Browse Month: July 2008

Never sharpen again!

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I’ve always loved crayons.  There’s nothing like a brand new set of crayons – all perfectly sharpened and in order.  The worst (and most painful) thing about crayons is when you’ve used up the tip and it’s time to carefully peel a centimeter of the wrapper and sharpen it.  Despite having a sharp tip, it’s never the same as when they’re brand new.  *sigh*

Anyway, before your eyes begin to roll, I must tell you about a new invention from Crayola.  They’re twistable crayons!!  You never have to peel the label and the crayons can’t break!!  I tested them out on my new Hello Kitty coloring book and the coloring quality is the same as the original and I’ll never have to make a sharpening mess ever again!  If you have or work with kids, you’d understand the excitement.  If you don’t, you should get some and start coloring again.  There’s something very relaxing about coloring.  I colored about 3 pages on Saturday and it was so much fun.  These guys are coming to Belize with me fo’ shizzle!

Therapeutic Jazz and Beer

My man-friend doesn’t like outings. He’d rather sit at home in his PJs playing video games. He usually grumbles when he has to go outside and mingle with the public. Today’s outing to the Fillmore Jazz Festival seemed to go better than usual so I thought I’d document his progress in a SOAP note.

(KEY: S=subjective, O=objective, A=assessment, P=plan)

S: Patient arrived by bus with cash and an empty stomach. He reported that he had skipped a day of playing WoW to attend the festival.

O: Patient fully participated in all festival activities with minimal encouragement. Stood for 30 minutes to watch Kim Nalley with smile on face and clapped for performances spontaneously. Sat for 30 minutes to watch Jazz Quartet featuring dude playing xylophone with smile on face. Stood for another 20 minutes to watch a band play as a man sang some old R&B tunes. Perused booths filled with candles, handbags, jewelry, photographs, paintings, and other random wares. Drank a total of three 24-oz. cups of Sierra Nevada and two cans of Coors Light. Walked a total 1.2 miles with breaks for toileting x4. Patient ate whole hot link with grilled onions and brown mustard, 3 lumpias, and 4 bites of jambalaya with chicken. Self-fed with fingers and spoon independently. Patient reported “buzzed” feeling and slight headache during ride home.

A: Patient appeared to enjoy afternoon at Jazz Festival. Tolerated crowd well with no complaints of fatigue or annoyance.

P: Continue with outings 1x/week. Consider bringing Coors Light on non-preferred outings.

I had a great time too. The festival was well-organized with plenty to do, see, and eat. The best part was the open-drinking that was allowed along the street. The bus rides weren’t bad either.

Colored Fog

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After a relaxing day at home, we decided to walk to Fisherman’s Wharf for some July 4th fireworks. Everyone knew there was fog but everyone was still hopeful that it would miraculously clear up for the fireworks. That included me, of course. We walked amongst the diverse citizens of SF, which included families, young couples, elderly groups in wheelchairs, teenagers, and your garden variety thugs.  As we walked along The Embarcadero, there was a particular orange “party car” that had the music blasting and was packed with people bouncing along to the beat. I had the impression that they were on their way to the pier with the rest of us but it turned out they were just cruisin’.

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As for the fireworks, they weren’t very visible. In fact, it was like a light show of colored fog and loud booms. I suppose SF wouldn’t be SF if it were done any other way. So, we headed home a little early and got quite a show from all the illegal fireworks all around us. Despite the poor visibility, I still managed to have a good time and Jes got a nice 3-mile walk.

nice work

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As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve had an intern for a few weeks now and yesterday was her last day with us.  She did a great job and I had a great time having her by my side.  It’s so neat to have a student who enjoys learning and absorbs everything around her.

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Here’s the basket of goodies that she left for me.  The best part of it all was the variety of jarred items that she made for me.  I got some strawberry preserves, apricot preserves, jarred pears, and homemade relish!  I can’t wait to try them all!

Best of luck, Angie!

Experiment Update

So, Month 5 of our “We Have No Car” Experiment has just come to an end and things are going well. Commuting on public transportation, using zipcar, and just plain walking has been fine. The only inconveniences may be day trips or weekend trips that require a little more planning than just hopping in your car and driving off. However, when it comes to daily activities and local weekend activities, I don’t seem to feel the need for having my own car. So, with the money that we’ve saved on just the car payments alone (not including insurance and gas), we have plenty of money to take a nice week-long trip.

belize_map.jpgI got a week off at the end of August and we are heading to Belize! It’s located in Central America with lots of little cayes (keys) to explore. I guess this is a fitting place to visit considering it’s the pioneer of eco-tourism. All the fuel I’ve saved on not having a car will go towards my 5-hour flight each way to and from my destination. I booked our flights on American Airlines last night and I just booked one of our three hotel stays today. My co-worker just spent two weeks there in April and she got me really excited about lounging around drinking rum-spiked punch, snorkeling just outside of my hotel room, and trekking through tropical forests to find ancient Mayan ruins. It sounds awesome.

As for the experiment…it looks as though we may not be able to go carless for much longer. Starting in September, I’ll need a car in order to get to my teaching job. Sure, my teaching job is only 1-2 times per week and it’s in Oakland too but I’ll also be working 9-hour days on my non-teaching days as Daylight Saving Time also comes to an end. We’ll probably be looking for something small, fuel efficient, in the $15-20K range, and won’t be very tempting to the hoodlums in OakTown. So, if anyone has any suggestions on what we should consider, let me know. I just know that U.S. News and World Report ranked Honda Civic, Honda Fit, and Honda Civic Hybrid as #’s 1, 2, and 3, respectively. How boring.