Archive for February, 2008

Periods of Uncertainty

Thursday, 28 February, 2008 at 6:41 pm · Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged ,

“We’ll make it through this period just like we made it through other periods of uncertainty during my presidency,” Bush said, when explaining that he did not believe the US is headed for recession.    I had to laugh.. I’m sorry.   Did he say that out loud?   I guess if I were the president, I would have ended my sentence at “uncertainty” and called it a day.

According to Wikipedia (sorry), ”a recession is a slowdown in a country’s gross domestic product (GDP), or negative real economic growth, for two or more successive quarters of a year. A recession may involve simultaneous declines in coincident measures of overall economic activity such as employment, investment, and corporate profits. ”

My guess would be that (from a spending standpoint) the failure of people to spend as much as desired for a healthy economy may have a little to do with rising prices, overextended credit and the sucking dry of wallets due to ridiculously funded (subprime) mortgage loans (thanks to low teaser interest rates, which are now ballooning to 11% and more).   People are losing their houses right and left.  

People who, for whatever reason, are voluntarily selling their houses, will take losses, due to taking out second mortgages to fund home repairs (eliminating equity) and lower home values (possibly 10% lower than today’s prices in 2009).  Banks trying to sell foreclosed homes will take losses, as well.    There could be a bank crisis as a result.  

“8 million households are already upside-down on their mortgages and …we could see that number go to between 16 million and 24 million by the end of 2009.”

No recession?  Really?

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Too Funny

Tuesday, 26 February, 2008 at 7:00 pm · Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged

Sometimes, as I go through my day, I think, “Hey, I should blog about that…”.  I had several moments like that today, and now I can’t remember any of them.   :)

I think by the time I made it half through the day, my friend Gem was probably ready to dump a barrel of chocolate over my head and tell me (quite nicely) to shut up.   Hormone overload.   Send help.  Now.  

It snowed a ton here yesterday.   It was all wet snow.   It melted on the ground, then froze overnight.  It made for some interesting footage on the news.   A man in a pickup truck found out how slick it was .. just a little too late… then slid into two cars.   At first, I was watching the damage happen, but then, when it replayed later?   I watched the driver’s reaction, and boy was he pissed!   I don’t blame him.  Stupid driving is hard to overcome.  Just ask me.  :)

I, however, made it to work in one piece.   Did some work.   Had a nice chat over lunch.   Came home.   Ate fish.   And here I am.

Forgetting what I was going to blog about. 

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Working Out

Sunday, 24 February, 2008 at 9:27 pm · Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged

Just got done working out on this thing.   It’s been sitting in the corner of the “computer room” for awhile.   Frankly, I couldn’t figure out how to set it up from its resting stage… until I pulled a pin out, and then it snapped into place.   :)   I’m just not good at putting things together, ok?   Even at work, when someone hands me something weird and audio-visual looking, just hand me the instructions, please.  :)

I enjoy working out.. it’s one of those things I’ve had on the back burner for awhile that I want to pick up again.     Conveniently enough, my computer display is right by the machine, so it’s easy enough to pull up the exercise instructions online, and start working out.

If it wasn’t so darn cold outside, I might even go jogging, which is very unlike me, but not entirely out of the question.

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The Lake House

Saturday, 23 February, 2008 at 10:36 pm · Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged

Quite some time ago, I saw The Lake House.   It’s an interesting movie about fate and love.   And, as a bonus, it has Sandra Bullock (and Keanu Reeves) in it.

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Today’s iPod Acquisition

Saturday, 23 February, 2008 at 8:53 pm · Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged

Missing

A good reminder that a good thing is worth fighting for. I mean, who wants to be in the spot where you’re permanently missing someone important?

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Pasta

Saturday, 23 February, 2008 at 8:01 am · Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged

This is a result of a recipe given to me yesterday, by one of my favorite chefs. :)  It’s from scratch (well, there were canned tomatoes involved).   I carmelized onions in extra virgin olive oil, tossed in ground beef, stewed tomatoes, a few cloves of garlic, oregano, basil, pepper, red wine and balsamic vinegar… all added in a particular order… tossing a few bits of pasta into the sauce while cooking to make it thick.

The bread was a purchase from a local grocery.. it was sourdough with cloves of garlic baked inside… whole cloves of garlic. 

I can cook.  I just wanted you to know.

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An interesting day

Wednesday, 20 February, 2008 at 6:52 pm · Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged

Having just consumed a small glass of margarita and eaten some fish and chips… (well , ok … CARP and chips.    We shan’t call this official “fish and chips”….   Just out of respect for the real tea lovers who happen to hang around here)… I am doing pretty good.  

 My day consisted of blowing apart the assumption that loading Great Plains 10 is actually a complicated task (oh, come on!) and messing around with bluetooth KVM switches (not recommended for the faint of heart, or those who require consistant bluetooth mouse and keyboard connections!)   The day went fast.

I had a few gifts today…  I’ll call them warm and fuzzy gifts because they comforted me.     A bit cryptic, but it makes sense where it counts.

It is COLD here.   This morning, the air temperature was -7F.   The wind chill made it -20F.    It was so cold that they called of school.   They didn’t want the kids waiting outside for busses to freeze to death.       I have to admit, I put on my mittens today.   It was a little breezy, but not terribly.   Frankly, to me, it was the same as any other freezing day around here lately.

Now, I am sitting here writing this, reading through some email, cruising a blog or two and watching this man cook up some octopus and various other things.  

Oh, I am going to be a godmother to my niece.   I had to get a letter from The Church showing I actually went into a Catholic church recently.   Then, maybe in April, I’m flying down to Texas for the baptism.   I only pray for warm weather this time.  Last time I was in Dallas, it was almost as cold as Nebraska.

 One thing I did for myself today (a nice suggestion, courtesy of Gem):  drank tequila, took a hot bath.  

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Peanut Sauce

Monday, 18 February, 2008 at 6:29 pm · Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged

If you like peanut sauce, you can’t go wrong with this recipe.   Toss in some red pepper, if you like, for something spicey.  I made this tonight and tossed it onto chicken and rice. 

2 tablespoons smooth peanut butter
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1-2 cloves garlic, minced or chopped
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon brown sugar
juice from half a lemon (can be less, depending on your taste)

In a non-stick pan, combine all ingredients, stirring constantly over medium heat until peanut butter has melted. Tastes great over noodles and vegetables, or as a sauce over chicken or beef.

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Me, A to Z

Sunday, 17 February, 2008 at 10:08 pm · Filed under meme

Accent: Midwestern United States, something we would call an “unaffected dialect”.

Booze of choice: Toss up between Cuervo Tequila and any type of wine, preferably Cabernet.

Chore I hate: Cleaning the bathrooms is always loads of fun.

Dog or Cat: I’m a cat person who owns dogs instead (a golden retriever and a miniture schnauzer)

Essential electronics: Laptop, iPod (4gb Nano), cell phone

Favorite cologne/perfume:   If I do put something on, it’s a natural spray of some sort.  Normally,  I just like to smell like myself.

Gold or Silver:  Silver

Hometown: Born in Peoria, IL, lived in Omaha, Nebraska for much of my life.. oh, short stint in Denton, Texas during college.

Insomnia: Not really… although I do wake up quite early every day (shhhh)

Job Title:   IT Specialist

Kids:   One of my own; two stepkids.

Living Arrangement: A house, although I prefer apartments.  :)

Most-admired trait:   forgiving and understanding

Number of Sexual Partners:   Lol.   get lost.

Overnight Hospital Stays:  A couple, actually.  Once for severe headaches (migraines), one for dehydration when I was diagnosed with mononucleosis (just out of high school) and one when I had my daughter.

Phobia:   Heights, closed in spaces, spiders

Quote:   You must be the change you want to see in the world.   Mahatma Gandhi

Religion: Christian… mostly non-practicing

Siblings: Two brothers, both younger.

Time I wake up: 0430

Unusual talent/skill:    I can pick up things with my feet.  I am part monkey.  :)

Vegetable I refuse to eat: brussel sprouts.  blech.

Worst habit:   Getting frustrated with finding a place for things, and then just deciding to leave them where they are.   :)     I’m so glad for online bill paying.   I at least get to not collect bills.   I just toss them in the shredder and use the online.   One less pile of stuff.   :)    I have regular cleaning sprees, where a lot of stuff goes directly to the trash.  hehe

X-rays: Last one was a mammography, I imagine.

Yummy foods I make:   I pick pizza, green salad and a really good white wedding cake (from scratch.  I’m not kidding).   Veal parmesan, anyone?   Chicken cordon bleu?

Zodiac sign: Cancer, all the way, baby.  “To be a Cancerian is to be blessed with an infallible inner radar screen. It is to care, passionately, about the people who matter to you and the causes that have meaning to you. It is to know, always, what must be done and why – and never to be wrong. Yet it is also to feel your best is never good enough, even though it certainly is. “

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Contact Lenses

Saturday, 16 February, 2008 at 8:05 pm · Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged

Something odd happened at the eye doctor today.   I thought a long time about whether or not I wanted new glasses or I wanted to switch to contacts.   They had an interesting idea.   Since I need bifocals, they opted to make my dominant eye the one which can see far away, giving me a contact lens with the correct prescription, -4.25.    The other eye will be the eye that reads close-up, so it got a reading glass prescription of -3.0 (normally -4.5ish).   

It’s an adjustment.   Sometimes my eyes get confused as to what they are supposed to be looking at (close up or far away) and I have to close them and reopen them to get back to normal.    A couple of hours into the new process, I think I’m doing pretty good.

At first, I have to admit, I thought, “No freaking way!”, but after the doctor suggested that I should try it because I would have no need for reading glasses, I opted to try it for a week.    Then I could really read AND I could really see far away…   Wow!

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