Taking a Blogging Break

I am not going to blog for about three weeks (until the weekend of my birthday 9/20). The reason for this is that I'm studying for the GRE. I will hopefully take the test that weekend. I plan to start taking courses in the spring for a master's in Latin American and Caribbean Studies. This was a decision that Dan, his parents, and I came to. I need to get my master's in order to move ahead in my career. I'm stuck in limbo at the moment because my degree requires further schooling. It has been a year since we moved down to Miami, and it's time to pursue my goals. If all goes well, I'll be back in school in January. Wish me luck; I'm going to need it.

BTW: I will still be checking my email from time to time. If I don't get back to you is because I'm studying like a maniac.

Barbie and Ken

Did you know that Barbie had a middle and last name? And Ken also had a last name? Here they are: Barbie Millicent Roberts and Ken Carson. Ms. Roberts also went to Willows High in Willows, Wisconsin. Barbie and Ken dated for 43 yrs. and broke up February 12, 2004. I had no clue about this. Here's the link to the article: Barbie

Sick

Yup, I'm sick. It hit me full force at work today. Not that I was feeling great this morning, either. My mood became worse when this woman on a four-way stop decided to proceed even though we were already in the middle of the intersection. She starts yelling from her car and I immediately snapped and told her "It's called a Stop sign, you f..... c...." Of course, there was a school in the corner when I yelled this out the window. What was I thinking? I'm glad we were in the car because I would have gotten into a fight with this women. I need lots of mint tea and tylenol pm. If I could get some sleep tonight, I will be happy tomorrow.

Car

Man, I miss having my own car. It's almost 7:00 am, and I've been awake since 6:00. No big deal if I had to be in work at 8:00, but I don't. I'm not in until 10:00, but I'll be there at around 7:30. I have no other alternative today. Sometimes, I could borrow my mother-in-law's car. I'm so grateful on those days. Yesterday was one of those days. Today is not. I could walk to the bus stop, but it's three miles away. I'm not in the mood of walking three miles this morning. I'll walk it coming home from work since I still have energy. Besides, it's been raining so much that I'll probably get soaked. I have no choice in the matter, but get dropped off by Dan. I could ride my bike to the store. The problem is that I don't have a lock to put on it. With my luck, someone will steal it.
The worst part of this is that I didn't get much sleep last night. For some reason, I kept on waking up. I'm coming down with something. I've been fighting it for about a week and a half. Everyone at work has been getting sick. In time, I'll be one of those. As you can see, I'm not very happy this morning.

Hanging Coffins

While I was crocheting last night, I had the Discovery Science Channel on. I began watching a documentary about the Bo peoples of Southwestern China. These people practically vanished about 1000 years ago. I believe they were annihilated by the Ming Dynasty (I might be incorrect on this point). There are descendants of these people present today. What's fascinating about them is the fact that they had a special ritual with their deceased. Instead of burying them or cremating them, their coffins were suspended against high points of mountains. I found this to be so bizarre and interesting. How would these people carry these coffins that weighed about 500 pounds along the sides of these cliffs? There was practically no room to walk. In fact, archaeologists have not been able to reach most of the coffins. If it happens to be shown again, I strongly urge you to watch it. You'll be just as amazed.

New Pictures

If you haven't visited Xia's Handmade Apparel, then you're missing out. Last night, Dan took pictures of some the items that I have made in the recent weeks. Check them out and let me know what you think!!

Reading

Back in July, I wrote a piece on how Americans are reading less (Bring on the Books). Something came to me the other day. Maybe readership has not gone down. People are becoming smarter. You could go to B&N or Borders, sit down, and read. I see people do this all the time. Some people grab stacks of magazines and sit there for a few hours. It didn't really hit me until yesterday at work. I went on break and I wasn't in the mood of crocheting or sitting in the break room (it's cold back there). I wasn't sure on what to do until I stumbled upon the financial section. I saw a row of books by Suze Orman. I picked one up, ordered tea, sat down, and began reading through it. I obviously did not read the entire book, but I got some good info out of it. Now, I could buy it if I want to, but I'm trying to save as much money as possible. This is when it hit me. If you have some free time, why not sit at one of these bookstores and read a bit. You could even pick up from where you left off the last time you were there. It the same thing with a library book. You read it and return it. If you can't afford to constantly purchase every book that catches your fancy, this is an ideal situation for you. It's a great atmosphere. Once you're ready and willing, you buy the book. I wonder if this was taken into account when they said purchases of books had gone down.

Surprise, Surprise, Surprise

al-Qaida is trying to recruit in Latin America, according to an article from the Associated Press. This shouldn't shock anyone. Where's the best place to have anti-American sentiment thrive? Not only will al-Qaida use Latin America to plan attacks against the United States, but also in countries in Latin America. According to the article, the United States has been aware of this problem. That's great! That is why we still have an uncontrollable illegal immigrant situation in this country. If we can't stop millions of people crossing over into this country, how are we going to stop terrorists?

Accident Prone

For those of you that know me well, you have come to accept me as very accident prone. I'm always tripping, getting hurt, or dropping things. It's part of my charm. Even Dan has come to accept me for what I am. At the beginning of our relationship, he would jump at the sound of me tripping or yelling because I banged my head (which explains a lot about me). Now, he just laughs at me and says "You're so freakin clumsy." I laugh right along with him (unless I'm already pissed off and then I just glare at him).

Well, I have the perfect excuse for this. I can't help it! It's because I'm ambidextrous! I was watching the Discovery Science Channel the other day. I cannot recall the program I was watching, but a segment on clumsy people came up. I immediately focused on what was being said. The narrator was explaining why there are some people more accident prone than others. The answer is that those that are left-handed, which is the hand I write with, tend to be more accident prone than right-handed people. Those that are ambidextrous (I use my right hand for everything else from throwing a ball to crocheting, and sometimes writing) are the clumsiest. The reason for this is because since there is no preference for either side of the brain, the actions taken are not as defined. I guess right-handed people have this under control.

There you have it! I got so excited when I heard this that I called Dan at work and told him about it. I don't feel like a weirdo anymore. As careful as I try to be, I know that I will somehow manage to trip or something.

People

Over the years of working customer service jobs, I've pretty much seen and heard just about everything. I've come to the conclusion that human beings are very unique. Hell, I'm the same way. I've probably have said many stupid things in my life and forever will. No surprise there. At least I know that I try my hardest not to sound stupid. That's the best I could do under the circumstances.

Anyway, I got a pretty funny question today at work. I'm at the condiment bar wiping it down and getting rid of the sugar packets/straws that people always fail to throw away in the trash. There is a woman standing next to me reaching for a straw to put into her iced latte. She takes a sip from it, looks at me, and says, "This is not sweet." I respond, "No it isn't. It's just espresso with milk." She then tries to justify her reaction by saying, "But it's iced." At that point, I should have said "Right, I forgot that ice sweetens things up. Let me remake that for you." I obviously didn't say that. I told her to go ahead and add sugar. She was then worried that the sugar wasn't going to melt. After that statement, I felt like telling her that sugar doesn't melt, but it dissolves. I'll forgive her on the "melt" part, I don't think she was American. I don't get people.

X Box

Dan and I bought X Box last night with Knights of the Old Republic. He was very excited trying to figure out how to keep his PS2 in the same area as his new X Box. We're now all set up. We have Xbox, PS2, Gamecube, and Gameboy Advance. Do we need all of this? Well, I think you know the answer to that one. None-the-less, it's great to see Dan excited setting the X Box up. I on the other hand (surprisingly) watched him for about 20 minutes and went to bed. I think I was just exhausted. Maybe it was because it only came with one controller and I couldn't play. Either way, I'm very glad to see Dan happy; he deserves it.

Charley 2

The worst part of the storm in Miami-Dade County was last night. The day was cloudy and a bit windy, but luckily we were spared. The hurricane has claimed four lives in Jamaica and Cuba, who were hard hit. Most of the islands off the west coast of Florida were evacuated because they were right in Charley's path. Last I heard, Charley is a Category 4 hurricane, which is one step below hurricane Andrew. Compared to Andrew, Florida is now more prepared for these types of hurricanes. The public is informed well in advance because of new technology available. This prevents the lost of many lives and property. Unfortunately, there has been significant damage to the west coast of Florida. Many people are without homes tonight or have enough damage to their homes that they must stay at a shelter until the hurricane has passed. Hopefully, the worst is over.

Charley

Hurricane Charley has to be vicious. It is not hitting Miami-Dade County, but let me tell you we're getting soaked. Dan and I woke up around 12:30am because of the howling winds. We got a bit freaked out when we turned on the TV. The advisory was to leave the top floors of your house and remain in on the first floor in the center of the house. Of course that advisory was for Kendall, which is where we live. We freaked out because the first floor of the house does not have a real center. This house has a lot of windows. There's a huge window in the living room that is probably twenty feet tall. We were getting 30 mile an hour winds according to the report. I know today is going to get worse, which is when Charley is hitting Key West. Well, let's hope for the best. I'll keep you updated.

Nuclear Power

"European powers and Russia have resisted American efforts to impose sanctions against Iran, which they see as a major trading partner," according to the New York Times. So the Iranians are being allowed to develop nuclear power because they are a major trading partner. Even though, "the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations' nuclear monitoring agency, has found evidence of covert efforts, stretching back more than 18 years, to produce highly enriched uranium suitable primarily for weapons production." So, let's let them develop nuclear power. Once they have us by the balls, I wonder if Iran will still be considered a major trading partner.

The United States is always being criticized for the actions taken, but what about the Europeans and Russia? The most logical step would be to impose sanctions on Iran. We have been doing so against North Korea (not that it has been working very well, but at least we're not bombing the crap out of them). Since Europe and Russia are no longer super powers, I guess they feel they must do everything in their power to oppose the United States. The new kid on the block has more power and money than they do, and frankly they are not happy about it. Of course when we turn around and start a war with Iran, we will be looked upon as hawkish (not that we should until we're done with Afghanistan and Iraq).

I find this to be very troubling. Being divided is not going to help against terrorists or nuclear hungry countries. This is a time when all countries should work together to try to avert these kinds of situations. The truth of the matter is that everyone will be affected by this. It is not only the US's problem. Of course, the situation is always about power and money, and who has the most of it. Europe and Russia do not have as much of either one of them, and they are eager to regain it.

Ebay Store

My eBay store does not seem to be catching on. I decided to close it and showcase my items on blogger. I left the link on the page, but changed the address. I'm not sure if it's because it's the middle of the summer or because of my marketing nonskills. Anyway, I'll try it word of mouth first and see what happens.

Creepy

"The Danger of the Dead," is an article I stumbled upon that focuses on the dangers of dead bodies after a terrorist attack. The dead bodies could be contaminated with an infectious disease, which would potentially harm investigators, coroners, and anyone else that might come into contact with the bodies.

These are situations that our government has to think about. I personally would of not thought about it, but as the article points out, "as warriors realized in the Middle Ages as they committed what may be the first acts of bioterrorism in history. According to historians, they used a unique delivery system -- catapults -- to fling plague victims over walls into enemy territory." As I'm now recalling, there were other instances where this method had been used."

I am glad that people are thinking outside of the box. As grim as this scenario sounds, it could happen and we should be prepared for it. Our time of safety in this country are long gone. All we could do now is prevent any attacks and be prepared in case of an attack. This is all new to us, in a sense, because we have the two oceans protecting us from terrorists coming in. That has worked in the past, and I'm talking when there wasn't any planes. But now we have to realize that everything is accessible, including the country. So we have to adjust to the times.