Something

Trying to figure out what to get that hard to buy for person? Why not get them something? Something what? Something from Somethingstore.com. Check it out.

Also, I want to thank the internet for allowing me to stay away from the malls and stores during Christmas shopping. 95% of my Christmas shopping was done online and it was fun! Merry Christmas!

Another Fail Blog

I cannot get enough of this website! This video is pretty funny. Make sure you watch it until the very end. The beginning is kind of weird.

Happy Voting Day!

Since I have been a lame blogger here recently, I am just adding a quick note and a photo. The leaves are turning here and they are so pretty I want to share. I hope you voted!

To pass the time

If you are bored, like I am at times, I have the website for you. It's called FAIL Blog. Basically it is a site where people can post pictures, publications, videos, etc. that have failed. Here is an example:

You can vote on the submissions to what degree they fail. I give the above picture 5 thumbs down.

First Shoe Pic

Well I have finally posted my first picture of the shoe series. However, it is not what I wanted since the format of my blog keeps the picture size pretty small. I decided to make this post to show you the dye that I spilled on my shoes at work. It is that orangeish looking stuff on my white shoes. It is a very concentrated yellow dye we use for a fluorescein angiogram. Anyway, one day I was drawing up a vial of it and this lady came up behind me and scared me. Well I pulled too hard on the vial and it came undone and there goes a whole bottle on top of the patients chart! I frantically try to clean it all up but it of course spilled everywhere. I ended up getting some on my shirt and pants. Lots on the floor and wall in the room.

I still have some of the dye on my shoes two months later. Now it just looks yellow. Now I draw up the vials very carefully and don't turn my back to the door.

The results are in... Shoes!

Thanks to everyone for voting in my poll. By a big majority, shoes are now the focus of my picture gallery. While it is an easy subject, I strive for variety and hope you enjoy the upcoming photos.

Becky

P.S. I did not take the pic of the shoes in this post. They are vacuum shoes!

Vote in my Poll!

Ok yesterday I put up a new poll to ask everyone to vote what picture series I will do next. No votes so far. Either the categories are lame, which is possible or no one cares. So either vote or leave me a comment with a new category that you would like to see pictures of.

Thanks!

A new random post!

It has finally cooled down in the weather around here in Charlotte. Now cooled down here means the high is 72 and the low is 60. Believe me it feels great. I like the warm weather but I am ready for a nice change into Fall.


The Charlotte area was not affected by Hurricane Ike, except gas wise. The word is that the gas here is transported from Texas, near where Ike hit. Before the hurricane hit, people were panicking to get gas before it ran out. So guess what happened? The gas ran out. Even over a week later after Ike damaged Texas, there are still some gas stations here that are not selling gas. Some are selling it for $3.85 and some are selling it for $4.19. Very random. The more I attempt to learn about gas and how it is manufactured and transported, the more I realize I have no idea about it.


Last week was an exciting time at work. I was able to take photos in the operating room at a hospital with one of the doctor's I work with. Most of you know I love the gore and I had a great time watching 2 eye surgeries. I had a hard time not yelling, "That is the coolest thing I have ever seen." But I kept my excitement to myself until the operations were over. I hope to do it again in the future. I'd include a photo from it but I'm pretty sure I signed a huge waiver at the hospital about patients privacy and what I see during my visit there. Also, I don't want to gross everyone out. A lot of people are very wigged out by eyeballs being touched, injected, frozen, etc. (Even people that I work with)

"Ice Custard Happiness"

There are only a few things I miss about living in Philadephia. 7-11, cheese steaks and Rita's water ice. Everywhere in the world thinks they can make a philly cheese steak, but alas, they cannot. There are no 7-11's in the Carolina's, so I sadly have to get my slurpee fix when I come to Utah to visit. But they just opened a Rita's Water Ice in Charlotte! Yeah! Ice custard happiness, I do now have. Now if you are thinking water ice doesn't sound all that great, you are wrong Colonel Sanders. It is such a delicious treat! They have amazing flavors of italian ice and custard treats to delight. My favorite is the Gelati. It is layers of italian ice and creamy frozen custard.

If you find yourself out on the East coast be sure to see if there is a Rita's nearby. It is a delicious treat you will never forget.

Rain Part II

While it is exciting to tell everyone there was a Tornado Watch for Charlotte last night, it never did materialize. They get our hopes up here a lot. I think I have seen about 10 tornado watches since I lived her for 2 years and none of them ever actually hit us. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad they did not take away all the trailer homes but what happens when one really does? Anyway, it is still raining and now looks like we are on a Flood Warning. They probably post that everytime it rains here since it just collects on the roads and clay soil and has nowhere to go.

Rain rain go away...

Just as I was bragging the other day about how nice the weather had been here lately, (80's with dryer heat) I am struck down with a week of rain! Now most individuals might think "Hey! Rain is good!" I do agree, to a certain point. While rain is necessary to grow stuff and what not, it does not make for easy driving in Charlotte, NC. The clay soil that does not absorb the water well combined with the roads that are designed to collect water on them make for easy hydroplaning. All the drivers have realized this and have found a way to cope. Braking. Braking a lot and all the time. Granted I have my trusty Subaru with the all wheel drive, which makes me think I can drive normally on days like this, it does not guarantee that they will get out of my way.

Driving to work this morning. There was an accident on the other side of the road that was cleared up but everyone braked for about 2 miles before it to make sure they saw what happened.

Everyone wish me luck driving to work this week in the rain, as I will be traveling to satellite offices every day. (Yes we got a new person who is making the schedule and doesn't realize I live 1 mile from the main office) (While I don't mind covering the satellite offices, I usually don't travel to them more than 3 times a week)

Life is Good

For my birthday I got the LG Voyager. I will just say it is the coolest phone I have ever purchased thus far. With the touch screen front and full qwerty keyboard, I feel special. It is everything I loved in my enV phone but better. The keyboard buttons are a little bigger, making it easier to text faster. The menu setup is the same, so no relearning how to use the phone. The touch screen is phenomenal. I can access the internet and watch video clips. It is setup to watch mobile TV, however there is no service in the area I live in at this moment in time. I'm hoping that they will add Charlotte here shortly. 2.0 MP camera takes pretty decent photos and it is lighter than the enV. All in all I am very happy with this phone.

Celebrity Morph by MyHeritage

MyHeritage: Celebrity Morph - Family websites - Research family history

Celebrity Morph by MyHeritage

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities

Celebrity Morph by MyHeritage

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities

Torsopants

I have found a new website I must share with everyone. It is torsopants.com. I myself do not wear t-shirts hardly ever, but I do enjoy reading them. This website has really funny/not funny t-shirts and they are very clean. (No swearing/sexual content) You can also join the Torsopants Church and win free t-shirts and you can submit dry ideas to see if they will use them to make a t-shirt.

Here are a couple of the t-shirts I like:

Celebrity Morph by MyHeritage

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celeb

Celebrity Morph by MyHeritage

MyHeritage: Celebrity Morph - Making a family tree - Roots

Celebrity Morph by MyHeritage

MyHeritage: Celebrity Morph - Lineage - Roots

Celebrity Morph by MyHeritage

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celeb

Praise to the Mac

As a few of you may know, a few months ago I accidentally spilled soda on my beloved Powerbook and it died. After following careful instructions from the mac tech support, it seemed like I was going to have to shell out money for a new computer/powerbook. Mac's are expensive and so I was saving up money to buy another one or downgrade to a PC. (Sorry PC users) But then I had a crazy dream that I plugged in my powerbook and miraculously it worked! I decided to try it, really what harm could it do? I plugged it in and a light turned on! Yes, after 2 months of no computer at home, my powerbook works again. Perfectly. Isn't that crazy? You can spill a lot of soda on a powerbook...

Atlanta Wedding

My friend Jennifer's wedding in Atlanta was a lot of fun. A year of planning? I thought at first was crazy. However, when it came down to the day, everything flowed smoothly and whenever a mishap came up, it was taken care of in a flash. This of course was the first non-mormon wedding I have attended and found it to be somewhat similar to the way weddings are depicted in movies. (Yes I attribute all my inexperienced knowledge to movies) The church wedding, walking down the aisle, flower girl, preacher, etc., were all accounted for. There were a few extra things I had not seen before, such as the unity candle and 4 prayers during the ceremony. Of course I had front row action as I was one of the 4 bridesmaids.

Jeanine & Becky as Bridesmaids

Jennifer & David Orr

(Notice the Nutcracker bride & groom on the table and the unity candle is on the right.)

Me getting ready before the wedding. Notice the pink quartz necklace. This was our bridesmaids gifts that we received the night before. Jen & David had mined them and had them made into necklaces for the 4 of us.

Jeanine & I were goofing off waiting for the family pictures to finish so we could go to the reception.

Gas Station Longing

For those of you in Utah, you may not realize how great the gas stations you have there. Now I'm not talking about gas prices by any means, but about the abundance of clean, stocked and delicious gas station stores. The all around convenience store I miss here in North Carolina is 7-11. Of course I have to move to a location that does not have 7-11's anymore. Slurpees are a food staple in my life and it has been hard to not have them at a whim. My second favorite gas station I miss is Harts. They have the best fountain drinks in the world and even though Circle K here only charges $.79 for all sizes of fountain drinks, the mix just does not cut it. Anyway, I was just reminiscing about the delicious drinks I had when I just visited the Utah. I am slurping down a barely acceptable substitute from the Circle K.

4th of July Strep Throat

Seems like according to everyone's blogs they had a nice and smooth 4th of July. For my 4th of July, I had strep throat. Now for those of you who have never had a full blown case of strep, please realize I am not exaggerating. It all started last Wednesday when I thought I maybe had a little sore throat. I drank lots of fluids and took some ibuprofen. That seemed to appease the pain and I continued on going to work and hanging out.

Well by Thursday night my throat was hurting pretty bad, worse than it had ever felt before. But me being the self-diagnoser I am, just went and purchased some of the good Nyquil. You know, the kind behind the pharmacy counter. The next day was the 4th. I didn't have any big plans as most of my friends were out of town for various reasons, so I decided to relax for the weekend. Good thing! My Nyquil had failed! It seemed now my throat had gone from sore to swollen and painful with swallowing. Well of course it is a holiday and the doctors office is not open and I didn't want to wait in the ER when all the people were coming in after blowing off their fingers with illegal fireworks*.

By Friday night I was starting to freak out so I called my Mom to see if she had any further ideas about how to fix a really sore throat. She listed some things for me that I had already done and then she told me to go to the doctor. Well I am apparently slightly stubborn and waited it out until the morning to go to the Urgent Care that opened up at 8am. I told Mom I'd go to the ER if my throat closed up anymore and I coudn't breathe. (Which now sounds funny since how would I get there if I couldn't breathe?) At that time I thought I was having an allergic reaction and that is why my throat was closing up. Anyway, I slept poorly that night. About an hour at a time is all I could do.

I drove to the Urgent Care and was there early, about 7:30am. No traffic on Saturday morning after a holiday. I was the second person to sign in and was subsequently seen within a decent time frame. As soon as the nurse saw my throat she pulled out the strep kit and gagged me, I mean obtained some samples. While we waited for the results I saw the doctor, who was pretty sure it was strep due to the hugeness of my tonsils. After waiting more, she came back and said the test was positive and did I want a shot or pills. After about 2 seconds I said shot. It hurt a little but was sooo worth it. It's nice not to say "ow" after everytime I swallow.



No photos of my nasty throat. I even had a hard time looking at the white stuff blocking my throat off and we all know how I love my gore. But I did add this generic looking picture. Just imagine the white spots being a LOT BIGGER. I am feeling much better now! Finally.

*While lighting fireworks is illegal in North Carolina, it does not stop the stores from selling them.

What I did on my Summer Vacation

This year my Summer vacation was action packed. I saw 3 movies, attended a wedding, drove to Las Vegas, met my new great nephew and hung out with family. The nine days flew by really fast and I'm glad I got to see almost everyone.

Movies: The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man and The Happening.

Wedding: Clarisa and Skyler

Las Vegas

Great Nephew: Jack was born on June 20

Mixed Emotions

Part of my daily routine is reading yahoo news. While probably not the best source for overall news information, the headlines do grab my attention, so that is what gets read. This headline from this morning reads: "Scanners that see through clothing installed in US airport." My first reaction is COOL! No more measuring small liquids to put in your carryon on bags, taking off shoes, etc. Until I read:

"While it allows the security screeners -- looking at the images in a separate room -- to clearly see the passenger's sexual organs as well as other details of their bodies, the passenger's face is blurred, TSA said in a statement on its website."

This statement slightly gives me the willies. I can see all kinds of ways these images can be exploited despite the promise that after the screening is done the picture cannot be saved, printed or exported in anyway. Gratefully, at this time this is a voluntary option and there are only about 10 scanners made installed right now. Have a complete stranger pat you down or have a complete stranger see through your clothing. I think I'll drive.

Original article

Ketchup Gallery

Memorial Day Shooting Trip

Memorial Day was pretty exciting for me this year. I was able to tag along with my co-worker Viktor and his cute little family to Badin Lake. We had a nice picnic by the lake and then after went to the outdoor shooting range. Shooting? Cameras? Actually this type when I say shooting, I mean guns. We had a blast and shot a lot of ammo. I felt tough and hit the bullseye a time or two. I borrowed this video from Viktor so you can see me in action.

Becky's review of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

First off, the title of the movie is way tooooo long. I keep cutting and pasting it instead of typing it all out. Second off, I love Indiana Jones! Granted I had my doubts with Harrison Ford reaching a ripe old age of 65, but he looked fantastic. Since I tend to judge movies by parts and not overallness, I will try and break down my review into these 4 segments: Actors, Action, Plot, and Ending. My feeling is I try not to let one little part of the movie ruin the whole overall review of the movie.

Actors: Harrison Ford, Shia Lebouf, and Cate Blanchett all gave very credible feeling to their characters. Of course Harrison has played this role 4 times now and is pretty good at it. Shia, one of my new favorite young actors, did a fantastic job of trying to break out of his nerd/geek guy trying to act cool role into a tough guy 50's rebel role. Cate Blanchett is basically amazing in every movie she attempts. Her Russian accent was excellent and you can almost feel the power hungriness roll right off her.

Action: This movie was a non-stop action ride. From fist fights, to sword fighting, to car fighting, waterfalls, snakes, and indigenous creepy little fighters. I was entertained from beginning to end.

Plot: I do not necessarily have to have a great plot to consider a movie amazing. (i.e. Jackie Chans first movies) However, this plot was somewhat decent. The reintroduction of a character from the first Indiana Jones movie was clever. The Russians being bad and wanting weird power felt pretty normal. The Crystal Skull is an interesting artifact to chase after.

Ending: This movie did a poor job of ending. Without trying to give away too many spoilers, I felt the ending was a cop out and what could have been a fantastic movie, knocked it down to a pretty good status.

I do recommend everyone to see this movie. Whether you see it in the theatre or wait for DVD you will be entertained. Really? Isn't that the point of a movie?