contaminated pistachios

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/03/31/MN4916PQ9P.DTL

While watching this broadcast on CBS, my family and I were chowing down on a large bag of Costco brand salt and pepper pistachios...

Feeling the crunch

I'm taking one little hit after another until the ax finally falls...

Selling my time for a good cause

Last night was the 4th annual TnT Bachelor/Bachelorette auction, which I volunteered my time to help my friends fundraise for the Leukemia and Lymphoma society. I was one of the "bachelorettes" auctioned off and fifth in line to stand up on the bar, look pretty, and smile into the surly, drunken crowd below. It was embarrassing, nerve-wracking, and I probably won't do this again.

When my name was called, I made my way to the end of the bar and had trouble getting up there. My dress was a bit too form fitting and I was forced to hike it up. There I stood, making a conscious point to suck in my stomach and not slouch. Starting bid was at $50 and went up in $25 increments. It was over in two minutes. A couple friends bid on me and kept the bidding going but after a point, it died off and I was sold for a solid amount. The date activity I was given was a wine tasting certificate to Beringer's. I'd complain about that but I'll keep my mouth shut and just say the guy that won me with a trip to Beringer's got a very raw deal.

Solan is not "elderly"

Yesterday was Solan's birthday. He turned 7 years old which I suppose would translate to 49 dog years. In preparation for his big day which consisted of nothing special, I took Solan to PetFoodExpress for his monthly wash. He was not happy about this. If anything, he was displeased with me but did not fight me probably because there were so many dogs getting baths that same day also.

One of the store workers asked me how old Solan is and when I told him, he said Solan just entered the "elderly" stage of life. My dog doesn't look "elderly". He might have a little white hairs on his chin and around his ears, but he's still as fit and full of energy as a young two year old. I mean, look at the picture above! Full of LIFE!

Elderly is not Solan. Far from it. He's an adult dog with premature aging. Solan is like Anderson Cooper, the CNN news anchor..hair turning white prematurely but still very active. And I'm sure Solan is gay also.

friday morning

numbness

It is exactly five months to the day of my "reconstructive" surgery and my left cheek STILL feels like someone shot me up with too high a dose of Novocaine. Ugh, nerve damage sucks. My friend thinks I should look on the bright side. If someone slaps me across the left cheek, it won't sting so much as tingle...sort of like a brain freeze after slurping down a large iced mocha frappuchino in five seconds. Wonderful.

oh, drat...

I'm taking a couple courses at City to get back into student mode and see if I can hack it before I consider applying to grad school. It's only been three weeks and I'm already behind in one class. I completely missed a class exercise deadline because I thought the work wasn't due until next Monday. Oh, well. Only 8 points lost out of 500 to earn.

Where's my priorities? I need to re-organize my social calendar and stop going out so often.. :(

what was that about?

While riding Bart this morning on my way to work, the train exits the underground tunnel between Balboa and Glen Park and travels along side the 280 freeway. I was standing, facing the freeway when I see this guy in the passenger seat of a pickup truck raise his hand and give us all the finger before speeding along ahead of the train.

I think I was the only one that noticed that guy giving us all the bird. Nice way to start my work day.

my first "reading"

I've always wanted my future read by a palm reader/fortune teller/prophet/whatever and last night I had my first "reading".

I was at Cafe du Nord to support my friend's band and met several of his friends there. Everyone was pleasant and friendly especially one particular woman. She seemed to know everyone in the group and talked a mile a minute; very high energy and in overdrive..all the time.

Without actually getting to know me or ask me specific questions other than "are you single?" I must have had my "humor me cause I'm a skeptic" game face on because she decided to give me my first reading regarding my future dating life.

She told me that dating is not a numbers game for me (true, only because I exhausted that option last year); that I'm very knowledgeable in a lot of subjects and have a lot of interests hence why I get along with a variety of different people (true); that the reason I get asked out a lot is that I always put myself out there (FALSE! I rarely get asked out despite going out often); that I need to find someone who's quirky (that's just another way of saying "odd, socially inept, and lives in a trailer park with pet rats"); and that I should just enjoy the journey and that person whoever it might be will eventually find me if I stop trying so hard. Did I look desperate?

After her explanation, I suddenly felt like the air was sucked out of my body. It was as though she told me that I'm in a non-categorized group and there's not a single soul out there that would be a decent match and I should look elsewhere like another planet or something but there is hope if I just wait. Oh, and she suggested I spend more time with my girlfriends. Huh? I didn't understand that comment.

I have a "sexy" job

According to a Careerbuilding.com writer on MSN, my job has more sex appeal than even I imagined..

From 10 Sexy Careers..

"....if power is sexy, then these men and women probably outrank everyone. Whether you're low on the totem pole or an executive, if you can't open your e-mail account or figure out why your monitor is flickering, you call IT. In many offices, IT workers have the most lax dress code of all the departments, so you can't help but envy them."