Hallowthanksmas!

I posted this on Facebook, but as I work at a place where we actually do put Christmas stuff up next to the Halloween section, I had to post it here. I may just have some fun at work when nobody's looking.

Welcome, October!

This, my friends, is an excellent sign of things to come. These pumpkins greet me like old friends. Little do they know I'm going to kill them, gut them and eat them.

Abby Pet Hospital

So, I took Auggie to the vet to get him neutered, and this is what I saw at the entrance to the vet clinic. What a great idea for a pet water fountain! I think the picture would have been even better if there were a dog taking a drink though.

Augustus Freeloader.

I think I have a new cat. I'm calling him Auggie and/or Gus. I'll wait and see which name sticks. He showed up in August for free food, hence the name.

Best Little City

I had a job interview today on the other side of downtown. You may ask where, but I'm not sure if it's in Fresno or not. I passed this sign on the way.

Bowling at Sierra Lanes

I went bowling with Aunt Carla and Uncle Bob at Sierra Lanes today! We played three games. I did okay on the first, and I got 116. I did great on the second, and got 154. And I bombed the last game, and I got 74. Me thinks I should bowl more often.

The wrecking continues

Recalculating!

I volunteered to take Murdel downtown today, and so we decided to stop for a letterbox. The letterbox was not there, but we managed to find a geocache purely by accident. Ever heard of geocaching? Well, it's another kind of treasure hunt, but instead of clues, people use their GPS. Instead of stamps, people leave other things, like toys.

Just thought I'd share.

Whoa Nelly!

I saw this statue in my travels today. I wonder if it's the palomino that used to be in front of the Golden Horse with a black paint job.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

I went to see the final Harry Potter movie today. I loved it! Luckily I got my favorite seat in the theater (the very last row in the very center,) and nobody sat in the two seats in front of me to take away my foot rest.

Thank you, Mom, for introducing me to the first book back in early 2000!

Butterfly at Dry Creek

Murdel and I hid another letterbox yesterday. This one was in Clovis where the Old Town Trail and Dry Creek Trail meet. There's some pretty neat trails in Clovis for walking and bike riding. We found a nice place, and I dug the hole and Murdel was the lookout. We called it "Butterfly at Dry Creek." How do you like my homemade butterfly stamp?

Friday.

Seventeen years ago today, I found a little kitten in the middle of the road around midnight. If it weren't for her reflective eyes, I might have run her over with my car.

The first picture was taken the night I found her (she was exhausted,) and the second was taken just a few months ago.

And yes, July 14, 1994 was a Friday. So, that's what I named her.

Hurricane Martha and Curly go letterboxing again!

I went letterboxing with Curly again today. We found the first stamp, and we planted the second--in a cemetery.. Lots of fun!

Maneki Neko

This Maneki Neko or lucky cat is good for business! You may have seen these before, but if not, you will now that I've mentioned it. Isn't that always the way?

The Temple Cat: The story goes that a wealthy feudal lord was taking shelter under a tree near Gotoku-ji temple (in Western Tokyo) during a thunderstorm. The lord saw the temple priest's cat beckoning to him and followed; a moment later the tree was struck by lightning. The wealthy man became friends with the poor priest and the temple became prosperous. When the cat died, the first Maneki Neko was made in his honor.

So, I had to have one, and I got it for under ten dollars. Thanks to my friend Noriko for going with me to buy it!

Letterboxing signature stamp

Well, apparently all the stamps for letterboxing need to be homemade. So, here's my first attempt at a signature stamp. I think he's cute in a cartoonish sort of way.

Wreck this journal? It's harder than I thought.

I'm working hard at wrecking my journal. The instructions say to pick up the book without using your hands and to close the book and write on the edges. Done! I still can't bring myself to tear out a page, though.

PHP

So, I'm back in Web Page Design class. The class I'm taking now is called PHP, which stands for pre-hypertext processing.

There's only eight people in the class, and only two of them took the class with me the last time. One of them is a smart-as-hell teenager, and the other one is his father. I'm disappointed that more people didn't come back. I almost didn't go back myself, but I'm glad I did.

I feel smarter already.

New journals!

The remainder of that Barnes & Noble gift card from my brother has been put to good use. Above is a picture of my two new journals that were delivered today.

The first one is an exercise in creativity. It's called "Wreck this Journal," and that's exactly what you're supposed to do with it. It instructs you to do things like spill coffee on it, take a shower with it, and tear out a page and accept the loss. I think I may have trouble doing these things to a brand new book, but I guess that's the point. I will let you know how this works out.

The second one is a guided memoir called "The Book of Me," and it prompts you to write by answering questions about your life. Example: What is the first time you remember getting punished for something? Uh oh! There's not enough pages in this thing! This will be quite interesting--to me at least.

Hurricane Martha and Curly go letterboxing again!

Murdel and I went letterboxing again, and she now has an official trail name: Curly. She is so thrilled to be doing this, and I must say I'm having just as much fun as she is.

I'll give you three guesses as to what my trail name is, and the first two don't count.

Letterboxes get names too, and this one is called Twilight. Notice that the blue stamp is a bunch of stars? This box was hidden well underneath the 168 overpass off the Clovis Old Town Trail. I've lived in Clovis for eight years now, and I had never been on this trail until today.

The third picture is the stamp we left. Next to where the box was buried was a sign that said "Please don't feed the feral cats," so we had to put in our two cents.

More letterboxing!

Today I took my friend Murdel letterboxing in Clovis. We found the above horse stamp at the Clovis Rodeo grounds, and the little star stamp was a hitchhiker. A hitchhiker is a stamp that someone puts in someone else's letterbox. So, we got two for the price of one.

We tried for another, but we couldn't find it. That one was supposed to be hidden under a bridge, but apparently a homeless person is living there because we found all kinds of things like a sleeping bag and canned food. So, maybe they took the box. Anyway, we had a great day, and now I'm tired and dirty from all that digging. What fun!

Cat movie makers.

This is funny!

Father's Day 2011

I went to Bass Lake for Father's Day, and I stopped to take a picture of the Talking Bear in Coarsegold. I must have driven by it at least 50 times in my life, but I've never stopped to see it up close. It's really kind of cool.

I brought my dad three helium balloons and some peanut brittle from See's Candies.

Also, I did manage to drag my dad on a treasure hunt for my first letterbox. He, his wife Gail, and their friend Diane humored me, and I've converted two of the three to hunt for more. You can guess for yourselves which two are now interested!

Letterboxing.

I just found out about "letterboxing," and I'm excited to try it. Put simply, it's a treasure hunt in which you follow clues to find letterboxes that have been hidden. Inside these boxes is a rubber stamp and a notebook. You stamp their notebook with your own stamp, and then you stamp your own notebook with their stamp. Confused? Here's a link to letterboxing.

I'm going to Bass Lake tomorrow to see Dad for Father's Day, and guess what!?! There's two letterboxes hidden there! I wonder if I can drag my dad out on a treasure hunt.

Not crabby!

After giving it some thought, I've decided that I'll just have to work with the tools I've got, even if they are on backwards. That should be enough. It has to be.

WTF?

I couldn't help but laugh when I opened this bottle of fabric softener. LOOK CLOSELY. This is the polar opposite of an easy-pour spout! It also mimics my life at this point in time. I've got the right tools, but I think they're on backwards!

Modoc: The True Story of The Greatest Elephant That Ever Lived.

This book made me cry. I got it from the library, and now I don't want to give it back. I think the Barnes & Noble gift card I got from my brother is going to come in handy right... about... NOW!

What day is it?

Let me admit that I am an idiot.

I got up at dark thirty this morning, got showered and dressed, and I went to work. The only problem was that I wasn't scheduled to work today.

At least it wasn't the other way around.

Is a regular schedule too much to ask for? The answer is YES.

Bass Lake, CA

I went to visit my dad and his wife at their cabin in Bass Lake. This picture was taken from the dock, and as you can see from the picture, the water was extremely low.

My Aunt took care of my cat while I was away, and although I still worried, I had a really nice time!

Too bad the weather didn't cooperate.

I will have to make the drive up the hill more often.

Let them eat cake!

My boss gave me a birthday cake yesterday, and she said some extremely nice things to me. Both came as quite a surprise! Wow!

Baby Opossum.

Great. I just saw a baby opossum (about the same size as in this picture) in my backyard. The problem is that my neighbor's cat J. J. saw him, too. I picked up the cat and put him in the front yard, but after that I couldn't find the baby. A phone call to the local wildlife rehab resulted in no answer. I sure hope that he survives.

Find beauty in everything.

I saw this coin-op kiddie horse outside a grocery store in Clovis today, and I think it's quite beautiful. It needs a new paint job, and you can tell the previous one was extremely sloppy. (See the purple spray paint on the halter.) What a difference between this horse and the ones on most carousels! But even so, I love it.

Go Grizzlies!

Well, the world didn't end yesterday, so my Aunt Carla and Uncle Bob took me to another Fresno Grizzlies baseball game last night, and it was the most exciting one so far.
 
I got bitched at by a crabby lady in the stands.

I saw another lady get hit in the head by a foul ball, and there was lots of blood and first aid, and then eventually paramedics took her away.

There were at least four bats broken during the game, and another one was tossed into the crowd by accident.

An argument broke out between the two teams, and all the players rushed out onto the field.

And, last but not least, I ALMOST dropped my hot dog. 

What a great night!

Thank you Aunt C and Uncle B for taking me, and thanks so much for the Peanuts birthday books!

Happy Rapture!

I know that saying "Happy Rapture" is redundant, but I just couldn't help myself. The world ends tomorrow so I thought I'd better get a post out now.

I had the strangest dream last night. There was a giant earthquake, and I survived. I also ended up saving 13 kittens. Well, this, as you may know, is both Heaven and Hell for me. Heaven because, well, there's 13 kittens! And Hell because I knew I'd have to try to find homes for them, and that's just completely impossible. 

Now, I know why I'm dreaming about kittens, and that's because I've been obsessed with kittens for a while now. I swear I've never had a biological clock tick in all my life, but my desire for kittens is making me crazy. But why 13 of them? And why did I dream about an earthquake?

Maybe the world is going to end tomorrow, and I'm having a premonition. Damn! I knew I should have waited to pay that water bill!

Nah, just joking. I didn't take all my money out of the bank on December 31, 1999 either.

Have a good weekend!

Yellow teeth? Congested? Head on over to my store.

I spoiled a shoplifter's good time yesterday. I spotted a man transferring huge amounts of Crest White Strips and Mucinex D (both products over $25) from the aisles in front of the pharmacy to a more private spot over by the bathrobes and body powder where he could put them in his various pockets.

When I surprised him, which was purely by accident on my part, he panicked and ran. We did, however, manage to get his license number.

You may wonder why thieves would take so much expensive product. Well, it's because our store will give you credit for anything if you don't have a receipt. And if you were wondering, good for you because you're probably the honest sort. So, if you're shopping, and you see products where they really don't belong, you'll know what's really going on.

2011 - 1964 = 47

2011 minus 1964 equals 47. I actually had to use a calculator to figure out how old I am. The picture shows what kind of day I'm having. *Big Smile*

It's that time.

My property management company makes me feel like a criminal. Whatever happened to customer service? They forget that I am the one paying them, I think. They also don't know that I used to be in the property management business, and I know exactly how they operate. It's not nice to be on this end of things. I believe it's time to really start looking for another place to live.

Light at the end of the tunnel.

I keep looking for one of these...

This is my mom, Glenna.

I have the best mom EVER! She knows I feel this way because I tell her quite often. This Mother's Day I sent her chocolate covered strawberries and a card asking her for "Glenna lessons" because I want to be more like her.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

Lose a turn!

I went bowling today with my Aunt Carla and Uncle Bob. It's been a while since I went last, but I managed to get over 100 in both games, so I'm good with it. We usually yell, "lose a turn!" when one of us gets a strike.

I meant to take a picture while I was there, but I forgot, so here's a picture of my equipment instead.

Yes, I like purple.

Santa Cruz.

This is where I want to be. I can hear the arcade bells, the music from the carousel, and the people screaming from the rides. I can smell the fresh salt air and the deep fried food from the midway. I can feel the warm sun on my face and the cool sand on my feet. Can you?

Happy Easter!

I got an Easter surprise! Mom was always the best when it came to surprises. I remember one year it rained on Easter, so instead of having us kids hunt for eggs in the rain, she put different colored strings for us to follow through the house with clues as to where to look next. I don't remember which colored string was mine, but I do remember finding one clue in the oven and that my Easter basket was in the shower in the guest room. What a fun mom!

Water for Elephants

I went to see Water for Elephants. As usual, the book was better than the movie. But I liked the movie.

The sound of the train gave me a strangely familiar sensation, though. Like I'd been on millions of trains before. The truth is, I think I've only been on one in my whole life. Isn't that weird? I wonder if there's such things as past lives.

Uh oh. I'm in trouble.

So I'm watching Pirates of the Caribbean, and they get to the part about the compass pointing to what you want most in the world. I'm dismayed to realize that what I want most is something that I will never have again. I guess it's time for some soul searching.

A laugh while driving.

I just love a company with a sense of humor. I just had to go back and take a picture of this sign.