My Blog

The Valley of Death

christinah — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 18:27:57 GMT

Outright I am going to admit that I underestimated Death Valley. Yes, it's called Death Valley and boasts notable landmarks with equally ominous names like Devil's Golf Course, Hell's Gate, Last Chance Range, Deadman Pass, and Furnace Creek to name a few. However, I arrogantly thought that such modern conveniences like automobiles, air conditioning, groomed roads, and good maps triumphed anything nature could dole out. With gas prices close to $4.50 as we left the Thrifty rental car parking lot in downtown San Francisco, I didn't even question our decision to wait an extra hour to receive our pre-ordered compact car as opposed to immediately taking the free Jeep upgrade. Had I just a tiny bit more foresight or perhaps done a little more research, I would have jumped at the offer of a 4-wheel drive vehicle. The previous week it had been 120 degrees in Death Valley and the weather predictions said it was only going to be in the 80s or 90s the Saturday we were going to be there. I was totally disappointed. What's the point of going to Death Valley without really getting the Death Valley experience of 120-degree heat? Why go to the hottest place on earth when I can get 80 degree heat in my backyard? Because of our unexpected adventure, it turned out that I was so relieved we didn't have to additionally concern ourselves with the possibility of heat stroke or an overheated radiator. I was at the helm of our plastic Fisher Price Dodge Caliber, as we turned onto the unmarked (leaving me with some doubt that it was even the right path) dirt road that leads to Racetrack-—the first sight among many that I wanted to see in Death Valley. Racetrack is a dried up lakebed scattered with rocks that range from 10 to 700 pounds. The interesting thing is that these rocks move (even the several-hundred-pound ones) and when they do they leave a trail behind them that lasts for years. The mysterious thing is that no one knows how they move. Studies have been done and theories abound, but no one has ever actually seen them move so the answer remains a mystery. However, there is one explanation seen by many scientists as most probable. You can read more about it here: http://geology.com/articles/racetrack-playa-sliding-rocks.shtml With our "Check Engine" light on, we approached Racetrack from the southern entrance, which happened to be the unmarked, road-less-traveled way to get there [and it made all the difference -Alex]. The map left no indication that this route was any less maintained than the northern route and since it fit in along the path of our tour of Death Valley, I figured this was the way to go. However, I was grossly wrong as it turned out that this trail had no signs and many forks leading us to constantly wonder whether we were even on the right path. Not to mention, the road was a narrow path that wound along mountains and down into valleys with many deep ruts and washed-out conditions. After driving for hours, I felt a similar vibration to what you feel after pushing a lawn mower for hours, yet I couldn't' tell if it was solely from the washboard trail or my nerves that hit their crescendo after driving through two huge sandpits. That's right, if it wasn't enough that we came across a herd of cattle blocking the narrow mountain road delaying us by 20 minutes, we had to drive through two enormous sandpits housing enough sand to please an army of 5 year olds. The first one I drove through was fairly deep and long, but nothing compared to the second one, which was deep enough that, as I drove through it, sand flew up and covered the entire car leaving me with zero visibility until we made it through the pit and could turn on the wipers. If there is anything that growing up in rural Michigan taught me, it was how to drive through sand and snow and I now thank that experience to having been able to maneuver the roads through Death Valley. I was actually able to locate the sandpit on Google Maps here if you want to take a look: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=death+valley,+ca&ie=UTF8&t=h&ll=36.688898,-117.499273&spn=0.022265,0.032616&z=15&iwloc=addr Also, here's another perspective of this massive sandpit. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=death+valley,+ca&ie=UTF8&t=h&ll=36.675578,-117.521439&spn=0.356308,0.521851&z=11&iwloc=addr In the middle of the map there are two white areas. The larger one is Racetrack (you can see The Grandstand in the northwest section of it, which you can see from our photos is enormous, but looks tiny on this map) and the one to the right is the sandpit. This is where the generous offering of a Jeep from Thrifty would have come in handy and the only time I've regretted not choosing a gas guzzling vehicle. Speaking of gas...this happened to be another concern. What if we ran out of gas wandering along these roads? Not only did I have to worry about potentially breaking down or getting stuck, but since the drive took far longer than I had anticipated the thought of using every last drop of gas in our tank before reaching any destination crossed my mind. All of this lead to a very stressful drive to Racetrack. At one point when I wanted to cry, I remember Alex telling me "Well, we're in this situation now so we might as well enjoy the adventure! There's not much more we can do." You know, it wasn't just the thought of getting stranded or dying that freaked me out, but I really didn't want to become an example. As we exited the north entrance to Racetrack, I picked up a pamphlet at the deserted ranger station and in this pamphlet there was a "How Could this Death Have Been Prevented?" piece. Can you imagine dying in Death Valley--how sadly ironic and morbidly embarrassing. You not only have to die, but you also become an example of what not to do. This exacerbated my fear as we were lost roaming through ragged mountain roads. It would be almost as mortifying as receiving a Darwin award. In retrospect everything was worth it (party because we made it safely home), because being on the playa of Racetrack was absolutely breathtaking. Even after studying numerous photos the weeks leading up to our visit, none of them compare to actually experiencing it. And the element of being so remote, so far from civilization made it that much more impressive. I can't end without mentioning that the finale of our Death Valley trip culminated in realizing that we had a flat tire and I was so glad that we didn't know about the flat until after we had safely made it to Ridgecrest because I think that would have been fried my very last nerve keeping me sane. The final three and a half hours of our trip were spent going 55 mph on the small donut found in the trunk of our car. As we approached LA, I couldn't help but start laughing hysterically—cars were driving past us 80, 90 mph while we couldn't go more than 55 in our tin can, donut for a wheel car. I learned that Death Valley is not to be messed with--and if you must grace yourself upon its natural beauty, I suggest coming prepared....or just stay on paved roads and visit only when it's not excessively hot. I will certainly be back! Also, more photos from our trip can be found on my flickr page here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fruitofadventure/sets/72157605490036523/

Panhandling Kitty

christinah — Wed, 14 May 2008 02:33:30 GMT

Why is it that I am more inclined to give money to a panhandling kitty than to a panhandling human? I do occasionally give money to homeless people on the street, but I know that, more often than not, they will use that money for alcohol, drugs, or cigarettes and I just don't want to support that. I would rather give my money to an organization directly working with homeless that provides them with resources and skills to rise out of homelessness. However, I somehow find this little kitty that is quietly sitting on a street corner with no humans in sight asking for money absolutely adorable and irresistible. Perhaps I know that the kitty isn't going to use the money for drugs or perhaps it's that I somehow think the kitty's human companion is asking for money for the sake of helping to take care of the it. In any case, I found it adorable enough that I had to share it.

$4.50 a Gallon?!

christinah — Tue, 13 May 2008 03:04:33 GMT

As I was sitting in a cab on my way to the travel immunization clinic (for my yellow fever shots) a few weeks ago, we drove past a gas station where I saw that gas had gone over $4.00 a gallon. At that moment, it dawned on me that despite the huge increase in gas prices over the past 4 years, I have not seen an increase in taxi fares. How is this possible? Who's losing out here? Are the cab companies taking in less money (which would be hard to imagine) or is it the drivers that are suffering? Why the hell haven't they raised taxi cab fares in the city? Not that I'm complaining about it...

Maglev

christinah — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 02:54:42 GMT

I feel like this city is outdoing every other city in so many aspects. Soon (within a few months) it will claim the title of having the tallest building in the world and currently it has the tallest hotel in the world (first blog photo from this trip) as well as the fastest train in the world. When you arrive at the airport, you will ask yourself "should I take a 45 minute taxi ride on congested roads or take a 7 minute 20 second ride on the world's fastest train?" Which would you choose? The Maglev, named because it operates by electromagnetic force, accelerates so quickly and goes so fast that it feels like you are in an airplane about to takeoff or perhaps an amusement park ride. It, in fact, accelerates so quickly that after we boarded I was beginning to wonder if perhaps I should be wearing some kind of seatbelt or harness around my shoulders like on a roller coaster in case there is some kind of collision or the train needs to make an abrupt stop. These questions didn't stop as we approached a speed of 200 km/hr, then 300, then 350, and 400. I was starting to get a little uncomfortable and was thinking "Thank god I didn't have to be the first person to ride this train" because even after knowing that it's been operating without a hitch since 2004, going at such fast speeds on a train feels so abnormal. The top speed we reached was 431 km/hr, which was maintained for a while, but since it's going that fast it's not long before it has to decelerate and stop because we reached the destination. After the ride was over all of the tourists clamored by the Maglev for a photo next to the world's fastest train. And all I could think was of how I wanted to ride it again and again forgetting that it was merely supposed to be a method of transporting me from the airport to the city. As I rode the BART to work from the airport yesterday, I was noticing myself being highly critical of it and, in general, all US mass transit. Why don't we have any super cool levitating trains that are propelled by magnets?

A City of Lights

christinah — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 21:55:53 GMT

Here's a photo of the city from our hotel room on the 52nd floor. Unfortunately, the two tallest building are a bit farther in the distance and the night is too hazy to actually see them. However, if you were to see them from this photo, they are the third tallest and soon to be the tallest buildings in the world.

Monkey Island

christinah — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 21:40:16 GMT

It's hard to keep up with these blog posts when we're out so much so this one is a few days after the fact. We're now back at our original destination, but a few days ago we took a gondola ride across the ocean to an island where there are several thousand rhesus monkeys. Because of the lack of time I'm going to copy and paste the description I read from another site about this place: "Passing through a vegetation corridor, you will be amazed to find seven or eight monkeys standing in a line along the path holding triangular flags or saluting to welcome their honored guests. Some naughty ones are wandering with their flags in their hands, and even some are imitating their visitors' odd ways of walking. How funny they are! Walking and laughing, you will see young monkeys chase and fight with each other, and a stout one jump into a pond from quite a tall tree with an excellent 360-degree turn in the air. What perfect spray he has made that only a master sportsman could make! Not only is their jumping skill masterful, but also their swimming technique is quite superb. In the pond, some of them dive, some swim freestyle, and even some do the breaststroke. While watching, you will be amused and amazed, and you won't be able to help yourself applauding and clapping for them. In addition, you will enjoy yourself with the displays given by the monkeys in the circus performances. If you wish, you can take photos with these cute monkeys and play with them. However, one must remember not to wear red clothes in order to avoid the naughty monkeys who might be annoyed with you, and be careful when feeding them."

No Americans in Sight

christinah — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 08:28:35 GMT

After finally getting a 7-hour night's sleep (we've been running on 4 and 5 hour nights.) we spent the day exploring this new place. It was pleasantly hot, the air was clean, and the food was delicious. I also really enjoyed not seeing a single American tourist. However, while the Americans might be lacking, the Russians seem to flock here in droves. In fact, it's such a popular escape from the cold Russian winters that you see Russian writing in menus and even some street signs. Additionally, it was wonderful seeing some of the countryside and rural parts of this country. While this place is a tourist destination, it's also still a predominantly farming and fishing village. You will not see large cruise ships docking anywhere near the beaches here. Something I've very perplexed by that perhaps someone could shed some light on is that there have been numerous instances on this trip where I've been asked by people on the street to be photographed with them. At first I thought it was a little strange, but cute. My thought was that I'm a foreigner and therefore, they wanted to get a photo with someone who comes from so far away, but then I realized that there are plenty of other white tourists here who they aren't asking to be photographed with so I'm not so sure that's the reason. There are three possible scenarios that I can think of and perhaps someone else could provide insight as to why so many people have approached me for a photograph. 1. Seeing an American is a complete novelty (I've kind of ruled this out, but perhaps it is actually the case.) 2. I'm some kind of freak of nature. 3. Very frequently I'm told by strangers on the street, cashiers at check-out counters, wait staff at restaurants, and any other number of people and places that I look like Sarah Jessica Parker. Since all white people look alike, perhaps they thought I actually was SJP. It seems like a stretch, but at one point on this trip I actually had to stand there for 10 minutes while a series of people waited to get photographed with me! It felt like what I imagine being a celebrity feels like. Quite a few people have figured out the first destination, but no one has correctly guessed where this second destination is, so keep emailing me!

Another Clue

christinah — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 02:53:55 GMT

Alex also posted another clue on his blog for those of you trying to figure out where we are. Here's the link: http://www.alexkerfoot.com/2008/03/30/practicality/

Now where am I?

christinah — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 00:23:07 GMT

Yesterday we took a several hour impulse flight on a plane well past its prime to another location in this country. As we were boarding the plane the scuffed-up plastic interior and tattered seats made me wonder what kind of maintenance regulations are required in this country for airplanes. Also, after finding my seat and buckling up I looked out the window to see one sole air traffic controller waving plane off like a friend waving goodbye. He was not wearing any official uniform, nor did he have headphones or any other communication device with him. I guess he just knew that the coast was clear for takeoff. After a few maneuvers to get to the runway, suddenly the flight attendants all scattered quickly to the back of the plane to take their seats. Again, there was no communication from the pilot that they should prepare for departure like standard airplane procedures. My confidence in whether this impulse decision was a good idea was being questioned. Not to mention, I was already feeling a bit apprehensive about our lack of malarone and heading to a malaria endemic area. However, once we were in the air the ride was very smooth and my sleep-deprived self was actually able to catch some much needed zzzz's. After landing we exited the plane from the back and took a bus to the airport. At first the hot gusts of air were welcomed, but the longer I stood in the heat, the more uncomfortable I was becoming with having layers of clothing on. I shed some layers and felt better, but found it interesting that the longer I was in the heat the more I needed to shed. I didn't really reach a point where I felt comfortable in what I was wearing until I was in a tank top and my legs were bare. Unfortunately, we weren't able to book a hotel ahead of time because we had such little time to get to the airport to catch this flight, so our first mission was to find a place to stay. We soon realized that this was going to be more challenging than we had thought because we could not find a single person in the airport who spoke English. There were a few women at the information desk who claimed they spoke a little and clearly had some English training, but they still couldn't understand our phrase of "We need a hotel for tonight." In all the traveling I've done, I've never had such a communication barrier. To make things more complicated, we only had $7 worth of local currency and there was not a single place at this little airport to exchange money. Thankfully, Alex and I are both the kind of people that find these situations fun and enjoyable. Despite having no money and no way of communicating that we need to book a hotel, we remained calm. In fact, we both reveled in the adventure. Eventually, one of the very friendly women, who were working so hard to help us, used her cell phone to call someone she knew who could translate. We got the phone numbers to several local hotels, were able to book a place and got in a cab (that was clearly not an official cab) to our hotel with not enough cash to pay the driver. However, as all people in this country are incredibly congenial, he was understanding and waited for me to exchange money at the front desk to be paid.

Clue number two

christinah — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 13:22:38 GMT

This city is known for its brides; in fact if you look closely, you should be able to spot no fewer than three brides and their entourages taking photos in the park nearby where the first clue photo was taken. They may have been upset about having to sit in the damp grass, but at least the overcast skies and fog make for great photography light. No one has figured out the city yet, so keep emailing me your guesses!

Where could this be?

christinah — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 20:32:22 GMT

We walked around a lot today--saw many skyscrapers; however, we could only see the first several stories of them because the fog was quite dense. The architecture of the buildings in this city is arguably some of the most interesting I've ever seen in high-rise structures. Email me your guesses :)

Where am I going today?

christinah — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 16:38:28 GMT

I do realize that it's been an inexcusably long time since my last post, but I've decided that I need to start blogging again and what better place to do that than somewhere I've already created content. I've actually been saying "I need to start blogging again" for quite some time, but my upcoming surprise trip is what gave me the extra motivation to start now. Surprise Trip: Alex and I like to play a game we call "Surprise Trip." The idea is to plan a trip (transportation, accommodations, etc.) giving no clues as to where you're taking the other person. The one piece of information you can reveal is the departure date and arrival so the other knows which days to take off from work. Years ago I was thinking about what it would be like to be dropped off somewhere in the world and I wondered how long it would take you to figure out where you are. What kind of clues would lead you to figuring it out? When you know your destination, there are things that you wouldn't necessarily be paying attention to that you would when you don't know where you are--it's like the sounds a blind person hears that the rest of us are oblivious to. Rules: 1. Passports are always used for identification so as not give away whether it's a domestic of international destination. 2. The destination has to be a location where the surprisee has never been. 3. The surpriser packs the suprisees luggage so as to not give away the climate of the destination. Other Important Considerations: 1. Sense of sight: I don't think going through airport security with a blindfold on would go over too well--I've heard that they're not fond of hostage-looking situations. So what we do is wear a pair of sunglasses with black paper taped to the inner lenses that way you can only see the ground and the worst security can think is that you have some kind of strange eye condition. 2. Sense of hearing: Listening to loud music in the airport, at the gate, during the flight and, when need be, crunching on crackers to muffle loudspeaker announcements. What's the plane ride going to be like?: Because of those two things, I'm afraid I'm going to revert to being a child on the flight with incessant questions like "Are we almost there yet?" Then Alex is going to have to give me the same patronizing, meaningless answers you give to children who have no sense of time or distance, "Almost, honey." The Clues: It's a 6 day trip leaving roughly around 1:00 in the afternoon PST today. Where am I going?: Quite a few of my co-workers have contributed to an office pool of where they think I'm going. Some family members have also weighed in on their guesses and here's what some are guessing pre-trip: Costa Rica, Peru, Florida Keys, Brazil, Hong Kong, South Africa, Ecuador, Argentina, Mexico, Thailand, Papua New Guineau, Fiji, Korea, Singapore, and many others I can't remember at the moment.

Buckled Bears

christinah — Wed, 19 Apr 2006 16:59:14 GMT

Yesterday as my mom and I were walking to Chinatown to pick up some "China" shoes for my niece (she loves these shoes so much that she wore out her first pair within a few months), we walked past this somewhat obscure looking car. As I looked through the windows I noticed that there were two stuffed animals buckled in the backseat. I thought "how cute, some little kid must have done this to protect their toys". However, as I looked a little closer there really was no other signs or indication that a child regularly rides in this car. No car seat, no other toys, nor any crumbs or remnants of snacks. At this point, my thoughts turned from "cute" to "well, that's kind of weird". Additionally, there were a few odd animal objects in the back window that made me think this situation was even odder. But I don't know, perhaps this was the doings of a child. That's what I would like to believe anyways.

Awww....my kitties are spooning:)

christinah — Fri, 14 Apr 2006 17:50:47 GMT

Last weekend they slept like this for several solid hours with Bumbles's arm hugging Clyde....so adorable!! In this photo, though, Bumbles is cleaning Clyde (he's such a good Daddy!).

Public Restrooms

christinah — Fri, 07 Apr 2006 18:03:56 GMT

In a conversation with a friend at a gathering this past weekend, it was brought up that toilet seat covers don't really do anything. As I'm writing this, I'm wondering exactly what this means---do they not protect you from bacteria, germs, or other nasties lurking on toiet seats? Is that it? Or is it that people don't ever get sick from sitting on public toilet seats in the first place so it's not like you actually have anything to protect yourself from in the first place? I think that either case is likely and really doesn't matter to much considering the outcome is the same. So here I am a person who likes cleanliness, especially in public restrooms. I have my routines of turning off faucets with paper towel and then using the same paper towel to open the door. I must say the best bathrooms are those designed to allow for no touching whatsoever---automatic faucets, blow-dryers, and open doorways. So while I hate having to use paper towels because I think it's wasteful, I also hate having wet hands and touching faucets and door handles...so I end up wasting a paper towel if I am given no other option. However, toilet seat covers are a different story because what touches a toilet seat isn't used to put food in my mouth, unlike my hands. This is why I am put in such a dilemna as to whether or not o use seat covers. With all of the waste we already have in this world, is it really necessary? And now after hearing from a friend that it doesn't really do anything anyways, I think that I will only in rare instances of a nasty restroom will I use one. I personally would lobby for installing squatters in all public restrooms in America! Seriously, when I'm in Asia (and some parts of Europe), I always choose the squatters. They basically look like urinals turned flat and embedded in the floor---brilliant, I say! That way you don't have to sit on a toilet seat where everyone and their mother has sat. Let the squatters take over America (or at least in a few places)!! Do you think that Americans would ever go for this? Or are we too "prim and proper" and think that whole toilets are the only way "civilized" people use the restroom?

It was brought to my attention that

christinah — Tue, 04 Apr 2006 19:03:05 GMT

on Wednesday of this week, at two minutes and three seconds after 1:00 in the morning, the time and date will be 01:02:03 04/05/06. This will never happen again...

Should the blender of my dreams become a reality?

christinah — Mon, 03 Apr 2006 18:43:26 GMT

Last night, after pureeing a soup in my blender, I was trying to unscrew the bottom of the jar for easier cleaning. And, as is often the case, it takes a lot of work to get that baby unscrewed. For some reason when it's screwed on tight, it just doens't want to budge. At this point I usually call Alex over and have him work his magic on it. However, he was struggling just as much as I was. Then I turned my back and proceeded to wash other dishes, at which point, I hear *SNAP*, followed by "Nooooooooo". I think Alex tried a little too hard as he ended up breaking off the handle of the canister. This really is unfortunate because I use a blender regularly and it's not an appliance I can do without for an extended period of time. In the mean time, my food processor is going to be doing all of the blending action in my apartment, but a food processor can never get as creamy of a consistency as a blender. Now my big dilemna is what kind of blender to get now. Do I replace this one with an equally crappy $25 blender, or do I get a decent $100-$150 blender, or do I get my dream blender, the Vitamix 5000, which retails at $400? Of course, I really want the Vitamix and I have wanted it for years and I can't stand the thought of purchasing another cheap blender that will be replaced down the line with a Vitamix. UGH! I should just bite the bullet and get the Vitamix....it's a good investment and has a multi-year warranty and, plain and simple, it's just amazing. I can grind my own nut butters with this thing! Throw in whole fruits and vegetables and have the smoothest smoothie you can find. But it's $400, thus my hesitation. Anyone care to share thoughts or suggestions about what I should do?

Solar Eclipse

christinah — Wed, 29 Mar 2006 19:17:52 GMT

Damn, I wish I was in Turkey today! Not only is the earth being treated to a total solar eclipse today (which is a very rare occasion), but it also happens to be occurring on my birthday! Several months ago when I found out about this eclipse, I had contemplated flying to Turkey, which is supposedly the best spot to see the eclipse, to celebrate my birthday in style. How cool would that have been? Several factors didn't allow for this to happen, one of which was this thought in the back of my head that "what if I embark on this expedition and then the clouds roll in and I can't see the eclipse anyway". I was only considering this because I knew that I would have to sacrifice quite a few things in order for me to go and I didn't want something like clouds to ruin it. Ah well...I just have to come to terms with the fact that a total solar eclipse is never, ever going to happen on my birthday again...or at least not while I'm around.

My X-Rated Ceramics Class

christinah — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 17:45:35 GMT

So I'm taking this ceramics class and absolutely loving it, but I just can't get over some of the phrases that are thrown out at random. Okay, I guess they aren't at random because they pertain to what we are doing, but the English language is quite impressive in word count and it seems that so many other phrases could be used in place of the one's that are often used. Keep in mind that when throwing on the wheel, the first thing you need to do with your piece of clay is create a very phallic looking object and then start to mold from there. Some of my favorites from last night are: Instructor: "Did you get it up?" Student: "No, I just couldn't get it up all the way" and Instructor: "Oh, no! Did you pull out too fast?" Student: "Maybe that's what happened. Ohhh...I've made such a mess." Hehe...see what I mean. Taken out of the context of my class those statements certainly could mean something completely different. So I'm sitting there thinking, "Is anyone else thinking what I'm thinking?". I look around and no one seems to be reacting so I keep my cool and keep working. This is why I should be taking the class with some friends--so we can throw each other glances after comments like these and know exactly what the other is thinking.

The tallies are in, my friends....

christinah — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 00:56:16 GMT

Something this weekend possessed me to go through my jeans, pants, skirts, shorts---basically anything that covers the lower half of my body---and get rid of those items I no longer wear. I have never been the type who has regular clothing cleansings and I get rid of pieces only when I am absolutely positive that I will never wear them again---and that kind of assurance is hard to come by with me. I usually am like, "well, maybe I’ll wear it" and then weeks, months, years go by with that item never experiencing life beyond my closet. Really I should be giving these items the life they deserve---a life of being worn regularly and perhaps even claimed as "my favorite pair of jeans". Every piece is entitled to this kind of attention, which is why I am letting them go in hope of a new life for them. Because of my reluctance to relinquish my unworn, potentially could-be-worn pants, I have accumulated quite the collection over the past 7 years. In total I am getting rid of 30 pairs. That’s right, you heard me…30! I was rather shocked that I even had 30 pairs. So what shocked me even more was that I still have 40 wearable pants remaining! Where did they all come from? Are some pant-walker zombies tromping through my apartment at night delivering pants in droves to my closet? Compared to most of my friends, I am not a heavy shopper (now I wonder how many pairs they own) so it’s just surprising to me that I had 70 pairs of pants sitting in my closet. Bye, bye pants….so long.

Running, Me and My Faucets

christinah — Wed, 22 Mar 2006 19:18:01 GMT

When I was at the gym running on the treadmill the other week I was thinking how sad it was that I actually live in a climate where I potentially could run year-round outdoors. In Michigan, I loved running outside where I could smell the redolent trees and other plant life while getting in a good cardio workout. However, for several months of the year I would have to bring my activities inside and it was never as good. Upon arriving in San Francisco, I thought I was going to be running outside even in the middle of January, however, I have yet to run outside once. This unfortunate predicament is not due to weather, but rather, due to the fact that I live smack-dab in the middle of a city, full of concrete, exhaust, and skyscrapers. Not exactly ideal running conditions! At the same time, I could live near Golden Gate Park or any other more residential area where the conditions allow for easy access to outside running, but then I would have to live on more of the outskirts of the city and frankly, I love being able to walk nearly everywhere I need to go. So, like most things in life, there are trade-offs and we all have to make the decision that makes us most happy. And while I thought that I would be able to run outside year-round when I initially moved here, I am okay with paying the $78 a month to have access to a treadmill (and yoga classes!) that is a mere two blocks from my apartment. At this point in my life, I prefer that to living farther outside of the city. And in a sudden turn of events yesterday, I was incredibly grateful for my gym membership. Yesterday morning, I was jolted awake when I tried jumping into a freezing cold shower---even with the hot water cranked up! I swear that ranks high on my list of most uncomfortable experiences ever for me (okay it wasn't that bad, but it was seriously not fun)! I would never be accepted into the Polar Bear Club.....not that I would ever try to join in the first place.....Anyways, so after not showering yesterday morning , I was hoping that I would come home to hot water running out of the faucets in my apartment. Not so. This brings me to why my gym membership came in so handy....yes, I was able to drag my stinky ass over there for a nice run and a sweet, hot shower! Thank the lord! I even contemplated waking up a wee bit earlier this morning and taking another shower there today since the hot water heater still hasn't been replaced (it will be replaced and working today ,though...so they say), but that would have required waking up earlier and....well, the motivation wasn't all that great for me to do it so I left unshowered again this morning. Oh, well, it works for me.

World Affairs Challenge

christinah — Tue, 21 Mar 2006 18:03:52 GMT

For the most part, everything went rather well on Saturday--Channel 7 (abc) news even showed up and the WAC was featured on the 5 and 6 news programs. When managing an event that includes 800 or so people it's inevitable that some glitches are going to occur and the success of the event hinges on how well you can handle and work around those glitches to make things run smoothly. So despite 20 of our confirmed volunteers not showing up, we were still able to make it appear as though it wasn't a problem, even though it definitely made things more stressful. It was rather shocking to me that that many people simply didn't show up without notification. I completely understand how illness or emergenies can prevent a person from coming...and that's totally acceptable. But when it's such a large number of people who don't show up....now that's what was surprising to me. Granted, we were dealing with large numbers of people.....115 judges and another 60 volunteers....but still. Perhaps people were partying too hard on St. Patrick's Day the night before and couldn't drag themselves out of bed Saturday morning. This may be a reason, but I still don't think that it's an excuse. Responsibility people! Because I was running around putting out fires throughout the day I, unfortunately, wasn't able to see any formal presentations:( I really wanted to see how they turned out considering I had been seeing and typing all of the teams presentation titles and summaries for the past few months. There were a few that I was very interested in watching...but alas, I was not able to see them and instead I have to be satisfied with hearing about them second-hand. I have a few photos that I took during the awards ceremony that I'll post when I get home this evening:)

The Amazing Race

christinah — Thu, 16 Mar 2006 17:34:17 GMT

BEST show ever!! Seriously, you all should see me watch this show---my excitement level is pretty high leading up to it and it maintains a constant through the first 45 minutes and then peaks in the last 15 minutes. Afterwards, I feel like I'm coming down from some high where gradually, over several minutes, I start to relax. I already am such a travel nut and this show only reinforces that desire. There are just so many places, cultures, and peoples in this world that I want to experience---I'm a tad overwhelmed at how big this world is and I'm just so afraid that I won't get to see it all in my lifetime:( Okay, I know that I won't, but I at least want to see a good chunk of it. This show has inspired me to consider doing some kind of round-the-world trip, where I would fly to Brazil, then South Africa, then India, Bangladesh, Thailand, Hong Kong, etc. and then back to SF. Of course, this will require a bit of money and time so I am going to have to wait until the moment when I will have enough of both of those things. Oh, but I can't wait!! It's funny about The Amazing Race. I've literally dreamt 5 times now that I was on the show and racing against other teams. These dreams felt so real and I was so bummed out when I woke up and realized they were merely dreams. I would definitely consider applying to be on the show if 20,000 other people weren't doing the same thing. So unfortunately, the chance of getting on is not so good. That's why I guess I will have to create my own amazing race:) Oh, and if you are at all curious---no, I should say that I demand you to watch at least one episode:)--it's on CBS at 10p.m. on Tuesdays. They started out in Denver and then were in Sao Paolo, Brazil, then went to rural Brazil, and then they had to fly to Moscow in the last episode.

Urban Iditarod

christinah — Tue, 07 Mar 2006 06:25:04 GMT

I swear on any given weekend in San Francisco you can find some kind of gathering of people in the streets, whether it's one of the many various street fairs, parades, or some kind of semi-athletic event like the Bay to Breakers, Tour of California (okay, this one is definitely not in the "semi" category), or the Urban Iditarod. Yep, that's right the Urban Iditarod, which just happened to occur this past Sunday. There are no real dogs, in the literal sense, in this event. Humans dress up in costumes, and some do dress up as dogs, and then pull a person in a shopping cart three miles through the streets of San Francisco. Most of the costumes were fabulous, and some were even downright hilarious, like the Schweaty's Super Weiners (pictured)....hehe......thinking about it still makes me laugh. It's funny on so many levels....

In a battle of wits, my cats always win...

christinah — Sun, 05 Mar 2006 18:13:05 GMT

Every night, just like most Americans, before I go to bed I brush my teeth, empty my bladder, and read a little. At the moment, unfortunately, my pre-bed activities don't end there. For the past couple months, I have spent a good chunk of time devising ways keep my cats out of my room at night. They used to have free range of the entire apartment until they started regularly waking me up 3, 4, 5 times a night. So one would think it should be easy enough to lock them out. Close all doors that lead to the bedroom and done, right? However, it's not even close to that simple. First of all, there are 3 doors that open into the bedroom, one from the kitchen, one from the hallway and the french doors from the living room. Sadly, only one of these doors, the one from the hallway, actually latches shut good enough so that the kitties can't break through it. The closure on the french door just isn't tight enough so if the kitties shove it hard enough they are able to open it fairly quickly and easily. In order to secure it shut, I have to prop something large or heavy enough in front of it so that the cats can't bust through. Usually my laptop does the trick. This comes down to the last door, the one that leads to the kitchen. Now this door looks like it should latch just fine, it has all of the necessary latching parts and closes nicely. It just doesn't *latch*. For a long time I was simply doing was I did to the french doors, putting heavy objects (full backpacks, in addition to dictionaries and other heavy books--really anything heavy I could find I'd pile it behind the door. This only worked mildly well, because with two kitties throwing their weight at the door they were amazingly successful at pushing the heaviest of objects far enough that they could slip through the opening. So when I was in Kuala Lumpur in early December I found the cute little kitty-carved doorstop that I just had to wedge tightly under the door. No human, let alone kitty, would be able to conquer the feat of pushing a door open with a piece of wood wedged underneath it. So I thought I had finally beaten my kitties at this game. However, it all worked fine until Bumbles realized he could stand on top of the kitchen table and reach the doorknob of this door. You'd think this wouldn't matter since it lacks the ability to latch anyways, but what he does with the handle is bangs on it up and down, up and down. The noise this generates is surprisingly loud and it always wakes me up. So it went on like this night after night for quite a while and it really wasn't too much of a problem since he only did this at 6:20 a.m. every morning. (And yes, it was always at 6:20, no later, no earlier....I'm curious to see if daylight savings time screws him up...hehe...) Then I would get up and go feed them, go back to bed and wake up an hour later. So once I night I could handle, but then he started doing it several times a night. So I was stumped. When he did this in the middle of the night, I was too tired to really try to think of ways to remedy the situation and during the day I generally forgot about the whole situation all together, until night fell and I was preparing for bed....and again, I was too tired to really think of solutions. Eventually Alex (who is often up until 3 a.m. or later) put together a large and heavy saucepan with a rubber band tied around the handle. He hung this from the doorknob to give it enough weight that the knob was firmly held down. "YAY!" I thought. My problems are solved...finally a full night sleep. No more doorknob banging from Bumbles.....well, that is until he figured out that he could bang this pot against the door, which, it turns out, produces a powerfully loud noise. It's definitely a different sound that banging on the knob, but equally annoying. So this has now been going on for a few weeks...but again, they generally only banged the pot against the door at 6:20, which is definitely tolerable. However, last night, I was so pooped and actually felt a little sick that I went to bed around 11:30 only to awake an hour and a half later to a banging pot. UGH!! I was not happy. Then I figured out that I could just shut them out of the kitchen altogether since the other kitchen door latches shut perfectly. Whew...relief. And then the thought occurred to me, "why haven't I been doing this all the time?". "Muhahaha"....responded my cats a few minutes later after I had hopped in bed again. They busted through that door too. I thought, "I must have not latched the door tight enough to shut it properly". So I repeated the same process making sure that it was securely latched, only to actually hear them open the door a minute later. They now knew exactly how to handle that situation, having just overcome that obstacle a few minutes prior. Bumbles can actually stretch (he's a long kitty) up to the knob and he knows how to pull it down just right so that it opens. So then I just decided to let them in the bedroom if they wanted in that bad and hope that they would behave and not disturb me too much. Well, at least I was hopeful, even though the first thing Bumbles did was start to make biscuits in my hair and purr his heart out (for those of you how have never lived with a feline before, when they are happy and content they like to knead their paws), which feels like someone is ripping my hair out. At this point Alex arrived home from the bar and I told him to deal with the situation because I wanted some sleep. Ahhh....finally rest. So I woke up this morning to see rope tied around the knob and down to underneath the doorstop. And what awoke me was the slightest knob banging noise....Bumbles was working at that knob and the rope wasn't tied tight enough to have the knob pulled down all the way so it gave Bumbles a little bit of space for knob manipulation. So this method worked relatively well and when Alex awoke he told me that originally he had tied the rope on the kitchen side of the door, but Bumbles had already begun to chew at so he realized that eventually Bumbles would chew through the rope (it's a thin rope) and be able to bang away. So he figured that he could tie the string on the bedroom side of the door to prevent Bumbles of chewing it.....and then he pointed out to me that we could have been doing this with the pot all along........UGH!!!! This made me laugh for a good 5 minutes. Why are my cats so much smarter than me? I throw obstacle after obstacle at them and they always find ways of defeating these obstacles. All along I could have simply been hanging the pot around the inside knob...pathetic, I know. Perhaps this thought never occurred to me because pots belong in kitchens, not bedrooms....this, in combination with the fact that I am always in the middle of some deep sleep or so exhausted that I just don't feel like thinking about it caused me to never even consider that solution. So I'm going to try this tonight and see how successful it is. I'm just afraid that it will work for some time until they figure out another way of battling this hurdle. I suppose if everything fails for them this time, Bumbles can always resort to wailing outside the door loud enough to wake me up....and yes, he does this in addition to all of the banging.....arrrg!....my cats do seem to run my life sometimes. They are lucky they're so damn cute and that I love them so much. (The photo is of the pot hanging by the rubber band to hold down the doorknob. The other one on my profile page is of the kitty doorstop I picked up in Kuala Lumpur)