I've Got the "Willies" Now!

I was heating up the little T-Fal electric grill we have in the kitchen, I closed the kitchen door and then partially opened the windows in there for some ventilation. Suddenly, I was being swarmed by "flying ants"! I think that they were termites, but that doesn't matter. I FEEL SWARMED! EEEEK!!! I NEED A 3RD SHOWER!

I became a woman with a "mission from God" (remember the Blues Brothers?)! I closed the windows, found my fly-swatter in the laundry room, covered the food I was preparing, and then started swatting those suckers like a mad woman! Holy Moly! It's just not right to have swarming insects flying freely this high up in the atmosphere AND IN MY DAMN KITCHEN!

I would've used my handy-dandy Baygone, but I only want to kill those damn flying bugs, NOT myself!

It's been a couple of hours now..........I think I've gotten all of those critters with the fly-swatter. You'd better hope so, or there's going to be more posts about creepy-flying things in our apartment!

Singapore Demolition

Demolition and construction is a constant here in Singapore. Three new condos are being built nearby. The jack-hammering on the condo in this video started yesterday. Fortunately, the building being taken down here isn't as tall as the Ardmore View was. They worked 6 days a week for at least 6 months to raze it.





The tall building you see from our bedroom window is the Shangri-La Hotel

Blogger is Giving Me a Headache!

I'll admit, I'm not the most blog-savvy person in the world. I'm just geeky enough to be dangerous. However, every time I try to do something new with this blog, Blogger is either down, slow, or as happened to me today, giving me error messages. I'm just trying to figure out WHY I'm getting the error messages. Each time I try to publish, it's a different message. So, this is only a test of the Geek broadcasting system.

Chattahoochee River

Patrick rode his new mountain bike to the river yesterday and sent me these pictures.

VOTE!!!!

Just A Few Things......

I went to the doctor today just to get the usual meds, and was about to leave when one of the women who works for Dr. Tan said that he forgot to give me a flu shot. I went back in, and he gave me the flu shot. No such thing as having 50 nurses/aides running around. I go into his office, sit down next to his little desk, and he does vitals, etc. It's like the olden days -- and it's so much better! It costs S$35 to see the doctor. Yes, the meds still cost a fortune, but whaddya' gonna' do when most are from the U.S?

The Singapore Government had asked all doctors to order enough shots for all of their patients. Imagine that -- no shortage of flu shots, and I can get it at my doctor's office! No standing in long queues or going to six different places to try to get a shot.

Keith Olbermann's Special Comment on Military Commissions Act

I enjoy Keith Olbermann's "Special Comments"; this man does not back down nor is he afraid to call 'em as he sees 'em. We need a lot more people like him.

Cheney's Grand Scam

(Click to play)

Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew

Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew (founding father of Singapore) arrived at the Pentagon yesterday for talks with Donald Rumsfeld. MM Lee is in the U.S. for a two-week visit.

Jim at Home

We gave Jim our old camera several months ago, and he has finally sent me some pictures of he and his "roommate" Ray.

"Bone the Page"

(Click to listen to a sleazy, sicko-song)

Singapore Haze Worsens

Around 4 pm I was headed for the laundry room and looked out the window to discover the haze is probably the worst it has ever been since we've lived here. I checked the National Environment Agency's website for the PSI then and it was up to 130! The same thing at 5 pm. I just tried to check it a few minutes ago and the website is bogged down with traffic.

The Associated Press has reported that flights have been cancelled due to brush fires in Borneo and Sumatra.

Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) has come up with a new pact to prevent the haze, but up to now, no pact has been effective. Indonesia says that they will prosecute plantation owners who start fires, but as we've witnessed ourselves, it's not working.

Meteorologists say that we can expect the haze to worsen.

U.S. Marines in Singapore

After the movie, we went to Boat Quay for dinner. As we were walking to get a taxi, I remarked that we'd never checked out Molly Malone's before. Once inside, we heard a young man talking about his experience at Orchard Towers, and then he said it was his birthday. We decided that we should buy him a birthday drink.

It turned out that he had a lot of buddies with him -- U.S. Marines here only for the weekend. It was really fun talking with them. It made me miss the days when Jim and Patrick would have a bunch of guys over to hang out (although I don't miss cleaning up after them). These young men have very hard jobs, and I admire them for their commitment to serve our country. Thanks guys!

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby

We were finally able to see "Talldega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby"! My face hurts, I laughed so hard. Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed that Will Farrell ends up wearing just his underwear in almost everything he does?

Patrick's Pics

I've been bugging Patrick to send me some pictures for a LONG time. He finally did yesterday (you can click on the pic to see a larger image)...............

The Raconteurs Live -- "Level"

Patrick told me about the Raconteurs the other day, and I went searching for a video, but could only find them with the audience singing louder than the band. He came up with this one; it's a cool song. Their sound seems familiar to me; is it to you?

The Feeling - Sewn

The Feeling - "Sewn"
Live at Manchester Fopp

I like this song

Blogspot Is Acting Weird

Something weird happened with my previous post. This is a test.

Kentucky Lake -- 2004

The other day I was going through "My Documents" (I think I was looking for that Chris Isaak song); I ended up being distracted by a Word Document from 2 years ago. I must give a bit of background here.......

We went on a long-weekend vacation trip to Kentucky Lake where we met Skip, Beth, and Jessica. We brought Woofie along (she drove Jess bonkers!!), but for an old dog, she was pretty well-behaved. She had the best time sniffing all sorts of things and woofing at dogs that happened to walk in front of our little place. That's what all good Woofstas are supposed to do.

The place where we were staying was very nice -- clean, well-equipped kitchen, near the lake. Nice! It even had a little grill in front for us to barbeque. Yet, the weather went bad on us -- cold and rainy. Michael and I had to buy sweatshirts (we came up from Atlanta), then as we were getting ready to rent our fishing boat, Jess' bag was stolen! Can you believe that? In Kentucky!

We went out and Michael, Skip and Jess fished along the coves in our little pontoon boat. All was well -- UNTIL I needed to use the bathroom! OMG! OK, I'll leave it to your imagination.

Now, I'm sure I'm forgetting a lot of things (I didn't have a blog back then). We decided that we would go out to dinner one evening while we were there. Skip and Beth had heard many good things about "Patty's Settlement". It's a quaint little spot with antiques stores and pretty gardens in Western Kentucky.

We decided that we'd go to the restaurant at Patty's that got rave reviews from Carlinville folks. I can't remember what I ordered or anyone else, for that matter, but Skip ordered the smoked pork chops. It took the waiter a long time to wait on us. Then, he told us that they don't serve BEER; only non-alcoholic beverages such as iced tea. OK, no big whoop (to us gals), but Skip and Michael wanted to eat dinner and get the heck out of there! It was really quiet in the place too. We were all afraid to speak above a whisper.

We were finally served our meals and Skip announces, "This smoked pork chop tastes like ham. I don't like ham." Jess offered him her meal, and I think they traded some food. It was funny -- except that Skip was hungry and he doesn't like ham.

The waiter was not the best -- especially once he told the guys there was no beer on the premises. There just so happened to be a customer comment/survey card at the table that Michael slyly snapped up to take home with us when nobody was looking.

A couple of weeks later, Michael showed me the customer comment/survey card and this letter that "Raymond Lipinski" wrote to Skip:

July 30^th, 2004

Dear Mr. Brooks,

I’m just writing to advise you that my employment from Patty’s has been terminated as a “direct” result of the enclosed customer survey response.

I thought that my level of service to you and your guests at Patty’s Settlement on the evening of July 25^th was of the highest quality. However, based on the fallout since that evening it is clear my assumption was quite inaccurate. I am still not clear what transpired during the course of that evening that could have justified such a savage and brutal attack on a college-bound waiter looking to earn book money for his first semester. Was it the quiet dining area of our establishment that caused you incredible distress? Was our tea not up to the standards set by people from “middle” Illinois? Or, perhaps a more direct question, do you just not know how to properly order when confronted with a full savory menu of PORK & PIE?

I suspect you are some sick son-of-a-bitch who just wanders around eating restaurant favorites, only to then lay waste to the support staff for what must clearly be a twisted sense of humor. Everyone knows that when you smoke a pork chop it tastes like ham. What $%^&ing planet did you come from to be stupid enough to think it would taste like just a “smoked” pork chop. Man! Come to your culinary senses!

Perhaps it was the fact that our humble little county chooses to not serve “devil’s brew” to each and every patron who enters our establishment. I see it all the time, a drink before dinner, chuckles at the table, another during the meal, a satisfying belch at the end. God knows what happens to your poor meal mate once you get her home. Wild crazy sex in all rooms of the house. Have you no morals? We certainly do.

I must close now so I can go and get into the unemployment line down at the Kentucky Dam. Just remember the little guy the next time you order out and remember:

F*&KING SMOKED PORK CHOPS TASTE LIKE HAM…………..!!!!!!!!!!!!

Belittled and bewildered,

Raymond Lipinski
Ex- Patty’s Settlement waiter for 5 years

P.S. I think your wife is really hot.

A Presidential "Job Description"

President Bush announces his JOB DESCRIPTION:

Gnarls Barkley

I was talking to Patrick the other day, and he told me that he went to see Gnarls Barkley last weekend. I told him I'd never heard of them.................but maybe "I'm Crazy" because I HAVE heard them a lot on the radio here. Duh!

Chris Isaak

I forgot to include Chris Isaak in my "profile".................oh my, the song "Wicked Games" is just so................Good....... I know I've got it on a CD, but I can't find it. Probably in storage somewhere. Anyway, I was chatting with my sisters and Jennifer claimed not to know this song. Donna and I went bonkers on her! She KNOWS this song, just not the name. Check it out. One of my favs!

Singapore Haze -- Again Dammit!!!

The haze is even worse tonight! No wonder the scientists have said that Singaporeans are "screwed" if there's a major volcano in Indonesia.............I UNDERSTAND!

Now, please stop the rain forest fires..........please???

Romania

Check out Alex's friend's blog Beautiful pictures of Romania (this link is to Ana Catarina's 1st birthday).

Singapore Haze -- Part III

Man, it's really bad today!

Wanda Sykes Does It Again!

"The Tenth Circle" by Jodi Picoult

I spent most of my morning trying to take care of some financial issues in the U.S. I think I was on hold for most of it! What a pain!

I went online for the programming guide to see what I could watch while doing my elliptical and ended up settling on an old "Judging Amy". I think I've seen that episode 3 times now, it's a good one though. I can't use the DVD player because it isn't hooked up. The last TV Michael bought from the employee store is a POS. Never get a POS TV!

After doing my duty of one hour on the elliptical, I decided I'd start in on the next book for our club -- "The Tenth Circle" by Jodi Picoult. She got me hooked within the first few paragraphs. I've not been able to put it down. There are a lot of parallels to the last book we read, "Man and Boy" by Tony Parsons: married couple with one child, father is a stay-at-home dad, mother is a professor of literature specializing in Dante. I won't say anymore than that because I don't want to spoil it. I would definitely recommend this one even though I'm only on page 115 out of 385.

Singapore Haze -- Is Better Today

The hill in the background is Bukit Timah. I can actually see it today! The Straits-Times said today that the haze brought the Pollutants Standards Index (PSI) to 73 yesterday. A reading of 100 is considered unhealthy. From the Straits-Times, "Fires are set by farmers to clear the land during the dry season in Sumatra and Borneo every year. They have continued the practice despite Jakarta's threat that it will prosecute landowners caught in the act.
More than 240 people and two companies are now awaiting criminal charges for the offence."

Let's hope we get some rain soon to put out the fires.

Bad Haze

I took this pic with my phone this afternoon because the haze is so bad, I can't even see Bukit Timah, a very big hill! I think it's much worse today than yesterday. From a Straits-Times article yesterday, "The National Environment Agency (NEA) said on Sunday that active hotspots continued to rage in two provinces in south Sumatra, located south of Singapore." I don't know if the fires there were intentionally set or not.