Another thing I want to invent

I couldn't remember this one when I did that last post, but I want a device that gets you proper water samples without getting your arm in the pool up to your elbows. A proper water sample needs to be taken about 18" below the surface, because chemical balance at the top is different from the rest of the pool. So, after you rinse them in the pool you're testing, you put in the test tubes upside down, up to 18" down, then turn them right side up at that level and bring them back up. I'd like a device that is somewhat cane-shaped, but with a very elongated long side. So you stick the long side in the pool, and there's a marker on it that lets you know you're 18" from the surface. Then you do something (that's the part that needs to be worked on) that makes the water come up through the tube. You let it run for a bit, to rinse it out, then put your test tube under the stream. No more rolling up your sleeves, no more laying on the floor if there's a gutter, no more getting the knee area of your pants wet kneeling on the deck, and for some of us no more back pain. You like it?

Introducing Angel

We went to see the baby today. He's so tiny... 5 days old. So when she had Lexie, Cyndi used two middle names- Cynthia (herself) and Beatriz (her maternal grandma). With this second child, she used Juan (her dad) Raul (her maternal grandpa). So, meet Angel Juan Raul Sanchez, born January 24th, 2006. I think he's reaching for the camera. O.O

Strange Dream...

I had this strange dream last night, and Charles said that I should blog about it. Like I told you earlier in the week, my niece had her second baby. We've been planning to go meet the new baby today. Then last night I was doing some genealogical research. When I found out that my grandpa was buried at Rose Hills Memorial Park, I looked up his grave location. That also gave me his death date. Last night, I searched the Social Security Death Index and picked which of the 11 people with that name he is based on his death date. That gave me his social security number and birthdate. Cool. So anyway, last night, I dreamed that when we went to visit, we were meeting them somewhere. We met up in the parking lot and started walking toward the building, looked like a mall. It was Cyndi, Irma... I think Martha was there but I'm not sure. So as we're walking, I was like "where's the baby?" and they told me they left him in the car. So I go back and get him and I'm carrying him. The one thing that struck me about him was how white he was- Irma told me (in real life) that he's whiter than Lexie was, but he was more white than I expected... Then they say something about how they have the other baby, she's going to give this one up for adoption. I thought for a split second that Charles and I should adopt him, but then I remembered that my friend Jenny wants to adopt. So I was telling Cyndi about her, and Cyndi was asking questions about if she had a good job, if she liked kids, etc. I also asked where the other baby is (who in real life passed away when she was two months old) and they said they left her at home. I thought that was pretty strange, I couldn't think of who was watching her, and they didn't mention who was watching her- if it was my baby, I would have said something like "at home with grandma," ya'know? So then we get inside the building, and everyone scatters, leaving me and Charles with the baby. So we're walking around, and the baby is looking around all curiously, like he's trying to figure things out. He's obviously a smart kid! So then we end up at a room with some benches and a big screen, and some pre-teen kids are playing video games. Charles put down his credit card (much like you put down a quid at the pub when you're playing pool next) and we sit down waiting for his turn. Then the baby starts making like he wants down... you know, reaching for where he wants to go... So I go to sit him down on the ground in front of me, and he stands up! He tries to walk, and I take him by the hands and hold him up as he moves his feet like he's walking. I'm impressed! Then I guess he's walking between me and Charles or something, because Charles tells me that we need to change his diaper. But I don't have his diaper bag, so I pick him up, Charles gets his credit card back, and we leave the room, trying to find whoever has it. Thinking back on it, I don't think any of them have it, being that they were going to leave him in the car. =P But we try anyway... We end up walking straight into a room that looks like either a big bedroom or a really nice hotel room. There's a bunch of stuff in the room, including luggage, and shopping bags, and of course the baby's diaper bag. So I get a diaper out and put the baby on the bed. As I take off his clothes to get his diaper off, I notice a note taped to his stomach- it says something about him being born on said date on board the Queen Mary. Then suddenly it makes sense, that we're in a hotel room on the QM. It goes on to say his name, his parents' names, and so on... His name is on the top and there are columns below it with more names. On his dad's side, it was just the dad's name and grandparents, on his mom's side (my niece) there were the paternal ancestors but the maternal ancestors (my sister's family) it only went to my parents. I was a little shocked, and I remember thinking "we know more than that, they could have at least put my grandparents' names." Underneath the family lineage, it says something about who purchased that report or something... and it was my dad, which also surprised me, because he's been ordinarily not pro-baby. I didn't really think about why he would have such a note taped onto his stomach until my husband told me (in real life) that it was probably for the occasions where they left him somewhere, like in the car! His beanie either slipped off or I took it off, I'm not sure, but I noticed at that point that some of his scalp was peeling, above his right temple. I couldn't quite place it, it was thicker than a sunburn type peeling, and he was far too white to have been sunburned. I was concerned about it, and wanted to figure it out without touching it excessively, but that's about when I woke up. So, that's it... a combination of what I was doing the night before, a trip my husband and I went on last weekend, what we were planning to do today, and who knows what else... Weird huh? I also wonder if the baby was growing up right before our eyes... he went from being in one of those rocking carseat things to walking around with some help. Hope that doesn't mean we adopted him after all!

Things that I want to invent

I want to invent the following things. However, if you want to develop it and give me a free lifetime supply, that would also be acceptable. The visual sweep- device (possibly broom-shaped for laughs) made of glass/plastic/acrylic that lets you see the bottom of the pool before you close up for the night, even under windy conditions. Pool cover system- described below, a system that allows two people to cover pools by rope without walking around more than once. Possible help in pulling/winding optional. Mountable PDA calendar- follow with me here... you mount it on the wall, plug it in. It has PDA-style calendar and contact applications. It has capabilities to synch many PDAs or similar devices (or import Outlook-generated csv files from a USB device, trying to stay away from putting it on a network). By default, it shows you a normal looking monthly calendar, with holidays and other things you deem important. If you touch a day, however, it shows you each user's meetings and events for the day. You can import other people's stuff if you like, but you can't input new things directly into it that get synched. New things put into it directly will only be things that display on the day in calendar view. You can also go into contacts and have it dial for you if you hook up a phone to it. Basically it replaces the kitchen calendar for high-tech families. =)

Have some pictures!

Okay, as promised, here are some pictures. :) My husband attempting to fire WWII era guns on the bow of the Queen Mary, or "Grey Ghost" as she was known then. Look, no windows! (On promenade deck.) My husband and me inside Scorpion submarine. Me sliding through a submarine hatch! Unsatisfied with earlier attempts, Charles tries to start WWIII with the big guns. (Torpedo tubes on Scorpion submarine.

New baby

My niece Cyndi had her second baby today, at 10-something in the morning. I didn't get notified until after 8pm, but such is my family. They complain I don't call enough, but I've always been the last to know anything. =P Even when dad was in the hospital, no one told me until like 4 hours later even though I was at home. Anyhow, the baby's first name is Angel, but the last I heard she hadn't decided on a middle name.

Queen Mary, cont

Hey, I just found out while looking at the QM website that we were entitled to the Ghosts and Legends tour. It didn't say that at the ticket booth, but both the QM and Scorpion website say it. Bah, I wanted to do that tour too, but I suppose it's okay... we looked at everything so carefully that it was closing time by the time we got out of the Scorpion, so I guess we wouldn't have had time for anything else... But it's still annoying.

Queen Mary & Scorpion

We went to the Queen Mary yesterday, my husband and I. It was a lot of fun, we took some cool pictures that I'll post tonight after work (they're still on the camera, and I need to re-size them before uploading). We originally went because we saw a television commercial that they were having a Titanic exhibit. It was fascinating, well worth it in my opinion. An excellent location for it too, during the walkthrough of the exhibit, we walked outside of the ship and saw the QM's propeller, and realized that we were outside of the ship, over water. That was awesome. We also learned a lot about how the cruise ships of old were set up and about how it would have been to be on one, which made our tour of the QM more relevant. Unfortunately, photography wasn't allowed in this exhibit. There was a book that we could have purchased with photos of the items, as well as additional information, but we decided against it. There was also a WWII exhibit that I thought was a little more fleshed out when I visited many years ago. But I could be wrong, I don't remember it much. That was pretty cool too, just a bit small. When we went to the bow of the ship on the promenade deck, there was a Carnival cruise ship getting ready to leave. Another person told us that it wasn't leaving until 10pm that night, but the passengers were already wandering around with their lifejackets on. We were speculating as to whether that's a requirement for them to be on deck while the ship departs. Anyone know? We've decided that we'll take a cruise one day, probably for our anniversary next year (our 2nd). I put it in his PDA. ;) The last thing we did before we left was tour the Russian Foxtrot class Scorpion submarine. Another self-guided tour, this one was led by (presumably motion activated?) speakers throughout the sub. It was really cool, we went through the whole sub alone, since it was almost closing time, so we stopped to take pictures in several places. We even turned the periscope a little! Shhhh, we weren't supposed to operate anything. It must have been really interesting to live on a sub like that. I'm not sure if modern ones are any better, but some of the bunks on the Scorpion have just a couple of inches of clearance before pipes, and the tour guide voice said that sometimes the men put a blanket on a torpedo and slept there. I can't imagine 78 people there... there were maybe 8 individual bunks for officers, and the rest hot bunks. But even besides sleeping arrangements, 2/3 of the people are awake at a time, that's a lot of people around in not a lot of space! They say that a former resident of the sub is there 5 times a week, but we obviously missed him. Again, pictures to come later. =) Oh, I forgot to mention, my employer is paying for my conference after all. SCPPOA paid for $250, my employer picked up the rest of the registration, plus my airfare. All I need to pay is the hotel and food! In a one-on-one with my supervisor, she did tell me that there wouldn't be a full time position in the next fiscal year, and almost certainly not in the one after that. That's okay though, they pay for conferences and professional meetings, so I'm happy with them!

Yesterday, Part 2

So yeah, after coming back from the cemetery, I spent some time at sister's house. Talked to her about some stuff, then went to get a card and gift for the wedding. (I'll admit, I buy presents the same day, not just in this case but in general.) I went back to mom's house to get dressed and made up, then I was on my way. The wedding was a traditional hispanic wedding, with the laso and arras, done mostly in Spanish. Everything was beautiful! The only bad thing was the children playing with fire! (They had taken a bunch of balloons off the wall, and were using a candle to separate them so they could pass them around.) I have to say, Henoc and Angelica both looked stunning, and very happy. I was really proud of Henoc, like I would be if he were my brother. I do feel that way about him and David sometimes. =) I was happy (a little surprised) that Angelica remembered me, we've only met at a handful of parties and when she's come by the pool. They both thanked me for coming down for the wedding, and I told them honestly that I wouldn't have missed it. Such a huge part of their lives, when Henoc and the work we do together has been such a huge part of mine... I honestly did ask for the day off work for the wedding, before I knew that my family wanted to get together that day. I've worked with Henoc since 1999, and known him at least a year or two before that when I was a junior guard. Turns out we're all growing up. Our supervisor got married in April 2005, I got married in October, one of our senior guards announced she was pregnant (she's been married a few years) some time in fall, our other senior guard got married in December, another pool manager (who's on payroll but hasn't worked for a while because she got a real job) got engaged in December, then Henoc got married January 13th, 2006. You know, this is the first of a couple of stages... first you look around and see that all of your friends are getting married, then they're all having kids. (Add in all of your friends graduating college and/or getting divorced, the events and what order they're in depends on who your friend are really.) I have pictures of our honeymoon, the work Christmas party, and Henoc's wedding all on a disposable camera that's got like two more pictures on it. As soon as I finish it, I'll post pictures on my Yahoo pictures page.

Yesterday- Part 1

Yesterday was a day of such extremes that I didn't want the two parts of the day to share a post. So they're not... It took me a little over two hours to get to El Monte in the morning. There was a four-car accident on the 101 that slowed us down in what's normally a pretty quick stretch between freeways. As soon as we recovered from that, we hit the next interchange. When I got to my sister's house, mom was next door. Dad chose not to come- my sister called him un-paternal. I'm not sure why he didn't come, but it's okay. I know we all deal with things in different ways, and I guess his is not at the cemetery. I found out while we were waiting for everyone to be ready to go that Irma had "investigated" and found out where my paternal grandfather is buried- in the same cemetery as my great-niece Alexis. Until yesterday, I didn't know that he was there. I didn't even know for sure if he died before or after I was born, only that I have no memory of him. (My paternal grandmother died when my dad was a child.) It just came up in conversation that dad didn't want to go even though Irma had found out where grandpa is. I asked if we were going to go visit him too, and the answer was something along the lines of "well, if your dad's not going..." The drive up was okay. We talked about Lexie, and about the new baby... (Not sure if I mentioned, but she's pregnant again, and due the 20-something of this month.) I asked again about visiting grandpa, this time adding that I would like to do so. The answer then was "well, your sister left the paper with his grave number at the house," to which I of course replied that if we stopped at the information booth, they could look it up for us. We stopped to get flowers. When we were going through the main gate, I reminded them that we should stop at the information booth to ask where grandpa is. The answer then was "well, we didn't even bring him any flowers." That bugged me... this was no more than 2 minutes after we left the flower place, and there's a flower place inside the cemetery as well. Besides, it wasn't about the flowers, it was about our grandfather. =( So we went up to the Garden of the Innocent, where Lexie is buried. There was a detour due to the construction going on. They're building a lake in what they're calling the Sycamore Valley. It's going to be really nice, actually. Lexie's in that valley. Once the lake is filled, we'll drive by it when we go visit her. The girls and I went to see the new neighbors since we last visited. I know it's not necessarily the case, but I like to think that those other babies and children she's buried by are her playmates now. Unlike with adults who have children and grandchildren to visit them, once parents stop visiting a baby, few will come afterward... so it's personally important to me to find out about the babies near her. Whenever I visit her I try to talk to whoever else is there visiting their kids. Apparently, many of them are SIDS cases, or died the same day they were born. I'm always drawn to the quadruplets a few rows up. I hear that their parents tried for a long time to get pregnant, and they were on fertility treatments. They all died within a day of being born. That must be so hard, after they got their miracle... Mom and my sister started taking cleaning Lexie's stone and arranging flowers. Mom was pressuring us to leave as soon as they were done with that, which I didn't like... I wish we had gone in two cars so I could have stayed longer and reflected a little. We sang happy birthday to Lexie, and then mom gently prodded us back to the car. We're talking about getting a fence for her... some of the gates look much like cribs. So we went to the administration building and Carynna and I got down to ask... the lady at the counter said that they're not allowed at all, and they're removed immediately except for during certain holidays. That puzzled me, because although you don't see them in most places, 80% of the graves in the baby area do have fences. I think we might have to find someone from maintenance to clear that one up... She called someone on the phone and asked about it, and said something like "oh, only carousel?" That must be another baby area. The Garden of the Innocent is in Sycamore Valley, the new area, so it might be a new thing and still puzzling. More on that if we hear more. I was thinking of going back again to spend some time there and find my grandfather... but I had other things to take care of. Some of the paperwork that the lady at the counter gave us said something about a grave locating feature on their website, so I used that today. It was interesting, because using both first and last name turned up nothing, but using only the last name brought him up as one of the hits. (The problem was I didn't realize it wanted last name first. The search was broken when I did first name first.) I'll go see him the next time I'm in town. I also found out that my cousin lost a baby. I never knew that. Apparently, they didn't want to bury her in Arizona where they now live in case they move back. So she was cremated, and my aunt has her ashes. I haven't seen this cousin for years... I'm so behind on the family gossip, huh? For the record: Salvador A Aceves- Died January 11th, 1980 (three years before I was born) Garden of Affection, section 23, lot 7705, grave 1. Alexis Cynthia Beatriz Sanchez- Died Sunday, March 13th, 2005 Garden of the Innocent, section 1, lot 17, grave 1. I'm reminded again that I want to pre-plan my funeral arrangements, and I want my husband and sisters to do the same. I want us to spare each other the pain that we had to bear in planning Lexie's funeral. I know my parents won't do it though. They've pre-purchased their places in a mausoleum, but I doubt they'll discuss funeral services.

Red Cross, Conference, Tomorrow's plans...

This post goes from annoying, to good news, to sad, to good news... That's been my last couple of days overall. I took the originals of those things to the Red Cross yesterday. They're still a little weird though. The person I report to tells me that the equivalent person at my home chapter says my IT stuff isn't done. Strange, since that person is the one who requested my CrossNet access (which continually frustrates me because it's always down when I need it- can't ping it or anything). Why would she request that for me if I wasn't done? So I emailed her asking her to please help me clear it up, no response yet. So she says that she doesn't have to accept me anyway, but even if they were going to it would be after my home chapter verifies my status AND she comes observe me teach. (That one's a new one.) My boss brought up a good point when I told her about this new development- what is she going to come observe me teach if they're not allowing me to teach instructor classes until she says so? They ask me again if I want to extend in or transfer... Jeez, why would I transfer my stuff if I'm going to lose my status in the process? Today at work, my supervisor said that there might be money in the budget after all to help send me to the national conference. (She had said before that this year's training/travel was already used but they might be able to help for stuff next year, particularly if any of us won scholarships.) She's going to speak to her supervisor today about it, and ask whether there's any oddities with sending a part time employee. She asked me to price flights, in case it's a yes but not in time for early bird registration. It's about $250-$280 round trip. So today I got the check in the mail from SCPPOA (my once a month aquatics friends) addressed to the NRPA (National Park and Rec Association) for my $250 scholarship. Good because it's $250 less I have to pay. Bad because I'm now tied into mailing in my registration (I faxed at the last minute last year). The website doesn't say if the early bird discount is "postmarked by" or "received by," it simply says "paid by." That doesn't help! Tomorrow, I'm leaving here shortly after Charles leaves to work. I'm going to meet sisters and nieces at my sister Irma's house, and we're going to the cemetery together from there. I may have to insist on driving- we all fit in Martha's van, I don't mind driving that. Just have a bad feeling about getting in the car with sister driving. Not sure how long we'll be there, we were kind of talking about having a little birthday party. Cupcakes maybe? Then I'll go to the wedding and reception after that. Talk about extremes, huh?

Lexie's 1 year birthday...

Oh, Friday (the same day that my friend is getting married, so I had gotten the day off work for that) also would have been Lexie's first birthday. Not sure yet, but I think we're going to go visit her together as a family. I don't think more than 2 of us have gone together at once... I've only gone alone.

Yay for mommy! (And the Gas Company!)

So yesterday, Tuesday, I was supposed to meet up with that fellow IT and plan some classes, but it didn't work out. She tried calling me and since it went straight to voicemail and I didn't call her back, she figured I wasn't able to come down to LA County. I, on the other hand, didn't get a beep on my phone until I had been at the meeting place for half an hour (it's okay, we were having a lunch meeting, so I had lunch during that time). So when I called her at her office, the guy who answered the phone said that she had a 1:00 meeting (I was her 12:30) and she didn't call me back before 4:00 which is when I left town. Oh well, we'll set up another time. I did, however, manage to accomplish the following:

• Signed a course record sheet that I had filled out but forgotten to sign
• Tore off the instructor's copy (pink one) that I wouldn't have gotten had I remembered to sign it in the first place
• Brought home the combo cork/white board that I had bought for the office (I hear tell the guy who took my old desk doesn't want it anyway)
• Got directions to friend's wedding and wedding reception
• Picked up the Title to the Explorer, so I can now officially go change my name on it and add Charles
• Found my Red Cross wallet under the DMV stuff! (Hence the title. My mommy likes to put things away in strange hidden places, but things don't get lost when they're hidden so well.)
• Went shopping at what my dad calls "the third-hand store" (meaning I picked out what I wanted from mom's second-hand store shopping). I got frying pans, a napkin holder that matches our plates, and some candy dishes
• Picked up shirts mom bought for Charles, and a present one of mom's friends sent us for our wedding

I found out they broke their pool at the old place- there won't be people in the water for a week. Something went wrong with their superchlorination. I guess it was just the indoor pool, but the outdoor pool was shut down since November, so I'm not sure if they're planning to heat that up in the mean time. It gets to a nice, chilly 60-65 or so if I remember correctly. I got an email from Charles's parents wanting to arrange a CPR class. That should be fun, especially since I now found my Red Cross wallet. I now get to extend into Greater LA. That makes four chapters in three counties that I can teach in. I hear they do some national account thing, but I'm not sure if that's just for APs (multi-location corporations) or for traveling instructors such as myself. The Red Cross lady with jurisdiction over my workplace hasn't returned my email. I'm going to have to go visit her. Again. Oh, and the gas company guy came. He said that our dryer had lots of lint and stuff on the inside, that it probably has never been cleaned. He said if we vacuum it carefully with one of those reachy wand thingies, that'll make it safe enough to operate. He said the igniter only works in like one of the settings (normal but not perm press, I think?) but it's operable once it's cleaned out. He referred me to a repair place if I wanted it "totally" fixed, but he said it would cost about $150. I've seen new dryers as low as $250, so if we want a working dryer that bad, we'll just buy a new one. I'll vacuum it out tonight.

House cleaning & Red Cross Rant

I've been working on cleaning up the house while my husband continues his nerdy endeavors today. It's not so bad really, I've been doing most of the work sitting down on the floor, and I've taken several lay down breaks (and one nap break) when my back starts to hurt. I've gone through three boxes of stuff: two that came from my old office and one that came from my mom's house. I've just been sorting at this point, I'll put the stuff away after it's in neat little piles. Most of it is paper. The office ones were particularly fun because I didn't pack them. David, the co-worker from there that I trust the most, was given that job when they decided to move someone into my desk in the three days between me handing in my resignation and me returning to work the following week. So it was like a grab-bag of goodies! There were files, office supplies, desk accessories, business cards... Of course, that grab bag also led to me having a pile (about 3 inches deep) of stuff to take back to them when I'm in town next. That'll be Tuesday- I have a list of things I need to do, such as meet with a fellow IT about some classes with want to teach, sign a course record sheet for the class I taught the last day I worked at the old place, turn in some old uniforms that are now washed and dried, show my mom the pictures we have in digital format so she can pick out which she wants for her photo album we got her for Christmas, go to Charles's parents house for something (he'll have to tell me what I need to do there later), and ummm.... I'm sure there's more. The one thing that I'm hoping to find here is my Red Cross wallet, the one that has all of my original cards. I've been so frustrated with the Red Cross lately... my Red Cross is neck-deep in drama and legal action, and the one where I moved to is just a tad weird. The person who I report to (luckily not in an employee-employer way, but in a "here's my stuff and my money, send my cards in the mail" way) has told me some stuff that I know to be oldschool and no longer valid (such as she doesn't have to accept me as an Instructor Trainer if she doesn't want to). I have the Red Cross Manual of Administrative Policies and Procedures to back me up too, but I figured I'd wait and only use it if needed (like if she doesn't accept my status). So far they've been cooperative, except for they lost my paperwork. When I went to talk to them, I took them photocopies of my instructor certs. The person in charge of such things said that she'd put me in the system "for now" but to come back when I got my originals back from boxes (where I presume they are anyway) and/or when I change my name officially with HR at my new job, then I'll change it with Red Cross too since they're tied together. (I already did the DMV, then I show my new driver's license to Social Security, then I show my new Social Security Card to HR at work, then I go to the Red Cross... this is complicated!) So then several weeks later I go turn in course record sheets for my first class in this county, and my boss gets a phone call that there's a problem with them because I don't exist! So I called, and the person who does the data entry told me basically the same thing. I wanted to get the story straight from her and then talk to the person I had talked to, but they had already spoken to each other. The exact phrase used was something along the lines of "Boss's name gave your stuff to name of boss for other courses and now we don't have it. I need you to bring them in again." Grrr. Now, if the two division heads both claim to have had possession of my paperwork, isn't that enough to at least process my students' cards so that they can go on with their lives and apply for jobs (it was a lifeguarding course) while we sort this out amongst ourselves. I'll even promise not to teach until it's resolved! But no, they're stuck waiting along with me. They could even call the equivalent person at my home chapter, who is a good resource for not only my status but also my teaching history and quality. Oh, wait, they probably don't want to do that because they already did! "Yeah, it's me again, can you verify Patti's status again?" Pffft. So I try to fax over copies again the following day (being that I got off work at 5:30pm the day I found this out, I wasn't about to go fax it out overnight). The fax machine kept redialing, the I kept redialing it after the appropriate number of redial attempts failed... Busy. Grrr. Now it's Friday when I'm trying to fax it over, and it won't get resolved until middle of next week I bet. Then they want my originals so they can stamp them. In a way, having my authorization transferred over might ease some of these problems, because they'd be the keepers of my hard-copy files, but I don't know... they're a little crazy out here, and we've already determined that they're not good at holding onto hard copies of stuff. I'll just find the originals, transfer in all official like, let them stamp my stuff, and get on with my teaching. Sounds like it should work, right? I'll keep you posted. I really, really, truly believe in the principles and the ideals of the American Red Cross. I am proud to be an Instructor Trainer with them. (I know the person at my new Red Cross would never have allowed me to do it since I've only been teaching "a few years.") I like them, I really do... but I'm just frustrated for the moment, for my students' sake- that's what it's all about in the end, isn't it? I do this for them, and for the people they'll go on to save. Okay, I feel a bit better now that I've ranted about it. That should last through the weekend until I have to deal with it again.

Class ring, 5 years later

It has come to my attention that it's nearly 5-year class reunion time. It makes me think of the things that I have and haven't accomplished in those 5 years. I think I came out on top overall, my only regret is not having finished college yet. (I worked, traveled, bummed around, etc- I'm at about the later part of sophomore year now.) Well, it also brought to mind the fact that I never bought a class ring when I graduated. I wish I had. I think I'm going to do it now. I was on the Josten's website playing with their ring designer... Now, I can't show you the customized one (well, I could if I took a screenshot, but that's too much work) but I can show you the base ones, and just imagine it with my name, high school name, and graduation date instead of the default example one. ;) This one is simple, elegant, etc. This one is a little more fancy, and is also a similar style to my wedding ring. Could be good or bad? If I wear it right hand ring finger, and left hand ring finger is similar style, I'd coordinate/match better! Could show the different stages/transitions in my life. Or could be just weird. What do you think? Then this last one is the "traditional" type ring. I didn't do anything particular cool in high school, I might put a flag team image on the year side, and a dragon on the name side. (Fits with knights mascot, and I like dragons.) Comments welcome!

Pool Covers

So I spent today up on tower between 12:00 and 2:30, with no break, no rotation, only guard in the building... And you know what happens when I do that, I started thinking. Now, first I thought about why the water level was so strange... normally there are about 3 inches of water in the gutter... today it was about 2 inches below the top of the gutter. Two options, I thought, either the torrential rains we've had over the past few days or the pool's not circulating. Normally you can tell that a pool's not circulating because the water level will drop inside the pool itself, but I had like 12 people swimming and splashing around, so I figured I wouldn't miss a half inch of water with that many bodies in it. High gutter level is a second sign of bad circulation. Anyhow, after that was cleared up (it was rain water after all) and the maintenance guy said he'd vacuum some water out onto the deck, I started thinking about pool covers. I think it was because the rope we use to pull them was on my tower where I would normally put my walkie-talkie. That or because he was telling me about how the wind put them all over the deck overnight. I think I've come up with a new device, or system if you will. It involves one straight rope, one rope that splits into a Y, and many S-hooks. It takes care of a number of problems: (1) no more having to walk the end of the rope around to the starting side, (2) no more tearing off the poor handles when pulling with a rope, (3) no more having to tie knots around the handles with the rope- that never works quite right anyway, (4) lower amount of water on the cover, (5) no more hooking the handles on your lane lines... there might be more benefits, I'll keep you posted on that. Oh, and add one of those turny-windy (that's windy like winding road, not like windy day) things to one end, and you're no longer tangling rope as you toss it onto the floor and stuff... I like it. I sketched it. Kind of. I drew the major parts on the computer then wrote and sketched on top of it. I'll scan it later to show you, but no one patent it, ya'hear! I think the guards will like it too, once they get over the fear-of-change stage that sometimes comes with new toys. (I don't fear new toys, I find them shiny and attention-keeping- maybe it's the fact that it's a toy that involves manual labor?)

I like this quote

I was reading news on our daily news brief thingie at work, and saw this quote: "We are here today to bear a lantern for the future, not carry a torch for the past." I like it. Said by Pat Brown, quoted in an editorial by the city manager at the city I work for.

Before new year's day is done...

In the year 2006 I resolve to: Take over the world. Get your resolution here

In the year 2006 I resolve to: Make millions in the rubber ducky industry. Get your resolution here

You'd be amazed what I went through at the beginning of the summer to find rubber duckies in the right color!

New Year, 2006

Ahhh, so came and went another year... 2005 was very interesting... My husband thought of this first, he did a year recap and a look at the new year. So I'm going to do the same. =)

January

My niece Cyndi gave birth to her daughter, Alexis on January 13th.

February

My work hosted the February SCPPOA meeting. I got my boyfriend Charles a phone for Valentines day and put him on a family plan with me. We later got engaged.

March

I went to Las Vegas for the National Aquatics Conference put on by the NRPA (National Recreation and Parks Association). I was going to do the NAMS (National Aquatic Management School) as well, but I decided against it. I figured AFO (Aquatic Facility Operator) would be more marketable in the near future, and they were on the same days. I stayed at the Circus Circus, rooming with an Aquatics Supervisor from a nearby agency. My division manager and I met up there, we actually cooperated to go to different sessions so that we could meet together on it when we got back. That way we'd have twice the learning! Lexie passed away on March 13th. She was buried at Rose Hills on March 21st.

April

April must have been boring, I don't remember it ever occurring at all. I've calculated that it must have been the month that I first went to Ventura county. I carpooled with the colleague that I roomed with in Las Vegas- I was interviewing for a scholarship that day, and she was on the interview panel. The interviews were at City Hall, and the meeting was at a Marie Calendar's because the pool was still under construction. We did do a facility tour, however, and that was the first time I was on the grounds of the pool I now work for. They showed us the mechanical/chemical area and the pools, but the bath house was off limits that day due to construction. I got word via mail later that month that I'd won a $250 scholarship from SCPPOA for any aquatic training that I choose. (I'm going to use it for NAMS/NAC in March of 2006.)

May

At the beginning of May, I took David to his first SCPPOA meeting. I think he liked it. I introduced him to some of my once-a-month aquatics friends, and we showed them our blue shirts. (That was a hot issue, they were dressing the pool managers in the same uniform as the sports people. We looked nothing like safety personnel.) Mid-May, summer begins for us. I picked up my Emergency Response instructor manual and told myself that I wouldn't be out of lifeguard mode for 3 months...

June

June, as expected, all about work at the pools. I did turn 22 in early June, but I was at work that day teaching an in-service training.

July

July, as expected, all about work at the pools. Effective July 1st with the new fiscal year, I and two others were promoted to the Pool Manager position that was vacant since October 2004. At the same time, we also heard that they were going to hire a "Part Time Aquatics Coordinator" making about $7 more than my current pay.

August

August, also all about work! The deadline for the PT Aquatics Coordinator came and went. David and myself both applied.

September

My fiance turned 21 on September 14th. I went to visit him at his apartment and brought him a slice of pie with a candle in it. =) Throughout September, I visited Charles every weekend and started dropping off a box or two of my things each week to make the move easier later. Some time in September, I got a letter in the mail that the deadline for the PT Aquatics Coordinator was extended through October 31st. I had hoped to have word before my wedding, to see if I could afford to keep driving two hours each way to work. Since I wouldn't know, I emailed the Aquatics Supervisor of the pool we went to in April asking if she had any jobs available. (I had met her in October of 2004 at CAMS.) I interviewed for her on my following trip to see Charles, and got fingerprinted the trip after that.

October

Charles and I got married on October 6th in the Las Vegas area. Upon our return, I started my new job on October 13th. I realized that the first two hours of work at my old job paid for my gas for just that day, so I switched to a schedule of two ten-hour days. I was driving there on Monday mornings and coming back Tuesday nights. Of course, that only worked until our '91 Explorer died in the parking lot at work. Charles was out working that day, so I got a ride home. The car stayed in the parking lot for about two months- I even had to have maintenance log it in so that their bosses wouldn't question it. Charles dropped me off on Sunday nights for a while and then picking me up on Tuesday nights. Later on, I started taking the train in on Monday mornings and getting picked up Tuesday nights. He was really cool about it, especially since I wasn't making all that much money really.

November

The whole month of November I was working 20 hours at my old job and 30-40 hours at my new job. In the meanwhile, my husband started a new job on November 1st, so he was keeping busy too. =) I got a letter in the mail telling me that the PT Aquatics Coordinator position was no longer in the budget. It says that when the budget process is complete, they may reconsider. That's when I started thinking about quitting. When you quit, you're not eligible for re-hire for a year (or so we're told, I've never seen this in writing), so I hadn't wanted to quit earlier when I moved to VC because I wouldn't be eligible to interview for that position.

December

I finally cut back on the number of hours that I was doing at my new job, after my husband got a couple of checks from his new job. We started getting more financially stable, and we bought a vacuum cleaner! That's been our most recent household purchase- each time we make such a purchase, I tell him it's getting more and more like a real house. :) The first week of December, I turned in my resignation letter at my old job. It was effective December 31st, but with my Monday/Tuesday 10-hour days, my last day of work was December 27th. We finally had enough money to get the Explorer fixed in December. That was a huge relief, having two cars again. It made me really think about how my parents used to manage with just one car. (It helped that my mom worked at home.)

2006

We got (or should I say I got?) a beautiful kitchen set from Charles's great aunt. That (along with our vacuum cleaner) makes our house almost complete. Before 2006 is over, we will have a couch! I think that may be it, we'd have a real house. =) Also for 2006, I plan to go back to school. I figure by about March I'll do a FAFSA and get financial aid lined up. I probably wouldn't start class until after summer though. I plan to take care of my health a little more. In February, when Charles's probation is officially over, he gets benefits (and we can add me at cost). I can get my knees, back, etc looked at then. I'd like to work out more, but I can't run/jump/etc with my knee issues, and the only sport I can still do (swimming) I have to go incognito (or out of town). I swim free at work, but that rarely works. If I walk in, there's something to be done or someone who wants to talk to me. Charles's OSER project is going to take off in the next year. I'm excited to see how it fares, and I think he is too! My credit card should be back at $0 balance in the first few months of the year. We'll fix up the Explorer some more... fix the driver's side window that's been acting up, as well as fix/replace the stereo. When I first got it, the tape would work but none of the buttons worked. It was either on or off. So I got a car kit and CD player, and that worked great (with my mp3 player too) but now the volume is higher on my internal PDA speaker than the car speakers. That's all I can think of for now. We'll check back in next year to see how we did!