Blades Of Thought

My Review of Avia Ryd Running Shoes (For Women)

2009-02-14T12:31:00.001-08:00

Closeouts . These Avia Ryd running shoes are so comfy, you might be inspired to ditch the keys and run to work. EVA midsole and cantalever system in heel provide a soft cushion of support to lessen stress off of tired knees, perfect for the under-pronator foot type. Durable rubber outsole Dura-S...

Better shoe than I expected!

Margaret of the Kettlebells San Diego, CA 2/14/2009

Sizing: Feels true to size

Width: Feels true to width

Pros: Stable, Comfortable, Good Traction, Absorbs Shock

Describe Yourself: Casual/ Recreational

Arch Type: Low Arch

I need shoes with stability, cushioning and arch support. This shoe gets all of that right. It's perfect for the cross-training type of workouts I do with Cross-Fit.

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Weekend Roundup - The Gun Show

2009-02-02T21:28:00.000-08:00

This weekend Josh and I went to the Iron Sights Gun Range in Oceanside. The last time I shot a gun was when I was 17 or so. My boyfriend at the time, his brother, his dad and I went hunting Ptarmigan with shotguns. Before that, one of my mom's boyfriends, Deke, would take us kids to the outdoor shooting range with him and help us shoot. I did own a .22 for a while, but that disappeared at some point between high school and college.

Since it had been so long and because I've never handled a handgun by myself, we rented a .38 for me to try out. The kick wasn't as bad as I remembered, but I didn't expect the flash from bullets firing. We also fired some .357 rounds in the gun and the flash on those was super distracting. I'm sure my accuracy was almost non-existent, but we did put a lot of holes in the targets.

My lesson from this - real guns are nowhere near as easy to handle as they look on TV.

They May Be Right, You May Be Crazy

2009-01-27T08:10:00.000-08:00

So if you were about to be impeached, what would you do? Defend yourself at the hearings? Keep quiet and get your affairs in order? How about resign to preserve a little dignity? Or, being totally self absorbed and certain the world revolves around you, go on a media tour with the popular and fluffy news shows?

Yesterday, a KFI640 talk show host called Blagojevich a sociopath. I agree, based on the definition below:

Sociopath - aka - Antisocial personality disorder: A pervasive pattern of disregard for and violation of the rights of others and inability or unwillingness to conform to what are considered to be the norms of society.

The disorder involves a history of chronic antisocial behavior that begins before the age of 15 and continues into adulthood. The disorder is manifested by a pattern of irresponsible and antisocial behavior as indicated by academic failure, poor job performance, illegal activities, recklessness, and impulsive behavior. Symptoms may include dysphoria, an inability to tolerate boredom, feeling victimized, and a diminished capacity for intimacy.

Antisocial personality disorder, also known as psychopathic personality or sociopathic personality often brings a person into conflict with society as a consequence of a pattern of behavior that is amoral and unethical. Complications that might arise from having this disorder include: frequent imprisonment for unlawful behavior, alcoholism and drug abuse. (from http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=39219)

We really need to kill politics as a career option and make it a one time 4 year service. Either that or put in intelligence and personality testing qualifications.

New Year, New Car!

2009-01-20T16:37:00.000-08:00

Meet the new ride, a 2009 Scion xB in Hypnotic Teal. Be sure you always refer to the color as Hypnotic Teal too, not just teal. Here's a link to pics on Facebook in case you want to drool.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=86191&l=a5438&id=713009277

Although I wanted to put off replacing the 1998 Chevy Truck I was driving until later in the year, upcoming repairs kind of forced the issue. So Josh and I found this reasonable car that is very me. Besides the style, and color, I like that it's got decent back seat room which can turn into cargo space, and a peppy engine. It's a good value for the price in my opinion.

We looked at other cars - a Honda Civic, an Accord, an Scion xD and I had rented a Toyota RAV last year. Loved the RAV, but it was more than I wanted to pay right now. Price was a factor in the Accord too. The Scion xD was a pretty fair second choice. I would say that if it came down to a Civic or the xD, the xD rides better and has a nicer style.

I'm going to have a lot of fun in this car!

Really - How Much Fun Was This!

2008-04-10T09:37:00.000-07:00

Totally Tubular Dude!

I'll say it again, "How I Met Your Mother" is one of the most creative shows on Network TV. Since there's only a limited number of hours in the day, this is a quality way to bust a gut. Especially on a Monday evening after the worst day of the work week.

Sniff, Sniff - Good Bye Forever Fair Blog Design

2008-02-28T22:01:00.000-08:00

Well posted on the Blog Design company website is my answer about what happened to my Blades of Thought layout -

May 15, 2007

After three successful years, Ciao! My Bella! is closing its doors forever. When we began ‘Bella back in the summer of 2004 we were unknown blog designers - we offered free custom designs for two months to gain recognition and in the end we designed well over 200 free custom designs - just because we love it so. Those brave souls who let us tamper with their blogs were what built our reputation and we cannot be more thankful to them all.

Unfortunately it became very clear in May of ‘07 that the time to move on had come. We will miss ‘Bella more than words can describe. This, ofcorse, is our ‘baby’. We will always be thankful to all of our amazing clients over the last three years.

Thank you again to all of our past clients. It’s been one heck of a ride!

Note*: As of 1/1/08 We will no longer offer support for our templates or images. As per our ‘Bella terms of service, we allow for 6 months of storage of our clients images.

Too much to ask for an e-mail letting me know about this prior to dumping my images? Guess so.

I Always Pictured a Corgi, Personally

2008-02-28T21:45:00.000-08:00

So Where You Been? What You Been Doin'?

2008-02-28T11:36:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned in the 12/9 post, I got on with Yahoo Personals to try dating again. I had tried E-Harmony in the past for 6 months and got jack crap out of it except a few funny dating stories. So the best I expected from Yahoo was a few more funny dating stories and at least a little socializing to keep me from getting too far off the beam.

I figured I'd date a few California guys, move to Colorado in January & February, switch my membership to that state and continue dating.

Who knew I'd actually find someone right off the bat? Funny Universe. Very funny.

Kind of appropriately, the last blog post I made was on the day I met Josh. We had exchanged e-mails and had hurdled the phone conversation obstacle to see if there was at least that much connection before arranging our coffee meeting on 12/9.

We talked for 2 hours.

Since then, life has pretty much been a whirlwind of activity. Peggy & Jesse sponsored a trip to Colorado for the holidays. It was a wonderful, thoroughly Coloradan Winter experience. It even snowed for Christmas.

Josh took me to the airport and picked me up when I returned. I knew I felt a connection to him, but wondered if I might have been getting carried away with the experience of meeting someone who wasn't just out-and-out wrong, like my previous dates.

But when I saw him at the luggage carousel waiting for me, I knew I was in real trouble. The "casual" part had dropped right out of my dating plans. Damn this man for being awesome!

Props to my brother for helping me decide that I need to pursue this relationship, rather than look back with regret. Which means I'm back on the job hunt for a position only in California. The Colorado contingent of "Bring Margaret Back" is bummed, but the California contingent wants to celebrate Mr. Kaskin's existence!

I know I am. (Awwww! So Mushy! Get me a spoon for all this mush!)

Holy Crow Blog! What Happened?

2008-02-28T11:24:00.000-08:00

Well if any of my faithful 3 readers, or various random internet lurkers happened upon my blog between December 9th and February 27th, they would have noticed a couple of things:

1) I haven't posted a DAMN thing since 12/9

2) All my Blog design graphics were replaced with ugly "Photobucket Image has moved" text

WTH! (textspeak translation: What the HELL!)

Apparently the Blog designer I paid to do my design has moved their pics. Nice! Thanks tons! I'd e-mail them, but when I go to their site there's a message saying they are down due to a hard drive failure. Did I mention I got a deal on that design?? Yeah.

Last night, I finally acted on my neglecting-the-blog guilt and found that mess. To me, that's like having friends come over to my house and finding my laundry all over the floor, dirty dishes in the sink, and spilling over garbage cans. Sorry people! I didn't mean for you to see that.

So until I determine if the old Blades of Thought design is well-and-truly toast, I've settled for a Blogger design template that I can live with for awhile.

Hope you like it!

Coolest Damn Thing!

2007-12-09T21:14:00.000-08:00

I'd love to do this, but I'd never do this, 'cause splatting scares me. Ahh to be born without a sense of fear.

Oh Blog, How I Neglect You So

2007-12-09T19:59:00.000-08:00

Hey Blogosphere! What's shakin'? Have the 2-3 people who actually read my blog gone away because I haven't been updating. Or have you too been so busy with holiday related disruptions that you haven't noticed? No matter. I'll blog anyway.

Let's see, how was everyone's Thanksgiving? Mine was good. Spent it with Andre, Jennifer and baby Katilyn. Jennifer's dad hosted the dinner, which was delish and wayyy too much. The bummer, we were all too stuffed to try the Pumpkin Martini mix I brought. But hey, I've still got plenty of holiday time to bust out the Pumpkin Martinis.

Oh alright, I've already made myself a Pumpkin Martini. Pumpkin Martinis don't wait for an occasion, they ARE the occasion!

I went out to dinner with Cheryl and some of her friends to celebrate Cheryl's 40th birthday. After some delicious sushi, we ended up at a bar called Yogi's. It's a nice enough sports bar that seems to turn into a 20 something's nightclub. Which is fine, 'cept I'm not 20 something. Man that sounds old. But really, when you're a full grown housecat standing in a room of kittens, you stick out and have a much different view of what's entertaining.

So in the interest of finding another Housecat of a similar persuasion, I signed up for Yahoo Personals. My adventures in dating with E-Harmony didn't turn out well, so I let that membership lapse back in August and didn't really worry about it much, since the future of where my next job was going to be was still up in the air. Still is, but I need the socialization. Otherwise I fear some kind of freaky OCD behavior might develop. That might make future dating harder, right?

Ha Ha - Screw You Old Wireless Router

2007-11-25T23:06:00.000-08:00

So I get home today from visiting Andre and Jennifer, log on to my desktop to check my e-mail and boot up my laptop to work on another version of my resume and check out the job listings.

Then my Zoom ADSL X6 wireless DSL Modem/Router dies. Argh!

After I figure out its that and not something else, I dug out my old DSL modem the phone company sent me when I signed up and got hooked up again. I got the X6 at a CompUSA store closeout about 7-8 months ago, so I'm kinda pissed its broken and not even 1 year old. Do some digging around, find out the return/repair process, figure out it's going to cost me probably close to what I'd spend on a decent router, and, unsurprisingly a review by another Zoom ADSL X6 owner who had their modem crap out at about the same time in its lifespan. No wonder it was on sale AND still available.

Little more research and a trip to Best Buy, where a Sales rep advises me to buy an $89 modem/router. Fortunately, I'd already found out I could just get a router to work with my existing modem instead (thank you internets). So, cost of one new Belkin wireless G router, $35.

And lo and behold, this router is much faster than the Zoom. Nice!

Yes, I suppose I could have been content with sitting at my desk instead of spending the time and money to fix it right now. But I've tasted the freedom of wireless, I must have it!

More blog posts to come. I know I've been neglectful.

Is it Safe to Come Out?

2007-11-08T21:40:00.001-08:00

Swiped from cuteoverload.com. See what you're missing if you're not hanging out there?
Ah--Dor--A--Buh--Le!

Whoosh! There goes Halloween!

2007-11-04T20:15:00.000-08:00

Well, this week has certainly been busy. Feels kind of nice actually. I've been working on some marketing related projects for my friend Heather's business this week in addition to job searching.

I did get a call from one of the companies I interviewed with awhile ago, but didn't offer me a job due to a hiring freeze. Apparently there's a field operations job open, BUT....it's about 80% travel to help Franchisees open stores in the North East U.S. plus being responsible for a Corporate store in Denver. I told them I'd think about it over the weekend.

I think you can take from my tone in the above paragraph, I'll be passing on it. Too much travel, not the right career direction. Danced that tune before, can't get excited about it again.

Found some more temporary placement companies. Hopefully I'll be able to get something helpful from them. Also bought some Marketing books for self-education, now I just have to make myself read them.

Halloween came and went. No big deal here. I didn't buy any candy til Hallow day, 'cause I've never gotten any Trick or Treaters. I wasn't going to buy any at all, but at the last second I chickened out. My neighbor really decorated her porch and I was afraid I'd have to turn hopeful little kids down. Of course if I were a parent in my neighborhood, I'd be truckin' the kidlets over to the rich people's houses. Less walking, more candy payoff. I know - you're complementing me on my imaginary parenting right now. *Hands up for Hi-Five*

Life's Little Bonuses

2007-10-25T21:38:00.000-07:00

Don't you just love it when life slips you a little grip? Like putting on the winter jacket for the first time and finding $$ left in the pocket. Or rockstar parking appearing just as you drive up.

Today, for me, it's discovering I still have some Blueberry tea! Air Hi-five people!

Nature Can Be Terrible, Yet Beautiful

2007-10-25T20:47:00.001-07:00

The smell of smoke is fading, but ash is pretty heavy in the air. I went out for a little bit today and kept having to wipe it off my skin. But because of the smoke, we got this beautiful sunset today.

Coast Guard Chopper - Firestorm 2007

2007-10-23T21:33:00.001-07:00

Coast Guard Chopper - Firestorm 2007
Originally uploaded by margaret_fuentes@sbcglobal.net

Flying overhead this evening. On the morning walk, Krissy and I saw 2 military heliocopters flying over our area.

Crazy Mad Aloe Plant

2007-10-23T21:31:00.003-07:00

Crazy Mad Aloe Plant #2
Originally uploaded by margaret_fuentes@sbcglobal.net

I love this plant, but the orangey sky background makes it seem kind of Sci-Fi, don't you think.

Oceanside Sun - October 2007

2007-10-23T21:29:00.001-07:00

Oceanside Sun - October 2007
Originally uploaded by margaret_fuentes@sbcglobal.net

Here is one of the pics I was trying to post earlier of the sky during the fires.

San Diego On Fire

2007-10-23T15:21:00.000-07:00

If you've caught this story on the national news and have wondered if I'm OK -- then why haven't you called me yet! Matt's called. Some of my former co-workers have called. Where's my disaster call?

Oh I'm kidding. Kinda. You should call.

I'm OK (now that the obligatory guilt has been lobbed across cyberspace). To hear it on the media, practically all of San Diego has been evac'd to various centers across the county. Fortunately, Krissy and I live on the swath of land between Hwy 101 and the ocean, just north of the zone. So if we have to go anywhere, it's probably out in the ocean. That would miff Ms. Krissy to no end as she hates the water. I suspect a poor swimmer. I'm no great shakes at it either. Perhaps I should be running to Wal-Mart for water wings.

We could also go up to Orange County and hang out with Andre & Jennifer. OC's got their own fire going, but I don't think it's as widespread as the SD ones. Multiple fires are going here in different areas and firefighters haven't been able to contain them yet due to the Santa Ana Winds and the amount of smoke obscuring the frontlines of the fires.

The local media is going 24/7 with this story. Everyone is supposed to stay off the highways if you don't have a fire related reason, and stay indoors due to air quality. The power company is urging everyone to conserve power because they lost a major transmission line in the fire area. Same for cell phone usage, so the cell sites don't go down. What? E-mail still works. I'd accept a concerned e-mail in lieu of a call.

Here in Oceanside, the sun casts a dull orange light through the smoke. Outside seems kind of surreal. I tried to post a couple of pics from the evening dog walk, but Blogger is throwing a cog right now, so I couldn't get them uploaded.

Good news though, there was less of a smokey smell when we went out, and the wind seems to have died down quite a bit. Hopefully by tomorrow, the news will be able to report that the fires are significantly contained.

Cats are Just Reincarnated Politicians

2007-10-20T09:25:00.000-07:00

I mean, c'mon, look at that fake innocent act. Most of you have or had cats at one time or another.

Saw this video over at Cuteoverload.com.

Now my cats used to substitute "pouncing on the fake mouse" for the baseball bat, but the pain and surprise was just about the same.

Enjoy!

The Quicker Picker Upper

2007-10-15T08:37:00.001-07:00

No, not Bounty Paper towels (if you're old enough to remember that commercial slogan). The Quicker Picker Upper title must now pass to Cuteoverload.com, where you'll receive a dose of the "Awww so cute". Here's a sample, just to get you going...

So if you're feeling down and need to turn the frown upside down before you actually smack someone - head over and let the cute take you away from it all.

The Week of Blah

2007-10-14T10:43:00.000-07:00

Other than the Lenovo joining the family, this has been a pretty blah week.

Two of my hotter job leads crapped out. The Sport Clips AD eliminated the position due to a change in the business and Quiz Corp basically told me that I don't have enough media experience, although I'm overflowing with experience in the other areas. That last one really torques me off, because I know I'm fully capable and I've got the background needed to be terrific at that position. The HR person alluded to former company connections between the candidates and the VP hiring for the position, so nothing I can do about that.

No word from Camp Bow Wow or Jimbo's, so I'm back to Square one. Fabulous.

I know in my head it's about perseverance, having faith that the right thing is out there for me, pursing the leads in the direction I want to go. This week that energy doesn't seem to be there. Negative thoughts press their grimy fingers on brain.

It's a mood, it will pass. Just waiting it out.

The good stuff this week - nice lunch visit with Kleen-Plus Cheri. She worked at another office in the QCal building. Visited with Andre, Jennifer, and baby Katilyn. And I've got a Tuesday appointment to talk to one of my workout friends about helping her business with some marketing to get some more recent experience on my resume.

Bye Sweet Dell, Thanks for All the Bits

2007-10-14T09:49:00.000-07:00

This post via my new Lenovo T60 laptop. My trusty Dell Inspiron 5000e, companion from beginning and end of the QCal tenure, threw its video card 2 Fridays ago. Since then, it lies there, unable to boot up fully. I wanted to fix my friend, but computer years are like dog years - at least 7 for each 1, I'm thinking maybe its more like 10 for 1. Her chassis wasn't built to make such an operation easy, so it's better just to let her download to the big CPU in cyberspace. What? C'mon, work with me. The machines, they listen. Like you've never talked to your car.

After some research and some hot E-Bay bidding, the Lenovo has come to fill the void left in my computing life. She's got the pep, power and stamina of this new generation and I'm looking forward to seeing what she and I can do!

Bootcamp Challenge 2007

2007-10-09T17:39:00.000-07:00

Under heavy "encouragement" from Cheryl and Mimi, I ran the Bootcamp Challenge with them at the Marine Recruitment Depot. Here's how the site describes it -

The first and best! A fun and furious 3-mile course featuring obstacles used only by Marine Recruits at the Marine Recruit Depot. Get "encouragement" along the way at each obstacle by MCRD Drill Instructors. Compete as an individual or a member of a 3-person or 5-person team.Great post-race party with plenty of music, food, drinks and beer, awards to the top 3 finishers in each category/age group, official race T-Shirts to all entrants. A very memorable day!

Was on the fence about doing this up 'til the last minute. Last year I didn't do it because I had sprained my ankle. I went to watch and cheer everyone on, but because of limited mobility, I couldn't see what the obstacle course really looked like. Then a couple of ladies came back injured and I definitely didn't want that to happen to me this year.

Fortunately, Erin, who ran last year gave me a couple of obstacle tips that definitely helped, so I made it through whole. Wet from the firehose dousing, dusty from tunnel crawling, scraped from log jumping, and lungs burning from lack of oxygen, but whole nonetheless. There may be pictures later.

That was my first 5K! I came in 2nd to last in my age group at 47:50. But hey, there's practically nowhere to go but up at this point. So I'm going to sign up for the Oceanside Turkey Trot 5K that a couple of other people are doing and work on my cardio stamina through the "Couch to 5K" program at coolrunnings.com.

OC Overnighting

2007-10-02T12:54:00.000-07:00

This blog post comes to you from Andre & Jennifer's condo/townhome/whatever you call a 2 bedroom dwelling that's attached to others like it, but has it's own garage underneath it.

They're spending today and tomorrow in Vegas. Andre's going for a work conference, with Jennifer and baby Katlyn along for the ride. By the way, Katlyn is cute, cute, cute. I need to get her picture posted up here for all to share in the baby goodness.

Since Max's dog sitter bailed, Krissy and I are staying over. Krissy's not to sure about it, because she doesn't like to be off her home territory, Bossy-McBoss that she is. Max, however, thinks carpet is a substitute for grass, so a stay at my fully-carpeted apartment was out. Better BossyMcBoss is a little growly than quality time cleaning my carpet one mess at a time.

The bonus/pitfall about staying here is C-A-B-L-E. TV Junkie that I am, they might drive back from Vegas and find a mountain of empty Cheetos bags on their couch burying the remnants of their friend curled in the fetal position, mumbling "don't take precious away".

Oh I'm KIDDING!

Or am I?

A Sunday Dripping with Sunshine

2007-09-30T11:26:00.000-07:00

A quick blog before I'm off to Andre & Jennifer's. Jennifer and her neighbor Becky are hosting a Pampered Chef party. So we'll do a little work on Andre's website, then off to regard with awe such culinary devices that have not made themselves familiar to me as I've come this far in my life, my digestion being the worse off for it.

Sorry, that'd be a little Deadwood speechifyin' creeping in. Just watched the last episode of the series this morning. Wonderful, wonderful show. Your constitution must be fortified to not let the cursing, violence and some nudity distract you from its finely constructed stories, characters and performances of the actors. After trying just to memorize my little "job commercial" and conduct a natural delivery of such: I've a new respect for actors that are able to deliver their character's intricate dialogue and body language so naturally.

Although, from my dinner with Cheryl last night, I do see the need for a set of good poultry shears. She made chicken with stir fry veggies from Trader Joe's. The great thing about Cheryl's meals is that they are mostly veggies, but they have the mouthfeel of a hearty meat meal. That's a trick I'll have to pick up. For entertainment, we watched "Shooter" with Mark Walhberg. Now that's a movie that could have been good, but got it's legs kicked out from under it by several things. Not the least of which was Danny Glover's "Sufferin' Succotash" lisp caused by a dental appliance, I guess, according to various internet filmphiles. It was so distracting I had to look it up mid-movie, because I was so concerned Danny had a stroke I hadn't heard about. I fretted that this disability from recovery meant his film career was finished. I know, I know. Why should I spare the mental energy over that? You have your own problems, sister. Chalk it up to leftover gratitude from the high of "fun" watching "Lethal Weapon" movies brought me. Shooter suffered from plot problems, overly technical dialogue too, but at least Danny Glover will be OK. Thank god. Now I need to find some other stranger to worry about.

Speaking of which, I'd better get out the door now. They're out there.

Whoo I Hurt!

2007-09-29T15:59:00.000-07:00

That was my first thought waking this morning.

Last night I did a crazy-ass workout at CrossFit Encinitas arranged by Cheryl, who as you may recall, teaches the Outdoor fitness class I go to on Mondays and Thursdays. Most of the people in my class went, along with some others from Cheryl's Saturday morning class.

Most of Cheryl's workouts are crazy, which defined in this context is pushing you to do things that you'd never imagine being capable of or even want to be capable of doing.

Last night we were split up in teams of 3, with 10 stations of exercises. At each station there were a number of reps the team had to complete as a whole. After finishing, you get your time that it took the team to complete the station.

Our team was me, Mimi, and Stacy. Stacy's new to Cheryl's classes and hadn't been to one of these full-on Crossfit workouts before. She was a little nervous about keeping up and us, but they were explaining the stations to us and she saw that she knew most of the exercises, so she says "I'll do all the squat ones, you guys don't have to do any."

"Oh don't volunteer for that," I said, "That's really nice, but you haven't seen the numbers yet." "Oh I can do it." Stacy said. "I'm good at squats."
"Just wait." I said, because I know the Marquess De Sade wouldn't be happy if we didn't all swim out to our cars on a river of sweat.

Guess what the number was......50? 100? 150?

Oh no. Squat 375 times.

Every station ranged from 150 to 375 reps, depending on the exercise. The team total had to reach that before calling for time. Mimi was kick-ass on the cardio ones, and I pulled my weight in the Situps, Squats, and Push ups. And that ladies and gentlemen is why I and about 15 other people hurt all over today.

Knit muscles! Knit!

And the Wheel Turns Again

2007-09-21T12:48:00.000-07:00

This week, the author of one of my favorite series of books passed away. Robert Jordan wrote the "Wheel of Time" series that I'm still finishing. I loved the level of detail he put into each culture, and was fascinated by how his characters changed with events in a way that, I think, mirrored life. Although I never met him in person, I did go to a Sci-Fi/Fantasy writers panel he was on at one of the Comic-Cons. He impressed me as deeply thoughtful. He'd speak in a slow, measured tone with answers to questions that came to the point sooner, rather than later. Although I don't remember the exact questions he answered, the picture I gathered from that was when he was writing, he'd put on classical music and completely lose himself in that world.

I wish he had more time to give us, but am thankful he left what he did here before moving on to the next great adventure. More detail is available about him from Tor and Forge Books, his publisher.

Highlights from the Week

2007-09-21T10:03:00.000-07:00

The new season of Prison Break started! This season's prison is much like the prison island in Kurt Russell's movie "Escape from New York", except its in Panama. And it's smaller. And the president didn't crash there. But there is a mysterious, important prisoner to breakout in 7 days or loved ones will die. Go Michael Scofield, go!

Krissy had an allergic skin reaction to a tick and was trying to scratch herself to death. So one $160 trip to the vet + some drugs + fancy wet food to hide the drugs in = a much happier dog.

Got a preliminary screening call from a retail natural foods company I sent a resume for a Marketing position. Surprised me, because I was pretty sure that resume was a shot in the dark when I sent it. The conversation seemed to go well, so I might actually get an interview. Cross your fingers!

The package I finally sent to Bhutan made it there ok. Bought the stuff forever and ever ago. My natural tendancy to make mountains out of molehills made the process of sending it so hard that it had to wait a year and a half after the trip to get in the mail. In reality, sending it was super easy. USPS.com has all the paperwork on line, so I just had to drop it off. Hindbrain says to Forebrain "Fear New! Fear Change!" Forebrain says "Shut up Hindbrain!"

My legs finally recovered on Thursday from the Cardiff stair workout on Sunday I did with Cheryl and another trainer friend. Teach me to do that with people who work out everyday for a living. Also Cheryl's website that I've been helping her with is pretty much done. If you want to check it out, it's http://www.empowered-fitness.com/.

I also hit a new low in weight, but I'm waiting a couple of days to make sure it's real. Getting closer and closer to goal. Slow going. To help focus, I've got a reward picked out for every 10 day block I stay in the 1200-1300 calorie range. This is day 3 of the 2nd block.

A Wink of Sunshine

2007-09-19T10:44:00.000-07:00

Just had a phone conversation with a potential employer this morning. Job sounds really good. V.P. I was speaking to sounds positive. *Crossing Fingers!*

Then I talked to Aunt Peggy, who says Mars is going retrograde in my sign, Mercury. That translates into frustration and obstacles. Oh great!

But what're you gonna do? Hide in the house all day? Hmmm, I've got some DVDs here.....well the dog does need to go out, so I suppose that won't work.

Ah well, time for some really loud music, so I can't hear the voices in my head.

Now the Questions for the Employer

2007-09-19T10:29:00.000-07:00

These seem pretty simple, but try coming up with them while doing the verbal dance during an interview. I have to pre-rehearse, or I'll never remember.

1. What would you say are the two or three main priorities in this position?
2. What objectives would I be expected to meet in the next 3 months, 6 months, 1 year?
3. What capabilities do you feel are most important in the person you will hire?
4. What would you consider to be the career path for someone in this position?
5. Can you show me where this position fits in the organization?
6. To whom would I report?
7. Who would be my key associates?
8. Does the company have a long-range plan for this department?
9. What would be the extent of my authority in carrying out my responsibilities?
10. How many people would report to me and will I have an opportunity to meet them?
11. How will my job performance be evaluated?
12. How did the position come open?
13. Is there anything that concerns you about my qualifications? (Use only if you are sure you have built a strong rapport with the interviewer.)
14. When will a hiring decision be made? Or what is the next step in the hiring process?

And there are the questions to avoid asking:
- What will my salary be?
- How much vacation do I get?
- Can you tell me about the company benefits?
- How long before I can be promoted?
- When am I eligible for vacation?
- Did the last person quit or were they fired?

Job Interview Questions

2007-09-19T10:08:00.000-07:00

My bro let me know that I needed to share the questions I got from the North County Career Center with the world, so all Job Seekers could know thyselves! So here you go, courtesy of Ms. Barbara Bee.

Interview Questions
1. What made you apply for this position?
2. What do you know about our company?
3. What is your biggest weakness?
4. Why did you leave your last job? Or why are you leaving your current job?
5. Where do you see yourself in 5, 10, and 20 years from now?
6. What motivates you?
7. How do you motivate others?
8. Do you work better on your own or in a group setting
9. What does customer service mean to you?
10. What can you offer this company in the way of your strengths?
11. Are you willing to relocate?
12. With your experience, why are you considering an entry–level position?
13. Do you plan on furthering your education?
14. How do you handle conflict?
15. What is your biggest achievement?
16. Do you believe in goal setting? If so, give me some examples?
17. What did you get out of college?
18. What did you learn at your last job?
19. When I call your past employers, what will they say about you?
20. Why should I hire you?
21. What management experience do you have to offer?
22. What is your management style?
23. Tell me about yourself?

[Instructor tip: Answer should be a 30 second commercial – hitting these points: Industry experience/years (9 yrs as a Trainer), Education, Managed/Supervised 1 example of People, Product, or Projects, 5 different professional skills that make you qualified in your industry, and 3 to 5 soft skills (Personality)]

24. What books have you read lately? What are you reading now?
25. What do you do on your days off?
26. If you had 10 million dollars, what would you do?
27. How do you feel about tardiness? How would you handle tardy employees?
28. What are your strengths?
29. How do you evaluate success?
30. Tell me about the best boss you ever had?
31. Explain these gaps in your employment?
32. Do you consider yourself a leader? Why or why not?
33. Are you good at delegation? How do you go about it?
34. Have you ever been fired or forced to retire?
35. Are you willing to travel?
36. What are your expectations and goals concerning salary and promotions?

[Instructor tip: Avoid specific salary numbers. Give a broad range, ask what they were thinking about paying the top candidate, or answer that salary is just one component of an opportunity to consider. Her opinion is its better for the candidate negotiation if the employer gives a number first.]

37. What is the toughest decision you have ever had to make?
38. For what have you been most frequently criticized?
39. Anything else you want to tell me about yourself?
40. Do you have any questions for me?

Jobseeker - Know Thyself

2007-09-11T16:13:00.000-07:00

Aha! I'm halfway through knowing myself well enough for that elusive job interview!

Last week I went to a state Employment Department Career Center class on interviewing skills. I expected a blow-off, how to go to your 1st ever job interview session, but I signed up anyway as a break from the Job Board Quagmire. Figured there was an off chance I'd pick up something valuable.

Teach me to make assumptions. Obviously the state is taking is mission to keep you off the dole very seriously. Ms. Barbara Bee gave a thoroughly professional, interactive session designed to make us realize the advantage of preparing and practicing what to say BEFORE getting in front of someone. I knew that in my head, but there's nothing like having her ask you actual interview questions in a no-nonsense, bordering on drill Sargent, tone and hearing your stumbling response full of vacuous buzzwords that obviously don't answer the question. Some of my answers were decent, but not my best. Smooth I was not.

It was worth going just for the take home handout of 40 actual interview questions and a list of questions to ask the employer. Which, in a word - AWESOME.

Today I camped out at a coffee shop, then the Carlsbad library, to make my way through the first 20 of the questions. My achy right hand and adjective-drained brain cried uncle at that point, but we'll give it another go tomorrow.

I definitely feel sharper about describing myself to an employer after just 1/2 the questions. Ms. Bee said answering these is really an exercise in self awareness. I consider myself a pretty self-aware person, but I realized on the drive over to the Coffee shop, that's true for my emotional and personal state, but not professionally.

Digging through, listing and reviewing my professional accomplishments on any regular basis isn't something I just do. Once something is done, move on to the next, and the next. Going through the questions, marketing-related experiences that I'd completely forgotten started popping up through the layers of my brain. That's just dumb. I take away from my professional stature and confidence by not staying cognizant of that information. You all are my witnesses - I hereby swear to become and remain Professionally self aware.

P.S. Feel free to call me on it later when I get the new job. I'll need your help to stay on the wagon.

Catching Up

2007-09-10T09:57:00.000-07:00

Hey there! Hi there! Ho there! (M-i-c-k-e-y M-o-u-s-e)

How's it going everyone??

Last week was decently eventful for me. Thanks to a suggestion from my friend, Dean Marshall, from Alaska, I sat down and set some lifetime and 5-year goals for myself. In-between job searching and life maintenance stuff, I tried to use my time to work towards them. Really put the energy back in my spirit.

One thing this whole job ending/being laid off has underscored for me is that I'm really bad with unstructured time and lack of accountability to someone. If I've got an agenda (usually another person's) I can execute, no problem. I usually formed my own needs and agenda around someone elses. Don't think I'm alone in this, but it's something I am resolving to change.

At this point, I've been part of enough people's agendas, good and bad, and learned a bit more of the workings behind the curtains of making dreams happen. Before now, I couldn't set goals because these thoughts would always pop-up:

- I was sure they'd be the wrong ones
- Life would do what it wants anyway, why bother
- I'd never reach them so I'd just be unhappy.

Fortunately, life experience has brought some perspective to those fears and my actual abilities. With persistence and focus, I can achieve my goals.

There's still a looong road to go in changing my habits and making it happen, but at least now I have some written directions of my own.

Slams. Head. Against. Wall.

2007-09-01T16:04:00.000-07:00

Job hunting on the internets feels like slogging through a quicksand bog.

That is all.

Too Good Not to Share

2007-08-29T17:26:00.000-07:00

Wow!

I'm having all kinds of 80's flashbacks now.

Cross Fit - Get Fitter or Die

2007-08-29T15:09:00.000-07:00

See! Even though I'm unemployed, I'm still not making the time to blog. I'm pretty sure it's a mixture of procrastination/perfectionism/ADD.

What did I do this weekend? Well for one, a pretty gnarly (so 80's) Crossfit workout at SoCal Crossfit Saturday morning. "Gnarly?" you say, while snickering at the 80's lingo.

Yes, gnarly, and here's why, it was 3 rounds of 5 exercises - rowing, wall ball, Sumo deadlift high-pull (50 lbs), box jump, and push press (50lbs). You do as many as you can of each exercise in 1 minute, then switch to the next as fast as you can. There's 1 minute of rest & water in between each round.

The whole workout with warm-up is about 30 minutes. A super intense 30 minutes. I think the popularity of Crossfit workouts is growning among active people because it fits our ADD, time-compressed lifestyles. Do a bunch of different things intensely in a short amount of time.

In case you have no idea what I'm talking about, here are a few Vids I found on our helpful friend YouTube.

Box Jumps

Wall Ball

Sumo Deadlift High Pull

The Push Press

Tiring, sore, but oh so good feeling of accomplishment at being able to do this, considering where I was fitness-wise a year ago.

Weeding the Garden - Out with Grey's, In with Dilbert

2007-08-16T10:49:00.001-07:00

If you've ever checked out the "Germinations" box on my blog, you'll see other websites or blogs I read/visit.

I've given the Grey's Anatomy writer's blog the heave ho. So done with that show. Last season was a mess and with the sudden, ridiculous Gizzie relationship being thrown in, I decided that was it. If you don't know what I'm talking about, count yourself lucky.

Meanwhile, found Scott Adam's Dilbert blog. Not only is it good for a little humor, but some thought provoking stuff. Sometimes a little offbeat. But I like offbeat, thought provoking. That's why I'm friends with Dawnetta too.

So click on over to check it out sometime. If you already knew about it, then why didn't you tell me! Geez.

Last Comic Standing

2007-08-16T09:55:00.000-07:00

Last night's show winnowed the field down 2 more comics.

Honestly, I wish LCS would go back to being more straight comedy and less artificial drama and tense moments. But since I'm sure there's an industry White Paper circulating around the TV Studios called "Reality Show Winning Formula", it's a futile effort.

Don't confuse LCS with picking the BEST comic. Oh No. That's for some world committee funded by various governments looking to increase the Gross National Product of Funniness. THIS is about picking NBC/Comedy Central's most likely to build the corporate stable of kinda funny-least offensive-vanilla appeal comic to host future reality shows or specials. America - we'll tell YOU what we think is funny.

If, by chance, you wanted actual Comedy. Gut laughs, Ho-Ho's, punch-lines you can mangle re-telling at the office, check out Matt Kirshen or Doug Benson, the two comics who lost the Head-to-Head challenge last night.

In the market for background noise? By all means, wait for Ralph Harris, the Head-to-Head winner, to release his comedy CD. 5 years later you'll look at it and smack yourself.

Next week, the final 5 will compete for the title of Last Comic Standing. With Matt and Doug out of the game, I'm left rooting for Lavelle or Amy. They've done an admirable job being funny in the obligatory "reality show" challenges, unlike a lot of their competition. I'd rank them behind Matt & Doug, but that's what NBC has given us people. We'll tell YOU what's Funny.

Video Games that Do More

2007-08-11T15:12:00.000-07:00

Lacking cable (by choice), I only catch the Colbert Report when I'm at the houses of people who do have it. Usually I don't pay attention to the interviews, but I think this Colbert interview with Ian Bogost presents an interesting take on how video games can educate people on concepts as well as be entertaining. I recall the old "educational" videogames as being simplistic and preachy like a TV afterschool special. His explanation sounds like they're going out of their way to develop a much more complex but clever game.

Makes me want to check out persuasivegames.com to see what's over there.

Enjoy!

Vacation pictures

2007-08-11T14:51:00.000-07:00

Jenny - joining us for the family BBQ Steve & Mia sponsored. I'm sure she'd be thrilled to know I put this picture up in cyberspace.

Chris, Alex & Evan on Grandma's old couch that we never, ever got to sit on except for special occasions. I think that couch is older than any of us!

The view from 14,000+ feet atop Pike's Peak

Mountain sheep seen from the Cog Railway car as we descended Pike's Peak.

Steve, Mia, Jesse, Sydney, Julie, Dusty, Matt and Peggy after breakfast at the historic B&B Cafe in Castlerock, Co. I recommend it. The digs ain't fancy, but the food and service are excellent!

Judy, Dawnetta, Carol, me & Connie. Ex-coworkers, but lifelong friends.

Can We Call this An Anniversary?

2007-08-11T14:34:00.000-07:00

I just realized that it's been 1 year since I started this blog, Blades of Thought. Normally, that would be an anniversary, but since the first post was a test post, and the real entries didn't start until September, is it really an anniversary?

And then there's my prior blog - Star People which I started December 28, 2003. So actually, I've been blogging for 4 years.

WHAT?

You'd think I'd be a little better at it by now. Crap. I've got to find something to blame. Where's my old job when I need it. Perfect scapegoat.

So when is my anniversary - December 28? August 1? or September?

Vote in the comments, you non-existant readers you!

Exactly a Month!

2007-08-11T14:26:00.000-07:00

It's been a month since my last blog post, which was actually kind of a relief to find out. I thought it had been longer that that and was feeling kind of hypocritical, since I have more time now that my job is through.

Did I mention that? MY JOB IS THROUGH!!!

Capitalization cannot truly express the happiness I feel. I told my ex-boss the day after - "I'm free! I feel like I got Divorced again."

If you went through the end of my marriage with me, you understand that sentiment isn't as bitter as it looks in print.

(Margaret backs away from hole she's begun to dig)

So I've been traveling to Denver, applying to jobs, and in general dinking around my days, thinking about blog posting, but not actually doing it.

Today shall be a slew of posts to overcompensate.

It's been a Whirlwind!

2007-07-11T13:25:00.001-07:00

Back in sunny, temperate, San Diego, CA today. Ahhhh!

Had a wonderful 12 days in Colorado visiting everyone, but dang it was hot! Silly me packed long pants because I thought Colorado would be cooler than SD.

Oh no Margaret. The world would like to show you some of the Al Gore's special Global Warming, so here are some 100 degree days just for you. (sidenote: I wonder if Al has applied for a TM on Global Warming).

Anyhoo, I'm back for a brief flurry of getting stuff done at home before I go back for another week at the end of July. Ms. Mia, Steve and their daughter Sydney are coming to visit Colorado after the "Scholarship" pagnent Sydney is competing at in Tennesee this month.

I know. I said pagnent. Gotta go wash the mouth out with some beer now.

Happy Father's Day!

2007-06-17T14:06:00.001-07:00

To all the Dads that make the sacrifices and stand up to do the right thing for their kids!

The rest of you deadbeats - POUND SAND!

Does that sound bitter? Yeah well too bad. It takes real strength of character and values to be a good dad, even if your kids don't behave or become how you pictured them to be.

Real Dads rule. Bad Dads have no clue.

It's going to be one of Those Days

2007-06-17T13:55:00.000-07:00

(warning- you may not want to read this before breakfast)

So last night, I'm over at a friends place, and we go over to a neighbor's house for dinner. Guess what dinner is?

Pizza. Pizza. Pizza.

Crap. So I have 2 of the smallest slices of cheese pizza I can find and water.

Calorie wise, I end up not so bad for the day even with that.

Where it comes back to get me is running this morning. I feel slow and like I'm carrying rocks in my gut. That feeling starts to let up about 20 minutes into the run, then Krissy the dog (the running buddy), needs to do her business. I go to pick it up and some of the business gets on my hand, so I get to run home like that. Awesome. And someone stole my Sunday paper. Good morning world!

BUT, I think that's one of the first times where I was genuinely dismayed by having to make do with the food provided, rather than diving into it and excusing my self by saying "There's nothing I could do. That's what was there, oh well I'll have the heftist slices!"

So +1 to me for the changing perceptions/reactions! The other positive out of that was that I made myself go run, even though I didn't feel like it at all.

Coached myself out the door with "this is just the mood reaction brought on by that food. Don't let it decide." When I started feeling better (before the dog business), it reinforced I did the right thing to go forward and not wallow in the bad.

Go me.

Blasphemer! You Sir are Exiled to the Delta Quadrent

2007-06-12T15:13:00.000-07:00

A Trek Fan that unfortunately has too much knowledge of the world. It's a little sad when we lose our childhood wonder and have to look at these things through adult eyes, don't you think? Sad, but a little funny.

Weekend Round Up

2007-06-11T11:43:00.000-07:00

Well on Friday night, Cheryl, Heather and I went to the Firefly in Encinitas for my birthday dinner. It was fab!

Really weird thing about hoity, toity gourmet food - which is what the Firefly serves - is that they give you these tiny portions, but you're full at the end.

I look at the Grilled Flat Iron steak I ordered, at $24 dollars, and it's about 5 to 6 three inch pieces. Together with the sweet potatoes and couple of spears of Asparagus and carrots, it would fit on a dessert plate. It's deelish, no doubt, but the initial impression is what? That's all I get to eat?

Demonstrates the whacked out portion sizes that I've come to expect for meals. It was a nice acknowledgement that the change in eating habits has taken root to realize at the end of dinner, the appetite was completely sated.

Saturday - went to Andre & Jennifer's baby shower. Managed to forget that the Big Ball of Fire in the Sky BURNS me. Spent the rest of the evening drowsing with a touch of the sun sickness.

Sunday - Had a lovely conversation with Dawnetta, who called me with Birthday wishes. Had dinner with Cheryl while we worked on text for her web site. Cleared up some floor space in the apartment and did a little cleaning. Oh and I suppose I did a little job hunting too.

They say it's your Birthday...

2007-06-08T14:10:00.001-07:00

Well it's my Birthday too!

Happy Birthday Me!

Lions & Crocs & Buffalo - Oh My!

2007-06-04T13:08:00.000-07:00

Totally hack title for my post, but this video is amazing. Props to the guy who shot it and shared it with the world on Youtube! It's 8 minutes but worth watching the whole thing.

Restaurants are so Awesome!

2007-06-02T07:50:00.000-07:00

or as Andrew would say on Desperate Housewives -

"Off the hook".

So guess what you're looking at in this picture. (Jeopardy music plays). Got your guess ready? good, here's the answer.

4AM. Front door of the last remaining store my company owns. Busted open, wrecking the door frame and lock by incompetent thieves who could have just broken the FRICKIN glass to get in!

Guess they didn't want to cut themselves fleeing when they tripped the motion sensors, setting off the fantastically loud Alarm. Thieves got absolutely nothing, maybe a good cardio workout, because the police showed up about 8 minutes after they left.

Morons did more damage to the store than the total amount of money in the safe. Since they couldn't figure out how to kick in the glass, I don't know how they thought they'd be able to defeat the safe lock.

PSA time: Kids - drugs are bad. Not only do they make you do bad things for money to get them. They make you lousy at doing them.

So after closing the store the night before, Manager is out of town for a couple of days, I get the call to deal with this on 4 hours sleep. Both of the doors are going to have to be replaced.

Cost of fixing existing door to be able to close it up at night - $275

Cost of new custom doors & installation - $1000

My entire day + gas - $300

Definitely going on the list of things I won't miss about my job when it finally ends.

2006-2007 Blades TV Roundup

2007-05-28T15:54:00.000-07:00

24 - Season 6 of "24" was a gigantic disappointment, but Dave Barry's 24 blog can salvage the viewing experience. It shouldn't have to, or the producers need to flip the bloggers some cashola for doing the show's job of entertaining the viewers. Also, I understand there was more naked Daniel Jackson (actor Michael Shanks for you non-Stargate SG-1 fans) footage we didn't get to see! HELLO! If you're not going to have a decent plot, at least show us the eye candy!

Heroes - terrific series after a clunky pilot, Meh to the action in the finale. Adrian Pasdar better survive. Also, they know how to do the eye candy thing for men AND women. (You hear that 24?)

Grey's Anatomy - HORRIBLE! I don't know what happened to great drama. Check that. I think I can theorize decently about what happened, but who really cares. Am I doing a presentation on it at a TV conference? No, so moving on. I'm not watching Season 4. If, by chance, the writers manage to make it good again, I'll go back and rent the DVDs.

Supernatural - Excellent little series that turned a kind of interesting premise into some fun entertainment. I've never been sorry about spending time with this show.

Other shows I liked this year: Prison Break, How I Met Your Mother, Friday Night Lights, Medium, Lost, Desperate Housewives, The Office, My Name is Earl

Canceled shows I liked: Daybreak, Smith, Jericho, Studio 60 (most of the time), Gilmore Girls, Veronica Mars, Raines

Shows I usually like, but not this season: Amazing Race, Las Vegas

Note to self - watch wayyyy less TV next year. Get a challenging job will ya!

Sprouts 5/28 - Memorial Day weekend

2007-05-28T15:45:00.000-07:00

Just some randomness to catch you up on my brain -

Google mail is advertising "Bigger Attachments" - that's just wrong. Oh wait, I think its me.

E-harmony dating lessons: Men who list the DaVinci Code as the last book they read don't really read. Also, men who are shorter than 6 ft appear to suffer from height inflation on their profiles. Congress needs to get on that problem.

Podcasts are the bomb!

I can run a mile now without keeling over.

Matt and I have determined that I have a sick sense of humor. If you already knew that, mark 10 points down on your "I'm right" score card. You'll need to turn that in before you go to the other side.

Wow Blog! Long time no see!

2007-05-22T21:31:00.000-07:00

I knew I hadn't posted in a while, but jeez, I didn't think it had been over a month!

Well I know the last couple of weeks have seemed hectic at work getting rid of stuff and getting ready to close down the office, now that the sale of the last restaurant looks like it will close in June.

Awesome! Yet Frightening!

I'll be out of work. Finally. After about 3 years of talking about it, it will end.

Oh Thank God.

P.S. Universe, don't make me regret that statement in my next job. Speaking of which, throw that down to me would you? I'm too busy being busy doing nothing to do it for myself.

Oooh! Universe gonna make me pay for that. Stupid girl.

It's Pam's Birthday!

2007-04-19T11:59:00.000-07:00

Today is Pam's Birthday! Or as I should say THE Pam, as she was dubbed this time last year on the Great Trip to the Far East.

As she was the organizer and planner of the trip, Mary Jo and I gave her deference when THE Pam wanted to sit elsewhere in the van, or THE Pam wanted to walk a certain direction.

Really - THE Pam was a pain in the ass, but who were we to argue. (it's a joke Pam, don't order me to the tower.)

THE Pam has decided that all her future birthdays should be celebrated with a trip from now on. Awesome! I suppose that means I've got to get a decent job or a financial sponsor though. I think we're back to "pain in the ass" again.

America - Where everyone is an Action Hero

2007-04-18T15:21:00.000-07:00

Ooooh! Red FM's "Cork Talks Back" is making me so mad right now, I had to stop listening to it.

They had a guy on (Not an Irish citizen, he had some other accent) who said that the VA Tech tragedy could have been lessened if the other students would have had permits to carry concealed weapons.

How could this have helped? Well according to him, someone else in the building could have taken Seung-Hui out with their weapon.

Oh Riiiight.

So Victor Barry, the host, asks him (paraphrasing from memory here) "If people were allowed to carry guns routinely, couldn't that lead to people trying to resolve minor incidents like scratching another's car with their weapons?"

"Oh no", the caller says, "Good guys know how to use guns responsibly".

Feck off MORON!

You're the perfect example WHY everyone's not allowed to carry concealed weapons.

PBS's Crossroads of America: Gangs of Iraq

2007-04-18T10:11:00.000-07:00

Wow. Just Wow.

For one night all other programming should be cancelled and this show should be broadcast on all the networks.

Here's the synopsis from PBS's site. Click on the name to get to the online program if you missed your local broadcast:

GANGS OF IRAQ: takes a hard look at how the four-year training effort has failed and how these coalition-trained forces have themselves been infiltrated by various sectarian militias. While President Bush's new "surge" strategy is sending thousands of new troops to Iraq to help control the violence convulsing the country, the effort to stand up Iraqi forces and go after the militias remains a centerpiece of America's strategy. But can it work?

FRONTLINE spent two months in Iraq in the fall of 2006 and was embedded with 11-man U.S. advisory teams working with Iraqi forces. GANGS OF IRAQ tracks the history and events that led to the current sectarian crisis, why the Iraqi elections didn't curb escalating Shia-Sunni sectarianism, and how top Iraqi officials have downplayed or denied the growing sectarian militia forces. By the summer of 2006, the coalition had identified at least 23 militias operating in Baghdad. Some were small splinter groups or criminal gangs. But others were large sectarian militias, and the two largest, the Badr Corps and the Mehdi Army, remained enetrenched within Iraq's police and army.

This report includes candid interviews with key U.S military involved in training Iraqis, including Gen. David Petraeus who took charge of the training effort in 2004 and then in 2007 took command of all U.S. forces in Iraq, and top Iraqis, including Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, leader of the powerful Shia political party, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, and Bayan Jabr, who headed Iraq's controversial Ministry of the Interior in 2005-2006.

I caught this show last night accidentally. Gilmore Girls had finished and I just had the TV on flipped to PBS for background noise while I did other things.

PBS is my filler channel when something else isn't on. It's "Thinking TV" which isn't really what I'm up for after cognating on work or my life's various problems. But more often than not, it really pulls me out of my tiny sphere and widens my perspective on the world, which I didn't think needed widening until it happens.

Because the whole Iraq situation confuses and intimidates me with its enormity, I don't go out of my way to read or watch anything more than a quick article or newstory about the latest bombing and how many dead. It's much easier to focus on the details of running my own life than try to sort out that puzzle. I'm sure I'm like a lot of Americans that way. We're trusting the people we elected to dedicate themselves to figure that out.

What PBS did here is really put pictures to the newstories I've heard about, and it hits so much differently. Eye-opening, understandable without "political jargon" and gave me a whole new appreciation of how difficult it is to accomplish any kind of peace there.

If America in general had to watch it, I bet we'd be out of Iraq before November 2008.

Caution - adult whining about being grown-up ahead

2007-04-17T16:13:00.000-07:00

A post over at Wheaton's blog gave me a flashback to simpler (read: not easier, but just less convoluted) days.

Remember when - instead of having to wield the cruel machete of choice, brutally hacking out a spot of fun in the jungle of responsibility - time stretched out ahead of you like an open field, just inviting this kind of creative frolic?

MIT-Post-It Note Art

Post-It Note Donkey Kong

Although, if I started eating chocolate covered coffee-beans again, I bet I could do some pretty creative things hopped up on caffeine. You know I could. Before I collapsed with from exhaustion and a bleeding ulcer. Wah!

Ah well - back to the grind. Get it? Oh, whatever.

Dance Monkey! Dance!

2007-04-10T14:31:00.000-07:00

Ok, I feel guilty neglecting my audience (all 2 of you) for a week. But I still need to finish my IS stuff before I can write a decent post, so here's a couple of comics from www.xkcd.com to amuse while I bang my head against the register.

You know you've been busy when....

2007-04-10T11:33:00.000-07:00

there isn't time to rant on the blog for about a week.

Work is about to roll out a new product and menu changes, so I was doing pricing decisions/rationale last week. Time consuming, which at the end, I wondered why I was putting myself through those hoops for just 1 location and a population of franchisees that probably didn't care since they know my organization is going away.

But I did it because it's one of the actual marketing related remnants of my former job description. Marketing analysis, research, strategy is what I love to do, so in the end it was worth it, even if it was just for me.

Turns out more than a few of the Franchisees found it valuable, and were thoughtful enough to respond to my e-mail with thanks and recognition for the time spent on it.

Yesssss!

Now onto the IS part of my job - programming the outdated register system with the changes.

"America has Voted" - New Pictures

2007-03-31T13:16:00.000-07:00

My brother Matt requested new pics of the Red Hair, post fade, in the comments of "America Has Voted". So here you go Matt and all other interested parties!

See - Red - just like an Irish Setter!

Project - Grain Free: Completed!

2007-03-31T12:51:00.000-07:00

Friday was Day 10 of Grain Free eating, and the results are in....

drumroll please

bum-da-badda-bum-badda-bum-da-badda-bum-badda-bum-da-badda-bum-badda-bum-da

The final number of pounds lost is:

4.5

Frickin' Amazing.

This ends up working through calorie restricting. You just don't want to eat as much food, and all the vegetables, green tea and protein give you the fullness. But, obviously I don't want to send my body into starvation conservation mode, so this diet is only supposed to be done for 10-14 days at the most. Now the plan is to have any non-veggie/fruit carbs only after activity to maintain the momentum.

It was good to do this, my eating pattern needed to be broken up, the ratio of grain carbs to vegetables was getting too lopsided on the grain side. And I can celebrate being 1/2 way to my final goal and seeing a weight that I haven't been since at least 1999.

Go Me!

Wayward Sprouts 3/28

2007-03-28T14:18:00.000-07:00

Stole this idea (I get all the best kinds that way) from Snarkwife for the little things I want to post, but not litter up the page with a 2 sentence post under a giant heading.

Job update - looks like I will continue my reign over the Empty Playground until the end of May. Blah-blah-blah, sales documents were lost, training was delayed, so the buyers of the last store are supposed to start training mid April. That would mean they are done mid May, but since these transactions always go at least 2 weeks over the end of training, I'm going to say I'll be here for the entire month. Course there are plenty of other "potential snags" along the way that could delay it again. I don't want to think about it. If you need me, look for me on the playground or my giant mansion on the Denial river.

This week's evidence supporting my theory - Universe laughs me and at the puny concept of justice - Mirna & Charla came in 1st AGAIN on the Amazing Race, and Sanjaya is still on American Idol. I don't watch that show, but when it sucks up so much media airtime, I can't escape the knowing.

Red Hair supporters: double digits legitimately achieved. Compliments from the mail lady and fellow Sub-ites at the "Get all excited about the changes we're making to your restaurant meeting" have put it over the fence. Yay!

Feel Good Moment of the week: had to break down and go buy pants. I couldn't nurse the size 16 pairs along any longer, even with the belt. I was running the risk of being taken for a bag lady, or having a public wardrobe malfunction. Color me happy when the 14s I tried on were still too big, so ended up buying a size 12! Yay Squared!

America has voted and.....

2007-03-22T10:32:00.000-07:00

Did you think this was going to be an American Idol post? Cause you know the media can't stop covering it, so maybe you thought I was too.

Nope, it's about my new red do! I've gotten lots of e-mails (almost double digits) from you guys in favor of the new redhead. Thanks tons!

Some of the cherry has washed away, so now it seems a true, natural, dark, irish red. I love it.

Grain Free - Day 2

2007-03-22T09:53:00.000-07:00

While working out yesterday, Cheryl, my most awesome trainer from Empowered Fitness, proposed a 10 day eating regimen she read about in one of her many fitness newsletters. It's 10 days of no grains at all, just protein, vegetables, some fruit, nuts, dairy, protein powder, Omega 3 supplements and tons of Green Tea (6 glasses a day). This is supposed to up the results we get from training and promote fat loss. "Sure" I said, "I can do that for just 10 days".

And on Day 2, it's still kind of fun. I'm treating it like an eating puzzle, trying to figure out what fits in the guidelines that sounds good to eat, how can I port it to work, what snacks will be, etc.

It had to start yesterday, in order for us to be done for a Wine tasting party on the 31st.

Priorities, you know.

The quick start meant I wasn't quite set up for it at work, and towards the end of the day this thought was stuck in my head -

"Wizard needs food badly"

Nothing says "80's video arcade child" like the subconscious busting that phrase out on its own.

A Touch of the Irish - Cork RedFM

2007-03-17T09:55:00.000-07:00

I love the interwebs ability to connect us to each other in the world!

International radio stations are my latest discovery of this connectedness. I stumbled upon RedFM 104-106 which broadcasts from the city of Cork in Ireland.

All of the DJ's have that delightful Cork accent which make the act of blathering on much more charming. It's Top 40 music, only it's the UK Top 40, so I hear new songs and new artists not playing on my San Diego Top 40 station.

The 7-8 hour time difference between here and there usually means I'm listening to "Cork Talks Back" with Victor Barry. It's a call-in talk show that covers a range of local issues. Victor discusses topics that relate to the town's character or growth in some way, like the closing of a Teen center or what Cork citizens think about gay adoption.

It's fantastic listening for me. Gives a sense of the small town that's still alive in a growing city. The unique Cork voices and local lingo make a refreshing break from Too Cool California speak.

So if you'd like to hear some authentic accents while drinkin' the Green Beer this St. Patrick's Day, give a listen.

It's a New Day! Again.

2007-03-15T13:55:00.000-07:00

After a brief survey (to confirm what I already wanted to do), I decided to go back to being a redhead.

So TA-DAH! as of this past Saturday, I'm a redhead again. Well, a dark redhead. Here's some pic goodness -

Yeah, yeah. Shut up about the lack of combing before the picture taking. I just got a new digital camera and I'm not used to it's 8-pixel ability to capture all my flaws.

Plus - I'm Queen of the Empty playground, remember? I'm getting out of practice of grooming for an audience.

So, the hair's a tad darker and a tad cherryish more than I had anticipated. Still, I like it, and we'll see what it lightens up into since fresh colors usually fade a bit.

My sometimes-he's-here-sometimes-he's-in-Hawaii boss hates it. When he left last Thursday, I was blond. Came to work on Monday and I was Red. His reaction: "Margaret, I know you can't help but "express" yourself, but try to hold back until you get your next job.

Big Red Raspberry to that! Phhhhhhpht!

Interviews - The Beginning

2007-03-15T10:29:00.000-07:00

Well - What the Hell? I had this post all drafted about my first back-in-the-job-hunting-game interview, saved it to finish later, came back to do so and it disappeared?!?!

So, let's recreate this wheel, shall we?

Alright, I got an interview last week for a company that specializes in Web Marketing and customer management software for the Cash Pay Healthcare Industry. First I ever heard of that term - which translates into Plastic Surgery, Lasik, and Cosmetic Dentistry mostly.

They were looking for a Director of Marketing and pulled my resume off one of the job sites I posted it on, and called me to set the interview. In fact they called me twice. I didn't respond to the first call, because I had checked out their company website and decided I wasn't that interested, and don't have any qualifications in web marketing (yet).

But they called me again, so I accepted thinking this would be a good time to do the "practice interview" my brother advised to get warmed up for a real opportunity presented later. And as a practice interview, I'd give it an 8 out of 10. Certainly was a good investment of my time and here's why:

It reminded me that company's sometimes set up interviews with people just because they found a resume - case in point - my resume has no web advertising experience listed on it. My interviewer was done asking me any questions of substance after she established, that yes indeedy, I had not left that off my resume accidently. (phone screening interview, anyone, anyone?)
Even if my interviewer can't ask me the right questions to vette my experience, I can. So while getting my new shade, I wrote down what I could have asked her to do that.
The experience filled my brain with questions that I would have asked if I had been trying to find the next Director of Marketing for my company. Also written down now.
Finally made me buy the interview suit and shoes
Grace under uncertainty needs a brush up. Heck I didn't even want this job, but I got a little wobbly standing, shaking, and exiting at the end. Not the cool, confident executive my suit says I am.

48 hours was the stated turn around answer time, if that company was going to pursue me any further. Since there's been nothing but silence, I'll assume I'm out of the running. But that was pretty much certain after the web marketing questions.

Thanks for the practice people!

Friends Just Wanna Have Fun

2007-03-01T16:32:00.000-08:00

Ms. Cindy from Denver flew in for a visit. Hooray!

We've been trying out restaurants and sampling the fermented beverages around town.

Diet?? What Diet?

So to amuse you in my absence, please enjoy this quite funny take by Comedian Tom Gleeson on James Blunt's popular song "My Life is Brilliant".

Love the song, but he's so right -

Oh, by the way...look at me, all cool like that, embedding video in tbe blog now!

Let Sleeping Ninja's Lie

2007-02-22T11:53:00.000-08:00

Oh yeah! I got a promo e-mail from ThinkGeek.com today, and the featured product is this alarm clock.

My apartment neighbors might not appreciate it though. Neither would a future significant other, I'm sure.

This office ninja currently needs FOUR alarms to drag me back from dreamland at the necessary time. Two radio alarms, and two cellphone alarms at the highest possible volume before I get a noise warning. The bed shaking of ThinkGeek's alarm would just mean I'd dream about earthquakes more often.

Note to self: put that in my dating profile - "Light sleepers need not respond."

Working Weekend

2007-02-19T16:25:00.000-08:00

My body is busy recovering today from spending two long-ass days working in the last remaining restaurant the company owns, due to the Manager being out sick.

I'm definitely in the best shape of my life (so far), but there's nothing like being on your feet 10 hours straight, 2 days in a row, with a 6 hour night of sleep in-between to make a serious dent in that notion. Terrific reminder, though, how people in offices dream up great theories of how to build and run a restaurant, but for the most part, end up making a giant Jenga sculpture other people have to take care of with a smile on their face. One wrong move and....!

Call me crazy, but the best/worst part was dealing with the public again. I'm a little attention deprived (Queen of the Empty Playground and all), so I liked seeing the different people, the interactions they have with the other people they brought in, the funny/weird things they do and say while ordering. Some of my thoughts from this weekend's observations:

1) San Diego has a lot of really attractive women going out with average looking guys. Conclusion: good to be a guy in SD, not such a great place to be an average looking female.

2) A lot of people think that this is their world and we're just living in it. Ahahahah! My 2 most memorable examples - this party of 3 (2 girls, 1 guy) who backed up the line to 10 people behind them while ordering with questions and color commentary on the menu, and then again at the register while they paid separately.

Second example - Two guys ordering 4 sandwiches let a pretty girl go ahead of them because they thought it would be quicker. Knowing that these guys were doing her a favor, not only did she cherry pick the ingredients for her entire sub, making the submaker explain most of the choices available first (which took about the same amount of time as it would have to make those guys subs - I'm not kidding), but when she got to the register, she didn't have enough money, so everyone had to wait while she went to her car for the rest of the cash. She never acknowledged that she did anything that might have been construed as an inconvienence. Much eyerolling and silent laughing on my part though.

3. Older people are cheap, but cool.

4. We as a society have got to do something about the homeless, whackjobs besides move away into the suburbs and cede the mass transitways to them.

New Neighbor

2007-02-15T21:42:00.000-08:00

The new neighbor is moved in. This time it's a single female, probably 5-10 years older than me. Seems nice, my dog likes her. We'll see!

Happy After Valentine's!

2007-02-15T20:53:00.000-08:00

Continuing my tradition of missing the actual holiday to express the sentiment!

Want - that's such a strong word

2007-02-08T12:57:00.000-08:00

One of the more awkward things about starting the job search is that when I'm telling people about being on the job search, I get the question - "Well, what do you want to do?" in some sort of variation.

What do I want to do? That's something I haven't really struck upon. It's always been about what am I able to do. What am I capable to do. What do I have to do to pay the bills.

Ideally, I'd like to get paid to write fiction, TV and/or movies. But I well know that there are plenty of writers with day jobs. I also have no idea if I'd be any good at it. Writing has always taken a backseat to whatever else has been going on in my life, so maybe I don't have the fire to make that happen.

But Monday, I think I got a glimmer of something I would have a passion about - teaching what I think of as Life survival skills to young adults. This is stuff like teaching them about money, how to address conflict with co-workers, how to work with a difficult boss, how to investigate problems. You know, all the Fred Pryor/Learning Annex classes, only for 16-25 year olds. My vision would be that this is a class all kids would have to take, to fill in the gaps between education and parents.

Just don't know how to make it work as a paying job/career at this moment.

Dun-duuh-Dun! It's Repair Monkey

2007-02-01T15:35:00.000-08:00

If it leaks, stops, starts, burns up or out, I'm your manimal.

Brieflies

2007-02-01T15:01:00.000-08:00

I've got some topics I want to blog about, but haven't found the time yet to do it coherently. That's what happens when you're screwing around less at the soon-to-be-dead job.

So here are some quickie updates about what I've been upto behinds the scenes:

* Working with Andre on his web business, also coinciding with the return of Battlestar Galactica from the holiday break.

* Finished my resume, which probably everyone who reads this knows, 'cause I e-mailed it to you. Also uploaded it to Monster and Careerbuilder. Now begins the hunt.

* Finally transfered one of the two remaining restaurants to the new owner. Finally! Hence the need to get on the job search. One down! One to go!

* Started the great office cleanout at work. Since it's just me (ya know - Queen of the Empty Playground)it's going to take me a bit. 8 offices, and 1 warehouse of crap to go through to weed out sellable trash from unsellable. Separate the needs-to-shredded from the STD (straight-to-dumpster) paperwork - Oh Joyous Day!

And another bit of thrilling news this morning - my neighbors are almost moved out. Hooray! They were almost acheiving Leroy/Pam status in amount of unignorable noise. Really - do you HAVE to slam the door everytime you exit the apartment? Are you unable to believe it's closed unless a loud bang accompanies the visual?

Whatever! Toodles you two - I hope you come back in the next life as cats with people like you as owners. Then you'll know what its like to freeze your furry asses off while your owners ignore your plainative cries.

Cold is Relative

2007-01-18T12:53:00.000-08:00

(Left: Chilly mornings force Krissy to morph into her dogball form)

While the true winter states are hunkered down to wait out spring for another 3-4 months, CA got its 1st snow in Malibu in about 20 years!

I'm sure that made the national news, because, you know, California IS the Center of the Universe (North & Southern CA duke it out for #1 like Cinderella's two nasty stepsisters).

I don't want to admit that I'm acclimated to these fairly warm winters. I like to drag out my "It's not cold. Alaska's Cold!" pride and snuggle under the bedcovers til the last second, run around the apartment in sweaters and coats, rather than get a heater (my coastal apartment doesn't have heat or A/C). Mom would be so proud! Although I HATED it when as kids, we had to do the same thing at our house in Juneau. Teenage annoyance just couldn't understand why we had to do that because she didn't want to spend the electricity turning on the heat.

But I'd be on the receiving end of one of The Mother's infamous glares too, if she knew I'd weakened and used the Apt stove a few times for a little quick warmth. In the Juneau days, Lecture #209 would get dragged out if I got busted for trying to circumvent the thermostat that way. It's so much easier to play dumb when you're a teenager. With credit to her, Lecture #209 plays in my head while I'm doing the Apt stove heat, but I try to fend it off with the adult inner shout-back, "I know MOM! I can pay for it!" The sheepish feeling over my impractical decision lingers on though.

Finally, after the first Stove Heat this year, I decided to stop being stupid and get a room heater. Before they were all gone at Home Depot. Like what happens to the Room Fans every year when I cry "Uncle" over the August heat.

Yes, Mom had a point. I know we couldn't afford a $400/mo* heating bill just so we could dance around the house in our PJs with no slippers. *(probably $750 in today dollars, and I would have liked to take off the coat and one of the clothing layers, ok?)

Upside to a 650 sq ft apartment? A room heater makes it possible to dance around the house without slippers for under $400!

Friday's Feats of Wonder

2007-01-12T15:02:00.000-08:00

Sometimes its those little accomplishments that keep you going....

Today I -

Installed a wireless network card on my laptop.

Finally found someone to talk to me about a repair we need on a Restaurant walk-in door. I swear this took at least 10 separate phone calls, and 5 "Let me transfer yous".

Lost 1/2 pound from last week. Not the thrilling loss I was hoping for, but taking into consideration the 2 weeks of Holiday celebrating prior to this one, I'll accept it.

Reduced the piles on my desk to 3 small, manageable ones, instead of the 3 giant stacks of "Nostalgic Tasks of the Past" and "Things you wish you'd got to, but don't matter anymore".

Hee!

Craigslist or aka Craigcrack

2007-01-11T10:46:00.000-08:00

Ok, today is the day I start to admit I'm spending way too much time on Craigslist.org in the forums.

Initially I just stopped by for work purposes. Really. No Really. I went there to post job openings for our Quizno's stores. It was free. It's a place where college age kids hang out. They fit our hiring profile for shift supervisors.

You believe me don't you?

After a couple of job posts, I made a fairly innocent foray into the TV forum. Krissy doesn't get into the same shows I do, so it was cool to check out the enthusiasm over my shows, and snicker over some of the wit and bitch fights posters get into over their opinions.

By the way, mispelling anything in a post, capitol offense. Your total worth as a poster hangs on your ability to proofread before posting. Brutal.

Then when the TV forum wasn't enough, started checking out Film Fo. Next thing you know, I'm in Celeb Fo (oh I feel dirty). Fitness, Fo, Diet Fo, Pet Fo, sometimes Ro Fo, I'm getting around now. Sometimes, to make myself feel like I'm in charge, not Craig, I'll check out Computer Fo or Science & Math Fo. It's fun, and I learn a few things, but then I sneak back to the snarkier forums.

Yeah. Definitely need a new job and real people to hang out with.

It's National De-lurking Week - January 8-12

2007-01-08T15:29:00.000-08:00

There was a really cool graphic of the Egg from the "Alien" Movie opening with a laptop inside. "Delurk - In cyberspace, no one can here you read". But couldn't get that one to load, so everyone has to settle for the "National Security, feel good, scare button".

Guess its that time in the Blogosphere where those of us who blog want to know we're not just talking to ourselves. Although that doesn't bother me as much as it should, since I live alone with my dog. That's one of the dog's main jobs - to make it look like I'm not talking to myself.

Her interview when something like this:
"Krissy - before I hire you for the position of family dog, are you willing to take on these duties?"

1) Do the "Happy Dog" dance whenever I come in the door, no matter how long I've been gone?
2) Follow me around while I'm talking, or whenever you hear my voice when you're in another room, come sit next to me, cock your head to one side and look at me intently.
3) Bark ferociously and non-stop whenever a stranger comes to the door.

She agreed, and that was that.

So if you're reading this - stand up and be counted! If for nothing less than to give Krissy some company. She'd do the Happy Dog Dance, I bet.

Oh..If Only It Was So...

2007-01-03T16:39:00.000-08:00

Your results:

You are Superman

Superman		90%
Robin		75%
Spider-Man		60%
Green Lantern		55%
Batman		45%
Supergirl		45%
Iron Man		45%
Wonder Woman		40%
The Flash		35%
Catwoman		30%
Hulk		25%

You are mild-mannered, good,
strong and you love to help others.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Quiz

And Suddenly, it's Done

2006-12-31T17:24:00.000-08:00

I love the Christmas season....mostly. I'll explain why that's qualified in a minute.

What I love about Christmas - its a publicly sanctioned, designated time to think about issues larger than yourself, blessings that you have, but haven't credited with being such, and also about people. People outside of your personal universe or family, friends and work, the people who may never touch your orbit, but are a part of the ether that makes life what it is.

I suppose the time for this reflection really starts at Thanksgiving, when we acknowledge the people around us as being more than pains in our arses when they inconvienently don't fall in line with our idea of how they should be. That they're separate and distinct beings whose follys, foibles, love or lack of it have contributed to our unique blip in reality. While we can't know what we'd have turned out like without their influence, we hold tight the our qualities and characteristics formed from them as though an armful of medals and trophys earned.

After the presents are opened, it seems to always curdle a bit with the ending of the mystery of what wishes were fulfilled and which were left unrequited. The holiday euphoria freefalls into the cold realization of another season of unappreciated gestures, unrecognized accomplishments and passed on opportunities to demonstrate the love.

Recovering from Chocolate & Nog Overload

2006-12-27T15:18:00.000-08:00

Please enjoy these xkcd web-comics while I post-Christmas detox just in time to poison myself for New Years -

Merry Christmouse!

2006-12-25T14:49:00.000-08:00

For the season, here's a few pictures from the 2004 Christmas display at the downtown Denver Civic Center.

A Special Christmas Present

2006-12-19T16:51:00.000-08:00

Made it a point to watch SNL last Saturday because Justin Timberlake was hosting. I'm not a JT fanatic normally, but the last time he hosted was actually good, so I was hoping for more of the same.

JT delivered like Santa on Christmas morning! The link to the best bit is here (Warning: a little racey for those with pure hearts, but oh so funny for the rest of us)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dmVU08zVpA

I'm having all kinds of 80's Flashbacks now.

Justin Timberlake and Alec Baldwin have me starting a Top 10 List of People who are Unexpectedly Funny.

Relationship Therapy - Amazing Race Style

2006-12-15T11:27:00.000-08:00

Now for all those people who say TV mushes up your brains, I say to you HA! and HA again!

Lo, ye shall learn how a humble show like the Amazing Race can actually help you understand relationship problems, and how to overcome them. Or something like that.

The following is quoted from Miss Alli's Recap over at www.TelevisionwithoutPity.com, where I get all my recapping goodness. Reading the recaps after watching the show is almost as fun as watching with your smart brother or friend, who's totally great at picking out errors, logic problems, and explaining the parts of the show you just totally didn't get.

One of the Detour obstacles the teams had to overcome on this Season's Amazing Race was to find a clue in a giant pile of tomatoes while locals are pelting tomatos at them. It's a traditional Spanish festival activity. How that turns into a life lesson, I'll let Miss Alli explain -

"So here we are at the giant tomato pile, where Rob and Kimberly are just arriving. If you said to yourself at this point, "This is going to be good," you are (1) not wrong; and (2) becoming very good at spotting genius in the making. They run into an empty town square, where a giant pile of tomatoes in the middle is surrounded by a larger ring of smaller tomato piles. Rob and Kim head for the big pile in the middle. As they start to hunt, a crowd of people comes running, spreads itself around the ring, and starts hurling tomatoes at Rob and Kim. Kimberly gives a couple of "ow" remarks as the tomatoes start to hit her in the shoulders and head. As Rob winds up and hurls a tomato at somebody, Kimberly almost immediately says that "this is stupid," and they "should do the other one." "Look for the damn clue," he says. Kimberly takes a tomato right on the back of her neck, pretty hard, and she tells him that they're "going to get hurt," because they're getting whole tomatoes flung at them. I kind of get Kimberly's unhappiness about this situation, to be honest. Rob tells her to look while he throws tomatoes back at the hurlers. Three questions: (1) Isn't that a waste of his time? (2) Isn't that just going to make them throw more? (3) Isn't he worried about throwing a tomato with a clue in it? Just little things I am wondering. "I hate this one -- ow!" Kimberly says. "I just got nailed." See, she's taking it okay at the beginning, which is interesting.

Locals yelling, "Yaaaaaah!" Rob throwing tomatoes back at them. Kimberly looking through the pile, thinking that getting whanged with tomatoes isn't a whole lot of fun. She tells him that she's getting hit in the face, but he mostly ignores her. She says she's "done with this one," and she wants to leave. "They're hurting us," she says as she takes another tomato to the back of the head. "I'm done with it," she says. "No, no! I'm not leaving!" Rob protests, and he climbs into the tomato pile. Now, she's crying, and she says, "This is going to take forever."

Kimberly is continuing to say that she wants to leave and go to the other one. "Just do the damn task, it's too late," he says. "No it's not too late," she says, sounding pretty calm. "Honey," he says, also sounding pretty calm. "Babe, it's not too late," she says, still sounding pretty calm. "I'm not doing it," he insists, sounding impatient but not freaked. And then Kimberly absolutely shrieks -- and I am not kidding, it is a shriek -- "LISTEN TO ME!" But it's the "LISSENDAMEE!" way. And then she repeats it: "LISSENDAMEE!" Wow, that was Freak. Eee. He doesn't even lose it at all; he kind of says, "I don't want to --" And she goes back to sounding rational, which is very weird, and she says, "If we get there, we won't be a half-hour behind the girls." She takes a couple more whaps with tomatoes. "We cannot be a half-hour behind them," she says, "and this is making me mad." What's so funny here is that they're reacting, both of them, to how much they can't stand having people throw shit at them -- her reaction is to ball up and want to leave, and his reaction is that suddenly, he loses it and starts occupying himself throwing tomatoes back at people. So now he won't leave, and he's not even helping. "BAAABE! Stop paying attention to them and get this," she says. "I'm getting hit by a tomato!" he says. "Who cares?" she says with frustration, since she is angry about getting hit by a tomato.

Oh my God, this is where I figured out that this was a metaphor for every relationship problem that people ever have in their lives. They are both getting hit by tomatoes. DO YOU GET IT? In life, you're both hit by tomatoes all the time, and -- seriously, this is so brilliant that I think some task planner wanted us all to learn how to be better at dealing with other people -- if one person wants to take one approach to getting away from the flying tomatoes, and the other person wants to take a different approach, they often wind up yelling at each other, even though the problem is that they are both getting hit by tomatoes. Kimberly has already told him that she's upset because she's getting belted and is afraid they'll get hurt, so she wants help, and he's like, "I can't help you, I'm getting hit by a tomato!" It's so brilliant it makes me dizzy. Seriously, not only is this why many relationships break up, but it's why we don't have world peace and it's why all the people in What's The Matter With Kansas? vote Republican. "Let's get out of here! I'm getting hit by a tomato!" "Sorry, can't hear you right now! Busy getting hit by a tomato!"

Okay, anyway. Rob goes back to "solving" the hit-by-tomatoes issue in his way, which is to throw tomatoes back at the locals, and Kimberly feels abandoned, of course, since now he's not helping her and she thinks therefore that he doesn't care. "I want to go," she says, half in tears again. "I wish you would listen to me." She gets hit with a couple more tomatoes, and it pushes her right over the line. "I'm going," she announces. "I'm done, I'm done. I'm done!" And she's acting all calm, all, "Doop-de-doo, I'm do-ooone!" Unfortunately, he just says, "I'm not done," and then she… rather hilariously turns around and shrieks, "NOOOO!" She announces, "I'm not doin' it." "Why can't you be tough?" he asks. Oh, that's a good idea. That's an even better idea than "You're not as heavy as I thought!" He goes on to complain, "We've been here for FIVE MINUTES!" "We're never going to find it!" she protests. "Dammit, Rob!"

Okay, so the metaphor continues, right? They're looking for basically the same outcome. She's sure they'll never achieve it this way, and he's sure they'll never achieve it the other way, and they both ultimately want exactly the same thing, but because they want to achieve it in different ways, they both think the other one doesn't care about the goal. Also, they can't get enough peace to have a constructive discussion about it, because they're too distracted to give it their full attention, because they're being pelted with tomatoes -- in your life, this would be the money, the job, the in-laws, the general daily bullshit…do you see what I mean? I realize I am utterly carried away, but this is fascinating to me. This is what happens when you are on, like, your 120th episode of a show.

Tomato relationship counseling. "We're going to be a half-hour behind the girls," Kimberly says miserably. "I want to GO!" And then Rob, bless his foolish heart, says with this utter bafflement, "Stop crying, dude." Telling her to stop crying does not stop her from crying, as anyone who cries regularly could tell you it wouldn't. "This is going to take forever, and I don't want -- ow!" She gets slammed in the face with a tomato. "I'm done," she sobs. And then she picks up some tomatoes, says (I believe) "Fuck all of you," and starts throwing them back at the crowd. That girl needs a hug. "I am done with this. No, I am out of here," she says, walking toward the car. "Please God," Rob says, apropos of nothing. "I'm not getting hit in the face again," she says. And then she shrieks, "BAAAABE!" "Just gave up," he pronounces. "I'm done," she says again as they run to the car. "Way to go, Kim," he says sarcastically. "Way to cry." Wait a minute, "way to… cry"? I have to say, I think this is a fundamental difference between people that's very hard to alter. "Way to cry" is a lot like "way to sneeze." Like, in theory, you could make yourself sneeze, but it's mostly an involuntary reaction, and it's not really a chosen behavior. In most cases in which I wind up crying, I want me to stop crying infinitely more than anyone else does. I happen to cry easily, which often makes people conclude that I'm more distraught than I actually am, and telling me "way to cry" is probably about the least productive thing you could try when it's happening.

Kim decides to protest: "I'm not crying!" He says, "I can't believe you, just because you're getting hit by a couple of tomatoes." Here's a news flash, "dude": she's not upset because she was getting hit by tomatoes. She was upset because she was getting hit by tomatoes and it didn't seem like you gave a shit, even though you gave a shit when it was happening to you. She felt alone in what was happening, and that's what was freaking her out. He continues, as they go to the car: "Let's go. You just gave up! You want to go so bad? You just blew it. You just blew it. You just threw in the damn towel." Her hair full of tomato seeds, she bends over the side of the cab miserably.

So, to recap: they needed to recognize that both the long-term goal (find the clue) and the logistical difficulty along the way (pelted with tomatoes) were to be mutually attacked, and they didn't. Instead, they each tried to come up with their own strategy for doing both, and when they didn't agree on strategy, they each concluded that the other didn't adequately care and was doing it wrong. She became so desperate to be listened to that she bailed out entirely, which only made him angrier, because now he really thought she didn't care. Also, it was very difficult for Rob to admit that he didn't like being pelted with tomatoes, so he denied that it bothered him, which both (1) kept them from discussing the problem straightforwardly, and (2) made her feel like he was ridiculing her for actually being bothered by being pelted with tomatoes. Who knew this Detour was this genius?

See! Ta Dah! AR really disguised as Adult Sesame Street, ....only with Tomatoes.

Well maybe its just me...ahem.

If you want to read the whole thing, go to http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/articles/content/a12694/

Although if they start Dr. Phil counseling sessions on the Amazing Race, I'll have to quit the show.

10 days & counting

2006-12-15T11:12:00.000-08:00

Well I thought I'd have a cool surprise to show today, but looks like that will be in January instead. Oh well.

Yes, it's Christmas and everyone has officially lost their mind in the parking lots. I can always tell the holiday virus has spread to virtually all moving cars. Maybe you've seen the behavior below in your area.

The "X-Mas Parking Lot Feverious" Symptoms include an increased rate of :
- Jumping out of spaces before looking.
- Honking if someone doesn't move fast enough.
- Driving at street speed through the lot looking for the next open space
- Cruising through the Stop signs
- and witnessing at least 1 Pedestrian shopper per visit almost get mowed down.

Peace on Earth, y'all.

Unless you get in my way, of course.

Current Words in the Car

2006-12-08T14:21:00.000-08:00

This week I'm listening to "The Four Agreements", a book by Don Miguel Ruiz, read by Peter Coyote, the actor.

Peter Coyote's voice is fantastic for audiobooks. I don't know what his opinion is on the source material, but his voice just fits the tone of the book so well, that its a separate source of delight. He could probably read a car manual and I'd be entertained.

I'm still going through it, but really finding a lot hitting home in the material. Don Miguel Ruiz's book reframes a lot of concepts I've already been exposed to in other "How to live a more fulfilling life" material in Toltec culture and mythology, so it seems on the surface to be more mystic (read "crazy-whackadoo") than these ideas really are, but it's a good reinforcement/reminder to keep the day to day crap life flings at you in perspective. I'll probably listen to the CDs twice before I send them back to Simplyaudiobooks.com.

Throwin' me a Bone

2006-12-08T14:11:00.000-08:00

I had one of THOSE dreams about Matthew Fox last night. You know, one of the stars from TV's series LOST.

No particular reason why, at least I don't think so. LOST is on their hiatus til Jan, so it's not like just saw him. But sometimes I guess my brain feels like being nice to me.

Thank you brain.... can I have another?

Sugar & Spice Makes X-Mas nice!

2006-12-04T18:48:00.000-08:00

Well then, here's a gift suggestion (not for me) from Drugstore.com. I'm sure it scores high on the ROFL scale!

So...What's going on with you?

2006-12-04T13:53:00.000-08:00

Recap of the weekend's doings -

Went to Andre & Jennifer's for BSG night. Argh! BSG makes me so angry! But in a good way. This is such a well thought out, written, and acted show.
Mongolian BBQ for Dinner Sat night. Between that and Korean BBQ last weekend, I'm thinking all food should be cooked over open flames.
Jennifer & I tormented Andre by watching Pride & Prejudice. Excellent compliment to the book.
Upgraded to MS Office 2003 on the home computer
Liberated X-mas from the garage. Banished the Summer Fan to the garage.
Killed the spider guarding the entrance to my garage
Vacuumed!
Shoveled the mountain of leaves on my balcony into garbage bags. In theory, I'm hanging X-mas lights there this year. That would require space for my feet out there.
Finished watching "The Fantastic Four" movie. Really well done! Hope there will be a FF4 sequel.
Cheered the elimination of the Blonde Beauty Queens from "The Amazing Race".

This Weekend Really Sucks

2006-12-04T13:07:00.000-08:00

What does it take to make me happy? Sometimes, not much.

I hate, hate, hate, hate...and hate some more, cleaning my apartment. I hate cleaning in general, not just my apartment. Vacuuming, cleaning floors, cleaning the bathroom, dusting, all of that. Hate it.

I was a crappy kid about doing these when Mom gave us chores, which my brother, Matt can verify. Right now I can't remember which chore I hated more, I think it was vacuuming or cleaning the bathroom, but I was always trying to get him to do the other one.

Finally, when I ran the Quizno's Sub I owned, I came to appreciate the purpose of cleaning and the virtue of staying on top of it, so it never got out of hand. BUT I never learned to love it, and it's one thing to clean when there are other people doing it too, and because there aren't more appealing distractions, like there are at home.

So anyway, nowadays, vacuuming is my most hated cleaning chore. Mostly because my vacuum cleaner, well, didn't suck. And it smelled like musty dog. And it wouldn't get corners. See! You'd hate it too.

So, I finally called it quits with my old vacuum and bought a new one (hmm, this may also be a commentary on my tendency to stay in bullshit relationships too long).

Thanks to Consumer Reports and Sears, I now have a new cleaning partner - The Kenmore Progressive Direct Drive. It's sucking power is awesome to behold.

Subscribing to Consumer Reports is worth it just for these types of purchases. I was contemplating a Dyson Animal 17 at a chokeworthy price of $450, just to make sure that I got a really powerful vacuum for all the dog hair. I would've been doing a slow burn if I bought that, and then found out Consumer Reports scored this vacuum above the Dyson at a much more agreeable price of $279. Got mine at Sears.com Black Friday Internet sale price of $239 + free shipping. Score!

Let's Go To the Mall!

2006-11-21T11:25:00.000-08:00

Seriously, if you aren't watching CBS's "How I Met Your Mother" on Monday nights, then you're committing a crime against all that is funny in this world.

Ok, that might just be a little leftover "Issue Overstatement" from the November political advertising.

But still, this show is a sweet, witty, smarmy comedy tightly bundled in a 1/2 hour package. Lots of laugh out loud moments you can't predict, and at least one line you can requote at the office for instant entertainment (to others, or yourself. Depends on where you're working, of course).

So last night we find out Robin's phobia about malls comes from her short career as Robin Sparkles, a Canadian Pop singer with 1 hit she had to sing around Canada's malls over and over and over. Hilariously illustrated with music video Barney finds on the internet. (*cough*Tiffany*cough* - for the old-timers who don't remember this 80's phenomenom)

Now the HIMYM writers don't just give us a few, crappy fake video scenes, they went and made a "fauthentic" video, complete with a bright, shiny song that is just almost believable as something an entire Country would go crazy over.

Check it out at this link and you'll be smirking right along with me - http://www.myspace.com/robinsparkles

That's what it's all abouuut!

Stay In the Tunnel Long Enough, and You Forget What's Out There

2006-11-21T05:39:00.000-08:00

Sunday morning 7:15 AM - WHACK! That's the paper hitting the wall between my neighbor's door and mine. Bet they appreciate that. But the complex has a metal fence between the apartments and the street, so Delivery guy has to lob it to my 2nd floor abode over the fence, plus clear the stair railing. He's gotta put some arm into that pitch. Does it though, sometimes I'm up to see it, and very rarely misses. He's awesome.

On Sunday I decided to try something new with my paper. READ it.

Yep, that's right. I've been paying the subscription price + carrier tip (always tip your carriers) up til now for the TV Guide, coupons and Ad circulars. Maybe I'd read an occasional front page article, or pull the Business section out, but more often than not, the paper would lie in a large messy pile of "I'll get to you later", then placed in my recycle bag when next Sunday came.

I didn't used to treat my paper that way. When I was younger, teens through college, I used to read it section, by section. Fascinated by the information it was giving me, I felt more prepared to deal with the giant, confusing world. But over the working, married, years I've spent less and less time with my friend the paper, trying to save time for other things by elimnating sections until finally, here I am. TV guide & Ads.

So I sat down, took about 1 1/2 hours and went through each section carefully, reading just about all of it, highlighting information with a pink highlighter along the way. Highlighting makes me slow down and pay attention, rather than skim read.

Here's a sampling what I found interesting from the San Diego Union Tribune's edition on November 19th:

The Democrats plan for rolling back Big Oil multi-billion dollar subsides really aren't that big. Apparently the big money savings is to change the way oil companies are allowed to calculate inventories for tax purposes. No current plan to change that.
A 16 year old Afghani wife tried to commit suicide by fire to escape her forced marriage and domestic abuse. It's estimated 60-80% of marriages are forced, more than half are before the women are 16 becasue women are exchanged as property to settle disputes or resolve a debt.
A whole lot more about Iraq that leads me to believe it's basically anarchy there. Sunni's and Shites both involved in escalating murderous violence against each other. A short, buried toward the back article about a U.S. Military officer whose unit's job was to make sure that some Iraqi police force members patrolled the neighborhood. But the police members were completely scared to do it as they've been shot at many times, and many policemen have been killed on patrol. They have bullet proof vests, but not much else to protect them against the sheer amount of firepower out there.
Book recomendation : Blind Submission - a novel about a literary agency which reportedly has some good detail on what it's really like at an agency, since the author used to work at one.
The winemaking monks of The St. Benedict Monastery in Northern California let people stay at their abby for 3 or 4 days on a retreat, no TVs and each night they observe a "Grand Silence" from 7:35pm til 3:30am the next morning. I could see that as a nice way to get off the grid. Apparently they do wine tastings too. Bonus!
Nine Ways to Manage Money effectively - which after I read, I really already know, but need to be reminded of it seems.

Ahem, anything interesting to say??

2006-11-16T10:53:00.000-08:00

We'll I've been putting off posting here this week, waiting for that right block of time to fall into my lap so I can write something BRILLIANT! (ah haha hah ha, wait a sec....gotta get up from the floor).

So that clearly isn't going to happen this week, as I look at the looming weekend and see it already filled up with more things than I possibly have time to do. What?? Why is this? Last year I had way more time!?

Oh wait, that's right. I was pretty much lying down and watching TV from the moment I got home until work the next morning. Although I did have 1 night of Marketing class. Whew! How did I ever get through it!

Now my week is Tue & Thur exercise class. Personal training on Mon & Wed. Friday nights/Sat days with Andre & Jennifer, then Sunday's I usually do catch up work stuff. I'll never catch up .... until I finally get laid off (Sigh) . Maybe I should skip work this Sunday (scandalous!)

Well I did make time for some TV - the new show premieres of 3lbs and Daybreak. Here's what I think:

3lbs - Boring! Ok, I love the actor Stanley Tucci being bald, and boy he sure keeps himself in shape. HOWEVER, this show seems like a Medical CSI. CSI: Brain surgery! Now instead of cities, we'll do CSI: Specialty. Oh wait that doesn't work unless there's a crime. There's no crime here except stealing 1 hour of people's lives to watch the interaction conflict between Great yet Socially Abhorrent Brain Surgeon with his apprentice the Talented, let the Spirit be Your Guide, Dr. Feelgood. We'll through in a pretty Neurosurgeon with a British accent for sexual tension and presto! Ratings! (probably not).

Daybreak - Way better show than I expected it to be. Taye Diggs is a Hunkalicious Cop on the run from a frame up, supposedly he killed the Asst. District Attorney, his only alibi is his girlfriend, who he gets to watch die, killed by the frame up conspirators. The End.

Oh wait, it's not the end, he gets to do the whole day over again! And interestingly, if he gets hurt the previous day, it carries over into the restarted day. He went through about 3 days on the 2 hour premiere, even saved the girlfriend from being killed, but still restarted the day anyway. So what will it take to get to tomorrow? We'll find out over the next 12 weeks. They also throw in mystery tidbits on the people in the Cop's life, so I think that this will be a quite entertaining way to pass the time til Lost comes back in February. You might win this gamble not to lose the Lost viewership over the break ABC, you just might.

And did I tell you about my laundry? No? Ok, I'll save that for the next post. That and the dishes...it was just awesome.

Home Safely...

2006-11-07T14:34:00.000-08:00

Back from the 4 day trip to Denver to see family and friends. All the flight connections went off without a hitch in Phoenix, fortunately. Even was a short delay on the flight from Phoenix to San Diego, so I could run and get me a Cinnabon. Nice! In the dictionary, you'll see under the listing for:

va‧ca‧tion
1. a period of suspension of work, study, or other activity, usually used for rest, recreation, or travel; recess or holiday: Schoolchildren are on vacation now.
2. a part of the year, regularly set aside, when normal activities of law courts, legislatures, etc., are suspended.
3. freedom or release from duty, business, or activity.
4. an act or instance of vacating. –verb (used without object)
5. an excuse to suspend the diet, eat freely and without guilt.

Really! Go look it up. If #5 isn't in your dictionary, you really should get a new one.

More about the trip to come. Gotta get back to work now.

HAPPY HALLOW....Oh Wait, Crap!

2006-11-01T09:26:00.000-08:00

Hope you enjoyed the day to celebrate being scary and the beginning of Candy season. We start getting all sugared up with Halloween, noshing on the leftovers, until right before Thanksgiving. Then the pies take over before giving way to candy canes, frosted cookies, and liquored chocolate gifts from work acquaintances. Oh and I can't forgot about the liquid candy - Eggnog with a kick, Kahlua & coffee, and a nice after-dinner Bailey's & Irish Cream.

I'm about to pass out from virtual sugar right here.

And in other news, I actually did something social. No wait, I can prove it! Here's a picture -

See!

My outdoor fitness instructor, Cheryl, invited me to go with a group of her friends dressed as pirates to Monster Bash (pay no attention to the referee in the pic). Well really, the theme was trashy pirates, but I didn't get that info until too late.

Probably just as well.

So we went downtown to the Monster Bash block party and danced, danced, danced, until the trashy pirates couldn't dance no-mo in their 4 inch stacked heels. That was a good way to force a quiting time, since, if you haven't heard the bar hopping caveat - nothing good happens after 2AM. Really, it's all trouble after that.

Great fun! Great costumes too - the pic at the top of the post was one, and the next pic is the costume that won the contest - Linda Blair tied to her bed...amazing!

This guy probably didn't do much dancing but he was a huge celebrity at Monster Bash. The Exorcist - it's a classic.

Where there's smoke....

2006-10-27T12:24:00.000-07:00

Woohoo! Caught a break last night cause we didn't have exercise class. Thank you God! 'Cause I was exhausted. And as far as I could tell, for no good reason. Slept 8 hrs previous night, but from the minute I woke up, was draggin' all day long, and no amount of caffeine would change that. "The Hell you say!"....Yes, the hell I say.

Now unfortunately, the class was called off because we hold it out in a park, and there's this ragin'-ass fire going on south of Palm Springs, which has blotted out the normally blue sky with a grey haze. It smells like smoke everywhere. In Escondido, where I work, and all down the Coast. It's actually amazing that the smoke came this far west, this thick. Smarter people than me, tell me that's because of the Santa Ana winds. Tragically, they think this fire was deliberately started, and it has killed 4 firefighters so far. Sigh. People who do stuff like this on purpose should a) be lobotomized b) be sterilized or c) both. I say both, but then, I'm a Republican. Apparently not a George Bush type of republican though, but at one time I thought I was.

Where or where has the Pumpkin Beer gone?

2006-10-24T10:50:00.000-07:00

Really...where is the Blue Moon brewing company's season Pumpkin Beer? I've looked at the Grocery stores, Trader Joes, and Whole Foods and nada. I'll check Cost Plus World Market tonight, but I'm afraid that I'll walk away disappointed once again.*

I haven't even seen any replacement seasonal beer, except for these brews:

http://www.eurobrews.com/scarepage/Circle%20Master%20and%20Scarecrow%20Organic%20Ale%20from%20The%20Wychwood%20Brewery.htm

http://www.eurobrews.com/hobpage/hobpage.htm

I give Scarecrow an 8.5 out of 10. Hobgoblin is on the tasting menu this weekend, so I'll let you know.

OMG - I just did a websearch for Blue Moon Pumpkin and learned it was a Coors product. I must hang my head in shame as a beer aficionado. Excuse me while I go flog.

*don't worry - I'm also going for coffee and syrup flavoring. It will be ok.