Site Moved...

As I have run out of free photo space, I have moved my blog to Wordpress.  If the site doesn't automatically redirect you to the new site in 6 seconds, click on:

http://thelittleyarisdiary.wordpress.com/

Bye bye blogspot...

Tis The Season For Weddings

We were just in SF for a wedding 2 weeks ago, and today we drove 3 hours to Lordsburg, NM for one of my office staff's wedding.

As you can see this one was a lot more casual.  As opposed to a 45-minute ceremony, this one only took 5 minutes.  Afterwards, we were all treated to some delicious home-made Mexican food.  J had wanted seconds, but we couldn't hang around too long as we had to make the 3-hour drive back to Tucson in time to let the dogs out.

The reception was set up in the driveway of the bride's sister's home.

Now I'm just waiting to hear back from M about her wedding in NYC.  I wonder if it'll happen before the end of this year, or we'll have to wait until next year.

Killing Us One Double Down At A Time

Lately I've been running out of things to talk about on this blog, but luckily the brother-in-law introduced me to Friendly's grilled cheese burgermelt.  

Does this remind anyone of the KFC's Double Down sandwich?

Unfortunately, the grilled cheese burger melt just doesn't quite do it for me.  First of all, Wonder bread doesn't belong in a burger.  Wonder bread has one role and one role only, and that is to wrap itself around PB&J.  Secondly, how is this an 'improvement' over a regular burger with 2 slices of cheese between the buns.  It's essentially the same thing, just more carbs.  Now bring your attention to the toothpick in the burgermelt.  Any sandwich that requires a toothpick to keep it together means there isn't enough fat to gel the individual components together; and what makes food yummy boys and girls?  That's right...FAT!  Finally, look at the KFC Double Down sandwich.  Do you see anything in that sandwich that takes the shape or form of a vegetable or fruit?  I don't.  Now that's a tasty looking sandwich.
My suggestion to Friendly's?  Get rid of the bread, lettuce, tomato, and American singles.  Grab 2 beef patties, glue it together using melted brie, wrap the whole thing in bacon strips (as my brother-in-law had once suggested), and serve it with a statin of your choice (for peace of mind).

For The Wine Lovers

Now is your chance.  Thanks to the recession, California wineries have stockpiles of wine they can't sell.  

The value of these [wines] is solely dependent upon being able to sell them, and these days, almost no one is buying.

The handful of impending winery foreclosures already announced in a recent San Francisco Chronicle article are just the beginning. 

"Let me tell you the scariest thing I have seen in a long time.  A few weeks ago I was walking through one of California's largest wine warehouses, and it was unbelievable what a shitpile of wine is sitting in there.  I'm talking big name wineries with unbelievably huge levels of stock.  I looked closer and it's 06's, 05's, and row and rows, pallets and pallets of this stuff.  Wines priced anywhere from thirty to a hundred dollars, mostly Napa but a lot of Sonoma too.  Hundreds and hundreds of cases."

So what does this mean for us wine drinkers?  Bargains!  Wines Til Sold Out is where you can find wines priced 30-70% off retail.  Time to stock up that wine fridge...

Ground Black Pepper

J sent me this link from the AP news:

An australian publisher is reprinting 7,000 cookbooks over a recipe for pasta with "salt and freshly ground black people."

Penguin Group Australia's head of publishing, Bob Sessions, acknowledged the proofreader for the Pasta bible should have picked up the error, but called it nothing more than a "silly mistake."

 "We're mortified that this has become an issue of any kind and why anyone would be offended, we don't know," he told the Sydney Morning Herald for a story printed Saturday.

It's interesting how he's not 'mortified' by the mistake, but rather by the fact that people take offense to it.  I've always thought Americans were way too sensitive when it comes to racial issues and often erred on the side of political correctness; but I have to say that he was rather 'mortifyingly' dismissive.  Makes you wonder if there are no black people in Australia, just them great whites and kangaroos.

You Know You're Using The Laptop Too Much When...

You develop tendonitis of your index finger.  Was at work this morning and realized that the distal part of my right index finger was stiff, swollen, and tender.  I kept trying to figure out how I ended up with a swollen joint without any history of injuries.  It wasn't until I got home and started using the laptop when I realized that it was due to overuse.  It's due to the constant clicking of the click bar using my right index finger.

The right distal interphalangeal joint (joint right above the nail bed) is very subtly swollen and red when compared to the left...

Close up...

I guess I'll just have to start using my middle finger on the click bar, or get J to splurge and get me an Apple Magic Mouse : )

Happy 2010

Spent the day at home nursing a cold.  Why did I have to get sick on my day off?  Why couldn't it wait till Monday morning.  Hopefully, I'll feel better by tomorrow morning so I won't miss my weight training class.  Speaking of which, I have a feeling it will be packed at the gym tomorrow, thanks to all the New Year's 'resolutioners'.  You can always expect an uptick in the gym membership during Jan and Feb, during which time the classes are jam packed, and I end up needing to fight for a spot all the way in the back of the class.  Luckily these guys tend not to stick around for too long.  Can't wait till March...

Happiness

A NYT opinion article quoted a study that ranked NY last in happiness rating .  Tons of NYers were up in arms saying how the study was flawed, or how the residents of higher ranking states were ignorant (using the term 'ignorance is bliss') and therefore happier, or NYers have higher expectations from life and therefore 'less easily satisfied' compared to their counterparts.  Interestingly, AZ is ranked high (#5).  I don't know how much credit I would give this study, but anecdotally, I would have to agree with the findings.  Of course the study looked at state, and not the cities (i.e., NYC) and so it's hard to say whether NYC dragged down the rest of the state or vice versa.  However, based on personal experience I would have to say hands down that NYC dragged the rest of the state down to last place.  


Ever since moving to AZ, J and I have found more 'inner peace'.  We often joke that we can actually 'hear ourselves think'.  No longer do we have to shield our ears from the blast of horns and shriek of emergency sirens; or suffer from sleepless nights thanks to the idling 'Fresh Direct' truck right below our bedroom window.  No longer do I have to listen to some stranger's cell phone conversation on the streets or be subjected to co-workers' use of profanity as if it's going out of style (imagine the F-word being used as a verb, noun, adjective, adverb all in one sentence).


Aside from the noise, pollution, congestion, and lack of courtesy towards each other, I think the biggest issue for me was the 'pressure-cooker' environment in NYC.  Back in NY, I always felt I had to measure up to others but couldn't.  There was always someone more successful or more well off.  So it was always a rat race, and admittedly I had fallen into that trap for years.  I knew it was a trap, because unless you're Warren Buffet, there will always be someone more successful/well off than you; and I knew I wasn't happy, but I couldn't pull myself out of it until I moved out to AZ.  Since our move, it took a year or two to get used to the lack of diversity & sophistication, and the paucity of the 'better things in life'; but once I got into the groove, I realized I was & am much happier.  It took a move out of the city to get my priorities straightened out.  I'm am no longer preoccupied with what other people 'have achieved' and 'have'.  I have slowed down to appreciated what I have achieved and have, and enjoy every little thing in life (minus work of course).  Maybe ignorance is bliss, but at the end of the day I'm happier, and that's what really matters.


Interestingly, J & I have had less discord since moving out here (not like we were arguing much back in NY), to the point that we no longer have any arguments (I honestly can't remember the last time we had a spat).  He attributes that to the fact that we've been married for 6 years now, and we've gotten to know each other so well that little things are just not worth wasting time getting upset over; but I think we're just more 'in tuned' with each other now that all the 'extraneous stuff' is gone.

紐約一遊 - 國語

著一次去了紐約後，發現廣東朋友都把小孩送到中文學校學國語而不是學廣文。現在大家都認同國語的重要。我以前一直跟朋友說國語會比廣文重要， 他們當時還不相信。聽說越來越多外國人把小孩送到中國城的daycare學國語。不過光光在美國的中文學校學中文還是不夠的。有多少美國長大的小孩送到中文學校到最後都還是不會寫不會讀, 比如我親愛的老公。現在想想爸媽當時把我們帶到台灣送到普通小學給我們國語打基礎是很有先見之明的。

He Wants To Do What?

The Mayor of Moscow wants to prevent snowfall in the city of Moscow this winter.  He plans to spend a few million dollars to hire the Russian Air Force to spray the winter clouds with chemicals before the clouds hit the city, in hopes to force the clouds to dump the snow in the suburbs.  WHAT?  Fine if it were just an idea, but the city council actually approved the plan!  Where do these people come from, and how do they get elected?  What's actually even funnier is that the residents in the Moscow suburbs object to the plan.  Why object?  Do they actually think the plan might work?  This can't be happening...I feel like I'm in a parallel universe...

《大江大海一九四九》

Stumbled across this article in the NYT, featuring the book 《大江大海一九四九》 by 龍應台 detailing stories of families separated by the civil war in China in 1949.

Reminds me of my parents' stories as children brought over to Taiwan by my grandfathers, both generals under Chiang Kai Shek.  Back then the families were too big, and my maternal grandparents couldn't bring all the kids over, so some were left behind in China.  Why my mother was brought over while her younger sister was left behind has something to do with fate (命).  I'm sure there are tons of sad stories in this book, but it has piqued my interest and I'll be sure to pick up a copy when I head over to Asia next year, or 爹地您可以幫我先買一本嗎？ 謝了。 我回臺灣後跟您拿。

It Just Hit Me Like a Mack Truck

Woke up this morning, ran my 7+miles, showered, and hopped into the car to head to work. Sounds like all my other mornings, except @ 7:55AM, halfway to the office, the myalgias hit me like a mack truck.  Ten minutes later, the headaches started; and right when I walked into the office, the chills took a hold of me.  All in a span of 15 minutes!  I grabbed the thermometer and it read 99.0℉.  Whew, no fever yet, but I knew that was next to come.  In my mind, I was frantically trying to figure out if this was the swine flu or the side effects of the flu shot I got yesterday.  Either way, I had to cancel all the day's appointments.
Came home (the drive was god awful) and went straight to bed at 9AM.  Woke up an hour later, and all my symptoms resolved!  IT WAS THE FLU SHOT!  I almost always get these side effects with the flu shot, so I've managed to avoid getting the vaccine year after year, until this year.
What surprised me was the speed of symptom onset.  Now I have something to 'look forward to' when we get the H1N1 vaccine in 2 weeks ><.  Unfortunately, I can't get out of receiving it because the hospital policy is, as soon as employees develop fever and headaches (why only fever and headaches?), they're required to stay home for 7 days.  I can't afford that because I have a trip coming up, and I don't want to use up my vacation days holed up at home.

Unintended Consequences

My medical assistant called in sick today. I wonder if she came down with the swine flu. I'm still feeling fine though.

Speaking of which, when the swine flu first broke out, I remember listening to a NPR report on the Egyptian government's plan to slaughter all the hogs in the country. My very first reaction was 'this is not smart'; my next thought was, 'they're going to regret this'. Lo and behold, 5 months later they're running into trouble. Apparently, Egypt's hogs are equivalent to our Mafia, AKA Waste Management. 

These hogs consume organic wastes, and now that the Egyptian government has essentially wiped out the country's 'Waste Management', piles of moldering meat and vegetables lie on the streets.  Piles of garbage are now becoming potential sources of infectious diseases.  This reminds me of another famous example of 'unintended consequences': the introduction of rabbits in Australia for hunting purposes leading to an explosion of the rabbit population, and destruction of native vegetation.  Why do we not learn from history, and continue to intervene in ways that will ultimately backfire on us?

Waiting For The Next Shoe To Drop...

Today our office got our first swine flu case of the season, and guess who's patient it was?  Mine.  Guess who took the nasopharyngeal culture?  Me.  I saw the patient last week and the culture result just came back today 'H1N1 Detected'. Now I'm starting to feel a little 'something'.  Is it real or is it 'supratentorial'?  Can't remember the last time I got sick seeing patients, thanks to diligent hand washing.  Here I was anxiously waiting for the H1N1 vaccine to come out so I could get it.  Now it looks like I've been exposed; and if I don't get sick, I guess I won't need the vaccine after all, since I've most likely developed antibodies against it.  We'll have to wait and see...

G20

Took this quiz on NPR, who's in the G20.  I only got 26/30 correct.  Mistakenly thought Mexico, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, and Indonesia were not part of the G20 for the following reasons:


1. Mexico: is in such economic shambles.
2. Saudi Arabia: didn't think any countries in the Middle East participate in the G20.
3. South Korea: too small of a player (relatively speaking when you look at the other countries on the list) to participate.
4. Indonesia: still can't think of a reason why they would be included.


Here's the complete list (green represents the original G8, and red is the BRIC nations; Russia is actually both):
Argentina
Australia
Brazil
China
Canada
European Union
France 
Germany
India
Indonesia
Italy 
Japan
Mexico
Russia
Saudi Arabia
South Africa
South Korea
Turkey
United Kingdom
United States


While typing this list, I again forgot about Indonesia and Mexico.  J took the quiz and scored a 26/30 as well (he didn't think Argentina, Indonesia, and the EU were part of the G20, but thought Israel was).

開玩笑!

陳水扁在爭扎!  Now he's claiming Taiwan has always been under US military control and is suing for his freedom in the US appeals court after he was sentenced to life by the Taiwan high court.  Whatever happened to 臺獨?  I guess whatever works in his favor huh?!  Now the Taiwanese people get to take a real good look at the spineless ex-president they've voted for.  Give me a break!  The last time I checked 民進黨旗好像不是美國國旗。如果美國 denies his appeal, 他怎麼辦?  投訴大陸，承認臺灣屬於大陸的？ I'll bet China will come to his defense in exchange for that admission, and let me make this perfectly clear, I'd actually like to see that happen.  Then we'll end this sovereignty debate once and for all.

In Case You Didn't Get The Memo...

I've deactivated my facebook account (for the 3rd time).  The freshness has worn off, and the paranoia has crept back in.  I hate to say that I've done my share of voyeurism, and am sad to see so many people just 'standing on the sidelines', so it's gotten a bit boring to say the least.  There is one friend, however, who has consistently kept things interesting with his funny updates, but unfortunately, it's not enough to fend off that nagging 'PRIVACY ISSUE' that keeps popping up in the back of my head.  So here I bid 'adieu' and godspeed; and chances are good that I won't be re-activating my facebook account, now that I have this blog (that no one reads) to keep me occupied.  And I really should go to sleep right now because I have to get up at 5:45 to run, and it's already midnight...