Baking Results

Well, my baking adventure seemed to be a success. People in the food club seemed to like my mini cinnamon rolls, and a few people asked for the recipe. So I take that as a success.

Current mood: relaxed
Current music: iTunes on shuffle—Maroon 5 "Harder to Breathe"
Current drink: coffee

Um...What?

Is this lady for real? Or is it a Saturday Night Live skit? This woman has no idea what she is talking about. Could she possibly be dumber than George Bush?


Watch CBS Videos Online


Reminds me of a certain commercial..."No Katie, I don't know anything about politics or foreign policy, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night..." If somehow, someway McCain and Palin get elected, I'm moving to Amsterdam!

Baking Adventures

As I might have mentioned before, I'm part of the Special Treats Club at work. This is a little—actually pretty big—group of co-workers who like to cook and who especially like to eat. So every Friday, two people bring in treats to share. The last time I had to bring in treats, I brought in my, now famous, baklava bars. Prior to that, I never really baked at all, but it ended up being a success. Tomorrow is my turn to bring in treats, so I thought I'd try another baked good, and on this menu are Mini Cinnamon Rolls.

I used some premade dough courtesy of Pillsbury Crescent Rolls. I followed all of the directions and rolled everything out and cut everything up into mini rolls. Well, the prebaked rolls were about the size of a quarter or silver dollar, and I started to panic. Even with two batches, I was beginning to think that I would have to make another two more to have enough to feed everyone in the club. But after looking through the oven window, I was comforted to know that the cinnamon rolls were growing. Whew! Yes, I really am that dumb. But pasta is my thing, and I really don't know what the heck happens when you put a baked good in the oven.

They are still in the oven and my apartment is starting to smell like cinnamon. Hopefully they taste as good as they smell!

The Value of Copper

While tidying up around my "office" at home, I stumbled across a newsletter that comes with my energy bill. There was one mini-article about copper, and it mentioned that stealing copper has become a really big "business" lately. It said that because of the price increase for copper, people are taking even greater risks at trying to get their hands on it. People have been trying to steal copper from electric equipment including switch cabinets, transformers, and utility poles. According to the article, these crimes can result in power outages, fires, and explosions. (That would be a bad thing.) It can also result in serious injury and even death to the criminal (that would be a good thing), so the energy company encourages people who witness such crimes to call 911. Or you can throw a bucket of water on the crook while he/she has his/her hand on a live wire, which is what I would be tempted to do, provided it doesn't result in the loss of power to my home. But maybe that's just me...

Best Laid Plans and Being Laid Out

This was another long, busy week at work, and all day on Friday I was looking forward to the weekend and planning what I would be doing. I had grand intentions to go on a bunch of hikes this weekend, but my plans didn't exactly fall into place. For the past week I've been having headaches that have been lingering and not going away. I never get sick with colds or the flu, but I do have frequent (and nasty) headaches. They usually come on at times when I'm most stressed, and because stress and tension have been somewhat high lately, I've been getting headaches more frequently. On Wednesday I actually had to leave work early because I was feeling so bad. The headache alone was bad enough, but then I started to feel light headed and nauseated, so I thought it would be better to either faint or throw up at home rather than at work. I felt a little better on Thursday and Friday, but the headache came back on Saturday—it's common for my body to completely shut down when I'm resting—so instead of hiking on Saturday, I rested or slept for most of the day. My headache is better today, and I mostly feel tired and achy, but at least I'm not as bad as I was. I guess I'll be saving my hike for another day.

Current mood: tired and achy
Current music: iTunes on shuffle - Loreena McKennitt "The Lady of Shalott"
Current drink: orange juice

On Death and Taxes and People Who Deserve to Die

This week at work were very fortunate to get our little bonuses for the year. I was very excited about it until I opened it up and was reminded that bonuses are subject to federal and state taxes. So about 40 percent went back to the government. Yipee! I suppose I can't complain too much because I'm very fortunate to have a job in the first place and this (heavily) taxed bonus is a lot more than some people are getting right now. So I should (and I do) feel blessed.

However... It is too bad I'm not the CEO of one of these big corporations that is collapsing in the latest economic crisis and financial meltdown. Those idiots seem to be getting multimillion dollar severance packages just for running a company into the ground. I highly doubt that the people who have lost their jobs or the people who have lost their homes are weeping for these CEOs. They walk away with millions of dollars, the government bails out the companies they left behind, and most likely the "regular" people of the world will pay more taxes to fix everything. Something doesn't seem right about this picture...

Current mood: happy and bitter
Current music: iTunes on shuffle - David Gray "This Year's Love"
Current drink: soy milk - something healthy before I pour a glass of brandy

Stubbornness and Shallowness

Stubbornness: With Hurricane Ike approaching the Gulf Coast, many people were given mandatory evacuation orders. They were told to leave because this hurricane could be one of the worst in history. However, many people insisted on staying behind to "ride out the storm" or to protect their homes and belongings. I've been watching the news this morning and there is one report that some of the people who stayed behind are now trapped because the roads or bridges are washed out. They most likely don't have power and the phone lines are probably down. So there were reports that these people were standing on their roofs trying to flag for help. Part of me feels sorry for them, but another part of me doesn't. They made the choice to stay when they could have evacuated. And now other people will have to put their lives at risk to rescue these people. All for stubbornness and, quite frankly, stupidity.

Shallowness: For the past few weeks, I've been wondering why so many people seem to be crazy about Sarah Palin. I just don't like her. For one, she is a hunter, and I just don't like hunting. I just don't see why it is considered a "sport." If the animals had weapons, then it would be a level playing field. But they don't have weapons. And when the animals are shot and killed it's usually when they are doing what comes naturally to them—looking for food, looking for water, or just wandering about. They are just minding their own business, so to speak, but apparently in the minds of some people they still have the right to shoot these animals. And the bigger cowards and lazier of the hunters shoot animals from helicopters.

But that is a digression to what I title "shallowness." As I've said, I've been wondering why people are crazy about Palin. It occurred to me that people are crazy about her because in general the American public is shallow and everything is based on how you look. Palin has that girl next door, homecoming/beauty queen, class president, librarian, "hockey mom" look about her. She might be inexperience and ill-informed on what is going on in the world outside Alaska, but she's pretty and that's all that matters. She has power (as governor), she's sassy and feisty, she's challenging the boys, but she does it with a cute little smile and laugh that some women just seem to love and admire. She is totally clueless and classless, but people don't seem to care. But my theory is that if Sarah Palin looked like Janet Reno, she would not be getting this kind of reception, because I have a feeling that if she did, women (because let's face it most women are catty) and the media would be ripping her apart and tearing her down. Instead of being cute and sassy and feisty, she would be considered rude, bossy, pushy, and butch and mannish. It's maddening and frustrating for people who are smart. But Let's face it, there are a lot of stupid and shallow people out there in the word. Let's just hope they don't ruin the election for the rest of us!

Current mood: "feisty" and unforgiving
Current music: iTunes on shuffle - New Order "True Faith"
Current drink: coffee

Morning Hike

I woke up early this morning because I wanted to take a hike around Chautauqua Park and up into the Flatirons. I got to Chautauqua at about 9:30 and the parking lot was already full. The trails, though, were surprisingly quiet. I'd occasionally see people as they passed, but it wasn't crowded at all, and that made it really nice. I walked up the Chautauqua trail, then turned down the Bluebell-Baird trail. I then went halfway up the 2nd and 3rd Flatiron access trail. I didn't want to go all the way to the top, so I turned around and came back down. I then took the Mesa trail back to Chautauqua park.

It's been a while since I last hiked, so in the beginning I was pretty tired and out of breath, but then I started feeling better. I'm definitely not as young as I used to be. But I suppose if I hiked more often, I wouldn't be tired in the first place. So that's probably incentive to hike more often.

Another incentive to hike more often is because I just enjoyed myself. I took my time and enjoyed my surroundings. Some people hike purely for exercise or because they want to "conquer" nature. I hike to enjoy everything. I took my camera and got a lot of great pictures. I was also completely absorbed with everything around me and I was absorbed with myself. For the first time in a long time, I wasn't thinking about work or any of the other things that stress me out in life. I wasn't thinking about anything other than what would make a great picture. And I wasn't thinking about anyone other than myself. That, for me, is strange and rare!

Here are a few pictures from my hike. If you want to see more, you can click on the link to the left to see more pictures on my Flickr page.

On the Chautauqua Trail heading toward the Flatirons

Two deer. I took this with my zoom, but I was only about 10 yards away from them. They kept grazing and didn't seem to mind that I was standing there taking pictures of them.

Heading back to Chautauqua Park. The Flatirons. Notice the heart-shaped cloud!

So all in all I had a great time!

Early

So I woke up early today, a Sunday. For me and my standards, waking up at 7:30 on a Sunday is early. For normal people that time might be, well, normal. But I decided to wake up early because I want to go on a little hike. I might as well take advantage of the weather before the winter starts to hit. I'll be back later in the day, hopefully with stories and pictures.

Dreams

So one of my co-workers, who is becoming a good and loyal friend, just told me that she had a dream that I was a school shooter. That's pretty disturbing, but the fact that it made me laugh probably makes it even more disturbing. I wonder what it all means, other than I'm probably slightly crazy...

Current mood: glad it's a sunny, pleasant day
Current music: iTunes on shuffle - Tori Amos "Raspberry Swirl"
Current drink: Barq's root beer

Photography Excursion

I woke up early today to carry out my plans to head up into the mountains to take some pictures at Boulder Falls. As I said before, I wanted to play around with my shutter speeds and aperture settings. I was hoping that if I got there early enough, the light in the canyon wouldn't be so harsh. I got there at about 10:00 and I guess I was a little too late. The sun just crept over the mountain and the light was shining directly in the canyon but the falls were hidden in a shadow. That made playing with my shutter speeds and aperture settings pretty difficult. Actually, it was a disaster. When you slow down the shutter speed, more light gets into the camera. Usually you can balance things out by increasing the aperture number (making the aperture smaller). My whole purpose for using a slow shutter speed was to try to get that silky effect that you see in some pictures of waterfalls. I tried to slow down my shutter speed and set the aperture at the highest setting (smallest opening), but too much light kept coming in. Everything was washed out and too bright. Sigh. I suppose that I need to get to the falls a whole lot earlier or much later in the afternoon when the sun isn't shining directly into the canyon.

Oh well. Here is the best of all of my efforts:

Can't Think of a Clever Title

So, once again, there isn't all that much to report. This past week has been another busy and chaotic one, but fortunately we have a long weekend because of the Labor Day holiday. Unfortunately, though, last week was the last week of our summer hours where we get to leave the office early on Fridays. Even though next week will be a short week, Friday will probably feel like the longest Friday ever because we won't be able to leave the office at 1:00.

Because of Labor Day, I had grand intentions to take advantage of the long weekend. I've been wanting to go back to Boulder Falls to take more pictures. I just bought a tripod for my camera, so now I want to use it to play with different exposures and shutter speeds and stuff like that. I've also been wanting to get out and go on some hikes. I haven't done any of that yet. Instead I've been sleeping in, really late, and just lounging around the home doing nothing in particular. I suppose my body just wants to rest. But if I want to get out and do something fun and interesting, I still have tomorrow I guess.

Current mood: lazy
Current music: Tori Amos
Current drink: coffee

This and That, Weekend Edition

There isn't much to report, really. This past week at work has been pretty busy and hectic as I mentioned before. But I got three of my books to press, and I suppose that's all that matters. It was mostly just a tiring and exhausting week.

Right now I'm sitting in my apartment and listening to the rumble of thunder from a distant storm. Hopefully the storm comes closer and hopefully we get some rain. I'm all settled in my new place, and I'm really loving it. I still think that I need another bookcase or two, though, and maybe a few more prints to put on the walls.

I drove through the middle of Boulder this afternoon, and you can tell that school is about to start because it seems much busier. There are more people wandering around, and there are a lot more cars on the road. Although I sometimes like the busyness and the activity, it's nice to come home to a quieter area.

It sounds like the thunder is getting louder, so I'm going to hang out on my balcony for a little while.

Sports and Uniforms

Has anyone else noticed that when it comes to sports and uniforms the women's uniforms are getting smaller and tighter while the men's uniforms are getting bigger and baggier?

Just an observation...

Friday!

Work: All I have to say is that I'm really glad it's Friday! This has been an extremely busy and exhausting week. Work has been really busy lately, and to make things more fun and exciting, I've been working on some really messy and complicated projects. Unfortunately that is the one downside of being a team leader--you generally have to take on the tougher projects. Things got really crazy with two books that have to go to press next week, and I've been frantically trying to get them under control. Oh well. I might be tired and stressed out, I might be fighting off headaches and grinding my teeth both at night and during the day, but once these books are finished, the will be great reads. And while I try to wrap up these two projects up, some more complicated projects have just come in. To keep on top of everything, I had to bring some work home with me. We had "summer hours" today, so I've been enjoying my half-day off. But I know I'll have more work to do later this weekend. Sad!

Weather: For the past few weeks it has been really hot. It's not unusual for Colorado to be in the upper 90s or low 100s during the summer, and we've certainly had that kind of weather. But, apparently, a cold front is moving through. It is the middle of August and here I am wearing a sweatshirt. You never know what you're going to get in this state! It's supposed to snow in the high country this weekend!

Olympics - Opening Ceremonies

So, like a good Classics nerd, I've been eagerly awaiting the opening ceremonies to the Olympics all day. So far the ceremonies have been good. There was one glitch here in Colorado, though, because apparently rain was disrupting the signal and the station was without sound for about ten or fifteen minutes. That was really great when you're trying to figure out the symbolism behind what was going on. Eventually it was fixed.

For one, I think it's always great when the Olympics are held in an "old" country. With that you get a ceremony that is very rich with history and culture. When your civilization is 3000 or 5000 years old, you have a lot to share and a lot to tell. It's always just so much more exciting. I think that's what makes these opening ceremonies in China so cool. And, of course, the opening ceremonies to the Athens games in 2004 were extra special.

The parade of nations is always fun. I give a little cheer to the Greek team. Yay for the birthplace of the games! And I always eagerly await the Dutch team. Unfortunately, though, the Dutch team followed a few countries behind the United States. They showed the Dutch team for about 20 seconds, then cut back to shots of the U.S. team acting silly. Argh! And in spite of the other countries entering the stadium, they keep cutting back to the U.S. team. I kind of like to see and hear about the other countries and their athletes. I really don't care if Kobe Bryant is taking a picture with someone. Argh! Oh well. What do you expect. For the most part things have been beautiful and wonderful.

Still waiting for them to light the torch...

And, yes, I will be rooting for the Dutch throughout the games...

Customer Service

So the "several installments" that I mentioned in my previous post have been slow in coming. Sorry...

Now I will tell my story about customer service. Usually people have bad customer service stories, but I have a good one. A few weeks ago I called the phone company to cancel my service at my old apartment. What could easily have been a five minute phone call turned into a thirty minute conversation. I had to verify my address, and it turns out that the lady who was helping me used to live in Boulder in the 70s. She was telling me that she always remembered it being a beautiful and a fun town, and I told her that it's still beautiful and fun, but probably just busier than she remembers. She's now living and working in South Dakota, but she's also lived in San Francisco for a few years. She said that now that she's older and that all her kids are grown up, she wants to come back to Colorado. She said that she missed the mountains and the beauty of the state, and she has always wanted to go whitewater rafting. She loved skiing and would like to go again...

This lady and I pretty much exchanged life stories, and I almost felt guilty about canceling my phone service, but it was a fun conversation. I think that most people of the world approach customer service calls with a bad attitude. They are angry and demanding and they yell and scream. Therefore they have bad customer service experiences. But if you approach the call with a polite, pleasant, and respectful attitude, you get much different service. It's not that surprising. If you treat people nicely, you'll get the same treatment in return. At least that is what my Ma taught me.

The Danger of Sidewalks

I've been a bit quiet in the blogging world because I've been busy. Work has started to get busy again, and I've been doing a lot of stuff around my new apartment. So here is the first of several installments on what has been going on in my life...

To speak honestly, I've been hesitant about writing this post, mainly because I come off looking like a total dork. But, whatever, most of the people who read this already know I'm a dork, so what do I have to lose...

Last weekend I was happily going about my day, running errands and shopping for some new little things for my apartment. I was walking toward one store, and I'm not sure if I was distracted or what I was thinking or doing, but before I knew it a little (low) sidewalk jumped out of nowhere and surprised me. It hit me fast and I had no time to react, so down I went. I tripped and fell. I landed straight on my knees and my left hand. I bruised my left knee but apparently did the most damage to my right knee. I tore through my jeans and skinned my knee. ...and blood was pouring out of it like a waterfall... Actually it wasn't that bad, but I might as well make it more dramatic and less embarrassing than it really was. It was bleeding, but I only lost about a silver dollar-sized portion of my skin. I also managed to bruise my hand and wrist. I think that I was more upset about the fact that I ruined my favorite pair of jeans! Fortunately it was a quiet store and no one was around. If I had eaten the pavement in front of the Super Target, that would have been a little more ego bruising.

Apparently I'm becoming more like my mother and falling at random times for random reasons.

My knee still kind of hurts because it is trying to heal, but I'm sure I will be okay. No need for any one to worry, I'm fine... Although I won't turn down any offers to kiss my knee...

Current mood: bruised ego, still, a week later
Current music: Loreena McKennitt
Current drink: Fat Tire

Relaxing

I wanted to take a break from house stuff and decided to relax for the evening. For the past hour I've been sitting on the balcony and enjoying a glass of wine. Aside from the occasional plane that passes overhead and aside from my music playing inside, all I hear are the sounds of birds chirping or a owl hooting in the distance. Through the green leaves of the trees outside my apartment, I can see the mountains in the distance. With the sun setting, they look like a simple dark blue mass of peaks. There are a lot of clouds in the sky, and they are drifting slowly by, almost inching their way across the sky. It's been beautiful. It's calming and relaxing.

Now it's time to pour a second glass of wine and get back outside.

Current mood: relaxed
Current music: random shuffle of Dead Can Dance and Lisa Gerrard
Current drink: Swanson 2003 Merlot

Getting Settled

I've been in my new apartment for exactly one week, and so far it has been wonderful. I'm still in the process of unpacking a few things and putting everything where I want it. Then I have to figure out where I want to hang all of my artwork. Now that I have a bigger apartment and more walls, this might actually be difficult. Decisions, decisions, decisions... I also want to buy another bookcase (now that I have the room), but I might hold off on that for a while. After spending $200 on the movers, it might be a good idea to save some money.

Our entire complex is in the process of renovating certain things, and on Tuesday the maintenance crew came in to install new windows and a new sliding door to my balcony. These are double-pane windows, so that means they will be more energy efficient. So this will be much better when winter comes around.

All in all, everything has been great and it is all coming together. I've been doing well and settling quite nicely. I've also been sleeping well, so that's a welcome change!

More later...