behind the orange curtain

today i flew into Irvine/Newport... John Wayne Airport. I am staying in "the OC". I've driven maybe 15 miles total today (including the 1 mile i was driving around lost) and in those less than 15 miles - the 5 miles from the office to the hotel were the most interesting. ok, the non-optimist answer is: agonizingly traffic painful. it took me over 30 minutes to go those 5 miles, on surface streets. yes, the traffic was crowded - but it was mostly the traffic lights. i think the lights in Irvine are to give the driver moments to meditate. meditate about what - that's a personal choice - but the not moving on the roads of Irvine/Newport (as i'm not exactly sure where one starts and the other stops) creates the true opportuntiy to reflect perhaps on the day.
at least i hope so - because it was otherwise a very long drive to not go very far - geographically speaking.

although the upside is that i did see some pretty fabulous cars. woo hoo! there's always an upside!

chillin at the coast...

i made it. i made it to my vacation... i made it to bodega bay.

i've been asking if it was friday since last wednesday. son only once in the last 10 days (other than today) was it actually friday. a great disappointment, i assure you.

well a weekend away from home... but with a ton of work to do, which sucks!

yes i have work to do. work. actual work - work. and that work i should be doing right now. but alas, i'm blogging and watching - Die Hard 4: Live Free or Die Hard -not my favorite, but still good. Die Hard 3: With a Vengeance is my favorite.

anyway - i am looking forward to a weekend of work (not really) and relaxation - plus there's a hot tub. if anyone needs me... that's where i'll be!

food at the end of the great highway

as you may have read, i'm sick. and when i'm sick, i want comfort food.

this evening Cat and i were debating what to eat for dinner. she wanted something fried - preferably cheese fries, i wanted comforting noodle (translate to: Thai food)... now we live in San Francisco with most countries represented via restaurants - but where could we find Thai/American cuisine?? Cat didn't really want Thai as she had Cambodian for lunch - so where would we find this great compromise?

at the end of the great highway is where...

tomorrow is the Nike's women's marathon around and through golden gate park - so the parking in the city is a nightmare as it is tourist central! and it is even worse around the park as they have blocked the parking until 4pm tomorrow. no taking a chance getting towed. so we drive around the block a few times as Cat is willing to make the great sacrifice and do Thai food to meet the sick one's noodle need. :) but after 10-12 minutes of hunting it was becoming painfully clear - there would be no parking for us - so we decide to have a bit of an adventure and try the "Great Highway Cafe" - Thai and American cuisine.

and amazingly enough we found both... i ordered noodle and soup - Cat ordered grilled ham and cheese (minus the ham) with fries!

and it was pretty darn good!
probably among the better thai food i've had in a while.

who knew it existed - this perfect mix of Thai and American cuisine... in one little restaurant at the end of the great highway...

home sweet zzzzz......

well after a successful trip to seattle, i am home. the trip was successful on many levels any only sucky on one.
successful:
spent time with devon
the meeting went well (got kudos from the team and manager)
my flights up (united) and back (virgin america) were without incident (always good)
though i got stuck in a terrible traffic jam due to an accident - i had plenty of time to get to the airport, i didn't miss my flight and it gave me time to enjoy my pimpin' VW Bettle rental car

way that the trip was sucky:
i got sick (more sick than the wimpy sick i was earlier this week)

oh well. to every trip a little rain must fall (esp wen you visit seattle)

*sneeze*

off to the airport

well after a flying hiatus - i am off to seattle today. it is a short trip - i'm heading back here on Thursday evening. unfortunately i land late. i hate late. but i've blocked my calendar Friday morning so that i can get a late start if needed. and it will probably be needed.

this should prove to be an interesting trip. i'm flying up there first class on United airlines. frequent travelership has it's privileges. i'm renting a car while i'm there as well. not quite a first, but as always it should prove to be interesting. (ppst - seattle drivers consider that a warning) and on the way home i'm flying Virgin America for the first time, which i've always wanted to fly - so that should be fun too!

AND i'm going to see and stay with my friend Devon while i'm up there too! it is the perfect trip. except the actually having to do work while i'm there.

but the work is always fun when i get the chance and i'm doing 2 pieces i've not had the chance to do in a while - so i really am looking forward to it!

so here's to a successful and enjoyable work trip!

the great cold pandemic

ok, that's a bit of an exaggeration. how about: the minor cold infection? still not right? how about... i'm sick and it sucks?
that probably sums it up nicely!
well... it has begun, cold and flu season. and per usual - i am among the few that gets it first. many years, i'm like the groundhog who predicts spring - i predict cold and flu season. as a kid i caught EVERY bug that was out there. as an adult i probably get 1 out of 4. i was hoping i'd missed this round of cold sickness - but alas i didn't.
oh well. it has afforded me the opportunity to stay home from work today - sleep massive amounts and drink the little soup i had in house. now i REALLY have to go grocery shopping. darn it all.
i am actually not full blown ill - but ill enough i canceled all my meetings - yes, all of them. i'm mostly taking these precautions because i like to practice safe travel. i don't like to potentially get others sick and traveling always makes me more sick - so i'm trying to lift the base line. besides i'm running the meeting all day thursday - and a coughing facilitator doesn't make an effective facilitator. or a believable one!

i look not to blame anyone for my sick state - though i do have a suspect or two... and i'm watching to see if you have any more nefarious plans to sabotage my health!

so as the OG predictor of cold/flu season - i see a mild cold and yet a heavy flu season - so take your vit c, zinc and get plenty of rest. get a little bit of exercise everyday and listen to your body. except when it says it wants more chocolate or one more glass of wine, because then it is just lying to you to get it's evil... oh, um, never mind.

stay healthy!

horoscopes: fact or fiction

i read my horoscope. i am a leo. how much i believe this informs who i am as a person - i don't know. but i read it none the less.

work has been a bit rough. i don't have a boss right now, so my peer and i are trying to do our jobs and cover for a boss we don't have. as part of my morning ritual i read the headlines on yahoo and then peak my horoscope, log in to my gmail and get down to the details of the day.
today my horoscope read:

Change requires patience. Nothing important can happen overnight, so keep waiting.

this is almost the very thing a friend said to me this week. and the advice i was given today. so it got me thinking - were there other horoscopes today that fit my life...
so here you go...

Aquarius (1/20-2/18)

Your brilliance will always shine through, so why are you getting nervous? Relax.

this could be true of me any day of the week. brilliance? yup, that's me.

Gemini (5/21-6/21)

There is no point in sharing your deep thoughts unless you share every one of them.

i always share my thoughts even when i don't want to... i would make a crap spy. so this one could also apply.

Cancer (6/22-7/22)

Don't skip the gym but do devote yourself to intellectual pursuits. They're healthy.

are they watching me?? i'm not usually so paranoid - but really this is ridiculous... it is as if they knew i'd read them all!

*insert twilight zone music*

OG time...

tonight i am enjoying a pleasant evening surrounded by favorite companions... me, myself and i!

oh and a glass of wine. can't forget the wine.

so yes... an evening of me time.

i learned (so did my college friends) that i need 'OG time' - time for me to decompress, be alone, read, watch tv; you know - let down the OG curls...

i realize that the older i get - the more 'me' time i need. it can be hard to balance the need for time to be alone with wanting to be social - but yesterday was among the most frustrating days at work yet... mostly because i couldn't actually get work done. my new work laptop arrived last week and technology support was supposed to take my laptop for 2-4 hours and create my new one... and viola... new exciting laptop. alas, as an optimist i can be seen as delusional at times - but alas - technology support was flat out insane. i handed over my laptop at 9am - got my old one back at 330pm - and then at 445pm - was told my new one wasn't ready.
i did have a few meetings that i could do while the tech refresh was happening - but unfortunately - not much else. i did get a nice 40 min work out in at the gym... but other than that. not much else.
a little frustrating to say the least.

so after a day like that - being told by tech support that the email outlined that the process would be long - and me having to say, yes, i accept that it isn't instant, but when you said 2-4 hours, i thought you meant, 2-4 hours! not ALL DAY!

well wednesday afternoon will be more of the same. as they have to finish what they started and i will finally get my new laptop. very excited.

at lest my day wasn't a complete wash. i was able to work out - and i knew i needed that OG time - so i'm getting that...

hopefully tomorrow i can actually get work done!

shoe p0rn

so on saturday night i went to a poker party... and i met the most fabulous pair of shoes. and a fun friend who wore them.

so it began with Fluevog shoes in my life. oh the shoes are unconventional - and fun, and sexy.

oh wait - i'm describing myself.

but fluevog shoes are definitely interesting... they have an unusual design. they definitely fall into the shoe p0rn category!

http://www.fluevog.com/

enjoy!!

phrase of the week

so, i actually had someone accept my offer of borrowing my obscene number of Top Gear disks/episodes... Motoproponent (see his blog - link on the right). So he's completely geeked out on Top Gear. it sounds like he's done it almost obsessively. well, it's nice to have someone else to share the hilarity of the show with... so in honor of Moto's obsessive-need to watch Top Gear - here's the phrase of the week. Please work it into a sentence.

flappy paddle gear box...

here's an example:
i wish i had the new (insert fabulously expensive and beautiful car that i will never own as it is more expensive than the OG doctorate cost, name here) with the flappy paddle gear box.

work it into a sentence this week.

UPDATE: the optimist spidergirl

apparently the spider wasn't radioactive... no webslinging... no spidey sense. the alert is over...
no cause for concern.
nothing to see here...

keep on moving...

perhaps i'm from another planet and i'll get my golden bracelets and lasso... maybe i'm really wonder optimist woman!

watch out bad guys!!

pairing off at a dance

watching the news lately has been like watching kids at a high school dance pair off... it's almost like a day-time soap opera... which bank is going to go out with whom next. ... and the funniest thing to watch is citi whining that wells stole it's partner... wachovia...

will the drama never end?

the optimist spidergirl

i was bitten by a spider at some point in the last 24 hours. i think if the spider was radioactive that within the next 24 hours, i'll turn into a spidergirl. i can use my spiddey (sp?) senses to sense where people aren't optimistic and i can help them see the bright side.
so... just in case that happens - you know why. i blame the spider bite.

btw - for those of you who live in SF - could you please keep my new secret, secret identity secret?

thanks.

i'll be swinging by ya!