[EDIT: Pictures no longer available on that server.]
Their mum is looking for a home for them, so I thought I'd put the word out here, too, in case any readers in the Vancouver area are interested in taking home these lovely cats. I'd consider it, myself, except that my building has recently adopted a "no pets" policy.
Kitty info, verbatim:
They are all short-haired cats. I have 2 males and 1 female. I'd like to find a home for one of the males (gige, 6 yrs of age) and Sarah (female, 6 yrs of age) together because they've always been together and I actually got Sarah because Gige was lonely as a kitten :) Sarah is quiet and a very loyal follower and GigE has been my big baby since I got him -- he's very loving and loyal and has quite the personality (they love laps and love to sleep on your pillow).
The other cat is named ACK and he is approximately 4 1/2 years of age, he absolutely loves to play and chat anyone up and also loves laps - he still has a kitten mentality that way.
All 3 of them are extremely affectionate and love to play -- Sarah in particular seems to take very very well to young children. All of them get along with other cats very well but unfortunately only Sarah seems to be intrigued by dogs.
All of them are indoor cats and none are de-clawed -- they use scratching posts/pads for their claws and need a trim once a month. Gige is the only cat who is on a special food and needs to continue eating it (he had a bladder infection jan of 2003 and male cats being more prone to urinary infections, I've left him on preventive food).
I have 2 electric litterboxes that I am willing to give away with the adoptions and some soft kennels.
I never thought I would have to find the 3 a home (especially gige) so I am looking for someone who is going to love them as much as I do and take good care of them.
Calling All Cat Lovers -- please contact me if you or anyone you know would like to provide a home for Sarah, Gige, or ACK.
Thursday, September 30, 2004
Twilight Zonish
I used to LOVE the old show Twilight Zone. My brothers and I would watch the black and white version religiously and creep ourselves out.
I just had a Twilight Zone moment. I went 'round to the optometrist's to pick up a couple of boxes of contact lenses, and they weren't there anymore. Instead, there was a travel agency. I stood there, looking around for a while, trying to figure out if I was on autopilot and ended up on the wrong street or block by mistake. Nope. I could've sworn I was only there in the last month -- or has it been longer?? -- and my optometrist gave me a box and told me to come back for more. He never mentioned he'd planned on moving -- or did he just close down the business suddenly? Good thing he's only up the street, but I wonder what happened? I could just phone the number and find out, but I am sick to death of the phone -- and telecom in general -- right now.
I'd cut to the Telus story, but it's a saga that must be told in its entirety, so I'll leave it for tonight. There's a bunch of things I have to do before I fly to New York tomorrow, so we'll see if I can exercise some brevity this time.
I just had a Twilight Zone moment. I went 'round to the optometrist's to pick up a couple of boxes of contact lenses, and they weren't there anymore. Instead, there was a travel agency. I stood there, looking around for a while, trying to figure out if I was on autopilot and ended up on the wrong street or block by mistake. Nope. I could've sworn I was only there in the last month -- or has it been longer?? -- and my optometrist gave me a box and told me to come back for more. He never mentioned he'd planned on moving -- or did he just close down the business suddenly? Good thing he's only up the street, but I wonder what happened? I could just phone the number and find out, but I am sick to death of the phone -- and telecom in general -- right now.
I'd cut to the Telus story, but it's a saga that must be told in its entirety, so I'll leave it for tonight. There's a bunch of things I have to do before I fly to New York tomorrow, so we'll see if I can exercise some brevity this time.
Questions that really need answers...
If you've seen these before, just move along, eh? (--see, I threw in obligatory Canadian punctuation)
Courtesy of Ashley in Austin, Texas:
1. Who was the first person to look at a cow and say, "I think I'll squeeze these dangly things here, and drink whatever comes out?"
2. Who was the first person to say, "See that chicken there? I'm gonna eat the next thing that comes outta it's butt."
3. Why is there a light in the fridge and not in the freezer?
4. If Jimmy cracks corn and no one cares, why is there a song about him?
5. Can a hearse carrying a corpse drive in the carpool lane?
6. Why do people point to their wrist when asking for the time, but don't point to their crotch when they ask where the bathroom is?
7. Why does your OB-GYN leave the room when you get undressed if they are going to look up there anyway?
8. Why does Goofy stand erect while Pluto remains on all fours? They're both dogs!
9. If Wile E. Coyote had enough money to buy all that Acme crap, why didn't he just buy dinner?
10. If quizzes are quizzical, what are tests?
11. If corn oil is made from corn, and vegetable oil is made from vegetables, then what is baby oil made from?
12. If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?
13. Why do the Alphabet song and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star have the same tune?
14. Stop singing and read on..........
15. Do illiterate people get the full effect of Alphabet Soup?
16. Did you ever notice that when you blow in a dog's face, he gets mad at you, but when you take him on a car ride, he sticks his head out the window?
17. Does pushing the elevator button more than once make it arrive faster?
There were more, but I'm stopping here...
Courtesy of Ashley in Austin, Texas:
1. Who was the first person to look at a cow and say, "I think I'll squeeze these dangly things here, and drink whatever comes out?"
2. Who was the first person to say, "See that chicken there? I'm gonna eat the next thing that comes outta it's butt."
3. Why is there a light in the fridge and not in the freezer?
4. If Jimmy cracks corn and no one cares, why is there a song about him?
5. Can a hearse carrying a corpse drive in the carpool lane?
6. Why do people point to their wrist when asking for the time, but don't point to their crotch when they ask where the bathroom is?
7. Why does your OB-GYN leave the room when you get undressed if they are going to look up there anyway?
8. Why does Goofy stand erect while Pluto remains on all fours? They're both dogs!
9. If Wile E. Coyote had enough money to buy all that Acme crap, why didn't he just buy dinner?
10. If quizzes are quizzical, what are tests?
11. If corn oil is made from corn, and vegetable oil is made from vegetables, then what is baby oil made from?
12. If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?
13. Why do the Alphabet song and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star have the same tune?
14. Stop singing and read on..........
15. Do illiterate people get the full effect of Alphabet Soup?
16. Did you ever notice that when you blow in a dog's face, he gets mad at you, but when you take him on a car ride, he sticks his head out the window?
17. Does pushing the elevator button more than once make it arrive faster?
There were more, but I'm stopping here...
PowerBook Geekfest
Eliza put me on a geek timer... I had 10 minutes.
"TIME'S UP, GAIL!"
She's getting out her major artillery:
- nail polish remover
- nail clippers (with built-in compartment)
- nail file
- cuticle remover
- cuticle scissors
- cuticle picker, edge-trimmer thingy (?)
- nail buffer
- some kind of cuticle pumice stone thingy
That's BEFORE the nail polish goes on!!!! I still have to exfoliate my hands, she says!!!!
Eliza's tools of the trade are out, and she's telling me to hurry up and exfoliate already, because the process takes at least an hour. With my inexperience, it is going to drag on for more than an hour...
"Concentrate, Gail!" Eliza said sternly*. I kept screwing up the polish, but I have the excuse of having much less practice. After all, Eliza does this at least 52 times per year, 51 x more often than I do...
* Disclaimer: Eliza isn't actually a Nail Nazi.
"TIME'S UP, GAIL!"
She's getting out her major artillery:
- nail polish remover
- nail clippers (with built-in compartment)
- nail file
- cuticle remover
- cuticle scissors
- cuticle picker, edge-trimmer thingy (?)
- nail buffer
- some kind of cuticle pumice stone thingy
That's BEFORE the nail polish goes on!!!! I still have to exfoliate my hands, she says!!!!
Eliza's tools of the trade are out, and she's telling me to hurry up and exfoliate already, because the process takes at least an hour. With my inexperience, it is going to drag on for more than an hour...
"Concentrate, Gail!" Eliza said sternly*. I kept screwing up the polish, but I have the excuse of having much less practice. After all, Eliza does this at least 52 times per year, 51 x more often than I do...
* Disclaimer: Eliza isn't actually a Nail Nazi.
Wednesday, September 29, 2004
Telus Screwed Up My Account AGAIN
It's Tuesday, and Telus decided Tuesday, September 28, was Take Gail Down Day. I'm still mad, and it is as of yet unresolved, so I'm not going to say more about it until the situation is rectified -- which MUST be Wednesday. Because, UNTIL IT IS, I am an IRATE CUSTOMER.
IRATE. CUSTOMER.
Irate Customer is also thinking of new means of compensation for this monumental blunder on Telus' part.
IRATE. CUSTOMER.
Irate Customer is also thinking of new means of compensation for this monumental blunder on Telus' part.
Monday, September 27, 2004
Different FedEx Guy...
... who delivered my spare Powerbook battery this afternoon, the last item on my Apple order. I guess there's an afternoon guy and a morning guy. No flirtin' with this one. I'll tell you why later.
ADDENDUM (for Muckdog et al):
The second FedEx guy was, I'm guessing, Filipino. I can spot 'em a mile away. (If he's not Filipino, I'll eat my, er, proverbial shorts.)
I have nothing against the Filipino guys, but there's this curious phenomenon in Filipino culture whereby familial ties are not kept track of and thus everyone is considered potential "family"... for example, the titles people are given such as granny or uncle are based on people's ages, not specific kinship. Families who are close but not actually related will appear no less related than true blood relations to the average observer. What this means for the young people is that often for the second- or third-generation Filipino whose family has immigrated to a Western country where family ties are treated more specifically, actually meeting another Filipino is like meeting family. They remind you of your family to such an extent that it kills any possible attraction to this person. It would be like dating your cousin.
Technically, I'm an immigrant myself, but I arrived in Canada before I was three years old. I'm Filipino-born, but Canadian-bred. I have little to zero contact with Filipinos outside of my immediate family. This is not intentional, I just don't seem to frequent their stomping grounds -- I live in the city in an apartment, not a house in the 'burbs. I'm not in nursing, or any capacity relating to care (sounds like I don't care, but you know what I mean...). I'm isolated from cultural contact such as Filipino groups or associations. Cultural contact would have to be pursued on my part if I want it to develop.
The last time I saw a large gathering of Filipinos was at a festival in the park in front of the MoMA in San Francisco two years ago, on Labour Day weekend. Before that, I couldn't even tell you. When I see a Filipino, I always wonder where s/he is from, how long s/he's been here, etc. I'm curious, but my curiosity is not based on the individual, it's culturally-motivated. I know I'm not the only one who thinks this way. A Filipina with a similar background to mine said to me, "it feels incestuous to have a crush on a Filipino guy..." I agree, but it's also strange: what other cultures exhibit this phenomenon? I've never heard a Czech person say, "oh she's cute, but she reminds me of my sister."
This second FedEx guy didn't remind me of either of my brothers or any of my cousins, but I couldn't view him in any context other than "the Filipino FedEx guy"...
ADDENDUM (for Muckdog et al):
The second FedEx guy was, I'm guessing, Filipino. I can spot 'em a mile away. (If he's not Filipino, I'll eat my, er, proverbial shorts.)
I have nothing against the Filipino guys, but there's this curious phenomenon in Filipino culture whereby familial ties are not kept track of and thus everyone is considered potential "family"... for example, the titles people are given such as granny or uncle are based on people's ages, not specific kinship. Families who are close but not actually related will appear no less related than true blood relations to the average observer. What this means for the young people is that often for the second- or third-generation Filipino whose family has immigrated to a Western country where family ties are treated more specifically, actually meeting another Filipino is like meeting family. They remind you of your family to such an extent that it kills any possible attraction to this person. It would be like dating your cousin.
Technically, I'm an immigrant myself, but I arrived in Canada before I was three years old. I'm Filipino-born, but Canadian-bred. I have little to zero contact with Filipinos outside of my immediate family. This is not intentional, I just don't seem to frequent their stomping grounds -- I live in the city in an apartment, not a house in the 'burbs. I'm not in nursing, or any capacity relating to care (sounds like I don't care, but you know what I mean...). I'm isolated from cultural contact such as Filipino groups or associations. Cultural contact would have to be pursued on my part if I want it to develop.
The last time I saw a large gathering of Filipinos was at a festival in the park in front of the MoMA in San Francisco two years ago, on Labour Day weekend. Before that, I couldn't even tell you. When I see a Filipino, I always wonder where s/he is from, how long s/he's been here, etc. I'm curious, but my curiosity is not based on the individual, it's culturally-motivated. I know I'm not the only one who thinks this way. A Filipina with a similar background to mine said to me, "it feels incestuous to have a crush on a Filipino guy..." I agree, but it's also strange: what other cultures exhibit this phenomenon? I've never heard a Czech person say, "oh she's cute, but she reminds me of my sister."
This second FedEx guy didn't remind me of either of my brothers or any of my cousins, but I couldn't view him in any context other than "the Filipino FedEx guy"...
For the TV Addict
Yep, that's a TV on the fridge. Isn't it crazy? We saw this fridge at Fry's Electronics in Renton (we were there two days in a row) for $3,000!! You'd have to be a real TV addict to get this in your kitchen. If you love TV that much, you're better off mounting a TV on a wall bracket or arm extension that you can pivot for maximum viewing possibilities, not a static unit. Does the ice maker have a MUTE so you don't miss anything on the morning news broadcast while you load up your cup? Does the TV have a DVD player?? (Doesn't look like it.)
Sunday, September 26, 2004
Karl, Post-Tri
Karl got back from his tri, and I snapped photos of him and all his gear before he hit the shower. We were going to make avatars for this week and next -- it's "Bathing Suit Week" right now, then "Tattoo Week" -- so I tried to get his number tattoo before he washed it off. Dunno if we'll use it, but Karl's still getting used to so many photos being taken of him!
We're meeting Francesca later today before heading back to Vancouver, but before we shove off, we're sharing music and photos. Karl just gave me a copy of his music collection on DVD, and he's downloading photos I took of yesterday. Yay for lots of storage space!
Tee hee! At times like this, I wish I had the Image Stabilizer feature that's on the Canon IS... I was laughing too much to hold still.
That's Heather in there.
Heather and I both loved this gigantic beanbag chair in Karl's living room. It swallowed Heather whole! Technically, it's not a beanbag chair -- it's a polymorphic chair, Karl says. Regardless, it is the only piece of furniture in his living room at the moment, until he decides what furniture to buy, so it is rather imposing. Once in a while I'd hear a voice coming from it, otherwise I was oblivious to Heather napping in there.
We're meeting Francesca later today before heading back to Vancouver, but before we shove off, we're sharing music and photos. Karl just gave me a copy of his music collection on DVD, and he's downloading photos I took of yesterday. Yay for lots of storage space!
Tee hee! At times like this, I wish I had the Image Stabilizer feature that's on the Canon IS... I was laughing too much to hold still.
That's Heather in there.
Fun With Digital
Heather and I are watching a DVD at Karl's place right now: Before Sunrise, with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, the film before Before Sunset, which I watched not long ago and posted about. What a lazy weekend -- we're kicking back in front of Karl's home theatre, while he's driving back from his triathlon!!
Karl's been a great host. We arrived late on Friday night, he fed us Thai food and we geeked out on the computers until late into the night. Everyone slept in until late yesterday morning: I went to bed around 7am like the nocturnal diehard that I am, Heather had been up nearly 24 hours, so she crashed hard around 4 o'clock, and Karl not long later. I chatted with Breigh, installed programs, configured settings, and played around with the PowerBook. Then the Saturday sun appeared and told me to go to bed, already!
Yesterday morning was, in a word, leisurely. We dossed around for a while and headed out to Snoqualmie Falls after a very late brunch while the weather was good. Karl informed us that's where certain episodes of that old show Twin Peaks was filmed, so in keeping with the bizarro theme of the show, I set up this 'peering over the fence' shot to the left. We took a trail from the observation deck down to the bottom of the Falls, which wasn't far, but a bit steep in places.
At the bottom of the Falls, contemplating whether to jump the fence or not. I decided against it, because I didn't have decent shoes for scrambling around the rocks. I figured we could come back to the Falls on a different day to explore it properly.
(My hair is looking very RED in this photo!!)
After the Falls, we headed to Fry's Electronics to buy some stuff -- I wanted to get a case for my Powerbook, a notebook stand, and some other things -- before heading out for dinner. I'd never been to Fry's and -- holy crap! -- the parking lot was the size of the IKEA's in Coquitlam, like an airplane hangar! You'd need a GPS just to find your car again!
By the time we finished up at Fry's, half a dozen purchases later, I suggested we go to an African restaurant. We have them in Vancouver, but we don't have nearly as many of them as does Seattle, so that was my vote, which seemed to go over well with the others. I hadn't been to an Ethiopian restaurant in years, since my friend Sergio lived in Seattle -- back in 1999?? (Wow, it's been ages.) We stuffed ourselves silly, but we managed to find some room for coffee and dessert a few blocks over on Broadway at a place called Dilettante Chocolates, which was hopping with patrons. Dessert was great, but between the rich chocolate in the cheesecake and mousse, drinking rich liquid chocolate was sending us into major sugar overdose.
Heather and I had planned on staying downtown, but we'd abandoned that idea since it was based on the premise that we'd be out on the town late and the fact that Karl had a triathlon in the morning. Heather was fading fast, and Karl wanted to take us to west Seattle to see the city from across the water, so I called to cancel our booking and free up a couple of beds there, and we headed back to Karl's place after taking a bunch of pictures of the night skyline.
Karl's been a great host. We arrived late on Friday night, he fed us Thai food and we geeked out on the computers until late into the night. Everyone slept in until late yesterday morning: I went to bed around 7am like the nocturnal diehard that I am, Heather had been up nearly 24 hours, so she crashed hard around 4 o'clock, and Karl not long later. I chatted with Breigh, installed programs, configured settings, and played around with the PowerBook. Then the Saturday sun appeared and told me to go to bed, already!
Yesterday morning was, in a word, leisurely. We dossed around for a while and headed out to Snoqualmie Falls after a very late brunch while the weather was good. Karl informed us that's where certain episodes of that old show Twin Peaks was filmed, so in keeping with the bizarro theme of the show, I set up this 'peering over the fence' shot to the left. We took a trail from the observation deck down to the bottom of the Falls, which wasn't far, but a bit steep in places.
At the bottom of the Falls, contemplating whether to jump the fence or not. I decided against it, because I didn't have decent shoes for scrambling around the rocks. I figured we could come back to the Falls on a different day to explore it properly.
(My hair is looking very RED in this photo!!)
After the Falls, we headed to Fry's Electronics to buy some stuff -- I wanted to get a case for my Powerbook, a notebook stand, and some other things -- before heading out for dinner. I'd never been to Fry's and -- holy crap! -- the parking lot was the size of the IKEA's in Coquitlam, like an airplane hangar! You'd need a GPS just to find your car again!
By the time we finished up at Fry's, half a dozen purchases later, I suggested we go to an African restaurant. We have them in Vancouver, but we don't have nearly as many of them as does Seattle, so that was my vote, which seemed to go over well with the others. I hadn't been to an Ethiopian restaurant in years, since my friend Sergio lived in Seattle -- back in 1999?? (Wow, it's been ages.) We stuffed ourselves silly, but we managed to find some room for coffee and dessert a few blocks over on Broadway at a place called Dilettante Chocolates, which was hopping with patrons. Dessert was great, but between the rich chocolate in the cheesecake and mousse, drinking rich liquid chocolate was sending us into major sugar overdose.
Heather and I had planned on staying downtown, but we'd abandoned that idea since it was based on the premise that we'd be out on the town late and the fact that Karl had a triathlon in the morning. Heather was fading fast, and Karl wanted to take us to west Seattle to see the city from across the water, so I called to cancel our booking and free up a couple of beds there, and we headed back to Karl's place after taking a bunch of pictures of the night skyline.
Seattle skyline
A pic I took late in the evening, when Karl took us to west Seattle, for a view of the skyline.
Saturday, September 25, 2004
Karl geeking out
He's got enough computers in his house to run an internet cafe, and here he is, fiddling with mine... hands off!
Seriously though, Karl, many thanks for the extra RAM! I'll be Powerbooking at breakneck speed!
Seriously though, Karl, many thanks for the extra RAM! I'll be Powerbooking at breakneck speed!
... and not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse...
It's 11:30, and people are either still sleeping, or pretending to.
Karl got up and saw me sitting in front of the PowerBook. "Gail, did you sleep?" I was in this position when he went to bed at 4:30 or so, and here I am, in the same position hours later.
Yeah, I *did* sleep, amazingly enough!! Karl bought this memory foam thing, which was supposed to decompress over 24 hours, but well, I wasn't going to wait 24 hours to sleep on it. But I have to mention these TWO chimes -- not one, but TWO -- that go off every 15 minutes or so. They're not synchronised, and one goes off directly after the other one. If this were an audioblog, I would demonstrate how loud they are, but just use your imagination! Think of a GONG.
Karl's got some plans for us today, but we're going to stay downtown tonight so we can go out late and not bother anyone when we come home... Karl's got a triathlon tomorrow, so it's going to be an early night and an early morning for him. (Not early like this morning, going to bed just before dawn.) We'll be dragging ourselves out of bed when Karl is crossing the finishing line! Er, no, I said we would be meeting him at the finish line, so I guess we'll be setting an alarm clock (or two).
Karl got up and saw me sitting in front of the PowerBook. "Gail, did you sleep?" I was in this position when he went to bed at 4:30 or so, and here I am, in the same position hours later.
Yeah, I *did* sleep, amazingly enough!! Karl bought this memory foam thing, which was supposed to decompress over 24 hours, but well, I wasn't going to wait 24 hours to sleep on it. But I have to mention these TWO chimes -- not one, but TWO -- that go off every 15 minutes or so. They're not synchronised, and one goes off directly after the other one. If this were an audioblog, I would demonstrate how loud they are, but just use your imagination! Think of a GONG.
Karl's got some plans for us today, but we're going to stay downtown tonight so we can go out late and not bother anyone when we come home... Karl's got a triathlon tomorrow, so it's going to be an early night and an early morning for him. (Not early like this morning, going to bed just before dawn.) We'll be dragging ourselves out of bed when Karl is crossing the finishing line! Er, no, I said we would be meeting him at the finish line, so I guess we'll be setting an alarm clock (or two).
at Karl's
So Heather and I rolled up to Karl's red front door around midnight, hours after we'd planned. To make a long story short, I lost Heather and she didn't have my mobile number. Eventually we found each other, and finally headed to Karl's house, situated in a Seattle suburb. We made it in good time, as the border and roads were clear; we did it in less than 3 hours.
It's an ungodly hour (nearly dawn), so I'm hoping Heather will write about the evening in her LiveJournal, and I can just link to it!
EDIT: Read Heather's story of last night in her LiveJournal.
Karl installed another 512MBs of memory in my PowerBook (try not to drool on it too much, Karl), and Orkutted on it until I told him to stop hogging the machine and let me use it!
I found a Flickr plugin for Mac so I can export photos to Flickr.com, since I can't use Hello by Picasa to send photos to Blogspot. I also can't use w.bloggar anymore, unless I use it on my home PC, because it's only for Windows. Bah!!!
It's an ungodly hour (nearly dawn), so I'm hoping Heather will write about the evening in her LiveJournal, and I can just link to it!
EDIT: Read Heather's story of last night in her LiveJournal.
Karl installed another 512MBs of memory in my PowerBook (try not to drool on it too much, Karl), and Orkutted on it until I told him to stop hogging the machine and let me use it!
I found a Flickr plugin for Mac so I can export photos to Flickr.com, since I can't use Hello by Picasa to send photos to Blogspot. I also can't use w.bloggar anymore, unless I use it on my home PC, because it's only for Windows. Bah!!!
Friday, September 24, 2004
The PowerBook Has Finally Arrived!!
I signed for it about an hour ago, and I'm loading it up now.
I couldn't get rid of the FedEx guy! He was coming on to me!
Is that geeky of me, or what?? A guy shows some interest, and I want to get rid of him so I can install applications on my new computer?!?!
Darcy Hopkins
After much searching and waiting, Tosca and Mike finally got their dog a few weeks ago -- a border terrier named Darcy. I went over to their place last night for some nosh and to meet the newest member of the Hopkins family!
Thursday, September 23, 2004
Geek Alert: Highly Contagious
I have no photos of last night's debauchery, so I thought I'd upload this as a geeky intro to a geeky evening.
How It All Started
The evening started out innocently enough. I was starving by 4:30 in the afternoon, having had a busy day and only a bowl of granola for fuel. So I rang up Eliza spontaneously and persuaded her to join me at Samurai, our local sushi spot. She was supposed to be somewhere else later, but while we were having tea at her place afterwards it didn't look like the meeting would happen. Suddenly I had this inexplicable desire to do something totally girly and unlike me: put on some nail polish!! Eliza was beside herself with excitement, as she has been trying for years to get some girly in Gail, but to no avail. (Random rhyming attack, there.) Eliza then tried to convince me we should go shopping for a black turtleneck for my upcoming trip to New York. (She wasn't very convincing, and there's a whole story behind that, from my last trip to New York. Another story for another day.) I suppose the girly rush was then tempered by my inherently geeky nature, which called for a checking of my Apple order status.
Where Is My PowerBook???
I placed the order on September 17 and expedited shipping, but all the status notices by e-mail were confusing. I was told to ignore the ship dates on the invoice, and Apple kept sending e-mail notices for each item, then invoices following each notice, all with different shipment information. FINALLY I got a couple of FedEx numbers to track (my purchases were divided into three shipments), and this is what the status looked like earlier this evening:
The FedEx site was only showing China last night, which was discouraging since I was expecting the PowerBook to ship from some warehouse in North America. It just seemed to be stuck there in China! While we were on the Apple site, Eliza said she was interested in the 12" PowerBook...
Eliza: "I really want the 12-inch. Let's go to London Drugs."
Me, puzzled: "Right now?" (It was well after 9 o'clock.)
Eliza: "Yes, and if they have it in stock, I'm going to buy it."
Now, you have to understand the context here. Eliza already has a notebook, which is not much more than a year old. It's a nice machine, but it's a clone running XP and having some problems, the newest one being a question mark key not working (which requires replacing the entire keyboard). But these problems are all very fixable, for much less than what a PowerBook costs. But am I going to turn down a request to go shopping for HARDWARE with Eliza when the kind of shopping she prefers is on Robson Street?? Clothes? Shoes? Accessories? No way! This was a golden opportunity! So, we headed down to the Davie Street store to have a look. Unfortunately, they didn't have the 12" in stock, so I mentioned we could just go to the Broadway store, as it's larger. Amazingly, Eliza didn't even want to phone ahead, she just wanted to go!
As soon as I walked into the computer department, I saw it, and knew Eliza would buy it on the spot if the model with the SuperDrive was available. After some delay (a long story, which I might blog about later), Eliza got her 12" Powerbook, I got my Education-License version of Office for Mac, and we were giddy with the impulsiveness of it all...
Me: "Wow Eliza, no one's going to believe you just walked in and bought a PowerBook -- that's so geeky of you!"
Eliza, still stunned: "I can't believe I just spent all this money on something that isn't clothing or shoes..."
We went straight to the gymn downstairs in Eliza's building, and -- while she was running on the treadmill -- I set up the PowerBook and installed Office for Mac. This guy walked in to use the bathroom and gave me a funny look when he saw me using the step-benches as a desk, the floor strewn with manuals, packaging, and CDs. Was this a gym or an office??
It Gets Geekier
Just when Eliza thought we'd geeked out enough for one evening, I showed her the basics of how to use her PowerBook, the various applications, configured her e-mail, and even secured her WiFi connection! She has a neighbour with an unsecured broadcast, so she can steal his bandwidth if her ISP goes down, but not vice versa -- haha! shhhhhh....
Good grief, what an evening. Kristin walked in the door, saw the two notebooks on the counter, and said "Gail won." Yeah! I won the Geeky vs. Girly battle, but now I think this means Eliza can make me go out shopping for a black turtleneck, and I'll be over at her place to do my nails every week, applying cuticle remover, base coat, polish, top coat, and finishing spray (I kid you not -- I never realised what a major operation nail-polish application could be, before this).
How It All Started
The evening started out innocently enough. I was starving by 4:30 in the afternoon, having had a busy day and only a bowl of granola for fuel. So I rang up Eliza spontaneously and persuaded her to join me at Samurai, our local sushi spot. She was supposed to be somewhere else later, but while we were having tea at her place afterwards it didn't look like the meeting would happen. Suddenly I had this inexplicable desire to do something totally girly and unlike me: put on some nail polish!! Eliza was beside herself with excitement, as she has been trying for years to get some girly in Gail, but to no avail. (Random rhyming attack, there.) Eliza then tried to convince me we should go shopping for a black turtleneck for my upcoming trip to New York. (She wasn't very convincing, and there's a whole story behind that, from my last trip to New York. Another story for another day.) I suppose the girly rush was then tempered by my inherently geeky nature, which called for a checking of my Apple order status.
Where Is My PowerBook???
I placed the order on September 17 and expedited shipping, but all the status notices by e-mail were confusing. I was told to ignore the ship dates on the invoice, and Apple kept sending e-mail notices for each item, then invoices following each notice, all with different shipment information. FINALLY I got a couple of FedEx numbers to track (my purchases were divided into three shipments), and this is what the status looked like earlier this evening:
| Sep 23, 2004 | 1:18 am | Arrived at Sort Facility | MEMPHIS TN |
| Sep 22, 2004 | 10:21 pm | Left FedEx Ramp | SHANGHAI CN |
| 5:42 pm | Left FedEx Sort Facility | ANCHORAGE AK | |
| 1:29 pm | Arrived at Sort Facility | ANCHORAGE AK | |
| Sep 21, 2004 | 11:30 pm | Package status | SHANGHAI CN |
| Package in FedEx location | 2:37 pm | Left FedEx Origin Location | SHANGHAI CN | 2:37 pm | Pickup status | SHANGHAI CN |
The FedEx site was only showing China last night, which was discouraging since I was expecting the PowerBook to ship from some warehouse in North America. It just seemed to be stuck there in China! While we were on the Apple site, Eliza said she was interested in the 12" PowerBook...
Eliza: "I really want the 12-inch. Let's go to London Drugs."
Me, puzzled: "Right now?" (It was well after 9 o'clock.)
Eliza: "Yes, and if they have it in stock, I'm going to buy it."
Now, you have to understand the context here. Eliza already has a notebook, which is not much more than a year old. It's a nice machine, but it's a clone running XP and having some problems, the newest one being a question mark key not working (which requires replacing the entire keyboard). But these problems are all very fixable, for much less than what a PowerBook costs. But am I going to turn down a request to go shopping for HARDWARE with Eliza when the kind of shopping she prefers is on Robson Street?? Clothes? Shoes? Accessories? No way! This was a golden opportunity! So, we headed down to the Davie Street store to have a look. Unfortunately, they didn't have the 12" in stock, so I mentioned we could just go to the Broadway store, as it's larger. Amazingly, Eliza didn't even want to phone ahead, she just wanted to go!
As soon as I walked into the computer department, I saw it, and knew Eliza would buy it on the spot if the model with the SuperDrive was available. After some delay (a long story, which I might blog about later), Eliza got her 12" Powerbook, I got my Education-License version of Office for Mac, and we were giddy with the impulsiveness of it all...
Me: "Wow Eliza, no one's going to believe you just walked in and bought a PowerBook -- that's so geeky of you!"
Eliza, still stunned: "I can't believe I just spent all this money on something that isn't clothing or shoes..."
We went straight to the gymn downstairs in Eliza's building, and -- while she was running on the treadmill -- I set up the PowerBook and installed Office for Mac. This guy walked in to use the bathroom and gave me a funny look when he saw me using the step-benches as a desk, the floor strewn with manuals, packaging, and CDs. Was this a gym or an office??
It Gets Geekier
Just when Eliza thought we'd geeked out enough for one evening, I showed her the basics of how to use her PowerBook, the various applications, configured her e-mail, and even secured her WiFi connection! She has a neighbour with an unsecured broadcast, so she can steal his bandwidth if her ISP goes down, but not vice versa -- haha! shhhhhh....
Good grief, what an evening. Kristin walked in the door, saw the two notebooks on the counter, and said "Gail won." Yeah! I won the Geeky vs. Girly battle, but now I think this means Eliza can make me go out shopping for a black turtleneck, and I'll be over at her place to do my nails every week, applying cuticle remover, base coat, polish, top coat, and finishing spray (I kid you not -- I never realised what a major operation nail-polish application could be, before this).
Wednesday, September 22, 2004
Tuesday, September 21, 2004
Make 'Em *Do* Something For That Free GMail Account
Sunday, September 19, 2004
Young Yuppies in Yaletown
David Lam Park
The train at the Roundhouse
Community Centre.
Disability Exhibit, Roundhouse
Community Centre.
Trainspotting.
Since the kids were in the car for nearly an hour to get to Vancouver, I didn't want to take them anywhere today that required driving, which is relatively easy to do since I live near Stanley Park, Granville Island, Kitsilano, False Creek and Yaletown. I decided to take the kids to Yaletown, since there are no less than four playgrounds along the False Creek seawall, with facilities clustered around the David Lam Park/Roundhouse Community Centre area.
The power of the popsicle.
Bubble machines.
Write this boy a ticket!
Waiting for our pizza at my local cafe,
as a party boat cruises by.
Allan feeding the twins in the driveway.
The Iron(ic) Chef
YUM
dessert!
evidence!!
Tako looking panther-like.
We also watched a Wong Kar Wai film, Chungking Express (Chong qing sen lin, 1994), which was engaging. Wong Kar Wai is an acclaimed director, and the first movie of his that I saw -- with Eliza the film buff -- was In the Mood For Love years ago. Later on I watched Happy Together, and this film was in the same league. Wong Kar Wai definitely has a distinct direction style, and the dialogue in his films is both humorous and touching.
Chungking Express is one of the titles delivered yesterday to Eliza from Zip.ca, a site that lets you choose DVDs online for a monthly subscription price. There are no due dates, and you always have 4 titles on hand. We're splitting the fee and watching as many films as possible! Now I can finally catch up on some of my movie-watching!
Saturday, September 18, 2004
Allison's Birthday
 birthday girl |  loot! |
 Look at that spread! Thanks, Melanie!! |  AJ: gimme dessert! |
Allison's birthday is actually next week, but her hubby is taking her away for a few days of vacation, so we thought we'd celebrate at the office today while everyone could be in one place. We're a small company, so birthday celebrations are more personal, being that everyone is really more like family than people sitting at a nearby desk.
I brought along my trusty little Canon photo printer, which Ashley loves to operate. Operation consists of pressing a button on the camera twice, but she also loves to watch the paper run back and forth, then tear off the side strips from the print. I have a feeling she's going to be the gadget collector in the Mason family, like her dad.
Meanwhile, the basket you see here on the table is by Melanie, who has her own business creating gift baskets... just one of the many jobs she does!
Thursday, September 16, 2004
Wes is Underwater!
A picture postcard I'd made for Wes a little while ago. He got it yesterday, but e-mailed this morning:HURRICANE Ivan Gail! It's hitting my aunt in Mississippi right now and
we're next! Tonight there is a chance of hail, thunderstorms, 100%
rainfall, flooding, water & power cut offs and tornados thru the rest
of the state. So it will probably be a day or two before I get back on
the 'puter.
Sheesh! Two of these things in a weeks time almost. Buncombe county
water supply system announced today that they can only handle about 1"
of rain right now and we are expecting 12" in the next 24 hours!
*Glub Glub*
YIKES!
Check Out These Photos
Adrian (Velvet G on Flickr) takes phenomenal photos... have a look at his black and whites, too, and better yet -- in a slideshow! Flickr's slideshow feature is very smooth...
Wednesday, September 15, 2004
Why I'm Not Going to Cuba in December...
I just bought the PowerBook G4 with the 17" display. Looks like I'm going to be eating cheese sandwiches for a while... this unit cost more than my entire trip to Europe last spring.
EDIT: More ouch -- the taxes alone are more than a flight to New York!
I Survived...
... three haircuts, baby feedings, storytime, driving in torrential rain, and more. This was all after work. I'm covered in hair, baby drool, rice cereal, breastmilk, and stickers. (I put a sticker on my forehead to give Maddy something to look at so I could cut her hair.) I gave Maddy a Cleopatra-style haircut, Melissa a shorter version of the style she has now, and -- after we put all 5 kids to bed -- I lopped at least 3 inches off Cheryl's hair and super-layered it. Oy vey!
I don't have photos of any of tonight's activities, because I was too busy. I brought my camera, but between playing with the babies and trying to make the kids sit still enough to get their hair cut, I wasn't able to capture anything. My dad even came by after he finished work and had me proofread, edit, and type a letter for him. I go back to the House of Chaos tomorrow for one last weeknight before Allan returns from his conference in Whistler, where he's been since Sunday.
I don't have photos of any of tonight's activities, because I was too busy. I brought my camera, but between playing with the babies and trying to make the kids sit still enough to get their hair cut, I wasn't able to capture anything. My dad even came by after he finished work and had me proofread, edit, and type a letter for him. I go back to the House of Chaos tomorrow for one last weeknight before Allan returns from his conference in Whistler, where he's been since Sunday.
Paris metro - from Flickr.com
Another Flickr feature is being able to post a photo directly to your blog. Here's an example. It's actually even easier than using Hello by Picasa, which is simple to begin with.
Tuesday, September 14, 2004
The Edwins and Sleeping
On Sunday night it was pretty easy to put the kids to bed, but last night was another story!
zonked!
Clearly, Edwins big and small avoid sleep. Melissa has always been nocturnally-inclined and disliked bedtime (as most kids do, but this one especially). She crawled out of her crib in the middle of the night in protest, she'd make up excuses to be up in the middle of the night ("I want to get some water"), and she didn't nap during the day. It's probably one reason why she's a touch small for her age -- Michael sleeps more and has caught up to her in size long ago. They're often mistaken for being fraternal twins. But when Melissa is ready for sleep, she can sleep anywhere! She can even fall asleep sitting up!
That definitely runs on the Edwin side of the family. My brothers are notorious for being able to fall asleep anywhere. I've caught Allan dozing off in a chair countless times, and Alvin has fallen asleep mid-sentence. I kid you not. Me, I've fallen asleep in my computer chair many times. I can sleep on planes, trains, and one time I fell asleep and nearly went right off the back of my friend's motorcycle when we went camping on the Isle of Arran in Scotland. Surely this can't be such a bad thing (being able to sleep anywhere, not falling off a motorcyle!), especially when faced with the alternative: insomnia.
Miss Maddy
"NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" they cried in unison.
I pointed to the window: "Look! It's night-time! It's dark!"
Tears welled up in their eyes, and Maddy had an absolute FIT! She ran around the house, wailing like a banshee, looking at me like I was the devil incarnate. She threw things while screaming, "It is NOT NIGHT-TIME! It's MORNING-TIME!!"
I've seen many a tantrum, of all shapes and sizes. In fact, there were some just the day before. But the magnitude -- and amplitude -- of these tantrums were of the kind I have not experienced in a very long time. Even the babies were getting upset, just listening to their older siblings' wailing and gnashing of teeth. The situation was beyond my capability, so I called in The Mommy™ and went to comfort and amuse the twins instead.
Stay tuned for tonight's exciting episode: Haircuts (uh oh)
Monday, September 13, 2004
...Everywhere but Missouri, Mate!
In the blogging backlog that's accumulated in recent months, I have neglected to properly plug Steve Savage's book of his travels of the past year. To get an idea of his writing, visit his travel site:
The Savage Files (At the moment he's in Spain, running with the bulls... or likely away from them, once they spot his rather loud shirts.)
I originally ordered 5 copies of his book, but I'm going to bump up the quantity... guess what you're getting for Christmas from me?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
