Tuesday, November 22, 2005

1. When you do a search on Google, when you get the list of results, there's also a small preview of what that result's page looks like :-).
2. On the lower left hand corner, the browser displays the current time in Manila :-).
3. On the lower right hand corner, the weather for Germantown is displayed. The display also includes a map of the region and precipitation over the area :-).
4. If you're viewing a page that doesn't look exactly right in Firefox, there's a button that allows you to view the page as you would see it in Internet Explorer, without launching Internet Explorer. You can then save the settings so that every time you view that page in Firefox, it'll automatically give you the Internet Explorer viewed-version :-).
5. A utility that allows me to click on any part of any web page and it'll tell me what the color information is (this is useful for me because sometimes my laptop displays colors that's different from other screens). The last one's my favorite, though:
   
6. I do a lot of internet research. There's this utility that allows you to highlight important text (similar to the highlight feature in Word). THEN you right click on any of the highlights and you copy JUST the text you highlighted :-).

Posted by Unknown | 7:25 PM | 0 Comments |
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Sunday, November 20, 2005

YAY! Finally!

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We finally got our dining table and chairs :-)!

Like I said in my previous entry, it's not fancy--but we don't need fancy :-). We were actually pleased by how affordable it was. Got it at Walmart, only $174.00. We got the chair pads and the placemats over there too :-). It was packed in pieces and we assembled it ourselves once we got it into the apartment: Steve took care of the chairs and I attached the legs to the table :-).

The centerpiece is actually a gift from Judy and John :-). They had given it to us as a fall decoration gift and we've been trying to find the perfect place for it. Until then, it was on the TV. Now it looks just right as the dining table centerpiece :-).

Now the next step is actually decorating that part of the apartment. There's nothing on the wall behind the table :-).

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Saturday, November 19, 2005

Weather

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I added a weather box to my blog recently (points up to it). I figured this would be a good way to show family and friends what the weather is like over here :-) (hence the Celsius scale. We use Celsius in the Philippines).

I would have wanted to show both C and F scales, but I couldn't find a script for it. If you'd like to see the temperature in the F scale, Steve keeps a weather box on his blog too :-).

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R&R and Lessons Learned

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The best part about the weekend is that you have the sheer luxury of wasting your time :-). I'm sitting back on the sofa and drinking coffee, with my legs propped up on the coffee table :-).

Steve and I will probably get our dining set today. Finally, right? :-) After 5 months, we're just getting around to buying a dining set :-). It's not going to be anything fancy at all. We just need a table and four chairs :-).

Let's see, what have I learned lately that's blogworthy....

I learned that the way the hospitals work over here is MUCH different from the way hospitals work in Manila. In Manila you pay at least PART of your bill when you leave. It felt REALLY weird for me to take Steve home the day he was discharged and not have to pay for anything just yet. Insurance has to process all the costs incurred, figure out how much they'll be covering, THEN they'll send me a bill to me to pay for the difference. That can take about a month or two.

I'm thinking of starting another website or blog that talks about things that are different between the US and Manila. We've got trainees that sometimes come over from Manila and for some of them, this is the first time they've ever been to the US. A website that lets them know what to expect can be very helpful to them :-).

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Monday, November 14, 2005

Missing Flamenco

Current Mood:

Steve and I watched the Legend of Zorro last night. Seeing the costumes and hearing the music made me miss my Manila flamenco class :-). I have my castanets with me, but I don't usually play them anymore because they make so much noise :-).

All throughout the movie I kept looking at the bad guy and I'm thinking, "Why does he look SO familiar?" Steve couldn't figure it out either. Even seeing his name didn't help: Rufus Sewell. We know we'd seen him before but couldn't figure out where.

This morning I finally went to the movie site and looked him up. He's also the bad guy in A Knight's Tale :-).

The sequel was good, by the way :-). They added another dimension to it by having Catherine Zeta Jones fight more :-). There was a little more comedy in this version too.

I did see one loophole, though. At one point in the film Alejandro (Antonio Banderas) and Elena (Catherine Zeta-Jones) get divorced. Then they re-marry at the end of the film with a Spanish Catholic priest officiating. I turned to Steve and whispered, "But if they're Catholic, the priest can't officiate the second wedding because the Catholic church doesn't allow divorce in the first place."

Steve thought about that for a second, then turned to me and went, "SShhh... you're not supposed to notice that :-)."

After the movie we had dinner at Osaka, a Japanese restaurant. They have good Japanese food :-).

Labels: Arts

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Saturday, November 12, 2005

Finally the weekend!

Current Mood:

One of my favorite things about the weekend is that I can get up in the middle of the night and do whatever I want :-). I don't have the "I've GOT to get some sleep, I've got work tomorrow" pressure.

Of course, I'm actually supposed to be doing homework, but it being the weekend, I can take my time a little :-).

I'm so happy that Steve's home. I know it's just a one bedroom one bathroom apartment, but it sure seemed awfully big and lonely without him. I had a sense of the loneliness that you hear about when rich people live in a big empty house all by themselves.

Steve and I went grocery shopping at Walmart today and I told him that he finally has an excuse to use those motorized carts :-).

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Sunday, November 06, 2005

Another quick update

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Steve's staying at mom and dad's for now. He's not well enough to climb 3 flights of stairs yet. He's making great progress, though. He was discharged from the hospital on Saturday. At the rate he's going, he can probably come home to the apartment in a couple of days. I'm so grateful that mom and dad said he could recuperate over at the house. Dad even picked him up at the hospital because the truck is too high for Steve to get into. I don't know how I could have managed without their help :-).

I got a chance to do normal chores yesterday. More than anything right now, Steve's catching up on his sleep. That gave me a chance to do laundry, vacuum the apartment, ironing--the usual stuff.

Well, I got to take care of a few more things then I'm heading over :-). I'll keep everyone updated :-).

Posted by Unknown | 9:28 AM | 0 Comments |
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Friday, November 04, 2005

Quick Update

Current Mood:

Thanks to everyone who sent their get well wishes. I'll make sure I tell Steve about it when I see him again in about an hour :-).

Here's a quick update of what's been going on. The surgery went well and Steve got back to the room at around 7:30pm. He's sleeping on and off, and is still sore from the surgery. We're playing it by ear to see if he's feeling well enough to come home today. The doctor recommended that he start being active bit by bit, and to take deep breaths even if it hurts. You see, the procedure requires that his stomach be pumped with carbon dioxide so they can go in there with the lasers and the camera and do the procedure. There will always be residual carbon dioxide left after such a surgery and one of the ways to dissipate it more quickly is for him to take deep breaths. If he doesn't take deep breaths, fluid could build in his lungs and lead to pneumonia. He's going to end up coughing which is going to make him hurt even more.

It breaks my heart to see him in pain, but better a little preventive pain now than a lot of pain later, especially pain that could have been avoided.

Family came to visit yesterday. It was wonderful to have them over. Steve was a little out of it, but I know he appreciates people visiting and wishing him well.

I'm going back to the hospital soon after getting cleaned up (spent the night at the hospital) and feeding and walking the dogs, but I wanted to make sure I kept everyone updated :-). Thanks again and I hope to have Steve back home soon :-).

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Thursday, November 03, 2005

Emergency surgery

Current Mood:

Steve was throwing up at 5:30am yesterday morning. Then at around 9:30 he calls me at the office and says, "Come home. NOW." I found him at the parking lot of the apartment doubled over in pain and throwing up into a plastic bag.

I took him to the hospital where we found out later that he needs to get his gall bladder removed. He's scheduled for surgery this afternoon.

It was a long wait to finally get a room (we got into the ER at around 10am and didn't get into a room until 8pm, which was only a temporary room. We got into his permanent room at about 9:30pm). I didn't really mind the wait, though. What was important to me was that we were at a place where the people were in a position to help Steve if he was hurting. And what better place than the ER, right? :-)

I've researched gall bladder removal surgery and I was relieved to find out it's not as big a procedure as it used to be. They use lasers now and if all goes well, Steve gets to go home today. The procedure takes about an hour.

I also didn't realize that you could do without your gall bladder. I thought the appendix and one kidney were the only organs you could do without.

Oh, I've got to tell you something really funny that happened at the hospital :-). I was dressed for work, you see, and today I had a green sweater, a brown paisley skirt, and a lovely brown shawl that Judy had given me about a year ago. I've always gotten compliments on that shawl. Judy's really got a good eye when it comes to things like that :-).

Anyway, Steve was being wheeled over to the ultrasound department so they could figure out what was wrong with him. He's laying in bed, waiting for his turn outside the room, grimacing in pain, and the nurses come out. The nurse prepares to check Steve's records, then she looks at me.

"Ohhh what a PRETTY shawl!"
"Why, thank you :-)!"
"(nurse touches the shawl) I've seen these around, but I never realized they could look so pretty. Do you wrap that around your neck?"
"(I demonstrate how to put the shawl on) No, it goes over your head."
"Oh that's so pretty!"

And Steve is watching all this thinking, "I'm in pain here and who gets the attention? My wife and her shawl."

Posted by Unknown | 5:42 AM | 2 Comments |
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Wednesday, November 02, 2005

Steve's Avatar

Current Mood:

In the spirit of Halloween, Steve and I also dressed up our Yahoo Avatars. Steve couldn't settle on a costume though, so his Avatar looks like this right now:

I looked at it and said, "I have the perfect name for it :-)!"

And he said, "What?"

"Ben Grrr." :-)

Yeah, he thought that was a bad joke, too :-).

Posted by Unknown | 2:10 AM | 0 Comments |
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Some midnight blogging

Current Mood:

It's about 1:30am right now. I woke up because Katya was wurfing--there was another dog barking full force in the neighborhood. I remember how she used to respond: she would bark back just as loud. Ever since we moved to the apartment she's learned that she's not supposed to bark as much. She looked so cute trying SO hard to control her impulse to bark :-). She was sitting by the window going "...wurf..! ...wurf!.......wurf...!"

Anyway, Halloween stories :-).

I was supposed to go to work as a vampire. Steve and I got a great costume at Party City :-). Here, let me show you a picture of what the costume is supposed to look like:

We bought fangs and everything too--I didn't want the rubber fakey kind, so we got the kind that you attach to your real teeth.

Unfortunately, we discovered on Halloween day that the fangs don't like being attached to my teeth. Poor Steve had to go get Fixadent to try and fix it (and man, that's some nasty tasting stuff) but it STILL wouldn't work.

So I went to work as a vampire without fangs. I wasn't too happy with it at first, but it kind of helped when I told myself I'd have to take them off anyway or else I wouldn't be able to drink coffee :-).

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