More on Reading

Two years ago I delved into a bit of nostalgia, remembering with fondness the books I enjoyed as a child: http://heckledtrio.blogspot.com/2009/12/reading-memories.html

Many of those books I've come to share with Todd, finding them in the library and bringing them home for him to read. He has enjoyed the Little House series immensely, and even did his first school book report on one of them. The Ramona series also became a favorite of his, in addition to Beverly Cleary's other much-loved series, such as Henry Huggins, Ralph S. Mouse and others.

Yesterday Tabitha posted about what she's currently reading, and that spawned some commentary about what I was currently reading, myself.

Now that Todd is a little older, his grade-appropriate reading is a little more involved. There is more classroom reading, and every month there is a book project to do (not a full-blown book report, thankfully). So I've had to keep up with his reading a lot more than I used to. And in the process, I've discovered some other favorites!

I love anything by Dick King-Smith, author of Babe. He writes a lot of animal stories, and I find that nothing is more entertaining than anthropomorphized animals! In my post 2 years ago, I mentioned The Incredible Journey as a favorite, for much the same reason-- animals!

Todd is currently in the middle of Judy Blume's Fudge series, which I actually read last year, and which I found a good form of "birth control". Just reading about little brother Fudge's crazy antics makes me wonder how his parents (and older brother, whose point of view the story is told from) keep their sanity, and glad that I only have ONE such kid to deal with!

In class, he's reading My Side of the Mountain, which I also decided to pick up and read. And I love it! Why? Because it so perfectly fits the type of story I've always been enchanted by as a kid: the kind where you read minute details about people being resourceful and surviving. It's the main reason I enjoyed The Boxcar Children (which I mentioned in the previous post, as well) when I was little, and why the winter scenes from Laura Ingalls Wilder's The Long Winter are among my favorites: lots of details about what they ate, how they scrounged up their food, how they obtained shelter, etc.

I've enjoyed stories meant for older kids, as well, such as John Grisham's Theodore Boone, his attempt to transport his usual courtroom drama into a youth novel. Still a little adult-flavored, in my opinion, but a fascinating read nevertheless. I spied Little Blog on the Prairie in the teen corner of our library, and couldn't resist the wacky-sounding title-- it turned out to be a pretty cute story about a modern-day girl transported back to 1890 as her family attends "Frontier Camp"! And finally, I've started to get into books by Alex Sanchez, his The God Box, the first one I read, being especially good. I hope to expand on his work in a later post.

And finally, I've been able to get some books for free through a website called BookSneeze. The basic premise of this program is that they'll send you a book for free in exchange for your writing an honest review about it-- both on your blog and on a big retailer site, like Amazon. So far I've read and reviewed one book (which I wasn't terribly impressed with), and am in the middle of reading a biography of George Washington Carver. No pressure to write a positive review-- just an honest one. This program is an offshoot of Thomas Nelson Publishers, so the majority of the selection is Christian-themed. And a lot of the books are available only as e-books, so that makes reading a bit cumbersome for me. Still, it's a neat program, and so far I'm enjoying participating in it. Highly recommended if you like reading, and don't mind having to finish a book and write a review about it before you can get your next one :-)

What's on your bookshelf these days?

Marriage: A Partnership

It is Day 1 of the November NaBloPoMo, and, as is the case each year, it always kicks off with our anniversary. Today the husband and I celebrate 8 years of marriage. EIGHT years! Where does the time go! That's 4 times longer than our previous relationship records. And we're still going strong. Of course, in the grand scheme of things, 8 years isn't really that long. I'm sure there are those more experienced out there who are thinking: yeah right, just wait till you hit 15 years, 20 years, 30 years... and that's a valid point. If I'm still blogging 7 years from now, I'll try to remember to revisit this and see how things are going at 15 years. The question is... who of my readers will still be reading and remind me? ;-)

I got to thinking about what makes a marriage work. You can glean nuggets of wisdom from both the experts and from people who have lived long, satisfying marriages. Of course, you get different opinions on what the key ingredient to a successful marriage is. I think the only single thing that is universally true is that it's all different! That, really, is my main take-away from all those articles and interviews that showcase marriage/relationship longevity: you gotta figure out what works for you!

For me and Allan, it's a couple of key factors.

1. We work together, not against each other. And I mean that literally. Everything is an equal partnership, from household chores (he usually cooks, I usually clean, and on weekends we divide up the weekly house cleaning) to raising the boy (he gets him ready in the morning and off to school, I pick him up and get him ready for bed at night) to discussing major household decisions. At the same time, we know we can count on each other to fill in when we're unable to take fulfill our "main" responsibilities.

2. There has to be some give and take. The greatest example is sex. By and large, men have a bigger sex drive than women, so for the most part, the man is gonna want it more frequently than the woman. That's just the way nature rolls, and there's honestly nothing wrong with that. We've found that bartering works remarkably well-- trade sex for doing the dishes ;-) Kidding! Actually, only half-kidding. We don't make a regular practice of "bartering" for sex, but once in a while it actually does work. Allan gets his nookie and I get out of doing a mundane chore for a night. It's win-win all around! ;-)

On a more serious note, though, there really is nothing wrong with a bit of compromise. I'm sure Allan would like it more often than we do it, and I could get by less often than we do it (especially when Todd is in town, keeping us busy and wearing us out), so how often we DO do it is our compromise. And yes, there are times when I don't really feel like it, but go ahead with it anyway. More often than not, I wind up having fun and saying "I'm glad you started that", but if not-- no big deal. It's not an affront to Allan, and he doesn't take it as such.

Sex is an integral part of marriage, but it's not the end-all-be-all. It's fun, but shouldn't be taken too seriously.

Which brings me to my last point:

3) We don't take each other, or any issues that crop up, too seriously. That's not to say that we treat serious issues cavalierly. We deal with what comes up, and don't let it consume our lives. Equally important is feeling that there isn't anything you can't discuss. After all, what's a spouse if not your best friend, the person with whom you're free to confide everything in?

The corollary to that is being able to be lighthearted about anything. Even serious topics like divorce. I've known people who thought that the mere mention of it spelled doom for their marriage. Nonsense. If you can't freely talk about it, how can you address issues that might be serious enough to make you contemplate divorce? Not only do Allan and I freely discuss it when relevant, but we also feel free to joke about it. And there's nothing wrong with that, so long as joking is not the only way you ever discuss divorce. It lends a bit of levity to an otherwise depressing topic.

And when it comes to laughter-- what better way to diffuse an argument than with a bit of funny? I can certainly attest to how well that works: http://heckledtrio.blogspot.com/2008/02/how-to-diffuse-argument.html

I guess the nutshell version of this isn't all that different from the generic advice you get from others: teamwork, compromise and humor.

What works for you?

Book Review: Just In Case You Ever Wonder

Just In Case You Ever Wonder by Max Lucado. Illustrated by Toni Goffe.

Let me start out by saying that I generally enjoy Max Lucado's works. His adult books are easy to read and express common-sense concepts about faith in bite-sized chunks that are easy to chew on and digest. So I was looking forward to reading this to my 7-year-old son at bedtime when I received it. Since it was in e-book format, I turned off the light, snuggled into bed next to him, and turned on the iPad. Cozy, right? Well, on to the book itself...

Just In Case You Ever Wonder is a Christian children's book that looks as if it were meant for young children-- not many words, lots of pictures. But the content is really geared more towards older children. The basic premise of the story is sweet and innocuous enough: told from a parent's point of view, it is a reminder to children that their parents will always be there for them and will always love them. A good message....

... until I got to the part about scary noises at night and seeing monsters in shadows. That bothered me. I can see how such a notion can be planted into a young child's head and cause problems. I get that the idea was to reassure the child that their parents (and God) will love and protect them even when they're scared, but I think better examples could have been used. Not every kid thinks there are monsters under the bed, and maybe now they will!

The book then trails off a bit into the topic of heaven and how wonderful it is. Which is also nice, but seems strangely out of place in a book that starts strongly with the message that a child can turn to his parents and to God for love and support. 

All in all, I thought the *overall* message of the book was nice-- "I'm here for you no matter what"-- and that's something I definitely want to impart to my child. But the way this idea was presented felt rather disjointed and disorganized, on top of the use of some poor examples. This probably won't be a book I'll be passing along to anyone as a gift. I definitely think there are better books out there that can present this idea, with better examples and better-flowing content.


Note: I received a complimentary copy of this book through booksneeze.com in exchange for honest feedback about the book. The opinions expressed in this review are solely my own.

The Trouble With Remotes

Today's Drabble comic reminded me of a couple of funny television-remote-related anecdotes, as well as some musings. First up, the comic:

Yesterday my boss arrived at work, dug around in her purse for her keys to let herself into the building, and was surprised to see her TV remote in there. That's when she realized that in her morning rush, she'd inadvertently grabbed the remote instead of her cell phone... which happened to be sitting right next to the remote. When she left at quittin' time, she wondered aloud about what kinds of long distance calls her dog must have made in her absence ;-)

The mention of her dog reminded me of Ron and Debbie's late doggie-- Sammy. Apparently one weekend while they were out of town, leaving the dog to his own devices (see, unlike kids, dogs can do well on their own for a few days-- leave them some food and water, and they're good to go!), Sammy accidentally stepped on the remote, turning the TV on. Further actions-- maybe playing with it? -- caused the volume to go up. Way up. It got so loud that not only did it scare poor Sammy, but the neighbors actually called the cops because of the noise! The cops had to break in and turn off the TV. Who knows how long the TV was on before Sammy was rescued from the clutches of the noise pollution! ;-)

We're so attached to our remotes. Makes you wonder how on earth we managed to survive in the days of TVs that had knobs you had to manually turn. I remember growing up watching one of those small B&W models with the... what was it, 13? channels. That was before we moved into our house, and our living room apartment was so small we sat close enough to the TV that sitting up and reaching out to turn the knob wasn't too inconveniencing.

Why is it that when the batteries on a remote run low, we respond by pressing the buttons harder? Do we somehow believe that the weak connection will work better if we exert untold force on the poor buttons?

Amazing, isn't it-- in the span of just a decade or two, we've gone from the non-existence of remote controls to now having to keep track of 3 or 4. Let's see-- the TV, the VCR, the DVD, the stereo, the DirectTV console... yeah, it adds up. No wonder we're so attached to our clickers, we become virtually unable to function without them. Just like Ralph Drabble above :-)

The New Job at my Old Haunt

As many of you are no doubt aware, I started a new job at UCSB 2 weeks ago. I'm currently starting my third week, which is also my first full 5-day week. The first two were short ones: I started on a Tuesday, then last week was shortened due to the Labor Day holiday).

I first came to UCSB exactly 10 years ago, in the Fall of 2001, to begin my studies in computer science here. This is where I met my husband, this is where our son was born, and this is where we bought our first house. And now, 6 years after graduating, I am back-- except now I can park in some of the better-located parking lots! :-) It feels a bit strange to back on campus amongst all the young 'uns. Today's freshman class was born during my senior year of high school! How's that for perspective? A lot has changed on campus since I was last here, and I feel a mix of nostalgia as I walk by our old haunts near the Engineering building, and take in some of the new scenery that has been constructed since I left.

Anyway, I digress... the new job!

Many of you have long known that I've had aspirations to move out of the software engineering industry. I mean, the field is fun to a point, but I knew early on that this was not something I wanted to do long-term, as a career. I thought about the various types of things I'd done in my career thus far and came to the conclusion that there were a couple of things I knew I enjoyed doing, and did well. One was training, which I discussed briefly in an older blog post here. The other was basically anything that was highly-organized and highly-structured in nature.

I remember when I first arrived at the 72nd Signal Battalion headquarters in Mannheim, Germany, a brand new Army lieutenant. As part of my inprocessing, my sponsor took me to meet the Battalion Adjutant (S-1), which is essentially the equivalent of an HR manager for the unit. I remember sitting in Darren's office, thinking to myself, "this is the job I want". Sure enough, after a couple of years, I landed the job. And just as I had imagined, I loved the job. I loved the administrative nature of the job. I loved organizing and analyzing data, having it at my fingertips whenever it was needed. I loved figuring out ways to streamline our personnel processes. When it came time to write my annual review (which came close to the time I was getting ready to leave the Army), my commanding officer acknowledged that I had a passion for this type of work, and that if I had chosen to stay in the military, he would've recommended me for a personnel-oriented career track.

Unfortunately, I had no idea of what kinds of civilian-equivalent jobs my work as the S-1 would translate to. I wasn't aware that there was such a thing as "Human Resources" in the civilian world. Instead, having been surrounded by fellow Signal Corps officers who came from engineering backgrounds, I decided to give computer science a try. After doing that for 6 years, though, I was feeling burnt out enough to realize that I needed to actively pursue a different career. I had held out for something within Training or HR at Citrix, but nothing really panned out.

So when the job opportunity came up at UCSB, I jumped at it. I wasn't really holding out for much, as I knew how hard it is to break into the UC system, since many of the job placements are done from internal hiring/promotions. But lo and behold, here I am!

The days have been flying by. Each day keeps me so busy that time zooms by before I even realize it. In fact, the only way I even know that time has gone by is by the rumbling in my tummy alerting me to lunch/snack time. I'm enjoying the work, and am learning about all sorts of things related to Academic Personnel and campus-wide policies pertaining to personnel.

My job is strictly 8-5, which is great because I can leave work at 5:00 on the dot to pick up Todd from school. And when I arrive at 8:00 in the morning, my co-workers are there, too, in case I need to pick anyone's brain for something. Unlike Citrix, where most of my co-workers showed up between 9:00 and 10:00, so if I ever ran into an issue at 8:00am, I'd have to wait at least an hour anyway. And leaving at 5:00pm wasn't so easy either, as I'd often find myself right in the middle of something I couldn't easily break away from. That wasn't so bad when Todd's after-school care was nearby and open until 6:00pm, but now that it closes at 5:30 and is farther away, it's even more imperative that I leave right at 5:00.

The benefits are really good too-- especially the defined benefit retirement plan-- that's pure gold in this day and age. Discounted university classes are a nice plus (not that I have the time or inclination for that these days, anyway), and there are all kinds of opportunities for training within my field.

Anyway-- so far so good! I like being at a job where I'm not only in my element (I get to wield a red pen! It doesn't get any better than that! ;-) ) but where I'm busy and productive all day long and where I can go home and just NOT think about work in the evening or on weekends.

There you have it. My first couple weeks (and the years leading up to it!) in a nutshell :-) Here's to many, many more!

What makes a good karaoke experience? Part 2

Last month, I blogged about my thoughts on what makes a good karaoke experience:

http://heckledtrio.blogspot.com/2011/06/what-makes-good-karaoke-experience.html

For the most part, that still holds true. Last night's karaoke outing has only reinforced that. But not in the positive sense: I got to experience a few *negative* points that really turned me off to the KJ, and, as a result, the establishment itself.

My friends and I first hit the Cliff Room back in April, shortly after Tabitha's birthday. There were only 4 of us in attendance, and we had mixed reactions afterward. If you recall from my blog post, I enjoyed myself immensely. Now I realize that it was primarily because I'd been drinking that night, so my perspective was a bit skewed :-P Last night, that same group of 4 of us finally got a chance to hit the Cliff Room again. This time my drinking was light enough to keep me sober all night, so I feel like I got to observe everything with a different set of lenses than the first night. And while the evening started off quietly enough, it did not end well, karaoke-wise, primarily because of these negative factors that totally turned me off to the KJ:

1. Not having a good system in place for keeping the correct order of singers.
G-Man (of OTT fame) has his computer, with karaoke software to keep track of the queue of singers. Dyno Mike (of Creekside, Monty's, and all sorts of other places) uses the good old-fashioned song slips, and simply arranges them in the proper order. The Cliff Room guy? Simply keeps a notebook with a list you can append your name to.

As you can imagine, that system is fraught with all kinds of problems, not the least of which is that it's difficult for the KJ to keep track of the proper order of the rotation. As new people come in, G-Man and Dyno can simply insert their names into the middle of the rotation to keep it evenly spaced out. How do you do that when ALL the names are already written down on a notebook, in what amounts to a random and unfair order?

2. Drinking too much.
I've been of legal drinking age for a while now-- definitely long enough to figure out how much alcohol I can tolerate before becoming totally wasted, and how to pace myself to prevent that. So you'd think that a KJ, who is being PAID to render a professional service, should also be able to control his alcohol intake.

Not this one. He was so drunk he couldn't keep track of the rotation! He accidentally skipped people, or switched them out, or... well, all kinds of things (see point #3). Having a messy notebook on top of that certainly didn't help him keep things straight!

3. Taking bribes
I think this irked me more than the above two factors combined. Bad enough that as the night wears on, you have to practically hover over his shoulder to make sure the drunken KJ doesn't miss your turn (yes, I had to do this, and even then, he kept forgetting me!). Even worse when you see people come up with cash in their hands, with the #1 spot going to the highest bidder. Yes, I witnessed a $5 briber "lose out" to a $20 briber. There is absolutely no sense of fairness in this.

A good karaoke rotation should be first-come, first-served for the most part. And I can understand a KJ making a one-time exception for a known regular, if the regular has a good reason (like a birthday boy having an extra turn because he's actively celebrating his birthday at the bar, or the time our friend Eric was squeezed in because it was his last night in SB) and if it's not a frequent habit. But bribery? Especially under the guise of tips? i.e. shaking your tip jar at people who want to know if they can go a bit sooner? That's really low.

All in all, I had a terrific time last night, despite our woes with the KJ. The atmosphere was lively, the people were a ton of fun, and I enjoyed the company of my 3 friends immensely. So it's not like the night was a total wash. I just wish that our enjoyable experience hadn't been hampered by a jerk of a KJ. Well... never again! Next time we're sticking to the known KJs and their establishments!

Netflix Raises its Prices

There's been a lot of outcry over Netflix's recent announcement about changes in not only its prices, but its plan structure. We subscribe to the unlimited streaming + 1 DVD out-at-a-time plan, which currently costs us $10/month. When the changes take place in a month, that same plan will now cost us $16. Quite an increase!

Now, for us, the change isn't particularly drastic or unmanageable, for a number of reasons:

1. Netflix serves as a TOTAL replacement for cable, not a supplement. $80/month vs. $16/month is still an incredible savings. Plus it cuts down on channel-surfing-- we only watch TV when there is something we want to purposefully watch.

2. We use Netflix primarily for TV shows, secondarily for movies. There are really only one or two shows that we can't get either on Netflix or on another website (like Hulu, or the station's website), so Netflix's offerings, when it comes to what we like to watch, is pretty substantial. Between me and Allan, we probably watch nearly a dozen TV shows on a regular basis.

3. Now that we have our brand-new, huge flat-screen HD TV for the new house, we REALLY take full advantage of the Netflix streaming service, because the TV has a built-in Netflix app. We can watch everything that Netflix streams (commercial-free and in hi-def!) with just a wireless internet connection.

In fact, we're even contemplating upgrading to the 2-DVD-out-at-a-time plan, which would cost $20/month-- still a fraction of cable cost. Although I primarily use the DVD subscription to watch TV shows that aren't streamed, it would be nice to also be able to check out the occasional movie, without having to wait until the current DVD is finished.

So, although for us, it still makes economical sense to stick with Netflix despite their inflated prices, I can also understand where a lot of other consumers are coming from with their outrage.

First, Netflix did away with their combo plans and instituted separate DVD vs. streaming plans. So now we're essentially paying for two separate services: streaming and DVD. This makes sense when you have customers that use one exclusively over the other, but it penalizes those that actually use both. Why isn't Netflix offering a discount for those who subscribe to a combination plan?

Second, if the pricing structure is undergoing such a drastic change, why aren't existing customers being allowed to grandfather in their current price/plan, or at least have their prices raised by a much smaller amount-- essentially the same as receiving a discount for a combo plan? I know that when we significantly change features on our products, we try to mitigate the effect of taking AWAY a feature-- at the very least by making it user-configurable.

These changes don't seem to be making much sound business sense. I am really curious to see what happens to Netflix's customer base once the changes take effect. Whatever decisions they decide to pursue between now and then, or even afterward, it definitely won't be without lack of consumer outrage! Wonder how much they'll take that into account...

The Meme where we reveal our secrets

Throughout my years of blogging, I've done several Q&A type quizzes, memes and posts dealing with the more private aspects of myself: from deeper ruminations about life to lighthearted trivia about my own quirks and foibles. Today Tabitha posted her response to a meme that's currently going around: revealing some of your secrets on video. Here is my version.



Some of you may already be familiar with some of the tidbits on there. Some of it will be new to you. Either way, I had fun making this video, and was surprised by 1) how easily the ideas started flowing once I started (and I had some serious writer's block when I began!) and 2) how personal it got.

How about you? What are some of your deeper secrets?

(The accompanying song in the video is called "Gently" and is from http://www.danosongs.com)

Smelly Man vs. Crazy Man

aka "Why We Should Help the Homeless"

Yesterday Allan and I finally ventured out to see the 4th of July free concert in the Sunken Gardens of the Santa Barbara Courthouse. It used to be an annual event held by the Santa Barbara Symphony. But every year I've wanted to go, something else has come up. But when I finally had time? They canceled it due to lack of funding. Well, this year, ambitious volunteers from the Spirit of '76, a nonprofit organization here in SB, got together all kinds of volunteers to put together a show. And I was determined to make it.

Thinking that there would plenty of traffic downtown because of the parade that would run right before the concert (based on flashbacks from the nightmare that was traffic/parking during the Christmas Holiday Parade), I decided that taking the bus would be a better option. So I rounded up plenty of quarters, packed our chairs and some snacks, and hopped onto a bus that would drop us off right outside the Courthouse.

The trip TO the courthouse was relatively uneventful. The biggest buzz of the trip was when "Crazy Man" boarded the bus. He had a mop of wild curly hair, a "tan" that was not really a tan (if you catch my drift), missing teeth, and a very outgoing demeanor. It wasn't until he sat near us and started talking to anyone around him about all kinds of random things that I realized he was not playing with a full deck of cards. It was a little hard to ignore him whenever he addressed you directly, but on the whole, I kept my eyes focused on anything BUT Crazy Man, and tried to tune him out. If I hadn't been with Allan, I might have been more unnerved, but Crazy Man seemed relatively harmless, save for the weird chattiness.

We enjoyed the concert, and then hoofed it to the bus stop a couple blocks away to go back home. It was about half full, and we had to go all the way to the back before we found two seats next to each other, plus room to put our lawn chairs. Sitting near us was College Kid, who basically kept to himself, like most people do. All was well until we go to the next stop.

There, "Smelly Man" boarded. And to call him "Smelly Man" is a serious understatement. All of a sudden I was hit with a horrible stench. It was a combination of days-old urine soaked into clothing, and a bad case of B.O., made worse by the fact that Smelly Man was a rather portly individual, and hence had more... nooks and crannies within which sweat and bacteria could grow and fester. The worst part of it? Smelly Man was actually sitting near the FRONT of the bus. We were a good 12-15 feet away from him! Even Allan, whose sense of smell is not that acute, was affected by it.

College Kid frantically tried to open a window, but alas, the newly renovated buses did not have openable windows (except for emergencies), because they were now outfitted with air conditioning. So I sat, fanning myself, hands up near my nose.

It gets better.

Who else boards at the same stop but... Crazy Man! That's right, the same wacky dude from our earlier bus trip! I groaned inwardly when I saw him make his way to the back, where he seated himself next to College Kid. Of course, he started chatting it up. First thing he talked about? That horrid smell. I don't think he realized that it was emanating from Smelly Man up front.

College Kid decides to egg Crazy Man on at this point. He humored him about the weird political rants that Crazy Man went on, but when Crazy Man started complaining about the smell again, College Kid, with a completely serious expression on his face, pointed to the large vents directly behind them and said "it's coming from these vents". That only spurred Crazy Man on another tangent about what sorts of poisons they were using in their fuel and that must be emanating in the exhaust, coming through these vents. College Kid goaded him on, agreeing that it must be this poisonous "resin" and that it was awful.

Guess what? College Kid's egging on worked! Crazy Man hopped off the bus at the very next stop, muttering that he wasn't going to sit in this poison. So... in a way, Smelly Man was rather useful in getting rid of Crazy Man!

The rest of the ride, however, was not so pleasant, because at some point, a gaggle of Russian teenagers got on board, which prompted Smelly Man to move from his seat in the front to a seat in the middle, to make room for the teenagers. Just moving 5-6 feet closer to us was enough to make the smell so overpowering, I started gagging.

The Russian teenagers eventually had to move to the back to make room for a guy in a wheelchair, and it wasn't long before the back was pretty crowded with people trying to get away from Smelly Man. The bus kept picking up people as it made its way along its route, and it was sadly hilarious to see a large circle of empty seats immediately surrounding Smelly Man. Many of us buried our noses in something-- shirts, hands, napkins. It was terrible.

By the time we go to our stop, I took a huge breath before making my way past Smelly Man, and held it till I got out the exit door. I didn't dare breathe again until we were far away from the bus.

The smell was so rank that, hours later at home, my nose's memory was STILL smelling it. In a way I felt a bit sorry for Smelly Man. He was clearly down on his luck, but my goodness! What a miserable experience for everyone else around him! I'm just grateful I wasn't encountering him from the vantage point of a service provider, where I'd have to deal with him without making faces, covering my nose, or gagging. Bleccchh!

I guess the one silver lining was the Crazy Man left early because of Smelly Man, but honestly? I'd rather deal with Crazy Man. Weird ramblings you can tune out, but awful smells? Not so much...

Settling into the house

I finally got around to taking and posting before/after pictures of the house this weekend! You can find the entire set here.

As I mentioned in my brief update post last month, we made some renovations to the house before we actually moved in.

We closed escrow on a Friday, and that afternoon, our agent, Rich, dropped the keys off and we stopped by the house after work, exploring and taking plenty of "before" pictures showcasing all the old, dingy carpet and old bathroom fixtures. Here's a shot of the living room, with views into the adjacent dining room and kitchen:

Saturday the folks from Andros Flooring came by to pull out ALL the carpet in the house, and replace the carpet in all 3 bedrooms with brand new ones. The rest of the floor was left bare. They then delivered the laminate flooring we ordered from them, and stacked them in the living room, ready for my dad and Allan to tackle the next day:

Allan and my dad worked hard for the next 3 days to lay down the flooring. The process was made more difficult by the fact that our house was full of all sorts of odd, angled corners. If you recall the floorplan from my post with the listing photos of the house, you'll see what I mean.

In the meantime, I was left with the task of packing up stuff from our apartment and moving it, piecemeal, to the new house, as well as cleaning up the apartment as I went along. Fortunately, I had my mom to help me with this, and fortunately, Todd being away at school all day freed us up to concentrate on the work.

We hired housecleaners to give the house a thorough cleaning on Tuesday, and on Wednesday the movers came to move all the furniture and larger boxes of things I wasn't able to move myself. Some last bits of cleaning up/moving out, and the apartment was ready for inspection and key turn-in by Thursday. We were moved out of the apartment, but still had plenty more to do at the house, starting with unpacking the endless boxes:

So it took us a few more weeks after that to actually complete the move-in process. There were finishing touches to the floors that needed to be made: reducers and thresholds to install, new baseboards to put in and spackle. Plus, of course, all that unpacking! By the end of May, though, we were fully settled in.

So what's left? Well, the inside is more or less done:

• We sold the original washer and dryer set that came with the house, and installed our own-- remember the service woes we went through with that set?


• We replaced the bathroom faucets, toilet seats, flush mechanisms and showerheads.


• We replaced the chandelier in the dining room with a more practical one that provided enough light for its use as a study, and could be mounted high enough to avoid hitting our heads on it. Yes, I've already managed to cut my head by slamming into the old one :-/


• We are enjoying our big flat-screen TV-- even bought an antenna so we could enjoy a few local stations.


• We bought a cute little bistro set to fill our little breakfast nook in the kitchen. Since the nook faces east, it will be a nice, sunny spot for Todd to enjoy his breakfast in the mornings.


• Tomorrow we're expecting delivery of a small patio set from Osh. Might as well enjoy that big front deck!


• We've been shopping around for a new sofa set. We have an idea of what we like, and plan to hit some more furniture stores in LA this summer-- bigger selections, no doubt.

What about the outside?

Well, as you can see in the above photo, the plants, which have pretty much been neglected for over a year, are in dire need of trimming. There's plenty of weeds that need to be pulled, too. Allan and I took care of many of the big ones last weekend, but there's a ton of especially difficult ones. Plus I wouldn't even begin to know how to trim the plants properly. So, we're going to hire a gardener to take care of the initial work, and then see about some regularly scheduled maintenance.

So, that was a brief sampling of the 60+ photos I've taken of the house, before and after the move. Don't forget to check out my photo album for the rest of the photos: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?id=3605072&aid=2669639

What makes a good karaoke experience?

A few weeks ago I was reading a karaoke forum mostly frequented by professional KJs throughout the country, even the world. They had all sorts of discussions going about the business, and I found it fascinating and eye-opening to learn about how things work from the other side of the stereo equipment. How they work out pay with the bar they set up in, how they set up singer rotations, how they handle guests that bribe them to go first, what kinds of equipment they use, whether karaoke at weddings is a good idea, how to make song selections available, etc... Though opinions on best practices varied from KJ to KJ, one thing they all seemed to agree on was that the one main thing that kept people coming to a karaoke joint, no matter what the other factors were, is the KJ him/herself.

I had never thought about it like that before, but upon reflecting on the last few weeks, I realized it was true.

You see, throughout the past couple of months, my friends and I have gone to karaoke at the rate of once a week-- definitely a lot more frequent than our usual rate of less than once a month. I think my friends are sick of it and probably ready for a break by now, but it's only fueled my own interest, personally :-) Anyway, we used the opportunity to branch out from our usual venue (Old Town Tavern in Old Town Goleta) to try out some of the other places around here. These visits entailed our first encounters with different karaoke DJs (KJs, as I guess they are known).

Now, our usual hangout is the OTT, featuring G-Man and his awesomely huge selection of songs. OTT as strictly a place to hang out is okay. I'm not terribly fond of the bartender that always seems to be there when I go (she scares me, frankly). It fills up fast, it's too loud, and on Wednesday nights, good luck squeezing your way to the bar amongst the throng of drunken, loud college kids. But G-Man keeps me coming back for karaoke, not only because he's got such a great song selection, but because he's such an awesome KJ. He's fun and sweet and warm and friendly and encouraging, and is all around a pleasure to interact with.

It was a similar experience the first time we tried out the Cliff Room on the Mesa, at least for me. The place itself was loud, and filled with a lot of men (both young and old) who really liked their drink and liked to hit on the women (both old and young). My friends and I had mixed experiences with the bartenders and the drinks themselves (mine were great, Tabitha's margaritas weren't). And while the KJ's system of rotation left a lot to be desired (it's hard to keep track of the right order when our names are written in a notebook instead of on slips of paper he can order), he had a good selection and he was personable and friendly. I liked him. I also liked the fact that his songbook was available as a PDF on his website. Now THAT comes in very handy for a person like me, who likes to plan out her songs in advance. For me, the great KJ more than made up for a venue that I would've otherwise found too loud and filled with boorish men.

Now, contrast this with another couple of places where I had the opposite experience: loved the venue, so-so KJ. First up was Monty's, where the bartender was totally awesome, the drinks were good AND cheap, the patrons were more mellow, and the place itself wasn't too crowded. Second was the Neighborhood Bar, where there was terrific food AND great drinks, at awesomely cheap happy hour prices. The crowd here was likewise better behaved than the ones at Cliff Room or the college kids at OTT. All in all, great places to simply hang out.

But at both places (where the same KJ presided), I just didn't get a very good vibe from him. His song selection wasn't very large, but he was certainly nice enough. I just didn't get that same feeling of warmth and friendliness as I did with the other KJs. I also thought it was a little strange for him to include himself in the rotation even when it was packed full of singers. It was a bit off-putting, as that takes time away from the patrons. That vibe (or lack thereof) alone was enough to put me off visiting those venues for karaoke.

However. The story does change, with our second visit to Monty's.

When we first entered the bar, he immediately recognized me from my past two visits, and greeted me by name. He was experiencing technical difficulties, and kept apologizing for the delay in starting. And later in the night, he even came up to where I was sitting to personally apologize once more for all the inconveniences. I thought that was mighty sweet of him. When I saw him again at the Creekside a few weeks later, he still remembered me, and even asked me to sing one of the newer country duets with him. He still doesn't give off the same sense of warmth and smiles as the other KJs, but I suppose he can't help that-- that's just the way he is. He showed that he cared, and you know what? That totally redeemed my past experiences with him, and I'll gladly frequent his haunts.

And that just goes further in proving the point that the most important factor in a successful karaoke experience is the KJ. If he really cares about his patrons, it will show. Of course... having a wide song selection is important too! :-)

Bits and Pieces

So, it's been nearly 2 months since my last post. A flurry of activity has kept me pretty busy lately, so I thought I'd jot down a bit of a summary of each here.

The House
As you know from my previous post, we bought a house! Escrow closed at the end of April, and we've been busy getting it the way we like. We pulled out all the carpets, put in new carpet in the bedrooms, and laid down laminate flooring in the living and dining rooms. That was an arduous task, as our house is full of odd angles and corners-- so there was a lot of precise measurement and careful cutting.

We got a new big-screen LED TV and that is internet capable, so we're enjoying watching Hulu and Netflix shows on it, in its full HD glory!

I've taken plenty of "before" pictures of the house the day we got the keys from our agent, but I'm waiting for Allan to finish spackling the baseboards before I take the "after" pictures. Plus, I still have to organize my bookshelves and unpack one last box :-)

Nightlife
April was a busy month, karaoke-wise! My friends and I explored all sorts of venues around town, and went at practically the rate of once a week. You know you're going very often when the DJs start recognizing you and even remember your name! I've got another post coming on karaoke DJs, but I'll save that for later. Suffice it to say that we've been having a great time, and that I've decided that (for me, anyway), drinking and karaoke do not go together! I look forward to more frequent trips this summer :-)

Now that summer vacation has begun (i.e. Todd is in LA with my parents), Allan and I have started exploring some of the places around SB to eat and hang out. We've found the Bak Dor, which is a nice little dive bar with an awesome jukebox selection and friendly regulars. We've also tried out the Alcazar Tapas Bar, which is expensive-- but all the tapas places in SB are.

My goals for the summer are two-fold: hit every venue that offers karaoke (every single night of the week, 7 days, there are at least 2 venues doing karaoke) and explore some of the lesser-known bars around town. Looking at my list, we've actually hit about half of the available karaoke venues, and already favorites are forming ;-)

Drive-In
We got to take Todd to the drive-in theater for the very first time! Rio was playing one week, and we decided to catch it one Saturday. We packed snacks and blankets and headed down to the drive-in. What a blast! I really enjoyed being able to put up my feet on the dashboard and relax, and it was great to allow Todd to bounce around and laugh and make noise in the back seat without fear of bothering other patrons. Little kids have to let loose all that energy, right?

My only gripe was with the inconsiderate SUV drivers in the row in front of us-- almost all of them left their back doors open so they could sit outside behind their vehicles and watch the movie. This, of course, meant that the bottom part of the screen was blocked from view. Now that we're familiar with the layout, we know to park in the front row this time.

School
Todd's school let out for the summer early. It wound up closing, which is a bummer, but I guess we'd been expecting it. The economy has hit many people hard, and private schools (especially smaller ones like Todd's) are no exception. We're hopeful that they succeed in opening a preschool, which should provide some good revenue for re-opening the school in a year or two. In the meantime, we're on the hunt for another school for Todd to begin in the fall.

That about sums up the past couple of months. Busy with the house, busy with family, busy with friends. Aside from the house-- it's business as usual, basically :-) And what have you been up to, dear readers?

Service Woes

Nearly 3 years ago, we bought a washer/dryer set from our local Warehouse Discount Center. They had a sale whereby we got a small Frigidaire front-loading washer plus matching dryer for approximately $900 (after taxes, etc). Best of all, the set was stackable, which would be instrumental in saving us space in our apartment. I had intended to blog about our adventures in customer service, dealing with getting our washer and dryer stacked, but kept forgetting... until a recent Bulletin post (sort of an internal Craigslist at work) from a guy soliciting feedback about washers and dryers.

I had actually printed out a calendar and marked down all our adventures with WDC. I figured, if I had to escalate complaints up to corporate, or if they were going to make me pay for something that wasn't my fault, I would have a written timeline of what exactly transpired and when. So here goes:

The year is 2008. The mood is giddy. After years of community washer/dryer usage and using a red wagon to haul our laundry basket back and forth across the apartment complexes, we were finally going to get our own washer/dryer set to put in our balcony storage.

Sunday, Sep 14: We visited the WDC in Santa Barbara and ordered the set we had seen advertised in the newspaper. Understandably, it would take a couple weeks for the order to arrive.

Friday, Sep 26: Washer and dryer arrived, yay! Workmen installed it, side-by-side. We told them we wanted the washer/dryer stacked. The tech noted that the stacking kit was missing, and instructed me to call WDC and order one (no cost). So I did. But the salesman at WDC insisted that a stacking kit was not necessary. So we had to set up another appointment for the techs to come back and stack it.

Wednesday, Oct 1: The day we scheduled for the stacking. Despite explicit instructions to please call us when they were on their way from Oxnard (as we worked only 2 minutes away from home), nobody called. They didn't even attempt to call us when they arrived. They didn't even leave a note! For all we know, they never showed up, though they claimed to have. So we had to reschedule. Again.

Friday, Oct 3: Second stacking appointment attempt. Tech comes out, takes one look at the washer/dryer and says: "Nope, we need a stacking kit". When I told him that the salesman had insisted we didn't need one, he got a disgusted look on his face, whipped out his cell phone, and called the sales floor directly. He had a brief argument with whomever he reached on the line, and finally got them to agree that a stacking kit was needed and to PLEASE order one! As he explained, salesman don't know how to install washers and dryers, that's the tech's job. I was inclined to believe the tech.

Wednesday, Oct 8: Thinking that by now the stacking kit should have arrived, I place a call to WDC to find out what the status of the order was. They claim they can see the order in the system, but can't pull up the invoice on the computer. WTF? Fine, I'll wait a couple more days.

Friday, Oct 10: I called WDC again, only to be told that the kit should arrive at our apartment in the mail, and that as soon as it does, we should call back to reschedule another service visit. Sigh. This is starting to get old.

By this point, I am scheduled to fly out of the country for the next couple of weeks, so I updated Allan on what was going on, and told him to expect the stacking kit in the mail, and to call to schedule service once it arrived.

Tuesday, Oct 27: I am back in the country and back in town, and what do you know-- nothing in the mail! So I called WDC yet again, only to be told that the salesman was out of the office. They promised he would call back. I didn't hold my breath :-P

Surprise surprise-- no call back.

Friday, Oct 31: Rather than twiddle my thumbs, I called WDC and managed to get a hold of the salesman, who said he would come by on Monday after personally getting the stacking kit himself from another store. Okay! Now we're getting somewhere.

Monday, Nov 3: Monday has come and gone, and no sign of any service techs or salesmen. You aren't surprised, are you? When I called, they claimed to have received a call from a man trying to reschedule the service date. They thought it was my husband. I checked with Allan, but of course, he had done no such thing. Apparently they got our service call mixed up with someone else's, and canceled ours by mistake. Sigh.

Thursday, Nov 5: Placed another call to the same salesman at WDC, who told me that the warehouse guy had been injured, so he couldn't come out today, but promised that he himself would come out, along with a manager, to stack the washer/dryer on Saturday morning.

Saturday, Nov 8: THE WASHER IS FINALLY STACKED!!! HOORAY!!!

It took nearly 2 months from the time we ordered the set to the time it was finally installed and set the way we wanted it to. Throughout all this time, because our washer and dryer were set side-by-side, they took up so much space in our balcony storage room that we had to put all our storage boxes outside on our balcony. Fortunately, our apartment at the time faced a back parking lot, so there wasn't a lot of traffic to get offended at this eyesore. Also fortunately, we're very happy with the appliances themselves. Small but efficient, and perfect for our small family's needs. That and the convenience of not having to haul heavy hampers downstairs and across the street to the community laundry every week, were the only redeeming factors that enabled us to put up with all the bullshit that went back and forth with WDC. I will be hard-pressed to do business with them again in future, and if I do, you can bet I will be taking careful notes on whom I talk to, what they say, and what ends up happening at each turn!

Now that we will soon own our own home and have to fend for ourselves when it comes to repairs around the house, it will be interesting to see what sorts of service we get from the myriad of providers out there!

Buying a House

I had wanted to post about this earlier, but decided to wait until the dust settled before announcing anything: we're buying a house! :-)

In the middle of February we made an offer on a house, and after two weeks of negotiation, our offer was accepted and we began escrow. Now, two and a half weeks after that, we're pretty much done with most everything that needs to go into it-- inspections complete, appraisal done, loan approved. Sellers wanted some extra time to find a new place to live, so our escrow period isn't officially over until the end of April, but all the legwork is done. We just sit back and wait now.

The house we are buying is a 2005 Hallmark-Southwest manufactured home in the Rancho Goleta Mobile Home park. Yeup, you read that right. We's goin' be trailer trash! :-P

Kidding, of course.

Manufactured homes have come a long way since the day of the "house trailer" that gave mobile homes such a tarnished image.

The park we're going to be living in is a resident-owned co-op. Which means that we don't actually pay space rent to a landlord, but rather own shares of the co-op. Therefore, the park actually screens its residents, running credit and background checks before determining if they'll allow a resident to live there. That goes a long way toward enhancing the safety of the park. The park itself is also very well-maintained-- as with many condos/PUDs, there is a list of rules/regulations and architectural guidelines that ensure a pleasant atmosphere and appearance overall. There is a lake throughout the middle of it, with fishing and boating allowed. There is a swimming pool, jacuzzi, sauna, clubhouse (w/kitchen and ping-pong table), library and billiards room for residents' enjoyment. It is quiet and tranquil, and only a 20-minute walk to Goleta Beach.

The home we're buying has a huge deck that partly overlooks the lake. It's a decent size-- about 1550 sq ft-- not too big, not too small. Three bedrooms (well, technically two bedrooms and a den). And best of all, it is largely south-facing. That's one of the important features I always look for in a home-- that its main living areas are south-facing. Makes SUCH a difference in not only keeping the place warm in the winter, but brightening the place with lots of natural light.

Here are some photos from the MLS listing. When we close escrow and move in (approximately 6 weeks from now), I plan to take plenty of pictures -- both before and after move-in. And then I will look forward to putting my feet up and not having to move again! In my 10 years of living in Santa Barbara, I've moved a total of 7 times. It gets tiresome, and I'm looking forward to settling down :-)

The front of the house

View of the living room from the front door. Double French doors by the fireplace lead to the den (Allan's room).

Another view of the living room. Dining room is through the archway on the side.

Spacious and sunny kitchen. Just off frame to the right of the dishwasher is a small breakfast nook area.

The large front deck. You can make out some of the lake-front view through the potted plants

View of the lake, clubhouse and pool area. To the left is a footbridge connecting the side of the lake we're on to the other

Floor plan of the house.
This blog scrunches it up a bit too much-- click on it for the full-size view.

So there you have it-- a small sneak preview of the house. Keep in mind that a professional photographer took those shots, so the real deal (as well as my forthcoming photos) will not look nearly as nice. But it gives you an idea :-)

Las Vegas 2010

We had such a blast going to Las Vegas the week before Christmas last year, that we decided to do it again this year. Despite the rain, it was a terrific time to travel. There was NO traffic along the I-15, even as we went past the Strip!

We left Santa Barbara on Sunday morning, made a few stops along the way in Camarillo and Oxnard for some shopping, and arrived at our hotel room in the Golden Nugget in record time. First thing we did was hit up the Firefly tapas restaurant at the Plaza Hotel, a mere 2-minute walk from our hotel. We discovered it during our summer trip with friends earlier this year, and enjoyed it so much, we HAD to go again. Last time, we were seated in the lounge area, this time, we got there early enough to try for seating in the main restaurant area. We got a booth overlooking Fremont Street-- here's a shot of it, complete with the lights up top, from our booth:



Afterward, we hit up the Rush Lounge, another great discovery from our summer visit :-) This time, the regular performers were there-- Frankie Moreno and his band. The music was original and quite good-- all sorts of different styles, but the best part was the off-color humor that Frankie and his brother Tony offered up between songs. The highlight of the evening? A discussion of eggnog that spawned this memorable quote from Tony:

"You can even put it (eggnog) in your condom when you need to fake an orgasm!"

Here's a shot of Frankie (on the piano) and Tony (on the bass):

The next day, we decided to check out the pool area of our hotel, voted one of Vegas's top pools. The main attraction? It's shark tank. You read that right-- a huge shark tank right in the middle of the pool. You get great views of it from almost all the restaurants in the hotel, the pool and lounge area itself surrounds the tank, and you can climb up to the second floor-- where there is not only a smaller, adults-only infinity pool, but the entrance to the water slide-- which goes right THROUGH the tank, so you're sliding right alongside the sharks :-) There was also a really nice bar (the H2O) area with fire pits and a nice, warm jacuzzi. Only the heated small pool and the jacuzzi were open during our trip, though, or I would have totally made several trips down the slide to see the sharks :-) Here is a shot of them (the plastic tube is the slide):

After a delicious lunch at the GN buffet, we headed down to the south end of the Strip to the Luxor, where we toured the Bodies exhibition. It was really fascinating to see the insides of our bodies at work with real life preserved human models. They even showcased artificial joints, various diseased organs (like the blackened, emphysema and cancer-riddled lungs of smokers) and even fetuses at various stages of development.

We wandered around Mandalay Place, the shopping/dining area between Luxor and Mandalay Bay, where I gagged trying to browse a Lush store, and where we enjoyed Happy Hour at the Minus 5 Lodge/Lounge. We only sat in the lodge part of it-- I didn't realize until we were leaving that there WAS an actual refrigerated bar area behind the lodge-- brrr!

That night, we waited about 1.5 hours in line for the Carnival World buffet at the Rio. I was worried that by the time we got in, I wouldn't be hungry any more, but we timed it just right-- I was famished by the time we got our seats. And the buffet? Well worth the wait! It must've been 10 miles long, and showcased just about every cuisine from every country you can imagine! We had planned to hit up the Rio's iBar afterward for a drink, but were simply too stuffed and bloated after dinner, so we just went back to our room and crashed on our beds, watching cable TV.

The next morning, I took a dip in the jacuzzi, even though it was drizzling and the temperature had dropped to about the low 50s. The water was nice and warm, and I energized myself with a bit of water aerobics-- whew! What a way to wake up and work up a sweat! Here's a shot Allan took of me-- you can make out part of the H2O bar in the background, and the nice comfy (albeit wet!) seating:

We then headed back down to the Strip to hit up Harrah's for their buffet for lunch (with our 2-for-1 coupon), and to catch the Mac King Comedy Magic Show. We had gotten free tickets to it during our August trip. We were too busy and tired to redeem it then, but since it was still valid now, we decided that this was the perfect time for it. All we had to pay was $10 apiece for a drink ticket-- and we basically enjoyed a free show with our drink purchase! Mac King was pretty funny as well-- a bit like Bob Saget, he was able to tell some rather adult jokes that only the adults would get-- it was obscure enough to fly over the heads of the children in the audience.

Lunch left us so full that we opted for a light dinner at the Carson Street Cafe in our hotel, after another trip to the Rush Lounge to redeem our 2-for-1 drink coupon :-) Next day was brunch at the GN buffet again, and then homeward bound we were!

It rained during our entire trip, but it wasn't a torrential downpour like it was in southern California. During the times we were outdoors, the rain was light. And though it was cold outside, it wasn't so cold that we needed jackets everywhere we went. In fact, we ditched our coats after the first day, opting instead to carry small umbrellas that easily fit in my purse. Most of the time we were only outdoors for brief periods of time-- long enough to go from one destination to the other. This, for instance, is what I typically wore (this is a shot of me in front of the Golden Nugget, after we enjoyed the Fremont Light Show, the end of which was holiday-themed and set to Andy Williams's "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year")

As I've probably mentioned numerous times before, December right before Christmas is one of the best times to hit Las Vegas. The crowds are much thinner and you don't have to worry about being trampled or encountering human traffic jams in popular spots like the Strip or downtown along Fremont Street. Everything is beautifully decked out in holiday decorations, and the music everywhere (like the Bellagio fountain accompaniment, or the Fremont light show, or shopping centers and restaurants) is likewise Christmas-themed. The fact that it rained this year was a bonus: first, it meant warmer temperatures (well, at least during the first half of our trip), second, it meant higher humidity (desert dryness can be a bitch, especially in the cold winter) and third, it meant even fewer people than you'd normally find in December :-)

We've also found what's probably our favorite hotel thus far (and between the two of us, we've stayed in about 8 different hotels-- on the Strip, off Strip, and downtown): the Golden Nugget. It's centrally located right in downtown Vegas, and it feels like one of the more upscale hotels, yet its rooms are inexpensive-- we, of course, stayed in the cheapest rooms they had (at $39/night), and even they were large, spacious, well-insulated and newly renovated. The hotel itself has some interesting shows (some of which I plan to see next time), the Rush Lounge is an awesome place to hang out for drinks, relaxation and enjoying live entertainment, the buffet is inexpensive and really delicious, and of course-- you can't beat the awesome pool area!

More photos here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2607043&id=3605072

Viva Las Vegas-- here's to next year! :-)