Recurring Dreams

Salian has a blog entry describing a dream she had where she lost her luggage. I left a comment telling her how vividly she remembered her dreams.

I don't remember my dreams very well, maybe because on a typical night I have several dreams and I usually remember the last one just before I wake up. Well, not the dream in its entirety, just some of it.

But there are two dreams that I have had several times before.

The first is about being late for an exam because I didn't know where the exam room was. The strange thing about the dream was that the people in my dream were my classmates from secondary school, and college mates while I was at college. There had been times in my dream where I spoke to myself, "I hope this is a dream, because those groups of people shouldn't be in the same room!" When I woke up, I was relieved that it was only a dream. I would hate to think that I had missed an important exam!

Salian has a book on dreams and their meanings, and according to the book the meaning of my dream is: “A feeling of powerlessness to shape our own destiny may be behind a dream in which we hurry - often late - to…the examination room.”

I can so identify with that meaning! I never graduated from college because I just couldn't get over the final two papers. I must have tried at least four times but each time I failed and the results only got worse! There have been times that I regretted never having completed my course of study, but at other times I consoled myself by telling myself I was not cut out for corporate life, unless of course I was the boss and telling others what to do! The other thing is, I would not be where I am today, if I had completed my chosen course of study and went on to climb the corporate ladder.

As I told Salian, I have moved on to other things in life, and there are opportunities available to me now if I am at all interested in furthering my studies.

The other recurring dream is about being spied upon while in the shower. When I was a teenager my family lived in a housing area provided by Shell, and the last house that we lived in was by a road that was used by many people living in the Malay kampung nearby. The house was quite a large house with two bathrooms. However the window to each bathroom was quite low and anyone could easily push it open and peep into the bathroom. Besides the window with the frosted window panes, there was a fixed "window" with wooden louvres. If you had a mind to, you could peep through those louvres even when the louvres were slanted downwards. I am pretty certain that I was a victim of a peeping Tom or two, and I am pretty certain that I was a victim more than once!

According to the book of dreams that Salian has, the dream “…suggests our anxieties about being ‘found out’ - a common neurosis whether or not we genuinely have anything unpleasant to hide. In Freudian terms, the dreamer may also feel frustrated at not finding a proper opportunity for greater creativity.”

Haha, I don't know about being anxious about being "found out", but I do know the emotions that come with being the victim of a peeping Tom especially while you are taking your shower, are embarrassment and anger at the violation of your privacy!

There is one other dream that I often get when I feel cold. That is being in a body water and feeling cold. For me the dream is merely a translation of the state that I was in. I was not warm enough in my bed, and that led to the dream of being in a body of water. I don't want to read anything more into that!

How about you? What sort of recurring dreams do you have?

CompuCram® Real Estate Broker Exam Prep Software

It used to be that the real estate broker's job was to bring the seller and the buyer of a property together and to try to get these two parties to complete that transaction so that he can earn his commission.

But nowadays, the real estate broker is a licensed professional and you can only be one after you have taken your real estate test. The professional real estate broker does more than facilitate the sale of a property between a seller and a buyer, but also he has to deal with a lot of paperwork so that he can be in compliance with the laws and regulations issued by the federal and state governments in the area of real estate transactions.

And this is where CompuCram® Real Estate Broker Exam Prep Software comes it for anyone wishing to become a licensed real estate broker. The software has been created specifically for your state's Real Estate Broker Exam and it contains more than 750 questions written by industry experts in the style of the exam, and is guaranteed to help you pass your Real Estate Broker exam the first time.

Give the software a try with their free trial download which you can get at CompuCram.com

Make Money Blogging

I have a friend who works part-time. The rest of the time she is at home with not much to do except maybe do some cooking and housework. She doesn't drive herself any where because she is visually impaired.

I have been trying to get her to start blogging and try to make some money through blogging. She was quite incredulous when I told her that you can really make some money blogging. She wasn't aware that there is money to be made through blogging. Not that I am a good advertisement about how much you can make!

I was impressed that a fellow Malaysian and a fellow Postie is making a handsome income through writing paid posts, writing reviews and placing ads on her various blogs. Of course she can command a lot more from advertisers, than a little blogger like me can, because she has blogs that have high Google PageRanks and high enough Alexa rankings.

Anyway, the point is, once you have a created a blog and has it up and running, you can begin to start earning some money. Of course you can't expect to immediately make those big bucks but with time and effort, you can. Creative and attractive content will bring in readers and once you have established yourself in the blogosphere you will start making the money.

There are many blogs out there who offer you the tools and tips to help you get started. It is always good to learn from those who have the experience and the pocket book to show their success!

To my friend, yes you who live in Florida, get started with that blog! :-)

I won a watch!

I wrote a paid post for Fellins Gifts and Jewelry on August 22 right here on this blog. The post was about the company giving away a ladies' or a man's watch to the winner of their September Giveaway Contest. It was an easy contest where the blogger was to write a short entry about their contest with some relevant links to their site. Of course, I jumped at the opportunity of winning a $195 watch and entered the contest!

This morning I received an email from them telling me I had won the watch!! When I first saw the heading on the email, I thought it was a spam mail but then the content also had a copy of the email I had sent them notifying them I had entered the contest and including, in the mail, the link to my blog entry.

They're sending me the watch by priority mail this coming Monday. Woohooo! I love blog contests!

Rita, maybe my luck has changed! Haha.

Free Raleigh, NC Getaway

Are you planning on taking a fall vacation but have not actually decided where to go? How about visiting Raleigh, North Carolina for your Fall Getaway?

I'd love to visit Raleigh, North Carolina, what with all the festivals, events, performances, concerts and museum exhibitions that will take place in the fall. You know what, I might even get the opportunity to visit Raleigh, NC because the folks at Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau are offering a Free Raleigh Getaway where I stand the chance to win, get this,

-One night accommodations for two at the Courtyard by Marriott Raleigh Crabtree Valley
-$25 gift certificate to Bloomsbury Bistro
-Free VIP admission for two to Rum Runners
-2 tickets to the North Carolina Theatre
-2 tickets to the N.C. Museum of Art’s Landscapes from the Age of Impressionism
-2 tickets to Dinosaurs: Ancient Fossils, New Discoveries at the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences

Hey, it is not difficult to win all these tickets and the one night free stay at the Courtyard because all you need to do is register to stand the chance of winning this Free Raleigh Getaway! Come on, my dear blog readers, let's register to win this Free Raleigh Getaway. Who knows, one of us might be the lucky one! Don't forget to let me know if you are the lucky one, though!

Just looking at the events scheduled during the fall, I might just be willing to pay for my own tickets, if I don't win the free tickets that is, to some of the events like the N.C. Symphony's Classical Series: Branford Marsalis Quartet. My husband is not much of a classical music fan, but there are other performances that we can both enjoy like Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors and The Crucible at the NC Shakespeare Festival, and the Celtic Woman performance.

My husband is not going to like this and would be likely to steer me away from Raleigh's A Shopping Spree! He knows I will be like a kid in a candy store. Imagine making the rounds of the 100 unique exhibitors from around the country during the four-day shopping extravaganza!

For more information on the Fall Events in Raleigh 2007, check out their website. Raleigh, North Carolina, could very well be the best place you have visited this year!

Brain Eating Amoeba

Don't we already have enough to worry about, like terror sites offering videos on how to fly 747s, and wondering if the next time we get on a 747 there could be terrorists on board who had learned to fly such a plane from videos found on terror sites?

Do we now have to think twice about taking a swim in the lake for fear that an amoeba might eat our brains?! Eeeekk, doesn't that sound like a scene from an Aliens movie?

PHOENIX (AP) - It sounds like science fiction but it's true: A killer amoeba living in lakes enters the body through the nose and attacks the brain where it feeds until you die.

Even though encounters with the microscopic bug are extraordinarily rare, it's killed six boys and young men this year. The spike in cases has health officials concerned, and they are predicting more cases in the future.

"This is definitely something we need to track," said Michael Beach, a specialist in recreational waterborne illnesses for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"This is a heat-loving amoeba. As water temperatures go up, it does better," Beach said. "In future decades, as temperatures rise, we'd expect to see more cases."

According to the CDC, the amoeba called Naegleria fowleri (nuh-GLEER- ee-uh FOWL'-erh-eye) killed 23 people in the United States, from 1995 to 2004. This year health officials noticed a spike with six cases—three in Florida, two in Texas and one in Arizona. The CDC knows of only several hundred cases worldwide since its discovery in Australia in the 1960s.

Full story here.

P.S. Yes, it is true that people don't normally learn how to fly planes from videos or flight simulators alone, but with the terrorists, they only need to know how to guide the plane to their intended target or just crash it so they can kill themselves and everyone in the plane. Not a very happy thought especially for someone like me who is always very tense when I have to fly any where.

Two headed turtle

This conjoined turtle sure looks freakish. I guess the stronger of either will be the one forcing the direction the turtle is to go.

I supposed Jay Jacoby, manager of of Big Al's Aquarium Supercenter, is right in that the turtle is not likely to survive life in the life.

NORRISTOWN, Pa. - A two-headed turtle captured by a turtle collector is a rare example of a conjoined-twin birth, its owner said.

The turtle would have likely died in the wild because it swims awkwardly and would be an easy target for predators, according to Jay Jacoby, manager of Big Al's Aquarium Supercenter in East Norriton.

The store bought the tiny turtle from the collector for an undisclosed price and will keep it on display, he said.

The 2-month-old turtle, known as a red-eared slider, fits on a silver dollar. It has two heads sticking out from opposite ends of its shell, along with a pair of front feet on each side. But there is just one set of back feet and one tail.


Read full story here.

Love and Marriage

Doug and I celebrated our 8th Anniversary last August. He took half the day off work so he could take me out to lunch. I received a romantic anniversary card, two dozen red roses, and a new pillow. A pillow? He knows my quest for the perfect pillow and thought this new pillow would be the one that will end that quest! How thoughtful of him!

After seven years of marriage and two young children, romance is something that we have to work at. It is easy to get caught up in the daily business of making a living, raising the children, and spending too much time on our individual hobbies instead of spending time nurturing that relationship that brought us together in the first place.

However, I am blessed with a husband who, though not overly romantic, does know how to keep a woman happy. He never fails to give me a kiss before he leaves for work every morning, calls me daily from work, remembers all the important dates, brings cards and flowers, and takes me out to dinner whenever I don't feel like cooking. He shows his affection by giving me hugs and kisses, holding my hands even while he's driving, which I remind him to refrain from doing, and is very considerate when I say, "I have a headache." :-)

Coming from an Asian culture where the women serve the men, I appreciate my husband's help with the dishes, with bathing the children, getting them ready for bed and most of all, his philosophy of marriage being a partnership, each partner mutually serving each other, both working towards a marriage built on trust, respect and love.

Road Construction

There's some road work, and drainage clearing going on on our street. They've been at it for three days now and this morning as I drove out of my driveway, I had to wait for a few moments for one of the road crew men to move a front loader off my driveway.

On my way home after dropping the kids at their school, I also had to wait for a few moments because half the road was closed as there were construction vehicles blocking one half of the road on each side.

I couldn't help noticing the crew men though. Three men were in the ditch holding some tools for clearing the ditch, but they don't seem to be doing anything at that particular point in time. Three or four others were either directing traffic or just standing around doing nothing in particular. And these men were husky looking men, none looked scrawny at all.

I was amused because it reminded me so much of the Road Works Department in Malaysia. Unless they are working on a very busy road where work has to be done quickly, two or three would be working, and the rest would just stand around and watch those who work!

I guess whether you live in a country like Malaysia or here in the USA road construction crews are the same!

Home Insurance

Our home is probably the biggest investment that we have made or will ever make. So it makes sense to safeguard that investment. But choosing and buying the right home insurance that is right for each one of us can be complicated but the good news is, it doesn't have to be.

Co-operative Insurance Services have made the buying of home insurance simple and the best part is, if you buy the insurance online you get a 10% discount. Their new Home Insurance product is a wide-ranging flexible policy to cover everything like Buildings, Contents, Personal Possessions, HomeRescue Plus, Travel and Caravan.

You, the consumer, has the flexibility of mixing and matching the insurance coverage that meets your needs under one policy which means you only have one premium to pay, one renewal date to remember and one document to keep safe. It is convenient and saves you time and money.

Co-operative Insurance Services handle one of the largest volumes of personal insurance claims in the UK, and are extremely proud of their Claims Commitment and are dedicated to responding to all claims notifications within 24 hours of receipt, responding to all correspondence within 5 working days, and issuing settlement cheques within 24 hours of receiving the required documents.

Get an instant online quote at the Co-operative Insurance Services website and see how much you can save.

Check out Blogger Play!

Every time I logged on to my Blogger Dashboard, I always take a quick look at the latest news about Blogger at the bottom of the page.

Today I found out about Blogger Play. Blogger Play displays pictures that are being uploaded in real time. It is really interesting to watch the different pictures that are being uploaded! You get all kinds. Blogger does caution though, that some explicit pictures might slip through even though they try to filter them out from appearing on Blogger Play.

If you have nothing better to do on your computer, and want to look at pictures, leave the Blogger Play screen on your computer. You'll be totally entertained! :-)

P.S. I just saw a picture of two gay men doing you know what gay men do to each other slip through! Yucckkksss!

Credit Cards from Co-operative Bank

There are so many different credit cards out there and choosing the right one for your particular situation can be quite a challenge.

Co-operative Bank offers different cards from a card with 0% on purchases and balance transfers for six months, to a card that earns money for your chosen organisation as you spend.

For example their Clear Credit Card offers up to 59 days interest free credit if balance is paid in full by the due date, up to £25,000 free Travel Accident Insurance, when you use your card to pay for your travel tickets, 24-hour medical and legal assistance overseas, and no charge for using cheques.

When you pay with a Co-operative Bank Travel credit card, you enjoy free Travel Insurance or a 5% discount on thousands of holidays booked with Travelcare and the credit card fee will be waived when you pay with your travel credit card. You also earn travel reward points worth £0.01 earned for every pound spent on the card.

Co-operative Bank also offers advantage cards, platinum cards as well as the affinity cards where your spending can raise money for your chosen organization like Oxfam, Christian Aid, Amnesty International and a few other organizations.

Visit the Co-operative Bank website to learn more about their credit cards and their terms and conditions. There is bound to be a card that suits your needs.

Driving while female

Wajeha al-Huwaider of Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, co-founded a group urging that women be permitted to drive. The group sent King Abdullah a petition with more than 1,100 names. (By Faiza Saleh Ambah -- The Washington Post)

In Saudi Arabia, women are not permitted to drive. One of the reasons for not allowing women to drive is that it would lead to Western-style freedoms and an erosion of traditional values. *Rolling my eyes.*

"Allowing women to drive will only bring sin. The evils it would bring, mixing between the genders, temptations, and tarnishing the reputation of devout Muslim women, outweigh the benefits," wrote one man to the al Watan newspaper in response to an article about a group of women who are petitioning King Abdullah to let women have the right to drive.

Saudi women are forced to rely on hired drivers or male relatives to drive them to places. Taxis for an unaccompanied woman is not safe either. For some, hiring a driver who is usually a foreigner, is beyond their means.

We take our ability to drive our car wherever and whenever we want for granted. It is inconceivable to think that, at this modern day and age, there are women who do not have the right to drive. Women all over the world are marching with the progress of time but in Saudi Arabia, they are still stuck in the mindset of men ruling with 7th century laws.

Read the story about Saudi women petitioning their King their right to drive here.

My Desktop Free View

I hadn't chosen a background for my new desktop so when I got tagged by Angie, I quickly chose a picture from my target shooting taken last weekend. :-) Go ahead, Punk! Make my day!

I now tag, Nightwing, Mr Green, Cuthess, Borneo Guy, Hooi Imm and Cat Cat.

Note: Copy Starts Here! My Desktop Free View Instruction:

A. Upon receiving this tag, immediately perform a screen capture of your desktop. It is best that no icons be deleted before the screen capture so as to add to the element of fun. You can do a screen capture by:

Going to your desktop and pressing the Print Scrn key (located on the right side of the F12 key).

Open a graphics program (like Picture Manager, Paint, or Photoshop) and do a Paste (CTRL + V).

If you wish, you can “edit” the image, before saving it.

B. Post the picture in your blog. You can also give a short explanation on the look of your desktop just below it if you want. You can explain why you preferred such look or why is it full of Icons, things like that.

C. Tag five of your friends and ask them to give you a Free View of their desktop as well.

D. Add your name to this list of Free Viewers with a link pointing directly to your Desktop Free View post to promote it to succeeding participants.

iRonnie - I Set No Corner
Thess - Thesserie
Rebecca - Skippy Heart
Knoizki - A Dialogue With K
Beng - Kauderwelch
- domlawrenceOSB
- bluepanjeet™ OTWOMD™
Marie @ Vanidosa Marie and Vanidosa at blogspot
and Ems @ Just Let Go and Pieces of Me
Angie The Daily Matters and The Simple Times In Life
Puteri @ Puteri's Musings, Puteri's Musings 2 and Health and Beauty Notes

Sproose, your interactive search engine

A search engine is a search engine, right? Wrong! Most, if not all, search engines give results based on algorithms, corporate funding, and the opinions of web masters.

How would you like to use a search engine where YOU, the user shape the rankings of the search results? With Sproose, you can!

Sproose which is an interactive search engine, provides peer-moderated, ranking, prioritizing and community networking for consumer use. That means users can categorize and bookmark relevant sites, tailored for personal or group use. Ranking and scoring of specific Web sites based on preference, allows users to sort through existing sites to assemble only the most appropriate results.

For those concerned about privacy, interactive personalization and rating of search results are done without the use of cookies or downloading applications.

If you are interested in learning more about this interactive search engine, click here to try sproose.

Unbelievable!

Do you believe Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad when he said, "In Iran we don't have homosexuals like in your country. In Iran we do not have this phenomenon, I don't know who has told you that we have it."

If he is right then Iran must be the only country in the world where there are no homosexuals! All homo-phobics should move to Iran where there are no homosexuals to bother their sensibilities!

How about what he said about the treatment of women in Iran? "Women in Iran enjoy the highest levels of freedom." All feminist organizations in the world should rejoice over this fact!


"If the Holocaust is a reality of our time, a history that occurred, why is there not sufficient research that can approach the topic from different perspectives?" he asked. No amount of proof or research will ever be sufficient for a well-known Holocaust denier and an anti-semite like Ahmadinejad.

Paid to do surveys.

I signed up with a couple of places where you get paid for filling out surveys. After doing a few surveys, I feel that I am ready to give up! I don't mind the short surveys but there is one that seemed to go on forever! There are pages and pages of it, and I still have not seen the end of it! I just had to call it a night. :-( I don't know if a few cents or a dollar is really worth all that time!

We'll see if it is any better tomorrow. I received an email notifying me that I have been credited a dollar into my account for completing one survey. I don't even remember which one it was! :-(

Sheesshh, it seems not all the online money making schemes are worth my time!

Senior Dating

"It ain't over till it's over" is how one senior puts it on a senior singles dating site. Isn't that so true? Just because one is a senior that does not mean one is not interested in senior dating where one can get to know someone of the opposite sex.

At datingforseniors.com, seniors have a greater opportunity to meet other seniors. Seniors can join for free at the site and create an account by filling a simple form. Be sure to give more time to the part where you are required to describe yourself. An aptly written description would most definitely attract a great number of interested parties!

Once you have signed up you have immediate access to the other senior singles already registered there. Don't be shy, start sending messages to those who have caught your eye or send flirts to them to let them know that you have noticed them.

Of course if you want other seniors to really notice you, upload your picture to the site. An aptly written description is good but a picture of yourself to fit that description is even better! You are more likely to get noticed and more likely to receive responses from other members on the site if you have a picture of yourself included in your profile. That is a given fact!

If you are a senior and looking to meet other seniors, why not give datingforseniors.com a try? You might even be surprised by the responses you'll get!

Ham Radio

My in-laws are ham radio enthusiasts. Last Sunday they hosted a bar-be-cue for their local ham radio club at their home. Doug is also a ham radio operator but he is not as qualified as his father is. He hasn't had much time lately to really pursue this interest.


The ham radio club members who were at the bar-be-cue were mostly older folks. There were only a handful of younger members. One of the younger guys who came wasn't a ham radio operator but he helps them put their antennas up on their roof tops. And this same guy entertained the folks at the bar-be-cue with his guitar playing and singing. He is in fact one of a trio called Still Evolving who performs at a bar-be-cue place in town. So he does know how to sing!

How do you know that a person is a ham radio guy or gal? By the custom plates on their cars, of course!


This is my father-in-law's call sign. My mother-in-law has her own custom plate on her car too.




The above are just two cars that belonged to the members who were at the bar-be-cue.



A guy from the Red Cross came by at the bar-be-cue to show off the communications trailer that the Red Cross has. The trailer is equipped with communications equipment, so that was of interest to the ham radio folks at the bar-be-cue.

During an emergency, like a hurricane, or an earthquake where most conventional communications have been damaged, the ham radio operators have always filled in the gap. In many communities or neighborhoods there are restrictions as to what you can put up on your property, but communication towers or antennas for ham radio are exempted. On my in-laws roof there are several antennas. You can tell how serious they are about their hobby!

Body Jewelry

If you are into body piercing and would like to find a wide selection of gold nose rings or other high quality body piercing jewelry then you need to check out FashionTrends.com

At FashionTrends.com not only can you find the basic body jewelry like the captive bead rings, barbells on all shapes and sizes and gauges possible, but also other body jewelry like the belly button/navel rings, eyebrow jewelry, nose rings, barbells and tongue rings, as well as flexible body jewelry.

All the jewelry is beautiful and trendy, and made of titanium, surgical steel, hypoallergenic acrylic and even 14 KT white gold, and that means there is bound to be an item or two that meets your taste. If you are new to body piercing you can find useful information on their Frequently Asked Questions page.

FashionTrends.com offers free shipping on orders of over $25. Also there are weekly discounts and coupons offered where you can save further on your purchases if you sign up to be their Newsletter member. If you open an account with them, you get a 10% discount every time.

FahionTrends.com could very well be the only store you need for all your body piercing jewelry!

Questionable Art

Should we let artists follow their own instincts even though the subject of their art could be considered obscene or pornographic?

It is reported that Elton John's private collection has been "seized by police from a gallery on suspicion it may have breached child pornography laws". The collection was seized because there was an image of a naked young girl photographed sitting down with her legs wide apart.

I have a few photos of my kids naked but not in any poses that one might call provocative. They are mainly of them in the tub, covered in bath bubbles. If someone takes a picture of a young child naked and the image that it projects is intentionally provocative, then I would be leery of the intention and innocence of the art. I would object to that kind of art because I think that kind of art is exploitative.

A follow-up article on the subject by Richard Dorment suggests that it is not the job of art galleries to censor the work of artists. Instead they should put up signs warning visitors of what they are about to see.

I don't have a problem with that except when it concerns images of children in questionable poses. Child pornography is becoming mainstream, what with the unrestricted access to such pornography on the internet. I don't need art galleries to be promoting child pornography. I don't think images of children in sexually provocative poses will ever become "innocuous" to the next generation as Richard Dorment suggested in his article. As long as there are parents and people who object to adults exploiting children for sexual purposes, images of naked or semi-clothed children in suggestive poses will continue to be objectionable.

Dell Computers

I wished my husband had got me the Dell Personal Computer before he decided on the other refurbished brand name that he got me! Next time I better do my own computer shopping!

The Cordless Desktop would have been just right for me. That means I can put the keyboard on my lap thereby reducing the stress on my upper arms and shoulders which I seem to have experienced a lot of lately.

I find the Dell XPS 210 very attractive. It is compact and slim which means I can put it next to the cordless keyboard on my kitchen counter without worrying about it occupying too much space. The fact that the computer is powered by Intel® CoreTM 2 Duo Processor and capable of handling multi-tasking, multi-threaded applications and demanding multimedia with ease makes it additionally attractive. It is such a pain when things slow to a crawl when you have a few applications going at the same time. I won't have this problem anymore if I had the Dell XPS 210!

How about I let my husband keep that refurbished computer he just got for me and I get myself a fast and modern computer like the Dell XPS 210? A Christmas gift for myself? Sounds like a fine idea to me!

Target Shooting

The day started off all cloudy and with a slight drizzle. Fortunately by the time breakfast was over the rain had stopped. However, Doug had a lot of things to do before we finally were able to leave the house and make our way to Los Osos where the ranch property is located. We made a stop at Walmart to buy some ammo for my Beretta 85 .380 calibre semi-automatic. :-)

This is the view from the top of the ranch. That's Morro Rock in the distance. Morro Bay is a popular destination in the summer especially for folks who live the baking hot areas of Fresno. It's hard to get a hotel room there in the summer.

That's the neighbor's horse ranch property adjoining the family property.

The picture above and below is how the landscape looks like in the summer. It does look very dry, but in the winter where there is a lot more rain the whole place will look green.

Doug and I hope that maybe some day in the future we'll get to live here! :-) Keeping our fingers crossed!


We chose a gully to do our target shooting. It was a pretty windy day, but it was slightly better in the gully. Right over head are these high tension wires, crackling with electricity! And I do mean crackling! The first time Doug brought me up to the top of the property beneath the high tension wires, I had this fear of getting electrocuted! The source of the electricity is the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant.

Doug and Duncan walking towards the bottom of the gully. Duncan had all kinds of weeds and stickers on his clothes! I didn' t wear any socks so I didn't have any stickers on my socks but some managed to get into my shoes.

I did the first rounds of shooting with my .380 calibre semi-automic Beretta 85. Doug had brought a piece of cardboard and drawn a bull's eye and stuck some sticky notes with Xs on the board.

Not bad for someone who hadn't fired a shot in many years! I manged to shoot one in the nine ring and 5 others were on the board. Two must have gone in the dirt. :-) The Beretta's recoil was stronger than I liked.

Doug had his turn with the Beretta.

Dwight is a friend of ours who lives on the property. He helps us look after the barn that Doug has there. Here is Doug firing Dwight's Iver Johnshon .32 calibre revolver. That revolver is about 75 years old. Dwight said, " I love the smell of gun powder!" Haha.

Here's Dwight showing me how to handle the .229 calibre Rossi pump-action rifle. Put your cheek agains the stock, lean your face towards the gun, and use your fingers like a tripod to help stabilize the gun.

I love firing this rifle! The act of pulling back the pump and pushing it forward to load the cartridge was the most fun part. Makes me want to say, "Go ahead, Punk. Make my day!" The Rossi was also a very accurate shoot.

Here's Dwight firing his 75 year old revolver. When we met him at the ranch, he already had his revolver in a holster on his hip. I asked him why he had his revolver with him. There's a guy living nearby who is quite the trouble maker, and Dwight doesn't want to be caught off guard.

Duncan felt left out and wanted so much to fire a gun. Of course I said, "No!" He cried and sulked and Doug let him pull the trigger of his .22 calibre Ruger Mark 12. Made the boy's day! Duncan also "pulled" the trigger to the Rossi rifle. I have a video of him doing it.

The last pistol I fired was Doug's Ruger Mark 12 .22 calibre sem-automatic. I did not fire Dwight's old revolver.

Dillon, Doug's 15-year-old nephew, came with us. He was the only left handed person in the group. I don't think he has ever fired a real gun before but he was the only one in the group to hit the bull's eye! Dwight was really good too and his shots were only around the nine ring. Besides shooting at the board, we shot into the hill side just to see the dust being stirred up by our shots! Heheh. Ammo is cheap!

Now I'm thinking I should join an indoor shooting range and learn to fire more accurately with my pistols. Ahemm! :-)

Gone Shooting

“A Canadian is sort of like an American, but without the gun”

This weekend we are going to visit my in-laws. They live in the beautiful San Luis Obispo area in the central coast. It is about a 6 hour drive there and I don't think we have been to visit them at all this year. They have been to visit us though at least twice this year. My father in-law had hip replacement surgery about 2 months ago. He still can't drive very far, err, but I think they did drive to Las Vegas last weekend! :-)

That's my sexy hand posing with a Beretta. :-)

Anyway, while there, Doug hopes to take me shooting at his parents' ranch. The ranch is somewhere in the hills and there are places there where we can shoot our guns. It has been years since I fired a gun. Doug and I talked about going to a shooting range here in Sacramento but with young kids and having to arrange for a baby sitter every time we want to go any where by ourselves is such a hassle. The other problem has been time. Doug has been really tied up with home improvement projects since the beginning of the year.

I was talking with my elderly neighbor three days ago and asked him if he was going to the Neighborhood Watch meeting at the police station that night. He said, "No." There have been a rash of burglaries and suspicious activity in our neighborhood the last several months. I often leave my windows open when I go to the store or drop the kids off at school. Now I am afraid to do it in case some burglars try to break into my house. My elderly neighbor said he leaves his windows open all day long and said if a burglar comes into his house, he doesn't know how the burglar is going leave the house. I understood what he meant and suggested, "In a stretcher?"

Doug shooting his Firestar .45 automatic when he went target shooting with friends last year.

That is why I need to be handy with my gun. Sounds extreme, doesn't it, but better to be safe than sorry. I have young kids in the house and having a loaded gun around is also not safe. Doug is teaching the kids about gun safety and telling them the difference between a toy gun and a real one. He's teaching them not to point a gun, even a toy one, at anyone even in jest. But it's hard to get Duncan to understand that because he loves to play with his toy "boom boom" and trying to shoot at things. He got all excited when his dad shot his BB gun at a dog that strayed into our back yard. He didn't hurt the dog, just wanted to scare it away from the back yard.

Hopefully the weather stays dry this weekend during our trip. Some rain is in the forecast. I won't be firing any guns if it is wet and muddy at the ranch! :-)

Soccer better than jogging

Those of you who jog to keep fit, maybe you should switch to soccer for a better workout and better muscle mass! I don't do either, so I won't be changing any exercise habit, or lack thereof! Ahhh, Tai Chi, now that is a different story!

Very soon I will have to start driving my kids to soccer practice! I can see Duncan playing soccer but Denice? I don't think she is the kind who likes rough and tumble sports. But dancing, now she'll love that! She is forever imitating Angelina Ballerina's (cartoon character) moves and telling everyone she is a ballerina.

Here's the story that says soccer is better than jogging when it comes to exercise.

Each period of exercise lasted about one hour and took place three times a week. After 12 weeks, researchers found that the body fat percentage in the soccer players dropped by 3.7 percent, compared to about 2 percent for the joggers.

The soccer players also increased their muscle mass by almost 4.5 pounds, whereas the joggers didn't have any significant change. Those who did no exercise registered little change in body fat and muscle mass.

"Even though the football (soccer) players were untrained, there were periods in the game that were so intense that their cardiovascular was maximally taxed, just like professional football (soccer) players," said Dr. Peter Krustrup, head of Copenhagen University's department of exercise and sport sciences, who led the study.

The soccer players and the joggers had the same average heart rate, but the soccer players got a better workout because of intense bursts of activity. Krustrup and his colleagues found there were periods during soccer matches when the players' hearts were pumping at 90 percent their full capacity. But the joggers' hearts were never pushed as hard.

Full story here.

Busy Day

This morning I went to the flea market where on Wednesdays it is produce day. I bought some exotic vegetables that we Asians love like daun ubi (tapioca leaves). I bought some last week, but felt like more! I also bought some bananas for banana fritters, kangkong, some ginger and some ground nuts. I felt like eating some kacang rebus.

When I left the house it was cool but usually it gets warmer later in the morning but this morning it was windy as well and so it remained cool. I didn't expect the cold so I wasn't wearing a sweater or a light jacket. I hurried with my shopping and drove home immediately.


When I got home I went online for a while and then I started with the banana fritters. Mmmm, lovely! Been a while since I made banana fritters!

Then I decided to set up the new computer that Doug bought me. I cleared some table space in my studio. I got everything working but when I tried installing the driver for my wireless adapter it refused to install. Arrrgggghhh! It was not compatible with Windows Vista!

And then it was a hurried lunch. After that, I went back online and updated two other blogs that I have. Once I was done with that, I called up my Malaysian friend in Florida, who's also married to an ang moh, and chatted with her for a while. I have been encouraging her to start blogging. She works two days a week and the rest of the week she stays at home and does nothing in particular. She is visually impaired so she doesn't drive herself any where.

Next, I started setting up the quilt that I promised a customer I'd finish in two weeks. Today is exactly two weeks since she dropped off her quilt and I'd only started with it! It's a hard quilt to work on because of all the appliqués on it. I had to think of how I was going to work around the appliqués. I prefer where all I need to do is quilt it edge to edge. Nothing to think about, just follow the pantograph pattern! I haven't progressed very far with the quilt. I did about a yard of it and decided I didn't like what I'd done, and so I started ripping off the stitches. And that is where it remains today.

Chicken cooked with daun ubi and coconut milk.

At four p.m., I started preparing the daun ubi for dinner. It was going to be chicken with daun ubi cooked with coconut milk. Quite a bit of work because I had to tutuk (grind it with mortar and pestle) the daun ubi. Fortunately Doug decided to leave the office early today and so I asked him to picked the kids up at preschool on his way home from work. The house was stinking up royally when they got home. I had fried some onions, garlic, ginger, lemon grass and some belacan for the chicken in daun ubi. And to add to the stinkiness, I fried a salted fish (ikan masin garupa). Yup, the house still stinks! Right now I've got a scented candle going. Hopefully some of the stink will dissipate. :-)

It's after dinner now. The kids are back in the house after playing outside in the cold. Now I am ready to put them in the tub and let them sit in there for a while.

Ciáo for now! :-)

P.S. U.Lee, so now you know why you beat me to it with the new entry! Heheh.

Cool Day

The readings in this picture is in Celcius. Not Fahrenheit!

I was at the Flea market today and it was cold and windy! Well, cold by California's standard, anyway It is almost fall and elsewhere in the US the weather is much cooler but here in California fall weather comes a bit late.

Usually what makes it cooler in the Sacramento valley is the ocean breeze. It was quite breezy and the wind was strong enough to blow some of the tents about at the flea market. I knew it was cool when I left the house but usually the weather warms up a little bit more once the sun comes up a bit higher. So I wasn't prepared for the cold and did not wear an outer clothing.

I had to rush the shopping a little bit because it was getting too cold for comfort. I got all the vegetables I wanted and rushed back to my car. Next time, I'll remember to leave a jacket in the car in case the weather is cooler than expected.