Sam Harris - Thank You

Thank You Sam Harris - I really dislike Palin too. See linked Newsweek article.

My favorite section:

"Ask yourself: how has "elitism" become a bad word in American politics? There is simply no other walk of life in which extraordinary talent and rigorous training are denigrated. We want elite pilots to fly our planes, elite troops to undertake our most critical missions, elite athletes to represent us in competition and elite scientists to devote the most productive years of their lives to curing our diseases. And yet, when it comes time to vest people with even greater responsibilities, we consider it a virtue to shun any and all standards of excellence. When it comes to choosing the people whose thoughts and actions will decide the fates of millions, then we suddenly want someone just like us, someone fit to have a beer with, someone down-to-earth—in fact, almost anyone, provided that he or she doesn't seem too intelligent or well educated."

This seems to be fundamental flaw when it comes to what people value in their elected officials. I also find it scary that Sarah didn't have a passport till last year!!! To lead this country, you really need to be more world-ly.

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Massage & Ebay

Today I got my very first profesional massage! It may seem odd to some people that I have never been before now, but it never seemed to be necessary or affordable. E had a guest coupon and I jumped on the opportunity! I was a little unsure on how "naked" I needed to be but the lady was very nice and explained that a sheet would be covering all that needed to be covered. I felt a little adventurous and stripped down to just my undies. Some parts were kinda painful but overall relaxing. I actually feel like my posture is better and I feel a little taller. I also felt damn oily afterwards. Is that odd?

Rob and I have been working on selling stuff so we don't have to store it when we are gone. It is a big sacrifice for Rob but he has decided to sell some of his precious radio electronics on ebay. While doing the photographs today I learned a little bit more about Rob as teenager. He is selling some electric wave measuring machine.... (I don't remember the name) and he informed me that he used to look at his brain waves with it. I was more perplexed then anything and he exclaimed.. "What do you expect a smart 15 year old kid with lab salary to do?" Point taken. My husband is a genius, and was experimenting trying to get a computer to work off of his brain waves a teenager... wow. At 15, I think I was still trying to hitch a ride with my mom to the mall and kill my brain with movies and fast food. Haha... Opposites attract! 

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Jello Pranksters

I have been meaning to blog about a little prank E & I pulled at work and when Tyler was gone on vacation. Any fans of the office are going to appreciate this. We encased some of his most prized "office supplies" in jello. Extra gelatin was necessary to pull this one off. Here are some pics....

He took it pretty well. I am also trying a new slideshow feature on the blog!

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Crappy Lettuce

Not much is worse then crappy lettuce. Well, a lot of things are worse . . . but crappy lettuce ruined our day.

Rob and I headed out this morning to Fry's to get a hard drive to fix the Powerbook and a CD holder for all of our DVD's. I don't really enjoy going to Fry's for the shear fact of all the nerds inside. Oddly enough, it is a boost of self confidence to be "ogled" by nerds no matter how weird that sounds. We ended up buying our items and coming home. Immediately after opening them, we both were disappointed and bought the wrong things. To cheer ourselves up, we headed out to redeem our bucket of change at a coinstar and grab some lunch before heading back to Fry's across town. 

At lunch - our first encounter with bad lettuce. Just the edges though - still gross.

This evening we went to the Orange International Street Fair.  Don't get me wrong, I love street fairs, but this was just low class and put together wrong. There were way too many people, too many smokers, and bad selection of food. The booths sat in the middle of the streets making walking around awkward and claustrophobic.

To escape the crowds but still be at the fair we went into a diner that Rob recognized as being on the Food Network show about old Americana diners. This place definitely had an old feel about it so we sat at the bar and ordered our dinner. When the food arrived, Rob once again had crappy lettuce. This time it was rotten brown and a slimy. He didn't eat his garden burger and there was no obvious supervisor in the whole place to complain too. We didn't leave a tip and took a picture to post soon. If I was the owner, I sure as hell would want to know about that quality of food that was being served. 

On the up side, the powerbook "project" is almost complete and I'll have my very own laptop! The coinstar machine gave us a $78 itunes giftcard from all the change I have been collecting that Rob just leaves around the house for the past few years. Also on the plus side, Rob and I are looking forward to Erin's dinner tomorrow night and found some good variety of wines to bring along. (HI ERIN - cause I know your going to read this!)

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Countdown Time

Ever since Rob has been home from his last trip abroad, we are really starting to feel the countdown begin. About 65 workdays left for me, and just a few months left. We need to be productive to make sure everything goes smoothly. We applied for our visas and making plans for our storage of our household. We are trying to decide on what to take, and making sure all our electronics are in order.  It is really important to me to have the right stuff (cameras & computers) to make time abroad fun, connected, and well documented. The human mind and experiance can only soak up so much. I want to make sure to take thousands of pictures and relive the year for the rest of our lives. 

I'm starting to feel work responsibilities fading and preparing for the next year ramping up. Not that I am not giving my all at work (most of the time) just thoughts during the silent times are shifting. 

Rob and I are in the bay area this weekend as a last minute trip. Not really doing a whole lot but I am looking forward to eating at this little Vietnemese place in Livermore. Last time we ate there is was very delicious. Yumm-O! 

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OC Fair

Rob and I went to the OC Fair today. It was pretty warm outside and we loaded up on sunscreen and ate some healthy food before going. The healthy food (veggie & tuna sandwiches) was to prevent out stomachs from craving the greasy fried-ness all around! We did indulge in small ways. Ice Cream for Rob and BBQ Corn for me.

Back in high school I took a "career" test at some career/college fair. The results were pretty clear - I was meant to be a farmer. (yeah right....) While I totally ignored these test results in real life, it somehow always finds its way back into my head when I am around cute farm animals. The fair pretty much fulfills this once in awhile urge.

Below are some pictures of the day . . .
















Sleepy Goats
















Goat















This should have won 1st Prize!!!
















Rob and Ice Cream
















MMM.... Corn on the Cob + Tapatio + Parm. Cheese

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Some SLO Photos

I haven't gotten a chance to share some photos from our first weekend trip to SLO! Here they are!


The Creek


Hiking Valencia Peak In The Fog







Sticky Monkey Flowers




All SLO Folks Know This Place Well - Montana De Oro


What the weekend was really about.

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