It's Finally Over!!!

The US Presidential election is finally over! Woohoo! It's been in the news since we moved to Texas in 2006. Yes, campaigning starts about two years before the election date...much too long if you ask me, but it lets candidates start fundraising earlier and we all know how expensive it is to run for president. Both Hillary Clinton and Mitt Romney had to dig into their own pockets to support their own prospective campaigns.

Will I miss the endless political ads on television? No, not really, although they didn't bother me as much as the ads for the multitude of Propositions that were on the California ballot. It was estimated that it would take the average resident here about 30 minutes to vote considering everything that he/she had to vote for. I even kept a 'cheat sheet' that the San Francisco Chronicle published to keep track of all the propositions. It came in handy each time a prop ad appeared on television. In addition to state-wide props there were also municipal props...Must check to see if the prop allowing a new 49ers stadium off Great America Pkwy was passed and if the BART extension prop was passed.

The main thing I am hoping and praying for is that the president-elect does NOT raise taxes!! Let's just say there was a noticeable difference in the tax-rate moving from Texas to California...guess that's the price you pay for living with this gorgeous weather.

Oh, and for everyone amazed that the California Electoral College went Democratic during the presidential election and yet voted in Prop 8: this is a state that contains Hollywood and San Francisco and yet produced Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan. Remember that the 'Governator' Arnold Schwarzenegger is Republican. California is a land of dichotomy in so many ways: socially, politically, and geographically. Yet, with all these differences people view the state the same way: a land of opportunity -- with the best weather.

San Francisco Here I Come!

To cap off a week of celebrating my birthday Hubby and I are heading to San Francisco for the weekend. Since it's my birthday, we're staying at my favourite hotel the St. Francis. It's right on Union Square so of course I'll be shopping my heart out...although, I'm not quite sure about Hubby...perhaps I'll point him in the direction of a camera store and/or Borders. But, I must admit that I'll be starting my Christmas shopping so it'll be more shopping for others than myself.

We're going to Jeanty at Jack's for dinner on Saturday night. This little French restaurant is in a building dating back to 1864 (yes, it survived the big 1906 earthquake) and, I believe, there has always been a restaurant (of one variety or another) operating in it since 1864.

We're leaving in a couple of hours, so I guess I should start packing. Although I have to do some...gasp...housework first...and perhaps I should phone my sister and find out what the niece and nephew want for Christmas.

Happy Halloween

Just want to wish everyone a Happy Halloween. Watch out for ghouls and goblins this evening and take it easy on the sweets. Hubby and I didn't buy any candy this year because we never get trick-or-treaters at the door (not many children in the neighborhood) and it's too much of a temptation post Halloween. Also, for all the Wiccans out there, hope you have a great celebration.

I Hate the New Facebook

Just went on Facebook after a long absence due to the whole relocation thing and I felt like Dorothy stepping into the land of Oz for the first time. What happened??? Why did they screw around with this??? In other words...I hate it.

The wonderful thing about the old Facebook layout was its simplicity as everything about a person was on the first 'page'. If you wanted to see photos or further information on a person then you clicked through to another 'page'. Quick, simple, concise. Go to someone's profile, and you could take a glance at what they've been up to lately, and then check something/someone else out. It was almost like a person's extended yearbook page. Now they have turned it into a personal reference book for an individual.

The powers that be at Facebook have killed the very 'selling point' of this social networking website, namely its ease-of-use and simplicity. Sure, the personal pages were cluttered looking, but blame that on the annoying applications that spread faster than mono in high school. Dammit...I wish users had been given the choice to keep the original Facebook layout as Yahoo did with its email (yep, I've still got Yahoo Classic). Guess this just means that I will be spending less time on Facebook...Wonder if others feel likewise...

Don't Box Me In

Boxes, boxes, boxes....My life seems to revolve around cardboard boxes. First I was packing cardboard boxes. Then, I was moving boxes and now I am living in an apartment filled with cardboard boxes. It seems like everyday is a new adventure in unpacking cardboard boxes. At least I finally found our drinking glasses -- of course it was the last 'kitchen' box I opened. The boxes are driving me up the wall...not to mention all the packing paper that needs to be folded for recycling.

We Are Finally Here

We finally made it to sunny California on Sunday. Driving from Dallas to Silicon Valley was a crazy idea. We were exhausted when we arrived at the hotel -- although we did make it in time to see the Cowboys game.

It was an amazing drive on I40. We saw a 'road-runner' scoot across the road in New Mexico and there's amazing stargazing out in Arizona. It was funny to go for miles with no sign of humanity, and then come across an Indian casino on the side of the road. Really, a casino in the middle of nowhere. This trip gave me a great appreciation of those earlier pioneers who crossed the American West with covered wagons.

At this point, we are in our new apartment surrounded by boxes. I'm slowly making my way through them -- at least I finally cleared the ones in the kitchen. The guest bedroom/office looks more like a storage room. So we had to clear out space for the Comcast guy to hook-up the modem by the desk, at which we can access by way of a path through the boxes. Oh, and I still have yet to find our drinking glasses...

Hurricane Ike, Part I

Here's hoping that Hurricane Ike does not interfere with our travel plans to Texas this weekend...or creates a tropical storm next week on our moving date...Rain I can handle -- 60mph winds are not a 'walk in the park'.

Is Marion Really a Barbarian?

Another side to Cowboys running back Marion Barber. I love how tough he is on the field, but seeing him play the piano makes me love him more. Looks like his apartment might be next door to TO's at the Azure...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMKviYGyYC8


(Had problems adding this link, but it is from HBO's 'Hard Knocks'.)

Cowboys Fan

Last Sunday I convinced Hubby that we should find a sports bar to watch the Cowboys season opener against Cleveland. This was after discovering that the San Francisco 49er games get coverage above all others in the Bay area. Luckily after an internet search we found this great sports bar in Palo Alto called Old Pro. They have multiple plasmas mounted on the walls showing every NFL game and it was packed. The food was good, but the atmosphere was electric. Discovering this bar totally makes up for not having the NFL network.

Sunnydale?

Yesterday Hubby was checking on a shipment of business cards that was to arrive from Ottawa as there are a couple of big meetings tomorrow. After tracking the shipment with FedEx he discovered that the person who sent them addressed them to Sunnydale, California. Sunnydale does not exist, although it did serve as the fictional town where Buffy the Vampire Slayer trolled cemetaries. Wonder if he got the office manager to sign for the packages as 'Buffy'.

Hanging Out in SC

Hubby started his new job this week and I tagged along to hang out in SC...as in Santa Clara, California not South Carolina. At the moment there is a 'heat wave' with temps hovering around low 90s -- in Texas that's called spring/fall weather. So, we've been enjoying the cooler temps and I've been lounging by the pool while Hubby is slaving away at work. I've also been amusing myself with a great read "A Much Married Man" by Nicholas Coleridge, and the crazy-media-microscope that is covering Sarah Palin. The woman can't win for losing when it comes to her media coverage...and it isn't liberal-media bias because Hillary Clinton was under the same media-microscope. Guess some media big-wigs get their knickers in a twist just thinking about a woman getting within presidential range. Still, I'm amused at how 'Canadian' Sarah Palin is: she's a hockey-mom who love moose meat and snowmobiling. Gee, I grew up in Quebec and have never been on a snowmobile and honestly don't enjoy game meat...she really may be more Canadian than I am.