12.24.2008

merry christmas

Today we were finally about to get The Baby to the vet. She's been biting out her fur since this snowing began but the roads were not passable until now. By passable I mean we had to wake up early, shovel the hill again, get pushed up the hill, slide down the hill into a snow bank, and have 5 guys pull over to lift the hyundai out of the snow bank so we could keep going. When we finally got to the vet we found out that she has an ear infection in both ears and they don't know what's causing the itching. Either was, she needs medicine applied twice daily and we had only arranged for the cat sitter to make 3 visits to us. So now we have paid to board The Baby at the Pet Smart hotel and we are also paying the cat sitter to watch Stella at the house. The vet visit, medicine, and boarding are a lot of extra expenses we didn't expect right now but I'm glad that she's getting taken care of.
We can't get the hyundai back up our hill so we parked it in a nearby business. Unfortunately, we didn't park it in the right one and ended up walking a lot farther than needed through 2 ft deep snow. Our shoes were soaked through when we got home. We considered driving ourselves to the airport since we aren't confident that the airport taxi will make it here so we walked back to the car to drive it to a closer parking lot. The plan was to carry the luggage down the hill and to the car. The news said that all the airport parking lots, on site and off, are full so I guess we have to find a way to get the hyundai up the hill tomorrow or it's going to get towed. The airport shuttle promised to tell us early tomorrow if they aren't going to make it so at least that gives us a little time to try to think of another way to get to the airport if needed. If anyone has an idea, we're open to suggestions. The busses still aren't running up here and you still can't get a regular cab.
In other news, the mayor was interviewed today saying that he gives himself a B grade for how the storms were handled. Merry Christmas!

12.23.2008

Too FAR

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008551284_snowcleanup23m.html

it turns out "plowed streets" in Seattle actually means "snow-packed," as in there's snow and ice left on major arterials by design

You see, Seattle has decided that salting the roads is bad for the environment, so they aren’t going to do it. The DOT has said that “the city's approach means crews clear the roads enough for all-wheel and four-wheel-drive vehicles, or those with front-wheel drive cars as long as they are using chains.” 

That’s wonderful.  Just wonderful.  Salts isn’t eco-friendly, tough luck guys, hope you have an SUV.  Wait, I thought 4-wheel drive SUVs weren’t eco-friendly.  How are supposed to drive on your ice and snow packed roads with our little prius or smart car??

Meanwhile, millions of people are stranded and an entire region has been brought to a halt.  This is a serious situation and people are being hurt.  This environmentalism has gone too far.  I don’t care if you want to take away my plastic forks and knives,  or fine me for using a plastic bag, but if I miss my wedding because of your idiotic eco-friendly shit, then this has gone too far.

12.22.2008

question:

What circumstances are required to declare a state of emergency?
-We've been unable to leave our parking lot for 6 days and we aren't alone. Most residential roads have not been plowed.
-The airport is closed and has been for days. Even if they can keep the runways plowed, they are out of deicer with no mention of any on the way.
-Amtrak and Greyhound aren't operating.
-Over half of the metro lines aren't running. The servers are down most of the time on the website making it difficult to figure out which lines are running. (FYI, ours aren't.)
-Gas stations are out of fuel because the trucks can't get in.
-Trash hasn't been picked up in a week.
-UPSP, FedEx, and UPS aren't delivering
-Emergency vehicles can't access most residential areas.
-There have been hundreds of car accidents related to the snow and ice.
-Roofs are collapsing due to the snow.

I kid you not, the news reported the plan is to "wait for it to melt." If you are curious, take a peak at the Seattle weather forecast to see if it looks like that's going to happen soon.
So again I ask, what circumstances are required to declare a state of emergency and get some aid? Is there a certain threshold of property damage or lives lost?

Also, the baby has been biting her fur off and we'd love to take her to the vet but we can't. Every time the news anchors make some cutesy comment about how funny it is to have all this snow I want to punch them.

12.19.2008

What the pho!


We are still snowed in! Basically, it snowed about 4 inches and the city is just completely chaotic. They don't have the resources to make the roads passable, so most residential streets (many of which are on hills) are dangerous sheets of ice right now. The pictures above are from a bus accident today on Capitol Hill. They were carrying 80 kids. (Story here)
Yesterday we tried our best to shovel a path up our hill to get out, but because our apt complex was unwilling to add any salt or sand it's since frozen over. Nate hiked 5 miles in 20 degree weather today to get us groceries and cat food. Don't mock those "when I was your age" stories! He walked uphill in the snow both ways!
While he was gone, I finally was able to get onto the metro website, since the servers have been on and off with the increased usage this week. I found a bus route to get us to the dress shop where my wedding dress is, since I won't be able to drive there before the wedding. It was a 4 hour adventure, but we have the dress! The bus system is great and I'm glad we tried it. We couldn't believe how many stops there were this north of the city.
The weather does not look promising for the next week, and we're coming up with alternative ways to get to the airport. I'm not sure how long the apt complex plans to leave us stranded down here, but they claim to have done everything they can. The city expects widespread power outages this weekend, so Nate bought a bunch of energy bars while at the store. We are hoping for the best and trying to make the best of the situation. I can't wait to be in NC!

12.09.2008

Introducing…

Astro-Dino!

IMG_0618

This little fella continues our trend of having ridiculous Christmas tree ornaments.  Now the green dinosaur has a friend.

12.07.2008

Cat Friends

Our cats have a new friend.  She/He/It, who I’m going to call Gigantor, has come around the back of the apartment a couple of times now, and they all seem to get along real well!

IMG_0676

OK – maybe not.  I love how Stella never moved while Gigantor stood at the door batting at her.  Eventually, Stella and The Baby intimidated it enough that it scurried away.  They then proceeded to fight amongst themselves again…

Here’s a video

11.20.2008

i'd never internet someone!

I entered my blog into Wordle and got this masterpiece. I think wordle rick rolled me in its own way. Thanks to Helen for finding this site!

11.17.2008

11.16.2008

what the tubes have been up to

The tubes have been pretty slow except for this gem. I can't believe I forgot to blog about this considering I laughed for a good 5 mins.
The Great Pizza Orientation Test
If you've ever used Domino's online ordering you'll enjoy this.

11.04.2008

Happy Voting Day!

While it may be neat that MSNBC is using one of those giant Surface computers to cover the election results, they’ll never be able to beat Tim Russert and his whiteboard

Tim_Russert_WhiteBoard I hope you all get out and voted today, if only for the free coffee from Starbucks

10.29.2008

the rick roll evolves

MTV has just launched their new MTV Music website where you can view their entire catalog of music videos. Yes, I know that's what we all thought the TV channel was supposed to be but whatev. The important thing is to behold the power of nerds on the internet. Rick Astley is both on the Most Viewed and Top Rated lists. Absurd.

p.s. For those of you who don't know what a rick roll is... it's an internet meme where someone posts a mislabeled video link that takes you to the Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" music video. For example, someone might claim to have a video of Obama praising socialism and you'd click and exclaim "I got rick rolled!" Yeah, I think it's kinda dumb too but ask Nate to tell you about the real life rick roll in his office.

10.27.2008

table for two


Look! A table! We were planning to buy this table at Ikea last weekend and ended up finding it on Craigslist for much cheaper. It can expand to seat 6 if we ever meet 4 more people. Sadly, they only had 2 chairs in stock but we could only afford 2 anyway so it worked out. It's hard to see in the picture, but those are glittery halloween candles! Yay for not eating at the couch anymore!

10.26.2008

Rattlesnake Ridge

We went for a hike today at a peak about 30 miles outside of Seattle.  It was a short, half-day hike, about 2 miles each way.  We went hoping to see some fall color, but I think a lot of it may have passed by now.  Still, we saw a lot of yellows, and the view was so nice.  We didn’t know what to expect at the summit, but the view turned out to be an amazing panoramic of the valley.  Leighann says that that was the nicest place she’s ever had a sandwich. 

I’ve uploaded the pictures to my Picasa Web Album and embedded the slideshow.  You’ll have to click on the slideshow if you want to see it full screen.

 

 

We’re still waiting to see some of this terrible rainy weather everyone warned us about.

10.22.2008

life in a blue state, part 347834















As I've previously mentioned, Seattle is enacting a plastic bag tax of 20 cents per bag in January. The tax will also apply to styrofoam food containers, but those will eventually be banned. The restaurants are responsible for providing alternatives to styrofoam containers, but for bags we're on our own.
I have mixed feelings on this. While I appreciate people making efforts to lessen their impact on the environment, I don't necessarily want the latest green trend shoved down my throat by government.
Here is an editorial on the subject: here
Behavior can be changed several ways, but it seems like the solution to everything is to punish us in our pocket books. A cynical person might be inclined to think the city is just trying to make more money. Do we not believe in positive reinforcement anymore? Ikea gives you 25 cents off per reusable bag you fill and I see tons of people with those hideous blue and yellow bags. They aren't even easy to carry!
ANYWAY... I like the idea of minimizing our environmental impact, but I don't think that's what this is about. I stand by my plan to find offensive tote bags (organic cotton, of course.)

10.19.2008

Not Welcome

We’ve taken some steps to address the burglaries.

IMG_0459

Thanks Doug and Helen for the doormat.  Now robbers and small children will know they aren’t welcome.

stellanor rigby


Stella is a big cat. Not just fat.. her frame is large. Well, it turns out she might not be a cat at all. While searching through my files for something this morning, I came across Stella's adoption papers. Since Nate adopted her before we were living together, I'd never seen them. According to the humane society, Stella is an "other". That's right. Instead of checking the box for dog or cat, they checked other. For breed they wrote grey tiger. That seems like more of a description of her coloring rather than an actual breed but whatevs. We now have one cat and one other.

10.16.2008

the suckiest suck that ever did suck

Ok so we are in bed last night about to fall asleep and we hear a bit of noise. I guess it must not have sounded like the normal noises that cats make because we both were very nervous and nate went out to check it out. Not finding anything, we concluded it must have been the cats. Then a few minutes later, someone runs past our window into the woods. So we sit there and try to figure out a reasonable explanation. Then there is a barking dog, talking outside, and flashlights in our window. Crappy.
So we get out of bed and put on shoes and jackets and go see the cop and neighbors outside. It turns out the guy was at the neighbors window (there are only 2 of us on the bottom floor) and they didn't know if he was trying to break in or just look in the windows. But they said it was the 3rd time it had happened since they moved in. We told them where the guy ran but the cop had another call to go to and wasn't interested in going into the woods to find the guy.
I have several problems with this:
1. WTF is down the little trail the goes into the woods? We never heard a car pull up or leave so if he came on foot where did he come from and what is in the woods?
2. Why didn't he take anything? We have stuff on the porch that he could have took if he wanted to. They have stuff on their porch. We are actually closer to the woods than our neighbor so why did he walk past ours and pick theirs?
3. What would someone take on foot anyway? And if he wanted to do something besides stealing, why would he run away at the discovery of people?
4. Why don't we have enough police to send someone in the woods to make sure there isn't some homeless camp or something?

Anyway. We didn't sleep much.

So today I went to the bridal seamstress to have her look at my bridesmaid dress for amanda's wedding and my own wedding dress. Why is it so expensive? How much is it supposed to cost to have a bridesmaid dress altered. And she scolded me for not having shoes yet. I went to go buy shoes afterwards but then realized I had a dilema. Last weekend, my driver's window stopped working. I can push it up and it mostly stays a crack down. I got to the mall and realized my wedding dress was in the car and anyone could easily push the window down and take it.
I decided to drive home and after lunch try again. I was craving mcdonalds and saw a sign for one at a confusing exit that split into 3 exits. I couldn't find the mcdonalds and tried to get back on the highway but the onramps were all hov only. So I got lost in a residential neighborhood and eventually found a mcdonalds. Without thinking I pushed the button to roll down my window and it went down! I got excited because I thought it was fixed. WRONG. It was not fixed and since it went ALL THE WAY DOWN I couldn't pull on it to put it back up. So I had to drive the rest of the way home with a lovely 40 degree breeze.
Anyway I know that was long and whiney but I didn't sleep much and I'm cranky. The end.

10.14.2008

Introducing….Nate!

I’ve been promoted from the position of lowly commenter to active contributor! We figured it was silly having two different blogs mirroring the same little bits of news that we had. We’ll see how much I actually post here. Oh, and now we need another commenter, cause I think we’re down to one…

100th post

In honor of 100 posts, I've changed to a ridiculous theme. Let me know how you feel about it.

10.13.2008

weezer/ angels and airwaves

We finally made it into the city this weekend! Weezer and Angels and Airwaves were playing at the Key Arena and it was really fun. For those of you unfamiliar with the area, the arena is right under the space needle. Even knowing that, it was still surprising to exit the concert and be greeted with a giant landmark in my face.
ANYWAY.
We missed the opening band- I couldn't even tell you their name. We wanted to get a drink, but no alcohol was allowed in the seating area so we had to drink on the concourse. We got to our seats (yes, we were old and sat in seats) just in time for Angels and Airwaves. I really enjoyed them. I know this picture didn't come out very nicely, but if you can imagine, the orange lights looked like falling meteors. It was a really different light show.




Weezer was a blast! I was never a huge Weezer fan, but I knew just about every song they played and they sounded great. They had a trampoline on stage and generally acted ridiculous. During their encore, they let about 20 local musicians up on stage to perform with them. They had just about any instrument you could imagine and played some of the sing-a-long classics. It was really fun and I almost forgot to take video, but I did take this one earlier in the show. I imagined the crowd playing along on their rockband instruments because I know that's what nate and I were doing. Nerds ftw.

So we decided when we do end up buying a house, it's going to have to be in the city. We'd both rather sacrifice size for location because it's taken us a month living up in Bothell to make it down to the city. That is too long!

10.09.2008

over 1 billion served

The national debt clock has run out of digits.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7660409.stm

I tried to add a widget to the blog, but it was too wide to fit. Go figure...
I added this instead. Be patient.. it takes awhile to load

10.07.2008

pictures

As promised, I took a few photos of our new place in Bothell. We haven't hung our pictures yet but I had sunny weather today so it was now or never!

This is the fireplace with the beginning of my halloween display. To save money, we'll buy most of the decorations after the holiday when they are on sale and have something better next year.

This is my office. I took the den that is open to the living room. I'm very excited to actually have somewhere to keep my telescope.

The guest room is also Nate's office. His desk is across from the futon. When he works from home, he can close the door but mostly he just brings the laptop in the living room.

I have a reading nook again! It's much easier on my eyes to read with natural light. Stella is a fan of the view too.

Here's another view of our living room.
Every single window faces trees! This is the back of our apt as seen from the patio.

Here is our bedroom. We waited for a long time for these ikea tables to come back in stock!

All in all, we're very happy with this place. It's great to not have to look out my window into someone else's apartment. Since we're on a hill, our garage is actually above us. When you come in through our garage you walk downstairs! It's great for carrying groceries. The leaves are just starting to change around us, so I can't wait to see pretty leaves out of all of my windows!

10.06.2008

a productive weekend

We were very productive this weekend.

-I got my dalom tables from ikea. They're being used as bedside tables.
-We finished our registry. This was difficult because we received way too much unsolicited advice on what to add (or subtract.) We tried to keep a wide range of prices keeping in mind that people can just get us gift cards if they don't like what we chose. And I took off the bedding because I still like mine too much. TJ Maxx ftw.
-We had our 2 meals out for the week. I wasted my Macaroni Grill meal on salad which was sad. Nate got a ravioli dish that was way better. I redeemed myself Sunday morning when we tasted "Washington's best bacon" at Country Cafe. There is a huge country village nearby with a giant rooster statue out front and it fills the void Cracker Barrel left.
-All of our boxes are finally unpacked and out of the garage! I finally can walk into our home and feel relaxed.
-The invitations are DONE! They took forever and at the last minute we decided to print up inserts that gave our website so hopefully people end up at the right hotel. The insert made the envelopes 0.01 oz overweight and I had to buy 17 cent stamps to add to the envelopes. It's an elk or a ram or something and it looks ridiculous next to the heart stamps I carefully picked out. Then the guy told me it's against federal law to not put return addresses on your envelopes. I check the usps website and it gave specific cases where that's true but I don't think it applies to my invites so I drove down the road and dumped them in one of the blue mailboxes. I hope they make it!!

Ok so I'm going to try to be better about blogging since I'm now way far away from anyone I know. Until next time.

10.03.2008

life in bothell

We are out of corporate housing and in our new place in Bothell! Our unit is on a corner with forest on both sides so it's very private feeling. It's much larger than our place in Melbourne so our stuff actually fits. Pictures coming soon...
Wedding planning is starting back up again. The invitations arrived this week and I've been addressing them myself. SPOILER ALERT: They aren't in cursive AND I used some abbreviations. I can't get that many invites out in a few days without cheating a little. I'm calling it modern. Also, my dress should arrive today. We had to have it shipped from FL since I still need to get it altered. Now I have to find someone here to do the alterations.
On a side note, I want to mention that you can lump me in the 83% who disapprove of Congress. That is all.

9.17.2008

life in seattle

We're here!! The moving was really easy. People came and packed up all of our belongings and took them away while we sat there. The cars got shipped here and pet transporters flew our cats to meet us here. Right now we're in corporate housing in Redmond. It's a cheaply furnished 1/1 apartment with the most uncomfortable bed I've ever slept on. We have a place up in Bothell that is really nice, but there is no point moving in until our stuff gets here. I sorta feel like I'm on a boring vacation and staying at Travel Lodge right now. I'm really anxious to set up our new place and actually feel home.
Adjusting to life in a blue state is interesting. For example, using plastic bags has become socially unacceptable. Every store will ask you if you want a bag in a tone that suggests you really don't want one, and if you still want one they will give you a bag so small your items are bursting out of it. In January, Seattle is starting a 20 cent plastic bag fee! (If anyone knows where I can find offensive, reusable bags please pass on the link.)
Another adjustment has been living on a three dimensional surface. Our new place is at the top of a steep hill and I wasn't sure if my car could do it. Everywhere you turn there is a gorgeous view. Anyway.. I have stuff to do. I'm going to send an email out with our new address and if you don't get it, give me your email b/c I don't have it!

8.22.2008

this can't be right


This is the most unhelpful box of all time. The left button ended up downloading shockwave...


And then we tried to research how to get a marriage license. How frequently are people in Melbourne really asking to marry their nephew?? http://199.241.8.125/index.cfm?FuseAction=MarriageLicenses.FAQs (for a bigger look)

p.s. i'm done with work yay

8.16.2008

what i've been up to

So as most everyone knows, we're moving to Seattle. My last day of work is Thursday unless the hurricane comes and then who knows. No day off until Friday =(
On Tues night after I got off work we drove to NC for wedding stuff. This was the only chance we're going to have to go there before the wedding so we had to make sure everything was taken care of. We arrived about 4am Wed morning and at 8:30am we started our vendor meetings. Faye, our wedding planner, was amazing! She lined up back to back meetings that lasted until around 10pm. Nate and I had packed lunchables which we shamelessly assembled in front of one of the DJs. The next morning we drove home and then I started my final (yay) 7 day stretch of work. I am not working another job without weekends again.
Before work yesterday we went to go buy our wedding bands but apparently platinum has tripled in price so my affordable wedding band is not so affordable anymore. Nate is pretty flexible on his but still I hate paying so much for something when it was so much less a couple months ago.
We still haven't found a place to live but we have a good idea of what we want. Renting is very popular in Seattle so the places that we've liked are already taken. Everywhere we look already has a washer and dryer, but we really want to bring ours.
Has anyone ever traveled long-distance with cats or know what shipping a cat involves? I will feel bad sedating them but I think they will be too scared otherwise. That is my only concern with moving because we'll have movers to deal with everything else. It's going to be nice not dragging boxes up and down stairs!
I think that's all for now. The wedding planning is pretty much taken care except for invitations. We just can't order them until we have an address. The moving is fairly under control. The rings are not under control but I can always just get a solid band if we run out of time before we move to get the one that matches mine. There is not too much to be stressed about but my doctor won't refill my birth control until I go in to see him which I really don't have time for so my hormones are a little out of whack. I will be taking a week off. After I get to seattle. =)

8.09.2008

a quick update

Because I've been busy!

- Wedding planning is going well. We're going up to NC next week to finalize some stuff.
- Nate comes home tomorrow!
- Moving to Seattle at the end of the month!

Ok that's all I have time for.

6.29.2008

this is why i still digg

You've probably all heard about the boy who climbed over 2 fences to retrieve his lost hat only to be decapitated by a roller coaster. If you haven't, read here or at any other news site. Yes- this is tragic. Yes- I'm probably going to hell for this but... I couldn't stop laughing this morning when I read the Digg comments. Click on the detail for a larger image and try not to laugh.


6.22.2008

custom receipt maker


I found this on Digg today and it's somewhat amusing. You can make your own receipt. I'm not sure what the purpose is but it kept me occupied for at least 2 minutes.
Try it if you want: www.customreceiptmaker.com

6.18.2008

download day


Yesterday Firefox tried to set the world record for the most downloads of a software package in a single day with their release of Firefox 3. They had over 8 million downloads including Nate and me! If you weren't part if it, you probably aren't as nerdy as us and should stop reading this blog. All of us on the tubes will have to wait patiently while Guinness reviews the data.

6.10.2008

seattle trip


I'm back from Seattle! We had lots of fun, including finding this passive aggressive note a short walk away from the market. I posted a ton of pictures on my Facebook. The temperature never got above the 60's and it barely rained. We ate twice at the crumpet shop and spent hours in the sci-fi museum. They had a whole case devoted to Dune. It was spectacular. Nate's apartment is nice and he has a scenic walk to work. I'm still exhausted and don't have a day off until next tues. Until then...

6.03.2008

is it fixed now?

The AC.... broke again today. I hurried into the office before it closed and the poor maintenance guy had to work overtime because I refuse to be inconvenienced a third time in just a few weeks. It's too hot to not have AC and it doesn't just turn off when it breaks. It runs constantly so my power bill goes way up and I'm still hot. When I got home from dinner, my apartment was at 70 and now I'm freezing. Well played, maintenance man, well played.
In other news wtf is going on at babcock and palm bay? I tried to get home from dinner and got detoured of course with my gas light on. I finally got to the citgo on us1 and exclaimed "eww hugo chavez gas" and kept driving, not even thinking about how far the next one would be. SPOILER: I made it home.
that's all for now.

5.25.2008

seven minutes of terror


NASA's Phoenix Lander touched down today in the northern polar region of Mars to search for frozen water. This is a big step in determining if life exists or ever existed on the red planet. The blog title refers to the time the space craft had to hit the brakes and make a smooth landing. Nerds everywhere are rejoicing because over half of similar missions have ended in failure. Check out more pics from the surface and the blog: here

5.17.2008

rain

-ac is fixed
-nate left for seattle =(
-it's raining for the first time in forevs
-we hired a wedding planner
-stella is on a rampage

5.11.2008

it's gettin hot in hur

so come and fix my freakin ac god dammit.
I can live with the passive aggressive notes rolled up in my door knocker that don't pertain to me but it passed 100 degrees this weekend. We're sitting around with all the lights off which is inconvenient because it's night time. What. Ev.

5.07.2008

I'm going to start up coffee again

...for this fabulous mug!
Your hot beverage turns the blue states red! Take that, agonizingly long democratic primaries! More pics here.

4.29.2008

I'm going to be rich

I receive spam all the time, but this is my favorite one yet! It's really quite excellent. Have a read:

My Beloved in Allah, I am Mrs. Alisia Malo am 51 years old from Botswana, I am deaf and suffering from a long time cancer of the Lungs which also affected my brain, from all indication my conditions is really deteriorating and it is quite obvious that, according to my doctors they have advised me that I live for the next two months, this is because the cancer stage has gotten to a very bad stage. I was brought up from motherless babies home, was married to my late husband for twenty years without a child. My husband died in a fatal motor accident. Before his death we were true Muslim. Since his death I decided not to re-marry, I sold all my inherited belongings and deposited all the sum of $18.5million dollars with a Security Company. Presently, this money is still with them and the management just wrote me as the true owner to come forward to receive the money for keeping it so long or rather issue a letter of authorization to somebody to receive it on my behalf since I can not come over because of my illness or they get it confisticated. Presently, I?m with my laptop in a hospital where I have been under going treatment for cancer of the lungs. I have since lost my ability to talk and my doctors have told me that I have only a few months to live. It is my last wish to see that this money is invested to any organization of your choice and distributed each year among the charity organization, the poor and the motherless babies home where I come from. I want you God fearing, to also use this money to fund orphanages and widows. I took this decision, before I rest in peace because my time will soon be up. As soon as I receive your reply I shall give you the contact of the Security Company. I will also issue you a letter of authority that will improve you as the new beneficiary of my fund. Please assure me that you will act accordingly as I stated here. I shall wait at your prayerful reply.on my private Email:alisiamalo3@yahoo.com Yours in His Service, MrS.Alisia Malo.

4.28.2008

As seen in Fishlips and Redheads this weekend...


Walmart's Policy

I'm not sure if these quotes are necessary or not, but they bother me. Also, the salutation could use some work.

4.10.2008

More "Hunting"


I love finding unnecessary quotation marks in my own door! This is great because I can tell from the comic sans font and the awesome clip art that they are really "appreciating" the $106 we send them every month. This party with the Free Pizza & Soda (caps?) can't possible be to sell us MORE crap. ALL normal parties involve some sort of presentation. I happen to have this day off, so I might just stop by to learn why they charge $10/month more than Vonage for phone service and why my internet slows to a crawl after 11pm.

Visitor's Map- UPDATE

The map appears to be working better now and actually keeping a history of the visitors. Don't worry- I can't see any personal information about you when you visit. I just see vaguely where you're located. I say vaguely because for us it shows Bright House's hub in Kissimmee which is about an hour away.
In unrelated news, I added a link to our wedding website since apparently the address is FAR too difficult to remember.

4.05.2008

Visitor's Map

Yeah, I know that for plural possessive the apostrophe comes after the s. I just don't anticipate it even being plural.
See the right tool bar for the map. Only the current visitor(s) are shown so basically it only serves to remind you of your current location.

Time Machine

For my birthday, Nate got me a cute pink external hard drive so I can play with Time Machine. The picture is from the Apple website since I couldn't take a screen shot in it for some reason. Anyway, set up was very easy. When I plugged in the drive for the first time, Time Machine opened with a giant on-off switch. When you click "on" it automatically does its first backup (which took all night for me.) I have it set to do hourly backups, which never noticeably slow the computer.
Navigating within Time Machine is really nice. Imagine cover flow... in space. By default, it opens my desktop folder in finder. As you browse today's computer, the images of your previous days follow along, so you can always see the same folder on all of them. You use the arrows to go forward and backwards in time, and a giant restore button to (you guessed it) restore the version you need.
All in all, I'm pretty pleased with this program and pretty impressed with Apple for making backing up your files actually fun. I just looked at my trash can, and it had over 2,000 items in it. I guess I can empty it now...

3.18.2008

From our washer and dryer delivery folks:

What does this even mean? Why the random capitalization and punctuation? Will my submissions ever make it to the blog of unnecessary quotes?

3.11.2008

Night Launch


Video: Endeavour Launch

From the opposite bank of the Indian River at 2:28am this morning. Unfortunately, the clouds were pretty low so the video is short. We didn't make it home until after 4:30.

3.08.2008

Does anyone have Twitter?

I got mad at Facebook when I received my first comment spam a few days ago and Myspace has long been on notice. I was in search of a new social network, and all of the buzz seems to be surrounding Twitter. Does anyone else use Twitter or want to join with me so I can test this out?
I've put a link above my RSS feed button on the right.

2.28.2008

Suggestions

When I was trying to search for the video of the Navy missile shooting down the satellite, Firefox provided these suggestions:
Are these supposed to represent the most common searches? Apparently our society has a fascination with child birth and crying.

2.21.2008

Navy Shoots Down Satellite with Fairy Dust



EDIT: After further research, I've decided to post an additional video so you can compare the animations of different sources. Enjoy.


EDIT2: Now I have the actual video. See below.

2.19.2008

Take Ben Stein's Advice on Money

I've been hearing complaints about our economy and the possibility of a recession.
"Health insurance is too expensive." (Wahhh, get rid of your cable or cell phone.)
"Social Security isn't going to be there for me!" (Wahh, go to the bank, open an ira, deposit even 2% of your paycheck. It will add up.)
I'm tired of middle-class whiners. Quit having kids you can't afford and living lifestyles you can't afford. Don't get a mortgage with the first 5 years as interest-only. You're not building equity! Why not rent for cheaper since you're throwing your money away anyway. Save up for those 5 years and maybe you'll have a down payment. The government isn't to blame for people's financial mistakes. And I shouldn't have to spend a dime of my tax money on someone else's irresponsibility.
ANYWAY, read Ben Stein's humorous investment advice which was the original point of this post.
http://finance.yahoo.com/expert/article/yourlife/66827

2.10.2008

Stop Complaining..


...and visit this website. Someone set up a message board for people to talk about the things that are going fine in their lives. It's not very pleasing on the eyes, but they just got up and running a few days ago so I'm sure improvements will be made. I'm about to make a post!

2.07.2008

I hope you know the finnish word for "open"

http://www.engadget.com/2008/02/05/finlands-roadside-toilets-now-accessible-only-by-sms/

Read about Finnish toilets that you can only open by SMS. Then read the hilarious comments that follow.

1.27.2008

If You're Bored

Here is something addictive for tomorrow when you're bored at work:
www.netdisaster.com

Type in a website you hate, choose your weapon, and go at it.

Nice Call, MSNBC


Maybe they gave Keith Olbermann control of the website...

1.26.2008

Raise Taxes?!




If any of you were watching the Jan 4th Republican debate in FL, you may have caught this little clip. After Mitt Romney's question, you very clearly hear someone whisper "raise taxes" or "he raised taxes". The internet (and our living room) was abuzz after this trying to figure out if it was a moderator, another candidate, or someone in the control room. At other points during the show, we heard paper moving and note-taking, so someone's mic being a problem.
A couple theories are being thrown around on this one. Of course, the Democrats and even Ron Paulbots are convinced this is a cue from one of Romney's guys. This isn't entirely far fetched, considering his response. My first thought was that the tone was sarcastic, leading me to believe Brian Williams had uttered it. That would be in character for him if you've ever seen him off the Nightly News. He's a pretty funny guy, and if he did say it, I'm sure he didn't expect his mic to be on. MSNBC, the network hosting the debate, released this blog which concludes an audience member was responsible for the whisper. (Read it here.)
MSNBC's conclusion seems to be the least reasonable, considering the mic several times picked up the sounds of paper and writing. The sounds were not frequent enough to be a journalist and were far too frequent for any audience member. It was usually during the response to a question as if the moderators had thought of a follow up and jotted it down, or a candidate was taking notes for their rebuttal. If anyone saw the whole debate, let me know your thoughts. It's still in my DVR =)

1.23.2008

Another Famous Stephen


I found this gem http://www.thelandsalmon.com/technology/stephen-hawkings-quotations.html
this morning! It's the greatest Stephen Hawking quotations. My favorites are #5 and #9 which made me laugh because they sound a bit like myself. (Only I'm the one still looking while crossing the road, not the one calling you out on it.) Enjoy!

1.17.2008

Best Smithsonian Exhibit EVER

The Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery has finally recognized our greatest American Hero: Stephen Colbert. His unique "triple portrait" will be on display for only 6 weeks, so if you will be in the area check it out.
The portrait can be found on the second floor near the presidents' hall. Proceed to the end of the hall and take a left in the doorway labeled "restroom". The portrait is located above the water fountain.

From the Smithsonian website
or
Watch Stephen convince the director of the Smithsonian to display his portrait.

1.11.2008

I'm a pretty pony




So many years ago, before Nate and I even began dating, we went on an exciting expedition to Target. One we will never forget. On the toy aisle was a horse on a stick... and it played this song. We still sing the song frequently. This is a smaller version of the horse. If you google "im a pretty pony" (trust me lol) there is a you tube video of some baby on a giant version. I thought it was creepy to post a video of someone's kid but check it out if you want to hear the lyrics more clearly.

1.10.2008

Wedding Website

For those of you interested, here is the link to the wedding website:
www.nateandleighann.com

There isn't much to see now, but as we get farther in planning we'll keep it updated.

Happy New Year

So my last post came a couple hours before Nate proposed and since then I've been to preoccupied to post! We spent Christmas and New Years at home by ourselves, which was really nice and stress-free. Spending Christmas alone won't necessarily be the tradition, but it was nice for our first holidays living together. Now that the season is over I can come back to posting regularly. (In the meantime read The Recycle Bin.) Also, tonight I'm going to start up one of those wedding websites. I'm not sure if they are for public viewing or if you need to log in to view it, but I'll let you know. Most people will be traveling to the wedding so there aren't going to be all of the parties/ showers that people typically have. This way people can still know what's going on if/when it's convenient for them.

BTW... WTF Iran?
"You will explode in two minutes."
"You will explode in two minutes??" I love that the kid was way surprised by this response to his request. He should have responded with "You will explode *reach for button* now." This is why I'm not in charge of a boat in a volatile area.