Office back yard 1/28/09

Just another beautiful day in paradise (work) and this the view outside the back of my office. I can't wait until spring comes and I can take this picture again with everything green! The squirrels weren't around for their pictures today. They must have gone on vacation.

I think they're married??? At least that is what Milton said!

"And as I said during my inauguration speech, if countries like Iran are willing to unclench their fist, they will find an extended hand from us."
- President Obama in news interview with Muslim Television.

I think we have sometimes forgotten that when we close our fist, we have many fingers pointing back at us and it is only us that we have to blame for closing our minds, hearts and hands to those that may now be willing to speak peace. Read the first part of his interview at

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/01/27/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry4754691.shtml

and see what an educated and diplomatic president the US had elected! Peace in the Middle East may be possible!

A nice quote from ESPN

"Squeezing in another 14 games and a handful of practices was like shoehorning Charles Barkley into a thong. "
- Dana O'Neil, ESPN.com

Talking about the scheduling issues between Saint Joe's and the University of Pennsylvania as Penn allows Saint Joe's use their stadium for games. Saint Joe's home center is closed for a year long renovations and they needed a new 'home' court and Penn opened their home for them. Just thought that the quote put into perspective the scheduling conflicts.

The Sundial

So I decided to go for a quick walk on Friday (1/23/09) around where I work to take some pictures of my enviroment. If you have access to my Flickr account you can go and see the rest of the pictures. Friday was a cold day with the oncoming cold front approaching. You can't see the Sierra Nevada mountains to the west. I decided to take a few pictures of the sun dial, located at the Planetarium as it was interesting to think about it. This piece of equipment is used to tell time, based on the shadow position cast by the sun. It actually comes an hour fast/slow based on the day light savings. Anyways, this piece of equipment loses it use when the sun isn't out. It just made me think about how many other things or jobs are out there right now that are effect because its major component is not available. With everything that is happening with the economy, it makes me think how fortunate I have a job and benefits and that people need me around. Otherwise, I too can be a sun dial alone in the world on a cloudy day.

Winter Walk 2009.

Aaaahhhh, so the other day Happy, Lucky and myself went on a quick walk around the neighborhood and I decided to take a few pictures along the way. We are fortunate enough to live near the Sierra Nevada Mountains and we get to see this every day (well that is when it is the winter we get to see the snow covered mountains every day! With a walk through the neighborhood, we saw the mountains covered in a thin haze due to the sand on the roads. It made for a night picture!



This is a picture of Peavine Mountain, to the south-west of our home. When it snows again, I will try to go out and take some more pictures. It was a beautiful January day and it was nice walk around the park to get some fresh air and just chat.

Until next time...

While I am at it, what was 2008?

Really, while I am logged into Blogspot, why not do a quick recap of my 2008? It might take me a while to recall everything but isn't that what a blog is about?

January - Me and the gang when to one of the amazing wonders of the world: Disneyworld in Orlando! We had a great time for over a week of just hanging out, riding all of the roller coasters (with me laughing like a deranged nut), eating and shopping. Unfortunately the trip back had issues with the airport that myself and Significant Other (SigOt) were stuck in the Salt Lake City airport. That is when we heard of the kidnapping (and later murder) of Brianna.

February- Just another lonely Valentine's. My SigOt is not the romantic type so there was no quiet dinner together or card. He did get me a rose though, which did take some thought and planning on his part.

March - It was Lucky's birthday and we had a great time. We did lunch as a group at the Stonehouse cafe and then the movies! We went and saw "The other Boleyn Girl" which is based on a novel by Phillipa Gregory. I really wanted to watch it because a) I am really into Tudor history (you know, King Henry the VIII and his 6 wives) and b) I read the book twice. However, the movie sucked! Nothing like the book.

April - Not much remembered here....

May - The SigOt and I went to Hawaii for a week. It was a blast, although if I had my choice and some money I would definitely do the first class thing. It was a long time on a plane and a bit scary since I never have flown over the ocean. I had to make sure I paid extra special attention to the whole 'your seat cushion may be used as a flotation device in case of an emergency landing on water' . But we had a great time just hanging out. We stayed in Waikiki and we both felt it was like going to Las Vegas but on an island. Next time we would love to do North Shore or a different island to enjoy the laid-back lifestyle of the islands.

June - Our first anniversary! Didn't do much as it was in the middle of the week but we made it!!!

July - Not much...

August - Not much. Just got back into the grove of working at the University and the return of over time at the football games. Lucky and Happy (this was Happy's first year with working the events) and I got to work the games together and had a blast! Oh, Lucky sometime during the season got stung by a bee! It might have occurred in September but we will leave it at that. So Lucky was working and then there was something on her arm and she swatted it. Well, needless to say that the bee had stung her and when she hit it, the stinger stayed in the arm. Happy tried to assist and ended up squashing the bee with her show. We eventually had Ron help to get the stinger out and she went to the office to get some weird spray put on the sting. Yep, we learned what to do in case of a sting and that she isn't allergic to the bees. Now Ron calls her Ms. Bee!

September - Other than it being Happy's and my birthday, I don't remember much as to what happened. No trips, nada. Oh, but by September we had booked our cruise and Happy and I made sure to get our passports, which I got by the end of the month.

October - Happy and Lucky went to a crazy Halloween party while I sat at home (my choice of course) in the dark to avoid the lurking trick-or-treaters. I didn't feel like spending money on the candy so I didn't buy any! So Happy and Lucky went to the party. Lucky was a pirate and Happy was the reincarnation of her boss! I think the theme was to represent holidays but from the pictures that I saw, some people had some weird interpretations. Lucky was representing Pirates day (duh) and Happy was Boss' day. There was another pirate (trampy pirates were allowed) and some other odd interpretations.

November - Thanksgiving with the in-laws. My SigOt brother came home from training to have the holiday with us. He was shipped out to Afghanistan at the end of the weekend to begin his one year tour there with the Medi-vac unit. Our thoughts and prayers for a safe and speedy return are with him.

December - Spend the holiday's with my parents. Had a great week off and just chilled. It was nice to have a quiet end to the year. Now I am just waiting for February for the cruise!

Sleepy bear....

So today I am really sleepy and can't wait until my pretty little head hits the pillow. Unfortunately I have to wait until my 'social hours' are over at a friend's house tonight. Basically I have over-scheduled myself lately and my lack of sleep is leaving me delirious and woozy. I can't wait to go home and take a hot shower and go to sleep in my snuggly flannel sheets! I am going to sleep late and do nothing until I have to go to work at 4pm. Aaaaaahhhhh. Yep, that is the stuff of life. Sleep and being lazy!

Ode to Costco!!

What can anyone say about Costco other than great things? Where else can you get your prescriptions filled while you wait for tires to be mounted to your car and your Christmas cards are printing at the one-hour photo counter? Or, where else can you spend $200 in less than 30 minutes and only have 5 boxes of stuff in your cart?

Really, I love Costco but sometimes I just don't have the space to store the wholesale price items I need. For example, I would love to stock up on chicken and other fresh meats but I don't have a freezer to store it all (yet). And I would like to buy a large supply of paper products but I can store toilet paper or paper towels anywhere. I would be out my ears in paper! (Sounds like my work actually).

But it is nice to go there and get great deals on stuff when you do have the space and the time to get it all stored away. Their cakes are AWESOME and are a lot of fun to have at a large party. Costco is the place to get your necessary office break room supply items. Their pizza is a great deal when trying to feed a large crowd, as long as you can get a phone call into their deli to order them!

Costco - definitely an American idea that has helped me to live and survive in the crappy economy. Let us all praise the Costco!!!

Happy New Year 2009!

Yeah! Today is the first day of my new blog - the Point of View of Happy, Lucky and Paddles or POV of HLP. My name is Paddles and I belong to a great group of friends, fronted by Happy and Lucky. Basically we saw how great Hoops and Yoyo and Piddles from Hallmark got a long that we thought that we would take our ideas and post them to the world! Watch out, here we come!!!

Anyways, this is my new blog to celebrate my life and my friendships as a collective. I hope to use this as a venue to blog about my life as a whole and am going to work to post pictures and such at least once a week. That is asking a lot from me as I am a very busy person! But, alas, it must be done!.

So kick back, take a breath and enjoy my POV on life as Paddles!