houston...

we have heat.

the guys finished about 2:15 and were gone by 3:30 (tons o' cleaning up). we've got the heat set at 68 and it came up fast...considering the first water to go through was 46 degrees.

it's unbelievable how quickly it heated up. with the old boiler, it could take two days to get it to the desired temp. and even then we had to set it at 75 degrees. i'm wondering if we could just set the new thermometer at 65 and leave it. although we'll only recoup the $10K when we sell the house, it'll still be nice to see (hopefully) smaller heating bills. $318 for natural gas was utterly preposterous...

guess who sat down on the radiator when she got home ;)

well?

do you agree?

i won't be able to tell you until i rent most of 'em ;)

however, we have been seein' some good movies...

how about 'The Eel' or 'In The Bedroom'.

speaking of Oscar nominations, Cindi, it might be good if you sat down and watched some of the videos that someone lent you...last year...ahem. at least watch the 'Oscar's Greatest Moments' tape w/ bfg. you MIGHT just enjoy it...

it's time to move that box off of the piano bench and in front of the TV, missy!

didja know that...

a cord of wood will also produce one of the following:

30 Boston rockers
460,000 personal checks
61,370 No. 10 envelopes
1200 copies of National Geographic
12 dining room tables that each seat eight people

89,870 sheets of letterhead bond paper
942 one-pound books
1500 pounds of paper
7,500,000 toothpicks
4,384,000 commemorative-size postage stamps
the heat equivalent of burning a ton of coal or 200 gallons of fuel oil.

geez.

almost...

just waiting for the boiler guys. they didn't quite finish yesterday...but they did get a lot done. friday, the removal of the asbestos and boiler dismantling took about four hours. after those guys left, the install guys were here for another two and a half. yesterday, four guys worked straight through between 9 and 5. hopefully, today they'll get done before noon. of course, i don't know what work looms today...

if anything, it'll be great to have heat for the first time in 11 days. we've been cranking the space heaters and burning lotsa wood in the fireplace. it's funny because we have about thirty logs that have been stacked in the backyard, uncovered...baking...soaking...drying..., for at least three years. our friend, Beto, dropped it off and we had been cursing him ever since.

ha...those babies have saved us.

we had forgotten how nice it is to have a real fire. the prefab logs that you buy at the store don't give off much heat since hot embers aren't produced. you get a firestarter (made of chips pressed in paraffin) and a few logs going - you're all set.

now, what to do with all those ashes...

not quite...

looks like i've got a few more minutes to blog...lois is on the phone with her sister.

if you haven't already noticed, i've added some cities to weather pixie because...

Ushuaia is the southernmost town in the world, which we hope to visit this november (if) we go to Argentina.

Hollywood, FL is where my eldest niece, Natalie, lives. she's gonna deliver the first great grandchild of the family this july...whoa! i simply CANNOT believe that i'm gonna be a great uncle!

Abilene is the (major) town closest to where Lois was born in Texas. we're supposed to go to Coleman this may for a 60th wedding anniversary. we were last in that area of texas in 2002 (when the Hayman fire was raging here) for a (now traditional) family reunion.

Santa Fe is where my friend, Antonio, works. He's the curator of ethnography at the Museum of Indian Arts. We were drinking buddies in the 90's...who systematically terrorized the national anthropology meetings from '95 to '00. he's still terrorizing, but with charlie cambridge and ruben mendoza now (and they wrote the book on anthropological terrorism). that's okay though. seems that i've dropped out of the anthro circle/network...

in transition...

the boiler guy came this morning to wipe out the half ton monster out of the basement. it took four guys four hours to hack that baby out. it's surreal how the boiler room echoes now... and with that done, the heating guy is back and is pounding out some old pipes that will probably be retrofitted with the modern stuff for the new, svelte model. in a gesture of kindness, the owner of the company brought over two space heaters to compensate for all the woodburning we did over the past few days. unfortunately, i forgot to take a pic of the behemoth before they hacked it up and took it out, but here's a photo of the model that's gonna replace it. notice that it's wall mounted...
so it looks like they should be finished on monday. let's hope so. and then you'll no longer hear about 'fweezin' anymore.

out for thai food tonight. we'll warm up there with spicy food and contemplate coming back; they may let us sleep in their kitchen if we're nice.

fweezin' part two...

although it's not that cold outside, it's downright frigid in here. ya see, we've had stronger natural gas smells lately in the basement. turns out that the 80 year-old boiler downstairs needs to go. however, before they put in that beautiful 95% efficient replacement, someone has to chop it up and remove it...along with the asbestos. oh joy...

even more titillating is the cost - $9440. i don't know how much the new model is, but i do know that there's more work than meets the eye. the boiler is a huge cylinder...roughly four feet wide by six feet high. it's set upon a cement pedestal (which will be removed) and is a major eyesore. so, once all that is out, they're gonna replace it with a unit that's wall mounted and about the size of two computer towers.

bi-iig difference.

it's too bad that this house isn't heated by a furnace. don't they run $1500? ah well, hot water heat is nice too...

it'll be so weird to have space in the boiler room. we're gonna have to call it something else though...mebbe the all things flammable room. after all, there's the xmas tree and wrapping paper all jammed into the corner.

poof

fweezin'...

brrr. do not want to go out for some groceries today. we've got company tonight, someone who works with lois...jen from boston :) she's the assistant to the pr guy. a really cute gal who simply adores lois - we like her heh.

i've been trying to decide what kind of seasoning to use for the pork tenderloin. adobo chile rubbed...caribbean jerk...emeril's baby bam...honey mustard...or apple cider. at least i do know that we'll be serving it with a mixed greens salad with cherries and granny smith apples; that nixes the apple cider i guess. some couscous and glazed carrots. we already have a bottle of gewurztraminer in the fridge but may concede to some sangiovese depending on what i decide for the meat flavor. the gewurztraminer would go well with a spicy or salty pork tenderloin and the sangiovese would pair well with a rich/hearty flavor.

we'll see.

jen said she'd bring over dessert...i wonder what though. heck, i'd be happy w/ oreos.

been checking out more things from the library. lois got a 28 cd audio version of a book. that should keep her eyes rested some. did i mention how her surgery went? well, it was the fourth surgery on her right eye that sustained a detached retina last january. this time, it was to remove the oil that was placed in there last march and to fix the (transplanted) lens that she coughed loose in a bout of pneumonia not long after the third surgery.

we went to the retinal specialist last thursday and he said it all looked good. the vitreous fluid in the eye was busily regenerating and everything was intact. even better is the glare that lois endured for a year is finally gone. unfortunately, she's got to get over a little double vision and slight headaches. hopefully, all that will subside in the next month.

yay!

btw, i went back to the corneal specialist last wednesday and he put me on some other drops (Lotemax). it's a weaker version of the prednisolone (Pred Forte)that i was on for roughly six months. apparently, if you take the Pred Forte drops for too long, it increases your eye pressure too high and cataracts develop. oh joy!

so i've gotta be on these lotemax drops every day for the next month and every other after that for another 30 days. he said that my dilation may never go down (groan)...but i'm hopeful. what else can i be?

hope you're all someplace warm.

gluttony huh?

a food meme...

1. What's your comfort food? Either chili dogs or braunschweiger sandwiches. Boxed mac and cheese with a can of tuna is a close third.

2. What's the most you've ever eaten? I once had ten slices of pizza and two salads at a Pizza Hut when I was 21 or 22. I'm not sure if that's equal to the 16 tacos and two quesadillas I scarfed at a taquería in Guanajuato, Mexico in 1998.

3. What's your favorite restaurant? I'm not sure if i have one but I can tell you that my favorite type of food is ethnic. Of course, buffets are always good.

4. What's the grossest thing you've ever consumed? It's a tie between a vietnamese duck egg (the embryo is pretty well formed and is swimming in its juices) or a huge purple pig's foot sandwich in Cholula, Mexico.

5. What eating habits disgust you the most? Smacking lips or nose blowing at the table make me homicidal.

in a rut...

maybe this will get me out of it.

Five Weird Habits/Quirks

1. Although Dr. Pepper and Coke are my preferred brands of soft drinks, I must have root beer when I'm eating pizza.

2. I can't stand having a dirty windshield or driving someone else's car with one.

3. Whenever I eat steak, I usually cut off five or six pieces at a time.

4. When I'm on the can, I must have something to read. Okay, mebbe that's too much information ;)

5. I have two rings on my right pinky finger. On occasion, I'll twirl them out of habit. If I've set them down and forgotten to put them back on, I'll feel a bit out of sorts when I want to twirl them and they're not there.

busy is as...

busy was.

We got back from Phoenix on Monday afternoon, quite unwillingly. Three days in that city was simply not enough.

Other than some rotten beds at the hotel, it was blissful. We were able to visit the Heard Museum, Phoenix Art Museum, and Taliesin West on Saturday and Sunday. All three were impressive in differing ways. The Heard Museum, which is supposed to be one of the finest Native American museums in the nation, was just gorgeous and downright vast. The collection of both ancient and modern vessels, paintings, weavings, etc. was mindnumbing. It would take a good three days to take it all in. One wing that impressed me was the Sandra Day O'Connor room, which housed their intricate collection of kachina dolls, including one unreal piece that depicted multiple dolls in a ritual; the whole thing was carved from a stump of wood. Talk about 'wow.' Outside was almost as nice as inside - there are a couple very peaceful plazas with benches and an open air cafe that were perfect for just whiling away a lazy day.

The Art Museum, although under major renovation, had two really excellent photo exhibits. The first that we saw was a 150 year overview of photography, covering everything from daguerrotypes to 21st century digital imaging. Some of the black and whites from the 30's were especially striking. There's something about black and white photos from the depression era in the U.S. On an emotive level they affect me more profoundly than the most powerful photojournalistic endeavors today. Maybe it's the change of photochemicals over the past 70 years...maybe I'm just weird too.

Anyway, after traipsing around the second floor, which wasn't that great, we returned to the ground floor and stumbled upon a Barry Goldwater exhibit. I had no idea that this Republican senator from Arizona, who was known more for his conservatism, was a phenomenal photographer. Apparently, Goldwater was interested in much of the natural and cultural beauty of his state, quite evident in the stunning shots of Navajo weavers and geologic formations. It's good that he used slide film (back then) because the colors usually last 50+ years minimum.

brb

another one...

come an' gone. Happy New Year. Hope you're all having the laziest of days. Let's just resolve to take more time to ourselves, whether in solitude or with loved ones. Life is too short to waste on meaningless quibbles; it cuts into our happy time.

nothing exciting last night. not even a champagne toast. we went out for dinner...without any reservations. of course, that means either waiting obscene times or settling for anything.

we did the latter. luckily, it wasn't 'just settling'...we were pleasantly surprised.

initially, we drove by a red lobster and olive garden. neither had a wait less than 55 minutes. so...we ended up at a little place called Applecreek (on Iliff and Havana). i think it used to be a Coco's or sumpin'. we had passed by it a few times, wondering how the food was.

pretty darn good. now, the offerings were diner-like, but with no wait...excellent service...and a pretty decent T-bone, we were outta there in an hour. about the time it would have taken to get a table somewhere else.

didn't go join the 180,000 people downtown. we did that once...froze our butts off...watched substandard fireworks...and almost walked into a pile of human poop as we shuffled our way back to the car. yeah, something i'd do againandagain.

nope. we went home and popped in a travel tape from the library. as you know, we had some documentaries that were made in the late 80's - 'The Burma Road' and 'The Pan-American Highway.' neither could have been more different in both locale and presentation.

these travelogues are two episodes of an 8-part british produced series for american public television in the 80's, called 'Great Journeys. each was narrated by a 'well-known' writer/poet/journalist.

well, the burma road was awesome. it chronicled the adventure of British journalist/broadcaster, Miles Kington, who traversed the 700 mile long corridor between Lashio, Burma and Kunming, China. the Road was hacked out by 200,000 chinese workers (some as young as five years old) between 1938 and 1939. it was originally used to supply China during the Sino-Japanese War and the first couple years of WWII. after the Japanese overran parts of it in early '42, the road was closed and supplies were flown over the Himalayas, which became to be known as 'The Hump,' for the remainder of the war.

this episode was made in 1987, before the Burmese military put the clamps on the people, ending basic freedoms of speech, and enforcing martial law. it was a much carefree time for the Burmese people and it shows.

Kington, was a phenomenal narrator. sure, he didn't speak the language well...and the travel conditions were rustic, even by third world standards, but he took everything in stride and interacted with many of the people he came into contact. he was the perfect traveler in every sense...or at least what they had on film ;)

the tape on the Pan-American Highway was almost a polar opposite. it was poorly narrated and condescendingly presented by some poet, Hugo Williams. having traveled much of the Pan-American Highway myself (in mexico, guatemala, costa rica, bolivia, and peru), i was offended in the way he made the route to be...a long sinuous path of filth, poverty, and shallow oddities. it was merely about his idiocy (without any self-deprecation) in traveling through lands in which he barely tried to speak the language, did very little research of each respective country, and catered to his sheer survival in a wild and dangerous place. BARF

at one point, we were appalled with one segment of him, talking to the herpetologist at the San Salvador Zoo. it wasn't the five minute conversation about snakes and politics that bothered us though. no...we were pissed that he chose a British ex-pat who had a skewed view of the politics. it just seemed less genuine and more self serving that he hadn't sought out an El Salvadoran.

i know it's rather subjective - the guy's point of view regarding the trip. i just feel the whole presentation did no justice whatsoever to the culture, history, and geography of Central America. when he could have showed and commented on the volcanic topography, tropical regions and occasional vast stretches of desolate land along this highway that crosses through 15 countries and gobs of diversity. we were disgusted by this video debacle to say the least...

ah well. it's not like we paid $8 to see it at the theaters. but hey, it gave me something to blog about, since the majority of my postings have been nothing short of innocuous.

we're off to lunch, a cheapie, and shopping now...maybe even in that order. have a great day!

more to watch...

still haven't finished watching that 'Allo 'Allo third season yet. just haven't found the time...too bad the dvd is already a few days overdue. ah well, what's another quarter...

an early resolution: For 2006, we're gonna exhaust our vhs/dvd options at the library before we rent again. may as well find some stuff for free. and then we can do netflix...

got a few vhs tapes - at least you can renew those - such as 'Sophie's Choice' and 'They Shoot Horses, Don't They?'. also got a couple travel tapes of the Burma Road and Panamerican Highway.

guess we won't get out until our phoenix trip.

lois was surprised, to say the least. i'm glad she's not the snooping type when it comes to presents ;)

anyway, we'll be in phoenix from the 6th to the 9th. not only were the fares cheapo ($118 each), i also got a last minute hotel/car rental package for $278; we'll be staying at a Crowne Plaza in NW Phoenix. although it's about ten miles from downtown, the cost is about the same as staying in the central Econolodge and still having to worry about transportation.

$258 each for air/hotel/car is pretty good if you ask me. you can't even do that in Vegas...

so, i've just been reading up some on phoenix and its attractions. i figure we'll spend some time at the Heard Museum, long considered to be one of the finest Native American museums in the nation...maybe we'll frolic amongst the (20,000+) cacti and desert plants at the Desert Botanical Gardens...and drive out to Taliesin West (in Scottsdale), which serves as both the headquarters of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation and winter campus of the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture. tours are a bit steep there - $18 to $45 - but who cares?! this is a chance to see some work of one of the 20th century's most hailed architects up close.

one small disappointment though. we won't be able to visit with lois' friends, Brian and Peggy, while we're there. noooo...they're gonna be in Hawaii. ah well.

reelin'...

so bad i can hardly spell. good thing thomson edumakation of australia is there to support me...

just got back from a couple hours at some friends who live two doors down - Bob and Sabrina. they're one of the older neighbors on this block. i think they moved in three years after (1989)...

anyway, they had a little impromptu gathering for xmas...mainly people who live on the block, one co-worker, and someone's brother and his partner.

a lot of fun...

ya see, bobby is in the rock field. although i find the stuff in the rocks, he's the geologist. i just know some basics...

of course, his MA in Geology is sitting idle...as he's a Certified Financial Planner. it's somewhat strange to hear him talk about 529 Plans that are tax write offs and then segue into fossilized beetles and dinosaur teeth. i wonder if i'm off the wall like that when it comes to talking about past civilizations...

it was a great gathering though. even if lois and i are somewhat reserved around strangers, we were able to hang out with the kids (must be from being outcasts ;) and talk a bit with Kim, who works with Sabrina.

food was great. pepperoni pizza...double chocolate chip cookies, assorted nuts, serrano ham, brie, salami, pepperocinis, and seasoned sheep milk cheese (less strong than goats). and lotsa red wine(mainly and even a little Pale Ale (very hoppy and flowery...just the way i like it).

of course, after some good imbibing, lois pretty much goes to sleep...as evident by her instantaneous snore and wheeze once she hits the pillow.

i, on the other hand, am tempted to go back over with a bottle of Bodega Norton Malbec (a great Argentine wine that's slightly jammy and not dry like a cabernet).

then the guilt would settle in...

ah well, we can always have them over for some wine and beer too...

what the hell am i typing for?!? there are things to watch...i need to return the third season of 'Allo, 'Allo tomorrow. only five more episodes left...

seeya

i don't think so...

i was reading a sports article on Yahoo Singapore when a banner caught my eye. it seems that Thomson Education has a really lively banner that states, "Interest-free instalments (sic)" and "Enrol (sic) now!!!"

i'm not a PhD, but i always thought that those two words had two "els" (so to speak). i guess they can always enrol the bad spelers...

goofs

blog cleanin'

i should be wrapping some little presents now, before lois gets home.

BUT

i have a few minutes. besides, i've been busily changing a couple things on this hulking, literary mass.

as you can see, i've eliminated four cities from the pixie. i doubt anyone (but me) cares about the weather in thailand, new zealand, or selected cities in mexico. i'll have to think of a couple new ones...mebbe something near San Rafael, Argentina.

huh?

yeah. san rafael is a small town that our friends, Arn and Helena, moved to in september. i recall mentioning their domestic living upheaval in a couple posts in june. basically, they're two people who wanted to retire at a reasonable age and be able to enjoy it. a couple years ago, they had been researching faraway places such as Panamá and New Zealand, but checked this little Mendoza Valley - a wine growing region of Chile/Argentina - hamlet and decided that was it.

they recently sent us an email, entailing some of the goings on. the weather, has been in the 80's for four weeks now and they're in the middle of apricot harvesting. they talk of watching the fireflies hovering over the peach orchard while they bask in the starry summer night.

i hate them so

we're greedily planning a trip to see them perhaps in november...that'd be nice. i think i could even blog from there!

pixie...

changed one of the weather pixie cities for a bit. i've dropped Villahermosa in favor for Phoenix, since we're gonna go for three days on the 6th. besides, it's a good way for me to check on the conditions ;)

argh, even though i got the tix, i haven't booked a room. the accomodation selection in the greater phoenix area is vast. do we stay downtown...where it is a ghost town at night. do we stay closer to the airport...where the choices are cheap but w/ limited transportation. or do we rent a car and stay in a suburb...like Tempe, Mesa, or Scottsdale?

guess i should decide in a few days, eh? you know, before i forget about it in the holiday mix.

speaking of holiday mix, it seems that we have some old friends visiting again.

rodentia.

yep. i heard some scritching/scratching around this morning at one o'clock. it sounded like annie pacing around, like she needed to go outside.

no dog on the floor though. she was fast asleep on her throne.

after some more scritching, i figured it out. meester black mousie hustled across the floor and got all cozy underneath the dresser.

sigh. still have six glue traps...put four down...one stuck and frantic mouse on a trap this morning. we deliberately keep their opening underneath the dishwasher unblocked. we were gonna plug it up when a friend of lois' said, "why bother? it'd just eat through it."

true.

so even though they have a surefire entry/exit, it's a surefire place to catch 'em too. we'll see how many we'll come up this time. i think we got a couple a day for a week earlier this year.

nothing like an eighty year-old house with openings only known by critters...

well, all i know is that they ain't gettin' ANY of the yummy blueberry scones i made this morning. maybe that's because there's only two left heh. hey now, lois took four to work ;)

got a busy day today? not me. may as well finish some cards and actually get them out. that'll hafta wait until after the acupuncturist though.

it's only on tuesday when i'm holier than thou...

gettin' sleepy...

i hope i can make it through this post.

just been shoppin'. went monday night too for a couple things at Foley's (soon to be Macy's). surprisingly, there weren't that many people there that night. tonight, though, was another story. we didn't go there, but we did have to wiggle our way through their parking lot. funny how two days can be so different...

no, tonight we went to BedBath&Beyond for a really cute tea/coffee set for my sister-in-law. i was kinda at a loss for her present but i saw this and knew it was for her. also went on a mug mission. remember? lois' gifts for her co-workers this year are mugs, wine, or candles. so we picked up a couple more.

just around the corner lay Cost Plus...a great place for a wide selection of gifts, especially exotic prepared foods from all over the world. a wee bit pricy though.

nope. we settled on more mugs ;) and some blueberry scone mix. of course, we couldn't leave without some wine either...four bottles later heh.

oh yeah, i forgot to mention that we originally went to BedBath for a bathroom rug/toilet cover set. hah. they don't have sets. you wanna get the three pieces? it's gonna cost ya...like $50-$60 total. wtf?!? idontthinkso.

it was early though. we knew we could make it to Mervyn's and their 40-75% off (closing) sale. we had about an hour to spare, since they close at ten.

humph. right.

we get there and they're already closed. argh... you'd think that Mervyn's would join everyone and their mother in extending their shopping hours for the holidays. after all, isn't a going out of business clearance typified by 'clearing' things out? btw, we looked in and the selection still looked pretty good...even if they are already trying to get rid of the racks and fixtures as well.

target is just next door, but i can't stand the glendale store. i grew up going to that location. it lost its shopping charm when they tore down the old one and made it a super target with too many aisles and not enough bargains. the parking is such a shitty nightmare too. the place is always packed. pee-ew. i much preferred going to Kmart when they were open 24 hours at xmastime or a wally world at 3 AM.

so just ten more days of shopping. just three or four more gifts...i think.

hey cindi, i saw some rudolph stuff at bedbath. mainly 8" abominable snowman and yukon cornelius figures. not sure how much they were though...

nightynight.

he's a good kid...

but i hate the kid across the street. and he's only fifteen. yesterday, he told me that he and his mom were leaving for São Paulo this afternoon. i wish i could go too...Brazil would be something else.

i guess they're visiting an exchange student that stayed with them. funny thing is, i don't recall ever seeing another person going in or out of that house, other than the kid and his mom. they're cool people, but i find it strange that they had an invisible exchange student.

earlier this fall, i was talking to the mom when she mentioned something about two Peruvian geologists who had stayed with them for a couple months. she wished that i could've come over to reminisce Peru and slug some Pisco (Peruvian grape liquor) down with 'em. thing is, i certainly don't recall seeing them either. did they come home late? in the dark of night? is there a back entrance to the house that i'm not familiar?

on a street with 23 houses, three of which are non-caucasian occupied, you'd think that two Peruvian guys would be pretty noticeable. i think the lady across the street may be going a little cuckoo...

oh well. i'm glad that they're going to escape Denver's winter for three weeks on the glorious Brazilian beaches. i'm sure it's going to be their first jaunt out of the country too. it should be a great experience for them.

i hope they get severe sunburns...

our house...

in the middle of our street.

got that song stuck in my head. of course, i doubt that playing it ad nauseaum over the past couple hours has nothing to do with it...

so freakin' cold outside. glad i don't have to be in it. this kinda weather is good for holiday card writing. i have already written six cards...what progress! yeah...

no. instead of making good headway with the cards, i've been arranging my coupon organizer. did you know i have 308 coupons in there? i bet i'll only use 10-20% in the next few months. i just threw away 125 and have 95 that i just cut out over the past 2-3 weeks that have to be put in.

OCD really stands for obsessive coupon disorder...and i'm the poster child.

okay, i usually have just a couple hundred floating around in there...but i've been cutting out duplicates and even triples for some items. ya see, i've decided to buy some groceries for my oldest sister for xmas. weird? not really. she hates shopping and has had little time to do so this semester since she started dental hygienist school. i think she'll appreciate it. i mean, it's not like i'm gonna get her all condiments or frozen food...just a little bit of everything. btw, i'm getting her some music too. let's call her present a holiday survival kit, alrighty?