Planting Time

Those who know me know that container gardening (planting flowers in pots) is one of my passions. This summer life seemed too hectic and I decided to skip a growing season. But my friends are reminding me that fall planting time is here, and it's a good time to think about planting once again.

As you can see from the photos I decided to add a few winter pansies to my balcony rail. There are four to be exact. I also hit on some good deals on bulbs at Fred Meyer so I planted up a container of 18 parrot tulips, and have done the first couple pots of what will be a collection of 100 mixed early tulips.

Part of the project as I'm planting is to dig out and clean up some old pots that I'm no longer using so they can go to my friend Michelle who will fill them with her own plantings.

I avoided planting in the summer because it can be so time consuming (both the planting and watering/fertilizing process). But planting once again reminds me how therapeutic and fulfilling it can be. I love the feel of the earth in my hands. And it's a good way to slow down and appreciate nature a little bit instead of trying to relax by going comatose in front of the TV set.

Thank you to my friend Colette who planted her potted pansies last month and encouraged me to make a date with my pots soon too.

Dr. Bradley Retires

I have used the services of only one dentist for the past 33 years - Dr. Bradley in Tumwater (south of Olympia). In fact, I don't have any memories of another dentist working on my mouth although my mother tells me she took me to someone else as a young thing. Earlier this month Clay and I got a letter announcing Dr. Bradley's retirement.

You know Dr. Bradley has to be good since I drive all the way to Olympia to see him. It's not just him, but his fabulous (long-time loyal) staff who have made it worth my while to travel south. Dr. Bradley has turned over his dental business to a new dentist who will carry forward his practice. He will continue to work part-time for a few months alongside the new guy. The transition should be an easy one for us patients. All of his staff will be staying on and are enjoying working with the new dentist. Dr. Bradley used a placement service that helped him find someone good but also similar in temperament (which I would describe as kind, laid back, and patient) to take over his patients and work with his staff.

I attended Dr. Bradley's retirement party on Friday night with my mother and sister Jozi. It was a really nice celebration for Dr. B. There was good food and lots of good conversation. I took a few pictures including this one of his staff. And I even got to meet Dr. Bradley's mother! Click on the photo and then use the Next and Prev links if you would like to see more pictures from the evening.

West Edge Sculpture Invitational 2006

I am fortunate to work in an office located near Seattle's Harbor Steps. The harbor steps are just that - steps going down to the harbor or waterfront. But they are more than just steps. It's a grand staircase with multiple landings which incorporates lovely trees, fountains and lighting. People use the steps not only to get from point A to point B, but they enjoy lunchtime music and dance performances in the summer or just sit and eat their lunch on any sunny day. It's really a beautiful public space.

During September and October the last couple of years the Harbor Steps have been home to the West Edge Sculpture Invitational. What is that? The official web site describes it as:

"A world-class sculpture exhibit in the heart of downtown Seattle showcasing established and emerging local, regional and national sculptors working in all media appropriate to an outdoor setting."

They are exhibiting some very interesting sculptures this year. I have to post some of my favorites which I photographed yesterday. The first one here is my top pick. Isn't she pretty?

Phoenix

And I love how happy these guys look. They make me want to dance along with them.

Dancing Starfish

Of course since this is Seattle you have to have salmon represented:

Erector Set Salmon

I love how this boat is placed near the fountains to emphasize the water theme.

Cockerell Shell

And this one just has a pleasant and beautiful shape. Again, the fountains only make it better.

Uzu Maki III

Clay's Birthday

On Sunday the 1st of October Clay turned 54. That's 54 years young if you ask me, but Clay might put it another way.

For months Clay has been anticipating a birthday dinner at his choice - the New York Cheesecake Factory in downtown Seattle. But we got there about 5:30 and the line was out the door. Wait time was 25 to 40 minutes. Rather than waiting that long we decided to have dinner at PF Chang's which is just as nice and there was no waiting! We had a wonderful meal and came home with enough leftovers to feed us dinner tonight as well. We will get back to the Cheesecake Factory sometime soon, picking a less popular time to dine.

In addition to the dinner Clay got a carrot cake for his birthday and of course his favorite flavor of ice cream - vanilla.

The birthday gift is on its way and should be here in the next day or so - a spiffy new digital camcorder. Maybe if I'm really good Clay will let me play with it when he's not using it. :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CLAY!!

Learn About All Things Web 2.0

I am a big fan of "Web 2.0" applications and web sites. According to a definitions search in Google, Web 2.0 is

"a term often applied to a perceived ongoing transition of the World Wide Web from a collection of websites to a full-fledged computing platform serving web applications to end users. Ultimately Web 2.0 services are expected to replace desktop computing applications for many purposes."

There are countless cool applications and web sites now which can help you do so many things you've never thought about before. I will admit that I like playing with web applications because they are fun. Some of my favorites are Blogger for writing this web site, Del.icio.us for tracking and tagging my bookmarks, Flickr for storing pictures, and 43Things for tracking my goals.

Yesterday I came across a great learning resource. The Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County has created a blog called Learning 2.0 for the purpose of encouraging their staff members to experiment and learn about the new technologies available. It's designed as a self-discovery tutorial with 23 modules to guide your learning. Learning 2.0 very much employs a "learn by doing" format. For example, one of the first tasks assigned is to set up your own blog to which you will post entries to track your progress.

Learning 2.0 teaches you about blogging, about Del.icio.us, RSS feeds, Flickr, audiobooks, YouTube for videos, podcasts, and so much more. Have you ever heard some of these terms and wondered what they meant? More importantly, Learning 2.0 encourages your independent exploration.

If you believe in lifelong learning and are interested in knowing more about web applications I recommend checking out Learning 2.0. In typical blog style, the latest post (right now #22) is at the top. To go to the beginning find the archives links on the right side of the page and click on August 2006. Then you can scroll to the bottom of the screen and read up. Or, you can click on this link to see a simple list of the 23 modules and click on the links in each step there.

Painting Day

Yesterday my sisters and I gathered to paint the ceiling of my mother's living room. It hasn't been painted since I can remember, and there were some stains remaining from water damage that was repaired some time ago. So the paint job was long overdue.

Diega put on the primer on Friday all by herself. Wow, that was a big job. I think she was glad for some helpers to do the rest. Jozi is the homeowner amongst us and had collected some great painting supplies (tarps, roller extensions for us shorties, etc.) which made the job easier.

Here is a photo of all three of us. In the shower caps and latex gloves we look like we should be on some medical TV show.

This is Jozi "getting ready to roll."


Diega did most of the trim work, contorting into all kinds of positions to trim over some of the furniture that couldn't be moved - thanks Diega!


Even Tony suited up ready to help.


It was a long day and I think we all came away sore, but it's great to have the job done.

If you would like to see more pictures from the day, go here.

Did You Vote This Week?

Here in Washington we held primary elections on Tuesday. Most people vote by mail these days, and in many counties it is mandatory. Clay and I enjoy going to the polls together though and will probably continue to do so as long as it is an option.

Federal laws now mandate that handicapped voters be provided some accommodation for accessible voting. In King County that means a new machine, called the Accessible Voting Unit (AVU). This is a photo of the unit which was available beginning in May. Tuesday was the first time Clay and I have seen the new unit.

The AVU makes it easier for people with limited sight to vote without assistance. Clay gave the unit a try when filling his ballot. Basically it employs touch screen technology. Or, if you preferred, you could choose to use audio. That takes extra time though, and if you have enough sight to see the touch screen that works great. They had options for making the text larger and changing to a higher contrast screen.

At the end of the process the machine prints a record of your vote, which you can review and then finalize. Clay thought it worked pretty well. His only suggestions were that the method provided for reviewing the paper included only a single flat magnifier and he would have preferred better magnification for that and perhaps a light as your body casts a shadow as you bend over to look at it.

So how did Clay fill a ballot before the new machine? Slowly, with his own magnifier in hand. If the ballot was lengthy he might get a backache from bending over the caroll provided.

For anyone who would like to know more about the new unit there is information here.

It's a Doozy

I took the day off yesterday and Clay and I went to the Puyallup Fair. It was a pretty drizzly day, but we had fun anyway.

First, we had to check out the Smart Cars. I-5 Motors was displaying a few from their inventory. These are two-seater vehicles popular in Europe. Various reports indicate they get anywhere from 40 to 60 miles to the gallon, and the prices seem to run around $25,000-$30,000. That's too pricey for us, but they were pretty cute!


While at the fair we did a bunch of looking around and found some amazing results from the pumpkin carving contest. Here is Clay with just one example.


Of course we enjoyed our annual fair burgers with the Walla Walla sweet onions. As we got to the fair later in the day, we stayed later into the evening. There was a Credence Clearwater concert which started about 7. We didn't sit in the grandstand to watch the concert, but the music was playing loudly enough we were able to enjoy it as we walked around looking for such goodies as kettle corn. Here's one view of the nighttime sights.


All in all it was a fun day at the fair. As the commercial proclaims, "It's a Doozy!"

Mail Love from Eilat, Israel

Sometime last year I met a lovely woman from Israel through PostcardX. We correspond infrequently, but she sends the most wonderful things in the mail. My friend lives in Eilat, which is a resort town at the southern tip of Israel. It's on the Red Sea and behind the city is the desert where you will find Timna Park (King Solomon's Mines). I learned about Timna Park from a brochure my friend sent earlier this year.

The other day I got an envelope from her containing a beautiful tourist map of her city and a folder with a set of postcards of Eilat. This folder was apparently one meant to be given out to tourists from France. There was a message from the mayor of Eilat inside welcoming French tourists and explaining that the postcards included could be taken home as a souvenir or sent to friends at home to show off the beautiful city of Eilat.

At first I didn't see the postcards, but was engrossed in reading the message. You see, the message was written in French and I was actually able to read most of it without too much difficulty. I took French in school, but that was a very long time ago! It was while reading in the message about the postcards that I realized there were postcards enclosed. They are too beautiful to keep only for myself. I had to share them here:

I also want to share a little of my friend's message:

"As you know, our summer vacation was not exactly what we had wanted it to be, but me and all my family and friends are okay. Hoping and praying that there will be no war again."

Amen to that.

Good News

Well it looks like we lucked out on the bagged spinach trouble. Authorities have narrowed the E. coli contaminated spinach problem to a large farm in California. The farm is owned by a company called Natural Selection. If you go to this page on their web site you will find the company's statement which includes a list of about 30 brand names under which they sell spinach.

The good news? Our bagged spinach was from Fresh Express - an unrelated company. As we breathe a sigh of relief for our own health, our thoughts and prayers are with all the people who are sick from eating contaminated spinach. News reports today show almost 100 people sick across 20 states (including Washington) and those numbers continuing to grow. It must be almost a feeling of betrayal to eat what you thought was not only tasty but also very healthy for you, and then get sick from it.

If we are lucky the growers will learn from this and the food supply will become more safe in the weeks and months ahead. I wonder how many people will be inspired to start growing their own vegetables.

Will We Get Sick?

Last night I got home late and threw together some quick dinner for Clay and me. Part of our dinner was this great salad from a bag that we like to eat which consists of a mix of half spinach and half "spring mix" or romaine and baby leaf lettuce. I like to add some fresh mushrooms and tomatoes to it, and it makes a great starter to our meal.

We had our dinner, cleaned up a bit, and then Clay went to the computer to check online news stories. The next thing I know he was asking me if there was bagged spinach in our salad. "Yes, why??" "Come here!" he beckoned me to the computer. The story on the screen was a bit alarming. It was similar to this one: "Deadly E. coli outbreak linked to bagged spinach spreads to ninth state." It seems dozens of people were getting sick from eating bagged spinach and one person has already died. Yikes!

The news story recommended that no one eat bagged spinach until they figure this out. But of course we learned about it too late.

The symptoms of E. coli begin with cramping, diarrhea and vomiting and can end up in renal failure for some. It's not a fun thing if you get it. Symptoms generally show up between 3 and 9 days after eating something containing the bacteria. We're crossing our fingers that the spinach we ate was not contaminated. We should know in a few days.

Thinking Rock ROCKS!

I have a lot of difficulty juggling my many "to do list" tasks. The biggest problem is that I don't really have an organized system for keeping track of those tasks. Sure, I write lists all the time. I even keep with me a notebook for thoughts as they come to me. But it's just one long list, or many short ones. They are not organized by topic in any way, so reviewing the list to figure out what I need to do is difficult.

I am a fan of the GTD system, which is a methodology for collecting, processing, organizing, reviewing and doing your tasks. I'm very good at the first step - collecting, but that's about as far as I get successfully. There are many software applications out there for handling tasks GTD style, and I have tried a few of them. So far none have been quite right for me. So I keep going back to a paper system which is very customizable, but I have a tendency to lose track of the papers and then I have to start over.

A few days ago I came across this new software called ThinkingRock. It's pretty new, but so far I love what it does. It handles the various steps in GTD style and seems to think the way I think. One of my problems is that my head categorizes a task in several different ways - by project, by the context where it should be done, and by topic such as "work" or "personal" or "friends and family." This software does the same thing! You enter a task once and can sort and filter the list by many criteria. It also handles projects well letting you designate tasks and subprojects for any project with lots of space for freeflow notes about the project. And you've got to love their logo (see above).

I've had ThinkingRock installed for a couple days, and so far I still love it. The test will be if I'm using it 10 days from now. If anyone wants to check it out, you can find it here: http://www.thinkingrock.com.au/

Our First Open House

Today Clay and I looked at our first house. We're not really ready to start the home search process as we have lots of prep work to do first, but we saw a listing for this manufactured home in Kent and decided to check it out. We want to look at a lot of homes to get a feel for the market and what kind of house we could get for a given price.

Lucky for us our good friend Susan loves to look at houses. She planned to meet us at the home, and by the time we got there she had already taken the tour, had some cider and cookies, and met the neighbors! She also gathered a bunch of information for us while she was at it. Thanks Susan!

The house was pretty cute - don't you love the front windows? It reminded me a lot of my sister Jozi's manufactured home which is really nice.

This one will be gone before we are ready to purchase anything, but we'll keep our eye on it just in case.