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November 30, 2003
Thankful...
I'm thankful David, Lisa and Granny Morna came to spend Thanksgiving with us....I'm thankful the leftovers are nearly gone and the carcass is safely tucked in the freezer for some future soup.
I'm thankful for my MIL's patience...she tried to teach me to knit and I just wasn't getting it at all. She thought dinner was more important. I got the hang of it , sort of, between Lisa and Greg helping me. Of course he can really knit; no one in this family knits alone.
I'm thankful there is an "off" button on our TV....I really tried to watch Austin Powers last night on Fox tv...really I tried. Blech...what a waste of money and maybe talent.
I'm thankful I have a "new to me new computer"...I think my "stuff" is on it. We'll see this week as I use it in Maryland.
I'm thankful we got seats on a flight to MD today when I had to change them 3 weeks ago to this the second busiest travel day of the year. I am also thankful we actually have upgrades on the shuttle from LGA to DCA...I don't care if the flight is only a half hour...we're flying it in First Class!
Off to pack...see you all from Maryland.....have a fine Sunday.
Posted by frani at 07:17 AM | Comments (0)
November 23, 2003
Same ole same ole.....
I really don't have a whole lot to say today but it has been a few days since I posted anything. I just have been futzing around the house..puttering with this and that...went to a craft show...found a new to me slavage yard. you know, the usual.
However, it was rather amazing yesterday..sort of like a typical old time Johnston Saturday where people just wandered in. Ok...one person was expected but then Neal popped in with his crisis of the week. I liked that.
Poor Neal...here he was out tracking down a new door jam because his current one had a minor knick in it...and there was my newly painted wall with lumps and bumps and gouges...he mentioned something about roller marks. Hey, it's painted .... who needs perfect. ...um...which is exactly what he came over for anyway, he needed to gain a little perspective. I'm good for that when it comes to housekeeping and home decor. Anyway...hey Neal...the door still opened and shut, right? Don't worry about it!! Problem solved...crisis averted.
BTW..I haven't introduced you all to Sophie...my coffee mug. Susan Paley designs vases and candlesticks and mugs and such in many different "ladies"...they are too cute.
In the meantime, we have an ongoing issue with our thermostat/furnace, sigh. It will get straightened out eventually.
I just finished reading James Patterson's Four Blind Mice Friday night and started on Perri O'Shaughnessy's Unfit to Practice. Yep...more heavy reading, quality literature...snort.
Have a fine day all.....
Posted by frani at 08:21 AM | Comments (0)
November 19, 2003
A little of this...
I guess there is something to be said for professional photography...these proofs came out great and the best ones are yet to come! Ahem...of course with this kind of subject matter, how can the photographer fail??
The not quite what I envisioned salmon colored walls in the hall and up the stairway are gone. Yes Fans, after 10-15 years, I finally decided to repaint them....wouldn't want to rush into anything. I was all set to just paint them Antique White ( when all else fails go for color) but at the last second I decided on a very light orange...antique white with 2 drops of orange tint. It will do I guess. I am feeling my muscles in my back though....
So that's what I did yesterday...today I'm going out to look for a handrailing for the stairway. Oh yeah, I also have to buy some of that "opps" stuff...I managed to get some small amount of paint on the "woodwork". Hey, if it means saving yourself from falling off the stairs or getting the telescoping pole out to attach to an uncontrollable paint pad...what choice did I have?
Back to photos and the internet....last night's news had an item on the kid in Ontario whose "private" home video of his being a Jedi knight made it to the WWW via his "friends". Quite honestly, even *I* had seen that video and remember commenting at the time that I thought it was sad...this kid would be held up for some horrendous ridicule. Little did I know at the time that he had nothing to do with it's being posted. Actually I hope he wins his suit against his "friends"...oh yeah, he's suing the pants off them. I'm not sure how I thought it got posted to the net to begin with...probably some geeky parents thought their son was doing something awesomeclever/cute/talented....parents can be like that, ya know. sigh.......sorry if I ever did things that embarassed you two but I NEVER would do that! Morgan....you know which video I mean...I can't find it.
Posted by frani at 09:07 AM | Comments (4)
November 16, 2003
My jig isn't so jiggity...
We're home...long flight, that red eye. Well not exactly the flight itself...only 3.5 hours ..but the time leading up to it and the time before our flight from JFK to VT is excruciatingly long. We ended up going to the movies before our flight in Slat Lake City...saw Love Actually and we both enjoyed it...probably I enjoyed the cuteness of it more but compared to some of the shoot 'em up and explosions and nonstop violent flims, I'll take it.
We do meet an assortment of strange characters while on our travels. Sometimes people just plain talk to us; must be we have receptive faces or demeaner or something like that. This time we met a State of Utah Fish and Game Ranger on his way to New Jersey to surprise his wife and 18 month old son. They are in the process of moving there...she has started a job and he is looking. oooookkkk...lots of wildlife in NJ but I don't believe the elk herd is that large. Talk about a fish out of water....makes me sort of wonder how he and his wife even met in the first place...especially hearing about his wife's family background near Princeton area. Ahem...I'm sure his mother in law isn't any more thrilled with his tobacco chewing than I was watching (hardly) him spit into his soda bottle. Once I even envisioned his mistaking which direction he was using that thing and nearly gagged. Anyway...another issue is he was wrapping and unwrapping his hand...seems he had a little accident with a hand gun.. Through no fault of his own, it blew up in his hand and he lost a finger. Well actually it didn't heal at all well so that his middle finger bone never attached themselve to his hand so it sort of dangled...NOW he was recovering from his second operation where they removed the middle finger and moved his index finger to it's position...ooookkkk There was a long explation about gripping and how you don't grip with your index finger anyway so movng it to the middle finger position closes the gap and will make gripping better for him. AND...no I didn't need to see the 3 pins sticking out of the back of his hand NOR hear about the running stictches that the nurse just snipped and pulled on, thank you. BTW...he had had to unwrap it all for the TSA people because he would set off the metal detector...of course. I'm sure he could hide all sorts of stuff in there.
He also sat 2 rows behind us on the flight...sure glad I only had to hear part of the story a second time. I did find out he was left-handed though...whew, his injury was to his right hand. Hope he wasn't chewing while on board...talk about a captive seat mate...eeewww.
We also met someone else in line for that flight...going to NJ but looked very familiar. Turned out he'd gone to UVM and lived in VT for quite a while...named Fuzzy Something...I'll remember the connection someday..I'll find out how we know him. I don't forget people and faces. He didn't chew, thank goodness.
It's all very entertaining but I'm glad we are home...even if it was below freezing here and found our thermostat was running amok again...below 50 degrees in the house when we got here. Sure glad we paid $95 for that peace of mind before we left....sigh.
Enjoy your day all......
Posted by frani at 11:08 AM | Comments (5)
November 14, 2003
o/'o/'o/' on the road again o/'o/'o/'
Yes it's Friday......I'm all packed with a little over 13 hours to spare! Whew! It's going to be a very long day waiting for that red-eye....
This was a nice view up State Street (duh!) until the light turned....
Have a good day/weekend....see you from home on Saturday.
Posted by frani at 12:55 PM | Comments (0)
November 13, 2003
Why not?
So I'm still pretty well excited about having used a Segway. I've been thinking of all the times I would use one if I had one.....okay maybe it isn't practical for , say, a Costco run, but a trip to the Grand union for milk would be fine. Yes I've even been on eBay to see if they have any ...3 at the moment. I can see me running around South Burlington on one...now we just have to get the price down to make it a little less um...er...ah...geeky. Nahhhh.
I prefer to think of my geekiness as the ability to think outside the box which is a good thing, in my opinion. We were discussing this since Seway-ing and I agree that Greg gets credited to a large part for my ability to think outside the box but I also have to say there was something in me to begin with that allowed for it to "take". Sure some things were resisted: "Sure, go ahead and get a computer, just don't except ME to use it" Famous last words that I am still chewing on 24 years later. But for the most part, being exposed to many different things and fortunate enough to be able to experience different things, may not be enough for some people. Someone else has to be there close enough to suggest and encourage and just say "Hey, it's not only ok to do (whatever), it's a good thing!" That would be Greg...thanks!
I think my father tried some with me...of course I was raised with the girlie girl shoulds and ought tos but my father also made sure I could use a hoe and mow the lawn, use the right end of a hammer and screwdriver, know what an allen wrench is ( even if I can't spell it right) and let me have a pet raccoon. I was also the only one of my friends who could drive a standard transmission...and well. I'm not sure I was thrilled with some of techniques he employed nor even appreciated until now what he did for for me.....helping repair the transmission because I stripped the gears in the first place was not my idea of a fun way to spend a weekend.
Hopefully, thinking outside the box..the norm...is something we passed on to our kids ( I'm sure it is) and we can help do the same for our grandchildren. There may be enough things restricting us in our lives, we don't need to self inflict more out of fear of being seen as something other than "normal"
Hello, my name is Fran, and I'm a Geek....;-D
Posted by frani at 11:23 AM | Comments (0)
November 12, 2003
Hehehehe..........
I swear if I keep grinning like this, I'm likely to get bugs on my teeth.
Thanks to Magicscooter.com for a good time had by all. ...and don't believe any stories about anyone hitting the wall. pppsssttt... you can't steer them like bicycles no matter how how you try.
Posted by frani at 11:09 PM | Comments (9)
Things that make you go Hhhhhhmmm II
I think we are a culture of icons and monuments...some get over sensationalized though and just don't quite live up to the hype. At least in my mind they don't. I think one of the few that I found as awe inspiring in real life as in my mind is The Statue of Liberty. In my opinion she is one impressive lady and I have only viewed her from a plane and a boat so far.
So since we are in the host city of the 2002 Olympics AND I have seen many references to the games AND we have been driving by the University of Utah on a daily basis ( my doing so 4 times a day) and seeing signs referencing the Olympic venues, I commented yesterday that we really ought to drive in there one time to find the Olympic Cauldron ........Wellllllll, Duh........There it is in all it's glory sitting right on the side of the road where we have driven by it for the last 3 days. ( and Greg drove by it 5days in a row the last time he was here). Nope...not exactly all that I had imagined. Maybe if it was lit.........
On the other hand, it really isn't supposed to be on the same scale as The Statue of Liberty. I'm reminded of Demian's trip to London as he was sight seeing out the cab window asking the cabbie what this building was...and that one...etc...Buckingham Palace was one answer...duh That would be Big Ben. How many of these icons are unrecognizable in real life...smaller in reality than our minds. How many are really disappointing? Makes me a little nervous about seeing some of the other sights of the world...nah...maybe I'll just have to remember to put things in their proper perspective.
Is the Grand Canyone just another hole in the ground? The Golden Gate bridge just an extention of the road to Oakland? Is the Mona Lisa just some woman? I think while needing to keep perspective, I also need to have these things as special and worth looking at. BUT not at the risk of missing the other things around them or what it took to make them or preserve them or just what it is they represent. ...and just maybe there are other things in everyday life that are just as impressive to SEE if we take the time to look.
Posted by frani at 10:34 AM | Comments (9)
November 11, 2003
Salt Lake City
Residence Inn City Center....Mazda! Thanks Hertz!
The thing that strikes me first about SLC is for a big city with a million people( city area), it's just not crowded, especially on the streets. I like that in a city. Parking is outrageous if you want short term. The second Thing that hit me was the Wasatch Mountains...all part of the Rockie Mountain range. Hello...they are just THERE...can't describe them adequately nor do any of my photos so far. I haven't been out to see The Great Salt Lake yet but I will.
One can't go to SLC without seeing Temple Square ...The Mormon Temple and Tabernacle, so I headed out first thing yesterday morning. My brochures said they held a half hour organ recital at the Tabernacle every day at noon. It was just awesome. Again my photo doesn't do it justice and you just should hear that organ when he lets it "loose"! I'm glad I went...I even endured a two on one private tour with two young ladies (missionaries) educating me in the way of the latter Day Saints. I signed nothing....but I also have to say I opted into the tour and I wasn't too uncomfortable discussing ( me listening, smiling and nodding a lot) Jesus and the Prophets. At least *I* knew Joseph Smith was from Vermont.
Dinner was at a Thai Restaurant... good food.
Today I'm plotting out my course hoping to end up at the Red Butte Botanical Gardens which is near where Greg works. We'll see...I also may have something else exciting to report.
Posted by frani at 10:44 AM | Comments (5)
November 09, 2003
On the Road Again...
Well not quite but later in the day we leave for Salt Lake City. Traveling jetBlue this time. We don't usually get "big planes" these days...sigh...middle seat here I come. I guess there is an advantage of the commuter jets with their two and two seats ( or one and two seat rows)...the person crowding me is at least someone known to me...;-D
Cold yesterday...I actually had to get out my winter coat so I could go look at the moon last night. Maura called to remind us of the lunar eclipse...it was pretty cool.....warmer when it got to the point where we could see it from the living room window.
I got a new wireless optical mouse yesterday....I dont' think we are having mouse wars with my new one.....my old one did not work well with HGJs. At any rate...it works well travels well and isn't cramping my hand.
We watched Matrix Reloaded last night...yeah ok....saw it. Saw Finding Nemo the night before.....quite frankly, I liked Nemo better. Ellen Degenerese was great as Dorie...and I just know I'll never have another fish tank...ever.
Have a fine day all........
Posted by frani at 09:27 AM | Comments (2)
November 06, 2003
Bits of this...
Bobby Hatfield died......sigh... I think the Righteous Brothers songs spanned a couple of generations and did it well. Rats.
We've been having typical Vermont November weather...cold, wet, rainy absolutely ugly yuggy weather...I dislike November. pppssstt I think the sun is out now and just may be only cold and sunny through the weekend.
We've cleaned and organized some...even threw out bags of stuff! I've learned my lessons well from the artsycraftydoityourself becausenooneelsewill shows...the key to organizing and keeping thins tidy is to have a place for everything...AND room for more stuff. And I don't mean it's "place" being a heap in the corner either. All this has occur in the den...as usual and even I have rearranged my area.
I'm also using 2 screens with my docked laptop...the laptop screen and my flat screen monitor. Most of the time I drag whatever I want over onto my flat screen right in front of me, though. It seems like "magic" to have the mouse transsend the space between the monitor and the laptop...yeah I know...I'm still easily amused. However, It is reasonably useful to have the other screen to keep reference stuff on while working on the main. I'm such a geek...who woulda thunk.
I'm reading two books...James Patterson's "The Lake House" and "Expose" by Laura Van Wormer. Patterson's is hardcover...don't like traveling with a hardcover book.
The furnace guy is coming over this afternoon...seems we have some issue with the thermostat or something...at least we aren't freezing to death but we can't trust it either if we were to, say..leave town? us? Leave town? Salt Lake City next week.
Posted by frani at 08:31 AM | Comments (2)
November 04, 2003
o/'o/'Make someone happy...'o/'o/'
I'm not sure it's right to have airline agents laugh outloud ...for 5 minutes...when you explain you need to change your flight dates. Yeah, so what if I need to change a return flight to the second busiest travel day of the entire year...this is business not fun and games! I'm glad I made her day...and we got seats .... and not 5 or 6 am either.
Posted by frani at 11:50 AM | Comments (0)
November 02, 2003
If your friend jumped off a bridge....
I was going to write about the fact that lately when someone we first meet finds out we are from Vermont, the first topic of conversation is our former Governor President wannabe, Dr Howard Dean. Granted, I'm as amazed as anyone by his meteoric raise to the head of the Democratic stampede for the presidency ( I think I'm going to attribute most of it to his weblog master), however, let's not be to hasty here, considering some of the other unlikely folk elected president in the past, we shouldn't be too surprised. For the most part, I haven't been pleased nor annoyed by the Dean's campaign...taking the old Vermont way of if ya don't do anything to tick me off then you won't hear from me. (sic) We also have to acknowledge the fact that Howard isn't really a Vermonter since he isn't even a native much less having family roots that go back several generations, however at this moment he does have Vermont in the spotlight. Gee maybe now people will actually learn where Vermont is on the map and that it is indeed a US state and not part of Canada.
Be that as it may........I was gong to write about all of that...really I was...until this morning.
Our Dr Dean seems to have stepped in it this time......not only has he said something stupid ("I still want to be the candidate for guys with Confederate flags in their pickup trucks), but it was something stupid enough that incorporated several of the volitile political no nos known to modern candidates. ( Cilvil war...racism..classism. (I wonder if he still beats his dog?) Truck driving confederate flag wavers? ("I want people with Confederate flags on their trucks to put down those flags and vote Democratic — because the need for quality health care, jobs and a good education knows no racial boundaries.) Please Dr Dean...say so more! But noooooooooooooooooooo:"I want people with Confederate flags on their trucks to put down those flags and vote Democratic — because the need for quality health care, jobs and a good education knows no racial boundaries. Enough!
Jumping with him off that proverbial bridge are his old friends Dick Gephart: "I don't want to be the candidate for guys with Confederate flags in their pickup trucks," Gephardt said in a statement. "I will win the Democratic nomination because I will be the candidate for guys with American flags in their pickup trucks." ( SPLASH) and John Kerry: "I would rather be the candidate of the NAACP than the NRA," Kerry said in a statement. (SPLASH
Oh well....back to the drawing board.....BTW....I do believe Dr. Dean is from New York.........
Posted by frani at 08:22 AM | Comments (4)