Just got home a few hours ago and was unloading my car. When I noticed something odd in the lower driver's side corner of my rear bumper... It appears that someone backed into it and dented the corner in. No note left, no nothing. Just hit and run.
Shameful.
At least it's Thanksgiving, and I have other things to be thankful for. But this is literally a tiny dent that capped off a great week.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Cooo...huuu...hoool Whip!
Susan and I attended a potluck dinner with her friends this past Sunday. On Friday, she informed me we were in charge of bringing a green bean casserole. But she decided to get ambitious and wanted to make second casserole. When I found out, I told her, "I don't care what we bring as long as there's pumpkin pie."
Side note: the second casserole was a sweet potato casserole. It turned out to be a hit at the potluck. Susan didn't even try her own creation, but everyone complimented her inaugural dish, including my stomach.
When I drove up to Dallas on Friday, to my surprise, she had a fresh made pumpkin pie baked for me. She said it was a new recipe made with condensed milk instead of evaporated milk. I honestly couldn't tell the difference because it tasted really good.
Since we didn't have to bring a pie to the potluck, we've had a pumpkin pie in basically my possession for the past few days. I have been staying the week in Dallas and every morning my breakfast is pumpkin pie. The only reason I don't complain is because I have Cool Whip. Her friends had pumpkin pie at the potluck, but I didn't touch it because they only had whip cream. I have my principles and I stick to them. No Cool Whip, no pumpkin pie.
The funny thing is that we aren't even at Thanksgiving yet. Cool Whip!!!
Side note: the second casserole was a sweet potato casserole. It turned out to be a hit at the potluck. Susan didn't even try her own creation, but everyone complimented her inaugural dish, including my stomach.
When I drove up to Dallas on Friday, to my surprise, she had a fresh made pumpkin pie baked for me. She said it was a new recipe made with condensed milk instead of evaporated milk. I honestly couldn't tell the difference because it tasted really good.
Since we didn't have to bring a pie to the potluck, we've had a pumpkin pie in basically my possession for the past few days. I have been staying the week in Dallas and every morning my breakfast is pumpkin pie. The only reason I don't complain is because I have Cool Whip. Her friends had pumpkin pie at the potluck, but I didn't touch it because they only had whip cream. I have my principles and I stick to them. No Cool Whip, no pumpkin pie.
The funny thing is that we aren't even at Thanksgiving yet. Cool Whip!!!
Monday, November 24, 2008
Susan Said YES
A week ago I was struggling to come up with an idea of how to propose to Susan. I know I didn't want to do the traditional dinner, and pop the engagement question then and there. I ran the first thing that came to mind by one of my friends, and with his approval my plan didn't seem as foolish as I first drew it up in my head. The next night, I stopped by the nearest Hobby Lobby to pick up some paint, a brush and some foam board.
My idea was to propose to Susan by sending the message through my camera LCD display with the final shot being of the ring. Nice a simple, and it was a way for me to say what I needed to say and not screw it up.
Painting was probably the most difficult part because I haven't done so in years. My first few posterboards looked horrific but legible. I tried to be very meticulous, but it turned out the faster I went, the better it looked. When I thought the paint had dried, I goofed up and smeared two of the boards and had to redo them. Doh. Down to my last posterboard, I made sure I was perfect.
On Thursday November 20th, I asked the same friend to help me take the pictures. Ideally, I wanted to go downtown Austin for my background. But I wasn't sure that was going to show up well. And the message was more important than the background. I researched some parks by his house, but he in turn suggested that we stop by the Austin Arboretum. Not knowing what I had planned for Susan, it seemed like a great backdrop and was close to his house as well. The pictures turned out as planned and they showed up well on the camera display too. From the 100 or so pictures we took, I narrowed down the best of multiple takes of each posterboard down to 18 pictures to deliver my message.
Now that I had the WHAT and HOW taken care of. I needed to figure out the WHEN and WHERE. I wanted to take her to Dallas Arboretum, as I've never been and I thought it would give me an opportunity to use my camera without her knowing what my intentions were. It was only by coincidence that I visited two Arboretums in 3 days. However, Susan had some initial plans to run errands and go early Christmas shopping for Saturday. After she made a delicious grilled cheese and tomato soup lunch, I suggested if we could go to the Dallas Arboretum and go shopping later. She thought it was kind of an odd request only because I kept looking outside the window shades to check the weather for rain. And I knew it was going to be cold, at least cold for Texas. But she didn't question my request, and said, "Sounds like fun."
When I thought painting was the hard part, I was found that I was way wrong. Finding a quiet place where I could show her the proposal pictures proved to be more difficult. People were wandering all over the place, but the Arboretum wasn't extremely crowded because of the colder weather. So I knew I'd have my opportunity at some point.
I almost goofed at one point and spoiled my plan. When I tried to review some pictures we took of some flower, I accidentally skipped forward instead of going backwards. Susan caught a sneak peak of the proposal pictures, but not enough of a look to question it. Phew.
After an hour or so of walking and taking pictures, my nerves were building up. So naturally, I had to go No. 1. I excused myself from Susan and said I'd be right back. When I came out of the bathroom, I wondered where Susan was. She was about 100 yards away from me and signaled for me to follow her though this archway composed of high hedges.
When I caught up and walked through she was sitting near this wishing well-like fountain. The well was surrounded by more hedges and trees to give that isolated feeling. No one else was to be seen in sight. The moment couldn't have been more perfect. And that's when I handed her the camera and turned to the first picture. She did the rest as she slowly scrolled through the pictures. With a tear coming down her eye, I knew I must have done something good. And once she got to the last slide, I got down and one knee and formally proposed to her.
Susan said, "YES".
Couldn't have painted a better plan.
My idea was to propose to Susan by sending the message through my camera LCD display with the final shot being of the ring. Nice a simple, and it was a way for me to say what I needed to say and not screw it up.
Painting was probably the most difficult part because I haven't done so in years. My first few posterboards looked horrific but legible. I tried to be very meticulous, but it turned out the faster I went, the better it looked. When I thought the paint had dried, I goofed up and smeared two of the boards and had to redo them. Doh. Down to my last posterboard, I made sure I was perfect.
On Thursday November 20th, I asked the same friend to help me take the pictures. Ideally, I wanted to go downtown Austin for my background. But I wasn't sure that was going to show up well. And the message was more important than the background. I researched some parks by his house, but he in turn suggested that we stop by the Austin Arboretum. Not knowing what I had planned for Susan, it seemed like a great backdrop and was close to his house as well. The pictures turned out as planned and they showed up well on the camera display too. From the 100 or so pictures we took, I narrowed down the best of multiple takes of each posterboard down to 18 pictures to deliver my message.
Now that I had the WHAT and HOW taken care of. I needed to figure out the WHEN and WHERE. I wanted to take her to Dallas Arboretum, as I've never been and I thought it would give me an opportunity to use my camera without her knowing what my intentions were. It was only by coincidence that I visited two Arboretums in 3 days. However, Susan had some initial plans to run errands and go early Christmas shopping for Saturday. After she made a delicious grilled cheese and tomato soup lunch, I suggested if we could go to the Dallas Arboretum and go shopping later. She thought it was kind of an odd request only because I kept looking outside the window shades to check the weather for rain. And I knew it was going to be cold, at least cold for Texas. But she didn't question my request, and said, "Sounds like fun."
When I thought painting was the hard part, I was found that I was way wrong. Finding a quiet place where I could show her the proposal pictures proved to be more difficult. People were wandering all over the place, but the Arboretum wasn't extremely crowded because of the colder weather. So I knew I'd have my opportunity at some point.
I almost goofed at one point and spoiled my plan. When I tried to review some pictures we took of some flower, I accidentally skipped forward instead of going backwards. Susan caught a sneak peak of the proposal pictures, but not enough of a look to question it. Phew.
After an hour or so of walking and taking pictures, my nerves were building up. So naturally, I had to go No. 1. I excused myself from Susan and said I'd be right back. When I came out of the bathroom, I wondered where Susan was. She was about 100 yards away from me and signaled for me to follow her though this archway composed of high hedges.
When I caught up and walked through she was sitting near this wishing well-like fountain. The well was surrounded by more hedges and trees to give that isolated feeling. No one else was to be seen in sight. The moment couldn't have been more perfect. And that's when I handed her the camera and turned to the first picture. She did the rest as she slowly scrolled through the pictures. With a tear coming down her eye, I knew I must have done something good. And once she got to the last slide, I got down and one knee and formally proposed to her.
Susan said, "YES".
Couldn't have painted a better plan.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Microsoft, Fix It!
I use Trillian to manage my instant messengers from AOL, Yahoo and Hotmail. I would say most of my instant messages come from AOL, and the least should be Hotmail. However, I get at least one Hotmail spam instant message every 30 minutes. It's really annoying because there is no way to block it. Microsoft needs to do a better job filtering this junk before it even gets to me. Look out Yahoo, I'm starting to get a few random SPIMs now and then...don't become Hotmail lazy. Fix it.
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
Election Day
After walking the dog this morning, I walked by myself to the nearby middle school library, which is my designated local polling site. Nice and convenient when I don't have to drive.
At my site they ask if you wish to vote electronically. When you look around the room, there happens to be only ONE electronic station. There was one lady on it and no line behind her, but open booths everywhere else. I didn't feel like being the only one standing around to form a line. Plus, I feel more trusting bubbling in the candidate of my choice instead of pressing a screen. Call it a case of nostalgia versus paranoia that my vote won't get messed up.
This is fourth presidential election that I've voted in. Woohoo. And I'm proud that even if I don't make a difference in an electoral college and voting in a non-swing state, I can sleep a little better tonight knowing that whomever our next president elect is that I took part in an historical election. And getting the "I Voted" sticker is pretty sweet too.
At my site they ask if you wish to vote electronically. When you look around the room, there happens to be only ONE electronic station. There was one lady on it and no line behind her, but open booths everywhere else. I didn't feel like being the only one standing around to form a line. Plus, I feel more trusting bubbling in the candidate of my choice instead of pressing a screen. Call it a case of nostalgia versus paranoia that my vote won't get messed up.
This is fourth presidential election that I've voted in. Woohoo. And I'm proud that even if I don't make a difference in an electoral college and voting in a non-swing state, I can sleep a little better tonight knowing that whomever our next president elect is that I took part in an historical election. And getting the "I Voted" sticker is pretty sweet too.
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