My Goodie Stash Has Been FOUND!

Someone found my candy stash. I didn't purchase any of this of but it magically appears on my desk so I put it under my desk on my computer. But this morning I noticed that some of my reese's, junior mints, and twix are missing!!!

I'm just waiting for that mystery person(s) to replace the goodies. They're are piling up there because I know I can't eat all of it without turning into the Hindenburg so they are my after lunch snack.

What's your favorite candy and why?

Snapple Real Fact #13

Cats have over 100 vocal chords

I think this fact should have been #9, but they didn't ask me. With so many vocal cords what do they do with them. They can't "talk" maybe they need that many to purrr :)

Halloween Prank

How long before someone fixes these "broken" urinals? hmmmm. I wonder, but I'm not saying anything. I'm just wondering who would do such a thing. :) They only have to go up or down one floor anyway...

Locked Out

I was down at the postal place Fedexing package when I'm about ready to go and I can't find my keys. I look in all my pockets and then back into the store but nothing. After letting out a sigh, I notice that they are in the back seat.

My friend was nearby and I could have asked for a lift home to get the spare, but I decided that I would use my car insurance "road assistance." I paid for it right? They show up 30 minutes later and use the little air door separator to pry the door. He then stuck the metal claw to unlock and sure enough the alarm went off. The guy had me sign and I was outta there.

Have you ever used your Broken Glass, Lock Out, Out of Gas features from your insurance?

Snapple Real Fact #184

The most used letters in the English language are E, T, A, O, I and N.

Are these the same letters people pick on Wheel of Fortune?

Sister Marie

We had a meeting today to discuss some of the two thousand charities that we can contribute to this year, and four representatives came to give their pleas. Each one was a good cause and I can imagine how much money they need to run all of them. It was dissappointing to see that about 20 people showed up, though.

It's Halloween and many went dressed up but the one that got the most votes was "Sister Marie with Child." The Cardinal that was responsible for Sister Marie's condition didn't want to be photographed. Don't get mad at me, I just took the picture! At lunch they are having a contest so let's see who wins the grand prize.

Is your work a fun place to work?

No Power

Well, I forgot my power cord. Some how in the dark, I missed packing it up this morning so I'm without use of my laptop! That means I'm not ignoring you guys, just not hooked in, and almost everything is blocked here at work.

Slides are fun

Snapple Real Fact #114

The oldest known animal was a tortoise, which lived to be 152 years old.

I wonder who verified this, and do they normally live this long?

Irritable

It might be one of those days when things just don't go well. First, I forgot my badge but luckily I was only half a mile away. I had left a little early to get gas on the way and I find that 5 of the 8 pumps are out of order because they are taking the little TV monitors off.

Then, I pull into the first available spot and the hose won't extend. Since I put my credit card and it authorized, I quickly did a u-turn but somebody pulled in. He backed up and gave me that "you're a moron" look. But, I wasn't paying for his gas! After filling up, the prompt, "Want a car wash?" appears but the NO button is not working. I can just imagine the guy I just pissed off press "YES" and selecting deluxe everything after I leave.

I get downtown and somebody parked in the morning rush hour lane even though the sign says, "NO PARKING 5:00 a.m.-9:00 a.m." and the tow truck is there. A lady is trying to parallel park with one hand while talking on her phone moving 1 inch at a time. We have to wait for her since the other lanes are coned off.

It's okay...I left early enough that I had plenty of "Pharting around time" and got to work on time. :) (:

You ever start your day like this?

Charger -v- Texan Pre-Game Prediction

35

10

Well, the game ended just like that! I bet I won't guess another exact one in a bazillion years. It was a big victory but if the Chargers couldn't score after the 1st half of the game, then that says a lot.

Trojans defeated by Ducks

What has happened to the USC Trojans? They lose 24-17 to the Oregon Ducks! I know at least one person that will be happy about that.

Full Moon

Another Full Moon on the 25th.

Sun Block

I took this picture on Monday as I was walked out my door. Something told me that it wasn't going to be a good day. That isn't fog lingering over my house that's smoke from the east.

Snapple Real Fact #54

The average smell weighs 760 nanograms.

I wonder how they measure this and then it also makes you wonder about bathroom smells. Maybe I shouldn't have gone there, huh?

Sitting in the Parking Lot

I think it's funny when I drive in to the parking lot and people are sitting in their cars listening to the radio. You can tell that they just have to finish listening to the end of a particular radio gig, or song, etc...I was guilty of it today when I was listening to "War of the Roses" with Jagger & Kristi on 92.5 FM @ 7:10 a.m. here in San Diego. Normally I'm sitting at my desk but was running a little late. If you want, you can listen to the last five episodes.

The segment is where the radio show calls a suspected cheating partner and offers them free roses with a card with no strings attached and they can give it to anybody they want. The other partner is on the line with the radio station just listening and hoping that the "suspected" cheater is going to give the roses to them instead of the other girl/guy, or confirm what they suspected and move on.

It's rare that the suspect gives them to the accuser, but that was the case today. The lady was so happy. This was just a case of a guy finding it difficult to say "I love you."

Do you ever stay in the parking lot listening to the radio?

Snapple Real Fact #27

A ball of glass will bounce higher than a ball of rubber.

Do you believe this?

Un expected Call

I received a call from someone that I didn't expect and answered. I had wondered how it would go if we did talk and found out that it was not as bad as I had thought. They were concerned with everything happening with the fires over here and such, plus it was my birthday. It was a good call.

Out with My Daughter

Heather's been a little stir-crazy so I called her and asked if she wanted to go out to dinner with me. After tossing out a bazillion suggestions we ended up at Islands. A boy that looked exactly like The Grudge boy was in the table behind Heather. She got so freaked out. As she says, "that was scarier than the haunted Hotel." I wasn't able to get a photo because he was told to sit down. We accidentally ALMOST did a dine and dash. I tried to pay the hostess. :)

We couldn't get her friend to go shopping with us so Heather and I went to Barnes and Noble Bookstore. Heather loves to listen to the music and gets ideas on new songs she wants. We ran into some friends while we hunted down a book for Heather to read while she's out of school.

Of course we can't forget about stopping at the Apple Store. We looked all the new toys they have and I glanced at the "Lamp Clocks." But, the most fun was taking photos on the demo machines. Here's Heather's favorite.

We e-mailed all the photos that we took to our personal accounts to that she could put them on her page. :)

My favorite is the one on the right. I couldn't stop laughing and I thought we were gonna get kicked out. :)

We had to make sure we got a sunset photo even if it was not as scenic as we would have liked. I didn't have my camera but the cell phone would do :)

Although things are bad around San Diego County at the moment, we're glad that we're safe and our loved one are too.

We're still thinking of you guys...and to everyone that contacted us - Thank You! :)

I'm still here!

We are under voluntary evacuation orders but I'm staying put until they say, "Go!!!" I'm ready though. I'm home watching the news and looking at the maps on-line. I want to thank everyone that called to see how I was doing. :) We'll be fine!

I just checked on my neighbors to make sure everyone was okay. The people on my right are elderly and I saw that someone was taking them out early. Everyone is still packing their cars and I hosed down my car to get rid of all the ashes.

CHULA VISTA MANDATORY EVACUATIONS

Very close by to me...Something tells me I have to watch the news all night! Call me if you hear something. Well, if you know my number or instant message me. Wake my booty up...

Got My Stuff Ready

I got my suitcase packed and all my "important" papers all tucked in a fedex bag. A friend fedex'd a gift to me and it's the perfect size for the gift and papers. It's coming with me! My mom called and made sure that I didn't forget this or that. My Hard Disks are ready, and some other general stuff but that's it really. Some of you might know the Eastlake area and other parts of Chula Vista are evacuating. AND what's up with the fire about a mile from my house not even related? Did someone just want to get it on the map or something?

I called Heather's mom and made sure we had plans in case the word came out to "Move it!" No school tomorrow. So let's see if the weather will help. :)

Happy Birthday to Me!

It's my birthday. I'm an "ol' Phart" as my daughter says. And no, I ain't tellin' you how old I am. LOL. I just got asked how it feels and I responded that it feels the same. I've been lucky so far that I don't have any medical conditions, no cavities, don't get sick, etc...I'm wearing my new casual dress shirt that I bought for myself (Yes, I went shopping).

So, overall I'm happy! :)

San Diego is on Fire

This fire is worse than the one several years ago. No planes, or helicopters are in the air and there is ZERO percent containment and add Santa Ana winds and you have a an unstoppable firestorm. It seems like a wall of fire rolling in and tons of smoke. We've been ordered to stay off our cell phones.

San Diego County employees have been ordered to stay home to keep freeways open. Many schools closed today. The air quality is BAD! Evacuate to Qualcomm Stadium. You got your family, pets, and important papers/pictures? Then move it!!! Here at work, we did a roll call to make sure everyone was safe.

Yes, there is a fire east of my house but it's still "far away." A map of the fires.

[Update 10:50 a.m.] The San Diego Emergeny website is down and many of the radio stations went dead. My office handed out face masks in case we need them. People are teasing and calling me "Dr. Sam!" We are on voluntary leave at the moment. If you have to go...just go.

[Update 3:20 p.m.] Parts of Chula Vista are under voluntary evacs...Here's my local cbs link for most of the updates. The 905 and 805 near my house are shutdown because of a fire in San Ysidro by the high school.

What do you want for you birthday?

After the softball games, Heather and I went to dinner and I asked her what she wanted for her birthday since it's coming up real quick. With the radio on, and all the noise this is what I heard:

Heather: "lam Wah wau oowa cloc.
me: You want a lamp clock?
Heather: Yes that's what I want.
me: hmmm. So you want a lamp clock, huh? I've never seen one of those.
Heather: Dad!!! A laptop! A good one but also a purty one.
me: OH!!! A LAPTOP! LOL

My Home Office

One of my friends asked me what my "workspace" looks like. Well, here it is! I have home office that I do work for my customers and volunteer stuff. The government stuff I drive in and support them there or any of the other sites where they need me.

They've needed me in Hawaii before so, I'm hoping that they offer me a contract :) Wanna go with me?

I was going to put little arrows and such to identify the stuff but you can pretty much tell what's on the table (my mom's). The monitor that is turned off is saving energy, okay!? A little to the right of the monitor, I can see the TV in the family room, so that's why the remote control is there.

I bet my future significant other is not gonna be happy with this set-up. What do you think?

My Dad's Birthday

Today would've been my dad's birthday. He passed away back in 1983 due to complications after his stroke. It was interesting having our birthdays so close (mine is on the 22nd) and we celebrated them on the 21st, if at all.

One thing I remember the most is him never helping me, but making me find the answer myself. "Go to the library, or bookstore...Figure it out. You'll find the answer there." Uh okay.

Today, I was out and about and decided that I just needed to go to a bookstore. Since I was in the area, I decided at the last second to visit Borders instead of the Barnes and Noble! We now have one down in the Eastlake area and I was spotted by a friend. I got a hug and was wished an early happy birthday, they remembered! I think I got my answer... :)

Come Down For Lunch

I'm already thinking of lunch! Come and join me since it's a nice day in San Diego and we can eat at one of the benches on the bay...

Out to Eat

I had a board meeting for our league tonight that didn't last long so I took my friend out to dinner and he chose a relatively new place "Via Lago." It's not open yet but he was excited that it should open up soon. We had something quick to eat at "Los Primos," and found a spot to eat outside of the Golden Spoon. I liked the little mall. It had a bookstore, little waterfall with fish. :) We're supposed to go back when the Italian place opens up

End of Fiscal Year Party

It was a "business meeting" and end of year party at Joe's Crab Shack. I showed up early because with 100 people showing up, parking was going to be an issue.

Everyone had to hold up tickets to help out the servers so that they would know what to give you. The color coding thing helped a lot, except I think they needed more than three servers.

We did discuss business then played bingo and trivia games. Our team won the department competition so we got cool pins.

I figured out why I had to go...because I was getting an award! Wooohooo. One of those "official" seal kind. :) Overall, a good time even the parking meter guy was festive and ripped up a ticket. We all cheered for him when he gave the person a break.