Not the moon

There was excitement today – there was a partial annular eclipse in Menlo Park. Yey!

Right before the eclipse, we were out in the garage tidying up and preparing for our move. I found a box that was packed in 1996 and I had no idea what was in it. I am not a big fan of melancholy, so I wasn’t overly excited to open it.  The decision was made when the tape just fell off as I touched it. Inside were all the papers that I wrote at university plus a bunch of books from my childhood and a sad little book on surrealist art (Ah, teenage years. How I don’t miss you). It was a hoot going through the papers. I wrote in green ink and did many of my projects in Fortran and Assembler. Good times.

Anywho, I digress …

During the tidying up, we found an old pair of binoculars. We used them to project an image of the sun onto the sidewalk and watched the moon move across the sun. After 20 minutes of balancing the bins to get a perfect image I looked up and noticed some odd shadows on the neighbors garage door. I took a closer look and realized that they were all images of the sun – a maple tree was doing a great job as a multiple pinhole camera. What a fabulous sight!

Life is good.

Lisa.

The equipment – that is not my hand

One sun, many images

Want.

It is my birthday soon.

That is all.

Lisa.

Shirts? Or not. I'll go with not in this case.

I love giving presents to people.  Let’s be honest, I love getting them … slightly more

ThinkGeek is a great source of ideas.  O. M. G.  They have Stargate coasters!  Want.

Anywho, I digress …

I spent ages in Macy’s looking for shirts for my sweetie for Xmas.  He had been measured for shirts at a Fancy Clothing Store a few weeks before so I was confident that I had the right size.  I left with 6 fabulous shirts.

Christmas Day

5 shirts had sleeves that were too short.  Fancy Clothing Store, you suck.  Hopefully someone got you a new tape measure for Christmas.  Grrr.

Boxing Day

I returned 5 shirts and selected 5 replacements.
Once I got home, I noticed that one of the shirts was the wrong size – the sticker on it didn’t match the label. It was way too big.

Day after Boxing Day

I returned the enormous shirt and selected a replacement.
Once I got home, I unpacked the shirts and hung them in the wardrobe.  It was then that I realized that I only had 5 shirts instead of 6. When exchanging the 5 shirts, one got left behind.

Still the day after boxing day

I returned to the store armed with 5 shirts, 3 receipts (original, 5 replacements, one replacement) and a sour look on my face.
I retrieved the forgotten shirt.

Done.

Got 6, exchanged 5, exchanged 1, retrieved 1.

Good grief.

Next year I am buying socks and Stargate coasters.

Lisa.

Not a great look

I have been watching Star Trek: Voyager on NetFlix.  I am up to Season 5 and I still loath Neelix.  Neelix’s favorite Talaxian poet?  Durex.  I kid you not.

Anywho, I digress …

In other news, I have started coloring my own hair again.  I have mentioned before my talent for looking like Elvis as a result of a lack of finesse in application.  This time I have outdone myself.

Me:  Have I covered all my hair?

My Sweetie:  Yes … and quite a bit of skin.

Me:  Well, I would rather look like Elvis than miss any bits of hair.

MS:  Riiiiiight.

30 minutes later.

Me:  Now I have rinsed it off, do I look like Elvis.

MS:  No.

Me:  Great!  I was a bit worried that I had put on too much stuff.

MS:  You look like Neelix.

Bugger.

Lisa.

The first hit is free

I have accumulated too much stuff.  Too many clothes I don’t wear.  Ditto shoes. And <gulp> ditto handbags.  Yes, that’s right.  Too many handbags!

I started buying decent handbags after my handbag was stolen in Munich nearly 20 years ago.  I was there on business and someone took it from under the table where I was eating breakfast.  Creepy.  In the bag was all my money, credit cards, passport and plane ticket home.  Bugger.

I hurried to the UK Consulate as my flight was that afternoon.  I needed to get a temporary passport and some money.  I was declared destitute and given enough cash for a passport pic and to get the ticket reissued.

Ah, paper tickets.  How I don’t miss you.

I got back OK, but I was really annoyed to lose my handbag.  On the upside, my handbag was insured and I replaced it with a Coach handbag.  That was my first good handbag.

If I ever go back to Munich, I have to repay the money that the UK Consulate gave me.  Unsurprisingly, I have never returned.

Anywho, I digress …The clothes can go to charity, but I have to find a new home for some fabulous shoes and many of those decent handbags.  There is a store in Palo Alto that sells pre-owned shoes and handbags.  They have great stuff.  Maybe I should trade?

Oh wait!

Lisa.

Old Turkey

I have mentioned before that Alan loves to bark at nothing on the fence.  He seems to particularly love  barking at the place where the bird was rather than where it is now … but then he wouldn’t be able to see it it, so he wouldn’t bark.  Ah, there is method to his madness.

Anywho, I digress …

Just recently, a bird has taken to dive-bombing Alan and trying to peck him on the head.  Alan goes ballistic, but so would I if a bird the same size as me tried to peck my head.  One morning, a few days ago, I heard the familiar kerfuffle that indicates a bird attack.  I raced outside to make sure he was alright.  Rather than barking at the fence, he was hopping up and down in the middle of the patio trying to bite the sky.  I looked up and there was the Zeppelin, flying low overhead. I think I could hear voices.  It was at about that time that I realized I was naked.

Having looked up the reviews, it is apparent that the windows open and you can see straight down.  Not sure anyone will want to see the photos from that trip, but at least the pilot has another funny story to tell

I really need to wear clothes more often – for everyone’s sake.

Lisa.

1955 - 2011

I have mentioned before my love affair with handbags.  I have bags that I have never carried because I am terrified of getting blemishes on them.  My most fabulous bag is a Fendi Spy.  It has been out of the house precisely once.  I carried a trash bag with me in case of rain, dust storms, tumbleweeds or plagues of frogs.

Anywho, I digress …

Today I got caught in a rain shower.  I was carrying one of my favorite handbags and I didn’t want it to get wet and so I sheltered in the Apple store hoping for a swift end to the rain.  It became apparent that it wasn’t stopping anytime soon.  The sales folks were hovering as usual.  I decided that I would just have to make a run for home before the rain got too heavy.  Not wanting my handbag to get soaked, I asked the Nice Sales Associate if they could help me out.

Me:  It is raining outside and I don’t want my handbag to get wet.

Nice Sales Associate:  Riiiiight?

Me:  I don’t suppose I could have one of your plastic bags?

NSA:  Of course!  Here.

Me:  My handbag thanks you.

NSA:  Any time.

I raced home with my handbag protected.  Sadly the same could not be said of my head or my soggy newspaper.  Yeah, I should have asked for two

Nice people at Apple. I am sure that if I had asked, they probably would have given me two.

Lisa.

Insanely cool

I arranged to meet a friend for lunch outside Borders – a great central landmark with shade, books to browse and seating while I wait.  Now that Borders has closed, there is no shade, no books and no seating.  As I am almost always early, this is a bit of  a pain.  However, it is right across the street from the very cool Apple store, so I switched our meeting point.  No books or seats, but, aaaaah, air conditioning on a hot day

Anywho, I digress …

While I was hovering by the window, the Sales Associates approached me every few minutes to see if they could help me.  After the fifth request, I looked around and realized that I was one of four people hovering.  The SAs appeared to be actively trying to discourage the new meeting point.

Sales Associate 6:  Welcome to the Apple store. Can I help you find something?

Me:  I am waiting for an astronaut.

SA6:  <Slack-jawed surprise>

Oh yes. I was waiting for an astronaut. Cooler than  the Apple store?  I think so.

Lisa.

Santa Clara

I worked with Phil at Sun – even though we were on opposite coasts, our paths crossed frequently as we were both in the same group.  Nice guy.  We had a bit of a disagreement over a project and then our paths just crossed less often.

Quite a while later I ran into Phil in the corridor.  He stopped me to chat – I was just going to keep walking. We talked about that project.  We had a bit of a laugh.  We agreed to spend more time together, perhaps on his next trip, to see if there was a joint project we could collaborate on.

Phil’s next trip was on September 11th 2001.

I am so grateful that he made me stop and we had that chat.

Now I never delay resolving an issue.  I don’t even wait a day.

I went down to the old Sun campus today to take a moment to remember Phil.

Thank you for your friendship and sage guidance Phil.

Lisa.

RIP

Phil's Bench

Hang on a minute, lads. I've got a great idea!

I realized a few weeks ago that I needed somewhere to stash my important papers.  I used to have a fire safe.  In fact I had two, but now I don’t.

I started looking online for one – or two – but couldn’t decide. They come in all shapes, sizes and prices.  I really think it is a crap-shoot.  Who knows which one will survive intact, or not?

Anywho, I digress …

A colleague suggested a bank safe deposit box.  Not as convenient, but unlikely to go up in smoke.  I got on the phone to my bank. Nothing available in Palo Alto and a waiting list that is longer than a year.  Menlo Park came through – with a tiny 5″ x 2″ box.  It is very deep and so good enough for what I needed.  Also, it is only $20/year!  Nice.

It was quite the James Bond moment being ushered into the vault and past the most fabulous vault door I have ever seen.  In fact, the only one I have ever seen.  All the cogs and workings are on view behind a glass panel.  There are little whirling disks that are probably for the timer lock and all sorts of bars and mechanisms.  I wanted to take a pic, but I assumed the guard might take offense and even spill his coffee.

Next time I am there, I will check out the manufacturer’s plate and see if I can find out more about it.

Not as cool as Einstein’s sandals, but not too shabby.

Lisa.