I need to try that again & do a better job this time. This past weekend was so hectic that I didn't get any downtime at all & boy am I feeling it this morning...
Note to self: Don't let anybody plan anything for me this weekend...
Sleep...sleep...must get sleep.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Monday, June 29, 2009
Blogspot Scheduling
There appears to be an issue with the scheduling function lately, so my posts could come at erratic times. Just wanted to let you know.
A New Adventurecon
There is a new sci-fi show coming to Pigeon Forge October 24 & 25. It is being run by the same folks who put on AdventureCon in Knoxville every year.
Who wants to go?
Who wants to go?
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Dixie Dregs
The fire at Georgia theater last week sent me into reminisce-mode. I remember one of my favorite bands that I ever saw there--the Dixie Dregs. Think Bela Fleck with a touch of the Allman Brothers & you'll have an idea of how they sound.We used to road trip from Peachtree to get to the theater--back roads all the way. By the time we limped into town, sitting down in any air-conditioned room was a really intense feeling. We would rest a little, drink a little, rest a little...you get the picture.
The Dregs had a very laid back vibe but the crowds weren't always so mellow. Fights broke out from time to time & I do remember the night we all had to leave the building till the cops got things sorted out.
Their label was Capricorn Records out of Macon Ga.. Capricorn signed Widespread Panic, the Allman Brothers, Marshall Tucker, Wet Willie, Elvin Bishop, plus a few others too.
That was good stuff! Glad I was there to hear it : )
Friday, June 26, 2009
The News Is Coming Too Fast Lately
3 deaths in one day that have the US talking & the internet straining at the seams:
The death of Farrah Fawcett
The death of Sanford's political career, dignity, & possibly his marriage
The death of Michael Jackson
There were so many searches for "Michael Jackson" on the internet last night between 5 & 7pm that Google's security systems thought they were being hit with a denial of service attack & activated the "capcha" feature. The News section of Google also thought they were having a DOS attack as well.
Perez Hilton screwed up yet again this week when he blogged that he doubted that Jackson had gone into cardiac arrest & speculated that Jackson was pulling a stunt. He told readers to ask for their ticket money back. Very nice, right on the heels of the whole Much Music award night debacle (I'm not eve going there--look it up)
When the news that Jackson had died was confirmed, the ill-timed respons on Hilton's blog was deleted--but not before he was showered with criticism by his readers. I wonder if this is the start of the end of his 15 minutes?
Twitter saw a doubled rate of twits for about 2 hours after the news of Jackson's death started spreading.
Information overload.
The death of Farrah Fawcett
The death of Sanford's political career, dignity, & possibly his marriage
The death of Michael Jackson
There were so many searches for "Michael Jackson" on the internet last night between 5 & 7pm that Google's security systems thought they were being hit with a denial of service attack & activated the "capcha" feature. The News section of Google also thought they were having a DOS attack as well.
Perez Hilton screwed up yet again this week when he blogged that he doubted that Jackson had gone into cardiac arrest & speculated that Jackson was pulling a stunt. He told readers to ask for their ticket money back. Very nice, right on the heels of the whole Much Music award night debacle (I'm not eve going there--look it up)
When the news that Jackson had died was confirmed, the ill-timed respons on Hilton's blog was deleted--but not before he was showered with criticism by his readers. I wonder if this is the start of the end of his 15 minutes?
Twitter saw a doubled rate of twits for about 2 hours after the news of Jackson's death started spreading.
Information overload.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Here's A Good Deal For You
Boscov's has a 12 volt wet/dry auto vacuum for $9.97. Sure, it's not as strong as your real wet/dry vac, but this one is small enough to store in the trunk of your car & will run on your lighter plug. Sounds convenient.
Here's the link.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Thank You Blackberry
I wrote a review a while back about my new Blackberry Storm 9530. Basically I said that it would be perfect if they could just fix a couple of issues.
I'm happy to report that the latest firmware update has done just that.
I love it : )
Thank you !
I'm happy to report that the latest firmware update has done just that.
I love it : )
Thank you !
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Raw Food Vitamix Recipe
2 cups pitted bing cherries
1 cup rice
4 cups water
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 vanilla bean
2 tbs raw agave nector
Soak the rice and vanilla bean in water overnight.
Put the goop in the Vitamix & blend till smooth.
Strain.
Put rice milk mixture into ice trays & freeze,
Add ice cubes, vanilla extract, agave nector, cherries & blend till smooth.
This recipe is a bit high in carbs, but a good option for those avoiding dairy. Not to mention it tastes great!
Enjoy!
1 cup rice
4 cups water
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 vanilla bean
2 tbs raw agave nector
Soak the rice and vanilla bean in water overnight.
Put the goop in the Vitamix & blend till smooth.
Strain.
Put rice milk mixture into ice trays & freeze,
Add ice cubes, vanilla extract, agave nector, cherries & blend till smooth.
This recipe is a bit high in carbs, but a good option for those avoiding dairy. Not to mention it tastes great!
Enjoy!
Monday, June 22, 2009
RIP Georgia Theater
The Georgia Theater is gone. I don't know what to say, it feels like an old friend that left too soon.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Hot Hot Hot!
It wouldn't be so bad if the humidity would just drop below 65%...
I may melt any minute...
I may melt any minute...
Friday, June 19, 2009
Rockin Out
Tuesday night I got home about 9:30 as a storm was just getting rolling. We turned off all the lights in the house & went to the side porch with our respective glasses of tea. How relaxing. How awe-inspiring! The rain was loud on our big old trees, the lightening lit up Echo Mountain across the valley from us. That's what I call entertainment...
That's how I roll.
That's how I roll.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Another Raw Food Vitamix Recipe
Last week I posted a (gulp) failed recipe for chocolate coconut cherry candy. It didn't work because the coconut made it a little too runny. This week, no problem-->a real easy winner here!
1/2 fresh pineapple
milk & meat from one Thai coconut
1 tbs raw agave nector
3 cups ice
Blend till smooth then enjoy an incredibly refreshing drink. Simple but good.
1/2 fresh pineapple
milk & meat from one Thai coconut
1 tbs raw agave nector
3 cups ice
Blend till smooth then enjoy an incredibly refreshing drink. Simple but good.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Back In Town
I just got back from a trip to AdventureCon in Knoxville, TN. What fun! More to come in a later post.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
The Kitty Says No Way!
Maybe this will only be amazing to me but...
I took the new kitty to the vet last week for the rabies shot required by the state when you adopt from a shelter. I felt really bad having to put her back into a cage when she was finally getting happy in her new home but I knew I had to do it. On the way there she meowed about every 5 seconds or so. She behaved really well at the vet's office & started occasionally meowing again when she was put back into the car. Then things got weird.
I had to stop at the shelter to turn in her rabies vaccine certificate. About 50 feet before I turned into the parking lot she went wild--cried like a baby, tried to get out of her cage, just went a bit insane. I hurried into the shelter & got out really fast--she was still doing it. I thought something might have gone wrong with her shot & as I was getting back into the car I was planning on going back to the vet. 50 feet away from the shelter parking lot she quieted right down & has been perfectly normal since then. Not happy we took her from her office mind you, but back to her old self.
How did she know?
I took the new kitty to the vet last week for the rabies shot required by the state when you adopt from a shelter. I felt really bad having to put her back into a cage when she was finally getting happy in her new home but I knew I had to do it. On the way there she meowed about every 5 seconds or so. She behaved really well at the vet's office & started occasionally meowing again when she was put back into the car. Then things got weird.
I had to stop at the shelter to turn in her rabies vaccine certificate. About 50 feet before I turned into the parking lot she went wild--cried like a baby, tried to get out of her cage, just went a bit insane. I hurried into the shelter & got out really fast--she was still doing it. I thought something might have gone wrong with her shot & as I was getting back into the car I was planning on going back to the vet. 50 feet away from the shelter parking lot she quieted right down & has been perfectly normal since then. Not happy we took her from her office mind you, but back to her old self.
How did she know?
Monday, June 15, 2009
Our Favorite Home Project
Without a doubt has been screening in the side porch. It's our favorite room now & the cats love spending the day watching Outdoor-O-Vision. We've feed the birds & squirrels close by & spend hours just hanging out there talking. That project cost about $650 for the supplies & about $600 for the furniture.
One more purchase we've been happy with has been denim-covered furniture. Yes, denim. Yes slip-covered, as in washable.
Ok Ken, any more questions?
One more purchase we've been happy with has been denim-covered furniture. Yes, denim. Yes slip-covered, as in washable.
Ok Ken, any more questions?
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Saturday, June 13, 2009
A Bad Investment
Ok, Ken, part 2 of your many home-owner questions answered. What's the one home purchase we regret the most?
That would be the Ionic Breeze air purifier by Sharper Image. I'm not sure what we were thinking there! It just didn't do what the commercials promised & it makes an annoying sound when dust finally does start to stick to the electrostatic plates. Wasted money.
Things we've bought that we're disappointed in?
We bought new windows for the purpose of being more energy efficient but haven't been able to tell any difference at all. They look nice & are easy to clean though.
When the central air was installed they put in a unit that just didn't cool the whole house--not even close. We called them & instead of replacing it with a bigger unit they just added some fans to the vents. It's never really worked up to our expectations. Also every couple of years the drain pump quits working & Randy has to buy a new one & replace it (about $60). Either that or call somebody in & have it replaced for about $200. What a pain...
We had a privacy fence set up in our side yard. The first windstorm we had & the whole fence blew down. That was really disappointing considering what it cost in the first place.
Things we've bought we're happy about?
Definitely the bed. We have a king-sized Sleep Number bed. We originally bought it after much research & our main reason for buying it was that it has twice the warranty of any other bed out there--20 years. Also it is way more sanitary. Regular mattress's harbor dust mites--ecck! I have sinus/allergy problems & know that dust mites contribute to them. This bed doesn't have a mattress in it at all, just a mattress pad over it that is washable. So no dust mites! What we didn't expect was how dangerously comfortable it is. I could easily spend too much time in it if I let myself. Randy's sore back was history after about 3 weeks. Money well-spent.
That would be the Ionic Breeze air purifier by Sharper Image. I'm not sure what we were thinking there! It just didn't do what the commercials promised & it makes an annoying sound when dust finally does start to stick to the electrostatic plates. Wasted money.
Things we've bought that we're disappointed in?
We bought new windows for the purpose of being more energy efficient but haven't been able to tell any difference at all. They look nice & are easy to clean though.
When the central air was installed they put in a unit that just didn't cool the whole house--not even close. We called them & instead of replacing it with a bigger unit they just added some fans to the vents. It's never really worked up to our expectations. Also every couple of years the drain pump quits working & Randy has to buy a new one & replace it (about $60). Either that or call somebody in & have it replaced for about $200. What a pain...
We had a privacy fence set up in our side yard. The first windstorm we had & the whole fence blew down. That was really disappointing considering what it cost in the first place.
Things we've bought we're happy about?
Definitely the bed. We have a king-sized Sleep Number bed. We originally bought it after much research & our main reason for buying it was that it has twice the warranty of any other bed out there--20 years. Also it is way more sanitary. Regular mattress's harbor dust mites--ecck! I have sinus/allergy problems & know that dust mites contribute to them. This bed doesn't have a mattress in it at all, just a mattress pad over it that is washable. So no dust mites! What we didn't expect was how dangerously comfortable it is. I could easily spend too much time in it if I let myself. Randy's sore back was history after about 3 weeks. Money well-spent.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Ken's Questions Finally Answered
My friend Ken (yes you) & his wife just bought a home & he is full of questions about saving money, home projects that are "worth it", etc. I thought I would answer some of them here.
First some background. Randy & I bought our house in 1995. It was built in 1963 & is brick. The couple we bought it from are the original owners. It is a typical ranch (think shoebox), oil heat, decent sized yard with lots of trees. No carpet--thankfully. When we bought the house it was in pretty good shape for the most part. The owners were in their 60's when they built it & their 90's when they sold it to us, so no children had ever lived there & the house pretty much had original everything--even down to the swag lamps (anybody remember those) & floor-model record player. There had only been one coat of paint ever on the walls.
Randy is a true fix-it guy & has really transformed this place into something that is very comfortable for us & truly easy to maintain.
Ken wanted to know which project has been the "best" one for us. With an industrious husband, many have been "best" for us. The one set of projects that has saved us the most $$ has been making the house more energy efficient. We use 80% less oil than the previous owners & believe me, we stay warm. We have their old records & are able to compare them to our current ones.
A couple of cheap projects did the trick.
One thing that made a dramatic difference to our heating bill was adding insulation to the attic (about $300) & sealing up cracks around the doors, windows, & attic space. (about $45 for sealer). Additionally we added vertical blinds to every window & keep them closed when we weren't home (about $300). Voila! Instant savings on the heating bill.
A few years down the road we actually replaced the single pane windows with more energy efficient ones but truthfully I didn't notice much of a difference in our energy consumption.
When our hot water tank broke down a couple of months after moving in, we replaced it with a more efficient one at a cost of about $150. That helped our electric bill to the tune of about $10 a month. Last year I started hanging out most of our laundry & we saved a little over $500 in one year. Also, keeping our trees makes the house cooler. We had central heat & air installed (don't use the heat) & cooling the house definitely costs a lot, so being able to wait before using it has been very nice. We just turned it on for the first time a few days ago. Again simple things like keeping the blinds closed during the day have enabled us to keep cooling costs to a minimum. And we monitor everything--every bill, all our consumption records, all of it.
So Ken since you've asked (repeatedly) my advice to you is to make your first project winterizing your home. The money we've saved on our bills have already covered the cost of the central air & the new windows.
First some background. Randy & I bought our house in 1995. It was built in 1963 & is brick. The couple we bought it from are the original owners. It is a typical ranch (think shoebox), oil heat, decent sized yard with lots of trees. No carpet--thankfully. When we bought the house it was in pretty good shape for the most part. The owners were in their 60's when they built it & their 90's when they sold it to us, so no children had ever lived there & the house pretty much had original everything--even down to the swag lamps (anybody remember those) & floor-model record player. There had only been one coat of paint ever on the walls.
Randy is a true fix-it guy & has really transformed this place into something that is very comfortable for us & truly easy to maintain.
Ken wanted to know which project has been the "best" one for us. With an industrious husband, many have been "best" for us. The one set of projects that has saved us the most $$ has been making the house more energy efficient. We use 80% less oil than the previous owners & believe me, we stay warm. We have their old records & are able to compare them to our current ones.
A couple of cheap projects did the trick.
One thing that made a dramatic difference to our heating bill was adding insulation to the attic (about $300) & sealing up cracks around the doors, windows, & attic space. (about $45 for sealer). Additionally we added vertical blinds to every window & keep them closed when we weren't home (about $300). Voila! Instant savings on the heating bill.
A few years down the road we actually replaced the single pane windows with more energy efficient ones but truthfully I didn't notice much of a difference in our energy consumption.
When our hot water tank broke down a couple of months after moving in, we replaced it with a more efficient one at a cost of about $150. That helped our electric bill to the tune of about $10 a month. Last year I started hanging out most of our laundry & we saved a little over $500 in one year. Also, keeping our trees makes the house cooler. We had central heat & air installed (don't use the heat) & cooling the house definitely costs a lot, so being able to wait before using it has been very nice. We just turned it on for the first time a few days ago. Again simple things like keeping the blinds closed during the day have enabled us to keep cooling costs to a minimum. And we monitor everything--every bill, all our consumption records, all of it.
So Ken since you've asked (repeatedly) my advice to you is to make your first project winterizing your home. The money we've saved on our bills have already covered the cost of the central air & the new windows.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
DejaVu - Tomorrow's The Day For Morris Communications
The folks at Morris have received another extension on their 9.7 million dollar interest payment. This latest extension is due tomorrow.
Let's hope something worked out soon.
Click here for the article.
Let's hope something worked out soon.
Click here for the article.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Raw Food Vitamix Recipe - A Failed One!
I would sure appreciate it if somebody out there could help me make this one better--it has a lot of potential! We were trying to make a healthy version of a Mounds candy bar with this one but the filling was too runny.
We blended fresh coconut, a cup of bing cherries & a tsp of raw agave nectar for about 10 seconds & it tasted great!
The original plan was to dip this mixture into raw chocolate powder but we ended up just adding the chocolate into it & eating it out of a bowl. It was really sweet tasting & altogether a bit too...something, I'm just not sure. It was so sweet that a little went a looooooong way.
Hard to believe that something that decadent can actually be good to you : ) Tom was a bit surprised to learn that raw coconut is considered by some to be a "superfood". Here are some articles for you:
Article 1
Article 2
Article 3
Article 4
Fresh coconut meat is addicting!
We blended fresh coconut, a cup of bing cherries & a tsp of raw agave nectar for about 10 seconds & it tasted great!
The original plan was to dip this mixture into raw chocolate powder but we ended up just adding the chocolate into it & eating it out of a bowl. It was really sweet tasting & altogether a bit too...something, I'm just not sure. It was so sweet that a little went a looooooong way.
Hard to believe that something that decadent can actually be good to you : ) Tom was a bit surprised to learn that raw coconut is considered by some to be a "superfood". Here are some articles for you:
Article 1
Article 2
Article 3
Article 4
Fresh coconut meat is addicting!
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Rough Survey - Blogger
10 sites at a time I checked 100 Blogger blogs through the day yesterday using the "Next" button at the top. Here are my findings:
33 written in English
68 less than 10 posts in 2009
75% had something to do with the bloggers family
Maybe the NYT article had some merit...
33 written in English
68 less than 10 posts in 2009
75% had something to do with the bloggers family
Maybe the NYT article had some merit...
Monday, June 8, 2009
Concerning Blogging - Blogs Falling in an Empty Forest Article
The NYT recently asked the why blogs so often fail. Evidently a lot of people are asking the same question because the article made it to the top of the Technorati site on Sunday. It seems that many blogs fail, often due to writer boredom or expectations of large amounts of traffic that never happens, so the writer becomes disillusioned with the whole process & quits because of that. That means there are a lot of dead blogs floating around in the nether regions of cyberspace. I think I'm going to try to find a few & post them in links from time to time. Who knows what I'll find?
Click here for the NYT article
Click here for the NYT article
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Saturday, June 6, 2009
My New Kitty Has Betrayed Me!
After I fought for 7 years to get a cat for the office, picked her from literally dozens of others at the shelter, paid for her, spent time brushing & talking to her, after all that (not to mention keeping her litter box clean, who's desk does she hang out on?
Friday, June 5, 2009
Vitamix Raw Recipe
I do love my Vitamix!
Here's what has to be the simplest recipe yet.
2 cups ripe local strawberries
1/4 cup raw honey
Blend for about 10 seconds.
Pour over ice cream, strawberry shortcake, or anything else that you want to see disappear when you serve it.
Enjoy!
Here's what has to be the simplest recipe yet.
2 cups ripe local strawberries
1/4 cup raw honey
Blend for about 10 seconds.
Pour over ice cream, strawberry shortcake, or anything else that you want to see disappear when you serve it.
Enjoy!
Thursday, June 4, 2009
If Groundhogs Could Fly
Last Saturday was so relaxing. We hung out on our side porch alot. At one point Randy saw something just over our fence he couldn't figure out & after a walking over there we realized that it was a groundhog stuck about 10 feet up in a tree! It was seriously stuck, not even trying to hold on, but letting the branches hold him. I guess the neighbor's dog must have chased him up there?
After calling various numbers that were no help at all (sorry ma'am, we don't work in Henderson county, sorry ma'am, we don't work after 4pm, etc.), we decided to get him out ourselves. Our fence is 6 feet high & the groundhog was higher than that. We can't really go into the neighbor's yard--their dog is big & mean. They had been gone since Friday. We got a ladder & a snow shovel & pulled down the branches that held the groundhog, caught him with the snow shovel, & gently put him in a pile of leaves. Ta Da!
The best part was when he shuffled off towards the woods & then stopped, stood up, turned around & looked at us. It was like he was thanking Randy for catching him.
After calling various numbers that were no help at all (sorry ma'am, we don't work in Henderson county, sorry ma'am, we don't work after 4pm, etc.), we decided to get him out ourselves. Our fence is 6 feet high & the groundhog was higher than that. We can't really go into the neighbor's yard--their dog is big & mean. They had been gone since Friday. We got a ladder & a snow shovel & pulled down the branches that held the groundhog, caught him with the snow shovel, & gently put him in a pile of leaves. Ta Da!
The best part was when he shuffled off towards the woods & then stopped, stood up, turned around & looked at us. It was like he was thanking Randy for catching him.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Kicking And Screaming To Twitter
I don't want to do it, but I think I may have to. I have a client & an organization that are going to make me. Dang it, I don't need another social network!
Ok, enough whining. I signed up (hopefully not for long). I sure hope this dies on the vine...
Ok, enough whining. I signed up (hopefully not for long). I sure hope this dies on the vine...
Nothing Like Carolina Skies
This is a picture I took with my cell phone back on May 22nd. I am always struck by how beautiful the skies are in the Carolina's.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
That Was Fun
Went to a Tourist ballgame Sunday afternoon. It's been years (literally) since I've been there. It sure has changed. $5 parking, lots of corporate sponsors, etc. It was still all kinds of fun though!
I find it somewhat ironic that with as many rock concerts as I've been to, this was the first place to ever search my bag before they let me in.
Monday, June 1, 2009
What A Weekend
What a weekend...There's a new cat, Shakespeare in the park, a ballgame, & an elevated groundhog. Couldn't ask for much more...
Click here for pics
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)