of people do, so why wouldn't I? But boy, it's really weird - and a bit nauseating.

So, now, instead of being old blue eyes, I am definitely old four eyes. Just in time for my 50th birthday. Ugh.

Insanity Reigns/Rains/Reins

I think I am going to go crazy. Many who know me would say I have already done so. Perhaps they are right. What other explanation could there be for the constant state of "overwhelmedness" in which I find myself? I am overwhelmed at work by the chaos in my office, the never-ending call of computers that need upgrading or repairing, the continual stream of requests for assistance from staff and patrons, the stack of papers on my desk that grows exponentially on an hourly basis, the network maintenance needs that demand immediate attention "or else", the management responsibilities that are currently in a state of flux thanks to the boss and his zealous conversion to a new customer service model which he is pushing like a proselyte to the entire staff, e-rate funding with its looming deadlines, email, phone calls to and from vendors so I can budget for e-rate requests, mandatory reading of professional texts, and the time-sucking meetings we are forced to endure for hours each week. At home I am overwhelmed by overstuffed cupboards seriously in need of organizing and "de-junking", the clutter on my dresser, the mountain of filing on the kitchen counter, housework that has gone undone for too long, books I want to read for pleasure but for which I cannot seem to find the time, cooking, shopping, laundry. Personally I am overwhelmed by the things I want to do and learn that lurk in my brain begging to be given their audience. I want to take pictures - amazing, artistic, well-composed, interesting, pictures. I want to paint - watercolor, oil, acrylic, anything, just paint. I want to write - my novel, this blog, just stuff. I want to learn how to make awesome web sites. I want to learn how to really use Photoshop not just to tweak photos, but to create cool graphics for the web sites I design. I want to learn ASP.NET. I want to learn CSS. I want to learn Java, C++, Visual Studio.NET. I wish I could stop wanting to learn and do all these things. It seems like life would be so much calmer if I could just stop my brain. I lie awake at night thinking about so much stuff it takes me forever to fall asleep. I wish I could just flip a switch and shut off the noise in my brain. See, I AM insane. Insanity reigns in my life, rains down upon me, and has me by the reins. I need a long vacation.

What's next?

This has been a really strange winter. First, we had probably a record low amount of snow through the end of last year. Then, we finally get a few inches here and there, but not enough to really make it feel like a real winter. Then we get wicked cold, which means it's way too cold to snow. I have one of those nifty electronic weather station thingees at home with a remote thermometer outside so I can see both the inside and outside temps to the tenth of a degree. It got down to -3.8 one night and pretty much stayed around zero all day. These ultra low temps lasted for several days. The days were sunny, but cold and windy. Yesterday, MLK day and a holiday for me, I awakened to falling snow. I had planned to go in to work. Holidays are great for getting all sorts of maintenance done with no interruptions and the ability to restart servers at will. When I saw the snow, and no sign that it would relent, I decided to stay home and work from home. Ah, technology! I can work on at least half the computers at work remotely, running service packs and other updates, installing software, etc. It's great. The only thing I can't do is install operating systems, which requires I physically be at the computer. So, I installed Windows XP SP2 on all our new computers, installed some apps that I hadn't had a chance to install, and did a bunch of maintenance, all from the comfort of my sofa while I caught up on a bunch of stuff I had TiVo'd. All the while, outside it snowed and snowed and snowed - nearly a foot of the white stuff fell! My husband came home on his "lunch" break (at 4:30PM) and snowblowed the driveway while I made his dinner. The plows had yet to come to our neighborhood and he was worrying about whether or not the Beetle would make it down our street when he came home. The clearance is only about 4" and the snow was much deeper than that! When he left after lunch to head down to Coeur d'Alene to end his day, he drove his 4-wheel drive van up and down the street a few times to make a path for the Beetle. He called me at 7;30PM. He had left Sandpoint at 5:40PM for the drive to Coeur d'Alene (normally an hour drive) and was only just leaving CdA to head home. Ugh. The roads were nasty, accidents and slide-offs abounded. The news was stating that in Spokane freezing rain had been falling all day, coating the roads, sidewalks, and cars with a thick layer of ice. Apparently, that's what Tom had run into on his way to CdA. Jonathan called to tell me that school was cancelled for Tuesday. I'm sure the president of Whitworth had decided not to force his staff to travel treacherous roads. Jonathan said just walking to the dining hall was a test of balance and ice skating skills. Fortunately, by the time Tom started driving home, it was warming up and the roads were a little less slick. He actually made it home in about 75 minutes. Still no snow plows. So, he went out and plowed out a lane the length of our street. His fear was that if the plows didn't come before he left for work at 5:45AM, he definitely wouldn't get the Beetle out. It had started raining and the foot of fallen snow was holding water like crazy. It would be too high for the Beetle to get through and he'd likely end up high-centered. So, he snowblowed for an hour. This morning, it's raining like mad, it's about 40 degrees outside, but in the higher elevations the roads are water on ice. The plow finally came down our street at about 7AM. Schools are closed all over the region. Of course, it's Winter Carnival in Sandpoint. Every single year, without exception, we get a huge warm-up, usually accompanied by Chinook winds (warm winds like the Santa Anas in California), and all the snow melts. You'd think they'd figure this out and move the date to a week earlier or later. It used to be in February and we had beautiful snow sculpture competitions, with scultpures on nearly every corner in town. For the past umpteen years, the snow sculpture competition has been ruined by rains and warm temps. I miss the sculpture contest. I wish they'd get a clue and change the dates. Anyway, it is now warm, raining, melting the snow, which will bring flooding in some areas....what's next?

Murphy's Law

Tuesday night was awful. I got really sick. I don't know if it was the flu or what, but I was nauseated, alternated between being brutally hot, then I'd break out in a cold sweat, then get the chills, and then do it all over again, all night long. I also had back spasms and shooting pains down my legs all night. I was afraid to take any ibuprofen, cerrtain that I'd vomit it up. I didn't sleep more than 15 minutes at a time. It was terrible. I got up to do the whole mocha/lunch thing for my husband and lasted about 5 minutes before dizziness and nausea sent me right back to bed. At 6AM I called and left a message at work that I would be home sick. I finally fell asleep at about 6:30AM (I got up the nerve to take the ibuprofen, which knocked out the fever and back spasms, allowing me to sleep). At 8:30 I was jangled awake by my cell phone. It was work. "I'm so sorry to call you but....." was how the call began. Naturally, the day I'm not coming in, the servers decided to break. Apparently, our webserver wasn't working. To be more specific, once I had the caller go to the server closet to check on the offending machine, the hard drive seemed to have crashed! Why!?!? Why when I am SICK is it doing this to me? I could just say "oh well, no web server or online catalog today. I'm sick." But no, I feel compelled to go in. So, I throw on some clothes, brush my teeth and hair, and head to town. I was figuring I'd be rebuilding the server, which is a huge undertaking, so planned to be there all day. Fortunately, the SCSI controller for the hard drive has a nice utility that verifies the hard drive and moves data from bad sectors to good ones. After a few minutes of trying some other things, I ran the utility. It did indeed find bad sectors and remapped them to good ones. Voila! The server rebooted and all was well. Elapsed time - about 90 minutes. Back I head to my bed. Unfortunately, sleep eludes me. I channel surf for a bit, until the mind numbing garbage on the tube puts me in the mood to sleep once again. I head to bed. About an hour into the nap my phone rings again. No way. This can't be! "I am so sorry to call again...." Yeah, right. If you were sorry, you wouldn't call!!! This time, both the web server and the proxy server are down, meaning no internet access, no online catalogs, no web site. The caller tells me that there are no lights on the two servers and the monitor won't come on. Hmmm... no power, obviously, but how can that be? They are plugged into a battery backup and the power is on at the building. The battery backup must have died for some reason. So, I attempt to walk the caller through hooking up a brand new backup I have by the servers. Easy. Just open the box, plug it in, turn it on, then plug the servers into it. Why is this difficult? Three people get involved. They can't seem to figure out how to trace the power cord from the back of the server to where it's plugged into the old backup so they unplug the correct power cord and plug it into the new backup. I am pulling my hair out on the other end of the phone. I can't figure out how to explain this more simply. Finally, they claim to have them plugged in to the new backup, but still no power. I ask them if the new backup is on - are there lights on it? They say there are, it is. I am at my wit's end. I head to work. I go to the server room.... the backup is not turned on. I turn it on, all is well. Elapsed time, 45 minutes including drive to and from. Unbelievable.

Why is it I can work day in and day out, 9-10 hours a day and the servers are fine. I take a day off, call in sick, whatever, something goes down? This happens almost without exception. Murphy's Law.

I went to work on Thursday at 10, was tired, weak, so I went home at 4. A record short day for me.... I'm well now.

New Year's Resolutions

I never make them... well, not officially. I make them in my head and don't tell anyone so if I don't stick to them, no one will be the wiser. Smart, eh?

Internet at home has been FUBAR for nearly two weeks now. When Jonathan was home, he experienced frequent outages at hours I would never have had occasion to know the status of our connection, like 1:00 AM. For the past two weeks service has been sporadic. I have called and complained five times now, three in the past two days. I have had NO connection whatsoever for three days. Since I rely on that connection for blogging and working from home, I have been a less-than-happy camper. I have relentlessly lodged my complaints and frustrations, have provided the cable provider with my cell phone number so they could reach me wherever or whenever. Do you think they've called? Of course not. Now, this is a small town. The gal who manages the local cable office knows me. She knows I know a LOT of people. I thought she'd have called me by now. She hasn't. So, I called her this morning. She was very nice, just like the people I talked to at the 800 number when I reported my outages. All very nice, all very apologetic. The local gal told me they were experiencing "trouble with a distribution line" in my neighborhood and that others were out as well. Well, gee whiz, why didn't someone tell me that??? I have been wondering if the problem was mine alone, was my cable modem, was my "box" outside... wondering. If someone had told me that they know there is a problem, that it isn't just me, that they are working on it, I would have been a lot less frustrated the past few days. For crying out loud, they have all my phone numbers! Why not a call or a message saying "we realize you're having problems, we're working on it" instead of just ignoring me? Very poor customer service. I told the local gal as much. I was nice, but explained that not letting a customer who has called repeatedly about a problem that things are being worked on is poor customer service. Supposedly, I will have internet when I get home today. We'll see. In the meantime, I am going to write a letter to someone at Northland Cable telling them they need to work on their communication of outages to their customers. I just need to figure out who that person is.

It's snowing, finally. Not a lot, but it will help the ski areas. Unfortunately, tomorrow Tom and I have to leave Sandpoint at 5:30 AM for a trip to Spokane where he will undergo surgery to remove the atypical fibroxanthoma melanoma on his left upper cheek. It is outpatient surgery, so he should be ready to go home by noon. I hope he doesn't get sick from the anesthesia. The doctor's office did call the hospital here to find out what anesthesia combo he was given when he had a tonsil removed last year because it was the first time he had been anesthetized that he didn't get violently ill. They will, hopefully, use the same concoction and he will be fine when he wakes up. It won't be a fun day, regardless.

Jonathan is taking snowboarding and Internet Applications for his Jan Term classes. He goes 3 hours a day (9-12) Monday-Friday to Internet Apps and then Wed/Fri from 12:30-6:00 for snowboarding. The term is 3 weeks long. He had his first snowboarding class yesterday. The snow is pretty pathetic at Mt. Spokane, but it was acceptable. He was in a lesson pretty much the entire time, which did not thrill him. He has been boarding for 8 years and figures he knows all he needs to know since he doesn't plan to race. He has likely picked up some bad habits, which I'm sure the instructor is trying to correct, to his chagrin. He was pretty tired when he got home. Internet apps is a different story. They are going to learn an awful lot in a very short period of time. I hope he learns some stuff he can use to help me with the web sites I maintain. It could be really great!

I have tried to work on my novel, but work is too busy. I just fall into an exhausted heap when I get home. I have just finished setting up 20 new computers on the main floor. I have 9 to go (not counting mine). The remaining 9 are for staff so they will require a lot more work as I will have to transfer settings and files, reinstall apps, etc. I'm kind of dreading it. Speaking of that, I should get cracking. One of my resolutions - be more productive at work.

I did start working out regularly. I have not been going in the early AM, preferring to blog or write, so I decided I'd go when Tom takes his break. That means I leave work about 3 or 4 and go workout, then come back to work for an hour or two or three. So far, so good. Now, get the diet under control and I may reach my goal of losing 20 pounds by my 50th birthday on March 8. I am not going to be fat and fifty!!! My new mantra!

Back to work...

A White Christmas after all

Well, after days and days of no snow, in fact, no precipitation at all, we got about 3" of snow on Christmas Eve. How perfect was that? For you Whitworth students, I don't think Spokane got much, although the north end of Spokane does tend to get more than downtown and the Valley. We spent Christmas day at our oldest son's house in the Spokane Valley, which had no snow, but we had awakened to snow on Christmas morning. There was even more snow when we got home at about 6:30PM. It hasn't snowed since, and I don't think any more is predicted for several days, to the chagrin of the ski resorts. It was nice to have a White Christmas, though. It was as it should be.

I'm too busy for my blog, too busy for my blog...

Okay, you have to remember Right Said Fred's I'm Too Sexy in order to get the title. I can't help it, I love that song. But I have a good reason. My favorite uncle in the world, Nick, is the coolest person and so much fun to hang out with. When Jonathan was about 10 we went to Disneyland for his first time. During that trip, we met my uncle in Balboa, where we all stayed for a week. Nick has worked out for pretty much his whole life. Unfortunately, unlike my husband, he was not blessed with great genetics. He has a great physique, especially for a guy his age (he's in his 60's now), but he will never have the symmetry and muscle shape of a bodybuilder. Tom, on the other hand, has great genetics. He has huge biceps (19-20"), great round shoulders, great triceps that are very defined, great pectorals...he's just one of those people who make you sick because he looks so great and can eat just about anything. Anyway, Nick always teases Tom about how Tom will never be as big as him, never have as great a body as him, etc. During our visit in Balboa as we were all walking around in shorts and tank tops, Nick kept singing "I'm too sexy for my shirt, too sexy for my shorts, too sexy for my clothes" and just cracking us up. It was just the way he'd launch into that song at a moment's notice and the huge smile on his face and his laugh. I suppose you had to be there, but it's a great memory of a great trip and a great uncle. I can never hear I'm Too Sexy without thinking of Nick. In fact, on my last cell phone I downloaded I'm Too Sexy as a ringtone for Nick. It was great.

Anyway, I've been way too busy to blog or work on my novel. Between setting up the 34 new Dell computers we just got in at work, Christmas shopping, wrapping, and decorating, and just plain LIFE, I have had zero time to blog. So... that's it. This is just an interim post to say

Merry Christmas to everyone! Happy New Year to you too!!!!

Water, water everywhere, and not a drop to drink

Well, this weekend could not have been more of a disaster if we'd planned it - but it does have a happy ending. Saturday morning I went to throw some trash in the garbage cans. This entails going through the laundry room to the garage. My cat had been acting strangely, "asking" me to go into the laundry room for some reason, which I suspected was her way of telling me her catbox needed cleaning. As I approached the door to the laundry room I saw water. Uh-oh! Even without my contacts in I could see water covering the floor. I hollered "Honey, we have a problem!" Tom came down the hall and instantly his face filled with dread. He got out the shop vac and started sucking up the water as I attempted to rescue the things that were on the floor, now soaking wet, like the box of laundry soap, the litter box, and some laundry waiting to be washed. I grabbed every available towel to help soak up water while Tom vacuumed. At that point we weren't sure if it was the water heater or the washer. It didn't look like nearly enough water to have come from the 40 gallon water heater. I crossed my fingers and hoped it was the washer. I wouldn't mind getting a new one. ;) That was not to be the case. During the water-sucking phase, as Tom cleaned up around the water heater, he saw water dribbling out of the overflow pan on the bottom of the water heater. Ugh. Once the water was cleaned up, we tried to relight the pilot. No gas seemed to be coming out, which was odd. Tom got down and looked inside where the pilot should have been. That was when he saw the pinhole in the tank with water spraying out of it. Great. Saturday morning... no one is open. I knew this was going to be expensive!

Our gas water heater is power vented. In most installations, the water heater is vented up through the ceiling/roof. If, for some reason, it cannot be vented straight up and needs any sort of turns in the vent pipe at all, one must install a power-vented unit. In our case, we have cathedral ceilings throughout the house. The water heater happens to sit in a spot where the ceiling is 15 feet above it. We didn't want an ugly pipe going all the way up to the ceiling so we cut a hole in the wall to the outside (it sits right next to an exterior wall) and installed a power vent model. Unfortunately, that makes replacing it an ordeal. First of all, we had to find another power vent water heater from someplace that was open on a Saturday. That immediately x's out the plumbing supply houses. Secondly, it had to fit some very specific dimensions. It couldn't be taller than the existing water heater or we'd be looking at cutting a new hole in the wall...not an option. It couldn't be more than 3" greater in diameter or it wouldn't fit into the spot of the existing one thanks to where the last plumber put the gas piping. I started making phone calls.

I got in touch with one plumbing outfit. They had no water heaters in stock but could do the work if we got a water heater - for a rather hefty price. I called every place in Sandpoint I could think of that might carry water heaters. Many did have water heaters, just not power vented ones. Sears was our best shot. They had one in stock, but we needed to measure it to see if it would fit. We trekked over there, got them to open up the box, and realized it was 2" too tall. We talked to the plumber again who said he might be able to get one of the plumbing supply houses to open up and check their stock. In the meantime, we have no water, can't take showers, and have our granddaughter's birthday party to go to. On top of that, Jonathan was coming home to study for finals and was hoping I'd help quiz him on some stuff. By 1PM we were no closer to having water, a water heater, or any resolution to the problem. I called Home Depot in Coeur d'Alene. They had one that sounded like it would work - and it was not that expensive - $389 (the Kenmore was $519). We were starved and frustrated. We decided that, in lieu of a shower, we could jump into the hot tub and at least get a little cleaner. We took about a half hour soak, made ourselves halfway presentable, and went to grab a burger. While we were eating, the plumber called. The plumbing supply house had one that would fit - it was actually about 9" shorter and we could do shorter - but it was $785!!! Yikes! We heard all about how much better quality it was, blah, blah, blah, and how Home Depot sells inferior quality, blah, blah, blah... We passed. We decided we had to do the birthday party at 5, then head to CdA to Home Depot to get the water heater.

While at the party, Jonathan arrived from Spokane. He decided to go home and begin studying after the party while we trekked to CdA. After an hour, we bade everyone goodbye and headed down the road. We got to Home Depot about 7:30. We still weren't positive this unit would be the right height, but we had no other options. When we got to Home Depot, we headed to the water heater section. We ran into Dwayne. The guy was amazing! He'd been a plumber for 28 years before going to work for Home Depot. He tore the box open so we could take measurements. Yes!! It would work! Then, he proceeded to explain to Tom and me how to go about putting together the piping for the pressure relief valve in a way that would not require soldering. He was soooooo helpful! If I could give this guy an award, I would! I will call Home Depot today to tell them exactly what I think of the guy. I hope when the new Home Depot in Sandpoint opens next month, we have a guy like Dwayne working there! So, we got the parts, the water heater, and the instruction for a "mere" $425 (much, much cheaper than the local plumbing supply house) and headed back home. Oh, and Dwayne set us straight about Home Depot's "inferior" quality products. He told us that their products are all made by Rheem or Reliance, the two biggest names in water heaters, and there is nothing inferior about them at all. Considering this water heater has a longer warranty (it's a GE made by Rheem) than the last one, which came from a plumbing supply house, I think I'm going to believe Dwayne. I think local merchants that are afraid of being put out of business by Home Depot have a habit of knocking the quality of their products, saying that's why they're so cheap. In reality, it's because Home Depot buys for 2,000 stores, not one or two. Three cheers for Home Depot!

We got home about 9:30PM. Jonathan helped Tom unload the water heater. Then the trick would be putting it in place. That required that it be lifted up over the gas piping - about 8" - and set down in place. Tom got on his knees and lifted straight up while Jonathan and I just guided it into place. Then Tom let it down. Wow, am I glad he's as strong as he is!!! No mortal could have done this. It was a real feat of strength! Phew! So, water heater is in place. Now we start assembling the blower unit on top, the venting, etc. We have glitches, but it finally gets put together. Ready to fill it up. Disaster. The water pipe that lets water into the tank has a leak - undoubtedly a result of all the bending and tweaking Tom had to put it through to make room for the blower unit. It's 20 years old, so it's not surprising that it developed a pinhole leak. By this time, it's late - midnight - and we're tired, frustrated, and ready for bed - and I haven't been able to help Jonathan at all yet. We get to bed about 1 AM. At 7:45 AM Sunday, in the middle of a very involved dream, Tom wakes me up. He has been up for who knows how long trying to get the old pipe off so he can put a new one on. It won't come off. The book we have on plumbing says that he needs a mapp torch. He only has propane. It specifically says that propane can't get hot enough to melt the non-lead solder. He figured if he heated it long enough, it would eventually work. After messing with it for another 15 minutes or so, I suggest we call a plumber. I figured we'd spend 3 or 4 hours on this project whereas a plumber could knock it out in no time. He acquiesced. I called the guy I'd spoken with Saturday. For $97.50 an hour with a one hour minimum, he could do the work. He arrived about 9:45. He had the pipe off in about 1 minute. The way the old pipe came off the wall, it was a really tight squeeze for the blower to fit. Turned out we needed a new valve anyway, so he just redid that whole connection so we had more room for the blower, a new valve, and new pipe to the tank. $129.50 for parts and labor. All that was left to do was connect the gas, which required I go to the Co-op and get the fitting. There were some snafus there too, but we finally got the right size fitting, hooked up the gas, turned the power on, and voila! - the heater fired up and started heating water. In no time at all, the water was heated and I could start laundry, showers, etc. By the time we finished, it was 1:30 PM. I finally was able to sit down with Jonathan and quiz him on stuff for his tests, help him ponder through various questions for which he had to develop essays, etc. It wasn't the weekend we'd hoped for, but it turned out okay. I know one thing for sure - when this water heater fails, we're getting a tankless one! Had we been able to find one that was power vented, we'd have installed one yesterday. They cost at least twice as much, but you never have this problem of waking up to a flood in your laundry room, you don't spend money heating a tank of water that's just sitting there most of the time (it heats water on demand instead, which is MUCH cheaper), and it woulk likely last the rest of our lives. This is the second water heater we've replaced in 20 years, which means their average life span has been 10 years. I suspect in the not too distant future, tank water heaters will be a thing of the past.

Now, off to work to begin the installation of 34 new Dell computers. This will be an intersting week. It's "peak" at FedEx, which means Tom is working a zillion hours a day and will work Saturday. On a bright note, Jonathan comes home for Christmas Break on Friday. It will be nice to have him home. He's looking forward to seeing his best friend who goes to Georgia Tech. The holiday season has begun!

The week in review

What a week this has been! I got an email from sister about the post about Mom. I guess I made her cry. That was not my intention. I just needed to put down my thoughts. I was happy to see that she reads my blog! Hi Richele! :)

My husband has been battling basal and squamous cell carcinomas for the past few years. He is plagued by them on his shoulders, upper chest, and face. He has had six Mohs surgeries - where they cut out the part of the tumor that they can see with the naked eye, freeze it, and send it to the lab. The lab immediately (while he's in the chair, locally anesthetized) looks at the tissue and tells the doctor to either cut more or that he's gotten it all - he has clean margins, in medical lingo. The process is lengthy. Never does the first cut get it all. When he had two tumors removed from his face, it took nearly all day. These surgeries take place in Spokane, so we have the trek to and fro with which to contend. After the facial carcinomas were removed, we returned to Spokane the following day to see the plastic surgeon who closed the wounds. Tom was administered a general anesthetic for that surgery. As a result, he was nauseous and vomited all the way home. Needless to say, these surgeries are something he dreads. He keeps the carcinomas in check by applying a topical chemotherapy product to his face at various intervals throughout the year. The goal is to catch the precancerous cells, actinic keratoses, before they morph into carcinomas. The week of Thanksgiving he saw the dermatologist's physician's assistant for his semi-annual checkup. He had one spot that bothered him. It had been frozen about 8 months earlier and had never seemed to heal properly. It looked like a weird kind of scar, dark pink and about the size of a BB. She decided to biopsy it. Last Friday the doctor called and left a message. Tom needed more surgery and he needed to talk to him about it. Tom was imagining the worst - more Mohs, more plastic surgery. He wasn't prepared for what was to come. He finally talked with the doctor on Tuesday. He has a form of melanoma. It's not malignant, thankfully, but it is locally invasive, agressive, and can metastasize. It's called atypical fibroxanthoma melanoma, or AFX melanoma. Just the word melanoma is enough to scare the hell out of you. I looked it up on the Internet and found out that he won't die from it, as long as he gets it removed. The doctor said he probably won't get more of them - but then again, he may. Tom is freaking out because he now has to go to an oncologist to have it removed. His doctor won't do these, even though he's one of the top Mohs surgeons in the country. Apparently, to make sure you get it all, you have to do the surgery in a hospital setting with different lab techniques. So, his consultation with the oncologist is the 30th. The surgery is scheduled for January 7. Hopefully, the excision will be small and his face will heal quickly and invisibly. You can't even see the scars from the previous Mohs surgeries. This tumor is just to the left of his left eye, between the eye and temple. It will be an interesting new year. We welcome all prayers!!!

Today is my granddaughter Olivia's birthday! She is six! She is having her birthday party tomorrow at Pizza Hut. She is so excited about it, but even more excited that her little friend, Lindsay, is spending TWO nights with her. I stopped by after work today to give her a birthday kiss and hug and she was all a-twitter. She, her friend and her little brother Tyler were running all over the house, screaming and being silly. It's so fun to watch the kids when they're so happy.

I got 34 new computers in at work today. My work is definitely cut out for me. I have to put those into place, rotate the computers they replace down to replace older more pathetic models, reinstall the applications, make sure everything is configured properly, and figure out where we're going to store the still-working computers that we will replace but not put into use at this time. We're going to store them so that, over the next two years, as the ones we're using now that are 5 years old die, I can pull one from storage and plop it into place. I am excited about having new computers for the patrons. Hopefully, I won't be called ten times a day to come down to help a patron with a computer problem. Then again, I probably WILL because they will be able to do more things, like save to a CD, and they won't know how so they'll need help. Oh well, job security!

Well, it's pouring rain, melting all the snow, it's getting late, Tom's on his way home, so I'm going to start dinner. Have a great weekend everyone!

A Day That Will Live in Infamy

29 years ago today my mother took her life. It would be so much easier if this day could just pass anonymously, but due to the Pearl Harbor Day hoopla, it never does. I woke up and didn't even notice the date on the calendar - until the newspaper arrived. There, proclaimed in headline font, was the reminder - Pearl Harbor Day. Ugh. I don't dwell on her death or its anniversary, but on this day there is a sort of air of melancholy that seems to settle on my world. It's as if I'm somehow a bit more aware of her absence today. I find myself missing her more than usual. I ponder the "what-ifs" just a bit more. I do miss her. She was an amazing woman, a wonderful mother, a terrific wife. Sadly, she suffered from manic-depression in an era before they knew about things like lithium. If she were alive now, she'd be easily treated, like Patty Duke has been. In the 70's the solution was to try to sedate these people with Valium. Nice try guys... doesn't work.

I knew my mom well enough to know that her suicide was not a commentary on her relationship with us kids. She had lived a life of pain and anguish, brightened by her four children and others she loved with all her heart. She was a brilliant woman, admired and respected by all who knew her. With the exception of her closest friends and family, no one knew the demon she battled. Her death came as a shock to so many, but not to her loved ones. She had attempted to end her life on several occasions. When she finally was truly ready, she did so in a way that left no doubt as to its success. As sad as her death was, as great a loss as it was to those who knew and loved her, I know God had a plan even in this. All four of her children have come to know the Lord since her death - likely as a result of it. Just as important, her dear brother, a man that had spent nearly half his life addicted to heroin and that she had helped begin a new life, free from drugs, also became a Christian. I'm convinced Mom is looking down on all of us and smiling. I only wish my husband and children could have known her. She would have loved them all so much and they her. So, on this 29th anniversary of her death, I wanted to say "Mom, I love you. I miss you every day. I can't wait to see you again!"

Walking in a winter wonderland

Yes, folks, another post about the weather. You see, it finally looks like winter outside. It is snowing as I type and it's been snowing pretty much all day. The trees now have that Currier & Ives look to them, as does most of landscape. Looking out my window here at work I feel like I'm in a snow globe someone has just shaken. It really is beautiful - until I have to drive home in it tonight. I would have to say this is the first real snowstorm of the winter. It likely won't amount to huge accumulations, but it is honest-to-goodness snowing outside and things are very wintry looking. Skiers rejoice! Winter has arrived.

Flaky weather prediction

They couldn't have gotten it much more wrong than they did last week. On Friday, the weather forecasters were predicting possibly the biggest winter storm to hit in a decade. Some people greeted this prediction with enthusiasm, especially Schweitzer Ski Resort, Silver Mountain, Mount Spokane, and 49 Degrees North. Les Schwab was packed with procrastinators - those who have yet to mount their winter wheels and tires. The grocery stores were inundated with people buying supplies to get them through a weekend potentially without power. Those of us who've lived here for any length of time are well aware of how power can be interrupted during a winter storm. Even the library was preparing. We printed emergency closure signs "just in case". If the storm got bad enough, or the power failed, we would close for the day. I had mixed feelings. On the one hand, I was looking forward to our first real snowstorm of the season. It's always magical when we get dumped on. The landscape changes so dramatically. On the other hand, I was dreading it. We were planning to do our Christmas shopping in Spokane on Saturday. A big storm would definitely put those plans on hold. Also, Jonathan has been sick all week and, as is typical with college kids, he wasn't taking very good care of himself. We were going to take him some medicine, feed him a decent meal, buy him some supplies for his room (water, Mountain Dew, and Cup of Noodles) and make sure he was doing okay. We might not be able to make the trek if the roads were treacherous.

By Friday, there was not storm, no snow, nothing. A collective sigh of relief could be heard throughout the region. At least if the storm hit on the weekend we could all just stay home and hibernate. The winter storm watch remained in effect for that night and Saturday though. We held our breath. Saturday morning dawned to a landscape identical to the day before's. No snow. I looked on weather.com for the forecast. The winter storm warning and snow advisory were still in effect, the timing of the storm was just delayed a few hours. We decided to go ahead and make the trip to Spokane. This will likely be Tom's last weekend for shopping. By next weekend he'll be so swamped he'll probably have to work on Saturday. FedEx truly is Santa's shipper of choice this time of year.

We made it to Spokane, did our shopping (got it all done), then went to pick Jonathan up from school. We took him out for a burger at Red Robin, then made a stop at Safeway for supplies. I had already bought him the essential cold and flu remedies in Sandpoint, which I brought with me, so he was ready to face finals week (December 14-18) - at least physically. Let' s hope he's prepared mentally as well. By this time it was about 4:30PM - time to head back - and still no snow. Not even a flake. Wow, I couldn't recall when the forecasters had missed it so badly before. We thought we might be surprised when we reached Sandpoint because often it won't snow in Spokane but will dump on Sandpoint. Not this time. The storm was nowhere to be seen. It was a little disappointing. What on earth could have gone wrong with the forecast models?

Sunday's paper had an article explaining what went wrong. The storm apparently split at some point out in the Pacific with the major storm part going north to Canada while the milder part was what eventually reached us Sunday afternoon. We got a mere 1/2 inch of snow. At the moment it's lightly snowing, but we're not expecting much accumulation. I'm sure all the ski areas and skiers/snowboarders are disappointed. Those of us who have to drive in it, though, are not at all unhappy.

Off to face the day...

Eclectic writings

I've started another blog to which I will post various writings. Some will be poetry, perhaps some pages from the novel I keep threatening to write. A link to it is in my "blogs of note" list for those interested. There is one entry thus far (aside from the original one stating the purpose of the blog). I will welcome criticism as you feel inclined to give it. Enjoy.

I should be working out....

....instead, here I am, at my computer, as if I don't spend enough time here during working hours. What is wrong with me? Don't answer that. I really do need to get back into the workout groove though. I have realized I am woefully out of shape. Simple things, like putting the cover back on the barbecue, result in a pulled (in this case, rhomboid) muscle. That's not a good sign. It was not all that long ago that I was confident my physical condition and strength could carry me through just about anything. Now I struggle to keep from pulling muscles. I'm too young for this feeling.

I decided yesterday to begin getting back into the groove by going for a walk with a coworker at lunch. Just as we were preparing to depart, my brother IM'd me. I had not talked with him at length in ages, so I delayed the departure. I had a great chat with Michael, but by the time we finished I had about 20 minutes for the walk. Actually, my coworker had only 20 minutes as she has a defined lunch hour whereas I have total flexibility when it comes to my hours. We decided to go anyway. It was about 32 degrees out, but it didn't seem that cold once we started walking. It felt great to get out into the fresh air in the middle of the day - something I seldom have the opportunity, or rather, take the time, to do. Unfortunately, my ears started to ache so bad from the cold I could hardly stand it. They hurt on the inside and the outside and continued to hurt for several minutes after we returned to the library. It was not fun - and I have a very high tolerance for pain so you know it had to be bad. I now have to go invest in some ear muffs so I can continue these lunchtime walks. I've never worn ear muffs before. I don't even know where to buy ear muffs. Another coworker told me they make new, sleek ones so you don't look like you have Hostess Snowballs attached to the sides of your head. I wonder where you get those (the sleek ones, not the Snowball ones.)

My boss told me his doctor told him that full spectrum lights (which we have at the library) don't do a darned thing to help your pineal gland and that, this time of year in this part of the world, most people's pineal glands are not even functional. The only way to make it work again is to spend 30 minutes a day outdoors, regardless of whether it's sunny or cloudy, between 9AM and 2PM. Being in an office with windows doesn't count, nor does being in a vehicle all day. You have to be outside. That was the impetus for the walk. A non-functioning pineal gland leads to overeating, oversleeping, depression, weight gain, and a raft of other seasonally affected maladies. No wonder I struggle with my weight and my motivation to workout every winter. And as I age, the ability to lose the weight I gain becomes more of a struggle. Ugh.

So why am I sitting at my computer? Time to go to the gym! Ciao!

Paradise Found

I really do live in a beautiful place. As much as I am not a fan of winter, I have to admit that there is not much more beautiful and peaceful looking as a landscape covered in freshly fallen snow, especially when the sun is shining on it. I took a few more shots of my house and the end of my street in the midday light (as opposed to the somewhat gloomy early morning light).






I live in a neighborhood with its own beach. The beach is a little over a block away. I drove to the beach and took these shots of the view from the street above our beach. They are panoramic beginning looking east toward Montana and ending looking west toward town (Sandpoint). Our beach is actually down below and to the left by about 300 feet of the house under construction in the first photo. We have a lot above the beach with a picnic table, fire pit, BBQ, and parking and then the beach with a dock and launch ramp for our boats. Here's a map of our neighborhood. The beach is at the end of the road on the left that goes down to the water. It's 0.3 miles from the house.



Now for some photos of the lake... of course, you can click on these for larger versions.









This truly is a beautiful place in which to live!