system alert

a nation-wide test of the emergency broadcasting system will happen this wednesday, november 9 at 11:00 a.m. pacific. do not panic. it is only a test.

finally!

finally an idea of what's going on (from the albuquerque krqe.com station) (a straight line from los alamos to white rock is about 6 miles) ...

be a boy scout!

I don't think i've ever seen an emergency plan quite like this one. i went to http://inciweb.org/incident/2385/ to see what they had to say about the fire. they were reminding everyone of the 3-step process to be ready for emergencies:
1. ready -- clean brush from around your home, get your supplies together in one place, plan your escape route.
2. set -- pack your vehicle with your emergency items, i.e., the six Ps: people, personal computers, pets, pills, papers, and pictures.
3. go -- leave early and follow your plan.

hmmm ... personal computers. nope, i don't recall seeing those in action plans before. by papers i assume they mean passports, birth certificates, social security cards, etc, and by pictures they mean your possessions so you can make claims to the insurance companies. but personal computers? i must be really out of touch. i mean, yes, absolutely, i'd take mine. i guess i'm just surprised it's one of the top six things. like i said, out of touch.

death

and now i understand that cremation has disadvantages. i suppose it's only a matter of time before any good concept falls into dispute. at least, that's how it seems to go.

at any rate, there are apparently alternatives to cremation, assuming you don't want the traditional burial. something called resomation is available in minnesota and florida, and maybe california before long.

and then there's cryogenic cremation -- which a company in england is trying to perfect.

seems like there's always something you need to think about ....

take a left ....

just a quick note -- it was a couple of decades ago that mapmakers decided to not include everything on their maps anymore. little streets, small country roads, they left off things like that. pissed me off.

i just discovered a new wiki site which is trying to map the world and to make the result free to anyone. these maps will probably include everything. since it seems to still be in the beginning stages (staggered stages, though) i'm sure there are places which .... well, wait. i just looked at different places (africa, new zealand, scotland, siberia, china) and there's already quite a bit there. except for siberia and china.

i suppose a person would want to compare one of these new maps with google if you were going to use it -- human error and all that, but for the most part, the new map should turn out to be very informative and accurate. unless a bad guy has been making entries bent on mischief.

could be helpful

remember how you used to be able to call information and get a phone number? and before that you could even get the address with the phone number?

then they started charging for that information and i quit using the service.

now google has that service for free. if you call 800.466.4411 and tell them the city and state, then the business you want, they will connect you. and there's no charge, other than your regular cell minutes.

google rocks! eventually they will suck like microsoft, but until then .... yay, google!!

eat your fruits and vegetables!

i've never been one to pop pills, and after the surgeries i've had, i don't really even like to go to the doctor. the more i hear people tell horror stories, the more i think i'm just going to try to stay well and if i get sick, i'm going to tough it out at home.

one of my friends recently told me her husband had a really bad sinus infection last year. the doctor gave him an antibiotic which wiped out the bacteria in his body. all the bacteria. since we are supposed to have helpful bacteria in our tummies, it has caused this guy a huge lot of grief. they are finally going to give him a treatment which is supposed to help things, but he will have to have this treatment on a regular basis the rest of his life. yuck!

another friend (from the midwest) had a reaction to some of her meds which put her in the hospital for 10 days. they put her on another medication which sent her blood pressure through the roof. then she had two slight strokes and they took her off that medication. in the meantime she's recuperating in hawaii!!! hopefully she'll be able to get better without any more medical help!

an older acquaintance of the husband's had a blood test which revealed he had prostate cancer -- his value was off the charts! they tried a medication on him but it made him really sick, so he went off it and prepared to die. they sent him to seattle for some kind of test and he came back completely negative! he didn't have cancer at all!

so i encourage you-all to follow my dad's advice: eat all things in moderation and get plenty of exercise. my advice: if you start feeling bad, tell a friend (so you don't feel alone), take some tylenol, and go to bed. if you still have the problem after three weeks, call a doctor's office and make an appointment. after you hang up, you will probably immediately start getting better.

dum, duhdum, dum, daaaaaaaahhhh....

i went in to my Nexus appointment the other day. getting a nexus card is a lot like getting a passport -- you fill out paperwork, they check you out, you talk to them at the appointment and give them your fingerprints, they give you advice, you get your card in the mail.

i like the idea of having a nexus card because there's a special nexus lane at the border which is usually quite a bit faster than the regular lanes.

BUT.

when you have a nexus card, EVERYONE in the car must have the card. i knew that when i went to the appointment. what i didn't know was that you must have nothing in the car which is not yours or your traveling companion's!

now that scared me. if i run up to canada and get something from costco, then come back in the nexus lane and they see the husband's boots in the car which are obviously not mine, they can take away my card. and man, that's a permanent condition. you NEVER get your nexus card back. they are so hard-nosed about that it's not funny.

well. when they explained all that to me i got so nervous. i mean, cripes. am i going to remember to search my car before i run up to canada? shit. i'm going to have to. honestly -- well-intentioned, decent people aren't used to not getting a second chance.

damn those terrorists!

i want to... i've got this... how about....

have you ever had a really great idea but no way to implement it? well, here's your venue. this article talks about the ordinary inventor getting his/her idea in production and into the market place.

need more information before you get started? go here. this new zealand company has a really great idea and, just skimming everything, it seems to be a fully-fleshed out concept. you take your idea from light-bulb to sales and have fun along the way.

have at it, you guys, and good luck!

crime pays until you're caught

this is good if you want to read about some of the crime in 2008. i don't really get the thumbs up/down thing -- maybe they're rating the cleverness of the crime.

i thought the fbi heist was the best .... way to go, government! as for the rest, one was clever but i wouldn't applaud his getting away with it (which he finally didn't), and the rest are just bad people who need to be taken out. and that last guy -- take him out and lose him somewhere. gees .....

all that and more

how's your holiday shopping coming along? i've done all mine online. honestly, it's the only way to go. doesn't cost somewhere between $1.90 and $4.50 per gallon for gas. no long lines. no waiting around or tromping around or getting tired and grouchy. i mean, really, who needs to go shopping to get grouchy?

since i started ordering my clothes from orvis a couple of years ago, i've been inundated with catalogs. some of them are interesting and i've placed orders and been happy with the stuff, and other catalogs have had not-so-great stuff. the two i've been happiest with, by far, are orvis.com and llbean.com -- no hassle, pretty reliable.

i was unhappy with pendleton, appleseed's, draper damon, aerosoles, norm thompson, travel smith, and the jury is still out on sahalie and zappos. some of them had terrible service or customer service, and some had crappy products. i wasn't happy with nordstrom's either but all i bought was pantyhose.

plow and hearth is good, as well as solutions, peepers, country curtains, magic cabin, planet shoes, and foot smart.

i love computers, e-mail, surfing, the whole thing! i wish we'd had computers and the internet when i was little. i'd be a whiz!

imelda

i got this new godawful ugly pair of galoshes the other day. i need something to go from my car to my work since i don't want to get my tennis shoes dirty. have you seen what's available? check this out: circles, leaves, flowers, stripes, red or green, blue or olive, european chasseur, wellies with spots, bean boots.

i always have to be so careful since i have a wide foot. those of us with wide feet are at a distinct disadvantage in the world because manufacturers insist on making ladies shoes narrow. from slippers to sandals to heels, narrow is the word. and on a wide foot a narrow shoe is pain from hell.

at any rate, i bought the circles boot. it doesn't come in half sizes and since i'm normally about a 7 1/4, getting an 8 might have worked. i got a 7 which is pretty snug on my foot. but surely it can't be too bad since i'm only going from the car to the building and back.

on the other hand, the bean boot comes in wide and is generously sized. maybe i'll send the circles back.

up we go

i finally bought some curtains. yes, of course, i got (top-down, bottom-up) blinds for all the windows right after we moved in, but something else was needed. so i've worried over the issue for the longest time and finally made purchases. the ones we just got for the guest bedroom will be replaced after the winter, but that's okay. the others are either up or in the process of going up and i think we'll like them. if not, no biggee -- we'll take them back down and do something else.

one thing i've found out over the years is that if you haven't been given any instruction or advice about something, such that all your decisions have to be made out in the cold, you are simply learning as you go and there WILL be errors and miscalculations. so when you spend money on something that doesn't work out, asi es la vida. regroup and move on, as in, spend more money.

one of the curtains i got reminds me of some nebulous time-period when i was between 3 and 7. it's this diaphanous white dreamy thing which almost makes me cry for some reason. i love it.

many things

we've been busy lately doing several things, one of which is building a pergola on/over our deck. you can go to http://www.gardenstructure.com/p/Pergola_Plan_with_Optional_Screens.html to see what the plans look like, although since our space isn't that big, the plans are just an idea of what the finished product will look like. but it will be nice. the fellow doing the work is young, experienced, and very good, so we're going to be happy. and he's going to finish off the front porch post the same way he's doing the pergola posts, so things will tie in nicely. when it's all done, i'll include a picture.

after that's finished we are going to do some landscaping around that quadrant of the yard to see if we can work up some kind of privacy in this tiny space we have. i'm excited about all of it.

my girlfriend got their house sold and immediately found a nice one on camano island, with views! they are going to love their new place and i'm so happy for them!

my new computer is excellent and i've decided i'm going to have to buy a new computer every two years, just like some people buy a new car regularly. this thing is fast and the monitor is wide and the graphics are great. not too crazy about office 2007, but what can you do. and vista sorta sucks, but meh.

life goes on.

little things

are you interested enough in science that you'd like to see pretty astral pictures once-a-day? then, go here: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ -- there are some beautiful, intriguing, amazing pictures on their web site.

ingterrested in books? go to http://www.librarything.com/ and spend some time looking around. might find something you could get caught up in.

ever thought you might like to take a 4-5 day windjammer cruise? go to http://www.sailmainecoast.com/ and eat your heart out. it sooooooo totally looks like fun. one of these days, maybe ......

want to find a good job with the government? you'll need to go to http://jobsearch.usajobs.opm.gov/ and look through their listings. in fact, it's the only way you can get on in our department.

okay -- that's all the tips for now. i need to read.

coming right up

the girlfriend and i are taking our annual trip this weekend. we used to be gone for a week, but we're both so popular these days that it has been cut back. friday i'm taking the train south and when i get off the train i'll head next door to the ferry, meet her, and off we'll go into the wild blue. then we'll head back to civilization on monday, do some final things, and go our separate ways.

i expect to have a lovely time with lots of catching up, eating of wonderful foods, reading, and touristing.

next agenda: scotland!

astro-physics man

My Younger Son had his quals today. they're a very big deal. he did an excellent job of preparing himself for the ordeal and came through with flying colors! he was only stumped by one question out of the many the four advisors asked and he felt really good about the whole experience.

i am soooooooo proud of him! and for him, too!

now it's onward and upward to his ph.d. he's got about six projects in the mill and when he gets them finished, he'll be close to the prize.

isn't he excellent?!

yelpie-yi-yo-ki-yay

hey, do you guys already know about yelp? i just discovered it today and signed up. mainly so i can write reviews on restaurants. i also wrote one on my dentist, who i really like.

finally you can complain/compliment someone or a place. hopefully the comments are true and not just blather.

so .... did you already know about it?

the river is smooth

the crisis has been resolved. m will be going to her new job.

her roommate finally commited to moving with her, therefore they were able to afford a house which was out of m's bracket (by herself). the lease was faxed and signed, so no one should be able to come in and get it before she gets there.

this is a relief for everyone. m, because she can move forward with her life; slim jim, because he can move forward with learning his new job (m's old stuff); billy goat gruff, because he won't have to stress anymore about new changes reverting back to old ways; me, because everything is falling into place for everyone.

life is good!

one ringy dingy ...

do you pay any attention to the issue of cell phone radiation? apparently the federal communications commission has stats about which cell phones leak the most and the least radio frequency energy, and they are continuing research into whether this is a cancer-causing problem.

the five most problematic phones so far (according to their 'sar' -- specific absorption rate): motorola v195s, motorola slvr l6, motorola slvr l2, motorola w385, blackberry curve 8330. if you have one of those phones, throw it out the window.

the five least problematic phones: lg kg800, motorola razr v3x, nokia 9300, nokia n90, samsung sgh-g800. if you have one of those phones, you are a clever person.