Monthly Archives: September 2009

by chris

Did you notice..

… that when you are not logged in you don’t see the ‘wishlist’ tab at the top of the site?

That’s a holdover from something I didn’t put in place here when I put the theme into place. I was doing a test blog to see how things would work and I put a ‘website lockout’ thing in place while I worked. If anyone viewed the site it would display a single welcome page and only allowed logged in people to see more than that single page.

Being that the family site is mostly just for us, would there be interest in me putting up the same thing here?

by Ramona

Mileva caught a rabbit!!!!

OK, total breaking news here.

Mileva caught a rabbit.

Kevin was supervising the outing, so I don’t know any particulars. But she wandered off, and then she came trotting up the sidewalk dragging a dead bunny.

She was rather miffed that he didn’t let her bring it in the house. She did allow him to part her from the bunny on the porch. Kevin then removed the bunny to somewhere else.

We’ll never know if this is Mileva’s Triumph or Mileva’s Fortunate Discovery. But either way – Mileva caught a rabbit.

We are so proud.

Well, I am so proud. Kevin, not so much. He, after all, is the one who had to deal with the body.

by chris

The Anticipation Period

After my car (’89 S10 Blazer) ran into a problem that would require a good bit of repairs; if not hard, at least time consuming – and it is work I can’t do myself – so there would be a hefty bill at the end. Now, my car didn’t qualify under the ‘cash for clunkers’ program (1 mpg too good to qualify), but it does qualify for the Texas Drive Clean Across Texas program. Well, it took two and a half weeks but I now have a piece of paper that makes my car worth 3,000 as a trade in. (I’m sure that’s way better than it would get by regular trade in values)

We didn’t spend that two and a half week period just sitting around though; we’ve been doing reading, getting opinions, doing a few test drives here and there. For about a week or so we’ve been set on a Honda Fit Sport. Set enough, in fact, to have put our name down on a car. (with 500 bucks that goes towards our down payment as a mark of serious intent)

The car my name is on, of course, wasn’t at the dealership. The color I’m after (the darker blue they offer) was not in stock… but they had one scheduled for delivery near the end of the month. See where this is going?

I’ have the Drive Clean ‘check’ in hand. I have our paperwork in order. I have a quote on the price (with VIN number), so that part is done. I have an auto loan through the credit union ready (not set in stone until I find out if the dealership can match/beat it). I’ve even added the car to our auto insurance (well, enough info sent on that I just call and say “we have the car, add it” and that’s it).

and the car is not here. but it should be by the end of the month. Delivery date is somewhere between the 24 and the 29th.

We are ready to have two cars again. Christina is ready to be able to leave the house during the day again.

The anticipation is killing me.

by Ramona

Seven Falls

Had a friend visiting (Joseph Neafie). Having a visitor means going to those places you always mean to go visit. So we went to Seven Falls. Well, we also went to Horsetooth Rock, so there are a few photos of there too.

Horsetooth Rock & Seven Falls

What I hadn’t known, until looking up directions on the website, is that the author Helen Hunt Jackson had been buried above Seven Falls. Since moved, but there’s a big monument. Ms. Jackson wrote “Ramona”, so it was an absolute must visit after finding that out.

by Nelia

From Zoeie’s point of view

You never can completely let your guard down around people. They treat you just fine for months, keeping the food bowl full most of the time, giving you a little of the good stuff from time to time (usually when Penelope yells about it). They pet you when you want it and you get to thinking they’re OK.

And then one day, for absolutely no reason, they chase you down, grab you, and shove you into a box no matter how hard you fight to stay out of it. And then they put you in the car and take you to a bad place where they just stand there and let strangers do inexplicable horrible things to you. And then they take you home and let you out of the box and act like everything is fine.

It happened to me today…… Now i am watching them, especially Luke who did it. I am watching Nelia too, just in case. She was right there holding the box. She isn’t as bad as Luke, but she isn’t trustworthy either. It is going to be a long time before I let either of them anywhere near me.

by chris

Tea – Yunnan Noir

A black tea from adagio. Their description:

Yunnan is a region in China known for growing large-leaf tea. High mountains covered by mist, clean water and rich soil form ideal growing conditions and contribute to the unique flavor of Yunnan black tea. Our Yunnan Noir is a hand-rolled version of this famous variety, with tightly rolled leaves into a “black snail” shape. The aroma is sweet with hints of honey and fruit. To the palate it is red wine-like with notes of fruit and cocoa and reveals an intense depth of character with each beguiling sip.

I’ll agree with the aroma and palate. There is a cocoa flavor amidst the earthy flavor that is unexpected. I’m enjoying this tea as a morning wake-up tea. Strong flavors make me think it works best alone as I can’t think of a breakfast food to pair this with.

This is a tea I’d keep around in some small supply.

by Nelia

Nelia in South Park

OK This is the aviator i came up with. I modified it in Photoshop. I saved it with a transparent background but when i uploaded the transparent one it acquired a black background so i changed it from transparent to white.

I would appreciate opinions. Do you like with or without the nose? Noses were not an option… is that important?

Nelia in South Park Nelia in South Park1 Luke in South Park

OK I modified my avatars. Ramona has a bust and i want one. I didn’t realize that was an option. I also changed the default mouth i chose so it has a little smile.

I like Kevin’s beer. I would have given Luke a beer had i thought of it. He said to give him a gun. hmmmm We’ll see.

Nelia in South Park2Luke in South Park3 copy1

Other possible Lukes

Luke in South Park3 copy2Luke in South Park3 copy3Luke in South Park3 copy4

Luke in South Park SmallNelia in South Park SmallRamona in South Park SmallKevin in South Park Small

by Ramona

thoughts on the new design

yes, it is very new. And very different.

I like the new font and the new way the author & date are displayed.

I like the Wishlists tab and pull down list. We should think of some new tabs. Was recently reminded of the recipe idea … I should fill that in. I think it would make a decent tab. But at the moment I haven’t put anything in there. 🙂

I’m not entirely sure about the monochromatic scheme. I’m sure I’ll get used it it, but it will take some getting used to.

And the South Park avatar … we should all get one 🙂 We should fill up the whole line with our own little selves. You could solicit volunteers to make them for everyone .. I volunteer 🙂 This is the site I know about – http://www.southparkstudios.com/fans/avatar/.

Are there any other changes in the wings? Anything I neglected to comment on?

by chris

Doh! and a question

Two things. First, the quicky: Does anyone mind if change up the appearance of the website? I’ve been playing with another theme and I’d like to show off the basic modifications that I’ve done with it.

Second, the Doh! around here.

See, a few weeks ago I had an overheat in my car. I didn’t think of it as a really big deal. Except that I had to run the engine HOT for too long to get to a safe place to pull over. I found the top radiator hose popped in a most impressive manner and was able to replace it without much fuss. Then the other day I checked my transmition fluid – car was misbehaving a bit and in the past this was a sign of ‘add fluid’. Well, there was something ‘extra’ on the dip stick. Something that was chocolate milk-ish in color, kinda like hand lotion in consistency. Almost like… oil. A quick call to the car shop and they agreed – that overheat probably busted a seal somewhere, most likely the head gasket. Quick Estimate was 1200 – 1800 to replace and clean out everything that would need it. Then again, if something managed to get really busted – say, a crack from the overheat – well, I’d go north of 2000 pretty fast. He wouldn’t make an estimate of how much north, as it was a ‘well, it depends… ‘ moment. You kinda get an insight to the mechanic’s thoughts on a repair when their other question to you is “so, is the rest of the car in good shape and without problems?… “.

Apparently we’re now in the market for a new car.

I mean really, if I’m going to drop 1500-2000 on a car, I might as well make it a down payment. Not that I have that much saved up right now. All our spare money has gone to killing off these credit cards off. (getting so close too!) At least there is a program (Drive Clean Across Texas) that should get us a nice 3000 or so twards a new car… if we can wait a month (or so) for it to be processed. And before you say “oh, if only you’d used that Clunkers program”… well, my car was 1 (O-N-E) MPG higher than the cutoff range. So it wouldn’t have helped me anyway.

Sigh. It seems every year comes up with *something* to keep us from doing serious saving.