Oh Happy Day

my wee pup is 14 today. Where did the time go?


 

Traveling With Large Groups

If you missed yesterday's post start there to catch up.

Last night I ordered 50 green fire neon tetras (Aphyocharax rathbun) from the pet shop. They should be ready for me to pick up after work. They should look like this:

I'll post my own image of them tomorrow.

Wonder if I'll qualify for the carpool lane, me and 50 companions?


 

Weekend

It's crunch time at work.

My survey I've been working on is going to sponsor testing this week and external usability testing next week. That just means I have no time to blog.

OK, so I'm making time, which is why this'll be short. Sort of.

We went to the in-laws on Saturday to visit Dan's folks. When we got back yesterday, I started working on my 55 gallon fish tank.

The tank is set up in my bedroom along the rail that separated the sitting area with the sleeping area. I've always had algae problems in this tank for some reason, but never in the tank down in the family room. The difference? Dunno. Both are neglected. I don't vacuum the gravel nearly as often as I should, but I think the tank upstairs is in direct sunlight part of the morning.

I was so inspired walking in the Caribbean to get my tank clean and stocked again. We had seen a school of small fish so large it cast a gray shadow in the water. I walked into the school and just stood there watching thousands of these small fish swimming back and forth around me. I decided to stop procrastinating and get my tank back in shape. I wanted a school of fish.

So yesterday I siphoned all the water out (it was so green, I hadn't noticed there weren't fish actually swimming any more) and took out and washed the gravel. I cleaned out the filter box and bleached the plastic plants. I got the stand moved to the opposite wall and Dan helped me get the tank back into place. Now it's full and the water is cycling through. Looks good, but I think I'm going to set up the diatomic filter too just to make sure the water is sparkling clean.

Tetras are great schooling fish, so I want to buy a large school of them for my newly cleaned tank. I talked to the owner of the pet store here in town, he places orders on Mondays for Tuesday shipments. I should be able to get about 50 fish for a near wholesale price, and I'll order whatever small tetras are on his order sheet today, green or black neons would be pretty.



Despite the work I did get done, I could have gotten more accomplished. Every time I went downstairs for something I was sucked in to the TV. Dan had the travel channel on. It was running a marathon of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations. If you like travel or food, or drinking, you'll like this show. Except for the fact it renders you immobile, you just have to keep watching. Tony travels to a different place each show and learns about true local cuisine and drink, not necessarily the food we Americans think of when we think of that country. Far too captivating. We finally turned off the TV at 10:00. Sheesh. I think the new season premiers tonight at 10:00 pm.


 

To Hold you Over: A View of the Beach

I've started a post reviewing the hotel we stayed at in the Dominican. My paying work has been getting in the way so I haven't had a chance to finish it.

In the mean time, I'll share this little shot I took during one of my walks on the beach.




 

The End of a 9-Day Weekend

I'm back from vacation.

I'll be posting a review of our hotel soon. I came back to work to 775 unread mail messages that I'll have to work my way through. Not to mention catching up on blogs, too, right?

The play is over, we finished up our run of Willy Wonka last night. I really had fun running the spot light and am ready to do it again next time.


 

Reader's Digest Condensed Version

In case you haven't gotten to Bowie to see Wonka yet, this is what you missed:



That's from the matinee show, the evening performance was even better.


 

Kevin got a hold of my phone camera again

He took about 80 pictures this morning with my phone and these are some of the more interesting images I found when I got my phone back.

I think he needs his own camera!

 

The Passing of Time

A couple weeks ago my Kodak digital point & shoot camera died. I can't stand to be without a easy camera to use. I like having my big Nikon DSLR, don't get me wrong, but it doesn't fit in my purse or back pocket.

So I bought a Nikon S560. It's a middle-of-the-line 10 megapixel camera (but I never set it that high. I figure: A. I hardly ever need to make any prints that big; and 2. I can get twice as many pictures on a memory card in the 5 megapixel mode). It's got a lot of cool features I haven't learned how to do yet, but the thing I don't like about the Nikon P&S cameras is there is no auto-rotate feature when you take verticals like the Kodaks did. Blah. You have to turn the camera side ways to look at the portraits. Blah!

I've written this before: I like time-lapse photography, have ever since those films in science class back in elementary school. Last night I found out this new camera has a time-lapse movie mode. Way cool! This what it captured this morning from my office window. Until the battery died, that is. I will definitely have to play with this feature more.



This little movie was done by taking a picture every 30 seconds.

Let There Be Light

I'm tired.

Last week I was asked if I'd run a spotlight for the Willy Wonka production. So I said I would. This week is tech week, the last week before opening where all the lighting, set, and prop issues are worked out. I've been attending mandatory rehearsals instead of relaxing at home watching the Bachelorette or some other silly summer TV show. Did I miss Better Off Ted last night or is that on tonight? Better check the DVR.

The balcony where the spotlights are is about two feet deep and maybe seven feet long and is accessible only by a rickety ladder. There are three lights and three of us operators crammed up there in the tiny space. Since the ladder will be removed during the performances, we're kinda stuck up there for the duration. Don't forget the hot air spewing out when the bulbs are on.

Despite the conditions, I'm having fun.

Last night we got headsets from the sound guy so we can talk with the director and other techies. I feel like Han Solo in Star Wars where he is in the Falcon shooting at Imperial fighters, except I'm shooting actors instead.

Performances will be at 2:00 and 8:00 on Saturday, and 2:00 on Sunday this weekend, and 8:00 on Friday, and 2:00 on Saturday and Sunday next weekend. My darling Fern will be starring in the role of Mrs. Bucket in the Saturday shows this weekend and I'm not sure which ones next weekend. 3120 Belair Dr, Bowie, MD, 20715.

Hope to see you there, you can wave to me in the balcony.

This Just in...

I'm back from taking my kids to the doctor for their 13,900- and 16,700-mile check-ups. The verdict: they are skinny. She's in the 49th percentile for weight, he's in the 7th. For height, she's in the 67th percentile at 5'4", he's in 85th at 6 feet.

You can now return to your regularly scheduled blog reading.


 

Kevin's Favorite Place

Three of us made it back from Great Wolf Lodge in Williamsburg on Friday.

Instead of boring you with the details, you'll have to vote in the poll over there about our adventure.