I also had David send me a pic of his Star Trekkish but very mod “Funky Cold Menorah”…
2004
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Funky Cold Menorah
December 15, 2004 by Gail
Posted in House of Fielding | 1 Comment
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Christmas Sale at ASO
December 15, 2004 by Gail
In case you’re ever in the market for upgrading your aircraft, ASO (Aircraft Shopper Online) posted a deal for Christmas.
(Sent by David)
Posted in Humour, Wacky WWW | No Comments
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The Twins Recognise Me!
December 15, 2004 by Gail
I didn’t bring my camera with me this time, but Allan took some photos, so maybe he’ll post them in Flickr and I can put them here.
I went to visit the kidlets this evening, and to make sure the coats I bought for them in Pennsylvania fit before David flies out next Friday (and they run out of sizes). Cheryl and the twins are getting over a stomach bug (*if you’re reading, Socar, skip to next paragraph*) which involved projectile vomiting on Sunday, so I’d been warned. But, I hadn’t seen the kidlets for such a long time that a risk of gastrointestinal virus wasn’t quite enough to keep me away.
The older three met me at the door, bouncing and yelling “Attie Gail!” after they heard me knocking… very cute. Michael (4) had an incredible growth spurt that made his feet suddenly too big for all his shoes within a week, and he’s now much taller than Melissa (5). Maddy (3), meanwhile, had a vocabulary explosion and is structuring her sentences. With Maddy’s new grammar it’s much easier to understand her now and she talks a LOT. Before, it was more non-verbal noise, mumbling, and baby-talk.
The first twin to wake up was Megan, who I was warned was clingier with Cheryl lately and not even going to people she saw a week before. She kept staring at me, but then her little face broke into a smile that reminded me a lot of Melissa at that age, and I was glad to see she remembered me, even after nearly two months (since Maddy’s birthday in October). When you’ve only been around for 10.5 months, two months is a very long time, indeed.
Megan really looks like Melissa — right down to her glare. I think it’s the eyebrows — they furrow the same way when they look perturbed. Maribeth has a look all her own, even though the twins are supposed to be identical. Maribeth, as far as I can tell, doesn’t have a glare. She gets upset, but doesn’t seem to hold it against you!
I get to see the older three sing on Saturday in a children’s choir — I’ll definitely bring my camera then.
Posted in The Ms | 4 Comments
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Christmas decorations
December 13, 2004 by Gail
If I had a dollar for every over-the-top Christmas house/lawn makeover I’ve seen for the past month, I’d be RICH!
I’d commented on this over at Karl’s blog, too…
If there was a discreet way for me to take photos of people’s houses all kitted out for Christmas, I would do it. Instead, I’ve just been a gawker. But yesterday I couldn’t resist snapping this one house in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Crikey! (The photo would look so much better at night, but I don’t want to look like I’m staking out the house…)
Posted in Local Colour | 1 Comment
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Get ‘Em While They’re Hot!!
December 13, 2004 by Gail
(er, not hot, per se, but available for a low price… anyway, read on, will ya?)My friend Steve Savage is off to Russia in two weeks, and is desperately trying to raise some funds by selling off his remaining stock of his recently published book. In a bit of an experiment, he has listed a couple of copies of “Everywhere but Missouri, mate!” on eBay. To find them, just log onto eBay, and search for the book by title, or just with the words ‘Missouri’ and ‘mate’. It’s your chance to pick up a last minute Christmas present for as little as ten bucks. If the books start attracting a few bids, he will list more copies so if you’re outbid on one, you stand a chance on the next one.
I hosted Stephen Savage when he began his most recent ’round-the-world tour in July 2003, and despite his crass Aussie humour* is an incredibly likeable bloke with an amazing work ethic and a gift for storytelling… tall tales**… For more about the book, Steve himself, or his remarkable journeys, check out his Book Preview Page:
Everything but Missouri, Mate! – The Savage Files Book
I bought a stack of copies meself, so if you’re a friend of mine, this is probably what’s under your tree, from me.
*Steve, are you reading this?
**Steve, are you still reading? Send me some horchata and I’ll lay off the jabs!
Posted in Books, Linkage | No Comments
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Engagement Announcement
December 7, 2004 by Gail
While I was at the Cherry Ridge Airport cafe on Sunday, I picked up the Scranton Times — a local rag — to see that we’ve made the section for wedding and engagement announcements.
What was interesting about the page was that the wedding announcements were OLD… some of them dated back to JULY! So, really, we should just Photoshop ourselves into some wedding clothes in a scenic spot now if we want the wedding announcement to show up before the end of 2005.
Argh! I just noticed a typo — they spelled Simon Fraser University wrong!
Posted in Engagement/Wedding | 1 Comment
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A Day for the Windmills
December 7, 2004 by Gail
On Sunday morning we went flying, and it was gusty! I would’ve filmed our crazy-bumpy landing, except it was rather precarious and I thought shoving a camera near the windscreen was probably a bad idea at the time…
High up at 8500 ft, it wasn’t so windy. The air was thinner, and my head felt weird — not like a passing-out feeling, but I couldn’t stop yawning.
(Some years ago, someone told me that scientific research debunks the notion of yawning because of lack of oxygen. Even though he was a Biology major, I still find that hard to believe. I think it’s too much of a coincidence that people yawn when they’re tired. If it’s not to bring oxygen to the brain, why do we do it?)
Anyway, I kept yawning and David asked how I was doing. He says he checks to see if his fingernails turn blue. I was OK in that department, but I had a bad case of the yawns, and my eyes kept tearing up. We’ve been up at 8500 ft before, but I think the temperature has dropped since the last high flight a month ago, and because it’s colder the air is drier. The outside temperature was -10C!! Thankfully the heater works well inside the plane — it comes directly in from the engine.
Even though it was a gusty day, we found some clouds to play around with, and once again I was able to get some shots of our shadow projected on the denser ones.
Where David houses his plane. Nothing like JFK, but they’re friendly here and there’s no Passport Control.
This is where the Civil Air Patrol meetings are held. The first time, they told me “no foreign nationals”, but since then they’ve just let me in without delay.
gargantuan Wal-Mart distribution centerRecently, the analysts I work with wrote about a new development for tagging inventory electronically, which Wal-Mart intends to employ, and will no doubt affect other large consumer goods stores with warehouses. The tagging will go on the box, not its contents, so it wouldn’t require any sorting of inventory, thus making storage more space- and time-efficient. That development is not fully appreciated until you see the scale of storage that chains like Wal-Mart require. Flying over one of these distribution centres, I was still amazed by the sheer size of it; it’s the size of an airport!!
(I am really NOT a Wal-Mart person. It has to be a last resort before I’ll shop at one. I realise there are people who don’t have the money to shop anywhere else, but I’m not a fan of giant distribution centres. For one thing, have a look at the trucks parked here. These trucks clog up the roads and the highways — why aren’t we using railroads for this? Our predecessors toiled at building railroads, and those railroads are now replaced by highway pollution. If people with low incomes are economically forced to shop at Wal-Mart, how is it economically favourable to them to have to own a car to get to Wal-Mart in the first place? And then, they have to buy a ton of stuff to make the trip worthwhile?)
Posted in Flying | 4 Comments
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Hugh and the Humidifier
December 7, 2004 by Gail
David bought a humidifier on Sunday, because I’ve been REALLY DEHYDRATED. It’s considerably drier here than in Vancouver, and I’m forever electrocuting myself on car doors and in the house. I’m constantly drinking, and carrying around a bottle of moisturiser because my skin feels like it’s going to flake off at any moment. One wrong move, and my epidermis will be lying on the floor like a snakeskin.
The humidifier is LOUD, though, and it took a while for Hugh to get used to it. To a cat’s ears, it’s probably the equivalent of a 747 taxiing down the runway.
Posted in House of Fielding, Hugh | No Comments
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Gingerbread at the Stroudsmoor Inn
December 6, 2004 by Gail
Forgot to mention the gingerbread at the Stroudsmoor Inn on Saturday. Someone had constructed a miniature gingerbread version of the Inn, but with some additional features such as a train station — with departures and arrivals to/from NYC, Boston, and Philadelphia — and a ski slope (with an emergency rescue). With all the mini-lights, it looks rather enchanting.
Away from the lobby is another gingerbread display with creations by the local school and presumably other people of Stroudsburg.
More gingerbread photos: Just when you thought you couldn’t have enough gingerbread…
Posted in Local Colour | 1 Comment
