Sunday, January 30, 2005
Right now the web cam is running off of Sheri's laptop in the upstairs hallway bathroom and is pointing at the thistle sock hanging from the maple tree.
Sheri wanted to configure the web cam on her laptop because she will be working from home all week and thought it would be fun if she were on cam. She will be working at the kitchen table. Stop back tomorrow and make sure she is working!
Sheri wanted to configure the web cam on her laptop because she will be working from home all week and thought it would be fun if she were on cam. She will be working at the kitchen table. Stop back tomorrow and make sure she is working!
We had a great time at Mr. Shesha's Coffee House and will most likely go back. Very busy and a very diverse crowd. Everyone from a seven year old girl celebrating her birthday (they stopped the music, dimmed the lights, and the whole place sand Happy Birthday as they brought out a piece of cheese cake), to several large groups of college kids, to a couple good sized groups of grey haired Arab men. People playing backgammon and cards. Exotic thumping music played over pretty good speakers at just the right volume. Loud enough to mask conversations from nearby tables, but not too loud that it made it difficult for us to talk. The lights were dim enough to make it cozy, but bright enough to make ready easy.
We started with a large order of humus, Sheri had a cappuccino, and I had a Diet Pepsi. Very good humus. Some of the best we've had.
That settled my stomach and got my appetite going a little bit, so we tried The Bomb, which was Egyptian beef and melted mozzarella cheese on a round piece of bread that was very good and unusual. Flaky like a croissant, but flat, firm, and chewy like a good pita. Sheri had another cappuccino and I another Diet Pepsi.
We finished the last sips of our drinks after being there about two hours. We talked about ordering a hookah but were getting a little tired and ready to go. We made a stop at Meijer because I forgot to pick up a box of the chai I wrote about the other day.
We started with a large order of humus, Sheri had a cappuccino, and I had a Diet Pepsi. Very good humus. Some of the best we've had.
That settled my stomach and got my appetite going a little bit, so we tried The Bomb, which was Egyptian beef and melted mozzarella cheese on a round piece of bread that was very good and unusual. Flaky like a croissant, but flat, firm, and chewy like a good pita. Sheri had another cappuccino and I another Diet Pepsi.
We finished the last sips of our drinks after being there about two hours. We talked about ordering a hookah but were getting a little tired and ready to go. We made a stop at Meijer because I forgot to pick up a box of the chai I wrote about the other day.
I just tried a new Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr Pepper soda, and it is FABULOUS! Possibly the best diet soda ever? You have to try one. I got it at Meijer in case you have trouble finding it.
Saturday, January 29, 2005
Our plans changed. We watched Garden State. We both thought it was just OK. I think it is targeted at the angsty 20-something crowd.
I was going to cook up some tofu stir fry, but I am not hungry for a big meal. I am actually not hungry for a meal, period. My stomach is a little funny feeling. Maybe a cup of tea and something light. Just hang out and watch people. I don't know of any cool hip coffee houses open late, so I did a search on Google Local for coffee house and came across a place called Mr. Shesha's Coffee House. It is a hookah bar, and I am not interested in smoking a hookah, but I called and they said the kitchen is open until 1 AM and the place closes at 2 AM. This is how a review site describes it:
I was going to cook up some tofu stir fry, but I am not hungry for a big meal. I am actually not hungry for a meal, period. My stomach is a little funny feeling. Maybe a cup of tea and something light. Just hang out and watch people. I don't know of any cool hip coffee houses open late, so I did a search on Google Local for coffee house and came across a place called Mr. Shesha's Coffee House. It is a hookah bar, and I am not interested in smoking a hookah, but I called and they said the kitchen is open until 1 AM and the place closes at 2 AM. This is how a review site describes it:
This café is a diamond in the rough – rough being the largely abandoned strip mall this café is located in. It’s an upscale shisha, tea and espresso house in the far west suburbs. The crowd is a mix of young hip college students and Arabs. The flavor selection is small, but the pipes are high quality. The house special is apple flavored shisha served up in a head made from an apple. The location is hard to find – look behind the Wood Pit Barbeque joint. Open form 6 PM to 2 AM.
We are going to drive over and give it a look. If it looks like a comfortable place where we can lounge around for a few hours, watch people, talk, and have some light appetizers and something to drink we will stay. If it's not for us we will drive around for a bit and see if we pass something that sounds good to both of us.
I really have my fingers crossed that it will turn out to be a place where we can hang out late at night when we are feeling restless at home. Starbucks are usually only open until 9 PM and they don't really serve food. We don't drink so we feel funny hanging out in bars. Those are usually too noisy for us too. Different crowd.
Sheri went from:
"I don't want to go out because I am already in my PJ's."
to
"Well, if we go out I want to wear my black leather dress."
Go figure.
We didn't end up going to Penzey's.
We went to Burger King for brunch. I had a double hamburger, but didn't eat the bun, and a cup of chili. Sheri had a Junior Whopper. We read the newspaper and worked the crossword puzzle.
Next we "shopped" around for Sheri's birthday present. Sheri loves to swim, but she doesn't get to that often. So her birthday present is to spend a day at a hotel with a nice pool. We went to a half dozen hotels to check out there pool areas and see if they had any weekend deals.
We settled on a Holiday Inn Select for a number of reasons. At a couple of hotels we visited you can look into the pool area as you walk down a hallway, or one even from the front lobby. The Holiday Inn Select's pool was hidden way in the back, and you can't be seen by a random passer-by.
The pool was also stocked with about a hundred clean and crisply folded towels. One other place had maybe a dozen towels out, and I didn't see towels at the other pools.
The Holiday Inn also had restrooms with showers at the pool. The others didn't.
The pool area had a good number of chase lounges, and one whole side of the pool room was nothing but picture with a nice view, not the side of a building or parking lot.
Are plan is to check in as early as possible. I will probably only work a half day and meet Sheri at the hotel in the early afternoon. We will take our stuff up to the room, change into our swim suits, and then hang out at the pool until 11 PM when it closes. I will pack a bunch of snack food so we don't have to leave the pool area. Cheese and crackers, fruit, some canned drinks.
I am thinking about taking a DVD player so after our swimming we can watch a movie in the room and maybe order a pizza if we are hungry.
Saturday morning we will eat brunch at the buffet, and then go back to the swimming pool. If we are up to it we are thinking about staying at the pool even after we check out. They have showers near the pool, so if we take a dry change of clothes with us we should be all set. Who's going to know that we will have already checked out?
After visiting the hotels we stopped at a new restaurant that Sheri noticed earlier called The Atlanta Bread Company. We went in and sat down to look at the menu, but we didn't order anything. It seems really similar to Panera Bread, but with a few key differences. ABC had a hot breakfast menu; omelettes, French toast, Belgian waffles, and breakfast sandwiches. They also have wood fired pizzas on their menu that looked pretty good. I had a sample piece of their sour dough bread and it was much better than Panera's. A better sour taste and a better crust. Cracklier.
Then we did some grocery shopping at Meijer's. We got ingredients for dinner. I am going to pan fry some tofu, mushrooms, and onions in a light chicken sauce, but I we are going to eat it without rice. I am also going to try using a blow torch on the cubed tofu before I put it in the pan. I want to give the edges a little charred taste. If the patio wasn't snowed in I would just grill it for a bit before frying it, but you make do.
I think we are just going to settle into the family room now. We have two movies in that we have to choose from this evening; Garden State and Employee of the Month. If we want snacks I bought a sweet potato which I plan on julienning, dredging lightly with a little flour, and frying until crisp.
We went to Burger King for brunch. I had a double hamburger, but didn't eat the bun, and a cup of chili. Sheri had a Junior Whopper. We read the newspaper and worked the crossword puzzle.
Next we "shopped" around for Sheri's birthday present. Sheri loves to swim, but she doesn't get to that often. So her birthday present is to spend a day at a hotel with a nice pool. We went to a half dozen hotels to check out there pool areas and see if they had any weekend deals.
We settled on a Holiday Inn Select for a number of reasons. At a couple of hotels we visited you can look into the pool area as you walk down a hallway, or one even from the front lobby. The Holiday Inn Select's pool was hidden way in the back, and you can't be seen by a random passer-by.
The pool was also stocked with about a hundred clean and crisply folded towels. One other place had maybe a dozen towels out, and I didn't see towels at the other pools.
The Holiday Inn also had restrooms with showers at the pool. The others didn't.
The pool area had a good number of chase lounges, and one whole side of the pool room was nothing but picture with a nice view, not the side of a building or parking lot.
Are plan is to check in as early as possible. I will probably only work a half day and meet Sheri at the hotel in the early afternoon. We will take our stuff up to the room, change into our swim suits, and then hang out at the pool until 11 PM when it closes. I will pack a bunch of snack food so we don't have to leave the pool area. Cheese and crackers, fruit, some canned drinks.
I am thinking about taking a DVD player so after our swimming we can watch a movie in the room and maybe order a pizza if we are hungry.
Saturday morning we will eat brunch at the buffet, and then go back to the swimming pool. If we are up to it we are thinking about staying at the pool even after we check out. They have showers near the pool, so if we take a dry change of clothes with us we should be all set. Who's going to know that we will have already checked out?
After visiting the hotels we stopped at a new restaurant that Sheri noticed earlier called The Atlanta Bread Company. We went in and sat down to look at the menu, but we didn't order anything. It seems really similar to Panera Bread, but with a few key differences. ABC had a hot breakfast menu; omelettes, French toast, Belgian waffles, and breakfast sandwiches. They also have wood fired pizzas on their menu that looked pretty good. I had a sample piece of their sour dough bread and it was much better than Panera's. A better sour taste and a better crust. Cracklier.
Then we did some grocery shopping at Meijer's. We got ingredients for dinner. I am going to pan fry some tofu, mushrooms, and onions in a light chicken sauce, but I we are going to eat it without rice. I am also going to try using a blow torch on the cubed tofu before I put it in the pan. I want to give the edges a little charred taste. If the patio wasn't snowed in I would just grill it for a bit before frying it, but you make do.
I think we are just going to settle into the family room now. We have two movies in that we have to choose from this evening; Garden State and Employee of the Month. If we want snacks I bought a sweet potato which I plan on julienning, dredging lightly with a little flour, and frying until crisp.
One of our chores for today is to cull out old spices and replace them with good fresh spices from Penzeys. They do most of their business via mail order, but we have one of their 20 retail stores here in town. Very high quality spices.
If you want to try ordering something from them I suggest their Vietnamese cinnamon. Just amazing. Mom tried it at my suggestion, and I don't think she believed it was going to be noticeably better than the cinnamon you get at the Safeway. She is a believer now. Very intense flavor, but extremely sweet. They say you only have to use 2/3 of what a recipe calls for because it is so strong. Let me know if you try some.
Anyway, I went downstairs to pull out of the old containers of spices to see which ones we should replace first. I laughed when at the back of the cupboard I saw a tin of Kroger's rosemary leaves. I think I have had this tin since my first apartment during my junior year in college, which would have been 1987. Eighteen years ago! That means it has lived in three apartments and two homes. I just did some quick routing calculations and I carted this tin around with me for a about 815 miles. The price on the bottom is 15¢! I am not going to throw it out. I think I will put it right back in the pantry. Maybe it is my good like spice tin.
Last weekend I listed all of the spices I use and then rank sorted them. We will start at the top, and every now and then go buy a handful of the spices from the top of the list and throw out the old ones. Here is my list:
1 garlic powder
2 whole tellicherry peppercorns
3 onion flakes
4 onion powder
5 cumin
6 cinnamon
7 cayenne
8 chili powder
9 fennel
10 oregano
11 basil
12 coriander
13 bay leaf
14 ginger
15 nutmeg
16 rosemary
17 celery seed
18 mustard
19 cloves
20 allspice
arrow root powder
dill
majoram
paprika
sage
tarragon
thyme
vanilla
The eight unnumbered ones at the bottom are ones that I use, but not regularly for my type of cooking. I will buy replacements for those only when the need arises. I think the Penzey's shopping list for today will be:
tellicherry peppercorns
cumin
cayenne
oregano
basil
chili powder
bay leaves
My guacamole turned out very good last night. It would have been better if I had fresh ingredients on hand (cilantro, onion, tomatoes, limes, garlic), but for what I had on hand it was excellent. I used:
One large and two small avocados
lime juice
a few tablespoons of fresh pack salsa from Trader Joes
cumin
garlic powder
Frank's hot sauce
salt
My philosophy on guacamole is to go very light on all of the ingredients so the delicate taste of the avocado is not covered up.
I got my first check as a consultant yesterday! They only do direct deposit for employees, so from now on my checks will be mailed to the house. I have to figure out how to file estimated quarterly tax payments with the IRS.
If you want to try ordering something from them I suggest their Vietnamese cinnamon. Just amazing. Mom tried it at my suggestion, and I don't think she believed it was going to be noticeably better than the cinnamon you get at the Safeway. She is a believer now. Very intense flavor, but extremely sweet. They say you only have to use 2/3 of what a recipe calls for because it is so strong. Let me know if you try some.
Anyway, I went downstairs to pull out of the old containers of spices to see which ones we should replace first. I laughed when at the back of the cupboard I saw a tin of Kroger's rosemary leaves. I think I have had this tin since my first apartment during my junior year in college, which would have been 1987. Eighteen years ago! That means it has lived in three apartments and two homes. I just did some quick routing calculations and I carted this tin around with me for a about 815 miles. The price on the bottom is 15¢! I am not going to throw it out. I think I will put it right back in the pantry. Maybe it is my good like spice tin.
Last weekend I listed all of the spices I use and then rank sorted them. We will start at the top, and every now and then go buy a handful of the spices from the top of the list and throw out the old ones. Here is my list:
1 garlic powder
2 whole tellicherry peppercorns
3 onion flakes
4 onion powder
5 cumin
6 cinnamon
7 cayenne
8 chili powder
9 fennel
10 oregano
11 basil
12 coriander
13 bay leaf
14 ginger
15 nutmeg
16 rosemary
17 celery seed
18 mustard
19 cloves
20 allspice
arrow root powder
dill
majoram
paprika
sage
tarragon
thyme
vanilla
The eight unnumbered ones at the bottom are ones that I use, but not regularly for my type of cooking. I will buy replacements for those only when the need arises. I think the Penzey's shopping list for today will be:
tellicherry peppercorns
cumin
cayenne
oregano
basil
chili powder
bay leaves
My guacamole turned out very good last night. It would have been better if I had fresh ingredients on hand (cilantro, onion, tomatoes, limes, garlic), but for what I had on hand it was excellent. I used:
One large and two small avocados
lime juice
a few tablespoons of fresh pack salsa from Trader Joes
cumin
garlic powder
Frank's hot sauce
salt
My philosophy on guacamole is to go very light on all of the ingredients so the delicate taste of the avocado is not covered up.
I got my first check as a consultant yesterday! They only do direct deposit for employees, so from now on my checks will be mailed to the house. I have to figure out how to file estimated quarterly tax payments with the IRS.
Friday, January 28, 2005
Sheri is stopping by Trader Joes on the way home to pick up low carb tortilla chips, avocados, and salsa. With this I will make my award winning guacamole which we will eat for dinner while watching AVP: Alien Vs. Predator.
...some employers in California and around the country are refusing to hire applicants who smoke and, sometimes, firing employees who refuse to quit.
I don't know if it is legal or Constitutional, but it can only be good for the collective health of the US.
I don't know if it is legal or Constitutional, but it can only be good for the collective health of the US.
Wow!
The Los Angeles-class fast-attack submarine USS San Francisco (SSN 711) is in dry dock in Apra Harbor, Guam, January 27, 2005 to assess damage sustained after running aground approximately 350 miles south of Guam Jan. 8, 2005. The Navy former dry dock known as 'Big Blue' is capable of docking ships that weigh up to 40,000 Long Tons. The Navy certified Big Blue for the one-time docking of San Francisco. San Francisco is the second fast-attack submarine to be attached to the forward-deployed Submarine Squadron Fifteen, home ported on board Naval Base Guam. REUTERS/Mark A. Leonesio/U.S. Navy photo/Handout
Thursday, January 27, 2005
The cam is on.
I had two plain soy burgers and two fried eggs for dinner. I am washing it down now with, what else, iced tea.
Sheri stopped by the library on the way home and picked up the first book in the Lemony Snicket series. She had already picked up book number two and three, but she didn't want to read them out of order. The books are very short. Small pages and large type. She is going to read them aloud to me.
I am going to go through a couple days of mail, do a little surfing, and then go lay down because my back has been hurting me.
I had two plain soy burgers and two fried eggs for dinner. I am washing it down now with, what else, iced tea.
Sheri stopped by the library on the way home and picked up the first book in the Lemony Snicket series. She had already picked up book number two and three, but she didn't want to read them out of order. The books are very short. Small pages and large type. She is going to read them aloud to me.
I am going to go through a couple days of mail, do a little surfing, and then go lay down because my back has been hurting me.
I just tried a cup of tea made with a sample we got with last Sunday's paper, and I really like it.
The flavor is Original India Spice 100% Natural Chai Tea from Celestial Seasonings. The ingredients are:
Black tea
Cinnamon
Ginger
Roasted chicory
Cloves
Cardamom
Nutmeg
Black pepper
Chinese star anise
Vanilla bean
I added two packets of Equal and enough non-dairy creamer to make it very milky looking. (I am at work so I don't have fresh milk available.)
I think I am going to buy box. Give it a try.
The flavor is Original India Spice 100% Natural Chai Tea from Celestial Seasonings. The ingredients are:
Black tea
Cinnamon
Ginger
Roasted chicory
Cloves
Cardamom
Nutmeg
Black pepper
Chinese star anise
Vanilla bean
I added two packets of Equal and enough non-dairy creamer to make it very milky looking. (I am at work so I don't have fresh milk available.)
I think I am going to buy box. Give it a try.
I can only hope this catches on.
This combination photo shows a model presenting a creation as part of Cavalera's 2005 Fall/Winter collection show during Sao Paulo Fashion Week, January 25, 2005. Picture taken on January 25. REUTERS/Paulo Whitaker
Wednesday, January 26, 2005
OK, this page will open a new window just for the web cam. It will automatically refresh every 10 seconds on its own.
Obviously if I don't have the web cam on you will just keep seeing the last image that from when it was on. Enjoy!
Obviously if I don't have the web cam on you will just keep seeing the last image that from when it was on. Enjoy!
I got out the camcorder to hook it up to the computer, but I couldn't find the cable to connect it. After looking everywhere I thought it would be I decided to give up and just go buy a new one at Radio Shack.
It is just a standard USB A male to B male mini 5 pin, but they didn't have it, so I had to drive a few miles the other way to Best Buy. They had it.
I just got home and hooked the camera up to the computer. I now have to:
- download the software
- install it
- configure it
- throw up a quick web page to hold the image
- post that web page to my blog
If everything goes alright I expect a live image on the web within 45 minutes.
Wish me luck!
It is just a standard USB A male to B male mini 5 pin, but they didn't have it, so I had to drive a few miles the other way to Best Buy. They had it.
I just got home and hooked the camera up to the computer. I now have to:
- download the software
- install it
- configure it
- throw up a quick web page to hold the image
- post that web page to my blog
If everything goes alright I expect a live image on the web within 45 minutes.
Wish me luck!
I got out the camcorder to hook it up to the computer, but I couldn't find the cable to connect it. After looking everywhere I thought it would be I decided to give up and just go buy a new one at Radio Shack.
It is just a standard USB A male to B male mini 5 pin, but they didn't have it, so I had to drive a few miles the other way to Best Buy. They had it.
I just got home and hooked the camera up to the computer. I now have to:
- download the software
- install it
- configure it
- throw up a quick web page to hold the image
- post that web page to my blog
If everything goes alright I expect a live image on the web within 45 minutes.
Wish me luck!
It is just a standard USB A male to B male mini 5 pin, but they didn't have it, so I had to drive a few miles the other way to Best Buy. They had it.
I just got home and hooked the camera up to the computer. I now have to:
- download the software
- install it
- configure it
- throw up a quick web page to hold the image
- post that web page to my blog
If everything goes alright I expect a live image on the web within 45 minutes.
Wish me luck!
I think I have figured out how to use our camcorder as a web cam. Sheri is going out with some friends tonight, so I have some free time to geek around. Stop back here tonight to see if I am able to figure it out.
We wished we had a live web cam when we had Goliath. We would have set it up aimed at his favorite spots to see what he does. When does he sneak on the couch? When does he get into the kitchen garbage can? How much time does he spend looking out of the front window?
What will I point our web can at if I can get it to work? During big projects I will set it up so people can check in.
- Watch us clean out the garage on a Saturday.
- Painting a room.
- Last summer's landscaping weekend would have been a candidate. I would have set the camera up to look out of a second story window.
- Point it outside when we are expecting extreme weather like last weekend's snowstorm.
- Point it the hot next-door neighbor's swimming pool. (If we had a hot next-door neighbor.)
Ah, the life of a geek.
We wished we had a live web cam when we had Goliath. We would have set it up aimed at his favorite spots to see what he does. When does he sneak on the couch? When does he get into the kitchen garbage can? How much time does he spend looking out of the front window?
What will I point our web can at if I can get it to work? During big projects I will set it up so people can check in.
- Watch us clean out the garage on a Saturday.
- Painting a room.
- Last summer's landscaping weekend would have been a candidate. I would have set the camera up to look out of a second story window.
- Point it outside when we are expecting extreme weather like last weekend's snowstorm.
- Point it the hot next-door neighbor's swimming pool. (If we had a hot next-door neighbor.)
Ah, the life of a geek.
Thursday, January 20, 2005
I went outside to take a reading on our gas meter this morning (because I wanted to try out the feature that lets you enter your gas readings on-line) and I smelled a couple whiffs of gas.
I just got off the phone with the gas company and they will have someone out to the house within an hour to check it out. They didn't take my work number to call me back, so I will give them another call at 11:00 AM CST to see what they found.
I just got off the phone with the gas company and they will have someone out to the house within an hour to check it out. They didn't take my work number to call me back, so I will give them another call at 11:00 AM CST to see what they found.
Wednesday, January 19, 2005
Playing around with some new free picture management software from Google called Picasa 2. Try it. You'll like it.
[click for larger image]
[click for larger image]
Flu vaccine is starting to become available around the country.
Check here to see if there is a location near you!
This is the latest flu activity map.
Check here to see if there is a location near you!
This is the latest flu activity map.
This is the famous Strand Bookstore in Manhattan. (18 miles of books!) I was all excited to go there, but we didn't have time to go inside. At least I got a picture. They sell books by the foot!
[click for larger image]
[click for larger image]
Friday, January 14, 2005
I created my first invoice today, and I didn't just want to put a "1" on it for the invoice number, and I kind of wanted it to be somewhat meaningful, so I decided on using the Julian date.
The Julian calendar is a continuous count of days since noon Universal Time on January 1, 4713 BC, so my first invoice has the invoice number 2453385.
The Julian calendar is used a lot in computer programming.
The Julian calendar is a continuous count of days since noon Universal Time on January 1, 4713 BC, so my first invoice has the invoice number 2453385.
The Julian calendar is used a lot in computer programming.
Thursday, January 13, 2005
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
Monday, January 10, 2005
Well suckers, by the time you read this I will be a multi-millionaire living the easy life! I received the following e-mail from a large Irish bank asking for my help. Ha ha! It's been nice knowing you.
Brad out!
============
From: Mr. Marc Donald Gerald
Bills & Exchange Manager
Allied Irish Bank
Bank centre,
Balls Bridge,
Dublin 4, Ireland.
Dear Friend,
PRIVATE AND URGENT.
I am contacting you in regards to a business transfer of a Hugh sum of money from a deceased account. Though I know that a transaction of this magnitude will make any one apprehensive and worried, but I am assuring you that all will be well at the end of the day. We decided to contact you due to the urgency of this transaction.
PROPOSITION;
We discovered an abandoned sum of US$20,000,000.00 (Twenty Million Dollars)in an account that belongs to one of our foreign customers who died along with his entire family. Since his death, none of his next-of-kin or relations has come forward to lay claims to this money as the heir. We cannot release the fund from his account unless someone applies for claim as the next-of-kin to the deceased as indicated in our banking guidelines. Upon this discovery, we now seek your permission to have you stand as a next of kin to the deceased as all documentations will be carefully worked out by us for the funds (US$20,000,000.00) to be released in your favour as the beneficiary's next of kin.
PLEASES REPLY THROUGH THIS CONFIDENTIAL EMAIL
ARRESS::xxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.net
It may interest you to note that we have secured from the probate an order of mandamus to locate any of deceased beneficiaries. Please acknowledge receipt of this message in acceptance of our mutual business endeavour by furnishing me with the following;
1. Beneficiary name and address.
2. Direct Telephone and fax numbers.
These requirements will enable us file a letter of claim to the appropriate departments for necessary approvals in your favour before the transfer can be made. We shall be compensating you with 2 Million Dollars on final conclusion of this project, while the rest shall be for us. Your share stays with you while the rest shall be for us for investment purposes.
If this proposal is acceptable by you, do not take undue advantage of the trust we have bestowed in you, I await your urgent mail.
Best Regards,
Mr. Marc Donald Gerald
Brad out!
============
From: Mr. Marc Donald Gerald
Bills & Exchange Manager
Allied Irish Bank
Bank centre,
Balls Bridge,
Dublin 4, Ireland.
Dear Friend,
PRIVATE AND URGENT.
I am contacting you in regards to a business transfer of a Hugh sum of money from a deceased account. Though I know that a transaction of this magnitude will make any one apprehensive and worried, but I am assuring you that all will be well at the end of the day. We decided to contact you due to the urgency of this transaction.
PROPOSITION;
We discovered an abandoned sum of US$20,000,000.00 (Twenty Million Dollars)in an account that belongs to one of our foreign customers who died along with his entire family. Since his death, none of his next-of-kin or relations has come forward to lay claims to this money as the heir. We cannot release the fund from his account unless someone applies for claim as the next-of-kin to the deceased as indicated in our banking guidelines. Upon this discovery, we now seek your permission to have you stand as a next of kin to the deceased as all documentations will be carefully worked out by us for the funds (US$20,000,000.00) to be released in your favour as the beneficiary's next of kin.
PLEASES REPLY THROUGH THIS CONFIDENTIAL EMAIL
ARRESS::xxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.net
It may interest you to note that we have secured from the probate an order of mandamus to locate any of deceased beneficiaries. Please acknowledge receipt of this message in acceptance of our mutual business endeavour by furnishing me with the following;
1. Beneficiary name and address.
2. Direct Telephone and fax numbers.
These requirements will enable us file a letter of claim to the appropriate departments for necessary approvals in your favour before the transfer can be made. We shall be compensating you with 2 Million Dollars on final conclusion of this project, while the rest shall be for us. Your share stays with you while the rest shall be for us for investment purposes.
If this proposal is acceptable by you, do not take undue advantage of the trust we have bestowed in you, I await your urgent mail.
Best Regards,
Mr. Marc Donald Gerald
Saturday, January 08, 2005
I don't know why I am up so early and with the inclination to make a post. We were up until 2:00 AM. Sheri watching a 1959 foreign film about the Holocaust, and me playing a silly game called Ink Ball I found on the Tablet PC I brought home from work.
I don't know if I mentioned it here, but I was excited about getting our new dishwasher installed. Remember we bought it almost a month ago but couldn't get an installation date until yesterday because Sheri had a comp day from work.
I was expecting a confirmation call Thursday from the installation company. By 4:00 PM I had not heard anything so I called Sears. Sears had my order on file, so everything looked good to them, but the guy said he would call the installation company just to make sure. He put me on hold for a few minutes and then clicked back over. He said the answering machine picked up so he just left a message but everything should be OK.
Friday morning by 10:00 AM we still had not heard anything. Sheri called the install company directly and the guy said they had no record of us. I called Sears and they faxed the order to the company. Sheri gets back on the phone with the install company and said they can install it, but not until next Saturday. I WANTED MY DISHWASHER!!!!
I think I normally would have just chalked it up to life, but I was ticked, so I called Sears to bitch. I ended up getting 10% of the cost of the dishwasher ($45) refunded to us! That made me feel better.
=====
Enjoyable Friday Night
Thursday night after work I met Sheri at the Pontiac dealership so we could drop the van off for overnight service. The lens of the right front headlight housing fell off when we had the extreme cold for a couple weeks; both fog-light light bulbs needed to be replaced; and we were due for an oil change. They also suggested a transmission flush and a cooling system flush, so I got that done as well.
I drove home from work, picked up Sheri, and went back to the dealership. From there we went to BW3's for dinner. Sheri loves the place, but I just think it is OK. Last night for some reason I was craving their Buffalo wings. I got six hot and six wild. Hit the spot perfectly. Sheri always gets four chicken tenders plain, and then a side of hot barbeque sauce and a side of bleu cheese dressing.
We were not ready to go home, so we dropped a car off at home and then continued on to Wal-Mart just to walk around. The only thing we had on our "list" was to look at their yarn and knitting stuff. Sheri is trying her hand at knitting for the first time. She has about six to eight inches of a wide scarf completed for me so far! She bought three skeins of yarn.
I got my, believe it or not, very first jean jacket. We looked at Old Navy last week but they did not have any tall sizes. It is a Wrangler and it is "blanket lined". Very soft. (I am wearing it right now. *dork*) Because it was an extended size it was $4 more ($29). The regular sizes were only $25. What a bargain.
I also got, thanks to the seed that Dad planted, some water color paints, a pad of water color paper, a couple brushes, and a palette. I will have to look on-line for some instructional sites, or maybe go to the library.
We also got paper towels, napkins, a few cosmetic things for Sheri, two Sonicare toothbrush head replacements, and a few other things I can't remember. We went in to look at yarn and walked out $122 lighter.
========
Saturday
Not too much of a plan today. Starbucks is scheduled to release their new drinkable chocolate drink Chantico today. It is supposed to be very rich. From what I have read it is better to treat it as a rich dessert, and not something you would gulp down as a morning routine. It is nothing like the pedestrian "hot chocolate". It is more like a melted truffle. We are going to try it by splitting a six ounce cup today.
(I think it is weird that I couldn't find anything on Starbuck's site about the drink.)
I don't know if I mentioned it here, but I was excited about getting our new dishwasher installed. Remember we bought it almost a month ago but couldn't get an installation date until yesterday because Sheri had a comp day from work.
I was expecting a confirmation call Thursday from the installation company. By 4:00 PM I had not heard anything so I called Sears. Sears had my order on file, so everything looked good to them, but the guy said he would call the installation company just to make sure. He put me on hold for a few minutes and then clicked back over. He said the answering machine picked up so he just left a message but everything should be OK.
Friday morning by 10:00 AM we still had not heard anything. Sheri called the install company directly and the guy said they had no record of us. I called Sears and they faxed the order to the company. Sheri gets back on the phone with the install company and said they can install it, but not until next Saturday. I WANTED MY DISHWASHER!!!!
I think I normally would have just chalked it up to life, but I was ticked, so I called Sears to bitch. I ended up getting 10% of the cost of the dishwasher ($45) refunded to us! That made me feel better.
=====
Enjoyable Friday Night
Thursday night after work I met Sheri at the Pontiac dealership so we could drop the van off for overnight service. The lens of the right front headlight housing fell off when we had the extreme cold for a couple weeks; both fog-light light bulbs needed to be replaced; and we were due for an oil change. They also suggested a transmission flush and a cooling system flush, so I got that done as well.
I drove home from work, picked up Sheri, and went back to the dealership. From there we went to BW3's for dinner. Sheri loves the place, but I just think it is OK. Last night for some reason I was craving their Buffalo wings. I got six hot and six wild. Hit the spot perfectly. Sheri always gets four chicken tenders plain, and then a side of hot barbeque sauce and a side of bleu cheese dressing.
We were not ready to go home, so we dropped a car off at home and then continued on to Wal-Mart just to walk around. The only thing we had on our "list" was to look at their yarn and knitting stuff. Sheri is trying her hand at knitting for the first time. She has about six to eight inches of a wide scarf completed for me so far! She bought three skeins of yarn.
I got my, believe it or not, very first jean jacket. We looked at Old Navy last week but they did not have any tall sizes. It is a Wrangler and it is "blanket lined". Very soft. (I am wearing it right now. *dork*) Because it was an extended size it was $4 more ($29). The regular sizes were only $25. What a bargain.
I also got, thanks to the seed that Dad planted, some water color paints, a pad of water color paper, a couple brushes, and a palette. I will have to look on-line for some instructional sites, or maybe go to the library.
We also got paper towels, napkins, a few cosmetic things for Sheri, two Sonicare toothbrush head replacements, and a few other things I can't remember. We went in to look at yarn and walked out $122 lighter.
========
Saturday
Not too much of a plan today. Starbucks is scheduled to release their new drinkable chocolate drink Chantico today. It is supposed to be very rich. From what I have read it is better to treat it as a rich dessert, and not something you would gulp down as a morning routine. It is nothing like the pedestrian "hot chocolate". It is more like a melted truffle. We are going to try it by splitting a six ounce cup today.
(I think it is weird that I couldn't find anything on Starbuck's site about the drink.)
Wednesday, January 05, 2005
I take Michelina's Lean Gourmet frozen dinners to work a lot for lunches. They go on sale at Meijer's for $0.60 occasionally! These are a few of my favorites. They also have some low carb Lean Gourmet entries that I get a lot, but they didn't have those product pictures on-line. They usually replace the potatoes with broccoli and/or cauliflower.
Tuesday, January 04, 2005
Walking through Whole Foods over the weekend I saw a box of a grain I never saw before. It is called quinoa. It looks like tiny little seeds and is a deep red color. I bought it with the intention of cooking it ahead of time and then eating it cold as a breakfast food with milk and Nurtrasweet. I like it, but Sheri doesn't; I think because it smelled like potatoes while it cooks. I looked it up on the web and it is amazingly nutritious. It also has a very low glycemic index so it is good for diabetics.
Nutritionally, quinoa might be considered a super-grain--although it is not really a grain, but the seed of a leafy plant that's distantly related to spinach. Quinoa has excellent reserves of protein, and unlike other grains, is not missing the amino acid lysine, so the protein is more complete (a trait it shares with other "non-true" grains such as buckwheat and amaranth). The World Health Organization has rated the quality of protein in quinoa at least equivalent to that in milk.
Monday, January 03, 2005
Sunday, January 02, 2005
My Christmas present from Sheri are tickets to Spamalot! It is having its world premiere in Chicago from December 21 to January 23. After that it will start on Broadway on February 14. We are leaving to go into the city in about 15 minutes.
We have a winter weather advisory in Chicago until 3:38 AM tomorrow morning. I just got in from making sure all of the tires were properly inflated.
We have a winter weather advisory in Chicago until 3:38 AM tomorrow morning. I just got in from making sure all of the tires were properly inflated.
Saturday, January 01, 2005
Before what I am about to write will make sense to you, you need to know that in the city we live in we don't buy electricity directly from an electric company. The city buys it and resells it to residents. We write a check every month to the city for our electricity usage, not an electric utility.
OK, with that out of the way, we received something in the mail from the city regarding a new program they are starting in 2005 that we think we will take part in. The city is going to start sourcing a percentage of the power they distribute from renewable resources!
Because right now electricity sourced this way costs more to generate they give each subscriber the choice of how much renewable energy they want to consume.
The green energy right now is priced $5 more for each 200 kilowatt hour chunk. To take part in the program we would just go out to a web site and tell them how much of our monthly electric bill should be from green electricity. We can do it in $5 increments. I think we will try $10 or $15 worth.
The mix of the renewable electricity is 90% wind, 5% small-hydro, and 5% solar.
I don't have the flyer in front of me but it said that each 200 kilowatt hours of renewable energy that replaces conventional energy has the same impact as planting 180 trees or not driving something like 2,800 miles.
There is a large wind farm about an hour drive from here that we are thinking about driving to today so we can see where some of our electricity will be coming from soon.
OK, with that out of the way, we received something in the mail from the city regarding a new program they are starting in 2005 that we think we will take part in. The city is going to start sourcing a percentage of the power they distribute from renewable resources!
Because right now electricity sourced this way costs more to generate they give each subscriber the choice of how much renewable energy they want to consume.
The green energy right now is priced $5 more for each 200 kilowatt hour chunk. To take part in the program we would just go out to a web site and tell them how much of our monthly electric bill should be from green electricity. We can do it in $5 increments. I think we will try $10 or $15 worth.
The mix of the renewable electricity is 90% wind, 5% small-hydro, and 5% solar.
I don't have the flyer in front of me but it said that each 200 kilowatt hours of renewable energy that replaces conventional energy has the same impact as planting 180 trees or not driving something like 2,800 miles.
There is a large wind farm about an hour drive from here that we are thinking about driving to today so we can see where some of our electricity will be coming from soon.