Monkey blogging

Apparently I am to write a post on behalf of Hector Monkey.

This is a picture of Hector Monkey.



He wanted to upload a picture of his butt, as he is inordinately proud of it, but I vetoed that idea.

Okay, okay. Here is a picture of Hector's butt.



He would like to express that he is against global warming and he is very worried about the polar bears. He saw a picture of a polar bear stuck on a piece of ice with no place to go. We brought home a plastic (resin?) polar bear for the front porch recently. You can help the polar bears at the World Wildlife Fund.

New Year's resolutions 2008

Last year I made nine resolutions and did reasonably well in terms of achieving many of them. This year I'm going to have five resolutions.

1. Read 45 books or more this year, 15 or more of which are on the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die list. Last night I was less than 20 pages from the end of the book I was reading before we went to Dan and Douglas's New Year's Eve party, so I finished that this morning, and I've started three or four other books. Last year I read 41 books, so I think this is achievable.

2. Use up another three bottles of perfume. Last year I did this by mid-December, and I'm hopng to do so again this year.

3. Save money toward the Smart car and our wedding. I'm listing this even though the Smart car should arrive by March and our wedding is in May.

4. Increase my daily pushups and situps to 50 each. My coach suggested doing pushups and situps to increase my strength for skating, and I'm up to 32 of each per night.

5. Go out for lunch only once per week at work. I'll keep track of this one again and see if I can do better this year.

Weekend update from last weekend

Lots of fun things were going on in town last weekend. On Saturday afternoon, we went to the Indianapolis Auto Show at the Convention Center downtown. It seemed small to me in comparison to Chicago's, but I expected that.

VW had a nice area with two New Beetles (a triple-cream 'vert and a Sunflower Yellow hardtop), assorted Rabbits and Golfs, and a Jetta sporting VW statistics all over (VW owners are 29% more likely to recycle, 70% more likely to maintain their own Web site, and so on). I asked the guy how much they'd pay me to drive around with statistics all over Phoebe, but he said they'd probably just give me the stickers.

We sat in numerous cars, including a Toyota FJ Cruiser, a Honda Element, and a Dodge Magnum. The Smart Car was in the middle of the Mercedes section, and t were so many people crowded around it that it was difficult to take a picture. I talked to the two salesguys there, and they put me on some sort of VIP list to go to the dealership and take a test drive. They also told me that I'm in the first wave of cars to come in based on my reservation date. Yikes.

At the Mini display, we sat in the new Mini Cooper Clubman. It's like a Mini Cooper with extra room at the back, kind of like a station wagon; it's nine inches longer than the Cooper. Steph fell in love with it and wants one. I wonder if we could fit both of them in the garage at the same time.

Saturday night we finally got to see the Naptown Roller Girls roller derby team skate a bout against the Kalamazoo Kamikaze. It was fantastic -- not something I want to do, as I sustain enough injuries on my own, but I appreciate the skill involved. Their next home bout is Feb. 9.

NYR 2007 wrapup

1. Floss: I succeeded in making flossing a habit.

2. Lunch: I was not as successful in going out for lunch only once per week at work as I have been in the past; however, some of my excesses in this department were attributable to the changes we experienced at work and the need we felt to go out together to discuss what was going on. Although I could have been more conscientious at times, I wouldn't say that I failed at this goal.

3. On time: I'm just going to have to start getting up earlier.

4. Flip: Because my loop has been so fickle, we've only worked on my flip maybe twice. I spent a lot of time on edges and turns, which will make my jumps much easier when I do start landing them consistently.

5. Save: This year we spent a lot, but we have a lot to show for it (gutters, balcony, fence, TV, truck cap, Route 66 trip, cruise, and server, among other things). Although our savings didn't increase, we didn't borrow money for any of these items, and we paid off the truck almost a year early. Although we didn't achieve this goal either, we certainly didn't fail.

6. Recipes: I'd like to make several of this year's new recipes again.

7. Trans fat: I was pretty conscientious about reducing my trans fat intake, and I did well for the most part, with a few slipups.

8. Perfume: I achieved this goal about two and a half weeks ago. I've been enjoying using my other perfumes since then, and I'll choose another three bottles for next year.

9. Compact: Well, I bought plenty of new things this year, but most of the time I did so thoughtfully, which is the point.

Overall, I feel pretty successful about my nine resolutions. I think I'll make fewer resolutions for 2008.

Books I received for Christmas

I received several books for Christmas. Here they are!

From Steph:

Four to Score, Janet Evanovich


How to Talk About Books You Haven't Read, Pierre Bayard


Death Drop, Alina Adams


In Deep Waters, Volume One: Cruising the Seas, by Karin Kallmaker and Radclyffe


Ultimate Lesbian Erotica 2007, ed. Nicole Foster


Coach's Manual: Choreography and Style for Skaters, by Ricky Harris (I have the companion volume for skaters already)


Conditioning for Figure Skating, by Carl M. Poe (I've wanted this book forever)


The Ultimate Guide to Weight Training for Skating, by Robert G. Price


From my mom:

Mr. Pig and Sonny Too, by Lillian Hoban (in the first story, Mr. Pig goes skating, with hilarious consequences)


American Band: Music, Dreams, and Coming of Age in the Heartland, by Kristen Laine (features the Concord High School Marching Minutemen, one of the bands we competed against when I was in the Trojan Guard)


From Steph's mom:

Stitch 'n Bitch: The Knitter's Handbook, by Debbie Stoller (I still want to learn to knit)

A site for Patrick

This link is for my co-worker Patrick. It's a site about the game of cornhole, and it even tells you how to build your own boards. Patrick is apparently the cornhole champion of a certain group of his friends who tailgate -- his story about the game (complete with reenactments of some of the throws) is entertaining.

Art car progress -- sort of

I further researched the decoupaged quotes art car idea and didn't find a good sealant that I thought would work, so we're on to Art Car v3 -- covering the car in bottle caps. When I was little, I collected bottle caps, and my dad found them in the garage attic this summer and brought them to me. I was very excited to sort through them and think about what I could make with them now, and we have plans for further bottle cap art after the car is complete.

A week and a half ago, Steph and I went to dinner at Ralph's Great Divide with Dan and Douglas. While we were there, we thought to ask them to save bottle caps for us. Our server gave us about 200 that were still in the cap catcher under their bottle opener, and I stopped in last night and picked up another 330. A box of 4000 caps from eBay should be arriving soon.

The bottle caps are sorted by color, although I haven't figured out yet what design I want to make on the car. The caps are divided into containers of blacks, golds, whites, greens, yellows, blues, silvers, and reds.

Quote of the day

Scene: Pizza Ranch, Washington, Iowa. We are there with Steph's family for dinner.

Riley: ...and my science teacher, he's...

Todd: Does he teach biology?

Riley: No, he's bipolar.

Todd: Oh, so he teaches geography.

NYR update 8

1. Floss: Still flossing consistently.

2. Lunch: Doing a little better recently, although this is directly related to a sale on Healthy Choice and Marie Callender's frozen dinners at Marsh the other week.

3. On time: I have been leaving the house a little earlier.

4. Flip: No flip appearances, but I landed my loop doing a section of my program while my coach was watching last week.

5. Save: Truck is paid off! Now to save for the replacement for the Honda and pay extra toward the second mortgage.

6. Recipes: I made some garlic cheese biscuits from scratch a couple weeks ago. Unfortunately, I picked up the wrong measuring cup when I added the milk, so they were three times as wet as they should've been. They turned out very, very flat, but they were tasty.

7. Trans fat: Steph found Crisco with no trans fat (I blogged about it last year, but I hadn't been able to find it anywhere yet). I can make my M&M cookies again!

8. Perfume: The third bottle is almost gone. I think I'll be able to start on a new bottle in a week or two. Or I might use a variety of perfumes until the end of the year.

9. Compact: Yesterday Steph and I went to several antique stores, including Midland Antique Mall, which is one of the places we went on our first first date in September 2000. I got an old coffee pot to use to heat water for tea -- I'd been wanting one for several years, and this one was only $6 and is very heavy. I also got a book and a vintage winter coat, which solves my problem of wanting a coat that doesn't look like a ski jacket to wear to work. I'll still wear that one when it's really cold out, but I can wear my new one the rest of the time. Last week I found an ad on Craigslist for several bags of business and casual clothes in my size; I ended up with 45 items of clothing for $50, and three of them were new with tags still on. Most items fit; I'm taking many of the ones that didn't (and some others that did but that I didn't think I'd wear) to work to share with some co-workers who might fit in the clothes. I'm also saving a few items for a friend's daughter, and I've put aside one particularly unusual piece of clothing for a gag gift or a white elephant exchange. (Yes, it's that good.) I wonder if the new-with-tags items fall under Compact guidelines or not.

Reason #1007 why I love my girlfriend

She likes the same kind of toilet paper I do. (We found this out early in our relationship, but it still makes me happy. Plus it makes the shopping easier.)

Strange dream

I had the strangest dream on Monday night. In the first part of the dream, I was at the rink (it looked different, of course) for a lesson. There were several very good skaters on the ice with me. In my lesson, my coach reminded me that my free leg should be higher before I cross it in a scratch spin. At the end of my lesson, I remembered that we hadn't gone over the end of my program, which I had recently learned and then forgotten.

Then my dream changed, and I was riding to work with Steph, who was driving a maroon Blazer. We must have worked in the same building, as she wasn't dropping me off. It was snowing, and the lines in the parking lot were covered up, so everyone was having trouble parking. The cars in the back half of the parking lot were lined up in rows parallel to the front of the building, and suddenly everyone re-parked in rows that were perpendicular, so we did the same.

At work, there was a drawing for four prizes. The biggest prize was some sort of weeklong fishing trip, which I wasn't interested in. I figured that if I won it, I could try to trade it to the winner of the second-largest prize, which was a weekend trip to Japan. I ended up winning the trip to Japan, so I didn't have to try to trade for it. We left immediately. (Steph went with me. Somehow we weren't worried about packing or about who would take care of the pets -- all this seemed to be taken care of.) When we landed in Japan, a man met us at the airport, and he was going to show us around. We brought our luggage to an apartment where we were going to stay, and we met the man who lived there and his dog. The man had to take a phone call, so we sat in the living room and petted the dog. At some point we realized that the dog probably understood Japanese and not English, so it more than likely hadn't understood anything we had said to it. Then the man brought the phone to me and told me that it was my friend Veronica and I should talk to her. She was asking how to use the correction feature on her typewriter, and I couldn't believe I was talking to her from Japan. Then I woke up.

Weird.

I don't usually remember dreams that are this long. Most of my dreams have been bad lately, so I was happy to have one that was fun. Plus I got to ponder the idea of a weekend trip to Japan all day.

NYR update 7

1. Floss: Still flossing consistently.

2. Lunch: Trying to do better, but going out about twice a week. Things have been really busy lately, but they're starting to calm down, so I should be able to make some things I can freeze and bring for lunch.

3. On time: I got to work early once this week.

4. Flip: I haven't been working on flip attempts much because my loop disappeared and reappeared again. I need good technique on the loop before I get a flip.

5. Save: Doing well this month. Instead of putting any extra money that comes in into savings, I've been throwing it at the truck payment. Looks like it'll be paid off ten months early!

6. Recipes: I haven't tried any new recipes lately, but I might get ambitious this weekend.

7. Trans fat: Doing pretty well. Out of microwave popcorn at work. I did eat at Arby's today, though, which was bad.

8. Perfume: The large bottle is done now, and I'm working on the small bottle. I think I'll achieve this goal before the end of the year. I'm so confident about it that I've chosen several more perfumes to concentrate on next. I know that I'll always have several scents; I like variety and I have several favorites that I don't think I could choose between. However, I don't need as many as I have today, and having too many causes trying new BPAL scents to seem ridiculous. I want to be able to try new scents within reason.

9. Compact: I haven't bought anything new since... hmmm... it's been a little while. The books at Half Price Books don't count, but the chain and S hooks for the Sky Chair and the new toilet seat do.

I really need to update more often.

Lots of stuff has been going on; I just haven't managed to post about it.

My new tenants moved in just over a week ago. They were very excited about the house, and I think they will take care of it well.

We went on a Western Caribbean cruise for Dan's 40th birthday. I liked Key West a lot and would like to go back sometime and see more of it. The Mayan ruins in Mexico were also amazing. My photos are still on my camera -- I'll get them up on Flickr sometime soon. We had an entire free day in Miami before our flight home, and we got to see Heather and Sara and the twins. It was so nice to spend time with them again -- I had only seen Heather and Sara once since they moved to Miami five years ago, and it was so much fun to meet the boys! They are five months old and very cute. Booboo is doing well at 15, and she seemed to remember me. Heather and Sara visited Indianapolis last weekend, and we got to see them then, too. The babies traveled very well.

Steph and I are having a garage sale on Sept. 22. Please come buy our excess stuff!

Long time no update.

We've been busy getting the rental house in shape, trying to find new tenants, and getting ready for the cruise we're going on for Dan's 40th birthday next week.

Last week I started playing at a new games-for-cash site called Moola. Basically they give you one cent and you use it to play one of three games. If you win, you get two cents, and if you lose, you start over with one cent. You can risk more as you win more or you can continue to play for low amounts. It doesn't cost anything, and the games are pretty fun -- my favorite is very much like the old game show Card Sharks. If you sign up under me, I get a bonus equal to 4 percent of your total winnings.

Long week. Already.

Recent happenings:

Kicked my tenants out. (Going to court next week.) Am having to do a lot of cleaning and stuff at house, plus taking many calls from prospective renters. Also letting in gas company and various other services.

Got in accident. Was turning in to McDonald's parking lot and a guy driving out of the parking lot didn't look and ran into me. Then he left. Driver's side rear door of Honda is bashed in pretty good. Fortunately, it looks like there's no structural damage, and I'm hoping to maybe find a door at a junkyard and have it painted and such.

Went to friend's wedding in Kentucky. Very nice!

Am watching a lot of cats this week -- four cats in two separate houses. One cat in each pair is shy.

Am tired. Have lesson in morning.

Garage sale finds

Today I spotted a garage sale at my former neighbor's house. I've been to two of her previous garage sales, and at each one I found pants and/or shorts that fit me perfectly. (It's fairly difficult for me to find pants and shorts that fit. The things I found at my neighbor's sale fit me like they were made for me.) This time, I purchased more -- in all, 4 tops and 11 bottoms. I got one striped T-shirt, two long-sleeved shirts, and one short-sleeved sweater (it'll be great for work). I also got a skirt, a pair of khaki shorts that are a little big, and nine (!) pairs of jeans shorts that all fit well.

I love jeans shorts because they go with just about everything. Plus I don't have to worry about what color underwear I'm wearing like I sometimes have to do with khaki shorts. This year I was worried that my current two pairs of jeans shorts would wear out eventually and I'd never be able to find another pair that fit me, because I found both of these used -- one at a thrift store and one at a previous sale of this former neighbor. Six or seven of the new pairs of shorts are pretty cool, and the others will be good for wearing around the house at the very least. The ones I'll wear around the house are still worth having, as I'm currently very low on that category of clothing. Plus now I can give a couple more pairs of shorts that don't fit right to Goodwill!

The best part: 15 items of clothing, three of which I can wear to work on a regular basis, for $7.50.

The problem with Twitter

The problem with Twitter is that I don't have anything to blog about anymore because I Twitter it all.

We have just moved to a new building at work. My space is less than half the size of my previous space. I barely have room to turn my chair around. I was extremely happy with my previous space, which I occupied for more than five years. Our new building is very nice, and it is in a convenient location.

This weekend we went to the Barnes and Noble in Noblesville for the Harry Potter release party. The trivia questions were fun. I finished the book on Sunday afternoon; I hadn't finished rereading Book 6 by the time we got Book 7. I liked the book. I won't say any more than that so I don't spoil anything for people who aren't finished yet.

As of yesterday, I've read more books so far this year than I did in all of last year.

I will finally get to skate on Wednesday after more than five weeks off the ice. I haven't been off the ice for this long since I hurt my back in 2002. Getting back on the ice then was difficult because I was so afraid I'd hurt myself again, but I don't think I'll have that kind of trouble now.

Phoebe's map of visited states

Create your own visited states map.

Phoebe hasn't visited as many states as I have. In addition to my goal of visiting all 50 states, I have a goal of driving Phoebe to all 48 contiguous states. We're almost halfway there!

My map of visited states

Create your own visited states map.

And we're home.

We arrived home around 7 pm this evening. The drive was pretty uneventful today except for a severe rainstorm in Illinois. The rain was so heavy at times that I couldn't see the car in front of me (and it had its lights on). I seem to encounter that kind of rain on almost every return trip from Roswell on that particular stretch of road (although it's usually closer to Indiana). The animals were all happy to see us.

Today is Phoebe’s ninth birthday. She has 81147 miles, 21000 of which have been put on while driving to Roswell, NBeast, and other VW shows. This was her fifth Roswell and my sixth. (She doesn’t know that we missed two; she tends to break things when she finds out she didn’t go.)

Stats:

17 days
5126 miles
9 states
3 check engine lights (read by Howie, John Steele, and Rich)
1 window regulator
1 mass air flow sensor (installed by John Steele)
1 vacuum hose (courtesy of John Steele)
1 new tire (changed by John Steele and Jerry)
1 dog and 4 cats who are very happy to see us!