Captain Chuckie's Binocular Shots

These pics are brought to you by my dad's binoculars - he was spying on me as I strolled down the beach towards Morro Rock one morning...

She's back - and she's CRAZY!!

But to quote The Cheshire Cat:

"But I don't want to go among mad people," Alice remarked.
"Oh, you can't help that," said the Cat: "We're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad."
"How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "otherwise you wouldn't have come here."

Indeed. So I've come back to the crazy NYC world after 10 glorious beachy days. But it's okay, crazy is fine as long as you can still smile and laugh and not get stressed out. But still..California rocked. From sauteed calamari steaks and great wine while watching the sunset at The Sea Chest to my daily morning hour long walks on the beach to the fun treasures I bought to watching the Olympics and cheering on the athletes while enjoying a Nicole Summer Special (that would be a tequila gimlet to you) and going on a hike with my dad on the bluffs to the farmers markets and fresh berries and veggies and tuberoses...these are a few of my favorite things...when the dog bites, when the bee stings..when I'm feeling sad...oh you know the song!

But you have to come back to reality at some point, so here I am - and as you may have guessed since I didn't post a thing all week, I returned to the crazy workplace and I've been constantly on the go all week - plus The Boss is out, so I've been filling those big shoes of his and doing both his and my job. Today's schedule a typical example:

10am - turn on workstation; check test region for data errors before running 3 test OE schedules
11am - meeting to discuss payroll consolidation file errors
12pm - bento box lunch date!
1pm - PS upgrade meeting
2:30 - back to my desk to begin running test OE's. 1st one fails and I spend an hour fixing the configuration errors.
3:45 - step out for a 15 minute walk to clear my head, eat a banana, and relax. I feel slumped. Blood pressure low.
5pm - database is taken down for the night, so I decide to just a little more work and post here, finally.

So that's all I have to report, I'm busy, but feeling good, head is cleared and I'm feeling ready. Summer is over for me, let's get on with autumn. Ready for what, I have no idea, but whatever's on it's way, I'm feeling up for the challenge now. New things are coming around the bend and you just never know, do you?

And now, some photos!

Charlie making a contribution to Bubble Gum Alley in San Luis Obispo

A mermaid on the beach..oh wait, that's just me!!

Sunset at the Cayucos pier

Mom and Dad enjoying a glass of wine while waiting to get into The Sea Chest

FATHER ON THE BEACH ALERT!!!!!!!

This is funny - so my family is in Cayucos California, just waiting for me to arrive later on this week..and I decided to check out a web site that I knew had a web cam set up so that you can see the beach and the pier and passersby...so I click on the site and who do I see on the webcam? MY DAD, just strolling along!! Somehow, I KNEW he'd be walking the strand, looking for shells for me and Allie...


http://www.cayucosshorelineinn.com/cam.html

The Cracked Pot

It's storytime! Gather 'round boys and girls - my fellow cracked pots too - and listen up now:

A water bearer in India had two large pots, one hung on each end of a pole which he carried across his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it, and while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the master's house. The cracked pot arrived only half full.

For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water in his master's house. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect to the end for which it was made.

But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do.

After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream. "I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you."

Why?" asked the bearer. "What are you ashamed of?"

"I have been able, for these past two years, to deliver only half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your master's house.

Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work, and you don't get full value from your efforts," the pot said.

The water bearer felt sorry for the old cracked pot, and in his compassion he said, "As we return to the master's house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path."

Indeed, as they went up the hill, the old cracked pot took notice of the sun warming the beautiful wild flowers on the side of the path, and this cheered it some.

But at the end of the trail, it still felt bad because it had leaked out half its load, and so again it apologized to the bearer for its failure.

The bearer said to the pot, "Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of your path, but not on the other pot's side?

That's because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back from the stream, you've watered them.

For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my master's table. Without you being just the way you are, he would not have this beauty to grace his house."

Now, I'm off to see THE DARK KNIGHT with my fantasy husband Christian Bale... sigh...I'll give you a review on Monday!

Maca Maca Maca!!

If you guessed by naming my post this, I just wanted an excuse to Google images of Fozzy, you'd be correct!!

But seriously folks, I'm here to tell you all about maca! Maca powder is actually a ground up root vegetable from Peru - it's related to the radish family - and it's jam-packed with vitamins and minerals and protein as well as being an adaptogen - which means its a trigger to your body to kick into high gear and start raising its defenses and start functioning at a really high level...basically, it makes you feel really good and is also terrific for you..it smells not so nice and tastes just so-so - I've either been adding a teaspoon of the stuff to some miso soup or to some herbal tea - and then I'm off like a rocket! It really does elevate your energy... so anyway, I'm just letting you in on the MACA MAGIC!!!!! One word of caution, DO NOT take it anywhere near your beddybyetime - I made the mistake of thinking it was like the supergreen drink I make and I had it with my dinner two nights in a row around 8pm and then couldn't fall asleep until 3am and couldn't figure out why until I did some research. Now I'll drink it no later than 5pm or so and even that I think is pushing it...

Click here for more info should you find yourself intrigued...
http://www.macaroot.com/benefits/index.html

Quote of the Day

From the great "Jitterbug Perfume":

"The unhappy person resents it when you try to cheer him up, because that means he has to stop dwelling on himself and start paying attention to the universe. Unhappiness is the ultimate form of self-indulgence. When you're unhappy, you get to pay a lot of attention to yourself. You get to take yourself oh so very seriously."
- Tom Robbins

Evil Car Salesman Face

Look at him... I saw this pic in the Daily News this morning with the article about the 490 BILLION $ defecit he's leaving to OBAMA and it just RILED me up - that stupid-evil-beady-eyed-son-of-Alfred E. Newman-monkey face of his ... if he ruled during the French Revolution, he'd be headed to the guillotine for sure...well my countdown calendar says we have 176 days left of this mockery to democracy...

Monday, Monday...

Monday Morning Staff Meeting Notes for Nicole Incorporated:

1. The Mets are STILL in first place...and again I will state emphatically: FOR NOW. It's tight, people ... but that's part of the fun, isn't it?

2. Massive laundry was done - I'm a clean clothes person once more and no need to shun me from society. As Chuckie says, if you are clean, you are happy - and therefore it follows that you can only be happy if you are clean. And so it is.

3. Hair remains grey-streaked, but I'm thinking I like the Gandalf look...ha ha ha...oh come ON, it's not that bad...I could care less...but I'm going to get that remedied this week in any case.

4. Work stuff is hectic but progressing nicely - we have now moved on to our SIT phase (System Integration Testing) and the month of August will translate to chaotic hustle and bustle - but I kind of enjoy all this, so I'm not complaining. Plus, I'll be gone for 10 days and it will be nice to be missed :-)

5. I was very pleased with myself and life in general all weekend for various reasons only I can understand - it started on Thursday and has continued on into today...things are rockin' and rollin' as they should be...all in accordance with the prophecy...

6. And I'm totally focused on California next week and the peace...the ocean, the ocean...

Let us raise a glass, for the work week is TOAST

Shall we toast to it? It was another good week - I wasn't feeling very confident about it earlier but it has ended finely and Santa has delivered yet another metaphorical Red Rider BB Gun under the proverbial Christmas tree and so to quote Ralphie, "all is right with the world".

I have a huge to do list so large, it gives me heart palpitations - most notably:
1. magically turn gray hair to blonde and brown streaks
2. do massive amounts of laundry - I will admit to buying more pairs of underwear over the past week or so in order to avoid doing it but the time is come - carpe diem!!

Now its 5pm and my boss was off today and I thought I'd accomplish some of this terrifying to do list - but alas and alack, I was swamped, overrun with Other People's Issues, all work/conversion related and I feel my teeth grinding down to a fine powder, I'm holding my jaw so tight. RELAX.

And by the by: the Mets are now sole owners of 1st Place. At least for now - that can all change this weekend, so I'm enjoying the moment while I can. Sometimes, one day is all you get, so make the most of it .

I've also forgotten to mention - to those of you keeping track of my culinary adventures - I tried sweetbreads last Saturday. And I LOVED them. The dish was veal sweetbreads - I found out it can be thymus gland or pancreas, but I have no clue which one I ate - mixed with veal liver, chicken bits, and sausage. This in no way puts me on the same level as Sexy Megan (who eats and seduces everyone) - her recent list of conquests include blood sausage, sweetbreads, and kidney - did I miss anything? She's got tastebud and stomach cojones!

And another reason to love Jimmy Kimmel? Apart from the fact that I think he's pretty funny, is from Las Vegas and I grew up with his cousin in Girl Scouts and I know his Aunt Chippy, he is putting Ed McMahon back to work by using him to do on-show commercials (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25852011/) I was wondering when someone, anyone, would help Ed out ...

UPDATE NS_MOOD SET CURRENT_ ATTITUDE = "YUMMY"

Sorry, I've been doing queries and such up the wazoo and am only thinking in SQL WHERE clauses, defining criteria, and aggregrate functions ... back to "real" English and the activation of communication skills! Happy Monday to you, hope you are as feeling fine fine fine and smiley as I am. Yes? Good! Some good - I'm using the word GOOD too much, what a poor Lit major I've become - things are starting to roll down the pike to me - I won't go into details as they haven't happened yet, but you know, wishful thinking is always helpful in bringing things to fruition. So yay for me... And I'm still counting down to my California trip...ah bliss will soon be mine. And I got a fantastic three hours with this week's Best Person in the Universe - you know who you are!!! Thanks to you as always for keeping me SANE in an INSANE world. Hey, you made an excellent move! (See I'd forgotten about that one!!). And the Mets are still tied for 1st place...and lets see what else? Saw Mamma Mia the Movie on Saturday and its totally joyful - go see it if you want something to make you smile and feel happy. I liked it MUCH better than the Broadway version - the acting was excellent (but come on, it's Meryl Streep, she's just amazing anyway) and that's my problem with most Broadway schlock - the crappy acting! It reminds me of the Theater majors in college who tried so hard but...fell so short and yet thought they were...Meryl Streep. Don't get me wrong, the Broadway version was fun too, but the quality is definitly at a higher level - the music, the singing, acting, etc...

Well I'm heading home, I got very little sleep last night - after being up until 4am on Saturday night, seems my REM cycles are a little screwed up. OH well - I aim for 11pm tonight and back on track as I finish up the first hell week here at work.