California Drivers

I've lived all over North America. I learned to drive in torrential rain in Virginia, snowstorms in the North, freezing rain in New England, and around old people in Florida. I've driven through it all and seen it all in my 30 years of driving—until I came to Southern California.

Don't get me wrong, there's quite a few things I like about driving here. For one, I can put the top down on my car almost all year and drive 90 mph (and yet people are still passing me). But what drives me crazy is that everyone here drives on the left on the highway. I was always taught that you drive as far to the right without having to pass people. Out here everyone automatically gets on the highway and heads straight to the far left lane no matter what speed they're going. Half the time if I want get around people I have to drive in the "slow lane." I'm usually the only car in the lane. Even on a Sunday morning everyone is on the left! And, I was always taught that it was polite to get out of the way if someone comes up behind you at a higher rate of speed. But no...not here. People tool down the highway in the fast lane and they might as well not have rear view mirrors because obviously they never look.

I'm also not fond of people that flash their lights, that's just plain rude. I've had a few people try to do that to me when I don't have time to get out of the way. I just smile, kick the turbo in, and let them smell my fumes. I do love my turbo Miata MX5. His name is Max and he's hazy grey like a Navy ship. I have personalized plates that say CHIK BMC. That was my rate in the Navy.

Most of the time the highways are pretty crowded so you have no choice but to tailgate a bit or else someone will barge into your lane. But people tailgate even when there's a lot of space! The other day I saw this car tailgating a transport (semi truck in US lingo). There wasn't even a car's length between them and there was no reason for it. Both were in the slow lane and the car had lots of room to move over to the other lane, there wasn't a car near them. My husband's a truck driver and he absolutely hates that because he can't see them.

Then there's the rain issue. If we get 1/2 inch of rain the news stations will blast across the TV screen STORM WATCH! I'm not kidding. People here can't drive in the rain. Mind you it does only rain out here maybe 2 weeks out of the year and we've had a draught for the past 10 years but 90% of the people are from somewhere else...where it rains and snows. They have no excuse!! I can't tell you how many people that do not have their lights on in torrential rain and they're always the cars you naturally can't see in the rain—white, light blue, etc. People, it's the law here; if your windshield whipers are on your lights are on. Shoot, I'm such a small car I have my lights on all the time because people are always trying to run me over. They're also tailgating at 80 mph in the rain. I like to drive fast but I don't do so in the rain. That's just stupid.

Still the people here are polite drivers compared to some cities I've lived in. Don't ever get in the wrong toll lane in NYC and not have exact change. I barely lived to tell the story.

A Dilemma of Sorts

I love to knit. But I have two problems. (1) I'm a lazy knitter so I don't challenge myself with a lot of patterns; and, (2) it's hard to come up with ideas when you live in an area that doesn't get that cold. Touques (that's Canadian for a wool hat) are too hot here and I can only knit so many furry scarves. Hubby bought me three skeins of this beautiful angora wool. There's one of each colour: wine, black and white, and I have no idea what to do with them. I guess I could knit a purse, but I don't really carry a purse that often. Gloves are out (see note about lazy knitter). Socks are out because (see note above again) they'd be too hot here. I've already got a ton of scarves. I don't want to make something for someone else since these were a Christmas present to me. (He also made me knitting needles on his lathe.) Decisions, decisions.

On a bright note, I was at Barnes & Noble yesterday and discovered that a new Mercedes Lackey Valdemar paperback book was out. Yippee, I love it when a new book in an old series is released. How I missed the hardcover book is beyond me. I'm tempted to read all her Valdemar books over again since it's been many years. I've been a little low on books lately. I was reading a few "girlie lite" books just for something to read. That's what I call those books about women who are trying to find themselves, are in the "safe" relationship, hates their job and is looking for Mr. Right. They're cookie-cutter stories. Nothing strenuous on the brain. The one I just finished was Testing Kate by Whitney Gaskell about a woman who's turned 30 (oh no!) dumped the safe relationship, started law school on a whim, went back to the safe relationship but has feelings for a fellow law student, and eventually realizes it's all a mistake. In the end she discovers she has an aptitude for history, drops out of law school and hooks up with the one she really loved. Mind you, she had to get engaged first to the wrong guy to realize what she really wanted. Sometimes I really want to yell at them, "Make up your mind!"

Happy New Year

It’s 2010, yippee! I’m surely glad that 2009 is over because it generally sucked. Not that I don’t have a lot to be grateful for, after all, both Bruce and I survived the economic implosion. His company is doing much better, so he wasn’t laid off, and mine actually grew during the downswing. Bruce actually is doing well at work now that he’s driving as well as working the docks. Our family is healthy so it wasn’t all that bad. But I can’t say that 2009 was the greatest year. Hanging on instead of prospering was more the norm for everyone. I did enjoy seeing the back end of Bush getting on that helicopter so it wasn’t all that bad ;) So will 2010 be any better? It’s going to start out sad for me as a dear co-worker is losing a battle with brain cancer. I’m helping his wife with his memorial right now by scanning in photos and making posters. It’s the least I can do for a wonderful man that will be missed by all that know him at work. Another co-worker, someone who is dear and near to me these last eight years, is getting married this month. I remember when she thought she would never meet “him” and I would always tell her that he’s out there, and sure enough he was. She’s marrying the best guy ever. God rewards the patient. I will probably blubber at the wedding. When I first started working at ASH, there were just Jacqueline, Monica and I in the department—how times have changed. I’m starting out the new year the same way I start out many new years, sick with a terrible cough. But it too shall pass. I wonder if there will ever be a winter that I don’t get a terrible cough because of my asthma? I wonder what life will be like for me when I’m old and grey. Will I be active or stuck in a nursing home? God willing, I’ll go out kicking. So what do I want for 2010? Health and happiness. Seems like not much but it encompasses everything. They go hand-in-hand, and really, do we need anything else? I also hope that my friends and family will also have health and happiness in 2010.

Where was the E Street Band?

I just finished watching the Kennedy Center Awards and I can't help but wonder why the E Street Band didn't play for Bruce Springsteen? It seemed strange to me. Sting was there. But then again Sting is always doing these things. He seems to know everyone! What is it with Sting? He's always doing tributes to other artists. He's a tribute whore. And what's with the beard? He looks like a British naval officer, I expected to see him in a fisherman's turtleneck sweater, like he's the new Gorton's Fish spokesperson. So I'm still curious as to why the E Street Band wasn't there.

Sedona Vacation

Day 1 & 2—Uncle Bob & Aunt June’s House, Mesa, AZ. We spent two days with Bruce’s uncle and aunt. It’s been nine years since we’ve seen them. They used to live up north of LA but moved soon after Uncle Bob’s 80s birthday to Mesa to be near his brother Jack. He just celebrated his 89th birthday. It was wonderful to see them and to just unwind at their house for a few days. They’re looking well but it’s sad to see your aunts and uncles grow old. Their house is in a residential area for seniors. Later that night we went for a walk around the neighbourhood and there was something strange about it that I couldn’t put my figure on it until later. There were no cars in the driveways or on the street. They were all in the insulated garages because of the heat. The most amazing thing about their neighbourhood is the quails. They’ll all over their back yard. I’ve never seen them & they’re so cute. There were also doves, woodpeckers, ravens, and a rabbit that visit their backyard regularly. We also saw a roadrunner while driving through the desert. The landscape out there is very stark but beautiful in it’s own way. Everything is brown or sand coloured and it takes a bit of getting used to not seeing trees or landscape around the commercial buildings. I did notice that the highways are very clean, especially in the city. There’s no litter on the side of the highways. Bruce says it’s because everyone has their a/c on the car windows up—which is probably true. When we arrived at 7 p.m., it was 100 degrees, but as they say “it was a dry heat” so it wasn’t unbearable.

Day 3—Sedona, AZ: The drive up was nice. We got there a little too early to check into the hotel so we stopped off at Camp Verde. There’s a fort there but there’s not much left except for three houses. It was abandoned in 1891 and sold at a public auction in 1899. Who would buy a fort? The COs house was nice although I wasn’t sure where they’d put all the kids as it only had three bedrooms. As we drove up to Sedona the hills were getting larger and the red soil was starting to peek out of the white rolling mountains. I was thinking this is really nice and then we rounded the bend and all I could say was “oh my!” I can’t even begin to describe the beauty of the red rocks. All the white rolling mountains were eroded away and these tall red striped monoliths jutted into the sky. It was breathtaking. We spent the afternoon roaming around the town and driving around a bit. The McDonald’s there has a turquoise M instead of the usual yellow one. The view from our hotel room was amazing. Actually our room was very cool with a separate room with a Jacuzzi; not bad for a Hotel 8.

Day 4—Montezuma Castle & Well: Montezuma Castle is a 20-room high rise pueblo built up in the side of the mountain by the Sinagua Indians around 700 AD and suddenly abandoned in the1400s. It’s retty amazing that the Sinagua Indians built the whole thing without any tools. No one is sure why they abandoned it or where they went. Archeologists believe though that there was a draught and they started fighting over food and water as the grave site showed trauma to the bodies that were buried last. Hopi folklore suggested the remainder of the tribe moved north and merged with them. Early archeologists thought that the Sinagua were Aztec hence the name Montezuma. The well is a natural limestone sink hole from which more than a million gallons of water flows from each day. For more info on both go here. On the way back to Sedona we drove through the Red Rock State Park to the Chapel of the Holy Cross. What a beautiful view, but unfortunately it started to rain so we had to cut our visit short. I did get the chance to lite a candle for a friend while there. Since it was overcast and raining we went to Tlaquepaque Arts & Crafts Village for lunch at a brewery and shopping. We did get a chance to go across the street to the UFO store to get a pocket alien for a friend. The place was a hoot. Sedona is on a vortex (a spiraling spiritual energy) so there are a lot of new age people and business there.

Day 5—Sedona Jeep Ride & “Don’t I know you?”: We decided we wanted to go on a jeep ride. There are tons of companies that offer them and they are very competitive. Bruce and I definitely didn’t want to go on the Pink Jeep tour. First of all we heard bad reviews on the internet and second; Bruce would not be caught dead in a pink jeep. He has his pride. The one we picked was Red Rock Jeep tour and Steve, our driver, was fantastic. We picked a 2-hour tour that would allow me to take nice photos and I wasn’t disappointed. He explained why the rocks were red and that they were basically sediment. Which explains why they look like they look like shaped clay figures. Afterwards I had one of those “Brockville” moments. A friend of mine from Brockville was in a fairly successful band in the 70s. The rest of the guys were from Ottawa and the running joke was no matter where they were someone from Brockville would show up. It’s happened to me as well. I have a co-worker from Brockville and I’ve run into other Brockvillians all over the place. Sedona was one of them. We went into this BBQ rib shack and the owner happened to have hockey memorabilia all over the place. Turns out he was from Ottawa but lived in Brockville a number of years while playing hockey with the Brockville Braves. A small world. Later we went up to the airport to see the sun set over the mountains, a beautiful site and quite popular. I had a hard time getting good shots over the people but I did. Later we went back to the airport to see the meteor shower. Turns out the airport road & parking lot are private, we learned this from the police officer that came by to see what we were doing. He was nice and said there was no problem with us staying there but that we wouldn’t see a lot until 3 a.m. We did see a few showers but there was no way we were staying up that late. We’ve been getting on the road by 8 a.m. so we’ve been knackered out by late afternoon.

Day 6—Jerome, AZ: We decided to spend the day in Jerome. It’s a copper mining town that became a ghost town in the 1950s when the mine closed. The last 50 or so townspeople decided to open the town up to artists and hippies in the 60s to keep it going. It was the 4th largest city and one of the wildest in Arizona territory in its heyday. The town is in three tiers on the side of the mountain and the mine is in the valley. The town is still very run down which adds to its charm and it’s full of art stores. We had this wonderful lunch at this little café with only three tables in it. It wasn’t one of those small quaint fru-fru “bistros” it had a lot of charm and warmth. The owner was great and the food was wonderful. I bought some turquoise earrings and copper beads to make earrings. I really dislike turquoise so I was glad to find something that I would wear. I took some amazing photos of the place as well.

Day 7 & 8—Gett’n our Kick on Rt 66: We drove north on 89A to Flagstaff. On the way we stopped off at tables the local Indians had set up to sell their wares. The drive up the mountains was breathtaking but unfortunately they were doing a controlled burn so it was hazy. Flagstaff wasn’t really worth the stop. There’s nothing there and the historic downtown was only about two blocks. We drove west on Route 66 which, truth be told, was very boring. We did stop off at Seligman, the town that got Rt. 66 designated as a historical landmark. The town was run down but quite cool. We had lunch at a diner that’s been around since the 50s. I finally got a Navajo Taco. I’d seen them listed on a lot of menus but hadn’t had one yet. It’s basically beans, Lettice and tomatoes on Navajo fry bread. It was very good and really huge. I took some pretty cool photos while we were there. Seligman was the inspiration for the town in the Disney movie Cars so there were a lot of old beat-up cars around town with eyes painted on their windshields. There’s a tow truck parked in front of one of the stores that was the prototype for Mater. We then headed across on I-40 and then south to Lake Havasu and spent the night there. We took a gander at London Bridge and that was about it. Lake Havasu is pretty dead in the off season. We got up in the morning and headed south again past the Parker Dam but we couldn’t see it and then went west on I-10 into Califor-ni-ay! The only two interesting places on the way home were Chiriaco Summit near Indio and the Windmill farms near Palm Springs. Chiriaco Summit has a post office, restaurant, gas station and, of all things, a museum dedicated to General Patton. The Chiriaco family settled there in the 30s and set up a restaurant and gas station on the new highway. In the 40s General Patton set up the tank training grounds and that’s why the museum was built there by the Chiriaco family. The windmills near Palm Springs are really cool, there’s acres and acres of them in the pass and I managed to get some pretty good shots from the car.

And that was our trip to Sedona. I’d definitely go to the area again. There were a few places we didn’t get to see and we decided not to make a day trip to the Grand Canyon.

I can't take it anymore—Nevare must die!

I've mentioned in the past that I have a love/hate relationship with the writer Robin Hobb. It's just that her main characters—male that is—are just plain stupid. I read Shaman's Crossing and true to form, it was too long and the main character Nevare is a dolt. But could I leave well enough alone and not read the next book? No, I had to buy it. I can't stand not finishing a series or book even if I don't like the characters. Case in point, The Kite Runner. Great writing but I just obsoletely hated the mealy-mouthed main character Amir. You would think after getting beaten up rescuing his nephew he would get a backbone, but nope, not him. Right to the end he's a weasel. But I digress...this is how much of a dolt Nevare is. While a cadet in the Cavalla (calvary) he's at a carnival freak show he meets this extremely fat man. The man tell him he used to be a Cavalla officer until he was exposed to the Speck plague and started gaining weight. This is not the norm, it's usually a wasting disease so you would think the conversation would stick in his head. That night all the cadets are exposed to the plague and after recovering he starts gaining weight. But, and I find this hard to believe, he can't understand why he's so fat!! I'm not kidding. Then in the blaze of knowledge he remembers the conversation with the fat man and thinks, could that be what's happening to me? His answer, nah! Just a coincidence. What a dolt! So the book is still sitting on the night table next to my bed with only a few chapters read and I can't take it. I want to finish it but I don't want to at the same time. It's like a siren's call.

ESP

Now I'm not saying that I'm phyic, but I swear I do have something going on. Too many times I'll think of someone out of the blue, someone I haven't talked to in a while, and then suddenly the phone rings. Kind of sucks when I'm at work and thinking that I have to get a project done before so & so contacts me and sure enough the phone rings right then. It sounds kind of lame when I say, "Oh I was just working on that & was thinking of you." I can' just hear their mental comment, sure you are as if they shouted it out. So, yesterday I heard on the news that Sharon Tate's murderer, Susan Atkins, had died I was thinking about Roman Polanski. I was specfically thinking, "I wonder when he's going to be arrested?" And sure enough it happened. Opps, maybe I jinxed him.

Remembering HarryBoy

I’ve never understood people who don’t like having animals in their lives, dogs especially. How can you not like something that gives you unconditional love all the time? No matter how much the world pisses on you, your dog will always greet you at the door with a wagging tale. My sister had such a dog. Harry Boy passed away today, which also happens to be my husband's birthday. He was almost 12 years old which is very old for a Rhodesian Ridgeback. I remember when she got Harry Boy, it was two months before my wedding. He was a typical male Ridgeback—shy, gangly and absolutely dominated by the two female Ridgebacks she already owned. Sushi used to act like he smelled! She would actually turn up her nose when he was around. And I know she was wondering when he would be returned back to wherever he came from. Simba took to mothering him because he was so little and pathetic. He grew into a beautiful dog with a perfect ridge on his back (he even won a ribbon when he was a puppy for his ridge). He was so easy-going that my sister used to take him into the office and to houses she was showing when she was a realtor. Of all the dogs she had, Harry Boy was the only one that attached solely to her; the other two were too independent. When she was getting a divorce and moving to another home, she took Harry Boy there and sat down with him in the empty house and said, “Harry Boy, do you think we can be happy here?” They were. Harry Boy and the rest of her dogs really helped her through a really tough time. They made her little house a home and she didn’t feel so lonely because every time she walked into the house, Harry Boy and the others were waiting at the door for her. Actually they nearly bowled her over. Now I’m so glad that she has a new husband that will help her mourn Harry Boy. She also has Kaede and Freddy to help her too. I wonder if Sushi will still turn her nose up at him in doggy heaven.

Pride & Prejudice

I've always been a big fan of Jane Austen, I’ve seen all the movies and miniseries created from her books but I've never actually read any of her work. I know, scandalous!

By far, hands down, my favourite is Pride and Prejudice. The 1995 BBC production with Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy is the best production ever— Colin Firth is Mr. Darcy. So, I just finished the book and it was as fantastic as I expected it to be. I did find the 18th century writing a little hard to read at first but then I got used to it after a chapter or two. It helped that I had watched the BBC miniseries often enough that I have it practically memorized and I could picture the scenes and conversations as I read the book. I found the book to be very humorous as well. Miss Austen was very good at tweaking upper society. Her depiction of Lady Catherine de Bourgh was spot on; the lady was a bully and snob but once Elizabeth stood up to her she withered away. Mr. Collins’ comments and letters were hilarious. He’s such a sanctimonious prig.

There were some comments from other writers in the back that were quite interesting. They weren’t all in praise of Miss Austen’s writing skills. Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote in his journal in 1861: I am at a loss to understand why people hold Miss Austen’s novels at so high a rate, which seem to me vulgar in tone, sterile in artistic invention, imprisoned in their wretched conventions of English society, without genius, wit or knowledge of the world. Never was life so pinched and narrow…Suicide is more respectable.” Two words Mr. Emerson…chick book…you wouldn’t get it. Charlotte Bronte didn’t like her books either, but that’s okay I found Wuthering Heights to be dismal and dreary. How could anyone compare Heathcliff to Mr. Darcy? It’s a cat’s name for God’s sake! And Jane Eyre—she was a wallflower who couldn’t hold a candle to Elizabeth. ‘Nuff said.

So now it’s on to Mansfield Park, but first I think I’ll read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies—now that sounds like a good book.

Miss Universe

I'm not a big fan of beauty pagents but I do like to check out the national costumes on the Miss Universe Pagent . Last year Miss Canada dressed as a Maple Leaf hockey player & I rather liked it (being a diehard Leaf's fan). But this year my only comment was WTF??? I have no idea what it supposed to represent. Of course, Miss USA's Nascar outfit wasn't any better. There were some other ones pretty hysterical: Miss Netherlands was a windmill and Miss Great Britian looked like a punked out Queen. I kind of liked that one. I'm still not sure what Miss Japan was thinking. Her kimono's hem line had to be lowered after people at home said she looked like a hooker—and the pink garters were okay? To view all the costums go here http://community.livejournal.com/ohnotheydidnt/38365995.html

Latest book I'm reading

So I decided that since I'm such a terrible blogger (two blogs a year) that I would augment my blogs with reports on the books that I'm reading. I just finished the first of a three part series and I'm not sure if I'll read the next. It was Shaman's Crossing by Robin Hobb. I have a love/hate relationship with Robin Hobb. I like her books but I have a few issues. First, they're too darn long, she could cut out a quarter of the story and still have a good read. And I don't know why, but usually her series are three books long and I always struggle through the second book. It was that way with the Farseer & Tawny Man Trilogies (which technically could be considered a six book series) and the Liveship series and now I'm not sure about the Soldier Son trilogy. The book got off to a slow start and then I was hooked at the end. But I'm not sure if I'm hooked enough to go to the next book. On the other hand, I hate hanging out there with an unfinished story. So it's a dilemma isn't it. Here's something I didn't know about her, she also writes under Megan Lindholm.

I'm also reading a bio of Catherine the Great and I'm slowly working my way through all of the Jane Austen books. I started with Pride and Prejudice. Will write more on that when I'm finished. But I can say that I'm loving it.

Talk about bad journalism

I was checking out the news this morning online and came across this article on CNN http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/08/23/israel.sweden.organ.harvesting/index.html?eref=igoogle_cnn Apparently, a Swedish "journalist" wrote an article suggested the Israeli army kidnapped and killed young Palestinians to harvest their organs. The journalist said that the article was just his opinion. Since when is opinion considered a news story? He said that he had no proof that Israeli soldiers were stealing organs, and that the purpose of his piece was to call for an investigation. Now I'm all for freedom of the press and good—and I stress good—investigative news. But, if it were true he just shot himself in the foot buy writing a piece that sounded like it should have been in the National Enquirer. Good Lord, be a good journalist and don't acuse until you have proof. Walter Cronkite & Peter Jenning must be rolling over in their graves!

Remembering What Was…

My mother’s youngest brother died yesterday and I’m heart broken. Uncle Johnny was one of those rare free spirits we all loved. I always thought of him as my fairy god-uncle. He would flit in and out of our lives, spreading fairy dust in his wake. We rarely saw him but when we did it was magic. I remember when I was little he showed up on our doorstep just before a hurricane hit. To me it seemed like the wind blew him in just like Dorothy. It was magical to a four year old. During that same visit, my sister accidently dropped the cigarettes she was hiding in front of him. She thought for sure that she was busted. Instead he bought her a pack of cigarettes. Now that’s a cool uncle. (Okay, that was before we knew that cigarettes were bad for us.) He was the artist in the family and I like to think that some of his fairy dust made me an artist as well.

I was lucky to have wonderful aunts and uncles on both sides of my family. Johnny was the free spirit, Bobby was always there—our rock of Gibraltar. Unfortunately, Leslie died when I was young so I never met him, but my mom talked of him often. Flo owned a pub. How cool was that. I just loved that I had an English aunt that owned a pub. Nicky was a pistol, mom said she was the daring one of the bunch. I saw that the one time that I met her. Some still lived over in England so I didn’t see them often. Two of them Bobby and Johnny followed my mother to Canada. I can’t imagine what my life would have been like without them in my life.

But it’s more than Uncle Johnny’s leaving us; I’m mourning what was the Bulbrooks. He was the last of my grandparent’s children. (There are two half-sisters from my grandfather’s second marriage but they were born much later.) I grew up on stories of the Bulbrook sibling’s during the depression and the war. To me they were my heroes. I was told that they were the lucky ones because grandfather had a job during the depression. He was “Bob the Gasman.” They had parties at their house all the time. They were a very lively family, all party animals! Then they had to scatter all over during the war. Johnny and Bobby were sent out in the country, away from London, for safety. I can’t imagine leaving your home to go live with strangers knowing that you may not have a family to come home to. Johnny was only 11 when he had to leave. Bobby was a little older and enlisted in the Navy before the war was over. Doris was a nurse and worked in the burn wards. How hard that must have been for an 18 year old. Later, after the war Johnny went into the military and then the merchant marines. I know that the war must have been hard on my grandmother; there were many days that she didn’t know where her children were or whether they were safe.

And now they’re all gone. As my sister said, Nana now has all her children with her. Now it’s up to us, the cousins, to carry on the stories. It’s our duty that our parent’s stories are not forgotten by the next generation. The Bulbrooks will carry on.

The Amazing Kreskin I'm Not

Sometimes events just fall into place and I can picture them in my mind. I've always believed that I've got a bit of fairy dust in me because I can picture things happening and sure enough they happen exactly the way I imagine them. Case in point. I adore hockey, I'm a diehard Leafs fan. I was heartbroken when Mats Sundin left the Leafs after being their captain for 10 years for Vancouver. Last night Vancouver played the Leafs for the first time since he joined them. I just knew that he was going to get the winning goal, I just knew it—I pictured it. And sure enough, in a shoot out, his was the winning goal. It was poetic and sweet. I didn't mind Toronto loosing this time. Now if I could only use my powers towards winning the lottery. I'm really good at picking one number.

A Rod

So A Rod admitted that he took steroids. I watched part of his interview and it made me wonder. Why did he admit it now when before he was always denying using steriods? I don't know the reason behind it—probably it was going to come out in an article and he was heading them off. But I thought it was interesting that he said he did it because he was naive and pressured. Okay I can understand that. But he didn't apologize for lying all those years when he was asked directly if he was using steriods. He knew that it was wrong, they all did and yet he lied. I find it interesting that these figures apologize but really they're not apologizing for what they did, but it seems because they didn't get away with it. He didn't see truly apologetic to me. JMHO.

long time no blog...as usual

Well it's been a long time since I blogged so I'm just going to fill this with random thoughts. I'm still getting used to President Obama. I like hearing it but after 8 long years of that last boob it's refreshing. I think the best part of his swearing in was watching Bush fly away. Hopefully Obama will be able to get us back on the right track. This economy just really sucks. Okay, next rant, I'm beginning to dislike the Susan character on Desperate Housewives, enough said.

hmmm....not a good blogger am I?

Gosh, I was on a roll there last August and then nothing. The last few months have been a blur, especially November and December. We normally have 4 graphic designers at work but in November we went down to two (one on vacation one left) and November is our busiest month. Then the other one got sick and we were down to me! It's all a blur. It took me until now to catch up. It's funny, even though I was very very busy...as a co-worker said, sucks to be you...it was a bit refreshing because I had the ability for the first time to say "no, I can't do that." I had to concentrate on the top big jobs and was able to tell everyone else that they would have to wait. Well, most people anyway. But it was rather cleansing in a strange way.

Three of the four boys are living with us again. The economy is terrible and it's hard enough to make it in SoCal when you have a job. Bryant moved in with his girlfriend and dog Lexie so it's a full house. But it's working so far. I did enjoy the empty nesting for awhile there, the quietness of it was wonderful.

Eric Lamaze is my hero!

I am so proud of Eric Lamaze and Hickstead for winning a gold medal for Canada. Eric had overcome cocaine addiction, thoughts of suidide after he was banned from the sport, and yet he overcame all that and got the gold. Hickstead is about the most beautiful jumper that I've ever seen. Unfortunatley, I didn't get to see it live on TV, I'm not sure if NBC showed it, but they have video on YouTube (that goodness for pirating LOL). If they did it must have been when I was at work or sleeping. I'm not fond of NBCs coverage of the Olympics; the hype and lack of non-American viewing. But I digress...Hickstead and Lamaze were amazing.

Being 50

Yesterday was my 50th birthday. I still can't believe it. Inside of me is a 25-year-old screaming WTF happened! I don't feel 50, I don't look 50, it's all surreal to me. I look at photos of my mother and grandmother when they were 50 and they sure looked a lot older than I do now. Especially my grandmother, at 50 she was a grandmother and didn't look any different than when she was 70. After having a bunch of kids she morphed into that middle-aged stout woman you see in all the old photos. The day before my birthday was the SANDAG press conference. Here's the text:

511 honors one millionth caller

During a period of soaring gas prices, SANDAG honored a North County woman as the one millionth caller to its 511 traffic and commuter service – sooner than expected as calls have jumped during the run up in fuel prices.

“As gas prices have gone through the roof, people have started looking for alternatives to driving alone,” said SANDAG Chair and Lemon Grove Mayor Mary Teresa Sessom. “Alternative commute information is one of the free services 511 offers – along with many others, including real-time traffic and highway incident information.”

Sessom and Airwatch traffic reporter Cal Walker honored the one millionth caller – San Marcos resident Cynde Durnford-Branecki – in the lobby of American Specialty Health in downtown San Diego, where she works as a graphic designer.

Durnford-Branecki commutes daily from San Marcos. She rides her bicycle to a Sprinter station, loads her bike on the train for the trip to Escondido, then takes an Express Bus downtown. She called 511 in July to request a bike locker at the Escondido train station and ended up being the one millionth caller.

SANDAG and 511 gave Durnford-Branecki a plaque commemorating the call. She also received a gift basket, including a $250 REI gift certificate, a comprehensive bike maintenance class at REI, two VIP passes to the San Diego Natural History Museum, two passes to the Maritime Museum of San Diego, two meal passes to Souplantation, one round-trip trip to and from the San Diego airport for two from Cloud 9, and various 511 logo items.

Launched by SANDAG and its partners in February 2007, it took the 511 service just 18 months to process one million phone calls. The pace increased as gas prices began climbing in March, eventually hitting $5 a gallon before declining slightly.

During the first quarter of this year, a total of about 230,000 people called 511. In the second quarter, that number jumped to 272,000. One of the biggest increases was in people inquiring about public transportation, which jumped 26 percent to 43,000 callers. Over the same time period, calls increased by 17 percent to RideLink, a SANDAG service for commuters interested in alternative commute choices and employers interested in offering commuter benefits programs.

San Diego’s regional 511 system is part of a national effort. Since it began approximately six years ago in the Cincinnati area, the program has taken hold in 43 communities nationwide, offering 128 million Americans the service – nearly half the population of the country.

As of May, 112 million people had called into the service for information nationwide. In May alone, 2.4 million people nationwide called 511 for transportation information.

Our local 511 service stems from a collaborative partnership among SANDAG, California Department of Transportation, Metropolitan Transit System, North County Transit District, California Highway Patrol, and San Diego County Service Authority for Freeway Emergencies (SAFE).

It was pretty cool, everyone in my department and other came down to cheer me on. I did a little speech at the end and didn't throw up...that's a miracle in itself. I had fun.

Biking

So I've had an interesting month. It all started when we bought bikes a few months and flourished into a life-changing attitude. I wanted to get healthy, plain and simple. I was tired of being fat and wheezy. So we bought bikes and started riding on the weekends. Then they finished the rapid train. It was nice but too far to walk to, plus I really didn't drive that far to the transit centre to catch my bus downtown. But, then gas prices started getting higher and higher and we were getting broker and broker. I don't drive far however, my car only takes premium. Bruce on the other had had to drive a fair distance to work. Then I noticed they put bike lockers at the transit centre. So I thought, what if I rode my bike to the rail station, took that to the transit centre and then store my bike at the transit centre. On the way home, I'd skip the train and ride my bike home along the bike trail they built along the rail line. I was saving gas and getting my exercise in at the same time. It was a brilliant plan. Ah, but it gets better. When I called the new 511 number they have set up for commuters I was told I was the millionth caller! They have a press conference schedule on August 7th with the media at my company. My boss is thrilled because it give our fitness programs exposure. I supposed to be getting a nice price too. How cool is that?