msbabs32: (cooking)
Tuesday, September 15th, 2009 11:37 pm
After 18 months of waiting then hemming and hawing I finally bought my rechargeable milk frother. Tonight I made drinks with it. First thing I realized is that it is very powerful. The first go whisked the milk right onto the counter. Once I got the hang of it, the frother made incredibly fine and dense foam. It was almost solid and wonderfully tasty. Lusciously frothed cappuccino in hand, I then read the instruction manual. What? That's just how I roll.

First notable warning was: "Use a container at least 3x the volume of your liquid to prevent spilling". Duh - I knew that by *now*.
Second notable warning was "Persons with nervous disorders should never use the appliance without accompanying person in order to avoid any danger".

Now one must wonder what transpired for the company to feel the need to include this in the list of warnings. Was some unfortunate soul, never having encountered a vibrating appliance before, overcome by the alien movement of the frother and stuck it some god forsaken place? More to the point, if there are super high strung persons running wild about your area, it's probably not the best idea to be serving them caffeine.
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msbabs32: (nerd)
Wednesday, September 9th, 2009 10:37 pm
Normally when I get a book I stop whatever I can and power read through it. I mean if I want to read the book, I want to read it ASAP. After all, if I didn't think it would be good I wouldn't have gotten it. I just received the "Sandman Slim" book. I bought it so we would have something to read on the planes and trains of Italy. So now we see how long I can ignore the book until we are on the plane to Italy.
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msbabs32: (geek)
Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009 11:16 pm
iPhone
Nick has decided he's going to get an iphone once his other plan runs out. Hazzah! No more stealenating mine at the mall, movie or grocery store.

I had to buy a new case. The first one I got was beautiful but was structurally flawed. It cracked and broke where the tabs holding it together were. It was beautiful but it only lasted about a month. I have to remember to go back to amazon and give the appropriate review. On the bright side I got a new one and I like it even better than the first.

Proprietary Cables: 5 cents each. Shipping $14.98. Still cheaper than going to the store to buy just one which costs $20 each. Each! I almost bought a $75 battery case despite the lackluster color choices simply because it had a built in Apple-miniUSB adapter. And you can sync through the mini-USB. Almost...and still consider it from time to time.

Sony eBook
Damned library *still* won't open on my desktop! I know you're there ereader software. I see your processes running in the TaskManager. The tech help saga took me from the India Help Desk to San Diego. I am at a dead end there. The software still opens on my travel laptop so I can go to that as a last resort. But damned if this isn't pushing me more and more towards a Kindle! Oh Kindle, why couldn't you have been just a little bit less hideously ugly when I was shopping for ereaders?
msbabs32: (jedi geek)
Thursday, August 27th, 2009 04:36 pm

NerdTests.com says I'm a Slightly Dorky Nerd Queen.  Click here to take the Nerd Test, get nerdy images and jokes, and write on the nerd forum!
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msbabs32: (Bah)
Sunday, August 16th, 2009 08:47 pm
Of late I am finding it deeply unfair that socially and physiologically women have to wear a second layer of clothing in this heat.
msbabs32: (Travel'n)
Tuesday, August 4th, 2009 01:16 pm
I've been trying to learn Italian for my upcoming trip to Italy. I should be through my first pass of Level 1 of Rosetta Stone this weekend and am also looking into phrase books and a 101 book. To further my intermittent Italian immersion, I've changed the language on my iPhone to Italian last night.
Most of my apps names are still fully in English. Only the names of the native apps are in Italian. The apps themselves are in English. The platform stuff is almost all in Italian now. It's a little disorienting using my phone, almost if it's not mine. But in a week I will hopefully adjust and in a couple months be less disoriented on my trip
msbabs32: (plopped)
Tuesday, July 28th, 2009 01:31 am
When I was 15-17 I would have these nights where I couldn't sleep. I wasn't anxious or sad or pissed, just awake. These would happen a couple nights in a row. it really hasn't happened since high school - until tonight. It is past 1 am and my body is giving me no indication that it will tolerate lying down and drifting off. I don't even get that toothpicks holding my lids up feeling. Its as if the rest of the world went to bed very early. I have no projects, meetings, demos or pressing tasks waiting for me at work. The house is in need of chorage but not a single house issue has crossed my mind. Very weird. Hopefully whatever sleep I get can get me through tomorrow.
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msbabs32: (accomplished)
Sunday, July 26th, 2009 11:43 pm
This last Tuesday the big project day came and went – well, in fact. I went home early and felt like I had been hit by a truck. It took a couple more days to remember how to relax. This weekend was the first where I didn’t spend part of it at work, lost slept over work or have something looming Monday. It seemed like everything was work: pick up breakfast from McD’s to have at my desk and lunch/dinner was whatever they brought in. On the weekend N and I went out because we had no staples. Laundry I did only when absolutely necessary and dry cleaning was my friend. Our house would have been lost had it not been for my maid.

So this weekend I faced all the chores that I have been ignoring for the last month. I had to go food shopping, load the dishwasher (since I was now home dirtying dishes) and deal with messed up services. Oh dear god - the Horror…the Horror! I forgot how much work a home is. Dirty dishes are well, dirty; Trash smells like a bio-weapons experiment; the help desk isn’t; and grocery shopping takes forever and planning. Halfway through waiting for my deli meat I realized that working under the gun as I did was in some ways easier. To be able to focus your mind on something and have all other concerns taken care of or mitigated. You just have to not burn out – kinda like college.

But I would burn out or I would become selfish and a “woo girl” to be able to handle that crap non-stop. Since I like my relationships with my friends and my husband I’ll happily deal with the drudgeries/responsibilities of home-life. It also allows me extra processing cycles to write blog posts again. Now then, I think there is a multi-colored mold colony I need to introduce to the trash…
msbabs32: (WeLA)
Sunday, June 28th, 2009 01:38 pm
My back has always been impressively and frighteningly tight for almost all my known life. While getting a massage from my therapist, JQ, he suggested that I try a series of structural massages. it should take a total of ten hours to go over everything. My first session was last night. We started on loosening my back. Oddly enough we started on my abs and front chest muscles.

I learned several things that session. Despite that I am flexible than average person, I am tight in places I didn't know could be tight. I learned that my migraines and back tension is partly coming from chest. I also learned a new meaning to the terms: "sharp pain" and "intense". That a massage can be extremely non-relaxing yet have such incredible results. That I tense a lot and need to stop that. That it is amazing that it would *only* take ten hours total. I thought my pain tolerance was low but apparently it is surprisingly high. My tightness is common amongst high computer usage careers - awesome. I'll have to ask JQ what I can do/not do to counteract that. In the interim I'll try to put my arms back at my sides when not actively typing or clicking.

N picked me up and was highly amused by my spontaneous giggling all the ride home. I napped in a comma for an hour after coming home and slept like the dead at night.

Today I have slight bruising and some tenderness but am otherwise okay. Eight an a half more hours. I wonder how much different I'll feel when it's all done
msbabs32: (Cooking)
Sunday, June 28th, 2009 06:31 am
N was away last week on a business trip. The last time he was away I went hog wild on ordering anything N couldn't eat but I could. That was fun at first and got tedious towards the end. This time I decided to cook dinner every night, even if it was for just myself.

It was fun! I used ingredients that I normally leave out due to N's preference (but not allergies). The dish that I discovered as my new fav is Mushroom Spinach Saute )

It was so very, very good. Leftovers also add very nicely to soups, casseroles and fried rice. I may have to make a large batch of this as the weeks veggies and let N pick out the mushrooms.
msbabs32: (Workout)
Thursday, June 18th, 2009 12:10 am
Descent run )
msbabs32: (Workout)
Wednesday, June 10th, 2009 11:22 pm
Holding the Plateau )
msbabs32: (Workout)
Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009 11:21 pm
Weather Conspiracy )
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msbabs32: (WeLA)
Monday, June 1st, 2009 12:21 am
Earlier this week I had to go to my running store in Venice, CA. Afterward N and I walked around the neighborhood. I’ve heard the area was named after Venice, Italy for the canals that they had. I recently learned where the canal systems actually were and decided to visit them. They are a little hidden and you basically have to walk to them.
”google_map” )

I thought it would be fun to see. I figured it would be kinda neat in a kitschy sort of way; that I would find it interesting but claustrophobic and not for me. There are streets, but they are almost very wide walkways. Street parking for non residents (and possibly even them) is almost non-existent. Most of the people there use the walkways and bridges to move around. Upon my visit there I noticed the pathway was very narrow and only allowed one person to walk comfortably at a time. Often times the vegetation from the houses had to be moved out of the way along our walk. The bridges were true arches and would be unsafe in the rain. Buildings typically had less than 3 feet between them unless more space was architected into the building. The lowest priced house for sale was well over 1.5 million.

Just as I figured: crowded, overly priced and inefficient move around. What I didn’t figure on was really liking it - bordering on loving it. Venice by the beach is an insanely crowded and stressful place: too many people, too many cars, too much noise, too much tourist trap. But in the canals none of that was present. You walk along the backs of the houses, never seeing the garage, cars and other homages to the Concrete Jungle in front. And you don’t care that the houses are jammed packed and are less than a large bedroom wide. There are ducks and ducklings swimming in the water and sunning themselves on people’s yards. You don’t hear the traffic only a block away. You don’t see anything but tiny immaculate back gardens and porches, serene waterways and people enjoying the same serenity you are experiencing. It was near heaven.

As we left the canal area we walked along an ever urbanizing street. I could feel the manic-ness and stress of the city bear down on me with every meter away from the canals. By the time we got to the car 10 min later my usual city defenses were back in full gear. So help me, if an opportunity to buy a property along the canals ever comes my way, I may pay too much for a too small, cramped, crowded and inefficient piece of loveliness.
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msbabs32: (Research)
Friday, May 29th, 2009 09:49 pm
So I am *so* very done with my current phone company. I must admit I was very happy with their customer service but their coverage is so very flaky. In my building I can’t get signal. My phone spends all day looking for service and is dead after only 9 hours. I have a data plan but the connection (when I can get it) is frustratingly slow and basically useless. To boot three is a $200 ETF – flat. That’s right if I cancel 1 day before my contract runs out I pay through the nose.

I've pretty much decided to get an iphone. My company gets a discount, the speed I’ve seen from friend’s phones seems adequate and the number of aps would give me the functionality I want. I’ve thought about the 1, but it’s still with my old carrier and I still wouldn't get service. Also the whole flat ETF thing seriously pisses me off. There are tons of rumors that the next iphone or G2 would be coming out perpetually soon, given that I don't see what extra functionality they could give to make it worth the extra $250.

Luckily for me my contract runs out just barely in time before I go on vacation so I should have a toy to play with on the plane.
msbabs32: (Travel'n)
Friday, May 29th, 2009 02:42 pm
Last night we committed ourselves (or at least our credit cards) to a 10 day trip to Italy. I’ve been promising myself this trip for two years – since my last semester of grad school. Finally, it seems to be happening. I’m so excited. The trip will take us to Rome, Venice, Florence and surrounding areas. The more I do research and think about it, the more excited I get.

Note: Yes, the pis is a penguin roll-on backpack. Yes, it's a real product.
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