Hats off today to a local hero, Chelsey B. “Sully” Sullenberger III, captain of the airplane that suffered an emergency landing in the Hudson River today.  “Sully” made sure all passengers and crew were off of the plane, walking up and down the aisles twice in a sinking airplane before evacuating himself.  (I say local, because he’s a resident of Danville, CA, our neighbor to the south, and the town in which Ted grew up.) What wonderful news, to hear that everyone behaved decently and kindly, and that everyone survived.  Thank you to the captain, the crew, and indeed to the passengers who helped keep things calm in the face…

On Friday, we took my bike in for new tires and inner tubes, and while the kind people at the bike shop were fixing up my bike, I drooled over the new, comfy, touring bikes that they had. All shiny and new and pretty. And I’ll admit it, I want one. There are two that I keep going back and forth on, and I’m not sure which one I would buy if I had the money. They’re both by the same company, Electra, and they’re both touring bikes, which means that you sit pretty much upright when you ride, and they have a nice comfy seat. Check them out.  At…

Thank you to everyone who wished me a happy birthday yesterday. Really, I feel blessed to have such wonderful friends and family. I had good wishes here, on Facebook, on the phone, and in person. I feel like George Bailey, with his message from Clarence: “Remember, No man is a failure who has friends”. Indeed. I had a lovely birthday, thank you for asking. I would suggest waiting awhile before attempting the California Academy of Science, as it was an absolute ZOO, totally overcrowded and busy busy busy, and we could only stand about an hour of it before we had to bail and go get lunch elsewhere. Really, though,…

Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out. OK, this year has been the worst of my life.  My mom’s illness was incredibly stressful, and had me feeling like I was running in circles, scared as hell.  Then she died, and the stress was gone, followed by a sadness and emptiness that I wasn’t prepared for, and can’t entirely shake. Add to that Ted losing his job, which has been stressful and worrisome and scary, because you never know how long it will take to find another job.  Also, Ted’s aunt passed away in January, his brother was in an accident which required surgery in…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9KpNznVLlY[/youtube]

That’s right, it’s meat scented cologne.  Cheap beef from South America, to be more precise.  There aren’t enough words for how wrong this is.

My ancestors are all Christian, some more so than others…and yet, I was raised as an atheist.  Once, in 4th grade, when all of my friends were religious and I wanted to fit in, my mom caught me praying in the bathroom.  She was incensed, and told me that if there was indeed a God, he was a bastard that she didn’t want me to have anything to do with. Her father had died when she was very young, her mother had married an abusive man who became her step-father, and she had a lot of serious issues with God.  That was my first taste of the anger that can…

I read over at Bleeding Espresso about a wonderful fundraiser called Menu For Hope. This fundraiser is a raffle, with the money going to support a school lunch program in Lesotho, a tiny country completely surrounded by South Africa. What can you win? Looks like there is a lot of stuff out there to win, and a lot of it looks pretty great. I’ll donate my $10, and regardless of whether I win or not, I hope the kids in Lesotho receive nourishment and hope from this program. The money is donated to the U.N. World Food Programme, via a third party donation organization named first giving. I came upon…

Just a quick post in case anyone for some stupid reason cares what I’m doing.  I don’t twitter, so this is what I’ve got. YAY!  The Washer/Dryer just fit.  And when I say just, I mean JUST.  It’s really, really tight.  But boy, I love having a full sized washing machine for the first time in I don’t know how long.  At least the 10 years we’ve lived here, perhaps at our old places as well.  I don’t remember.  Anyway, I LOVE it.  I sometimes hug it.  Yesterday we washed the dog bed, Maya’s sheets, her comforter, and two loads of laundry.  Today is our sheets, and anything else I…

Our washer/dryer combo has been slowly dying for awhile now.  It’s a combo washer/dryer all in one condo unit that looks like this. The washing machine basket is tiny, and won’t hold much. And over the years, it’s been slowly pushed out of whack, until now, if you try to wash two pairs of jeans at once, it sounds like it is going to try to force its way through the laundry room door, down the hall, and out our bedroom window. Our bed is right in front of the window, so we’re against this prospect. We had someone come out a few months ago to service it, but he…

On December 3, 2008, leave one comment on at least 5 different blogs. Out of the 5 blogs you comment on, at least 2 of them will be blogs you haven’t commented on previously. Sound like fun?  I’ll be snooping around your blogrolls for something new to read, so I can comment there on Wednesday.  🙂 If you participate, go tell John you’re doing it as well.