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.

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.

Excel should be marked obsolete.

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

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.

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?

The weekend's here...

The weekends here and I think I must have been stressed out during work this past week because I have been sleeping most of the day - Saturday. I woke up at 4AM from falling asleep on the couch. I did a few entries on Yelp, then fell back asleep on the couch watching TV. I woke up and I was hungry. Go figure. I had a bowl of berry burst cheerios with vanilla Westsoy Plus and went back to sleep. I woke up again and I was hungry. This time I found herbed goat cheese and garlic crackers and ate half of the cheese clod. And Hey! I did not go back to sleep this time. I channel surfed away from the DYI and the comedy channels because you know I have to watch "So I Married an Axe Murderer" when it's on not only because it's a funny movie, but because Anthony LaPaglia was in his prime them - mmm mmm mmm. Damn Italians - always have a soft spot for them in my heart and I don't know why. He was gorgeous in his 30's - but seriously, I don't know what happened to his physic nowadays because by me reading his bio on imdb.com, I learned he's three years older than me. Ouch. Why do men allow themselves to get chunky and so out of shape? It's so unhealthy.

Friday after work, I went to Ikea in an effort to locate an adequate replacement for the cheesy pine and chipboard cubes screwed to my wall resembling CD racks. Next to my awesome large screen TV and stereo cabinet, the organized CD racks look like something that a high schooler would have for storage. The pine cubes appear quite emaciated just not substantial enough to stand against the other furniture in the room.

Black Wednesday

"Black Wednesday" was the phrase that someone used at work two days ago. It's one of those days that you can predict the impending doom of the A.M. scheduled mandatory corporate meeting. I can't go into detail specifically where I work because I'm one of those beleaguered employees of "that" financial sector that gets all of the bad news and finger pointing now-a-days. Let me tell you, there is nothing wrong with subprime home loans when you can afford the home you bought and are actually able pay your payments and on time. Whats wrong with subprime is that people on many different levels took advantage of the situation and now it's just ugly. It's ugly for the homeowner who needs a loan, but has glitches in their credit. It's ugly for the companies who originated and bought pools of these loans because now the properties are all being devalued due to massive waves of default. It's ugly for the workers of the companies that were abruptly let go, laid off, or had the office doors closed and locked behind them at the end of the day. I read somewhere today while reviewing a news article about HSBC's Decision One closings it's doors that about 100 companies have had a similar fate this year and more are to come due to the subprime woes. I'm sitting tight because right now a good job in the mortgage industry is hard to find but as each day goes by, I still have this heavy feeling of doom in the pit of my stomach.

More thoughts on Florida

This is what I wrote to a gf at work about my trip to Florida.

Florida was alot like California in some respects. You need a car to get anywhere you want to go. Some areas are nice and some are not so nice. They have a Highway 1 like our PCH which sometimes goes near the ocean or the beach and is also called the Dixie Highway or A1A - which is free. They also have a toll road called the Florida Turnpike which works like the Fastpass here and which I think is bigger than the regular freeway called the I-95 that goes north and south the entire length of the state. Going to Miami is like going to LA for us. Going to the Florida Keys is like going to Catalina for us, except you can drive or boat to the Keys. Going to Worth Avenue in Palm Beach is like the Rodeo Drive of south Florida. I stayed in West Palm Beach, which was nice and old and safe. The hotel I stayed at was actually located in the historical district which also had a sprinkling of art, restaurants, and antique shops.. The hotel was cute, clean and cheap and everyone was really nice to me. It had a sushi bar and a yarn shop across the street - how perfect was that? They have tons of bars and gambling everywhere. Down the street from where I stayed, there was the Palm Beach Kennel Club, aka greyhound racing nightly and they also have a huge poker room. They have legalized gambling on the indian land there like in California, too. I saw the 5 story Seminole Hard Rock Casino where Anna Nicole Smith died - that was off of the turnpike during the drive to the Key's on Thursday. I ate conch fritters (it's a local shellfish) when I went to the Holiday Isle on Islamorada. Oh, because it's so hot most the time, some bars stay open later than 2AM. I also located a Super Walmart . It was open 24 hours a day and included a full grocery store inside. (An amazing thing to people in Southern California where they have been just about banned everywhere they tried to open one.) I went to the Keys on Thursday (my friend drove), kept it local on Friday and picked-up guides of the Palm Beach Visitors Bureau and had dinner at a wonderful Cuban restaurant down the street from the hotel on Dixie Highway. On Saturday, OT got up real early, had breakfast at McDonalds, gassed up the rental car and I drove four hours north to St. Augustine. I really liked it there. Oh yeah, the one thing I do not like about Florida is the humidity. When I came out of the airport on Wednesday night to locate my rental car, I fest this big blast of hot air and then I began to sweat immediately and I did not stop until I got back into the airport to leave - it's that humid there. They have these kidney disease billboards all over the place, so I bought water to drink which I rarely ever do here in fear of becoming sick and dehydrated. It was a nice trip. If I get to go again, I'll stay in St. Augustine though. I don't know what it is about that city that draws me to it, but it feels like home.

The top 10 reasons why I love summer...

The top 10 reasons why I love summer...
1. The best fruit is in the summer (strawberries, watermelon, peaches)
2. I can watch the beads of sweat roll down my nose
3. A holiday in the beginning, the middle, and the end
4. I hate being cold
5. Arnold Palmers (AKA iced tea and lemon aide mixed together)
6. BBQ
7. Vacations
8. The less clothing, the better because it's so hot.
9. Baseball
10. Getting alittle color on my normally pale skin tone.

Random thoughts from Florida

*I went to Florida during the hurricane season - I must be nuts, but it was quite cheap.
*I got to check off a few items on my places to see list on 43 Things.com
*merge lanes marked on the freeway - love it
*people actually driving the speed limit
*you can buy a big bag of indian river grapefruit for $1 at the roadside fruit stand
*you can buy a big bag of indian river grapefruit for $1, and all the fireworks you could ever want at the roadside fruit stand
*you can buy a big bag of indian river grapefruit for $1, all the fireworks you could ever want, and a shellaced head of a dead baby aligator at the roadside fruit stand ( I could go on...)
*how many styles of licenses plates does this state have anyway? Gees... a ton.
*every place you look - bar bar bar bar bar and oh, look! another bar.
*Open 24 hours A day SUPER Walmart. (For those Californian's who are not familiar - it's got a full grocery store inside, too, as well as the regular merchandise and the pharmacy.) Now that's some crazy productive 3AM shopping right there.
*Never saw the atlantic ocean before - but now I have.
*Four story dry dock for boats? - crazy man, crazy.
*I didn't know Florida had so many pines trees - this is cool.
*whaddya mean it's a four hour drive to St. Augustine? I'm still going.
*I wish this hotel room had a microwave.
*I'm leaving tomorrow and now my body is now on east coast time? That's annoying.
*Thank you for driving me to Islamorada on the Florida Keys for lunch . Conch fritters - YUM!
* http://www.budschicken.com/ BUDS - I saw the billboards all over Palm Beach. (I did my best Rudy Huxtable impression every time I drove by the billboard.)
*CityPlace reminds me of Fashion Island. Kinda.
*You can gamble on a boat, or you can gamble near a moat, or you can gamble on some dogs, or you can gamble at the biggest fricken Hard Rock Casino I've ever seen.
*travel wench is an awesome wench. If I could hug her, I would. (AKA the Hertz Never Lost GPS System)
*Heart Rock Sushi has good saki... good enough to take away the rum headache I acquired after eatting my conch fritters at Holiday Isle.
* Ft. Lauderdale did not impress me. I might even say "ick".
* I climbed to the top of the lighthouse. 212 steps. OMG.
*St. John's got the biggest combination swap meet and farmers market I've ever seen.