Japanese Garden and the Weather Mood: chatty Topic: One Ramblin' Ranter!
Yesterday was the first time I had 2 days in a row off from work. I decided to take advantage of all that free time by heading to the Japanese Garden. I was there for about 3 hours. The first hour and a half I spent exploring the place by myself and then I took the guided tour. The tour price is outstanding, it?s free. Another nice thing about the tour is that it explains what to look for and some of the intent behind Japanese Garden designs. I had enjoyed the garden without help but the tour helped me understand what was going on. It basically put words to the visions for me. I was very glad I picked yesterday to go because it was quiet and there were not a lot of people. The guide said that days that had hail and rain were not busy days. Days like today when it is sunny and no clouds are in the sky would be considerably more crowded and the summer months it can be jammed packed. Part of the experience for me was a great sense of peace and calm, which is exactly what the designer meant to get across. The idea behind the gardens is a place to get away from the day to day life and it succeeded. For 3 hours I was completely happy and without a care in the world. Would I recommend you come to this garden when you visit? Yes I would. Click here to view the pictures: Incredible Photos: The Japanese Garden actually has 5 garden designs on 5 acres of land. I took a few picture of each but some where harder to capture then others. The Natural Garden was a long winding garden that went down the hillside and looked less manicured then the others. It is still maintained but not as structured. This was hard to photograph. The Tea Garden was another that did not get much coverage and that was because it was a little dark I figure maybe later this summer I will have pictures of it maybe even with a tea ceremony being performed. The garden that is the one with the most photos is the Strolling Garden. It takes up a lot of territory and it is the first thing you see. It is also fairly easy to photograph. The Zen Garden was a challenge because it was a rectangular shape and I tried from several angles but was only satisfied by two of the pictures. The Flat Garden pictures also did not come out right so there is only one picture. I will try again some other time and hopefully that day the lighting and weather are more consistent. With the combination of rain, hail and sun the pictures came out strange but I salvaged all the pictures I could which was about a 1/3 of them. A few of them were even amazingly good. Let me know what you think.
Having said that I want to complain that on my two days off it rained and today when I sit down to study for my test it is completely blue skies. We already know it is my dad?s fault that the rain came but I just wanted to say `Grrr! Stupid weather.? I would be ok with rain all week and rain on my days off but clear skies all week and rain on my days off? That is just not right. It is totally teasing me! It even hailed on me yesterday! As much as I want to play today, I have 3 days to prepare for my test so I actually have to get serious so I can pass my impending tests of doom! Enough crying, I am hitting the books.
Just a quick note before I rush off to work..... Mood: happy
I had a good day yesterday. I went to the Japanese Garden and it was beautiful and wonderful. The rain and hail that occured while I was there did not ruin it for me. It was kind of amusing actually since I made myself leave my house because it looked so warm and sunny outside but by the time I reached the garden it was overcast and raining. I went in anyway and I was very glad I did. If you head this way this place is a definate stop and the tour is a definate do. I will share some pictures later.
I recieved my Stewey button yesterday. I was happy to see it. If anyone else recieves their ordered items I would like to hear how it looks.
My Easter! Mood: a-ok Topic: One Ramblin' Ranter!
Well shortly after I typed the previous entry my dad and I decided to have breakfast. We headed to Shari's and had breakfast and coffee. My dad told me he expected me to find a new breakfast spot before he came back for the next visit. Shari's is a chain restaurant around these parts (meaning Oregon) and he would like to go to a local mom n' pop joint. So now I have added places to munch to my explore Portland list. I plan on having a lot of places to take visitors by the summertime. The sun peaked through the clouds so we were threatening to head to Multnomah falls after breakfast but then the rain came again and my dad decided to just head home. He came inside my house to get a quick cable fix before he went back down the hill. After about an hour he headed South, like a migrating bird. On his way home he encountered hail and snow and idiotic drivers but he made it home safely despite those factors. The rain gave up at and the sun came out at my house but the day never regained the warmth it had earlier when we went to Shari's. I decided to do some laundry and watch some TV. What ended up happening was that the laundry machines were full. So I headed back inside my house to watch TV and planned to go down again in a little while. I ended up passing out while I was watching TV and when I woke up the laundry room was empty. So I am doing laundry and typing about this exciting day right now.
I know you are all jealous and in awe of my exciting day.
I did not get around to writing yesterday because my dad and I were running about all day. I worked the first half of the day while he was sleeping because he had spent all night watching TV and not sleeping. I guess that is what happens when you don't have cable; you overdose when you get a chance to watch it. We then headed to the Portland Art Museum. I have wanted to go for quite a while and now that I have been I have no clue of why. I snapped a few pictures before they told me to stop. I would like to share them here: Here is a picture from their floor, my flash sent the security guards searching for me. The above pictures brought down the heat on me, which if you read the blog you know that was the third time I was talked to about taking pictures this week. I was taking a picture of my dad and a security guy told me I was not allowed to because everything was protected by copyright laws. I had spent most of the museum waiting to see good art and did not see any so I snapped pictures of floors and my dad through a window instead of the artwork. There was way too much modern art and most of their old stuff was from the 19th century. Ancient. There was an area called 'Mythical Beasts' that had old Chinese artifacts from 200 to 900 BCE. What does BCE mean anyway I now BC means 'Before Christ' but what does BCE mean? I looked it up and it means 'Before the Common Era'. Other than that exhibit there were a few cool paintings and some nice photos but overall I was pretty disappointed. The pictures I took were in an area that had only one connection back to the main area and until we realized that we were effectively lost. Lost in an area filled with paintings of squares and canvases consisting of one color. I am not saying some of the colors chosen weren't nice but I would not rip off a piece of my painted wall and try to sell it as art so they shouldn't be allowed to either. After the confusion in the art museum we ran to the exit and had to reorient ourselves to find our car. We headed to Powell's City of Books where dad found a few books and I found that the books I wanted were all new and full priced. After over an hour we headed toward the Widmer Brewery. It was extremely hard to find, we were looking for it all over the place and we did not have a decent map to help. When we finally found it we had a great beer, a couple pretzels and a beer sampler. Then we headed to Olive Garden for dinner where I used the 25 dollar gift certificate donated by Maryann and Glenn for my half of the bill. We both ordered an entree even though I had thought about just having the Soup, Salad and Breadsticks for dinner. I had the Parmesan Crusted Tilapia and he had the Stuffed Chicked Marsala. The meal was good, the service was great and with our bellies full we skipped dessert. That meal was pretty much the conclusion of our day and as I write this we are starting to get ready for today. We have no plans and we may not be able to do much since today is Easter. I will let you all know what we got up to, don't worry.
I am sorry that I am missing Easter at Bob and Nancy's today, that had become a tradition while I lived in Phoenix. I hope you all have a great Easter no matter how you spend it.
Work was exciting. The calls were coming in non stop just like usual when somehow I managed to crash my computer. I had to restart the computer and log in again. When I went to log in it did not let me. So I went to the supervisor station and they let me know that the computer system was having issues and more then likely I would be waiting until the end of my shift with it trying to log me in.. So I sat back down at my desk and read for the last hour and 15 minutes of my shift. That was great!
It's raining today. I have a theory about the rain; I think it is all brought on by my dad. I think that when ever he goes somewhere he packs along the rain or sends it ahead as a warning of his impending arrival . I came up with this theory because it was sunny and nice all week but as it neared my dad's visit the rain and clouds came. It also rained in Phoenix during Maryann's wedding and their is a common thread here and it is my dad's visit. I bet it even rained in Italy! If it didn't I bet it will soon because maybe rain is not good at traveling over the ocean. It took two days to get from Oregon to Arizona so it could take a while to hit Italy. With that theory in mind, I would like to announce the next product I have in mind for the crazedlunatikdesigns.com line. It is called 'Need Rain? Rent My Dad!' I have some preliminary pricing for this feature. I figure with airfare, gas, car rentals and other travel expenses we are looking at $700 dollars provided you house him and feed him. If you would rather not house or feed him the cost will be $1000 because he needs the finest hotels and gourmet meals. I must have at least a month advance order to set it up and that is from the time that I recieve your payment. To rent my dad for a weekend just select your choice below:
To feed and house him yourself select this option:
To just have him fly in and stay for a few days without actually having him stay in your house, choose this option:
DISCLAIMER: "Rent My Dad!" in no way guarantees rain it just possibly might increase the chances of rain. If you do not get rain from it there will be no refunds. This product is pending approval from my dad, dates may need to be changed to accomodate the trip. Purchasing his time does not obligate him to any chores at your house it simply means he will fly in and possibly bring some rain. If my dad decides to not participate, since he does not know about it yet due tothis being a recent brainstorm and the fact he has not been reading the blog, I (the owner and purveyor of crazedlunatikdesigns.com) can fly out myself for no extra cost, bet Bill Gates doesn't offer to fix your computer for you! If you insist on my dad and he is unavailable or decides not to participate crazedlunatikdesigns.com will refund your money minus paypal's processing fees. Refunds will only happen because no trip was made. Please enjoy "Rent My Dad!" responsibly.
I had an afternoon all planned but the weather turned cold and dreary so I decided to stay indoors. With my plans now canceled I had a free afternoon so I decided to hit some stores for a little classic window shopping. I had planned on taking a few pictures of myself reflected in the lakes around the Japanese Garden in downtown Portland. I was a little disappointed with the weather since I needed a new picture for the site. Then it hit me, I would use the fancy shops mirrors to take my picture. I was able to take 3 pictures before I was chased out of Crate and Barrel. That did not deter me I headed over to Z Gallerie and took one picture of myself and I was 86'd from the store. So I got a great picture through their display window, it has me in the mirror and also reflected on the window. That became the new site picture you can see it by clicking here. I had a lot of fun taking pictures before I had worn out my welcome which took just 15 minutes. I spent the next hour at Borders wandering about trying to find something to read, if I had I was planning on having a cup of coffee and reading for a few hours. Unfortunately nothing was keeping my attention even though it would have been free to read while I was there, so I headed home to write this blog, update the site and tell you about yesterday.
Yesterday was a grand day. Well the last part of it was anyhow. The first half was abhorrent. Let me tell you why. I had a later start time for work and I decided to sleep in a little bit. When I finally got up I still had plenty of time as I started getting ready for the day. I packed a lunch, I made coffee, and I got my books, camera, note pad, iPod and my cell phone in my messenger bag. I was ready to go but I still had time so I sat down to drink a cup of coffee and have a bowl of cereal when I bumped my elbow and spilled hot coffee all over myself! OUCH!!! So I rushed to change clothes and it took a few minutes to get ready because basically I had to re-shower to get clean again. I went back into my room and started putting on clothes when I noticed that all the time I had was gone. So I rushed out of the house forgetting the coffee pot was on. I realized that fact as I was about to get on the freeway. So I turned around and headed home to turn off the coffee pot. With that done I rushed out of the house, hopped on the freeway and was at work right on time. That was when I realized the new cup of coffee I had poured to take to work was at home sitting next to my bowl of cereal that I never ate because of the coffee spilling on me. I was irritated, which is not the best way to get on the phones to answer questions for degenerates. Degenerates that somehow think it's your fault their bank has non-sufficient funds to process their transaction. They also think it's my fault that they forgot to pay the bill and they lost their minutes. This had not been getting to me until yesterday. If I could have ripped them limb from limb I would have. All I wanted to say was "I am sorry but you have to be 10% smarter then the cell phone in order to keep this account open, unfortunately Mr./Ms. Soandso it appears you do not meet minimum operating requirements your phone will be canceled and a stupid tattoo will now be added to your forehead. Please hold still, this will be painful."
So when my shift ended all I wanted to do was stomp on flowers or kick babies or something equally as horrible. I was going to go home and sulk in peace but when I got in my car and looked at my bag of tricks I realized I needed to go outside and enjoy the day, after all the sun was shining and it was only noon. So I headed to the Hoyt Arboretum since I knew it was free admission. It was the best move I could have made, in fact when I get some money I might become a H.A.F. (Hoyt Arboretum Friend). I headed down one of several paths with my bag and my lunch. I took some pictures of the magnolia trees which until yesterday I had always thought were some little flower but apparently I had always been wrong. I loved the smell, it was quite intoxicating and within 5 minutes I had the largest smile ever.
I sat down nearby jotted a few thoughts down and had my sandwich before I headed off to wander. I ended up heading through the Winter Garden to the ?Wildwood Trail? and then down to the Japanese Garden. When I reached the Japanese Garden I realized my 4 dollars would not get me in since it was less then half of the 8.25 entry price. I was a little disappointed as I headed back to my little trail until I saw that every car in the employee parking area was a Toyota. That sent me into a fit of laughter. If you have no idea what I am going on about just put ?Japanese Garden? together with ?every car in the employee parking area was a Toyota? and it might click. If it does not, think of where Toyotas are made and it should. Get it? Good I was beginning to wonder who I had invited to read my blog.
I headed back up the trail and talked to every person I came across. All of them seemed very happy to be at the arboretum. I snapped pictures of animals and plants on the way back to my car. Here is a little feisty guy I snapped this while I was convinced he was about to leap, he didn?t leap so I was very happy.
I was about to run away like a little screaming girl when I moved too quickly and scared him up a tree. I had a nice conversation with the lady in the gift shop and I was totally refreshed by the time I headed home. So if you are having a bad day, stop what you are doing and enjoy your world.
Just to let you know I am trying to explore some places around here so that when you all come to visit I might have some places to take you. Anyway I hope you are all having a fantastic week.
Just a side note: Mom good luck on the job hunt!
Oh and check out Jason on his new bike! ACTION SHOT!!!
And Katie is on a soccer team and because of that they won the game. Yes it was all because of her; she is like a ?Michael Jordan? of soccer or something. She should change her number from 17 to 23. In fact you better ask her for an autograph now because one day she will charge you for it. Remember: All my facts and beliefs are based on the best research available, seriously!
I can?t seem to locate the ball in this picture , which is just an observation.
Jason and Katie's photo are courtesy of my mom. Thanks.
Insurance Tests
Just to let you know I set up the two insurance test dates. Life and Health will be the 21st and Property and Casualty will be the 22nd. I am hoping I don't get scheduled to work through the start times of the tests. If that happens I will have to reschedule them. It was amazing how long it took to set up the times for the test. You call an 800 # and it seems it is one number for the whole country. I was waiting for 30 minutes and the recording kept saying "We are experiencing higher then normal call volume. Please call back at another time or if you continue to hold we will answer your call as soon as possible." Those recordings just make me more anxious, I would rather have hold music. It wasn't true anyhow I had called several times the day before and had been told the wait time was 'higher then normal' so I decided to try it again later. The third time I called I just waited. The lady I finally spoke with was about as helpful as a slug and there were long periods of silence. I figure She put me on mute to talk to her friends. She sounded like she had been working there to long plus she kind of spoke like she was gargling marbles. The good news is that I did finally set the test dates and I paid the money so I guess I am good to go. Now all I have to do is study for the tests.
It was not an exciting day. I think I actually had too good of a day yesterday. I tried to go downtown to explore the huge park in the middle of downtown but by the time I got motivated traffic had started and it was horrendous. It was only 2PM, so I am not real sure if that's when rush hour starts or everyone decided they needed to drive anywhere I tried to go. So 30 minutes into a 15 minute trip I turned around and headed to the park I was at yesterday. It was not as much fun because there were a few guys hitting golf balls in one of the fields so I had to avoid that area. After an hour and a half of wandering I just decided to go home and watch tv.
My Day Mood: surprised Now Playing: Rusty Cage - Johnny Cash
So I am sitting here munching on a bowl of Easy Mac (courtesy of Aunt Wanda and Uncle Don) knowing that the previous post was not quite enough for today. So I decided to add another. This one might get a little random but I guess you're used to that by now.
I actually woke up with enough time to have a cup of coffee and a previously made pancake. The pancake reminded me of Stewey a little....
That was when George started in on me about Stewey being my best friend even though it should be him because we live together. It's always the same argument but I guess at least we are talking again. A sticker and a tote bag design and George speaks to me again. I headed out the door and it was pouring. I hustled to the car and headed to work, it was 4:15 AM. I arrived at work at 4:45 AM and was told that I had to go to the training building. I headed to the building..... in the rain and as luck would have it I did not see anyone or anything in there. So I headed back up to the main call center and they told me to wait until the trainer came and grabbed me from the break room. Other new people piled in and waited as the trainers got their act together and then we all headed down to the other building together. It had stopped raining and it was 5:20 AM. The building was brand new and smelled that way we were the first people to work in there so naturally we had a hard time logging into the computers and the phones. I was in the system by 5:45 and I was taking calls. Next came break and then it was lunch at 9 AM. 11:30 rolled around quickly and I was out the door and on my way to the insurance testing school. I had an errand to run so I was there by noon.
I met a fellow potential AFLAC sales person there, Michelle. We chatted for a while about all kinds of things and then we hit the books.
Apparently Michelle has a daughter and she has been the coach for her daughter's volleyball team this season. She was telling me they had just finished their last tournament on Sunday and it was grueling for her. As a coach she pulled coaching duty and refereeing duty. I asked if she had liked it and she said she would never do it again. With that statement out there I had to ask more questions, the obvious question came first; "Why not?" She said that she felt like for the amount of work she put into it that the girls didn't really care or have much fun doing it and she ended up not having as much fun as she would have liked too either. This started my brain whirring and the cogs started moving and moke came out of my ears and while we talked and studied I was pondering things parents do for their kids that their kids never thank them for. I am fairly certain that her daughter will look back on her mother coaching her volleyball team as something that was pretty cool when she gets a few years under her belt. I am basing that off my own experience with my dad as an assistant coach for my soccer team. It was not something acknowledged or appreciated at the time but it is a pretty cool memory now. Thanks dad. So I felt like I needed to thank both my mom and dad for all the things they spent time on and did for me just because I was interested in it. Hey call your parents up and randomly thank them. It will make you both feel good and if you work it right you might even get a beer out of the deal! That is a win-win-win situation there.
With all those thank you's I just dispensed I bet the parental units are keeping their wallets close, hehe.
2:00 PM rolled around and I headed up to get my certificates of completion, I was officially done with the required hours! I headed home and a car in front of me had a vanity license plate that read "If you don't like my driving/you should see my putting!" which made me laugh and I didn't mind his driving anymore. The grey of the day was drifting away and the sky was starting to show signs of sunshine. I headed inside my home, checked my email shot off a few replies to Kevin and Pete, both of whom either added a comment, an event, a guestbook signing or voted in the poll. Thanks guys. I want to thank myself for heading to www.cafepress.com/crazedlunatik and purchasing the Stewey pin! Thanks Mike!
Next I wrote the post featuring Maryann as the Reader of the Week, in which I displayed extraordinary journalist skills. I exchanged about a dozen more emails with Kevin and then I realized the sun was out and I headed outside with my camera. I walked to the park and ran about snapping pictures everywhere. A Walk in the Park. is the new photoset from those pictures.
Then I headed inside and watched one of my recorded shows, 'The Boondocks'. If you haven't seen it, just know that it's funny or at least I think so.
Maryann is the featured Reader of the Week! Mood: silly Topic: Reader of the Week
I have a new feature on my blog. It’s where I stop talking about myself for a second and I start telling you about each other. I have gone through painstaking research to get all these details and I take pride in my investigative skills. Of course mistakes may happen, so if any of this is wrong please let me know and I will print a retraction. Of course, how could it be wrong with my vast informational sources and my limitless supply of monetary assets!
Things you may know about her: 1. She is my step-father and she eats lots and lots of chicken feet. 2. She recently married Glenn. Glenn is from the planet snog and likes to munch on paper. He is 10’2” and has blue fur on his belly. I have no word on what he does for a living but I believe it has something to do with evil plots and kicking small animals. I will get you a full report when his featured week happens! 3. Maryann has been known to have large nation-wide barbecues. She invites people to her ranch in Philadelphia where she has an overabundant and extremely rare supply of Tyrannosaurus Rex meat, which is why it’s a national event, 2 or 3 of those suckers feeds a lot of people! You have never had a burger until you have had a T-Rex Burger. 4. She also is a full time gym teacher at the local oceanography school based in Missouri. 5. She has two dark red eyes and worships the devil! 6. Her last name used to be Moppleflopper before she changed it to Slapalapa!
Things you may not know about her: 1. She is a master of the notfou karate, which is pronounced Not-fo-u. 2. She likes collecting snails, toads, spiders and puppies. 3. She has a collection of plates with half eaten food from celebrities’ kitchens that she hangs proudly on her kitchen wall. 4. Maryann recently won the lottery and is investing all that money in a rocket to take her to the moon, where she plans to set up the first colony and the first fast food restaurant. The fast food joint will have no vegetables and be completely about meat. Instead of fries you can order up a nice side of lizard gizzards! Yeah it is making me hungry too! The value meal promises a special T-Rex Burger, a large side of lizard gizzards, a three piece chicken feet with ranch dressing and a nice butter milkshake! That’s how you spell down home cooking!
That has been the first installment of Reader of the Week. If any of this is wrong please let me know, but as I said before anything actually being wrong is impossible. If you do find an incorrect fact it is probably your fault! You obviously do not know your fellow readers or your self very well, that being said; please congratulate Maryann on being the first featured reader! Wish her luck on her fast food endeavors.
chatty
happy
a-ok
lazy
bright
d'oh
surprised
silly