Here's a picture of the charred south side of San Bruno Mountain. The fire line actually went even lower on the mountain (which means the fire got even closer to us!) than I thought. Yikes!
Chloe
Ethan
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Good Idea
This may be something all parents out there should do.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/06/24/national/a213405D63.DTL&tsp=1
Good job Madelyn! Smart thinking Jessica.
This may be something all parents out there should do.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/06/24/national/a213405D63.DTL&tsp=1
Good job Madelyn! Smart thinking Jessica.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Another Close Call
We had another close call last night when a wildfire broke out on San Bruno Mt. at about 7:20pm. While the grass fire that broke out on May 21st burnt 7 acres and was contained within a couple hours, last night’s fire grew to 5-alarm and burnt over 200 acres. It was declared under control at midnight but full containment wasn’t declared until 11am this morning, 16 hours after it started. Cause of the fire is still undetermined.
Our house is about 0.5 to 1 mile from the fire site. We had a clear vantage point of it from our kitchen window and our backyard. Here is a picture I took from the backyard. You can see the fire outlining the mountain ridge.
Fortunately for us and especially for all the people in the surrounding neighborhoods, weather conditions last night favored firefighting efforts. Relative humidity was high and winds were considerably calm. With winds blowing to the east and our house being to the south and west, we were confident we were not in the path of the fire. Actually, RF was more confident than me. I was a bit nervous to be honest. Just one wild gust of wind can blow an ember any which way to spark another fire totally unexpectedly. Thank goodness that didn’t happen.
Here is a SF Chronicle report of this fire and all the other fires in the Bay Area over the weekend:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/23/BAS011DN5B.DTL&tsp=1
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Every generation is probably going to have a different version of this. Comparing generations may give insights on how the country progressed, or in some (most?) cases, regressed.
Here’s a look at what the folks in 1955 said:
- I'll tell you one thing, if things keep going the way they are, it's going to be impossible to buy a week's groceries for $20.00.
- Have you seen the new cars coming out next year? It won't be long before $2,000.00 will only buy a used one.
- If cigarettes keep going up in price, I'm going to quit. A quarter a pack is ridiculous.
- Did you hear the post office is thinking about charging a dime just to mail a letter?
- If they raise the minimum wage to $1.00, nobody will be able to hire outside help at the store.
- When I first started driving, who would have thought gas would someday cost 29 cents a gallon. Guess we'd be better off leaving the car in the garage.
- Kids today are impossible. Those duck tail hair cuts make it impossible to stay groomed. Next thing you know, boys will be wearing their hair as long as the girls.
- I'm afraid to send my kids to the movies any more. Ever since they let Clark Gable get by with saying DAMN in GONE WITH THE WIND, it seems every new movie has either HELL or DAMN in it.
- I read the other day where some scientist thinks it's possible to put a man on the moon by the end of the century. They even have some fellows they call astronauts preparing for it down in Texas.
- Did you see where some baseball player just signed a contract for $75,000 a year just to play ball? It wouldn't surprise me if someday they'll be making more than the President.
- I never thought I'd see the day all our kitchen appliances would be electric. They are even making electric typewriters now.
- It's too bad things are so tough nowadays. I see where a few married women are having to work to make ends meet.
- It won't be long before young couples are going to have to hire someone to watch their kids so they can both work.
- Marriage doesn't mean a thing any more, those Hollywood stars seem to be getting divorced at the drop of a hat.
- I'm afraid the Volkswagen car is going to open the door to a whole lot of foreign business.
- Thank goodness I won't live to see the day when the Government takes half our income in taxes. I sometimes wonder if we are electing the best people to congress.
- The drive-in restaurant is convenient in nice weather, but I seriously doubt they will ever catch on.
- No one can afford to be sick anymore, at $35.00 a day in the hospital it's too rich for my blood.
- If they think I'll pay 50 cents for a hair cut, forget it.
Here’s a look at what the folks in 1955 said:
- I'll tell you one thing, if things keep going the way they are, it's going to be impossible to buy a week's groceries for $20.00.
- Have you seen the new cars coming out next year? It won't be long before $2,000.00 will only buy a used one.
- If cigarettes keep going up in price, I'm going to quit. A quarter a pack is ridiculous.
- Did you hear the post office is thinking about charging a dime just to mail a letter?
- If they raise the minimum wage to $1.00, nobody will be able to hire outside help at the store.
- When I first started driving, who would have thought gas would someday cost 29 cents a gallon. Guess we'd be better off leaving the car in the garage.
- Kids today are impossible. Those duck tail hair cuts make it impossible to stay groomed. Next thing you know, boys will be wearing their hair as long as the girls.
- I'm afraid to send my kids to the movies any more. Ever since they let Clark Gable get by with saying DAMN in GONE WITH THE WIND, it seems every new movie has either HELL or DAMN in it.
- I read the other day where some scientist thinks it's possible to put a man on the moon by the end of the century. They even have some fellows they call astronauts preparing for it down in Texas.
- Did you see where some baseball player just signed a contract for $75,000 a year just to play ball? It wouldn't surprise me if someday they'll be making more than the President.
- I never thought I'd see the day all our kitchen appliances would be electric. They are even making electric typewriters now.
- It's too bad things are so tough nowadays. I see where a few married women are having to work to make ends meet.
- It won't be long before young couples are going to have to hire someone to watch their kids so they can both work.
- Marriage doesn't mean a thing any more, those Hollywood stars seem to be getting divorced at the drop of a hat.
- I'm afraid the Volkswagen car is going to open the door to a whole lot of foreign business.
- Thank goodness I won't live to see the day when the Government takes half our income in taxes. I sometimes wonder if we are electing the best people to congress.
- The drive-in restaurant is convenient in nice weather, but I seriously doubt they will ever catch on.
- No one can afford to be sick anymore, at $35.00 a day in the hospital it's too rich for my blood.
- If they think I'll pay 50 cents for a hair cut, forget it.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Vietnam
Although I didn’t dare to the ride a bike in Vietnam when I visited almost two years ago, I can relate to a lot of the things touched upon by this article. The descriptions of the sceneries, of the people, of the lifestyle along with accompanying pictures, all brought back images from my trip. Reading this article brings the whole trip back to life. Enjoy.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/15/TRFB10URQ6.DTL
Although I didn’t dare to the ride a bike in Vietnam when I visited almost two years ago, I can relate to a lot of the things touched upon by this article. The descriptions of the sceneries, of the people, of the lifestyle along with accompanying pictures, all brought back images from my trip. Reading this article brings the whole trip back to life. Enjoy.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/15/TRFB10URQ6.DTL
What If?
As most of you know, my husband and I purchased our home about two months ago in April. We actually didn’t mean to purchase a home that early. Our original plan was to get married in January, go on our honeymoon in May, then start looking for a home in June. But in February we got teased by the declining prices and decided to jump the gun on our home purchase. By April we found and purchased our current home. At that time we heard all sorts of opinions on the timing of our purchase. “Buy now…it’s a buyer’s market.” “Wait a little longer…prices are still falling.” Yadi Yada. After 2 months, we sometimes wonder “WHAT IF we had waited another two months like we originally planned?” With home prices continuing to drop, would we have gotten a better deal now? That is hard to say. But both my husband and I are very happy with our decision to buy at the time we did and here is why.
The real estate bubble started to burst last August. By April of this year the market had already accumulated a large inventory of unsold homes. With that, prices had already gone down significantly. It’s true prices are still falling as we speak, but how much speculating can one do? We are not property flippers looking for the best deal. Like many middle class workers out there, we’re merely normal citizens who were bitterly priced out of the real estate market since the early 2000s but finally saw a glimmer of hope as the market waned. By April, prices were finally affordable enough for us to consider paying mortgages, property taxes, and whatever expenses that may come with homeownership.
Since the down turn of the real estate market, the country has been on pins and needles about a looming recession. This led the Feds to slash interest rates by 3% in the matter of months. This was another important factor to drive us to buy - interest rates were lower than they had been in a long time. So at that point in time, we enjoyed the benefits brought on by the combined factors of lower home prices and lower interest rates.
Then little did anyone (including us) could predict, mortgage rates have actually been steadily rising again since April. Today the rate is 0.875% higher than the day we locked in our mortgage rate. Do not under estimate the difference of 0.875%. This equates to $235 more a month in mortgage payments. That’s a significant amount.
To analyze if we made a good decision to purchase our home two months ago compared to purchasing one today, let’s put these two factors together - decreasing home prices and rising interest rates. With mortgage rates 0.875% higher than two months ago, a comparable deal today would require a purchase price that is 10% lower than our purchase price two months ago. I don’t know what the statistical numbers are but from what I see in the market nowadays, there isn’t a comparable house similar to ours that is selling for 10% cheaper. Houses in our area that are listed for that price level all require a substantial amount of work to bring up to par. So in retrospect, we made a wise decision to purchase our home two months ago versus now. Versus one year from now? Who knows. The bottom line is we are happy with our purchase and we thank all the forces that came into play to make it happen.
As most of you know, my husband and I purchased our home about two months ago in April. We actually didn’t mean to purchase a home that early. Our original plan was to get married in January, go on our honeymoon in May, then start looking for a home in June. But in February we got teased by the declining prices and decided to jump the gun on our home purchase. By April we found and purchased our current home. At that time we heard all sorts of opinions on the timing of our purchase. “Buy now…it’s a buyer’s market.” “Wait a little longer…prices are still falling.” Yadi Yada. After 2 months, we sometimes wonder “WHAT IF we had waited another two months like we originally planned?” With home prices continuing to drop, would we have gotten a better deal now? That is hard to say. But both my husband and I are very happy with our decision to buy at the time we did and here is why.
The real estate bubble started to burst last August. By April of this year the market had already accumulated a large inventory of unsold homes. With that, prices had already gone down significantly. It’s true prices are still falling as we speak, but how much speculating can one do? We are not property flippers looking for the best deal. Like many middle class workers out there, we’re merely normal citizens who were bitterly priced out of the real estate market since the early 2000s but finally saw a glimmer of hope as the market waned. By April, prices were finally affordable enough for us to consider paying mortgages, property taxes, and whatever expenses that may come with homeownership.
Since the down turn of the real estate market, the country has been on pins and needles about a looming recession. This led the Feds to slash interest rates by 3% in the matter of months. This was another important factor to drive us to buy - interest rates were lower than they had been in a long time. So at that point in time, we enjoyed the benefits brought on by the combined factors of lower home prices and lower interest rates.
Then little did anyone (including us) could predict, mortgage rates have actually been steadily rising again since April. Today the rate is 0.875% higher than the day we locked in our mortgage rate. Do not under estimate the difference of 0.875%. This equates to $235 more a month in mortgage payments. That’s a significant amount.
To analyze if we made a good decision to purchase our home two months ago compared to purchasing one today, let’s put these two factors together - decreasing home prices and rising interest rates. With mortgage rates 0.875% higher than two months ago, a comparable deal today would require a purchase price that is 10% lower than our purchase price two months ago. I don’t know what the statistical numbers are but from what I see in the market nowadays, there isn’t a comparable house similar to ours that is selling for 10% cheaper. Houses in our area that are listed for that price level all require a substantial amount of work to bring up to par. So in retrospect, we made a wise decision to purchase our home two months ago versus now. Versus one year from now? Who knows. The bottom line is we are happy with our purchase and we thank all the forces that came into play to make it happen.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Call Me Skeptical
I was at Costco again yesterday. Although I wasn’t there for gas (I learned my lesson already), I couldn’t help but take a peak at their gas prices to compare. A gallon of regular unleaded went for $4.40 a gallon. Compared to $3.99 on May 27 (the last time I bought gas there), the price had gone up $0.41 in 2.5 weeks. 41 cents in 2 and a half weeks!! That’s beyond ridiculous. Call me skeptical, but I cannot ignore any suggestion of price fixing in the oil industry.
I was at Costco again yesterday. Although I wasn’t there for gas (I learned my lesson already), I couldn’t help but take a peak at their gas prices to compare. A gallon of regular unleaded went for $4.40 a gallon. Compared to $3.99 on May 27 (the last time I bought gas there), the price had gone up $0.41 in 2.5 weeks. 41 cents in 2 and a half weeks!! That’s beyond ridiculous. Call me skeptical, but I cannot ignore any suggestion of price fixing in the oil industry.
Friday, June 06, 2008
Miracle Baby
This is the kind of stories I like to read. The kind that leaves me smiling. The kind that leaves me to believe in miracles and hope.
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/24999650/?GT1=43001
This is the kind of stories I like to read. The kind that leaves me smiling. The kind that leaves me to believe in miracles and hope.
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/24999650/?GT1=43001
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Costco Gas
Costco is raking in the money as drivers flock to their gas stations for their lower-priced fuel. Since moving to our new home, we’ve been considering fueling up at the nearby Costco to save a few pennies at the pump. At our old place we never made a point to go to Costco for gas. We would get it if we were there, but never did we purposely go there for it. But now that we are so much closer to a Costco, we thought we can now fuel up at Costco purposely.
Last night we made our first trek to Costco for gas. Bad idea! The line was 20 minutes long! I’ve never waited more than 2 minutes at a regular corner gas station. The line to get into the fueling area snaked around the warehouse’s parking lot. I had to do a double take to make sure I was in the correct lane to be in line rather than to get into the parking lot. It was ridiculous. We almost decided to leave when we saw the line. We probably should’ve.
What we saved - $2.56. Yes, we saved a measly $2.56 while waiting idle in line for 20 minutes. Instead of paying $4.15 a gallon for regular at the Chevron near work, we paid $3.99 at Costco. I’m wondering if we SPENT the $2.56 we saved just for being in idle for 20 minutes! Then add to that the 20 minutes we could’ve spent doing something else. That’s an opportunity cost that I don’t even know how to calculate. Not to be snobby, I don’t think it’s worth the agony to save $2.56. So lesson learned for us. Forget Costco. Just fuel up at the corner gas station and save ourselves the agony.
For Costco though, they are laughing to the bank with this fuel crisis we are in. Look at our case last night for example. Within the 20 minutes we were there, I estimate the line was 4 cars deep at each of the 10 pumps (that’s 40 cars) plus another 20 cars snaking around the parking lot. That’s 60 cars, each fueling an average of let’s say $65 per tank. That’s $3900 in 20 minutes. I can’t even fathom how much they make a day!
Costco is raking in the money as drivers flock to their gas stations for their lower-priced fuel. Since moving to our new home, we’ve been considering fueling up at the nearby Costco to save a few pennies at the pump. At our old place we never made a point to go to Costco for gas. We would get it if we were there, but never did we purposely go there for it. But now that we are so much closer to a Costco, we thought we can now fuel up at Costco purposely.
Last night we made our first trek to Costco for gas. Bad idea! The line was 20 minutes long! I’ve never waited more than 2 minutes at a regular corner gas station. The line to get into the fueling area snaked around the warehouse’s parking lot. I had to do a double take to make sure I was in the correct lane to be in line rather than to get into the parking lot. It was ridiculous. We almost decided to leave when we saw the line. We probably should’ve.
What we saved - $2.56. Yes, we saved a measly $2.56 while waiting idle in line for 20 minutes. Instead of paying $4.15 a gallon for regular at the Chevron near work, we paid $3.99 at Costco. I’m wondering if we SPENT the $2.56 we saved just for being in idle for 20 minutes! Then add to that the 20 minutes we could’ve spent doing something else. That’s an opportunity cost that I don’t even know how to calculate. Not to be snobby, I don’t think it’s worth the agony to save $2.56. So lesson learned for us. Forget Costco. Just fuel up at the corner gas station and save ourselves the agony.
For Costco though, they are laughing to the bank with this fuel crisis we are in. Look at our case last night for example. Within the 20 minutes we were there, I estimate the line was 4 cars deep at each of the 10 pumps (that’s 40 cars) plus another 20 cars snaking around the parking lot. That’s 60 cars, each fueling an average of let’s say $65 per tank. That’s $3900 in 20 minutes. I can’t even fathom how much they make a day!
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Shopping to Save the World
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24622958/
The title of this article drew me to read it. It’s about what small choices we can make to be more environmentally friendly. One big insight the article offers is that spreading the word about being eco-friendly is probably the first big thing we can do for the environment. Hence I am here spreading the word.
While I am not the biggest tree hugger on the block, I am taking baby steps towards this worldly cause. I recently brought a reusable mug to work so I don’t have to use a paper cup everyday. Next I’ll be bringing in a set of reusable utensils so that I can also cut out my plastic fork and spoon usage. As the supply buyer for our company, I’ve been searching out recycled products as best I can. Over the weekend, my husband and I opted to buy a Brita water pitcher instead of a new case of bottled water to cut down on plastic bottles. We sometimes use a reusable shopping bag when we go grocery shopping to cut down on plastic bags. Yes, I said “sometimes” because here lies one of our biggest weaknesses. We cannot totally cut out plastic bags from our household. We still prefer to use plastic bags in our garbage bins. They’re just cleaner and more convenient. If anyone can suggest a better way to go about handling our garbage, please do not hesitate to educate us.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24622958/
The title of this article drew me to read it. It’s about what small choices we can make to be more environmentally friendly. One big insight the article offers is that spreading the word about being eco-friendly is probably the first big thing we can do for the environment. Hence I am here spreading the word.
While I am not the biggest tree hugger on the block, I am taking baby steps towards this worldly cause. I recently brought a reusable mug to work so I don’t have to use a paper cup everyday. Next I’ll be bringing in a set of reusable utensils so that I can also cut out my plastic fork and spoon usage. As the supply buyer for our company, I’ve been searching out recycled products as best I can. Over the weekend, my husband and I opted to buy a Brita water pitcher instead of a new case of bottled water to cut down on plastic bottles. We sometimes use a reusable shopping bag when we go grocery shopping to cut down on plastic bags. Yes, I said “sometimes” because here lies one of our biggest weaknesses. We cannot totally cut out plastic bags from our household. We still prefer to use plastic bags in our garbage bins. They’re just cleaner and more convenient. If anyone can suggest a better way to go about handling our garbage, please do not hesitate to educate us.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Close Call
A grass fire broke out on the northeastern end of San Bruno Mountain yesterday, just a couple miles from our home. Though I didn't think the fire would reach us, it was a bit too close for comfort.
Here's a link to The Chronicle's report of the incident.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/20/BA1210PQ45.DTL&tsp=1
Thursday, May 08, 2008
All Moved In
We are all moved in! Yesterday, May 7, was our official move-in day at our new house. Since we were previously in a one-bedroom apartment, we didn’t have much to move. Therefore the move was fast and easy. From the time RF left the apartment to pick up the rental truck (8am) to the time he returned the truck after the move (1pm), it was only 5 hours. That includes going to 3 cities and crossing a bridge. That’s fast. We even got a lot of unpacking done. There’s still more to do but at least the vital ones are done. We can do the rest as we continue to settle in.
Now the painful part starts. We have to look into a couple of repairs soon. That’s the downside of homeownership that everyone wants to ignore but can’t. Oh well, it comes with the territory and we have no regrets.
We are all moved in! Yesterday, May 7, was our official move-in day at our new house. Since we were previously in a one-bedroom apartment, we didn’t have much to move. Therefore the move was fast and easy. From the time RF left the apartment to pick up the rental truck (8am) to the time he returned the truck after the move (1pm), it was only 5 hours. That includes going to 3 cities and crossing a bridge. That’s fast. We even got a lot of unpacking done. There’s still more to do but at least the vital ones are done. We can do the rest as we continue to settle in.
Now the painful part starts. We have to look into a couple of repairs soon. That’s the downside of homeownership that everyone wants to ignore but can’t. Oh well, it comes with the territory and we have no regrets.
Monday, April 28, 2008
This Is Our House
We did it! We bought a house. We chased the All American Dream. Escrow closed on Friday (not without drama of course) and we immediately started to work on the house to prep it for move-in. We really didn't have to do anything as the house was in move-in condition, but we thought we give it a little of our own touch before settling in.
On Saturday a few of our dear friends came to help us paint the entire interior, install various items, and cut the over-grown grass in the front lawn. It was a very successful work day. We accomplished everything we wanted to do plus more. With just a few more minor touches, we will be ready to move in in about a week.
We cannot wait until the day the house is complete and we take everything in and say "This is our house."
We did it! We bought a house. We chased the All American Dream. Escrow closed on Friday (not without drama of course) and we immediately started to work on the house to prep it for move-in. We really didn't have to do anything as the house was in move-in condition, but we thought we give it a little of our own touch before settling in.
On Saturday a few of our dear friends came to help us paint the entire interior, install various items, and cut the over-grown grass in the front lawn. It was a very successful work day. We accomplished everything we wanted to do plus more. With just a few more minor touches, we will be ready to move in in about a week.
We cannot wait until the day the house is complete and we take everything in and say "This is our house."
Monday, January 21, 2008
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Alicia Keys
I don't usually post my own pics on my blogs, but I thought I'd share this one.
Alicia Keys stopped by our studio for an interview and a short meet & greet with the staff yesterday. She took pics with everyone and signed autographs as well. From my short time with her, I would say that she's very down to earth and nice. Lately I've been hooked on her song "No One", which she said she wrote out of the blue. The song just suddenly hit her and it wrote itself. Wish songs would suddenly "hit" me like that.
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Brain Gyms
There is an interesting article in today's SF Chronicle about an emerging industry - the Brain Gym. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/13/MNMETNGMV.DTL
In summary, as our population age and continue to work later into our senior years, we need to keep our brains as physically fit as we try with our bodies. The physical gyms where people go to exercise their bodies have been in service for many years, but now there is an emergence of "Brain Gyms". Like conventional gyms, seniors can pay for a membership with these brain gyms and go regularly to exercise their brains by participating in cognitive activities. As the article says, this is sort of like WD-40 for the brains.
Kudos to the people behind this idea. I think it's wonderful. Sure one can say it's just another gimmick to earn money from the vulnerable, in this case seniors. Seniors can exercise their minds for free by playing chess, crossword puzzles, or otherwise engage themselves in cognitively beneficial activities without paying a dime. But isn't that the same with the conventional physical gyms? Sure we can simply walk more each day and do more physical stuff to keep fit. Who needs a gym? Those who don't have enough self-discipline to walk more each day and be more active on their own. That's who. Some people just very well need to join a gym, pay the dues, and then make a point to go for a workout however many times a week to make their gym dues worthwhile. I see the same thing happening with these Brain Gyms. I can see some seniors going for their cognitve workouts (however reluctantly) because they paid money for it. But in the end, they reap the benefits of a fitter brain.
I also see this as a form of recreation and companionship for seniors as (1) their life partners pass or (2) their children "abandon" them as they live their own lives with their own families. Brain Gyms have much to offer to lonely seniors as these.
I look forward to seeing how this new concept will take shape. In the meantime, since I'm not admitting to being a senior (and frankly I'm not), I shall engage myself in more MJ games to exercise my brain.
There is an interesting article in today's SF Chronicle about an emerging industry - the Brain Gym. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/13/MNMETNGMV.DTL
In summary, as our population age and continue to work later into our senior years, we need to keep our brains as physically fit as we try with our bodies. The physical gyms where people go to exercise their bodies have been in service for many years, but now there is an emergence of "Brain Gyms". Like conventional gyms, seniors can pay for a membership with these brain gyms and go regularly to exercise their brains by participating in cognitive activities. As the article says, this is sort of like WD-40 for the brains.
Kudos to the people behind this idea. I think it's wonderful. Sure one can say it's just another gimmick to earn money from the vulnerable, in this case seniors. Seniors can exercise their minds for free by playing chess, crossword puzzles, or otherwise engage themselves in cognitively beneficial activities without paying a dime. But isn't that the same with the conventional physical gyms? Sure we can simply walk more each day and do more physical stuff to keep fit. Who needs a gym? Those who don't have enough self-discipline to walk more each day and be more active on their own. That's who. Some people just very well need to join a gym, pay the dues, and then make a point to go for a workout however many times a week to make their gym dues worthwhile. I see the same thing happening with these Brain Gyms. I can see some seniors going for their cognitve workouts (however reluctantly) because they paid money for it. But in the end, they reap the benefits of a fitter brain.
I also see this as a form of recreation and companionship for seniors as (1) their life partners pass or (2) their children "abandon" them as they live their own lives with their own families. Brain Gyms have much to offer to lonely seniors as these.
I look forward to seeing how this new concept will take shape. In the meantime, since I'm not admitting to being a senior (and frankly I'm not), I shall engage myself in more MJ games to exercise my brain.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Only a baby unaffected by the stress of life can laugh this whole-heartedly and genuinely. So very precious. If the video doesn't come up, here's the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HttF5HVYtlQ
The Excused Absence Network
This is an actual product that people can buy and use, and frankly, I think it’s ridiculous. It’s a computer software that let’s you print out a fake doctor’s note, jury duty summons, or something of the sort to get you excused from going to work. What has this world come to? It’s appalling that people will go to this extent of dishonesty and fabrication. I put this in the same category as people who use a mannequin to use the carpool lane. And one word describes them all – shameful.
Click on this link to read more about this: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21459535/
This is an actual product that people can buy and use, and frankly, I think it’s ridiculous. It’s a computer software that let’s you print out a fake doctor’s note, jury duty summons, or something of the sort to get you excused from going to work. What has this world come to? It’s appalling that people will go to this extent of dishonesty and fabrication. I put this in the same category as people who use a mannequin to use the carpool lane. And one word describes them all – shameful.
Click on this link to read more about this: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21459535/
Friday, October 05, 2007
Jalapeno Burn
I’m almost embarrassed to tell this story, but hey, there may be people out there as clueless as me about cooking with/handling jalapeno peppers. I learned it the hard way last night and I want to prevent others from having to go through it. While the following blog entry is sort of a crybaby’s whining, it is also a spreading of information for the otherwise clueless. So the story goes…
I made a stuffed jalapeno dish last night similar to one that my mom makes every so often. She cores the jalapeno peppers and stuffs them with fish or shrimp paste. Since RF likes spicy food, I thought I’d try making that dish.
I cut up about 10-12 large jalapeno peppers. Cored and seeded them. Stuff them with a mackerel paste I bought from R99. Then I pan fried all of them on high heat and added oyster sauce, garlic power, minced onions, and chicken bouillon for flavor. The dish came out pretty tasty and spicy. Just like mom’s.
BUT! Of course there’s a “BUT” with an “!”. This is an “almost embarrassing” story remember? So what did I do wrong to turn this otherwise happy story of a successful cooking venture sad? The answer is… I handled the jalapenos with my bare hands all through the cutting, coring, seeding, and stuffing process. 3 hours later my hands started burning...intensely. It felt like a 1st degree burn. Not that I know what a 1st degree burn feels like, but it might as well have been a 1st degree burn. My hands were just flaming with heat. To clarify, my hands FELT like they were burning and in heat. But in actuality they weren’t any higher in temperature than the rest of my body. RF touch my hands and he said it felt normal. But to me, my hands were surrounded by fire.
I put ice on them to soothe them but that served only as a temporary relief, not a cure. Another thing that gave me instant relief was running it under cold water. But less than a minute after I took my hands out from under the faucet and my hands began to dry, the burning came back again. RF and I had no idea what to do to take the burning sensation away. I thought of tiger balm, but we didn’t have any. RF offered to go to the drug store to get me some. But right before he was about to leave, he decided to look online for information regarding this type of burning. Sure enough he found a plethora of information regarding this thing called a Jalapeno Burn.
The first link that came up on the search was, believe it or not, Yahoo Answers. Apparently a lot of fellow Yahoo users had suffered this condition before and wrote about it on this site. Isn’t the WWW amazing? Anywa, back to the subject. RF read about several home remedies people suggested for dealing with Jalapeno burns. Many of them suggested soaking and washing the affected area with milk. Milk acts as a base to counter the acid in the oil of the pepper. So he poured some milk into a large bowl for me to soak my hands for 5 minutes. I did as the “doctors” ordered. After that I rinsed my hands in cold water. A minute later the burning came back.
Next he read that rubbing alcohol helps to wash the oil away. Someone on Yahoo Answers said he called the paramedics and the paramedics washed his hands out with rubbing alcohol. RF confirmed this method by looking at some paramedic site. So he poured rubbing alcohol into the bowl for me to soak and wash. 5 minutes of soaking and a rinse later, the burning sensation came back.
Next he read that vinegar also helps to dissolve the pepper oil. You guessed it, 5 minutes of soaking in vinegar and a rinse with water. Same result. Burning came back.
As I was about to give up and decided to give sleeping a try, he said a lot of people also suggested coating my hands with a mixture created with baking soda and water. He made me the pasty mixture and I coated my hands with it. I didn’t leave it on too long because the grainy texture of the baking soda did not do anything to taper off the heat. My hands were so tender and sensitive at that point that the grains felt 100% larger that they were. So I quickly rinsed off my hands and declared a lost battle.
I went to bed with stockings on my hands to prevent myself from rubbing my face in the middle of the night. The last thing I wanted was to transfer the oil from my hands to my face or eyes. No more than 5 minutes after I got into bed, my hands were flaming like mad. There was no way I could’ve slept with the burn. RF pulled the stockings off my hands saying I need to let my hands breathe.
Unable to sleep, I went out to the living room to apply an ice pack on my hands once again and laid on the couch to watch TV. I usually fall asleep watching TV so I was hoping that might do the trick. But it didn’t. The burning was too intense. I got up every half an hour to run cold water on my hands. By about 1am I made RF go to sleep without me. He wanted to stay up with me and keep me company. But knowing how tired he gets at work if he doesn’t get enough sleep, and knowing that the top CEOs of his company are in town this week from their parent company Australia, I told him he needs his rest. Since there wasn’t anything he could do to help my situation anyway, better just one person lose sleep over it than two. He reluctantly listened to me and went to sleep.
I continued to ice my hands and intermittently ran cold water over them for another 2 hours or so. It finally got too cold in the living room and I became really sleepy. So I took a brand new ice pack with me and crawled into bed. It was difficulty to refrain from moving too much in fear of waking up RF. Through the rest of the night I heard the neighbors’ automatic sprinklers spraying and by early morning, I heard a car pull up and then several thump thumps. It was the newspaper person tossing newspapers to people’s doorsteps. That was the first time I heard the newspaper delivery person while living in this apartment.
Eventually I fell asleep. I had no idea I fell asleep until I heard my alarm clock. I estimate I got about 1.5 hours to 2 hours of sleep. RF was still sleeping when I dozed off and he usually wakes up an hour before me. From that I am positive I got at least an hour of sleep. But how much more than that? I’m not sure. When I came to, my hands felt warm. The hot burning sensation had subsided to a warm feeling. As I got up to get ready for work, everything I touched felt amplified. The ribbed cap on the tube of toothpaste felt like rough sandpaper. My tea thermos felt hotter than it normally does. Even at work right now, freshly printed paper from the printer feels hot to my touch. My hands, especially my finger tips, are extremely tender and sensitive right now. But at least it’s not burning anymore.
From about 9:30pm when my hands started feeling the effects of the jalapeno burn to now, it has been a long 13 hours. The most intense feeling probably subsided about 7 hours into the ordeal. That’s a very very long time to endure such excruciating pain. But to think of it the “glass half-full” way, RF read on those links that most people cited 18 hours for the pepper oil to dissolve/evaporate out of the body. I guess I shouldn’t be complaining compared to them. But I did suffer through the night. So I am entitled to complain for as least a bit. In this case, for almost 3 blog pages worth.
To those of you who know about jalapeno burns and feel I was stupid to have handled them with my bare hands, stop laughing. To those of you who didn’t know such pain can come from cooking with jalapenos, beware and be warned. Don’t make the same mistake I did.
I’m almost embarrassed to tell this story, but hey, there may be people out there as clueless as me about cooking with/handling jalapeno peppers. I learned it the hard way last night and I want to prevent others from having to go through it. While the following blog entry is sort of a crybaby’s whining, it is also a spreading of information for the otherwise clueless. So the story goes…
I made a stuffed jalapeno dish last night similar to one that my mom makes every so often. She cores the jalapeno peppers and stuffs them with fish or shrimp paste. Since RF likes spicy food, I thought I’d try making that dish.
I cut up about 10-12 large jalapeno peppers. Cored and seeded them. Stuff them with a mackerel paste I bought from R99. Then I pan fried all of them on high heat and added oyster sauce, garlic power, minced onions, and chicken bouillon for flavor. The dish came out pretty tasty and spicy. Just like mom’s.
BUT! Of course there’s a “BUT” with an “!”. This is an “almost embarrassing” story remember? So what did I do wrong to turn this otherwise happy story of a successful cooking venture sad? The answer is… I handled the jalapenos with my bare hands all through the cutting, coring, seeding, and stuffing process. 3 hours later my hands started burning...intensely. It felt like a 1st degree burn. Not that I know what a 1st degree burn feels like, but it might as well have been a 1st degree burn. My hands were just flaming with heat. To clarify, my hands FELT like they were burning and in heat. But in actuality they weren’t any higher in temperature than the rest of my body. RF touch my hands and he said it felt normal. But to me, my hands were surrounded by fire.
I put ice on them to soothe them but that served only as a temporary relief, not a cure. Another thing that gave me instant relief was running it under cold water. But less than a minute after I took my hands out from under the faucet and my hands began to dry, the burning came back again. RF and I had no idea what to do to take the burning sensation away. I thought of tiger balm, but we didn’t have any. RF offered to go to the drug store to get me some. But right before he was about to leave, he decided to look online for information regarding this type of burning. Sure enough he found a plethora of information regarding this thing called a Jalapeno Burn.
The first link that came up on the search was, believe it or not, Yahoo Answers. Apparently a lot of fellow Yahoo users had suffered this condition before and wrote about it on this site. Isn’t the WWW amazing? Anywa, back to the subject. RF read about several home remedies people suggested for dealing with Jalapeno burns. Many of them suggested soaking and washing the affected area with milk. Milk acts as a base to counter the acid in the oil of the pepper. So he poured some milk into a large bowl for me to soak my hands for 5 minutes. I did as the “doctors” ordered. After that I rinsed my hands in cold water. A minute later the burning came back.
Next he read that rubbing alcohol helps to wash the oil away. Someone on Yahoo Answers said he called the paramedics and the paramedics washed his hands out with rubbing alcohol. RF confirmed this method by looking at some paramedic site. So he poured rubbing alcohol into the bowl for me to soak and wash. 5 minutes of soaking and a rinse later, the burning sensation came back.
Next he read that vinegar also helps to dissolve the pepper oil. You guessed it, 5 minutes of soaking in vinegar and a rinse with water. Same result. Burning came back.
As I was about to give up and decided to give sleeping a try, he said a lot of people also suggested coating my hands with a mixture created with baking soda and water. He made me the pasty mixture and I coated my hands with it. I didn’t leave it on too long because the grainy texture of the baking soda did not do anything to taper off the heat. My hands were so tender and sensitive at that point that the grains felt 100% larger that they were. So I quickly rinsed off my hands and declared a lost battle.
I went to bed with stockings on my hands to prevent myself from rubbing my face in the middle of the night. The last thing I wanted was to transfer the oil from my hands to my face or eyes. No more than 5 minutes after I got into bed, my hands were flaming like mad. There was no way I could’ve slept with the burn. RF pulled the stockings off my hands saying I need to let my hands breathe.
Unable to sleep, I went out to the living room to apply an ice pack on my hands once again and laid on the couch to watch TV. I usually fall asleep watching TV so I was hoping that might do the trick. But it didn’t. The burning was too intense. I got up every half an hour to run cold water on my hands. By about 1am I made RF go to sleep without me. He wanted to stay up with me and keep me company. But knowing how tired he gets at work if he doesn’t get enough sleep, and knowing that the top CEOs of his company are in town this week from their parent company Australia, I told him he needs his rest. Since there wasn’t anything he could do to help my situation anyway, better just one person lose sleep over it than two. He reluctantly listened to me and went to sleep.
I continued to ice my hands and intermittently ran cold water over them for another 2 hours or so. It finally got too cold in the living room and I became really sleepy. So I took a brand new ice pack with me and crawled into bed. It was difficulty to refrain from moving too much in fear of waking up RF. Through the rest of the night I heard the neighbors’ automatic sprinklers spraying and by early morning, I heard a car pull up and then several thump thumps. It was the newspaper person tossing newspapers to people’s doorsteps. That was the first time I heard the newspaper delivery person while living in this apartment.
Eventually I fell asleep. I had no idea I fell asleep until I heard my alarm clock. I estimate I got about 1.5 hours to 2 hours of sleep. RF was still sleeping when I dozed off and he usually wakes up an hour before me. From that I am positive I got at least an hour of sleep. But how much more than that? I’m not sure. When I came to, my hands felt warm. The hot burning sensation had subsided to a warm feeling. As I got up to get ready for work, everything I touched felt amplified. The ribbed cap on the tube of toothpaste felt like rough sandpaper. My tea thermos felt hotter than it normally does. Even at work right now, freshly printed paper from the printer feels hot to my touch. My hands, especially my finger tips, are extremely tender and sensitive right now. But at least it’s not burning anymore.
From about 9:30pm when my hands started feeling the effects of the jalapeno burn to now, it has been a long 13 hours. The most intense feeling probably subsided about 7 hours into the ordeal. That’s a very very long time to endure such excruciating pain. But to think of it the “glass half-full” way, RF read on those links that most people cited 18 hours for the pepper oil to dissolve/evaporate out of the body. I guess I shouldn’t be complaining compared to them. But I did suffer through the night. So I am entitled to complain for as least a bit. In this case, for almost 3 blog pages worth.
To those of you who know about jalapeno burns and feel I was stupid to have handled them with my bare hands, stop laughing. To those of you who didn’t know such pain can come from cooking with jalapenos, beware and be warned. Don’t make the same mistake I did.
Thursday, September 06, 2007
Life Was Hard for the Over 30
The following passage was forwarded to me from a friend. It’s one of the funniest email forwards I’ve received in awhile. It’s also one of the few that I can really relate to. I guess this dates me as an Over 30 huh? :P
When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were when they were growing up; what with walking twenty-five miles to school every morning ... uphill BOTH ways … yadda, yadda, yadda
And I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way in hell I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on kids about how hard I had it and how easy they've got it!
But now that... I'm over the ripe old age of thirty, I can't help butlook around and notice the youth of today. You've got it so easy! I mean, compared to my childhood, you live in a damn Utopia! And I hate to say it but you kids today you don't know how good you've got it!
I mean, when I was a kid we didn't have The Internet. If we wanted to know something, we had to go to the damn library and look it up ourselves,…in the card catalog!!
There was no email! ! We had to actually write somebody a letter ...with a pen! Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox and it would take like a week to get there!
There were no MP3's or Napsters! You wanted to steal music? You had to hitch-hike to the damn record store and shoplift it yourself! Or you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio and the DJ'd usually talk over the beginning and @#*% it all up!
We didn't have fancy crap like Call Waiting! If you were on the phone and somebody else called they got a busy signal, that's it! And we didn't have fancy Caller ID Boxes either! When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was! It could be your school, your mom, your boss, your bookie, your drug dealer, a collections agent, you just didn't know!!! You had to pick it up and take your chances, mister!
We didn't have any fancy Sony Playstation video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics! We had the Atari 2600! With games like " Space Invaders" and "Asteroids" and the graphics sucked! Your guy was a little square! You actually had to use your imagination! And there were no multiple levels or screens, it was just one screen forever! And you could never win. The game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you died! Just like LIFE!
When you went to the movie theater there was no such thing as stadium seating! All the seats were the same height! If a tall guy or some old broad with a hat sat in front of you and you couldn't see, you were just screwed!
Sure, we had cable television, but back then that was only like 15 channels and there was no onscreen menu and no remote control! You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on! You were screwed when it came to channel surfing! You had to get off your ass and walk over to the TV to change the channel and there was no Cartoon Network either! You could only get cartoons on Saturday Morning. Do you hear what I'm saying!?! We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons, you spoiled little bastards!
And we didn't have microwaves, if we wanted to heat something up we had to use the stove or go build a frigging fire ... imagine that! If we wanted popcorn, we had to use that stupid Jiffy Pop thing and shake it over the stove forever like an idiot.
That's exactly what I'm talking about! You kids today have got it too easy. You're spoiled!!!!!!!!!
You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in 1980!
Regards,
The Over 30 Crowd
The following passage was forwarded to me from a friend. It’s one of the funniest email forwards I’ve received in awhile. It’s also one of the few that I can really relate to. I guess this dates me as an Over 30 huh? :P
When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were when they were growing up; what with walking twenty-five miles to school every morning ... uphill BOTH ways … yadda, yadda, yadda
And I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way in hell I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on kids about how hard I had it and how easy they've got it!
But now that... I'm over the ripe old age of thirty, I can't help butlook around and notice the youth of today. You've got it so easy! I mean, compared to my childhood, you live in a damn Utopia! And I hate to say it but you kids today you don't know how good you've got it!
I mean, when I was a kid we didn't have The Internet. If we wanted to know something, we had to go to the damn library and look it up ourselves,…in the card catalog!!
There was no email! ! We had to actually write somebody a letter ...with a pen! Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox and it would take like a week to get there!
There were no MP3's or Napsters! You wanted to steal music? You had to hitch-hike to the damn record store and shoplift it yourself! Or you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio and the DJ'd usually talk over the beginning and @#*% it all up!
We didn't have fancy crap like Call Waiting! If you were on the phone and somebody else called they got a busy signal, that's it! And we didn't have fancy Caller ID Boxes either! When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was! It could be your school, your mom, your boss, your bookie, your drug dealer, a collections agent, you just didn't know!!! You had to pick it up and take your chances, mister!
We didn't have any fancy Sony Playstation video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics! We had the Atari 2600! With games like " Space Invaders" and "Asteroids" and the graphics sucked! Your guy was a little square! You actually had to use your imagination! And there were no multiple levels or screens, it was just one screen forever! And you could never win. The game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you died! Just like LIFE!
When you went to the movie theater there was no such thing as stadium seating! All the seats were the same height! If a tall guy or some old broad with a hat sat in front of you and you couldn't see, you were just screwed!
Sure, we had cable television, but back then that was only like 15 channels and there was no onscreen menu and no remote control! You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on! You were screwed when it came to channel surfing! You had to get off your ass and walk over to the TV to change the channel and there was no Cartoon Network either! You could only get cartoons on Saturday Morning. Do you hear what I'm saying!?! We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons, you spoiled little bastards!
And we didn't have microwaves, if we wanted to heat something up we had to use the stove or go build a frigging fire ... imagine that! If we wanted popcorn, we had to use that stupid Jiffy Pop thing and shake it over the stove forever like an idiot.
That's exactly what I'm talking about! You kids today have got it too easy. You're spoiled!!!!!!!!!
You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in 1980!
Regards,
The Over 30 Crowd
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