Susie's Meanderings

No More Telemarketers

FINALLY - one can register online to get placed on the National Do Not Call List, so after Oct 1, Telemarketers can't call you anymore. Here's the link, run by the FTC, as reported by KIRO. Yay - http://donotcall.gov/ . Gah, I sound like an infomercial, but I was just called by a telemarketer, whilst in the middle of creating a rather tricky shrimp scampi, and when I told her I was in the middle of making dinner, rather than apologizing, she assured me she wouldn't take much of my time. Shrimp cooks in 30 seconds! It took me that long to answer the phone and hang up on her.

Susie Plays With Pictures

Just because I can... here's another picture from Newport, RI

Susie Gets Movable Type!

Well, I don't know what you all were complaining about, moving to Movable Type is a piece of cake. Mind you, I didn't actually do it, just watched in awe as Kris moved script around the screen. I'm fortunate to be posting without his help. Yipee! I just figured out hyperlinks all by myself. So, that aside, Susie's little word of advice for the day... don't let your hairdresser get involved on an emotional topic while she (or he) is cutting your hair. Mine just got back from a cruise which she hated, and as a result, my hair is a full inch shorter than anticipated. On the other hand, that's a quick and easy way to lose half a pound.

Under Par

First of all, I'm happy to report that my putt putt golf game is improving . Once Ross showed me how the little line on the putter helps you aim, my game improved a lot. Once again we arrived in the middle of a birthday party, but this time they hadn't yet started playing, though it does interesting things to the game to have 15 ten year olds scampering over the green. Yesterday I went to grocery nirvana - that is to say - Whole Foods, and spent a happy hour there buying little fresh cheeses and herbs, all of which will , of course, go in the garbage at the end of the week when I go on vacation. Sigh. In the meantime, however, I will eat well. Oh, and I made hummus yesterday for the first time in my life - who knew it was so easy?

Chloe

Attempting the thumbnail

Above, I'm attempting the thumbnail thing again. Still getting errors from blogger, but they seem to sort themselves out after about 12 hours, so bear with me.

The sun is shining

The sun is shining, my headache is gone, and Susie is happy once more. No more whining this week. I promise. Went to see Lyle Lovett at the pier last night, and it all could not have been more perfect. The sun was out, and little sailboats bobbed behind Lyle's head in time to the music. As all one could really see of them was their pointy mast and rigging, they rather put me in mind of happy little sharks, but that's a whole nother story. My only complaint, and I don't mean to sound like an old grump here, was the people around me who wanted to carry on conversations at the top of their voices. I kid you not, they could be heard over the music (which was more than amply loud) from 10 feet away, and it was the most banal chit chat of the "Let's do my hair tomorrow" variety. I mean, I don't think people need to maintain a library like silence at an outdoor concert, but when Lyle (or anyone) is singing, I'd just as soon not be hearing about the mundanities of their lives. But I promised no more whining.

Yay! Trish and Chloe

Yay! Trish and Chloe have joined us! Incidentally, here's a picture of Chloe I took a few weeks ago. I'd put a thumbnail here, but blogger keeps throwing in an extra http:// and it just won't work. grr. Not to mention half my archives have disappeared.

So, I would have posted

So, I would have posted yesterday, but I was apparently being imported to the new, improved blogger. We shall see. I have Finished Harry Potter (amazing how much reading you can get done on a 5-6 hour flight) and recommend it highly to all fans of HP. I am delirious with joy to be back in Seattle, but find myself confined to a dark room today with a post-trip migraine. Ugh. I've finally reached a point where I can walk around the house without contemplating suicide - actually, I'm feeling positively perky now, or I wouldn't be posting.

On a happy note, I

On a happy note, I have free high speed internet. Yay!!! Harry Potter can wait.

I have GOT to stop

I have GOT to stop watching FOX News. I never thought I would rant about CIPA in my blog, (I'm leaving that to my more eloquent companions who actually ARE librarians), but they just had the most inane coverage of the supreme court decision where they kept cutting off the librarian who was talking about what a blow this was to libraries, so some self satisfied republican could swan on about what a victory this was for parents , so now they could send their little darlings to be babysat by the librarians without fear that the evil library would allow them to look at porn. The commentator then turned to the librarian and said, "well, the cost isn't really THAT prohibitive, you can buy this filtering software for $30, and well, at most it might cost you a few hundred, that's not that big a deal is it? What library budget has this man been looking at? And of course, they didn't begin to touch the fact that none of these filters actually work. I'm with Aaron, I think I'll move to the South Pacific.
Okay, rant over. So I find myself in Boston now, at the airport, and technically I could hop on the subway and go visit the sites, but I have to say I'm feeling pretty lazy and disinclined. That, and driving in New Bedford (where apparently, at the green light, left turners have the right of way over people who are going straight) has made me hate everyone in cars. Or anyone who stands to close to me, or looks at me, or gets in my way, or walks too slow.... oh, wait, I said the rant was over. UM - they have a really nice workout room here at the Embassy Suites. The whole place is brand spanking new and smells like carpet. Maybe I'll just avail myself of the free happy hour and work on CSS tonight.

Success!

Success! I have acquired Harry Potter (at the very same Barnes and Noble that told me I couldn't have one unless I had pre-ordered, and then murmured surreptitiously, "come back tomorrow morning",) this is after I checked out the rumor that it was stacked to the ceilings at Walmart (it was at one time, but when I got there, all they had was the $30 book on tape - not suitable for the plane on Wednesday really). So with utter hopelessness (and rapidly dropping blood sugar, thanks to my donut lunch), I returned to Barnes and Noble, where a scant stack of 20 remained. And, to my surprise and delight, it was selling, not for the $30 suggested retail price, but the near bargain basement price of $17.99. Yay! So what did I read after dinner? "HTML for the WWW" which covers such gripping topics as "Markup: Elements, Attributes and Values" and "The Doctype and Standards vs Quirks Mode". What has become of me?

I am a bad bad girl

I am a bad bad girl. Today lunch was a bavarian creme filled donut and iced coffee at Dunkin Donuts. I tried to eat real food, I was at the grocery store and got THE WORST premade sandwich ever created. Two bites and I could take no more. It was like eating salt on bread, so I thought, well, I'll round it out with some iced coffee, and then I remembered how tasty the chocolate Kreme filled was. Imagine my horror when she said they didn't have any of that kind of donut. I determined that was a sign, and opted for coffee alone, but when I got up to the window she said, kindly "are you sure you don't want a donut"? And it came about that I wasn't at all sure, and in fact, was very easy to convince. So now I'm on a caffeine and sugar high, thus the rather wordy and convoluted entry. My poor librarians... Oh, rumor has it that Harry Potter is selling for $16 here at the Walmart. I bet they're out by now though. Sigh, the late bird really doesn't catch anything.

Rain... Rain...

It's raining torrentially here in MA today, honest to goodness soaking wet rain, so I'm glad I opted for the Cliff Walk yesterday. Today I was forced to get my exercise in the mall, which turned out to be FAR more expensive than parking in Newport. But on the other hand, I've made a little contribution to the economy of Taunton, Ma. I wasn't able to acquire a copy of Harry Potter - but the lady told me to come back tomorrow morning - not likely to happen I guess, being as I'm expected to work for a living. I consoled myself with a copy of "HTML for the World Wide Web, with XHTML and CSS" which Erin highly recommended to me the other day. They're far too grumpy here at the stores. I'm amazed anyone stays in business around here. However, it's amazing what a Chocolate Kreme Filled donut and iced coffee from Dunkin Donuts will do to improve one's mood.

I'm no Kris Bell.... but

I'm no Kris Bell.... but here are some pictures from the cliff walk
   

A Walk by the Sea

Just back from the cliff walk in Newport. It's not the Oregon coast, like I was sort of half expecting, but it was nice. I was actually a little grumpy when I got there (partly cause I had to pay $10 to park in the lot at the beginning of the cliff walk, as all the street parking was taken, and I was seriously questioning whether any walk, no matter how famous, was worth $10). I trotted along the path, passing people right and left (as I was trying to combine exercise with sightseeing) and got a good eyeful of Steph's aforementioned red tide. I'm not sure I'd want to eat anything that came out of water that color.... but a 4 mile walk does wonders for one's mood, and I was not at all grumpy when I got back to my car, particularly since the threatening rain held off until I was within ten feet of the car. And in the end, I can now add Rhode Island to my list of visited states. Now I'm off to buy Harry Potter.

Susie's new favorite site.... check

Susie's new favorite site.... check out the Dayalets and the Gallery of Regrettable food in the Institute of Official Cheer Is it a surprise to anyone that my favorite site involves food, even if it is regrettable? I've been giggling more or less uncontrollably since logging on.

We are expanding exponentially.. Here's

We are expanding exponentially.. Here's Kristy!, what I want to know is why Gretchen was so much more persuasive than I was in pulling her in to the blogging world.
Back in New Bedford, actually, Fall River today (the home of Lizzie Borden). Had lots of fun today, and some fantastic Portugese food at lunch. Along with lots of discussions during the profiles today about how Spanish is different from Portugese. And the Resdience Inn had Peel and eat shrimp for snacks tonight. Does travel life get any better? On reflection, maybe I should make this a food blog. ....

This has been an exceedingly

This has been an exceedingly loooong day. I don't even know why I'm posting, but I feel compelled. I'm all the way over in Massachusetts now, back in New Bedford, in the very same hotel as the last time I was here. I think that's maybe the first time, no, the second time, I've ever stayed in the same hotel twice for this job...they even recognized me. I'm feeling very organized though, I already have my weeks groceries, and my ironing is all done. Oh, and Jeanne has comments now. Go check her out!!

Elephants Upstairs

So here's a sign that I've been on the road too long. Keep in mind, that when I stay in hotels, I usually try to get the top floor. Here in my apartment, I have a rather loud upstairs neighbor, who likes to grind espresso at 11pm and then pace the floor over my bed until oh, 1 or 2 am. Usually, I'm fully aware of who this is, and why I'm hearing footsteps. But the last two nights, as I am awoken from my slumber by my neighbor's caffeinated wanderings, my first thought has been "that's weird, I'm on the top floor, why do I keep hearing footsteps above me, is someone on the roof?'

Yay! Gretchen is joining us.

Yay! Gretchen is joining us.

Weekend in Paradise

Is there anything so nice as a weekend at my parent's house? This morning started out with a little coffee, some of my Mom's special scrambled eggs, and my Dad's perfectly crisp bacon. A leisurely stroll through the Saturday farmer's market, then home for a quiet morning of reading the New York Times. And the highlight of my day - for lunch - not a cheese sandwich, but a cheese plate - Cambozola, St Andre, Welsh Dragon, Chevre.... a little pickled herring from the local fish store, and some stuffed grape leaves from the co-operative grocery store that has unaccountably moved into and taken over the former corner mini-mart. It's a vast improvement really, but a bit of a shock to find organic toothpaste on the shelf that used to house penny candy. If it weren't for all the locally roasted coffee we're drinking, I'd be fast asleep right now on the napping couch...however, once my mother is done gardening, she has assured me we will go out for a short little run, so it's not all sloth and good eating at the Thomas house this weekend.... Oh, and I neglected to add Jeanne Roy to our rolls yesterday - thank you Aaron for being more observant than I.

Saraliene

Wow, today is a banner day for our little blogging world. Here is Saraliene!

And Brenda

And Brenda joins our ranks. Yay.

Louie Loves HTML

Ah, diving back into the morass that is HTML, my home computer is doing some really weird things, like not allowing me to view the source on my webpages, unless I save them to my computer, in which case it did some weird messing with all the links. However, I have emerged semi-victorious - the code is ugly, but the page looks like it always has. For any fans of Louie (if there are any) I have finally updated his page with some new pictures. I wanted to be true to the spirit of the only page I've ever written from scratch, so I did it all by hand (well, except for the little photo montage at the top, I have to admit to a little assistance from Front Page there - but when my computer lost the background picture, I had to fix it by hand, so I think that counts for something. Anyway, it's past time to walk AWAY from the computer for me. But before I go, please note the new link to Kris' fantastic photo blog over on the right hand side.

Slave to Public Opinion

I am nothing if not accomodating. Aaron requests better colors for my visited links. Done. Tracey wants an email link. Done also. I have WAAAAY too much time on my hands. Any further requests? I'm happy to oblige. (and Rebecca - if you're reading this, I've also fixed the inconsistency on my August Calendar) Oh, and in case anyone out there is interested - today I had brie in my sandwich. In fact, I'm just working my way down Pete's Deli's Sandwich Specials List, so far the Cran Turkey still reigns supreme, but in the meantime I'm finding some tasty little sandwiches. Had a few brief moments of heady freedom today, drove all the way up to Everett to do a little shopping - I find it a little ironic that I live in the middle of a big city, and still have to drive 45 minutes to shop at Target.

Cheese Sandwiches

Once again kudos and many thanks to Kris Bellfor his extraordinary patience and help with my blog template. If you hate the colors, blame me, Kris was long gone by then. Without Kris, there would be many broken and ugly blogs in the world today. I wish I had more to say, but my brain is just done today. (With a nod to Erin and Ruth - I had blue cheese in my sandwich today), and since our blog circle seems to be in a state of navel gazing today, I know why I blog, I'm hopelessly narcissitic (actually, it never ceases to amaze me that anyone reads this at all, )and I've gotten very bad about keeping a journal, but I sincerely hope the rest of you will continue, because it makes it so much easier to keep track of everyone. I blame it all on Luke who said wistfully during training one day "I wish everyone would keep a blog so we could all stay in touch that way" and that was what pushed me over the edge into this voracious world of blogging. So to Ruth and Erin, no self doubting - I'm very interested in what you had for lunch today

Kenya

What a glorious weekend for weather. Ross and I spent it judiciously, finding time to walk around Green Lake (along with half of Seattle), and the next day an afternoon of Putt Putt (somehow we got there in the middle of a birthday party, which was great for my game, suddenly I was the best player on a course of 10 year olds) and gadget shopping. And best of all, I acquired a new scanner, which means lots more pics for my site. I've been refurbishing my travels page, and it has a few photos from my trip to Kenya a few years ago (I've been dying to scan them ever since I ruined all 6 rolls by writing on the backs of the pictures in gold gel pen, then stacking them up while the ink was wet). Look for more as the days go by, as I've only scanned one roll of 7.

Giraffes

Spending a most productive day in the office playing with my site and my photographs. I've changed up the home page a little bit, but I'm getting a little frustrated with my background image. does anyone know how to make it stretch rather than tile? Grrr. At any rate, it's far far to beautiful a day to sit in the office any longer. On the other hand, if I leave now, my home page is going to look funny all weekend. Or, I could do another crash course in HTML. Wait , Luke is here to help me.... and once again, it comes down to CSS, which clearly I'm going to have to learn..

And Leah

And Leah joins our little circle of blog

Bono

Home again, and of course, awake ridiculously early but with my usual post trip migraine that makes me want to stay in bed all day. However, today Bono was at the foundation early, and accompanied by bagels, so I dragged myself across the street for the occasion. And it was well worth it, as usual, we the trainers commandeered the comfy chairs (which in this case, were near the front). I never understand why more people don't do that. Anyway, he was very witty and unassuming, I'm sure my fellow trainer bloggers will do him better justice than I can. OH, and I FINALLY linked to Ruth and Erin.

bad networking juju

I'm having bad networking juju this week. On Friday, I had a broken Office Connect (or it didn't like the ISP - between Networking and I, we still couldn't figure it out) but I did manage to share out the library's existing connection. In the next library, they needed an Office Connect, but they slipped through the cracks somehow, and didn't get one (my apologies to the trainer that gets to sweep that library), and their exitsting computer didn't connect to the internet, so no sharing there. Then today, our library got a Linksys, but when I asked how they connected to the internet, she pointed to the cat 5 cable on the ground and said "that's how". And it turns out they connected to the town's ISP, which was housed in the basement, and we were not to touch it. Fortunately Kristy's networking brain was working better than mine, and she got it working without touching anything in the basement. Yay Kristy. I've also managed to break the high speed internet in my room. Sigh. It's definitely time to come home.

Putt Putt

Kind of a fun day today. Ross and Kristy and I headed out around noon for a little putt putt golf ( a sport at which I do NOT excel - though I did get one hole in one today, to balance out all the other holes that took me way over the limit of allowed strokes.. but that's a whole nother story). We finished up with a little trampoline dunk shot - I'm not really sure how to describe this, except that it involves a trampoline with a divider in the middle, and two people trying to make baskets over each other's heads while bouncing on the trampoline. It's ridiculous fun, and utterly exhausting. We returned to the hotel, where a giant tour bus was blocking the entrance , and a little judicious questioning of the valet discovered that the bus belonged to REO Speedwagon! Imagine, all this time I was rubbing elbows with the band at happy hour and breakfast, and I never had any idea that fame was walking in my midst (though the bleached blond 50 year olds in the lobby really should have clued me in). I then headed out for a happy two hours in Barnes and Noble, where I contemplated books on Web design, and CSS, and HTML, but couldn't bring myself to fork over the required $40. Does anyone else find it ironic that computers, which were supposed to spell the death of the written word, have instead spawned bookshelves of 500 page tomes?