Month of October, 2007

Movable Type 4

Yesterday I upgraded to Movable Type 4. So far so good. Things are running though a few things look out of whack. I'm thinking very hard about a redesign so I might just leave things out of sorts for a little while. No promises though...my CSS skills are horribly rusty. Hopefully I can twist someone's arm at work.

Chris's Visit to the ER

This weekend my parents were in Phoenix visiting. While Mom and I went to the spa on Saturday, Chris and Dad worked on a new desk for the office. They were finishing the desk up on Sunday when Chris had an accident and cut a couple fingers on the table saw.

I was sitting on the couch watching TV with Mom when I heard the guys come into the kitchen. Very calmly, my father asked me to come into the kitchen. Chris was at the sink with his hands in running water. My first thought was he was simply washing his hands but very quickly realized that he was washing a wound. We immediately went into problem solving mode. We first looked up urgent care centers and ultimately decided to go to the hospital emergency room, which was much closer.

Chris got pretty dizzy and saw stars while standing at the sink. He was definitely the whitest I've ever seen him. Dad helped him quickly to the car and once he sat down things were better. We zipped to the ER where we were helped very quickly. By that point, much of the bleeding had stopped. Chris was handling the pain quite well. (Much better than me!)

I haven't spent any time in the ER before so I was very impressed at the efficiency of the process. Within two minutes of walking in the door, a nurse was taking Chris's vital signs. Within 10 more minutes, a triage nurse was evaluating the severity of his wounds. We waited for a little while before getting a room, but once you're in a room it feels like you can breathe a sigh of relief. The true relief came when Chris finally had both fingers numbed. (They call it a digital block because it blocks pain in a digit, the finger. But I couldn't help think it sounded like a technology phrase.)

There were x-rays and cleaning and stitches and super glue and dressing. Chris got ten stitches in all. Then we got drugs from the pharmacy and went home.

All things considered, this wound is a lot better than it could have been. Table saws aren't particularly kind to fingers. And I'm sure the new, sharp, shiny blade didn't help. We're lucky that Chris missed the bones and that the doctor was able to put him back together. I'm sure the healing process will take quite a bit of time, but as long as there's no infection, he should be fine.

I was impressed that afterwards, Chris and Dad talked about the accident. They talked about what they did and what they could have done differently. They're both sorry it happened but were able to turn it into a learning lesson. I know that Chris isn't going to stop working with wood and I certainly don't want him to stop. I just want him to be very careful so he doesn't injure himself again. I love him a lot and don't like seeing him in pain.

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Nerdiness

Curtis and Derek took the nerd test and it sparked my attention. Turns out I'm not as nerdy as them!

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ReadPhoenix.com

Integrum built me my very own website!

http://readphoenix.com

Ever since I moved to Phoenix two years ago, I've wanted a way to find bloggers in the area. Refresh Phoenix was the way I got to meet tons of people in the web, but I still wanted links to everyone's blogs. I've been keeping a long list of blogs that I've stumbled across or of people I know. And for a long time now I've been meaning to post the list. But like many things, it never materialized. My HTML/CSS skills are not what they used to be and building a page seemed daunting. I really wanted a nice little application to maintain the links for me and to give people a way to submit their own sites. Because what use is it really if it's only my list of links?

So at work the other day, I brought up the idea. Luckily, they team said it would be easy. (Isn't that what all developers say?) Then they actually built it! I got to play customer and write user stories. The team came to me when they had questions or ideas. The direction of the site was totally up to me. I learned something - it's hard being the customer and knowing exactly what you want! (I'll have more empathy for my customers from now on.)

I owe a huge thank you to Jade (who built the first half), Gist (who designed it all and helped keep the functionality simple), Heidmo and David (who built the other half)!

If you're in Phoenix and have a blog, please add it! And for everyone else, go read Phoenix!

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Fly or Drive?

We're finally getting around to buying plane tickets for Christmas. We're going to go back to Texas for a week. Tonight when I looked at tickets, I choked a bit. Tickets for our dates were $330 - 540! Yikes! So for the two of us, that means spending somewhere between $660 and $1080. Wow, that's a lot of money.

The drive to Dallas is a little over 1000 miles and takes about 15 hours. (I've driven it three times in total so far.) We estimate it will cost somewhere around $200 - 250 in gas roundtrip. We may or may not need a hotel room. If a hotel room is necessary, we can easily add another $100 - 150. That's still about half the cost of flying both of us. AND we could take the dogs rather than leave them here. (We have wonderful neighbors who look after them, but a week is a lot to ask.)

So the decision needs to be made and SOON. Should we fly or drive? It it worth spending 30 hours in the car to save $300 - 400?

If it were you, what would you do?

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Last Weekend

Friday night we went to sushi happy hour at Ten. It was fabulous and so cheap! I love that Chris lives here and we can go on a date every weekend instead of waiting two weeks between visits!

Saturday we played Sloshball with some friends. Since we didn't have enough people to play a real game of softball, we made up a game comprised of kickball, cricket, and something else. It was a lot of fun. Definitely challenging to play a sport with a beer in your hand! Needless to say we laughed a lot.

Saturday night I did some sewing while Chris recovered from the game. (With a nap on the couch!) I'd show you a picture of what I sewed but it's a Christmas gift so no go. I suppose I'll have to take pictures to post after Christmas of all the stuff I'm making!

On Sunday we carved pumpkins! Our neighbors, Christy and Matt, joined us. I'm looking forward to Halloween because my neighbors all hang out in their front yards. We get to socialize and enjoy all the kids' costumes. It'll be really nice to have Chris here this year.

Last, Last Weekend

It was a pretty quiet weekend around the house. Friday night we tried a new-to-us neighborhood sushi place. So far, it's our favorite of the places close-by. Obviously run by a family and the chef had amazing attention to detail.

Saturday morning we ran errands which included taking Bentley to the vet. He's got another ear infection. I tried a new vet since the one I had been seeing was very expensive. The new vet didn't end up being any cheaper, but I liked her "bedside manner" better. She told me that his ear infection is probably due to his allergies. So we gave him a steroid shot to help with the allergies and have him on ear drops to clear up the infection. She's also having me try benadryl on a daily basis to see if that keeps his allergies in check. (I think Kristen tried this years ago without much improvement, but I can't remember.)

Saturday afternoon Jennifer came over and we sewed! I've been itching to make stuff recently and finally made some time to do it. She made a bag to carry around school papers. I made a bag to carry my lunch to work. She bought new and very beautiful fabric. I used some crazy and maybe not-so-beautiful fabric that I've had since college.

Saturday night we were supposed to meet friends for a drink, but I wasn't feeling particularly well (generally tired with a headache). So we just laid on the couch all night. And watched the gigantic new TV! I keep meaning to mention that we got a giant TV, but I can't get away from it long enough to actually blog about. Yes, it's awesome. Yes, all I do now is watch TV and play video games. This is what the living room looks like now. It's a bit cramped but you hardly notice once you sit down and start watching. In fact it's hard to notice anything else when the TV is on.

Sunday afternoon we went for a bike ride. I also made awesome Vietnamese-inspired shrimp sandwiches. I talked with the family. I finished up my lunch bag.

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Fwd: Guess who I met today...

Email from my coworker, Josh. He's got me all excited about Obama!!

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From: Josh H
Date: Oct 19, 2007 2:48 PM
Subject: Guess who I met today...

that's right.... Barack Obama! I got to shake the hand of the next U.S. President! :-)

For those of you that missed it, he basically summarized the major talking points from his last book, "The Audacity of Hope". He talked about abolishing the Patriot Act, restoring Habeas Corpus, destroying Guantanamo, bringing our troops home, making healthcare available to EVERYONE (by the end of his first term), making education affordable again, reducing our dependence on foreign oil, increasing support for new and sustainable energy, and restoring America's reputation throughout the world. Given the chance, I really think Barack can make this happen!

Together we all can make a difference! Let's bring America back to "WE THE PEOPLE"!!!
www.barackobama.com
www.barackobama.com/donate

Happy Birthday, Mom!

My mother turned 60 yesterday.* Whohoo, it's so awesome! And how awesome does she look?! I totally hope I look this good at 60. You know, years ago, I thought 60 was old, but not now that I look at my mom. She's traveling all over the world. She's active in her church and community. She has hobbies & an active social life. She's healthy. I'm so lucky to have her in my life! I just wish I could see her more often. (Now that I'm not visiting Chris in Texas anymore, I'm not seeing my parents as often either. That's a bummer. Luckily they're coming out in a couple weeks for a belated birthday celebration!)

Mom, I love you and hope you had an absolutely wonderful birthday. Can't wait to see you soon and celebrate with you!

*I fully recognize that it's taboo to talk about a woman's age, and I recognize that this might make my mother uncomfortable. That was certainly not my intention. I think this milestone birthday is something to be celebrated rather than hid. I'm proud of my mother and every single year of her life!

Voicemail

It cracks me up that after three years in Germany, Karen still doesn't know how to check the voicemail on her cell phone. I can't blame her since the voicemail instructions are in German. But I know she has friends who speak German. After three years you'd think she would have asked for someone to write down instructions.

Guess it just shows that you don't really need voicemail after all.

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Tennis Ball

I was a bit surprised to see where the dog's tennis ball ended up as I was heading downstairs the other morning.

NPR

Since my commute was tripled in March, I've been listening to NPR a lot. It seems many of my coworkers listen to NPR as well and stories from the morning often come up in conversation. (Like the one on Radiohead's unique method of distribution for their current album. In case you didn't heard, it's a pay-what-you-want model.) Listening to NPR has been really great for me and definitely expanded my knowledge of what's happening in the world.

Years ago, I listened to NPR on a regular basis and loved it. But when the Iraqi war started, I couldn't continue listening. The reports of how many soldiers and civilians died was just too depressing and overwhelming for me to hear day after day. I felt so frustrated with a war I couldn't support and had no control over. So I stopped listening in order to separate myself from the war as much as possible. I just didn't want to think about.

Now that I'm listening to NPR again, I'm beginning to feel the same feelings. In the pit of my stomach, I feel sick about this war. I'm frustrated. I feel helpless. I just want it to be over and all the troops to come home. I get angry, especially after I heard pieces like the one which says that Iraqi soldiers get a week of vacation after every two weeks of work. I'm sorry, but when our troops don't get to come home for years, I'm pissed they have such a policy. There isn't time for vacation when your country is falling apart! And if your soldiers don't care about your country, why should we? (Yeah, I was really angry after that story.)

We'll see how long I can continue to listen to the news about Iraq and the emotional roller coaster I feel. But I'll definitely keep listening to NPR for all the other news. And I'll keep reading their website and finding gems like the article about Theo Jansen, a dutch sculptor who creates amazing kinetic sculptures. This piece wouldn't translate particularly well to audio, I'm afraid, because you just have to see the pictures to believe it. Go watch the video, the "sand beasts" are fascinating, amazing, and strangely beautiful.

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Mexcio Beach Trip

A couple weekends ago, Chris and I went to the beach! Can you believe the beach is only a three hour drive from Phoenix?! Yep, Rocky Point, Mexico, is a short three hours away. Phoenicians call it Rocky Point, but Mexicans call it Puerto Penasco.

The trip was Matt and Aeree's idea so they did all the planning. They even drove! I felt totally spoiled with such great guides on my first roadtrip across the border.

We stayed at a small townhouse directly on the beach in an area called Las Conchas. (You step off the back porch and you hit the beach!)

The focus of the trip was relaxing so we didn't do much else. We ate (brought all our own food), drank, talked, played in the sand, napped, read, swam. Eventually we did go into town to look around, but our focus was definitely on the beach.

Saturday the water was pretty choppy and there was a cool breeze. Sunday the wind died down and the water was almost completely smooth. I spent hours in the ocean on Sunday. We saw all sorts of interesting crabs and fish, but the dolphins were certainly the biggest surprise. A few hundred yards (or maybe closer) from where we were swimming, a pod of dolphins swam by. It made me giddy. On Sunday, the beach was so perfect, I felt like I had to be dragged out of the water.

Everyone had a lovely trip and we can't wait to do it again. (If Matt would hurry up and buy that condo on the beach, we'd ALWAYS have a place to stay down there!)

See all the pictures from our trip.

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Friday Night Excitement

The excitement here on a Friday night after a long week at work is turning up the radio and dancing. Chris wouldn't join me, but Mac, the lab, did. It was a wild and crazy night. I was in bed before 10pm.

I made a new friend!

Thanks to the Internet, I've met yet another fabulous person. Keesha and her bf, David, met Chris and I for happy hour a few weeks ago. Keesha and I have been reading each other's sites since about the time I moved to Arizona. As it usually goes in Internet meeting, I can't remember exactly how we happened upon each other's sites. But with all the time that's passed, it was definitely time to meet in person.

We met at Union Bar, a newish wine bar in Scottsdale, for happy hour. You know, you meet for happy hour in case you don't like the other couple, you can make excuses about other dinner plans. But the four of us got along so well that we ended up going to dinner together!

Of course, there are plenty of similarities in our lives which is why we got along so well. Both Keesha and David work for a company that does their main business on the Internet. They both have blogs. We're all about the same age. We all love wine. (Though Keesha loves it more than me. She showed this as she almost passed out when I said I might not drink red wine ever again because I love white so much.) But most importantly, Keesha is from Texas!

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Women in the Workforce

Road and Travel Magazine posted this reprint of an article from 1943 on hiring women in the transportation industry. My how times have changed!! My favorite recommendations:

• Pick young married women. They are less likely to be flirtatious.
• General experience indicates that "husky" girls - those who are just a little on the heavy side - are more even-tempered and efficient than their underweight sisters.
• Give the female employee a definite daylong schedule of duties so that they will keep busy without bothering the management ... they lack initiative in finding work themselves.

Thanks, Jish, for the link!