Vegas Update

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Yes, I bought a tiara. I’ve wanted one for eons. And where better to get (and wear for the rest of the day) one than the Vegas strip? (I have *always* wanted a tiara. It seems a crime that I’ve not had one before now.)

The shows were (in order): interesting, but not mind-numbingly wonderful (Zumanity); wonderful in a typically Cirque style (Mystere); and FABULOUS (‘O’). I was just stunned by O… the magic of the water that sometimes wasn’t water, the incredibly moodiness of the whole thing, the almost-impossible acrobatics. Wowsers. I’d go back to Vegas to see that alone.

We did not see any mauling. This is a Very Good Thing, as if we had, I’d probably be rwacked with guilt, wondering what I did to cause that (was my jewelry too sparkly? Did I make an angry face by accident?). Yes, that’s rediculously Gina-centric, but I guarantee you I’d feel guilty nonetheless.
We did see the Smog Hut. (“Hello? Yes, I’d like some smog, please? ooh. Do you have any that’s stinkier than that?”)

MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERAI felt compelled to crush the Grand Canyon. (We took a helicopter ride from Vegas down into the canyon, where we had a lovely picnic lunch. Way cool., particularly as I was a Canyon Virgin.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERAUnsurprsingly, I was mesmerized by the many many pretty lights. Buzzy, my traveling companion, was not:

Brushes with Greatness

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(Via Mimi Smartypants via Wulad)

My Brushes with Greatness:

    • the obvious Mike Mills one
    • I met Oscar from The Bionic Man when I was 8 or 9 (I don’t even remember where… I just remember going)
    • I met Cletus from the Dukes of Hazzard (at a car show. My little brother was big into car shows). At the time I had a broken ankle (skateboarding incident), and he signed my cast. I regret that I no longer have said cast.
    • I met David Hasselhoff. And K.I.T.T. (but I’m not sure he was the real K.I.T.T. I am pretty sure it was the real David Hasselhoff.) This was another auto show thing. There was, at one point, even a picture of an incredibly geeky 14-year-old me with said Hasselhoff. No, I don’t know where the picture is now. I think I gave it to an ex-BF who appreciated the pop-culture humor that Hasselhoff embodies.
    • I just saw Andre Agassi in Vegas last week (he was sitting 30 ft. away waiting for a media op WRT his charity concert)
    • I’ve met Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) … yes I was wearing my R2D2 costume at the time
    • Peter Buck (also of R.E.M.) signed a Guitar Pick for me
    • Penn & Teller. I have an MP3 of one of them (probably the one that does talk, eh?) talking to me

.

    More music folks that I’ve spoken with:

  • Iris DeMent
  • Tift Merritt
  • Lloyd Cole
  • Livingston Taylor

Oh golly, I know there are tons more than this, if for no other reason than I’m a completely brazen hussy when it comes to talking to people.

Stuck

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So today as I was scrambling to get my luggage out the door (have I mentioned I’m heading to Vegas for a few days with my friend Buzzy to see three (3!) Cirque du Soleil shows?), I somehow apparently pushed the tiny lever under the handle on the glass door lock, thereby locking it. When I headed back to house to grab the last bits and lock the main door I discovered the problem.

Oops.

But, clever me: I applied “boy logic” (if it doesn’t seem to fit, push harder) and yanked really hard. Door open. Morning rescued. Plane will be met. Vegas fun to be had.

Band Meme (not like a Band Aid)

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(via upsoclose)

Meme from smurf chick

Your meme, should you choose to accept it, is to rank the following bands in order, from couldn’t live without to couldn’t care less. To add value to this process,
you must also add one band to the list, and remove one band from the list, before passing the meme on (including these instructions).

The Beatles
R.E.M.
adding: Barenaked Ladies
U2
Queen
Paul Simon
The Who
Tori Amos
The Psychedelic Furs
The Kinks
Devo

removing: Aerosmith

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David is non-plussed but Jacintha is ready to shoot folks.

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Meghan and Allan getting ready to kick some rear in laser tag.

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Caroline and Gina ham it up in front of *huge* cake.

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Jacintha is stylin’

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Yes, kids, this is my boss.

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Jeff & Gina enjoying pizza.

 

 

 

 

And much fun was had by all

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Best Birthday Ever, parts 3 & 4

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So, I’ve been wanting (badly) a cast iron bundt pan. You see, my Granny’s pound cakes were just about famous. Everyone from Hugh Morton (who owns Grandfather Mountain to Dean Smith (former coach of the UNC Basketball team) got one every Christmas. I have the recipe, and I’m not a half-bad baker, but the cakes have never turned out like Granny’s. The crust, which is supposed to be light brown and crumbly, was instead always dark brown & shiny. The curse of a thin, non-stick pan.

So I looked on eBay (they’re few and far between and very expensive) and looked at the Lodge website (where they had some, but I wanted to see if I could find an older, pre-seasoned one), but I’d not gotten around to doing anything about it.

Imagine my surprise last night when Jeff presented me with a beautiful cast iron bundt pan! More impressive yet is the fact that in between when I looked (3-4 mos. ago) and now, Lodge stopped making the pans! So now they’re quite sought-after and difficult to find. In discussion groups where bundt pans are a topic, there are, according to Jeff, lots of comments from folks along the lines of “this pan’s ok, and that’s one’s pretty good, but you’ll have to pry my cast iron bundt pan from my cold, dead fingers.” Jeff was dilligent, though, calling lodge and just about every antiques vendor with a website on the planet it seems. He finally found an antique dealer in VA who had one (and apparently didn’t know what she had), and spent the entire weekend while I was in Charlotte with my Grumps cleaning it up and re-seasoning it.

Awwwwwwwwwwww!

Further prolonging the birthday ecstasy were flowers from Dad that arrived this morning — they’re truly beautiful (pics to come).

I do declare that this is my bestest birthday ever!

Healthy cereal = Impossible to Open bags

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I do not know why this is the case, but it seems that all of our favorite “healthy” cereals (Puffins, Granola, all varieties of Bran flakes) have interior plastic bags that are *impossible* to open. I tug and struggle and grunt and pull and and and … eventually resort to kitchen scissors.

All varieties of Sugar Bombs, though, (which, for the record, I no longer eat :( )have bags that you so much as look at them and they pour forth their sugary goodness.

This confuses me. I’m already eating the healthy cereal. I don’t need the concommitant workout.

Promised cake pics

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Isn’t it the *swellest* cake ever? I confess, I might’ve eaten a wee bit too much fondant, tho. Cake by Queen Anne’s Cakes. :)

Happy Birthday to Meeeeeee! :)

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I have a birthday cake (from team at work — pics to come, it’s fabulous), a dozen roses (from Jeff) and a beautiful arrangement (from Mom) in my office — I *AM* the birthday girl

X-10

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So here’s the odd thing: I called SmartHome today (since I bought the filters from them) and described the situation. When I got to the part where I said “so I’ve installed the filters and now the towel…” the guy jumped in and said “let me guess: the towel heater is going off and on at the correct times but you’re still getting sporadic light flickers.

Well, color me dumbfounded. I said “um. yeah. That’s exactly what’s happening — how did you know?”

He said “Let me describe your switches; see if I’m right: they’re X-10 brand switches and have a rocker top with a small toggle tab underneath the toggle.”

At this point I was positively boggling — how did he know?! I didn’t even buy the switches from SmartHome, so it wasn’t like he was looking at an order history.

Well, it turns out that those switchs are known for doing this. In these switches, the power used to drive the X-10 circuitry goes through the filament itself. What happens is when a large, short load is put on the line (like a fridge coming on, or the UPS doign the thing it does to recharge itself), the filament dims, and it’s as if there were a momentary brownout. The switch gets confused, loses its state, and then, when the power comes back up to “full speed”, the switch interprets that as an “on”. Equals light on in middle of night for no good reason.

He said the solution is to move up to better switches that use the neutral for the X-10 circuitry (Switchlinc) and that are not so sensitive. Sigh. And they’re $44 each. I do believe him, though, as he *nailed* my problem exactly. He also suggested switching house codes on those switches to see what happens, so I’ve done that and will report back.