We thought we were going to mail these, but the envelopes for mailing them in ended up under some boxes in our move and weren't found until after the mailing deadline! So, if you're interested in a summary of our latest adventures, go here!
A happy and safe Christmas to everyone!
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Monday, December 10, 2007
Geni.com
After checking out many "web 2.0" genealogy sites, I found that I really like Geni.com. I started poking around, adding family, and so forth.
Then I tried out their search, and found a second cousin I didn't know about, and she not only lives in Los Angeles, she also answers her messages!
We're "friends" now, but when Geni.com releases their much anticipated tree-merging feature, we're both going to have some fun learning new things! Will keep you posted on that.
My mom Beatriz's mom Josefina has a brother Ismael, who has a daughter Dolores, whose daughter is my new friend. =)
Guess I'm staying on Geni.com!
Then I tried out their search, and found a second cousin I didn't know about, and she not only lives in Los Angeles, she also answers her messages!
We're "friends" now, but when Geni.com releases their much anticipated tree-merging feature, we're both going to have some fun learning new things! Will keep you posted on that.
My mom Beatriz's mom Josefina has a brother Ismael, who has a daughter Dolores, whose daughter is my new friend. =)
Guess I'm staying on Geni.com!
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
I'm a very, very bad blogger!
I didn't blog at all during the whole month of November! Isn't that horrible?
So, here's what you've missed (if you haven't been reading my Twitter, anyway):
I spoke with USC and UCR representatives about transfer requirements. Next on my list of people to talk to is UCLA.
I gave blood. Harmless process. =)
I went to my sister-in-law's baptism, which was lovely. =)
Went to a few free concerts at school, and to Annie with Charles. All awesome shows! Charles and I have tickets to see Alice in Wonderland (a children's opera that my piano professor wrote) on Saturday night.
I watched Star Trek Menagerie with my "brothers." Great nerd night. Then we checked out the new school together. My brother Rufus and I went to an orientation at the new school.
Had Thanksgiving dinner with my in-laws, not our customary two Thanksgivings due to my parents being out of the country. My sister Irma came to my in-laws' house with us (as did a friend of Charles), which was great. The next morning I went to Radio Shack to partake in some Black Friday shopping. When I came home from Black Friday shopping, I got word that my uncle had been in the hospital (in Mexico) since Monday, November 19th. He's still in the hospital now, but they're anticipating that he'll recover at this point. We also got word that my mom's half brother passed away in early November.
Charles's car had an electrical issue. I'm glad we got it to start eventually, because I haven't figured out how you get a tow truck into the garage or push the car up the ramp! Our customary mechanic took care of it for us.
We got the keys to our new apartment on the 1st, and have already started to move stuff in. I sent cards with our new address to a dozen or so people, those were out in today's mail. I also have what is hopefully a final draft of our Christmas letter ready, just need to buy more ink for the printer or run the pdf to Kinko's for many copies of color pictures. About 60 people on our mailing list, and I'm not counting people in Mexico, simply because I haven't begun to think about translating yet! Christmas letters should be in the mail next week at a guess. =) No pdf upload until they're in the mail, that would be cheating!
School update:
Speech Class: I got 75/75 on persuasive speech. Term paper due a week from yesterday, visual aid speech a week from tomorrow, and then the final. Also, this class factors in attendance and participation grades that I can't quantify (but should be good).
Health Class: Average of three exams is a B. Professor says in the end it'll be an A, however. He's got some logic for that. I can't explain all the subtle nuances of it, but I assume it's attendance/participation/etc. Nothing else here is graded until the final.
Piano Class: I got my first B(+) in the class today. I'm sure I'm getting an A in the class, however. There's a quiz on Tuesday the 11th, and then another "quiz" for our final on Tuesday the 18th
Chicano Studies Class: Have to finish workbooks by the day of the final. I'd call them 75% done or so. Everything else so far is A's.
I can't believe the semester is almost done. December seemed so far away when we started!
I'll try to post more, promise. (Perhaps my wifi working again will help. ) Until then, Twitter is my friend, because it listens to me when I'm away from the internet!
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Fall 2007 Midterms
Well, only one actually calls itself a midterm... but anyhow...
Speech class, I got more wrong than I thought I would! I wish they would let us look at the test sheets (not just the Scantrons back) to see what it was we thought we knew but didn't! Anyhow, I got 20/25 right, which is 80%. However, to make it out of 45 points like the syllabus said, he did the math in our favor. He said take your correct answers, multiply by two, and make that out of 45 (instead of out of 50 like it would be). So I got 40/45 points for it, bringing it up to an 88.8%. New grade: 117/125, 93.6%. I really want to keep this up in the A range, so I feel that I need to really nail the last two speeches to make up for any potential further missed points in exams. I think there's a final written exam. And there's a paper, which should be interesting.
My Health exam was a whole other story... We theorize that he purposely makes it hard because it's open book! =P Open book, open note, work with a buddy if you choose, look it up online if you're able... Yet, I still got 72% on this! I didn't even miss any classes between the last test and this test! All of the questions are compound, all of the statements (two to three per question) have to be true for the question to be true, except in certain cases where two false statements make the question as a whole true. Luckily, the professor gives a 10 point bonus for being an active class participant, which brings it up to 82%. I wonder how the people who sit in the back of the class are doing. New grade: 170/200, or 85%. This professor lets you drop the lowest test score out of the 4, which would be this 82% so far, last test was 88%.
In Piano class, we have a quiz on Tuesday, seven short pieces. Yesterday, I could only play first one right in class! I practiced for an hour or so today, and now the first four are alright, as is the 6th one. The 5th and 7th ones still confuse me greatly. Mostly because the fingers move around more than once, and not just up and down a scale! Those two won't look pretty in class tomorrow morning, but I'll have it by quiz time! I was listening ahead in the CDs, and the pieces from later on in the semester sound complicated! (Current grade: Still 11 A's and 3 A-'s.)
Going to a concert tomorrow between classes. It's convenient timing, really. Class is over at 11:05am, concert starts at 11:30am, concert ends at about 12:45pm, next class starts at 1:00pm. I believe it's the Jazz Band tomorrow.
In Chicano Studies class, well, we're not doing much... I've had a few very interesting conversation with the professor about his methods and about the community college system. I have to say, if I hadn't talked to him personally, I would have felt that he wasn't an effective instructor. Having seen his logic now, however, I respect what he's trying to do. I still don't have any letter grades for this class though, which just feels awkward! (Current grade: There's an A in my head, but not on paper.)
When I talked to the professor yesterday, I also let him know that I would most likely be attending the USC presentation rather than his class on Thursday of next week, which he seemed quite pleased to accommodate. He said one of his books (which we had to buy for this class but haven't gotten to reading yet) talks about how to choose a university, which I may find helpful. I will look into it when we get there in class, or between semesters if we don't get to it.
I emailed CSULA about my transcripts that they never sent. (Or the post office lost two separate envelopes from them to two separate addresses.) They cashed our check many months ago... January 12th! I need to find a phone number to harass them at, but in preparation for such action, I first ordered a (free) copy of the check from the bank. Should be here in a week or so. (It's been so long, it's already off the online check viewing database!) I need to order transcripts from UOP as well, the transfer center said they should be transferable. They're accredited, after all, but they seem to be a special case if you ask the internet...
Hmm, there's more I'm sure, but that's all for today! (Future topics: Business stuff, mostly.)
Speech class, I got more wrong than I thought I would! I wish they would let us look at the test sheets (not just the Scantrons back) to see what it was we thought we knew but didn't! Anyhow, I got 20/25 right, which is 80%. However, to make it out of 45 points like the syllabus said, he did the math in our favor. He said take your correct answers, multiply by two, and make that out of 45 (instead of out of 50 like it would be). So I got 40/45 points for it, bringing it up to an 88.8%. New grade: 117/125, 93.6%. I really want to keep this up in the A range, so I feel that I need to really nail the last two speeches to make up for any potential further missed points in exams. I think there's a final written exam. And there's a paper, which should be interesting.
My Health exam was a whole other story... We theorize that he purposely makes it hard because it's open book! =P Open book, open note, work with a buddy if you choose, look it up online if you're able... Yet, I still got 72% on this! I didn't even miss any classes between the last test and this test! All of the questions are compound, all of the statements (two to three per question) have to be true for the question to be true, except in certain cases where two false statements make the question as a whole true. Luckily, the professor gives a 10 point bonus for being an active class participant, which brings it up to 82%. I wonder how the people who sit in the back of the class are doing. New grade: 170/200, or 85%. This professor lets you drop the lowest test score out of the 4, which would be this 82% so far, last test was 88%.
In Piano class, we have a quiz on Tuesday, seven short pieces. Yesterday, I could only play first one right in class! I practiced for an hour or so today, and now the first four are alright, as is the 6th one. The 5th and 7th ones still confuse me greatly. Mostly because the fingers move around more than once, and not just up and down a scale! Those two won't look pretty in class tomorrow morning, but I'll have it by quiz time! I was listening ahead in the CDs, and the pieces from later on in the semester sound complicated! (Current grade: Still 11 A's and 3 A-'s.)
Going to a concert tomorrow between classes. It's convenient timing, really. Class is over at 11:05am, concert starts at 11:30am, concert ends at about 12:45pm, next class starts at 1:00pm. I believe it's the Jazz Band tomorrow.
In Chicano Studies class, well, we're not doing much... I've had a few very interesting conversation with the professor about his methods and about the community college system. I have to say, if I hadn't talked to him personally, I would have felt that he wasn't an effective instructor. Having seen his logic now, however, I respect what he's trying to do. I still don't have any letter grades for this class though, which just feels awkward! (Current grade: There's an A in my head, but not on paper.)
When I talked to the professor yesterday, I also let him know that I would most likely be attending the USC presentation rather than his class on Thursday of next week, which he seemed quite pleased to accommodate. He said one of his books (which we had to buy for this class but haven't gotten to reading yet) talks about how to choose a university, which I may find helpful. I will look into it when we get there in class, or between semesters if we don't get to it.
I emailed CSULA about my transcripts that they never sent. (Or the post office lost two separate envelopes from them to two separate addresses.) They cashed our check many months ago... January 12th! I need to find a phone number to harass them at, but in preparation for such action, I first ordered a (free) copy of the check from the bank. Should be here in a week or so. (It's been so long, it's already off the online check viewing database!) I need to order transcripts from UOP as well, the transfer center said they should be transferable. They're accredited, after all, but they seem to be a special case if you ask the internet...
Hmm, there's more I'm sure, but that's all for today! (Future topics: Business stuff, mostly.)
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Where does the time go...? Oh, yeah, to school
Well, I'm reading my past Twitters as I write this to remember what's been going on in the past 15 days! Get ready for a long post!
First, school update (in the order that the classes occur each week):
Speech:
I got 50/50 points in my informative speech about plastination (random topic). Then yesterday, we took the midterm, 25 questions worth 40 points. I don't know how he's going to do that math! I should have the results tomorrow. (Total: 77/80)
Health:
Took the second exam of four yesterday in this class as well. Results tomorrow. (Total: Still 88/100)
Piano:
I went to a string quartet concert at school. It doesn't count toward my three concerts I have to go to for my Piano class (they have to feature a piano), but I became aware of this free concert series through my class. It was very nice, it made me want to obtain music from Shostakovich, as well as tango music and Irish music. Yup, good concert. =)
I got an A- on the C,.D, and G major scales. All one grade, expected that to be three separate ones. The minus is because I stopped and started over when I pressed a key and no sound came out. I know I should have kept going, but it really threw me off! Remember, strike the keys, don't press them! I got an A on the four pieces. I did better there, I missed something I don't quite recall now (didn't play all the notes in a chord or something) but I kept going like nothing was amiss. He's trying to turn us into performers, so he respects that.
This next quiz is harder, fingers moving throughout pieces to new keys... I'll get it though, with enough practice. I start out each time I practice by warming up with all the quizzes we've done so far. Not only warms up my fingers with familiar movements, but it's a psychological trick too. I remember when those things were difficult, and that makes me confident about making these new difficult things easier! (Total: 11 A's and 3 A-'s.)
Chicano Studies:
The group presentation went well. There were a few technical errors, small things really, like a photo that was attributed to a certain culture by the internet, but was not really representative of them. There was no grade given to it, or if there was we were not told what the grade was. Overall, the professor seemed to be very happy with it. (Total: Nothing's been graded, but I think I'll get an A)
Transfer Center:
During lunch today, I talked to the CSUN representatives who came to my school to talk transfer. The host, the Transfer Center (what a suitable name!) also had a table advertising upcoming presentations. So I went to the Transfer Center after classes to get more general information, and I talked to one of their counselors. We've decided that my first choice transfer school shall be USC and second choice UCR. I should probably apply to three schools for good measure, third choice will probably be CSUN or CSULA. I have an appointment to talk to a UCR person, and I'm on the waiting list for the USC guy (he doesn't come very often). I'm going to a presentation by said USC guy next week.
I was a little concerned that my grades from 10 years ago in the Early Entrance Program at CSULA might bring down my GPA too much (I was a C student back then), but the counselor said that they do take the time into consideration. Now my new concern, having come home and read the paperwork I was given, is that they'll consider it "courses taken before high school graduation." Technically, they were that, but I wasn't concurrently in high school too, as their definition implies. I was a full time college student. Hopefully, they don't apply this "before high school graduation" rule, or I may have to re-take a few classes just because I'll have too many "before high school graduation" credits to transfer in.
Oh, and I need to take a lot more math to get into USC than I have to take for my A.A. degree, so I need to get cracking on that!
Then, personal stuff...
Family:
I picked up the pictures from our top secret last minute trip. We went to Yosemite for our anniversary. Not a ton of pictures, but some. Check them out at my new picture home, Flickr.
Friends:
My "brother" Albert's girlfriend Kat is in her school's colorguard. I went to their first field show competition of the year with Albert, Julio (another "brother"), and Momma Lebsch (Albert and Billy's mom). It was a lot of fun, and they got 3rd place out of 5 for their color guard. Band and percussion didn't get any awards though, but that's probably because the show isn't ready yet. I can relate. Downside of the night, aside from getting very cold, was that my prescription sunglasses got lost! They fell, and we tried to follow where gravity would have taken them under the bleachers, but no luck finding them! That means they either ran away, or they were "found." Who would want to "find" prescription sunglasses and not turn them in though? I emailed the band director, and he's going to let me know if they appear, but they hadn't as of the Monday following the competition. In the next few paychecks I shall consider getting new sunglasses. Until then, I have normal glasses and non-prescription sunglasses.
My "brother" Billy's birthday is tomorrow, so I went to see him on Sunday. I took him, Albert, and Kat to the mall (by I took them, I mean I'm the only one with a car). Our other friends had work. Boring, aren't they? We had lunch, did some shopping, then we dropped by Pavilions to see a friend who works there and get a birthday cake. I told them we needed milk to eat cake with, and they introduced me to lactose-free non-alcoholic eggnog! I like it!
Things I've done:
I dropped my laptop accidentally, breaking my external wifi dongle... It made me sad, even more sad than when my internal wifi stopped working. Add those two together, and it means no wifi for me! Charles is going to buy me a new dongle, he says he wants to pick it out so we're sure it's compatible. Until then, blogging from the media server. I haven't made another attempt at blogging from my phone yet, but I will eventually.
I downloaded Google Maps for my BlackBerry. I like it, and I appreciate the effort they put into making it say "Do not use while driving" when you start it up. =)
I went to the California RV Show. I basically wandered around and stepped into everything that I could! We're ready to buy what we like, but since there were so many RVs in one place from different manufacturers, I figured it would be a great chance to make sure we aren't missing something even better! Turns out we're really not. Of course, there are different things for different people. But for our purposes, the Outlook is still the best. Other things that impressed me, but not for us: Airstream trailers are nice, and I saw a fifth wheel with three bedrooms! Three! Oh, and one class C (that I might have otherwise liked better) tried to eat me! It somehow snagged my shirt when I was stepping in!
I went to the cemetery to visit with Lexie, Grandpa Salvador, and "Grandma" Soledad. (My grandmother died when my dad was very young. Grandpa's second wife Soledad raised him and his siblings.) I've put together a list on Twitter of things to take next time to tend to their grave markers. In case anyone's ever unclear about what I want, I want to be buried at Rose Hills, someplace where you can hear the water from the Sycamore Valley. When we have some disposable income, I may talk to Charles about putting a down payment on a suitable place. I strongly feel that this is something that should be done before death. (I have very strong opinions on death and dying, for reasons discussed in an earlier post.)
Things to do:
We're going to become all official as a business. Charles and I ordered business cards today, and I've been figuring out where I have to go (and what I have to pay) to get our fictitious business name filed. After that, run the name in the paper for four consecutive weeks, then open a bank account. Still to do: act on all of the above, and research business license requirements. Meanwhile, Charles makes the product. Teamwork!
I think that covers everything... be back tomorrow with exam results, I hope. =)
(P.S. I think that LiveJournal's spell checking dictionary should know the word "blogging." It doesn't, go figure...)
First, school update (in the order that the classes occur each week):
Speech:
I got 50/50 points in my informative speech about plastination (random topic). Then yesterday, we took the midterm, 25 questions worth 40 points. I don't know how he's going to do that math! I should have the results tomorrow. (Total: 77/80)
Health:
Took the second exam of four yesterday in this class as well. Results tomorrow. (Total: Still 88/100)
Piano:
I went to a string quartet concert at school. It doesn't count toward my three concerts I have to go to for my Piano class (they have to feature a piano), but I became aware of this free concert series through my class. It was very nice, it made me want to obtain music from Shostakovich, as well as tango music and Irish music. Yup, good concert. =)
I got an A- on the C,.D, and G major scales. All one grade, expected that to be three separate ones. The minus is because I stopped and started over when I pressed a key and no sound came out. I know I should have kept going, but it really threw me off! Remember, strike the keys, don't press them! I got an A on the four pieces. I did better there, I missed something I don't quite recall now (didn't play all the notes in a chord or something) but I kept going like nothing was amiss. He's trying to turn us into performers, so he respects that.
This next quiz is harder, fingers moving throughout pieces to new keys... I'll get it though, with enough practice. I start out each time I practice by warming up with all the quizzes we've done so far. Not only warms up my fingers with familiar movements, but it's a psychological trick too. I remember when those things were difficult, and that makes me confident about making these new difficult things easier! (Total: 11 A's and 3 A-'s.)
Chicano Studies:
The group presentation went well. There were a few technical errors, small things really, like a photo that was attributed to a certain culture by the internet, but was not really representative of them. There was no grade given to it, or if there was we were not told what the grade was. Overall, the professor seemed to be very happy with it. (Total: Nothing's been graded, but I think I'll get an A)
Transfer Center:
During lunch today, I talked to the CSUN representatives who came to my school to talk transfer. The host, the Transfer Center (what a suitable name!) also had a table advertising upcoming presentations. So I went to the Transfer Center after classes to get more general information, and I talked to one of their counselors. We've decided that my first choice transfer school shall be USC and second choice UCR. I should probably apply to three schools for good measure, third choice will probably be CSUN or CSULA. I have an appointment to talk to a UCR person, and I'm on the waiting list for the USC guy (he doesn't come very often). I'm going to a presentation by said USC guy next week.
I was a little concerned that my grades from 10 years ago in the Early Entrance Program at CSULA might bring down my GPA too much (I was a C student back then), but the counselor said that they do take the time into consideration. Now my new concern, having come home and read the paperwork I was given, is that they'll consider it "courses taken before high school graduation." Technically, they were that, but I wasn't concurrently in high school too, as their definition implies. I was a full time college student. Hopefully, they don't apply this "before high school graduation" rule, or I may have to re-take a few classes just because I'll have too many "before high school graduation" credits to transfer in.
Oh, and I need to take a lot more math to get into USC than I have to take for my A.A. degree, so I need to get cracking on that!
Then, personal stuff...
Family:
I picked up the pictures from our top secret last minute trip. We went to Yosemite for our anniversary. Not a ton of pictures, but some. Check them out at my new picture home, Flickr.
Friends:
My "brother" Albert's girlfriend Kat is in her school's colorguard. I went to their first field show competition of the year with Albert, Julio (another "brother"), and Momma Lebsch (Albert and Billy's mom). It was a lot of fun, and they got 3rd place out of 5 for their color guard. Band and percussion didn't get any awards though, but that's probably because the show isn't ready yet. I can relate. Downside of the night, aside from getting very cold, was that my prescription sunglasses got lost! They fell, and we tried to follow where gravity would have taken them under the bleachers, but no luck finding them! That means they either ran away, or they were "found." Who would want to "find" prescription sunglasses and not turn them in though? I emailed the band director, and he's going to let me know if they appear, but they hadn't as of the Monday following the competition. In the next few paychecks I shall consider getting new sunglasses. Until then, I have normal glasses and non-prescription sunglasses.
My "brother" Billy's birthday is tomorrow, so I went to see him on Sunday. I took him, Albert, and Kat to the mall (by I took them, I mean I'm the only one with a car). Our other friends had work. Boring, aren't they? We had lunch, did some shopping, then we dropped by Pavilions to see a friend who works there and get a birthday cake. I told them we needed milk to eat cake with, and they introduced me to lactose-free non-alcoholic eggnog! I like it!
Things I've done:
I dropped my laptop accidentally, breaking my external wifi dongle... It made me sad, even more sad than when my internal wifi stopped working. Add those two together, and it means no wifi for me! Charles is going to buy me a new dongle, he says he wants to pick it out so we're sure it's compatible. Until then, blogging from the media server. I haven't made another attempt at blogging from my phone yet, but I will eventually.
I downloaded Google Maps for my BlackBerry. I like it, and I appreciate the effort they put into making it say "Do not use while driving" when you start it up. =)
I went to the California RV Show. I basically wandered around and stepped into everything that I could! We're ready to buy what we like, but since there were so many RVs in one place from different manufacturers, I figured it would be a great chance to make sure we aren't missing something even better! Turns out we're really not. Of course, there are different things for different people. But for our purposes, the Outlook is still the best. Other things that impressed me, but not for us: Airstream trailers are nice, and I saw a fifth wheel with three bedrooms! Three! Oh, and one class C (that I might have otherwise liked better) tried to eat me! It somehow snagged my shirt when I was stepping in!
I went to the cemetery to visit with Lexie, Grandpa Salvador, and "Grandma" Soledad. (My grandmother died when my dad was very young. Grandpa's second wife Soledad raised him and his siblings.) I've put together a list on Twitter of things to take next time to tend to their grave markers. In case anyone's ever unclear about what I want, I want to be buried at Rose Hills, someplace where you can hear the water from the Sycamore Valley. When we have some disposable income, I may talk to Charles about putting a down payment on a suitable place. I strongly feel that this is something that should be done before death. (I have very strong opinions on death and dying, for reasons discussed in an earlier post.)
Things to do:
We're going to become all official as a business. Charles and I ordered business cards today, and I've been figuring out where I have to go (and what I have to pay) to get our fictitious business name filed. After that, run the name in the paper for four consecutive weeks, then open a bank account. Still to do: act on all of the above, and research business license requirements. Meanwhile, Charles makes the product. Teamwork!
I think that covers everything... be back tomorrow with exam results, I hope. =)
(P.S. I think that LiveJournal's spell checking dictionary should know the word "blogging." It doesn't, go figure...)
Monday, October 15, 2007
New way to follow what I'm doing...
By the way, I now use Twitter. It's like blogging for when I don't have time to sit at the computer and compose a blog entry. You can send it text messages from your cell phone, which I do often. (You can also IM it or use the website.) All entries are 140 characters or less, and I have 129 entries as of right now. It's for the more random thoughts I have!
Read my Twitter.
Oh, another thing, Yahoo photos closed down. I requested that my pictures be transferred to Flickr, but they're not yet there. Will let you know when I have a new home for my pictures. (I ordered a CD backup of each of my two Yahoo photos accounts, just in case this transfer doesn't work as expected.)
Read my Twitter.
Oh, another thing, Yahoo photos closed down. I requested that my pictures be transferred to Flickr, but they're not yet there. Will let you know when I have a new home for my pictures. (I ordered a CD backup of each of my two Yahoo photos accounts, just in case this transfer doesn't work as expected.)
YASU: Yet Another School Update
I attempted to send this from my new phone, but it didn't work. That's a topic for another day, however!
Okay, here's the latest!
Speech class: Lucked out and got the last date for my informative speech. Otherwise, I'd be very stressed with two big presentations due the same day! (So far: 27/30 total points.)
I need to find a speech to attend to analyze for a paper due in December. Where do you go about finding one of those?
Health class: Got an 88% on the first exam. It was harder than I expected. Not in a "I should have studied harder" kind of way, but in a "what does he mean by that question???" kind of way. I'll study more about reading the professor's mind! (So far: 88/100 total points.)
Piano class: The second quiz was four pieces. Got A, A-, A, A-. I'm going to get together with a classmate once or twice a week to help him out, which I've found helps me retain information. I process and re-phrase what I've learned from the lecture/book/practice, kind of like making an outline from a book you're reading.
I went to a concert conducted by my professor on Saturday. Charles had other plans, so I invited my "brothers" Billy and Albert (also invited Stephanie and Julio, but they decided against it) and Albert's girlfriend. It was pretty good. =) Now I just need to go to one more concert to fulfill the requirement for the class, but I plan to go to all the on-campus ones anyway. Most of them are free. =) (So far: 7 As, 2 A-s, and 2/3 concerts.)
Oh, I forgot my program from the concert in my mom's car! I'm sure he'll let me turn it in later though, or remember that he personally sold me the ticket, one of the two!
Chicano Studies class: My professor was out sick for two days, so we got behind a little bit. To make up for it, he skipped two quizzes and gave us all As on them in his book.
I'm finishing up a powerpoint presentation about the Chichimecs, Toltecs, and Aztecs to present tomorrow. I'm kind of stressed about it, to be honest. This class has only confirmed my "just lemme do it myself" attitude about group work... Out of 8 group members, only 4 of us have done our share, and being team captain I'm making up a lot of work that shouldn't have been my problem.
C'est la vie?
I honestly feel that had I been told "do this 60-to-80-slide presentation yourself instead of picking a group," it would have been done faster, better, and with less stress. Waiting on people that you have a gut feeling won't come through sucks. Your hunch about said people being confirmed is even worse. The deadline looming, and you find out at the 10th hour (not quite 11th hour!) that half of what was supposed to be contributed will not be... Guess it's supposed to prepare you for those real jobs at offices and stuff? Useless half of the team, you're fired! (So far: Nothing's been turned in until tomorrow, two fake As in the books.)
I'll blog about some more personal stuff when I don't have powerpoint slides spinning in my head...
Okay, here's the latest!
Speech class: Lucked out and got the last date for my informative speech. Otherwise, I'd be very stressed with two big presentations due the same day! (So far: 27/30 total points.)
I need to find a speech to attend to analyze for a paper due in December. Where do you go about finding one of those?
Health class: Got an 88% on the first exam. It was harder than I expected. Not in a "I should have studied harder" kind of way, but in a "what does he mean by that question???" kind of way. I'll study more about reading the professor's mind! (So far: 88/100 total points.)
Piano class: The second quiz was four pieces. Got A, A-, A, A-. I'm going to get together with a classmate once or twice a week to help him out, which I've found helps me retain information. I process and re-phrase what I've learned from the lecture/book/practice, kind of like making an outline from a book you're reading.
I went to a concert conducted by my professor on Saturday. Charles had other plans, so I invited my "brothers" Billy and Albert (also invited Stephanie and Julio, but they decided against it) and Albert's girlfriend. It was pretty good. =) Now I just need to go to one more concert to fulfill the requirement for the class, but I plan to go to all the on-campus ones anyway. Most of them are free. =) (So far: 7 As, 2 A-s, and 2/3 concerts.)
Oh, I forgot my program from the concert in my mom's car! I'm sure he'll let me turn it in later though, or remember that he personally sold me the ticket, one of the two!
Chicano Studies class: My professor was out sick for two days, so we got behind a little bit. To make up for it, he skipped two quizzes and gave us all As on them in his book.
I'm finishing up a powerpoint presentation about the Chichimecs, Toltecs, and Aztecs to present tomorrow. I'm kind of stressed about it, to be honest. This class has only confirmed my "just lemme do it myself" attitude about group work... Out of 8 group members, only 4 of us have done our share, and being team captain I'm making up a lot of work that shouldn't have been my problem.
C'est la vie?
I honestly feel that had I been told "do this 60-to-80-slide presentation yourself instead of picking a group," it would have been done faster, better, and with less stress. Waiting on people that you have a gut feeling won't come through sucks. Your hunch about said people being confirmed is even worse. The deadline looming, and you find out at the 10th hour (not quite 11th hour!) that half of what was supposed to be contributed will not be... Guess it's supposed to prepare you for those real jobs at offices and stuff? Useless half of the team, you're fired! (So far: Nothing's been turned in until tomorrow, two fake As in the books.)
I'll blog about some more personal stuff when I don't have powerpoint slides spinning in my head...
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Piano Quiz Results =)
I got an A in all five pieces of the quiz in my piano class. Go me! All I had to do was stay in the practice room till my fingers hurt and my wrists stung, and I got it! Like magic! =)
The book we use for class has a 3-CD set with all the music from the book in it. That helps a lot, to play along with the CD. Even moreso for first learning a piece, it makes the rhythm more logical when you’re hearing it rather than just reading it!
Want to know what’s funny? The guy in the class who sits in the back not paying attention to anything and playing Mozart and Harry Potter music over his headphones didn’t bother practicing the pieces in the quiz. Dork. Getting ahead of the class and not bothering to look at the book is fine if you know how to sight read, but he doesn’t. He amused me greatly when it was his turn to do the quiz pieces!
Of course, he claims that he didn’t know there was a quiz, which I believe because he doesn’t pay attention. However, he found out when I told him and someone else 20 minutes before class, and he used those 20 minutes to play things un-related to class. I even turned up my metronome so other people could use it to practice!
Ahh, vanity, thy name is drummer in a piano class...
Monday, October 1, 2007
School update: Speech presentation, Chicano Studies presentation, Piano quiz
I gave my first presentation in my Speech 101 class today. I got 27/30 points; the only thing I got docked for was going over the time limit. I knew that might be an issue, and I had already cut down on my content to try to get closer to the time. In the morning, I did it in under 5, but I guess I elaborated on a few more things in class than I did in my own living room. That, or my pauses for dramatic effect are longer when I have an audience.=P
I’m happy with the score though, I’d rather have time issues to improve upon than content or delivery issues!
Next stressor: Powerpoint (or in my case, Presentation) show about the Chichimec, Toltec, and Aztec Indians for my Chicano Studies class. Not everyone in my group is pulling their weight, which means someone else has to. I’m also doing all the talking in the presentation, and I have to learn really quickly how to pronounce the names of all the cities and gods of these indigenous groups! *collapses* But I’ll do it, cuz it’s gotta be done! This show has to be put together, and words learned, by two weeks from tomorrow.
I have a quiz tomorrow in my Piano class. I feel pretty good about it, but I felt pretty good about the last one too and I had some trouble with it.
My issue is that the only thing we’ve actually EVER played in front of the professor was that first mini-quiz (C and D major scales in each hand). We’ve never used the keyboards in class as anything more than desks, so when I practiced on my own for the quiz, I was making all the right sounds... However, on quiz day, he corrects us on our posture, hand position, wrist position, tempo, and so forth... So when I raised my wrists a little and turned my thumbs in more, it threw me off! Wish we played in class...
Quiz tomorrow is 5 pieces of 10 notes each (not moving our hands from the keys we start from, in other words), 4 measures each. It’s easy enough, unless the professor throws in some other thing I’m doing wrong to throw me off!
He was pointing out over and over the importance of using a metronome for practice, so I got him to okay using our metronomes for the quiz. Heading over to practice rooms now to practice for the quiz and playing to the metronome. (I downloaded a metronome program for my computer, called Gtick. But I got my physical metronome in the mail this weekend. I love new toys in the mail!)
Notice that I haven’t mentioned anything about my Health class (until right now). We have an exam there a week from today, but I’m not ready to stress on that yet, not until after tomorrow’s piano quiz!
I’m happy with the score though, I’d rather have time issues to improve upon than content or delivery issues!
Next stressor: Powerpoint (or in my case, Presentation) show about the Chichimec, Toltec, and Aztec Indians for my Chicano Studies class. Not everyone in my group is pulling their weight, which means someone else has to. I’m also doing all the talking in the presentation, and I have to learn really quickly how to pronounce the names of all the cities and gods of these indigenous groups! *collapses* But I’ll do it, cuz it’s gotta be done! This show has to be put together, and words learned, by two weeks from tomorrow.
I have a quiz tomorrow in my Piano class. I feel pretty good about it, but I felt pretty good about the last one too and I had some trouble with it.
My issue is that the only thing we’ve actually EVER played in front of the professor was that first mini-quiz (C and D major scales in each hand). We’ve never used the keyboards in class as anything more than desks, so when I practiced on my own for the quiz, I was making all the right sounds... However, on quiz day, he corrects us on our posture, hand position, wrist position, tempo, and so forth... So when I raised my wrists a little and turned my thumbs in more, it threw me off! Wish we played in class...
Quiz tomorrow is 5 pieces of 10 notes each (not moving our hands from the keys we start from, in other words), 4 measures each. It’s easy enough, unless the professor throws in some other thing I’m doing wrong to throw me off!
He was pointing out over and over the importance of using a metronome for practice, so I got him to okay using our metronomes for the quiz. Heading over to practice rooms now to practice for the quiz and playing to the metronome. (I downloaded a metronome program for my computer, called Gtick. But I got my physical metronome in the mail this weekend. I love new toys in the mail!)
Notice that I haven’t mentioned anything about my Health class (until right now). We have an exam there a week from today, but I’m not ready to stress on that yet, not until after tomorrow’s piano quiz!
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Some thoughts to help us narrow down our RV choices...
Charles and I have been talking further about our RV that we want to purchase. We love the '08 Destination, and still think it's gorgeous and fits all our needs. However, we're going to look at smaller things too! Ultimately, the decreased gas mileage and increased driving and parking difficulty isn't necessarily worth it for what we'd get versus a smaller rig.
So, we've been talking about our criteria in advance of the RV Show being held at the Fairplex in Pomona next month.
Some thoughts:
So, we've been talking about our criteria in advance of the RV Show being held at the Fairplex in Pomona next month.
Some thoughts:
- Queen sized bed is a high priority.
- I have a pet peeve about showers that you step out of into the main hallway. Shower needs to open into bathroom, bedroom, or wardrobe area for when we have company.
- Bedroom needs to be separated from the main cabin, preferably by a sliding door, but accordion door is acceptable.
- Bedroom access should preferably not be cut off if someone's in the bathroom, especially if the bathroom contains the shower.
- We must have a backup cam. (But we won't discount the possibility of getting it after-market.)
- We want to be able to sleep four or five for trips. We don't need another full time bed (like a cab-over in a class C), just the ability to convert couches/dinettes to beds.
- We need a place for our servers, possibly converting a bunk bed space.
- We need to look into how to properly mount computers for the vibrations of the road.
- We need enough tank space in water and holding tanks to go several days between stops with hookups. (Parking in someone's driveway or on the street rather than an RV park are not entirely out of the picture at this time.)
Monday, September 17, 2007
Society
I have to say, I’m starting to lose faith in society at large. Two of my best friends got robbed at knife point last night, by a masked man who barged into their hotel room and took three laptops (their two and their step-dad’s). What’s the world coming to?
Apart from being disappointed in society, angry, and perhaps a little scared, I also feel something else... I can’t sum it up in one word, but these two friends were just starting to get somewhere... They’d had their laptops for about a month, before that they didn’t have computers at all. It’s like this person knew the worst possible time to do this, and I feel... helpless. I wish there was something I could do to make things right, but I know I can’t. I’m sorry, guys. =(
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Expressing your feelings...
I think that there’s something about me that some people may not know. I’m a hopelessly sappy, emotional, romantic person. I cry, more than I care to admit. I’m going to tear up writing this, I can guarantee that. Don’t tell anyone! ;)
There are a couple of things that I feel deep inside that are important to me, to what makes me who I am and defines what I like to see in the people I surround myself with. I thought it was about time I shared that with you...
First of all, some events have shaped my views of the world.
The death of a classmate in the first grade
Back before people knew that children had feelings, back before grief counselors or any such things, I had a classmate in the first grade who died. She was riding a bicycle and got struck by a drunk driver. I understood death, I had had older relatives die before that, and had gone to funerals... but it was the first time that I had had someone near me die that was so young... Before that, death was something that happened to adults, and all of the sudden, at the age of six, it could have been me.
Unfortunately, that was something that I had to deal with on my own, because the school made no effort to ease that burden on us.
I remember looking into Amy’s casket and thinking “she would never have worn that.” Amy was a tomboy, and she was buried in a light blue satin dress. I wrote my first will in the first grade.
I wore a lot of black and white. I struggled with the purpose of our short time on this world at an age I wouldn’t wish upon any other child.
What I learned from Amy’s death: Any day on this world could be our last. It doesn’t matter, ultimately, who we are or what we do, we have to accept the possibility of leaving this life at any moment.
September 11th, 2001
I was at the park with my current boyfriend at the time, in Gloucestershire, England. We had been talking about my return trip, scheduled for the following Saturday, and he kept jokingly telling me that I was going to stay.
We were walking around the park, bicycles in tow, when he got a phone call... When he got off the phone, he told me that I may not be able to go home, and I thought he was just joking with me again. He said we should head back.
Then he got a text message on the way home, saying “turn on the television.”
When we got back to his house, we turned on the television to see fire, smoke, and destruction, along with a plane hitting one of the Twin Towers over and over again on a loop. Although I’ve never been to New York and don’t know anyone who was there, I cried... I think most Americans did.
On a side note, this is when I’m going to take the time to tell you not to fly British Airways. I called them a day or two before my flight, and they still didn’t know if planes would be allowed off the ground by Saturday. Although their website said they’d re-schedule people who were supposed to fly that week, they charged me $150 to change my return ticket. They didn’t tell me this on the phone, just sprung it on me at the check in counter. Do not support BA, they took advantage of poor travellers stuck outside of their countries of origin. I have never flown BA since then.
This is what I learned from 9/11: Never miss a chance to profess your feelings for people you love. The absolute worst stories I heard about 9/11 were those who lost a loved one and never got to say “I love you.” I don’t want someone I know to have “take out the trash” be the last words I say to them! Or even much worse, having a fight on your way out the door to work.
You never know what’s going to happen, you never know when you leave someone’s side if that person will ever come back to you... Be it a spouse, family member, or friend, you don’t know... That’s why it’s important to me that before driving away, before hanging up the phone, before ending an IM conversation, I will end the conversation on a good note. I try to never be shy to say “I love you,” because I don’t know if I’ll get the chance again.
The death of a co-worker
I don’t want to go into too much detail, because this isn’t my family, so it’s not my story to tell. However, I will share what I learned... I realized that I had never told her how much I admired her work, how glad I was that she did the things she did. I always made an effort after that to tell my co-workers (especially those who were subordinate to me) and friends thank you, and let them know how much I appreciate the things they do. Sure, I had already learned to say “I love you,” but even people you don’t love need affirmation too.
The death of my great-niece Alexis
My sister Martha is 15 years older than me, so I was only 7 when she had her first child Cyndi. Cyndi, in turn, was 15 when she had Alexis. I felt like I helped raise Cyndi and her sister and brother, and the baby was an extension of her... I was there when she told her dad she was pregnant, I watched her get all huge, and I watched the baby grow... Then two months later, she was gone. Lexie was born on January 13, 2005 and died of SIDS on March 13, 2005. I couldn’t work, I couldn’t enjoy life... A part of our family was gone, a part of me was gone with it...
The day before the funeral, my friend Jenny Bell, my fiance (now husband) Charles, my sister Irma, and myself spent together at Irma’s house making salads and painting little stars pink and little hearts white... It was the best thing we could be doing, spending that time together. I wish the rest of the family had decided to participate. My friend David then helped us by setting up the auditorium across the street from work for dinner while we were at the funeral, along with some of the lifeguards. I’ll forever love and appreciate Jenny, David, and my friends from work for what they did for our family during our time of need. (And Charles, of course! Now he’s part of our family, so of course I’ll always love and appreciate him, not only for this but for a lot of things!)
What I learned from this experience: Sometimes it takes a village... Charles, Jenny, and David supported Irma and me, but what they were really doing was supporting our whole family. By keeping us sane, and perhaps even strong on our good days, they enabled us to help everyone else... Thank you. I also learned that sometimes it doesn’t matter what you’re doing, but who you’re doing it with. Something as mundane as preparing salads can be so soothing and powerful with the right people...
This is long enough already, so I’ll tell you about what I like in my friends some other time. Moral of the story is: Don’t hold things inside, tell it like it is. If you appreciate or love someone, let them know.
By the way, I define love as the deepest and most sincere respect, admiration, and concern for a person that someone is capable of having. (Then of course, there’s the kind of love I have for my husband, that’s a step above that!) I have many acquaintances, but those friends whom I love, I consider family. You should know who you are.
Monday, September 3, 2007
RV Shopping
Charles and I have decided that the next upgrade to our lifestyle is going to be full-timing in a motor home. We've been seeing a lot of motor homes on the road lately, which got this conversation started.
For less than $200,000 (plus taxes, registration, etc) we can have a gorgeous, brand new, fully-furnished, decorated home. All appliances included, including two televisions. Do you know what you can buy in Los Angeles county for $200,000? Maaaybe 2/3 of a house in the middle of the desert, or 2/5 of a house in a middle class neighborhood. (We could get a livable RV for less, but some perks that come in handy for full time use do cost money.)
I went to a dealership on Saturday and checked out pretty much every model they had on hand. This is the model that we are currently planning on pursuing:
http://www.winnebagoind.com/products/winnebago/destination/index.php
Some of the things we like about it:
Comments welcome of course, but we're pretty sure of ourselves here! =)
For less than $200,000 (plus taxes, registration, etc) we can have a gorgeous, brand new, fully-furnished, decorated home. All appliances included, including two televisions. Do you know what you can buy in Los Angeles county for $200,000? Maaaybe 2/3 of a house in the middle of the desert, or 2/5 of a house in a middle class neighborhood. (We could get a livable RV for less, but some perks that come in handy for full time use do cost money.)
I went to a dealership on Saturday and checked out pretty much every model they had on hand. This is the model that we are currently planning on pursuing:
http://www.winnebagoind.com/products/winnebago/destination/index.php
Some of the things we like about it:
- It's gorgeous and classy, inside and out. Very good first impression when you come in the door.
- The chairs are plush and comfy.
- All appliances included, such as fridge, stove, microwave, and two televisions (30 inch in the living room, 20 inch in the bedroom).
- The bathroom is self-contained, as opposed to shower on one side and toilet/sink on the other side of the aisle. With the back slide-out, umm, slid out, there's even a hallway to walk to the bedroom without going through the bathroom. Only one of two RVs I saw with this feature.
- Plenty of head room and elbow room in the shower. In fact, more usable elbow room than in our current apartment!
- No major downside to having the slide-outs in (such as you would when driving or when parked on the street). Some other models made the bed or kitchen sink un-available when the slide-outs were in. So there won't be any dancing in the aisle, but it's otherwise the same as with everything extended.
- The bedroom has sliding doors for privacy and a queen size bed (which can be upgraded to king).
- Plenty of room for company on trips: Queen size bed in the back, queen size fold-out couch, the dinette makes a twin size bed, and three can sleep in the reclining chairs if they had to. (5 horizontal, three in recliners, total of up to 8 people!)
- Optional combo washer/dryer in the bedroom. It's right next to the closet, can't be more convenient than that!
Comments welcome of course, but we're pretty sure of ourselves here! =)
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Multitasking
Just FYI, my multitasking stats are as follows:
Healing nicely now, though, those first aid skills from work come in handy from time to time.
- Talk and drive: PASSED
- Text and drive: FAILED
- Walk and chew gum: PASSED
- Walk and talk: PASSED
- Walk, talk, and chew gum: PASSED
- Walk, talk, and open door: FAILED
Healing nicely now, though, those first aid skills from work come in handy from time to time.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Sleeping is good for your health
One of my friends disagrees, but I personally like sleep... Caffeine is not a good substitute, because eventually you have to come down... That or keep upping your dosage of caffeine, to the point where you drink three energy drinks in one sitting. Even when I worked nights I never needed more than one energy drink and a few sodas!
You know what else is good for your health? Simplifying, getting rid of stuff, having a clean house... That's what I need to work on in the near future. My sleep cycle got messed up recently for a number of reasons, so my energy level has been lower than usual. However, once this is back in check, I plan to get cracking on some work here... I also have to work on this because I start school in the beginning of September.
Fall classes are as follows:
Monday and Wednesday
11:20-12:45 Speech 101
13:00-14:25 Health 011
Tuesday and Thursday:
09:40-11:15 Music 321 (Piano)
13:00-14:25 Chicano Studies 007
All of these are general education requirements except for Piano. I already have a music class I took at CSULA, so I wouldn't need to do this, but I've always wanted to learn. My parents think I'm silly, but so be it!
Saturday, July 21, 2007
About cousins, and information from family! (Oh, and documents)
I went to my cousin Patty's wedding yesterday. (I'm Patti with an I, she's Patty with a Y.) After growing up all my life thinking that we were second cousins, because our moms are "primas hermanas," I found out that it's in fact un-true! I asked my mom, in an attempt to slyly gather genealogical information from her, how exactly they're cousins. I lead off with confirming that it's on my mom's dad's side of the family. Then she tells me that actually her (my mom's) dad and the "prima hermana's" mom are cousins, they're the actual "primos hermanos." Shock and awe! 
So in fact, we're third cousins, not second! I still have to figure this out...
On another equally exciting note, my documents from Manitoba arrived yesterday while I was away. Some good new leads, a few French terms to translate, and a lot of bad handwriting to decipher! Boy am I glad we mostly type things nowadays! Doctors and others with bad handwriting should not be allowed to write on vital documents!
So in fact, we're third cousins, not second! I still have to figure this out...
Patti ----- Patty (3rd cousins)
Beatriz ----- Teresa (2nd cousins) (She has my mom's maiden name as her second last name, meaning she got the surname from her mom)
Manuel ----- Teresa's mom, ? (1st cousins) (To pass the surname on, she would have had to get it from her father)
Anastacio ----- Anastacio's brother, Teresa's grandfather, ? (siblings)
At this time, I don't have any siblings listed for Anastacio in my database. This is a whole new branch at a high level that I think will be worth exploring. Maybe I can talk mom into willingly giving up information soon. (My parents have strong anti-LDS sentiments, which seems to translate into anti-genealogy as well.) If not, I'll have to hit up my cousin Patty for information. Beatriz ----- Teresa (2nd cousins) (She has my mom's maiden name as her second last name, meaning she got the surname from her mom)
Manuel ----- Teresa's mom, ? (1st cousins) (To pass the surname on, she would have had to get it from her father)
Anastacio ----- Anastacio's brother, Teresa's grandfather, ? (siblings)
On another equally exciting note, my documents from Manitoba arrived yesterday while I was away. Some good new leads, a few French terms to translate, and a lot of bad handwriting to decipher! Boy am I glad we mostly type things nowadays! Doctors and others with bad handwriting should not be allowed to write on vital documents!
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Fake milk jello
I haven't written a month because I haven't been particularly inspired when I had the time and I haven't had the time when I've been inspired to write. Some topics for future discussion:
I had this craving for milk jello for some reason, I haven't had any in aaaages. Thus far, every recipe I've used Lactaid in as a 1:1 milk substitute has come out well. So this morning I was going to go to the grocery store and I called my mom for the recipe. I was unable to find anything like this online for some reason, so I decided that I must tell the internet how this is made!
The original recipe my mom gave me:
Put in as much milk as the unflavored gelatin says you should, minus half a cup.
Put in sugar to taste. (She says to make it a little overly sweet, and that'll come out good when it's done.)
Put in a stick of cinnamon.
Add a dash of rum or wine if you have some around.
Heat over low to medium heat.
Stir the gelatin (as much as the packet says you should for how much milk you're using) into the cold half cup of milk, where it's supposed to dissolve easier than in the hot milk.
When the milk is "nearly" boiling, add the rest of the milk with the gelatin.
Stir until boiling, turn off heat and allow to cool.
Refrigerate overnight.
My mom sometimes had some rompope which was supposedly made by nuns in Mexico. It's made with egg yolk, vanilla, cinnamon, ground almond, milk, sugar, and alcohol, probably rum. You pour some on the jello immediately prior to eating it. If my parents haven't gone to Mexico lately, however, they don't have rompope. I don't know if this means there are no sources to get it here, or it's inferior. =P
My experimentation on this recipe:
I used 5 cups of Lactaid total, and 5 packets of gelatin. (1 packet per cup is what's recommended for juice-based gelatin, hope it holds true for milk)
About 3/4 of a cup of sugar.
I think the cinnamon sticks I used are smaller than mom's, mine came in a jar from the spice section, hers come from a bin at the produce store. =P
Added a dab of vanilla extract, and a smaller dab of almond extract. (It may be of interest to note that these were inspirations I had in the spice area of the grocery store, before I knew what rompope was made of.)
It's currently cooling, we'll see how it comes out! I have 9 servings of about 2/3 of a cup each, perfect snack or desert size in my opinion. They're in disposable plastic cups, which my mom would never do! (She has kajillions of real cups.) Main issue with this is that I couldn't put the finished product in right away because the cup would melt. =P
On a side note, I need to put a fan in my kitchen! Toiling over a boiling pot of milk reminds me of how there's no air flow in there!
Update: Flavor is good, perhaps more cinnamon next time. It's a little too solid, however. I'm thinking 3 packets for 5 cups next time. We shall see. =)
- Yahoo photos is shutting down.
- Switched servers with my husband.
- Registered for my fall classes.
I had this craving for milk jello for some reason, I haven't had any in aaaages. Thus far, every recipe I've used Lactaid in as a 1:1 milk substitute has come out well. So this morning I was going to go to the grocery store and I called my mom for the recipe. I was unable to find anything like this online for some reason, so I decided that I must tell the internet how this is made!
The original recipe my mom gave me:
Put in as much milk as the unflavored gelatin says you should, minus half a cup.
Put in sugar to taste. (She says to make it a little overly sweet, and that'll come out good when it's done.)
Put in a stick of cinnamon.
Add a dash of rum or wine if you have some around.
Heat over low to medium heat.
Stir the gelatin (as much as the packet says you should for how much milk you're using) into the cold half cup of milk, where it's supposed to dissolve easier than in the hot milk.
When the milk is "nearly" boiling, add the rest of the milk with the gelatin.
Stir until boiling, turn off heat and allow to cool.
Refrigerate overnight.
My mom sometimes had some rompope which was supposedly made by nuns in Mexico. It's made with egg yolk, vanilla, cinnamon, ground almond, milk, sugar, and alcohol, probably rum. You pour some on the jello immediately prior to eating it. If my parents haven't gone to Mexico lately, however, they don't have rompope. I don't know if this means there are no sources to get it here, or it's inferior. =P
My experimentation on this recipe:
I used 5 cups of Lactaid total, and 5 packets of gelatin. (1 packet per cup is what's recommended for juice-based gelatin, hope it holds true for milk)
About 3/4 of a cup of sugar.
I think the cinnamon sticks I used are smaller than mom's, mine came in a jar from the spice section, hers come from a bin at the produce store. =P
Added a dab of vanilla extract, and a smaller dab of almond extract. (It may be of interest to note that these were inspirations I had in the spice area of the grocery store, before I knew what rompope was made of.)
It's currently cooling, we'll see how it comes out! I have 9 servings of about 2/3 of a cup each, perfect snack or desert size in my opinion. They're in disposable plastic cups, which my mom would never do! (She has kajillions of real cups.) Main issue with this is that I couldn't put the finished product in right away because the cup would melt. =P
On a side note, I need to put a fan in my kitchen! Toiling over a boiling pot of milk reminds me of how there's no air flow in there!
Update: Flavor is good, perhaps more cinnamon next time. It's a little too solid, however. I'm thinking 3 packets for 5 cups next time. We shall see. =)
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Nemo Ride Review
It's been an action packed couple of days!
I went down to my parents' house for the weekend. On Saturday and Sunday I went to the 2nd Arroyo High School All-Class Reunion. It was well organized, and I'm glad that I went. There weren't a lot of people from my age group though, mostly older people!
On Sunday I went to see my sister for a massage. It turns out I was pretty broken after all! I knew I had tightness in the back of my thighs, but the knots in the back of my calves and in my upper back were news to me! Irma suggested that I go back to see her once a week, and I think I will. She leaves you pretty beat up, but it feels better afterward... Not soon enough afterward, though. For future reference, do not get a deep tissue massage the day before going to a theme park!
On Monday I took my parents and Irma to Disneyland. We actually saw pretty much everything that interested us, because as a group we weren't interested in the things that have a long wait and because the few things that did have a wait we went to the front of the line for because my dad uses an electric scooter when we go to theme parks. Mom refused to have any pictures taken unfortunately!
In the evening, Charles met us at Disneyland and we went to preview the new Nemo ride. (Only Charles and me, it was limited to cast members and dependents at this point.) They took the submarines that were there before, repainted them, and converted them from diesel to electric. Then they added a bunch of new show elements. Overall, it's really cool. The best part was how everyone else was looking at us in line when they couldn't go on!
My impressions of the ride (SPOILERS AHEAD!):
Longest I'd wait for this ride (barring the "I have to see it all in one day" factor of visiting out of state, etc): 45 minutes.
I went down to my parents' house for the weekend. On Saturday and Sunday I went to the 2nd Arroyo High School All-Class Reunion. It was well organized, and I'm glad that I went. There weren't a lot of people from my age group though, mostly older people!
On Sunday I went to see my sister for a massage. It turns out I was pretty broken after all! I knew I had tightness in the back of my thighs, but the knots in the back of my calves and in my upper back were news to me! Irma suggested that I go back to see her once a week, and I think I will. She leaves you pretty beat up, but it feels better afterward... Not soon enough afterward, though. For future reference, do not get a deep tissue massage the day before going to a theme park!
On Monday I took my parents and Irma to Disneyland. We actually saw pretty much everything that interested us, because as a group we weren't interested in the things that have a long wait and because the few things that did have a wait we went to the front of the line for because my dad uses an electric scooter when we go to theme parks. Mom refused to have any pictures taken unfortunately!
In the evening, Charles met us at Disneyland and we went to preview the new Nemo ride. (Only Charles and me, it was limited to cast members and dependents at this point.) They took the submarines that were there before, repainted them, and converted them from diesel to electric. Then they added a bunch of new show elements. Overall, it's really cool. The best part was how everyone else was looking at us in line when they couldn't go on!
My impressions of the ride (SPOILERS AHEAD!):
- The pre-ride area isn't particularly Nemo-ish, making it a bit too obvious that it's a re-theme. Same goes for the view from the windows before you depart and in the first few minutes of the ride. Although, what I would do if I ruled the world would be to theme the pre-ride area to some "explore the lost city" excursion in the style of the Jungle Cruise.
- I love love love the sea gulls on the buoy (you can see them from the line area). Mine! Mine! It's the perfect bridge to get people into the movie mood, and they're a good match to the movie as I remember it.
- The queue and loading area are fast and efficient. The cast members got people moving and ready to go, very clear and well organized. If you had twice as many subs in the water, the people would be ready waiting to board before they came around. Well done, cast members!
- There's a male and a female character talking to each other over the speakers. Everyone knows there are no women on submarines! =P
- I would have liked to see the two human characters in the water be at least a little bit animated. Kick of the flippers, maybe a small wave at the big yellow submarine that's floating by at close range?
- Once or twice I felt like the glass a feature was behind was too visible, but it might not have been if I didn't know there was glass.
- Soon after the point we identified as when you went into the cave (the light suddenly got very low), there were three voices talking over each other: the narrator talking to us about something to do with remarkable advances in some such, along with the male captain and female crew member having a conversation with each other. I don't know what happened here. Is one of them cast member activated and one is activated by where you are on the track, perhaps? It was very distracting trying to figure out which one to listen to though!
- I wasn't quite buying the volcano thing until near the end of that story arc when you finally see it. Even then, it didn't elicit a word from our captain or crew characters, so it must not have been dangerous!
- Most of the animated features were awesome. A few of them were not bright enough, making them look a tad translucent. Translucent marine animals = fake marine animals...
- The mine field was awesome. The anglers were awesome.
- My husband Charles was sitting under the forward hatch and some water fell on him mid-ride. The cast member said that wasn't supposed to happen and that she'd alert her lead about it. My guess is that condensation from inside the cave area dripped on the hatch, and since it doesn't go underwater it doesn't seal water-tight.
- "Why's that whale eating that yellow submarine, dude?" Hehehehe. Cute, maybe even a little clever, however someone had to point out to me that we had been eaten. Need a visual here! (There's a visual when you get out of the whale, but not when you get in.)
- "We better take her up before we have a run in with a sea serpent or encounter a mermaid!" Nice!
- I would have liked the two characters to guide us through a bit more of the voyage toward the end... the captain and female crew member are conspicuously silent as we go through a mine field, anglers, jellyfish, eaten by a whale, pass an erupting volcano... then they just come back to say "We better take her up" like they've been there all along!
Longest I'd wait for this ride (barring the "I have to see it all in one day" factor of visiting out of state, etc): 45 minutes.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Visit with some new-ish friends =)
Charles, Mike, and I went to the home of one of Charles's co-workers yesterday for Memorial Day. I had a great time.
After lunch and swimming, we decided to stay for dinner too! Then we had some trouble finding our way around a traffic jam on the freeway, so we didn't get home until like 11:00pm! It was all good though. =)
The couple who had us over have lived in numerous states before ending up in our area. It sounds almost exciting, going to new places and such. Then I thought, however, about how silly it would be for Charles and I to move around. Obviously, the place to be is here if that's where people settle in the end!
Friday, May 25, 2007
Visit from an oooold friend
There are very few people I still speak to today that I've known longer than my friend Andy. He and I met back in the day on a mud, and he is an exceptional person! Throughout many years, he's always been a great friend.
I had planned to go to Minnesota to meet him in person for his college graduation, but I wasn't able to make the trip in the end. However, he and a friend of his (my new friend Matt) came to California this week and dropped by yesterday to meet me and my husband Charles. So of course, I took them to Disneyland!
I had a great time, and they say they did too! =) I hope the rest of their trip goes very well, and that it won't be the only time we meet!
Pictures are at the usual place. Not as many of them as I normally take on Disneyland trips, but enough to remember the day by!
I had planned to go to Minnesota to meet him in person for his college graduation, but I wasn't able to make the trip in the end. However, he and a friend of his (my new friend Matt) came to California this week and dropped by yesterday to meet me and my husband Charles. So of course, I took them to Disneyland!
I had a great time, and they say they did too! =) I hope the rest of their trip goes very well, and that it won't be the only time we meet!
Pictures are at the usual place. Not as many of them as I normally take on Disneyland trips, but enough to remember the day by!
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
So about medical care...
I'd just like to point something out that annoyed me recently...
When I was un-insured, I was charged $15 for a one-month supply of the generic thyroid medication I take.
When we got new insurance, the pharmacy assumed I would want the brand name. It was about $26, less than my $35 co-pay at the time for brand name medication so I had to pay 100% and the insurance company paid nothing.
Then we got another new insurance when Charles was switched from contractor to full time. Now the same brand name medication bears a sticker that says such:
Amount: 14.49
You pay: 5.07
Ins pays: 9.42
Reminds me of when a Ford dealership quoted us $4,000 for a repair, and then after they learned it was covered by insurance the quote dropped to about $2,500.
This ridiculous price gouging is infuriating! Because I had no insurance, they were charging me almost twice as much as what they tell the insurance company the medicine is worth! I was being charged an $11 un-insured tax! Not only that, but generic medicine out of pocket costs more than brand name to the insurance company???
Horrible. This is why people should shop around for products and services and consult experts when appropriate. For example, see a mechanic you trust before you let an oil-change-only place fix anything on your car other than your oil. (Not random, that's on my to do list for the near future.)
Monday, May 7, 2007
Disneyland again, again... or...?
So, my camera would have me believe that I went to Disneyland yesterday with Julio, Kassie, and Albert. However, the car would have me believe otherwise.
I suppooooosedly filled up the tank with gas in El Monte.
Drove 25.7 miles to Disneyland.
Drove Kassie home to El Monte. (27.5 miles)
Drove Albert to Circle K to be picked up by his mom. (1.6 miles)
Drove Julio to my mom's house where he had his car. (0.6 miles)
Drove home to North Hollywood. (30 miles)
Drove to school this morning. (3.9 miles)
Then back home (3.9 miles)
Drove to the doctor's office. (5.8 miles)
And back... (5.8 miles)
104 miles that my camera would have me believe I've driven since I filled up the tank yesterday, and I have this much gas:
Something's not adding up here!
If you want to examine the photographic "evidence" for yourself, click here. (On a side note, I have 1,197 pictures in my Yahoo pictures site now, go me! You can download the pictures full size or even have them sent to your house or to be picked up at your local Target!)
I suppooooosedly filled up the tank with gas in El Monte.
Drove 25.7 miles to Disneyland.
Drove Kassie home to El Monte. (27.5 miles)
Drove Albert to Circle K to be picked up by his mom. (1.6 miles)
Drove Julio to my mom's house where he had his car. (0.6 miles)
Drove home to North Hollywood. (30 miles)
Drove to school this morning. (3.9 miles)
Then back home (3.9 miles)
Drove to the doctor's office. (5.8 miles)
And back... (5.8 miles)
104 miles that my camera would have me believe I've driven since I filled up the tank yesterday, and I have this much gas:
Something's not adding up here!
If you want to examine the photographic "evidence" for yourself, click here. (On a side note, I have 1,197 pictures in my Yahoo pictures site now, go me! You can download the pictures full size or even have them sent to your house or to be picked up at your local Target!)
Saturday, May 5, 2007
Disneyland w/ some old friends
Not old as in old, you know, but people I've known for nearly a decade. =)
I stayed at my mom's house on Wednesday night so we could get an earlier start out of El Monte. I picked up Stephanie, Billy, and Billy's brother Albert and we drove down to Disneyland. on Thursday morning We got there shortly before opening, and there wasn't any line for the first three of four things we went on. It was great. =) We actually saw almost everything we wanted to see!
On Sunday, I'm taking Julio and Kassie (who had to work on Thursday) and probably Albert again. Charles and I went both Saturday and Sunday last weekend (but not all day). I may have to keep a close eye on my magicalness consumption, four visits in two weeks may be dangerous! =P
Pictures at the usual place- here.
I stayed at my mom's house on Wednesday night so we could get an earlier start out of El Monte. I picked up Stephanie, Billy, and Billy's brother Albert and we drove down to Disneyland. on Thursday morning We got there shortly before opening, and there wasn't any line for the first three of four things we went on. It was great. =) We actually saw almost everything we wanted to see!
On Sunday, I'm taking Julio and Kassie (who had to work on Thursday) and probably Albert again. Charles and I went both Saturday and Sunday last weekend (but not all day). I may have to keep a close eye on my magicalness consumption, four visits in two weeks may be dangerous! =P
Pictures at the usual place- here.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Don't fly over Disneyland
So for a solid week, NBC was airing commercials about a news story coming up about Disneyland. I quote, because I have it recorded when they played the commercial during my soap opera:
"(Picture of castle) Disneyland: (video of teacups spinning) a place (Minnie Mouse taking a picture with some teenage girls) where millions escape (boy with mouse ears on his dad's shoulders, dissolves into video of people on Astro Orbitor) into the world of fantasy, (page curls up into aerial shot of the plaza at the north end of main street) but is the magic kingdom (black and white closeup on a datebook someone's flipping pages in) receiving (black and white closeup of a male hand writing in the datebook) special privileges to (back to color, mouse ear balloons) maintain that fantasy? (Chuck Henry standing across the street from a Disney building in Burbank, NBC had to drive almost half a mile to get that shot!) Chuck Henry (small plane banking right over a residential area) uncovers what's happening (NBC ad) above (back to a castle shot, flanked by blue and logos as are all future images) the Happiest (the castle shot changes to a shot of a crowd with a monorail track in the background) Place on Earth. (Same plane as before, flying toward the camera from a hilly background) Thursday on the Channel (Mickey in flowers in front of the Main Street train station) 4 news at 11."
That's 16 images in 15 seconds, with at least three different transition techniques between them.
Well, they said that there was something going on above Disneyland. Another commercial, which I deleted without thinking about it, says that this privilege is not given to any other place, including a nuclear power plant or LAX (the Los Angeles International Airport, never did figure out where they got X from International, but that's a subject for another post).
So, I'm thinking, what could Disneyland get that other people don't? A no fly zone was my first thought, but then I thought, "what would LAX doooo if it had a no fly zone around it???" Become a new NASCAR venue?
My next thought was maybe they can keep their nightly fireworks display even though it's illegal (I'm not sure if it's illegal there or not, this is just my train of thought). Why would a nuclear power plant want to have fireworks, though? Or LAX for that matter?
So I bit. I watched the show. (Well, technically, I had MythTV record it, fast forwarded until I saw Disneyland, and watched just that segment. I fooled them!)
So what was this thing that no one else can have? It's a no fly zone after all. You can't go closer than 3 miles to the center of the parks unless you're above 3,000 feet. It's supposed to be for security, but the newscasters say it's probably to keep people from flying banner advertisements above the millions of park guests and keep sightseeing helicopters away. (I'd like to point out that they say that Disney "won't talk about it," but they display on screen a statement from the Parks and Resorts spokesman.)
There seems to be some debate over whether there is a credible threat to the parks. The internet tells me that "Counterterrorism officials said the Disney parks have come up in interviews with al Qaeda operatives. Pictures and information about the parks have been found during some terror sweeps overseas, they say." but yet other sources say that there is no credible threat. (Source) Lack of communication here? I can totally see the theme parks being targets, though. On Halloween night of 2001, Knott's Scary Farm was nearly empty because of a threat against it, even though the tickets were sold out in pre-sale.
Of course, with a draw like Disneyland, I can't blame them for not wanting advertisers over their parks either. The internet claims that, "At its height, the Orlando air wars daily featured biplanes towing banners, blimps and single-wing skywriters competing for attention." (Source)
Now, the internet tells me that there are other places that have no fly zones, "including President Bush's Texas ranch, nuclear submarine bases and stockpiles of sarin gas and other weapons of mass destruction." Also, "While the bill had originally offered flight protections only to some sports stadiums during games, it now forced the FAA to put the no-fly zones over the entertainment giant's parks as well." So that means that we can add stadiums during games to the list. Also add the Valdez terminal of the Alaska oil pipeline. (Source for all)
The internet also tells me that since the no fly zone came into effect, it's been challenged by conservatives who want to fly anti-homosexuality banners over the park. (Source) I can't say I'm disappointed that those efforts were blocked, that's the last thing I'd want my school-aged child to see while at Disneyland.
My conclusions:
1. No one's being hurt except for the aerial equivalent of pop-up window advertisers.
2. I believe that there has been and continues to be a credible threat to the parks.
3. The idea that LAX should have a 3-mile radius under-3k no-fly zone is ridiculous.
4. The idea that the Las Vegas strip should have a 3-mile radius under-3k no-fly zone (the news story says, "not even the Las Vegas Strip, which has a denser concentration of people...") is also ridiculous. If you look at this map, you'll see that if you put a three-mile radius around the strip, it would nullify the McCarran Airport.
5. The idea that the San Onofre nuclear reactor should have a 3-mile radius under-3k no-fly zone is probably a good idea.
6. The claim that Disney is the only commercial operation to have a no-fly zone is a lie.
7. NBC's 11pm news ratings must be dropping.
So, that's my take on "the Magic Kingdom getting special privileges to maintain that fantasy."
"(Picture of castle) Disneyland: (video of teacups spinning) a place (Minnie Mouse taking a picture with some teenage girls) where millions escape (boy with mouse ears on his dad's shoulders, dissolves into video of people on Astro Orbitor) into the world of fantasy, (page curls up into aerial shot of the plaza at the north end of main street) but is the magic kingdom (black and white closeup on a datebook someone's flipping pages in) receiving (black and white closeup of a male hand writing in the datebook) special privileges to (back to color, mouse ear balloons) maintain that fantasy? (Chuck Henry standing across the street from a Disney building in Burbank, NBC had to drive almost half a mile to get that shot!) Chuck Henry (small plane banking right over a residential area) uncovers what's happening (NBC ad) above (back to a castle shot, flanked by blue and logos as are all future images) the Happiest (the castle shot changes to a shot of a crowd with a monorail track in the background) Place on Earth. (Same plane as before, flying toward the camera from a hilly background) Thursday on the Channel (Mickey in flowers in front of the Main Street train station) 4 news at 11."
That's 16 images in 15 seconds, with at least three different transition techniques between them.
Well, they said that there was something going on above Disneyland. Another commercial, which I deleted without thinking about it, says that this privilege is not given to any other place, including a nuclear power plant or LAX (the Los Angeles International Airport, never did figure out where they got X from International, but that's a subject for another post).
So, I'm thinking, what could Disneyland get that other people don't? A no fly zone was my first thought, but then I thought, "what would LAX doooo if it had a no fly zone around it???" Become a new NASCAR venue?
My next thought was maybe they can keep their nightly fireworks display even though it's illegal (I'm not sure if it's illegal there or not, this is just my train of thought). Why would a nuclear power plant want to have fireworks, though? Or LAX for that matter?
So I bit. I watched the show. (Well, technically, I had MythTV record it, fast forwarded until I saw Disneyland, and watched just that segment. I fooled them!)
So what was this thing that no one else can have? It's a no fly zone after all. You can't go closer than 3 miles to the center of the parks unless you're above 3,000 feet. It's supposed to be for security, but the newscasters say it's probably to keep people from flying banner advertisements above the millions of park guests and keep sightseeing helicopters away. (I'd like to point out that they say that Disney "won't talk about it," but they display on screen a statement from the Parks and Resorts spokesman.)
There seems to be some debate over whether there is a credible threat to the parks. The internet tells me that "Counterterrorism officials said the Disney parks have come up in interviews with al Qaeda operatives. Pictures and information about the parks have been found during some terror sweeps overseas, they say." but yet other sources say that there is no credible threat. (Source) Lack of communication here? I can totally see the theme parks being targets, though. On Halloween night of 2001, Knott's Scary Farm was nearly empty because of a threat against it, even though the tickets were sold out in pre-sale.
Of course, with a draw like Disneyland, I can't blame them for not wanting advertisers over their parks either. The internet claims that, "At its height, the Orlando air wars daily featured biplanes towing banners, blimps and single-wing skywriters competing for attention." (Source)
Now, the internet tells me that there are other places that have no fly zones, "including President Bush's Texas ranch, nuclear submarine bases and stockpiles of sarin gas and other weapons of mass destruction." Also, "While the bill had originally offered flight protections only to some sports stadiums during games, it now forced the FAA to put the no-fly zones over the entertainment giant's parks as well." So that means that we can add stadiums during games to the list. Also add the Valdez terminal of the Alaska oil pipeline. (Source for all)
The internet also tells me that since the no fly zone came into effect, it's been challenged by conservatives who want to fly anti-homosexuality banners over the park. (Source) I can't say I'm disappointed that those efforts were blocked, that's the last thing I'd want my school-aged child to see while at Disneyland.
My conclusions:
1. No one's being hurt except for the aerial equivalent of pop-up window advertisers.
2. I believe that there has been and continues to be a credible threat to the parks.
3. The idea that LAX should have a 3-mile radius under-3k no-fly zone is ridiculous.
4. The idea that the Las Vegas strip should have a 3-mile radius under-3k no-fly zone (the news story says, "not even the Las Vegas Strip, which has a denser concentration of people...") is also ridiculous. If you look at this map, you'll see that if you put a three-mile radius around the strip, it would nullify the McCarran Airport.
5. The idea that the San Onofre nuclear reactor should have a 3-mile radius under-3k no-fly zone is probably a good idea.
6. The claim that Disney is the only commercial operation to have a no-fly zone is a lie.
7. NBC's 11pm news ratings must be dropping.
So, that's my take on "the Magic Kingdom getting special privileges to maintain that fantasy."
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Yahoo answers
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Hey, wait a minute....
Now, I know that not many people are checking into their finances at 11:54pm Pacific, but I want to! I know that my credit card company does weekly maintenance downtime on Mondays, which always confuses me because it's still Sunday in my head (they're Eastern Time). So I went there today, and I was like, "Huh? It's Sunday night already?" (Don't scare me, I have homework due Monday morning!)
Both my bank and my credit card company are down!
The bank says:
Both my bank and my credit card company are down!
The bank says:
Our Web site is temporarily unavailable due to a scheduled technology upgrade.
Bill payments and transfers scheduled during this period will be initiated as scheduled.
We regret any inconvenience. Thank you for your understanding.
Do not be alarmed, they'll still be taking your money.
The credit card company says:
Our site is currently unavailable while we update our system.
We apologize for the inconvenience and suggest that you check back later today to view your account information. If you have an urgent account servicing need, you can contact our customer service representatives at 1-800-951-6951, 24 hours a day.
We look forward to your future use of Online Account Services.
However, when they do their actually scheduled weekly downtime, it says something to the effect of "customer service reps can't access your information during this downtime" which is missing in this message. Are they going to have downtime again tomorrow night?
So, this makes me curious about our store credit card, so I go to their website and find:Color me confused... (that's a shade of blue I think.) It's like the whole interweb is hiding our money...We are sorry, but we are experiencing technical difficulties at this time. Please try back later.
If you have questions you may contact a Web Support Representative at 1-800-298-4240. Our representatives are available:
Web Support is closed for Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and Easter Sunday.
- Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.CT
- Saturday and Sunday from 9:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.CT
MythTV
I <3 MythTV. Even though I have live-in tech support (aka my husband) I took it upon myself to try to solve some of my own problems, since I use the media server more than Charles does. =)
I figured out that our transcoding wasn't working because the default settings were not to MPEG-4 as one might expect. Easy fix once I found it.
The other thing I fixed was the channels. An auto scan of channels over-writes the data downloaded from Zap2It, so I deleted and re-downloaded the channels and listings.
Now if only the time stopped drifting...
Credit card charged
I like this idea of faxing in requests. My credit card was charged on the Friday the 20th for those requests I faxed on Wednesday the 18th. I bet they'll be here lots quicker than the stuff I requested from the social security administration and from Los Angeles county! They even respond to emails quickly, that must mean they're not horribly understaffed! They already have the database online, and my request has the internal document numbers...
Must... be... patient...
Hard, isn't it? I feel like I've dried up all the online leads for now, until those documents come in....
Any day now!
Must... be... patient...
Hard, isn't it? I feel like I've dried up all the online leads for now, until those documents come in....
Any day now!
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Manitoba Requests Out
A family friend has already done some looking into my husband's family, which is really cool. It's given me a lot to work with now that I'm starting to turn that way. (I'm not giving up my family, of course, just temporarily working with what's available online first while I finish reading the new book I purchased, Finding Your Mexican Ancestors.)
My mother-in-law's family originates in part from Manitoba, Canada. Their Vital Statistics Agency is wonderful. You can pay $25 (Canadian dollars) to send in a form and have them do the search for you, or you can search their database online and pay only $12 for records if you print out their order form from their database search. It's easy to do, super convenient, and half the price! What more could you ask for? Well, I suppose you could ask for it to be able to search the "mother's maiden name" field as well as the "surname" field in the same query. But other than that...
So yesterday, April 18th, I faxed in my order for 11 different documents, including birth, marriage, and death documents. There are actually a few more that I found in the database that I'd like to order, but that can wait until next month. I've used up my genealogy budget for this month.
Point is, if you have any births 100+ years ago, marriages 80+ years ago, or deaths 70+ years ago that took place in Manitoba, Canada, you should click here. If you want to search the database directly to save some money, click on "Search the database" on the left of that page, or click directly here.
My mother-in-law's family originates in part from Manitoba, Canada. Their Vital Statistics Agency is wonderful. You can pay $25 (Canadian dollars) to send in a form and have them do the search for you, or you can search their database online and pay only $12 for records if you print out their order form from their database search. It's easy to do, super convenient, and half the price! What more could you ask for? Well, I suppose you could ask for it to be able to search the "mother's maiden name" field as well as the "surname" field in the same query. But other than that...
So yesterday, April 18th, I faxed in my order for 11 different documents, including birth, marriage, and death documents. There are actually a few more that I found in the database that I'd like to order, but that can wait until next month. I've used up my genealogy budget for this month.
Point is, if you have any births 100+ years ago, marriages 80+ years ago, or deaths 70+ years ago that took place in Manitoba, Canada, you should click here. If you want to search the database directly to save some money, click on "Search the database" on the left of that page, or click directly here.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Emergency Alert System
I found this amusing for some reason. I opened up an I Love Lucy episode on MythTv, only to find a newscast isntead. It was a live shot of a memorial type service being held at Virginia Tech. I watched for a few minutes, and then there was an emergency alert system weekly test right during some important-looking guy's speech! They interrupted my interruption to my recording...
I would have thought there'd be something in place to prevent that kind of timing! What if it was an actual emergency instead of a press conference, and then a weekly test of the emergency alert system interrupts it... the very thought irritates me for some reason.
I would have thought there'd be something in place to prevent that kind of timing! What if it was an actual emergency instead of a press conference, and then a weekly test of the emergency alert system interrupts it... the very thought irritates me for some reason.
Monday, April 2, 2007
The dangers of modern society...
So I bought myself a cute little chain charm bracelet at Disneyland last week...
Charles and I both have silver passes that get us discounts, but they don't like it when you use someone else's credit card for your discounted merchandise. One of my sisters carries cash, and she paid as she went. My other sister doesn't carry cash (which is good, she'd lose it) so I put everything on my check card and she was going to pay me at the end of the day. (I mention this because I normally wouldn't have even looked at the receipts that carefully.) I was going through my receipts to add up how much my sister owed me, and found out that my bracelet came with a warning label. Not anywhere near the bracelet of course, but only after you buy it and read the receipt. It says:
"WARNING: This product contains chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer, birth defects, or other reproductive harm."
Lovely, huh? I think it would be amusing to try to return it and say "I want my money back because I'm going to have reproductive harm if I wear this!" Too bad I like the bracelet more than I fear the warning!
Anyhow, just wanted to remind everyone to be careful what they wear... oh, and don't eat bracelets! =P
Charles and I both have silver passes that get us discounts, but they don't like it when you use someone else's credit card for your discounted merchandise. One of my sisters carries cash, and she paid as she went. My other sister doesn't carry cash (which is good, she'd lose it) so I put everything on my check card and she was going to pay me at the end of the day. (I mention this because I normally wouldn't have even looked at the receipts that carefully.) I was going through my receipts to add up how much my sister owed me, and found out that my bracelet came with a warning label. Not anywhere near the bracelet of course, but only after you buy it and read the receipt. It says:
"WARNING: This product contains chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer, birth defects, or other reproductive harm."
Lovely, huh? I think it would be amusing to try to return it and say "I want my money back because I'm going to have reproductive harm if I wear this!" Too bad I like the bracelet more than I fear the warning!
Anyhow, just wanted to remind everyone to be careful what they wear... oh, and don't eat bracelets! =P
Sunday, April 1, 2007
Disneyland again =)
I had to get in one more trip before our Spring Break blackout days, so Charles suggested that I go during the week sometime. I would have felt pretty silly going by myself, so I invited my sisters to come too.
We had a really good time. First we went to California Adventure. We got fast passes for Soaring Over California (which is awesome), went to see the Disney Animation's Turtle Talk with Crush and Animation Academy, then returned to Soaring Over California, then went to see the Aladdin Musical Spectacular, which was also very good.
Then we went to eat at Disneyland, went to the Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, the Jungle Cruise, and the Tiki Room. We did some shopping in between, and eventually made our way to the photo shop on main street.There's a new photo service that I really like. They give you a card that gets scanned by each photographer in the park, so you show them the card at the photo shops and they pull up all your pictures, rather than having a ticket for each picture. Very cool, we bought some pictures of the three of us, including one to give to my parents. There's a picture from way back (I was like 8, maybe) of the three of us at Disneyland, and we wanted to recreate it but they don't have a photography place anymore. That and we weren't feeling silly enough to buy mouse ears either!
So anyway, after the pictures, we watched the Parade of Dreams at 7pm. There were a ton of people already, so Irma and I decided that we should camp out for the fireworks at 9:30pm. Martha and Cyndi went off to try to get on a ride or two in the meantime, while Irma and I saved seats. We got an awesome spot almost directly in front of the castle. =)
Then Martha and Cyndi rode Indiana Jones, which they had a fast pass for. Then we went back to a shop for a hat that Martha had her eye on before but didn't get, then we came home.
Pretty good day, if you ask me!
Pictures below:
My sisters:
Martha and her daughter Cyndi:
And again:
The three of us:
And again =):
Waiting for the Aladdin show:
On the Jungle Cruise:
We had a really good time. First we went to California Adventure. We got fast passes for Soaring Over California (which is awesome), went to see the Disney Animation's Turtle Talk with Crush and Animation Academy, then returned to Soaring Over California, then went to see the Aladdin Musical Spectacular, which was also very good.
Then we went to eat at Disneyland, went to the Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, the Jungle Cruise, and the Tiki Room. We did some shopping in between, and eventually made our way to the photo shop on main street.There's a new photo service that I really like. They give you a card that gets scanned by each photographer in the park, so you show them the card at the photo shops and they pull up all your pictures, rather than having a ticket for each picture. Very cool, we bought some pictures of the three of us, including one to give to my parents. There's a picture from way back (I was like 8, maybe) of the three of us at Disneyland, and we wanted to recreate it but they don't have a photography place anymore. That and we weren't feeling silly enough to buy mouse ears either!
So anyway, after the pictures, we watched the Parade of Dreams at 7pm. There were a ton of people already, so Irma and I decided that we should camp out for the fireworks at 9:30pm. Martha and Cyndi went off to try to get on a ride or two in the meantime, while Irma and I saved seats. We got an awesome spot almost directly in front of the castle. =)
Then Martha and Cyndi rode Indiana Jones, which they had a fast pass for. Then we went back to a shop for a hat that Martha had her eye on before but didn't get, then we came home.
Pretty good day, if you ask me!
Pictures below:
My sisters:
Martha and her daughter Cyndi:
And again:
The three of us:
And again =):
Waiting for the Aladdin show:
On the Jungle Cruise:
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Gas prices, stamp prices, dirty glasses...
I want to talk about buying stuff today.
Gas
Every time the price of gas goes up, I kick myself (figuratively) for not filling up the tank the day before. =P It's a never-ending cycle though. Apparently, the only way to avoid the self-kicking sensation is to live in South Carolina, where a gallon of gas is about $2.26. Without leaving the state of California, I could get gas for $2.95 in Whittier (44 minutes from here). If I wanted to save a penny, the cheapest gas today is $2.94 in Folsom (in the Sacramento area), a mere 5 hour and 55 minute drive from here.
I, on the other hand, paid $3.13 today for gas because I had an eighth of a tank left, that was the only station in the area not totally out of my way, and I had to go drop off a spare key for the other car to my husband. (His key broke!) There was one station cheaper that I passed on the way home, but all the other stations were even more expensive.
Postage Stamps
When we got married in October of 2005, my husband bought 100 stamps in a roll (or maybe there were two rolls, I don't recall) for our wedding announcements that were mailed within the US. After that, there were some left over that I've been using for what little we mail.
All was well, we don't mail much so they were in a manila folder in my file cabinet for when we needed them. Then, the price of stamps went up! For the few stamps that were left, I decided that I'd rather put two stamps on each letter I mail (once a month for rent and some odd random letters/forms) than drive to the post office.
Instead of a 37 cent stamp and a 2 cent stamp, I put on two 37 cent stamps. Yup, I waste 35 cents every single month! You know why? Not only was it not worth my time to drive down there to save 35 cents per month, not only was it not worth my tiny fraction of my $3.13 gallon of gas to get there, and not only does the post office in fact charge for parking in the amount of 25 cents (remember, I'd be saving 35, before gas and time)... No no, it wasn't that. The price of stamps is going up again! (3 cents if the USPS gets their way, 2 cents if the Postal Regulatory Commission gets their way.)
I haven't even used the whole roll, and there will have been two rate increases. In a year and a half!
I would rather the rate go up 10 cents and stay there for 3 years than go up by 2 cents, then 3, then 2, then 3... I don't like 2 cent stamps, never will. And what about those people who bought 2 cent stamps the last time rates went up and now they'll need 2 cent stamps AND 3 cent stamps! Or 5 cent stamps, or 2s and 1s... WHY???
Speaking of which, they're coming out with a "Forever Stamp." It'll be sold at whatever the going rate is, and be good even if the rate goes up. If the rate goes up, the purchase price of the Forever Stamp will go up, but it'll be the same physical stamp, and still valid for the next increase.
I, for one, am going to stock up on Forever Stamps the minute they come out. There will be no 2/3/5/1 cent stamps in our home!
/rant
Eyeglass cleaning solution
Finally, I would just like to point out that there has not been any eyeglass cleaning solution since I've purchased my glasses at any of the following places: Ralphs in NoHo, my pharmacy in NoHo, Target in Burbank, Target in Baldwin Park, Target optical in Burbank, Walmart in Duarte... The lady at the pharmacy told me that they were having a hard time finding it to stock it. I think it's just a conspiracy to get us all to wear contacts, there's plenty of contact lens solution everywhere. Luckily, I had some eyeglass cleaning stuff from a long time ago, but I'm out now, and my glasses are dirty, and it irritates me.
But my new mp3 player, and the fact that we paid off both of our credit cards this month, make me feel a little better.
Gas
Every time the price of gas goes up, I kick myself (figuratively) for not filling up the tank the day before. =P It's a never-ending cycle though. Apparently, the only way to avoid the self-kicking sensation is to live in South Carolina, where a gallon of gas is about $2.26. Without leaving the state of California, I could get gas for $2.95 in Whittier (44 minutes from here). If I wanted to save a penny, the cheapest gas today is $2.94 in Folsom (in the Sacramento area), a mere 5 hour and 55 minute drive from here.
I, on the other hand, paid $3.13 today for gas because I had an eighth of a tank left, that was the only station in the area not totally out of my way, and I had to go drop off a spare key for the other car to my husband. (His key broke!) There was one station cheaper that I passed on the way home, but all the other stations were even more expensive.
Postage Stamps
When we got married in October of 2005, my husband bought 100 stamps in a roll (or maybe there were two rolls, I don't recall) for our wedding announcements that were mailed within the US. After that, there were some left over that I've been using for what little we mail.
All was well, we don't mail much so they were in a manila folder in my file cabinet for when we needed them. Then, the price of stamps went up! For the few stamps that were left, I decided that I'd rather put two stamps on each letter I mail (once a month for rent and some odd random letters/forms) than drive to the post office.
Instead of a 37 cent stamp and a 2 cent stamp, I put on two 37 cent stamps. Yup, I waste 35 cents every single month! You know why? Not only was it not worth my time to drive down there to save 35 cents per month, not only was it not worth my tiny fraction of my $3.13 gallon of gas to get there, and not only does the post office in fact charge for parking in the amount of 25 cents (remember, I'd be saving 35, before gas and time)... No no, it wasn't that. The price of stamps is going up again! (3 cents if the USPS gets their way, 2 cents if the Postal Regulatory Commission gets their way.)
I haven't even used the whole roll, and there will have been two rate increases. In a year and a half!
I would rather the rate go up 10 cents and stay there for 3 years than go up by 2 cents, then 3, then 2, then 3... I don't like 2 cent stamps, never will. And what about those people who bought 2 cent stamps the last time rates went up and now they'll need 2 cent stamps AND 3 cent stamps! Or 5 cent stamps, or 2s and 1s... WHY???
Speaking of which, they're coming out with a "Forever Stamp." It'll be sold at whatever the going rate is, and be good even if the rate goes up. If the rate goes up, the purchase price of the Forever Stamp will go up, but it'll be the same physical stamp, and still valid for the next increase.
I, for one, am going to stock up on Forever Stamps the minute they come out. There will be no 2/3/5/1 cent stamps in our home!
/rant
Eyeglass cleaning solution
Finally, I would just like to point out that there has not been any eyeglass cleaning solution since I've purchased my glasses at any of the following places: Ralphs in NoHo, my pharmacy in NoHo, Target in Burbank, Target in Baldwin Park, Target optical in Burbank, Walmart in Duarte... The lady at the pharmacy told me that they were having a hard time finding it to stock it. I think it's just a conspiracy to get us all to wear contacts, there's plenty of contact lens solution everywhere. Luckily, I had some eyeglass cleaning stuff from a long time ago, but I'm out now, and my glasses are dirty, and it irritates me.
But my new mp3 player, and the fact that we paid off both of our credit cards this month, make me feel a little better.
Monday, March 19, 2007
Ancestry.com
Things have been slow moving in my genealogy lately. My husband was gracious enough to let me purchase a one year Ancestry.com membership, which is really cool. There's not much on my family though. =P
I've found quite a bit of stuff for my family on FamilySearch, and would have expected at least confirmation of the same information on Ancestry.com, but found nothing at all. I would love to see the day when Ancestry.com starts offering more records from non-anglo countries. Mexico has kept very good birth, death, and marriage records since 1859, and there has been much genealogical work done on the founding families of Mexico beginning in the 1500s.
I like the Ancestry.com "family site" for the most part. It's cool being able to link records straight into it, although some records that I've found have not had an "add to someone" button. This mostly happens with things like phone book records.
The downside is that there are no reporting features. Of course, the easy way to overcome this is to download the Gedcom and open it in Gramps, my normal genealogy program. Or so I thought. When I opened it, I found that everyone and every event was there, but there were no relationships between anyone. Defeats the purpose of the thing, doesn't it?
It turns out that the Gedcoms generated by Ancestry.com lack a tag that ties people to families, as per the Gedcom standards. Another Gramps user has already contacted Ancestry.com and was told essentially that they have no intention of fixing it. This is the genealogy equivalent of DRM (Digital Rights Management, the stuff that makes you not able to burn your mp3s to cds and makes your video fuzzy). "We will not follow the standards that the whole industry uses so that your data is portable, so your data which you've worked hard to find, source, and compile will be worthless outside of our website (and maybe the programs that we tell you to buy)." Lovely, huh?
The exact response states:
Dear ______,
We appreciate your message.
We are sorry for the trouble with the file. The GEDCOM file is read differently by the different programs. You may need to edit the file after it is entered into the new software.
If there is anything else with which we might assist you, please let us know. 1-800-262-3787
Jennifer
Member Solutions
Ancestry.com
Translation: The file is fine, all you have to do is add parents and children and spouses to every single person (all 1,000+ of them) after you import it! Nothing wrong at all!
I'll be emailing them soon, when I have the energy to address them in a way worthy of their already-stated non-compliance.
I've found quite a bit of stuff for my family on FamilySearch, and would have expected at least confirmation of the same information on Ancestry.com, but found nothing at all. I would love to see the day when Ancestry.com starts offering more records from non-anglo countries. Mexico has kept very good birth, death, and marriage records since 1859, and there has been much genealogical work done on the founding families of Mexico beginning in the 1500s.
I like the Ancestry.com "family site" for the most part. It's cool being able to link records straight into it, although some records that I've found have not had an "add to someone" button. This mostly happens with things like phone book records.
The downside is that there are no reporting features. Of course, the easy way to overcome this is to download the Gedcom and open it in Gramps, my normal genealogy program. Or so I thought. When I opened it, I found that everyone and every event was there, but there were no relationships between anyone. Defeats the purpose of the thing, doesn't it?
It turns out that the Gedcoms generated by Ancestry.com lack a tag that ties people to families, as per the Gedcom standards. Another Gramps user has already contacted Ancestry.com and was told essentially that they have no intention of fixing it. This is the genealogy equivalent of DRM (Digital Rights Management, the stuff that makes you not able to burn your mp3s to cds and makes your video fuzzy). "We will not follow the standards that the whole industry uses so that your data is portable, so your data which you've worked hard to find, source, and compile will be worthless outside of our website (and maybe the programs that we tell you to buy)." Lovely, huh?
The exact response states:
Dear ______,
We appreciate your message.
We are sorry for the trouble with the file. The GEDCOM file is read differently by the different programs. You may need to edit the file after it is entered into the new software.
If there is anything else with which we might assist you, please let us know. 1-800-262-3787
Jennifer
Member Solutions
Ancestry.com
Translation: The file is fine, all you have to do is add parents and children and spouses to every single person (all 1,000+ of them) after you import it! Nothing wrong at all!
I'll be emailing them soon, when I have the energy to address them in a way worthy of their already-stated non-compliance.
Ancestry.com Membership
Things have been slow moving in my genealogy lately. My husband was gracious enough to let me purchase a one year Ancestry.com membership, which is really cool. I've found a lot for his family, but nothing for mine. =P
I've found quite a bit of stuff for my family on FamilySearch, and would have expected at least confirmation of the same information on Ancestry.com, but found nothing at all. I would love to see the day when Ancestry.com starts offering more records from non-anglo countries. Mexico has kept very good birth, death, and marriage records since 1859, and there has been much genealogical work done on the founding families of Mexico beginning in the 1500s.
I like the Ancestry.com "family site" for the most part. It's cool being able to link records straight into it, although some records that I've found have not had an "add to someone" button. This mostly happens with things like phone book records.
The downside is that there are no reporting features. Of course, the easy way to overcome this is to download the Gedcom and open it in Gramps, my normal genealogy program. Or so I thought. When I opened it, I found that everyone and every event was there, but there were no relationships between anyone. Defeats the purpose of the thing, doesn't it?
It turns out that the Gedcoms generated by Ancestry.com lack a tag that ties people to families, as per the Gedcom standards. Another Gramps user has already contacted Ancestry.com and was told essentially that they have no intention of fixing it. This is the genealogy equivalent of DRM (Digital Rights Management, the stuff that makes you not able to burn your mp3s to cds and makes your video fuzzy). "We will not follow the standards that the whole industry uses so that your data is portable, so your data which you've worked hard to find, source, and compile will be worthless outside of our website (and maybe the programs that we tell you to buy)." Lovely, huh?
The exact response states:
Dear ______,
We appreciate your message.
We are sorry for the trouble with the file. The GEDCOM file is read differently by the different programs. You may need to edit the file after it is entered into the new software.
If there is anything else with which we might assist you, please let us know. 1-800-262-3787
Jennifer
Member Solutions
Ancestry.com
Translation: The file is fine, all you have to do is add parents and children and spouses to every single person (all 1,000+ of them) after you import it! Nothing wrong at all!
I'll be emailing them soon, when I have the energy to address them in a way worthy of their already-stated non-compliance.
I haven't gotten down to the Family History Center yet, too busy with school and such. I will certainly post when I do though. =)
I've found quite a bit of stuff for my family on FamilySearch, and would have expected at least confirmation of the same information on Ancestry.com, but found nothing at all. I would love to see the day when Ancestry.com starts offering more records from non-anglo countries. Mexico has kept very good birth, death, and marriage records since 1859, and there has been much genealogical work done on the founding families of Mexico beginning in the 1500s.
I like the Ancestry.com "family site" for the most part. It's cool being able to link records straight into it, although some records that I've found have not had an "add to someone" button. This mostly happens with things like phone book records.
The downside is that there are no reporting features. Of course, the easy way to overcome this is to download the Gedcom and open it in Gramps, my normal genealogy program. Or so I thought. When I opened it, I found that everyone and every event was there, but there were no relationships between anyone. Defeats the purpose of the thing, doesn't it?
It turns out that the Gedcoms generated by Ancestry.com lack a tag that ties people to families, as per the Gedcom standards. Another Gramps user has already contacted Ancestry.com and was told essentially that they have no intention of fixing it. This is the genealogy equivalent of DRM (Digital Rights Management, the stuff that makes you not able to burn your mp3s to cds and makes your video fuzzy). "We will not follow the standards that the whole industry uses so that your data is portable, so your data which you've worked hard to find, source, and compile will be worthless outside of our website (and maybe the programs that we tell you to buy)." Lovely, huh?
The exact response states:
Dear ______,
We appreciate your message.
We are sorry for the trouble with the file. The GEDCOM file is read differently by the different programs. You may need to edit the file after it is entered into the new software.
If there is anything else with which we might assist you, please let us know. 1-800-262-3787
Jennifer
Member Solutions
Ancestry.com
Translation: The file is fine, all you have to do is add parents and children and spouses to every single person (all 1,000+ of them) after you import it! Nothing wrong at all!
I'll be emailing them soon, when I have the energy to address them in a way worthy of their already-stated non-compliance.
I haven't gotten down to the Family History Center yet, too busy with school and such. I will certainly post when I do though. =)
Friday, March 16, 2007
Where technology comes from, part 2
Another interesting technology source I found in the news today:
The supply of water to the area is irregular, so the school has an innovative system that recycles rainwater and uses seesaws and merry-go-rounds to pump water. It also uses solar power and has landscaped gardens that supply vegetables for school meals.
If we harnessed all children's playgrounds around the world to pump water and/or generate electricity... I think we just stumbled onto something good! It's like one of those renewable energy sources you hear about on the news!
The supply of water to the area is irregular, so the school has an innovative system that recycles rainwater and uses seesaws and merry-go-rounds to pump water. It also uses solar power and has landscaped gardens that supply vegetables for school meals.
If we harnessed all children's playgrounds around the world to pump water and/or generate electricity... I think we just stumbled onto something good! It's like one of those renewable energy sources you hear about on the news!
Monday, March 12, 2007
Interesting where technology comes from
My husband, one of our friends, and myself went to Disneyland yesterday (Sunday). Lots of fun, I haven't uploaded the pictures yet but I will soon.
I was reading the news this weekend and found the story of the kidnapped baby interesting. Especially interesting, this quote:
Susanne Moore, a former Covenant nurse who had a baby Friday at the same hospital, told the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal that the hospital placed an electronic band on her newborn girl's ankle. She said she was told that if the baby were taken too close to a door or elevator, a sensor would cause the door to lock or the elevator to shut down.A couple of comments here...
Moore said she also was told that if the band were cut off before it was deactivated, the hospital would be locked down.
- What has the world come to that we need to do this because we seemingly EXPECT babies to be stolen from hospitals...?
- Cool idea. I imagine it's RFID technology, but how do you get it to detect when the band has been broken? Does this mean it's a non-re-sizable band that's completely made of electronic components/cables? Is it just a single cable that goes the whole circumference, and if so how do you prevent someone from cutting the rest of the band and slipping that part off? Hmmm.
- This proximity-based door and elevator control is pretty clever, we were talking about something similar on the way home from Disneyland.
- I can see other hospital applications here, particularly for hospitals that have this proximity based control already... why doesn't the ER/OR double doors swing open when a gurney approaches? (So you have to tag all the EMT's gurneys, but that's okay!) Why doesn't the elevator door automatically stay open when a gurney's approaching unless you press the close button (if you're full, you know).
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Meh. No hot water.
By the way, I want to mention that we have not had hot water in our apartment building since Friday afternoon. Apparently it's an issue with the gas, not just the water heater, because the dryers aren't working either.
You never realize how important gas is until it's gone! I can't wash dishes (not well anyway), can't do laundry (unless I want it to sit around damp until Monday), and can't take a shower at home (unless I wanna freeze!). Glad we're YMCA members and I can shower there!
Maintenace isn't going to come out until Monday. They don't consider it an emergency situation that we can't take showers. =P
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
Dictionary woes
I got marked down on my weekly vocab sheet last week due to using my English-Spanish dictionary rather than using a Spanish dictionary that gives definitions in Spanish. The professor wrote on my sheet that I should use the dictionary linked on the resources section of the class management system, which is the Spanish Royal Academy Dictionary.
I like my other dictionary better.
Lovely, huh?
The next word, which was found in the story we read for homework over the weekend, again doesn't exist at all in any form I can think of (again, in my vast knowledge of Spanish conjugation) until I browse the Spanish-English dictionary.
Here's another one:
Me using the Spanish Royal Academy Dictionary is like a person who's never spoken English being given a link to Wikipedia as a dictionary. You have to know the words to learn the words!
The next word I looked up was defined by three synonyms, only two of which I had any faint idea how to translate.
This is going to be a long homework assignment, and Charles is already asleep... *sigh* (Not that he was going to help me with my homework or anything, but I don't like waking him when I get into bed after he's been asleep a while.)
I like my other dictionary better.
- I looked up jalea for example, which said "f. Conserva transparente, hecha de zumo de algunas frutas." Conserva I took to be something saved or preserved, transparente is transparent, made of zumo of some fruits.
- So I look up zumo and it tells me "m. Líquido de las hierbas, flores, frutas u otras cosas semejantes, que se saca exprimiéndolas o majándolas." Liquid of the herbs, flowers, fruits, or other similar things, that are taken out by exprimir or majandar.
- I look up exprimir, which I determined in my vast knowledge of conjugation to be the root of the word exprimiéndolas. It says "Extraer el zumo o líquido de una cosa, apretándola o retorciéndola." To extract the zumo or liquid of a thing, squeezing or twisting it. (Remember, zumo is defined as the thing that you exprimir, making a circular definition. A is made when you do B to fruits. B is what you do to fruits to make A.)
- I then look up majandar, which in my vast knowledge of conjugation (see above) I determine to be the probable root of the word majándolas. It doesn't exist, neither does majándolas or majando (las is a suffix meaning to a female them). I give up on that part of the definition. (I later discover, by browsing in my Spanish-English dictionary, that the root word is majar, which it defines as "to crush, to mash." I don't get "mash" out of any of the three definitions in Spanish!)
Lovely, huh?
The next word, which was found in the story we read for homework over the weekend, again doesn't exist at all in any form I can think of (again, in my vast knowledge of Spanish conjugation) until I browse the Spanish-English dictionary.
Here's another one:
- I found the word caló in the reading. The definition says "m. Lenguaje de los gitanos españoles." Masculine word, meaning the language of the Spanish gitanos.
- I think a gitano is some sort of native, but I decide to check. I copy and paste it, and "gitanos" isn't in the dictionary, only "gitano" is. This is the problem with dictionaries that you can't browse, only search. But one letter differences, such as plural to singular, should be correctable by the system.
Me using the Spanish Royal Academy Dictionary is like a person who's never spoken English being given a link to Wikipedia as a dictionary. You have to know the words to learn the words!
The next word I looked up was defined by three synonyms, only two of which I had any faint idea how to translate.
This is going to be a long homework assignment, and Charles is already asleep... *sigh* (Not that he was going to help me with my homework or anything, but I don't like waking him when I get into bed after he's been asleep a while.)
Sunday, March 4, 2007
Disneyland, weeee!
So, instead of doing my homework like I probably should have, Charles and I went to Disneyland yesterday. It was a lot of fun, esspecially since it was free now that he's a Disney cast member. We had a lot of fun, we went to Adventureland and New Orleans Square. (I couldn't believe he'd never been to the Tiki room before, so we had to start on that side of the park!) Of course, we were analyzing everything we saw and figuring out how things worked. =P
Pictures are on my Yahoo pictures page, though it's a lot of pictures of things we saw and not that many of us. But you can look if you want, of course! It's here.
PS. We got a new bigger bed, and I love it
Pictures are on my Yahoo pictures page, though it's a lot of pictures of things we saw and not that many of us. But you can look if you want, of course! It's here.
PS. We got a new bigger bed, and I love it
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Note to self
Note to self: Don't look up a movie on Wikipedia until after you're done watching it. I'm watching Back to the Future II, and I missed something, so during a commercial break I looked it up. It's very difficult to stop where I'm done watching and not read ahead!
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Good thing for backups
Today I was working on synchronizing my tree on Ancestry to my tree in my genealogy program. It was going well, then I started to get errors. It told me to run the "check and repair" tool, and that kept hanging when it got to "checking for event problems." I forced it to quit, opened it again, then looked at the events. Almost all of my events were missing. The new imports I did yesterday were there, but not the rest.
Of course, I'm getting clever-er by the day and made a backup immediately before starting to import new gedcoms from the interweb. So now I'm importing the two gedcoms from yesterday into an empty database, merging and fixing them there, and then importing them into a COPY of the backup from yesterday. (I bet you would have thought I would import into my backup, that would defeat the purpose! Keeping a clean copy that works is very important!)
Of course, I'm getting clever-er by the day and made a backup immediately before starting to import new gedcoms from the interweb. So now I'm importing the two gedcoms from yesterday into an empty database, merging and fixing them there, and then importing them into a COPY of the backup from yesterday. (I bet you would have thought I would import into my backup, that would defeat the purpose! Keeping a clean copy that works is very important!)
Working on husband's line
I've been trying to take advantage of the three free days of Ancestry.ca that I got a link about in one of my mailing lists. Unfortunately, I soon ran out of little threads of my Hispanic family that had come into the USA long enough to show up on publicly available records.
Ah well, I figured I'd take a look at my husband's line. I've done very little there, to be honest.
Well, of course it figures that there are two submitters on One World Tree who have at some point researched his family, neither of which provided an email address to contact them! Each of the two was a little different from the other, but I do believe that one used the other as a source. To make sure that I got it all, I had to import them both and merge them in my program. I still have some cleaning up to do, removing some double events that the filters may have missed for example. But at this point, it looks like I picked up a very good number of leads. (Not very well documented, unfortunately.)
From my husband as generation 1, I added:
(Generations 1-3 were not new.)
Generation 4 has 3 individuals. (37.50%)
Generation 5 has 2 individuals. (12.50%)
Generation 6 has 3 individuals. (9.38%)
Generation 7 has 1 individual. (1.56%)
And of course dozens of siblings and cousins all around.
Current statistics (again, this may go down a little bit with some cleanup work I'm going to do.):
Individuals
----------------------------
Number of individuals: 527
Males: 257
Females: 270
Individuals with incomplete names: 30
Individuals missing birth dates: 444
Disconnected individuals: 5
Family Information
----------------------------
Number of families: 212
Unique surnames: 129
Not bad for a free three-day pass! Thank you, Ancestry.ca!
Ah well, I figured I'd take a look at my husband's line. I've done very little there, to be honest.
Well, of course it figures that there are two submitters on One World Tree who have at some point researched his family, neither of which provided an email address to contact them! Each of the two was a little different from the other, but I do believe that one used the other as a source. To make sure that I got it all, I had to import them both and merge them in my program. I still have some cleaning up to do, removing some double events that the filters may have missed for example. But at this point, it looks like I picked up a very good number of leads. (Not very well documented, unfortunately.)
From my husband as generation 1, I added:
(Generations 1-3 were not new.)
Generation 4 has 3 individuals. (37.50%)
Generation 5 has 2 individuals. (12.50%)
Generation 6 has 3 individuals. (9.38%)
Generation 7 has 1 individual. (1.56%)
And of course dozens of siblings and cousins all around.
Current statistics (again, this may go down a little bit with some cleanup work I'm going to do.):
Individuals
----------------------------
Number of individuals: 527
Males: 257
Females: 270
Individuals with incomplete names: 30
Individuals missing birth dates: 444
Disconnected individuals: 5
Family Information
----------------------------
Number of families: 212
Unique surnames: 129
Not bad for a free three-day pass! Thank you, Ancestry.ca!
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