Happy Sunday

Hope your day is peaceful & good : )

Hello New Kitty

Thursday my plans to foster a cat for the office fell through at the very last minute. Afterwards I stopped by the local animal shelter. I wish I could help them all! Too heartbreaking. I left, not knowing what to do. There was one kitty there--a 7 year old female, that had records showing she had been to the same vet that I use. I went to the vet's & they told me the whole sad story. This kitty belonged to an older couple. When the wife died their daughter moved in & brought her own cats. For some reason the daughter then took this cat to the shelter. Maybe it's because she's front paw de-clawed? I don't know. At any rate, my vet said she was in good health. I decided to pick her up on Saturday. I found myself with a few extra minutes Friday & stopped by to get her & boy am I glad I did...I am pretty sure they were getting ready to euthanize her.

Man, the whole subject is depressing. On the bright side, there is a new kitty to keep me company at the office now. She seems to have a very quiet gentle nature. She was scared to death when I first picked her up (I would have been scared too). Taken out of her home & put in a cage for six weeks is enough to freak any animal out. Even though she was scared, at the vets offce she didn't try to bite or fight at all. She's been here about two hours now & is starting to walk around the office exploring.

I'll keep you posted on her progress.

Oh, the name on her adoption card is "Patches" but she hasn't confirmed that with me yet...

De-nied!

My new office kitty that I was going to be the foster parent of was adopted before I even got to take her to her new home. I'm both happy & sad right now.

Another Raw Chocolate Vitamix Recipe

This is the time of year when bing cherries are so good, & I can tell you for sure that it is worth the time it takes to pit them. This smoothie is so refreshing & good! We use cashews that we have soaked in pure water overnight--somehow it adds to the general sweetness of the drink. Don't know how to explain that other than to say that we've tried almonds, flax, rice, etc., & the cashews are the definite winner.

1/2 cup cashews (soaked)
3/4 cup raw chocolate powder
1 cup bing cherries
1 glass (about 12 oz) pure water
1 cup ice
3 tbs raw agave nector or local honey

Blend cashews in water till smooth then add the rest of the ingredients, leaving the ice for last.

If you want a really intense taste, try adding a bit of cold coffee this--no more than a tbs or so. I also like this one with a bit of vanilla too if you're wanting something sweet.

Enjoy!

RIP Jay Bennett

The world lost a great talent over the weekend. Untertow Music Collective announced yesterday that Jay Bennett died in his sleep this past Saturday. Jay was best known for working with the band Wilco, but he also collaborated with Edward Burch & a little bit with Blues Traveler. Jay released five solo albums after leaving Wilco in 2001.

Decisions

I'm really considering applying to be a foster home for animals at my office but I don't know what it entails. Can anybody help out here?

Movie Night

I Redboxed (is that a word?) "Hotel for Dogs" last night. Now I've got to figure out how to open my own doggie shelter. Right this very minute!

Seriously, it tears me up to think about all the stray animals out there. I just wish I could do more. I can't even look at Petfinder anymore, I get too torn up.

But I was talking about movies right? Ok, there were two this weekend--both from Redbox. The other one was called "The Last Templar". Do yourself a favor & don't waste your time with it. It was seriously one of the worst movies I've ever seen. I kept waiting for the story to happen & it never did. No wonder I had never heard of it. That's two hours (seemed more like four or five) of my life I'll never get back...

So what did you watch over the weekend?

Happy Sunday

Hope your day is peaceful & good.

I Spy

With my South Carolina eye...

• 2 turtles (about a foot long each)
• bee
• shoe
• buzzard
• butterfly
• goose
• 3 dogs
• a bee-yu-ti-fal sky
• Randy playing volleyball with himself & an imaginary team & ball (the net was real)
  

Where am I?

Another Raw Vitamix Recipe

Tom made this one last night & it was so good!

Veggie Soup

1 carrot
1 stick celery
1 cup spinach
full glass water - 16 oz
1 tbs Braggs Liquid Amino

Add to Vitamix & set to High till warm (or hot if you don't want raw)

This is the best tasting cream of veggie soup I've ever had.

Enjoy!

Is It Really Too Early?

I like Christmas all the time. Seriously. Here's a deal offered by Perpetual Kid. It's a USB do-it-yourself Christmas computer set. They were selling it for $19.99, now just $8.99. Plan ahead, don't go through the drive-thru, get this for yourself instead : )



You know you want to drive your co-workers crazy by putting this up in July...

Here's the link.

Vitamix Recipe - Make Your Own Raw Veggie V8

3 really ripe tomatoes
1 stick celery
1 cup pure water or ice
1-2 carrot
dash ground coriander

Add it all to the Vitamix & blend with variable setting till smooth. Strain it if you can't handle the pulp--don't strain it if you want all the fiber.

Enjoy!

Something I'm Looking For

I'm looking for Kelloggs or Keebler packages marked with the various Star Trek promotions. If any of you have any of these packages you could part with I would appreciate it : )

Too Many Birds To Count

Yesterday morning in about a half hour while I was having my morning cuppa, I counted from my porch:

2 Robins
Some Finches
1 Unknown type of brown bird
2 Doves
3 Woodpeckers-2 different species
2 Cardinals
2 Blue Jays
1 Chipmonk
1 Baby grey squirrel
1 Grey squirrel
3 white squirrels! : )

It was raining while I sat there & that didn't seem to slow down traffic at all. Soon the hummingbirds will be out & that will be fun as usual to watch. It's funny watching the cats being totally oblivious to the traffic a few feet away from where they're sleeping...

Happy Sunday

Hope you're staying dry today.

Wow, Thanks NASA

This image was made before Atlantis and the crew of STS-125 had grappled the Hubble Space Telescope.

The two tiny little dots on the lower left-hand side of the sun are the shuttle Atlantis & the Hubble telescope. I did not enhance the image at all. Incredible...

Mooris Publishing Group Obtains Forbearance

From the Morris Website:
"Morris Publishing Group, LLC announced today that it has obtained forbearance until May 28, 2009 with respect to its failure to make a $9.7 million interest payment on its senior subordinated notes.

The interest payment originally was due Feb. 1, 2009. Holders of more than 80 percent of the outstanding amount of senior subordinated notes agreed to the forbearance.

Morris Publishing.s senior bank group also agreed to waive until May 28, 2009 the cross default arising from the overdue interest payment on the senior subordinated notes."

So the story continues...

Here's Are Some Good Deals

Shop World Kitchen has select Pyrex Cobalt Blue baking dishes on clearance starting at $2 each.
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PYREX® Cobalt Blue 3-qt Oblong Baking Dish
Was: $7.99
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Final: $1.59 Plus shipping.http://www.shopworldkitchen.com/inde...34715&brandID=

Here's another one, this from Holland Bulbs:

$100 in Hardy Perennial Lilies, Dahlias, Cannas, Gladiolus and Calla Lilies for $19.95
Coupon "SAVEON1" to take 50% any one single item.

60% OFF $100 + coupon 50% = $19.95 (2 for $38)

60+ Flower Bulb & Perennial Variety Pack

You get the following flowers
(6) Dahlias - Size No.1 or No.2
(6) Cannas - Size 2 to 3 eyes
(10) Hardy Perennial Lilies - Size 12/14cm or 14/16cm
(30) Gladiolus - Size 10/12cm
(10) Calla Lilies - Size 1 3/4" to 2"

Another Raw Vitamix Recipe

I had this yesterday--it was delicious!

1 pint blackberries
1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
3 tbs raw agave nector
2 cups pure water

Add the sunflower seeds to water & set vitamix to variable. Blend till smooth.
Add the rest of the ingredients.

Enjoy!

A variation to this (if you drink dairy) is to add about a cup of plain or vanilla yogurt and/or some ice.

Good Job Morris Communications or MediaCom or Whoever You Are

I don't know who decided to change the website: MediaCom or Morris Communications but I was happy to be able to easily access the local office info, including physical address, hours, & a support phone number.

Just type your zip code into the "local zip" search box for customized info.

Star Trek Movie

After seeing Star Trek twice this weekend (instead of posting a review like I promised, I went to see it again), I still want to see it one more time. It was that good. Yes, I'm a Star Trek fan from way back but if anything, that makes me more picky about the fare I'm served at the theater.

This movie had alot of action from the very beginning, excellent special effects, & a storyline that matched the pace of the movie. I was entertained & that says alot. An additional benefit has been the intense conversations with other trek fans via email, in person, & on the I-boards.

There were only a few moments that something didn't exactly feel right for me during the film--the skydiving scene, Scotty's alien sidekick, & the whole Spock-Uhura relationship were a bit...questionable.

As of Sunday afternoon there were over 8000 user reviews posted on Yahoo! it was graded "A" by overwhelming majority. The Critics were also pretty kind, giving it a B+ (probably would have been an A if Roger Ebert hadn't tried to pick apart the science presented in the film).

The audience was as enthralled as I was & seemed reluctant to leave when the credits finally rolled at the end.

I want one of those motorcycles!

Happy Sunday

Star Trek Movie Review

Coming later today.

TGIF

The past 3 weeks have been intense! I am going to the movies, maybe for the whole day if I'm lucky...

Today Is The Day

That Star Trek trekkers, trekkies, nerds, fans, super-fans, whatever will collectively....well, you know. It's preview day for the movie. Epic has it showing tonight at 7pm--don't know about the rest of them (I haven't checked)

I love love love sci-fi events. A big part of what I love is the conversation that takes place before & after the events. The only thing that compares to it in my mind could be tech events & the conversations they create, & that is a pale shadow as far as I'm concerned.

When the second round of Star Wars movies came out a few years back it provided hours of conversation in the computer shop/ISP I was working at. Folks made their plans to go see the movie weeks ahead of time--there was much anticipation beforehand & much celebrating afterwards. It didn't matter so much whether they liked it or not--either way was cause for conversations.

A good sci-fi movie will have minds engaged for weeks at a time, full of "what-if's" & "why did they" & "why didn't they". Instead of focusing on the economy or politics or other current events, the minds (& mouths) will open to ideas of space travel, society without prejudice, new technology that allows people to transport anywhere instantly, big adventures, doing the right thing, & the like. And it wouldn't be accurate to talk about what makes sci-fi fun without mentioning the "cool factor", which is basically anything somebody likes.

I still haven't quite put my finger on what I love so much about it. Maybe it's this--sci-fi makes us all 11 years old again. We don't care what other people think about our shameless optimism, our enthusiasm for weird costumes, or outdated beliefs in right & wrong. We're just having fun--laughing shamelessly, whooping it up when the good guy wins (by the way, the good guy could easily be a gal in a sci-fi movie), & rooting for the underdog.

I love watching my friends & I love being an old school sci-fi geek.

Here's a contest for you. Below is an image. The first one of you from Hendersonville or Asheville that I know who can email me & tell me what it is will get a free ticket to see the new Star Trek movie at Hollywood Theaters. Put the phrase "Star Trek Movie" in the subject line please. Send it to me at: wncwebgrl@gmail.com

Good luck!

Review - Verizon's Blackberry Storm 9530

In case this is the first time you've been to this blog please note--I am busy! Not just sometimes, all the time. The reason I stress that is because although I really really like technology (probably more than I should), I no longer have time to read the manual for hours and hours.

Enter the Blackberry Storm 9530, with promises of consolidating up to 8 emails, messages, etc., cutting down my face time with the monitor & allowing me to upload to Flickr & Facebook in a flash--right out of the box.

That sounded good. After fighting the smart phone trend for awhile I finally decided to give in so that I could (hopefully) quit having to run to my computer all the time. I've had the Blackberry for about a month now, & it's time for a review, so here goes. I'm going to talk about features that are important to me, that's all I've paid attention to anyway.

• Screen--by far the best I've ever had. Colors are clear The touch screen took a little getting used to, but now it's a breeze. 1 touch to enlarge images & text, 2 to engage. There is a copy & paste in there somewhere, but I haven't needed it yet. The accelerometer is the thingy that makes the screen orient horizontally or vertically & it is a little slow sometimes, but usually no problem.
  
• Keyboard--took about 3 days for me to get used to. I actually thought it needed re-calibrating at first until I realized that it was calibrated for use with both hands perfectly. I had been using my left hand only with my previous phone (the much-loved 1st generation LGEnv). Obviously with a touch screen, there is nothing tactile to give you physical clues, so you have to watch the screen all the time. Also, extra characters & numbers actually show up on a separate screen--which is a bit of an annoyance if you are trying to email a phone number because each time you hit the number button it automatically switches back to the alphabet screen, meaning you have to double the buttons you type for a phone number.
  
• Bluetooth--the Storm paired easily with my Original Jawbone bluetooth device, but after 4 days the voice command feature simply quit working. That could be a deal killer for me, as I am not going to give up my Original Jawbone & I don't want to use the dial feature on the road. After checking Verizon's site & finding nothing, I went the Jawbone site & read: "There is a known issue with Blackberry voice dialing hanging in conjunction with the use of Bluetooth devices.

  To resolve the issue, reset your Blackberry. You can either do this by performing a hard reset (remove the battery from the Blackberry, wait a few seconds, and then replace the battery) or a soft reset (consult your Blackberry's User's Guide for instructions).

  It's also recommended that you make sure you have the latest software update installed for your Blackberry. Visit Blackberry's website for the most recent updates.

  There are several online resources such as BlackberryForums.com that may offer other solutions."
  
  Bummer! The Blackberry battery is a bitch to get out of the case if you have long fingernails-which I do. Not only that, but I have to take it out of the silicon case every time? Big sigh. Plus it takes a couple of minutes to reboot itself. I sure wish I had known this when I was researching this phone--I would never have bought it in the first place.
  
  Now I'm faced with the prospect of either giving up my precious Jawbone, or wasting my time with resets & the like.
  

• EMail--Six days into ownership & I finally got the email set up. I set up 4 separate accounts, 1 google, 1 yahoo, 4 private domains--all POP3. Absolutely no problem at all, worked like a champ. After a day or so I realized I had cut down my monitor time by almost half! I am really pleased with how the Blackberry handles this. All my messages are compiled into one "Message" icon on the screen so I can see everything instantly--the CEO snapshot if you will. Totally a timesaver. The messages are also sorted into their various accounts as well. If I choose to reply via phone, I will receive a message from Blackberry on my email server letting me know that I replied to this message via Blackberry on a certain day at a certain time--thus eliminating a point of failure that I was kind of worried about. It's easy to delete email as well & I have the choice of either deleting it just on the Blackberry, or on the server as well--nice!
  
• Battery Life--better than my worn out LG. But only time will tell as to how long that will last.
  

I was starting to like this phone when it started rebooting itself. I had even decided to try another bluetooth device (I had no choice really). The reboots happened randomly. I called tech support at Verizon & found out it was yet another "known issue". Sheeze! They promise a firmware update soon that should take care of it. My question is how soon? Soon as in tomorrow or soon as in sometime in the future? No answer for that one...

• Flickr--It's a given that cell phones come with cameras now. I adored the camera on my LG & looked forward to an even better experience with the Blackberry so I was keen on setting up the Flickr app. It works like a champ. Took about 2 minutes to set up. Unfortunately, the camera itself is not nearly as user-friendly as I had hoped. Guess I will have to read the manual to figure out what it is I'm doing wrong. I will as soon as I get the chance. Till then I will keep taking the occasional picture, hoping I will get it figured out. The phone came with an 8 gig memory card--I hope I get to put it to work.
  
• Facebook--This app was more of a curiosity for me than a must-have, but I set it up & managed to post a couple of times when I was bored & had nothing to do (at the DMV). It takes a while to get around on it, so you need to be really addicted to Facebook to get the full benefit of this app I guess. Also you can't edit if upload something by mistake. I found out after uploading a "pig" (not pic) of an old house.
  
• Browser--meh, whatever. I like that I can check weather, movies, headlines, but it's really not that crucial & it's really not what I'm used to as far as web connections go. Frankly I'm at the point in my life where I want less internet & more me time.
• GPS, word processing apps, games--I simply don't use them, so I havent checked them out yet.
• Contacts--I have 399 contacts. So far, so good. I'm told that I can have an unlimited amount with this phone. Ok, cool.
• Sound quality--as expected.
  

I bought 2 of these phones. I gave one to Tom, who is even busier than I am. I decided to set up his email for him, since he hadn't gotten around to it yet. It turned into a tech support nightmare. His phone simply would not accept the POP3 settings. I must say that the folks at Verizon were extraordinarily helpful. I would have given up on me! They never lost their cool. That's why I love Verizon. When Tom's phone reset itself in the middle of the tech support they suggested I take them in & trade them out. I agreed at this point. And that's where it got interesting...

The tech guy at Verizon on Airport Road in Asheville (Mr. Leather) at first refused to trade them out. He said that there was a known issue with these phones & he wasn't going to do it, even though I brought all the proper paperwork & was well within the 30 day guarantee range. I told him that I had just spent over two hours with tech support the day before & was bringing them back on their recommendation & he bluntly told me too bad, they hadn't notated it in my account, if I wanted to call customer service & get them to notate it he would trade them out, but that was the only way. So I called them, right there, right then. They were mortified. After handing my phone to Mr. Leather, he spoke to them for a few seconds, then proceeded to start the trade out. Then after all that, he told me that I had to take them to the store I bought them from because "he couldn't find the sale" in his computer & couldn't change anything. Seems I bought them at a resellers store. (It said Verizon on door!)

Now normally I would have stayed & made him take care of the problem but at this point Mr. Leather had already wasted 45 minutes of my time & I didn't want to trust him with my data. I knew I could go to the original store I bought them from & get some lunch while the phones were getting transferred, and that's what I did. The folks at the Skyland store were really helpful, & it was no problem. I didn't have to assuage anybody's ego just to get new phones.

The final verdict? Undecided. I don't know if these features have been worth the extra time I've had to put into them. My 2nd brand new phone started resetting itself last week & is doing it 4 or 5 times a day now.

The saga continues...

Good Deal At Old Navy

Oriental Trading Company Has Party supplies, Crafts, Toys - $10 off $10 Purchase
Use Key Code: SE1019772
Shipping is $6.99

Click here to get to the site.

Raw Veggie Vitamix Recipe

This one is really good when it's hot outside.


Summer Smooth Chiller

3 or 4 really ripe tomatoes
2 sticks celery
3/4 cup raw pumpkin seeds
dash coriander-crushed
1 cup pure water or ice

Wash tomatoes then freeze for a couple of hours
Add pumpkin seeds & water to vitamix, till smooth.
Cut tomatoes in half & add along with celery. Blend.

Enjoy!

The Road Less Traveled

I often rush, rush, rush. It's necessary if I am going to get everything done you know...

Note to self--if I just slow down occasionally I will enjoy myself more.

Here is a picture of a house by the 70 near Morganton. I would have missed it completely if we were driving I-40 (as usual). I've got several more images that I'll upload later. The sky behind it was really incredible...

Happy Sunday

Hope your day is peaceful & good : )

Rocking Out

Don't bother calling--I'll be listening to "the boss" tonight. The video below will show you exactly what I'll be doing (he's much cuter though).

Another Raw Food Vitamix Recipe

This time of year in Hendersonville is so nice. We are starting to see some fresh produce & lots of strawberries (which I love). I don't know whether you could call this recipe vegan ice cream, strawberry gelato, or slush--all I know is it is good!

1 cup rice--soaked for 8 hours in 1 cup pure water
3 tbs raw agave nector
1 lemon wedge--peeled & frozen
2 tbs vanilla or 1/2 vanilla bean
2 cups ripe strawberries - frozen

Slowly add the ingredients in the vitamix until well mixed. Freeze if you want, then remix one more time in vitamix.

To make it more "slushy", add a few ice cubes.

Enjoy!