Monday, October 29, 2007

My week in hell

I don't know if you've ever experience a hacker intruding your home network before, but I have. They did it on a late Sunday or early Monday morning and then grabed the passwords for the two accounts I was logged into... ebay and gmail. Nice, huh? I was in the process of posting items for sale and this happens. So it took me 8 days to regain control of my computer network and my two accounts, but everything seems to be O.K. for me. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for the two people that may have been defrauded on ebay in my name for computer equipment I did not order. I'm going to reccomend that they contact the FBI and the US Department of Justice since the hacker is located in Italy. How do I know this? ebay sends emails with IP tracing each time account info is changed.

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Small Kitchen Appliances

I enjoy cooking and if I can utilize any kind of kitchen implement while doing so, this makes me happy. I don't know why it does, it just is how it is and because I know this of myself, I relish being in my own kitchen and cooking. I have had the opportunity to cook professionally and only when I used the industrial tomato slicer, the lettuce corer or the grill scraper was I really happy. Now at home, I've found the ease of use and magic small appliances. This blog was spurred by me locating my coffee maker which resides in the only lower storage base cabinets in my kitchen. These two doors hide the fact that I have what I consider to be a small collection of small electric kitchen appliances. Let's inventory the collection:

1. toaster
2. microwave
3. ISC convection cooker
4. toaster oven
5. full size food processor
6. electric mixer (comes with 6 attachments)
7. rice cooker
8. coffee maker
9. ice shaver
10. crock pot
11. blender
12. juicer
13. George Foreman's original Lean Mean Fat Reducing Grilling Machine
14. B & D small chopper

Eventually, storage permitting, I'd like to also purchase:

1. electric knife - for those times when carpel tunnel and carving meat don't mix
2. ice cream maker - I'd magically transform into the sorbet goddess of OC
3. Thunder Stick Pro - I saw this on an infomercial while on a business trip and I found myself drooling after it was over. Thank god I was alone in my hotel room when this occured... how embarrassing.
4. any one of those rotissere type cookers - because A)I miss having a KOOKAAROO's in OC, and B) slow cooked meat braised in it own juices is THE BEST.

... now back to making that pot of blueberry flavored coffee my new gf introduced me to on Friday. Thank you DH.

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Excel should be marked obsolete.

Why hasn't Bill Gates retired Excel and made it obsolete by now? Viva la Access!

Sunday, October 7, 2007

A Sunday Dialog with Andy

I ventured out of my humble Southern California condo on this beautiful sunny Sunday morning in October to find that from the time it took me to take my son at work by 10AM until I returned to my home, someone had broke a beer bottle on the sidewalk between the greenbelt and the parking lot. On purpose or not, this inconsiderate ass left it there where it shattered, splintered and created a potential hazard for all who had to pass it... the glass shards waiting to create havoc on the unsuspecting resident. Needless to say, I was mad that I was presented this mess when I turned the corner to walk back to my condo unit. I walked around and over the broken bottle a few times as did the lady who was also doing laundry from unit number 12, but she did not make any effort to clean it up. So I figured if no one will do it, I will. I waited until my last load of laundry was coming out of the dryer and I gathered my broom and dustpan from my patio area and cleaned up the crap someone else should of done.

The incident left my day colored with ideas of basic personal responsibility. I commented to my friend Andy from Myspace, a former peace officer and a straight up all-around good guy who frequently has his ire up on things that don't make a lot of sense and the injustice of the world and brings his views to light in his blogs. Below is what transcribed in today's writings in what I have entitled, "A Sunday Dialog with Andy".

1)
Dear Andy,
Don't you wish being human came with an instruction manual sometimes? Maybe then we could avoid all the war, poverty and stupidity in the world. O.K., I'm stepping off of the soapbox now. It's all yours. Hope you're having a great Sunday - annaZZZ
2)
From Andy:
My fave response when some one asks me how I am doing is and likely always will be Everyday above ground is a good day. It is not original, I stole it from a movie along long time ago but I find it fitting. A space friend of mine that I am very fortunate to virtually know recently sent me a response where the basic response was wouldn't it be great if life came with a manual. It would Annazzz it would. Thank you for relinquishing for a couple minutes the soap box to me. Can you imagine how scared we are the moments after our mothers give birth to us. We are no longer in the warmth and comfort of the womb. Then there is this whole bright light out of no where thing. Did you ever stop to think about this? They say when you die you walk into a bright light well I believe that, because when we are born we are forced into the bright light of the delivery room. Maybe the light at death is nothing more than the light of rebirth. Deep huh? I can do that every now and again. I remember very little I was taught in school. That is not any teachers fault either. We get the basics like math, science, English (I missed the day they taught speling), and finger painting. What if we were, at one point in time, given a code of conduct or life manual? It would be required reading and must be issued world wide. It would not stifle creativity or create robots but it would give us lifes basic ettiquette. First thing would be how to treat others and respect them and yourself. Race would never be mentioned because it would be a non factor in life. We would open doors for each other and not persecute different believes but learn from them. We might have to get rid of some perceived religious staples like not tolerating homosexuals and such but I think God probably never said that in the first place. Probably whoever brought that idea up was a repressed homosexual themself. We would learn to learn and love instead of tolerate (a word I personally detest when used in some contexts), hate, and fight. Wars could go away with basic life ettiquette rules. Our differences are what make humans so wonderful. We would learn basic finances. Credit does not equal free. The life manual would also lead us eradicate the credit companies that tell people they will give them credit when it is obvious they already over-extended. We would find in our book that patience is indeed a great virtue. We would learn to work to live and not live to work. If we did that we we be home with our loves and divorce would likely reduce because we have more quality time to keep the family foundation strong. We would spend more times with our kids to anchor this wonderful book of life. Creativity would be better because we would not be so work concious which would get rid of bad TV, music, and Movie sequals. The book would tell us simple things to that often get forgotten today like bungee jumping is a silly risk, corn is useless because it comes out the same way it went in, the Christmas message has been long lost, Happy Days was a good show, the music in your car may not be what the car next to wants to hear pounding in their ears, tube tops are a bad idea, the flute is an instrument sadly missing in rock music, making a sex video with someone is never a good idea, random acts of kindess are always amazing, men have no need for nipples, reading is a great way to pass time, so is conversation, holding hands can be romantic than sex (you may not always be able to bump uglies but holding hands on the beach is priceless), life is not a SIM, and finally telling someone bless you when they sneeze. Some of these ideas are goofy but it is my way to say that while life can be very serious it is a great idea to be goofy from to time. I wish we had this book but who would write it? I have some ideas. Thank you Annazzz for putting this seed in my head today you rock.

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Sometimes...

Sometimes I think I would be a sell out to the beauty industry if I glamored up my look completely and went all-girlie all the time. You know who I'm talking about. Women with the latest in clothes, hair perfectly quaffed and make-up a mile thick so it doesn't melt off of their face during the day. Manicures and pedicures weekly because heaven forbid a nail gets chipped. Do men really find that attractive or has it become the acceptable norm?

It seems to me if you do go that route, you aren't presenting yourself honestly. Make-up can camouflage minor flaws, girdles can hide a few pounds, wearing certain cuts and colors can either make or break a look. What happens when you strip off the facade and you're standing naked in the light of day? Can you live with your own reality without all the props?