Saturday, May 01, 2004
mini MINIs!
Check out my growing collection of mini MINIs! (I didn't realize I actually had a collection until today.) My friend, Andrew defines a collection as "Having 3 or more of any one thing".So, here they are:
I have the 1:28 that my dealer gave me upon delivery,
The 1:36 that I bought off ebay way back in September right after I gave my deposit,
The 1:43 radio controlled MINI that Dick's sister just sent me for my birthday,
.... and now the little 1" version that I just got today! My Auntie Lani and Uncle Rob just returned from Germany. They went to drive their new BMW around, and found this at the BMW store! Isn't it cute? And yes, it races along the floor when you pull it back a bit!
Thursday, April 29, 2004
Happy Birthday Claude!
Happy 7th Birthday to my Claude Kitty. (Claude Cat-Chow)
I adopted Claude from the San Francisco SPCA almost 4 years ago. He had just turned 3. His record stated that his actual birthday was April 29th - just a day after mine. We're both Tauruses. I figured that was a good sign. :)
Claude moved in with my Mom and Dad a couple of years ago when I moved in with Dick. We figured he'd be happiest as an only cat, rather than coming in to a house that already had two cats. I definitely had momma-cat guilt about bringing him to my parent's but it all worked out - he's really happy with them, and he makes them both very happy. They spoil him tremendously, and he loves it. (and gets away with all kinds of things)
Happy Birthday, Claude! :)
I adopted Claude from the San Francisco SPCA almost 4 years ago. He had just turned 3. His record stated that his actual birthday was April 29th - just a day after mine. We're both Tauruses. I figured that was a good sign. :)
Claude moved in with my Mom and Dad a couple of years ago when I moved in with Dick. We figured he'd be happiest as an only cat, rather than coming in to a house that already had two cats. I definitely had momma-cat guilt about bringing him to my parent's but it all worked out - he's really happy with them, and he makes them both very happy. They spoil him tremendously, and he loves it. (and gets away with all kinds of things)
Happy Birthday, Claude! :)
Wednesday, April 28, 2004
34 years old
April 28, 1970.
Stockton, CA
9:30am (ish)
Young (and I mean YOUNG - only 21 years old) Henry & Barbara Chow welcomed their 2nd daughter into the world.
As the story goes.... all throughout my Mom's pregnancy, they were told that I was going to be a boy. They were never told otherwise, so they never thought of any girl names at all. They did decide on one whopper of a boy's name though: Lance Everett Christopher Michael Chow. Count 'em - 4 names (plus a last name of course). Could you imagine? Imagine the frustration of trying to learn to spell that name in Kindergarten! Why so many names? My parents claim that they couldn't agree on just two. My Dad wanted Lance Everett (such a power name!) and my Mom liked Christopher Michael. So they simply combined the two. I'm actually not certain on the order. It could have Christopher Michael Lance Everett. Or even Michael Christopher Lance Everett. (Mom - which was it?) Anyhow, I'm certain that this was fate's reason for having me pop out as a girl.
So I was born, and without a name for a couple of days. My Mom and I stayed in the hospital for 3 days before we were discharged. For the first two days, I'm pretty sure I was simply "Baby Girl Chow".
My parents did toss around a few names over the first couple of days. The ones I know about are "Sabrina" and "Tabitha". Unfortunately, these were also both names of fictional witches - Sabrina from The Archies, and Tabitha from the TV series "Bewitched".
Ironically, they had already chosen my middle name: Kristin. I'm not sure where that came from, other than they both liked it, but didn't want it as a first name.
On the 3rd and last day at the hospital, my parents had no choice to name me before we were discharged. (no pressure!) Lucky for me, my Mom was watching the TV cooking show "The Galloping Gourmet", and he happened to mention that his wife's name was "Treena" (note the spelling). My mom really liked the name (but not the spelling) and decided that it went really well with my sister's name "Tiffini". Tiffini & Trina. T1 & T2. The Two T's
So there you have it: Trina Kristin Chow born April 28, 1970.
I'd like to thank the galloping gourmet for mentioning his wife's name on that fateful day!
Oh, and Thanks Mom & Dad! :)
Stockton, CA
9:30am (ish)
Young (and I mean YOUNG - only 21 years old) Henry & Barbara Chow welcomed their 2nd daughter into the world.
As the story goes.... all throughout my Mom's pregnancy, they were told that I was going to be a boy. They were never told otherwise, so they never thought of any girl names at all. They did decide on one whopper of a boy's name though: Lance Everett Christopher Michael Chow. Count 'em - 4 names (plus a last name of course). Could you imagine? Imagine the frustration of trying to learn to spell that name in Kindergarten! Why so many names? My parents claim that they couldn't agree on just two. My Dad wanted Lance Everett (such a power name!) and my Mom liked Christopher Michael. So they simply combined the two. I'm actually not certain on the order. It could have Christopher Michael Lance Everett. Or even Michael Christopher Lance Everett. (Mom - which was it?) Anyhow, I'm certain that this was fate's reason for having me pop out as a girl.
So I was born, and without a name for a couple of days. My Mom and I stayed in the hospital for 3 days before we were discharged. For the first two days, I'm pretty sure I was simply "Baby Girl Chow".
My parents did toss around a few names over the first couple of days. The ones I know about are "Sabrina" and "Tabitha". Unfortunately, these were also both names of fictional witches - Sabrina from The Archies, and Tabitha from the TV series "Bewitched".
Ironically, they had already chosen my middle name: Kristin. I'm not sure where that came from, other than they both liked it, but didn't want it as a first name.
On the 3rd and last day at the hospital, my parents had no choice to name me before we were discharged. (no pressure!) Lucky for me, my Mom was watching the TV cooking show "The Galloping Gourmet", and he happened to mention that his wife's name was "Treena" (note the spelling). My mom really liked the name (but not the spelling) and decided that it went really well with my sister's name "Tiffini". Tiffini & Trina. T1 & T2. The Two T's
So there you have it: Trina Kristin Chow born April 28, 1970.
I'd like to thank the galloping gourmet for mentioning his wife's name on that fateful day!
Oh, and Thanks Mom & Dad! :)
Tuesday, April 27, 2004
My MINI is officially a "City Car"
Here's the schedule for this morning:
7:00am: wake up (after not sleeping from 3:30-6:30am)
7:40am: leave house
7:45am: go to bagel shop
7:55am: arrive at San Francisco DMV
8:00am: doors open at DMV
take a number, and wait in line
8:15am: change car registration to reflect new address ($15.00)
8:25am: arrive at San Francisco DPT (Dept. of Parking & Traffic)
wait in line
8:55am: present new car registration with new address to obtain a new neighborhood parking permit! ($27.00/year)
Drive home, affix new parking permit to the bumper of my MINI - MINI is now officially a "city car"! (although she doesn't seem to too excited to have a bright blue metallic sticker on her rear)
Here's what I've learned from this experience:
I had sent in a change of address form when we moved back into my condo (about 6 weeks ago). I called DMV yesterday to ask whether or not they received it (they hadn't) and found out that I had to go into an office in person to request a new registration card with the new address any way (can't be done by mailing in, or over the phone). DMV does offer appointments, but all of the DMV offices in the area were booked through next week. My temporary permit expires at the end of this month, and Dick needs his before he returns to work on Monday. So the trick to going to both DMV and DPT is to go as early as possible. They both open at 8:00am. The last time I went to DPT I waited line for over an hour, so this morning was a breeze!
7:00am: wake up (after not sleeping from 3:30-6:30am)
7:40am: leave house
7:45am: go to bagel shop
7:55am: arrive at San Francisco DMV
8:00am: doors open at DMV
take a number, and wait in line
8:15am: change car registration to reflect new address ($15.00)
8:25am: arrive at San Francisco DPT (Dept. of Parking & Traffic)
wait in line
8:55am: present new car registration with new address to obtain a new neighborhood parking permit! ($27.00/year)
Drive home, affix new parking permit to the bumper of my MINI - MINI is now officially a "city car"! (although she doesn't seem to too excited to have a bright blue metallic sticker on her rear)
Here's what I've learned from this experience:
I had sent in a change of address form when we moved back into my condo (about 6 weeks ago). I called DMV yesterday to ask whether or not they received it (they hadn't) and found out that I had to go into an office in person to request a new registration card with the new address any way (can't be done by mailing in, or over the phone). DMV does offer appointments, but all of the DMV offices in the area were booked through next week. My temporary permit expires at the end of this month, and Dick needs his before he returns to work on Monday. So the trick to going to both DMV and DPT is to go as early as possible. They both open at 8:00am. The last time I went to DPT I waited line for over an hour, so this morning was a breeze!
Monday, April 26, 2004
RAM-alicious
Yay! Dick bought me RAM for my birthday! (that, and a trip to Hawaii, mind you) :)
RAM-arama. RAM-tastic. RAM-tacular!
I'm so excited. How many girls out there (with the exception of Willo, perhaps) would be excited to get RAM for their Birthday? Mac Chics unite!
We got a 512MB module. We tried to get two, but they only had one in stock. (we got it from the new Apple store in Union Square). My Powerbook has two RAM slots, and can hold up to 1GB of RAM. It came with 512MB, but unfortunately, it was divided into two modules of 256MB each. Kind of kooky, if you ask me, but I'm sure that was Apple's way of getting you to buy more RAM. So, in order for me to get the full capacity, I'll have to buy 2 new 512MB modules, and replace both 256MB modules. Anyhow, we installed my new 512MB, in addition to one of the original 256MB - giving us a grand total of 768MB of RAM! I figured I'll be just fine with this amount for a good long time. Perhaps, I'll upgrade to 1 GB in the future when it's feeling sluggish again. I'll assume the Apple store will have another 512MB module in stock by then ;)
You may remember that I bought an extra 512MB module by Viking when I first got my new Powerbook last summer. I think the RAM was bad, though. BAD RAM! Bad, bad RAM! :) My computer started having some glitches within a few months, and when I took out the RAM, it seemed to clear up. Apparently, my Powerbook didn't play well with non-Apple RAM. I'm hoping it takes to the new Apple RAM better. At least this time the new RAM comes with a 1 year warranty.
Banana-RAM-a :)
RAM-arama. RAM-tastic. RAM-tacular!
I'm so excited. How many girls out there (with the exception of Willo, perhaps) would be excited to get RAM for their Birthday? Mac Chics unite!
We got a 512MB module. We tried to get two, but they only had one in stock. (we got it from the new Apple store in Union Square). My Powerbook has two RAM slots, and can hold up to 1GB of RAM. It came with 512MB, but unfortunately, it was divided into two modules of 256MB each. Kind of kooky, if you ask me, but I'm sure that was Apple's way of getting you to buy more RAM. So, in order for me to get the full capacity, I'll have to buy 2 new 512MB modules, and replace both 256MB modules. Anyhow, we installed my new 512MB, in addition to one of the original 256MB - giving us a grand total of 768MB of RAM! I figured I'll be just fine with this amount for a good long time. Perhaps, I'll upgrade to 1 GB in the future when it's feeling sluggish again. I'll assume the Apple store will have another 512MB module in stock by then ;)
You may remember that I bought an extra 512MB module by Viking when I first got my new Powerbook last summer. I think the RAM was bad, though. BAD RAM! Bad, bad RAM! :) My computer started having some glitches within a few months, and when I took out the RAM, it seemed to clear up. Apparently, my Powerbook didn't play well with non-Apple RAM. I'm hoping it takes to the new Apple RAM better. At least this time the new RAM comes with a 1 year warranty.
Banana-RAM-a :)
Prime Rib Fest
Oops - been a few days since I last posted. Sorry about that. Now I'll have to backtrack, and try to jog my memory....
Sunday:
(night) we took my family (Mom, Dad and Sis) and our Real Estate Super Agent, Pete Brannigan out to dinner at The House of Prime Rib to thank them for all of their help with our move. It was an exceptional meal.
My parents and my sister gave us a wonderful house-warming gift: "His" and "Hers" brass plates for us to put on the doors of our individual condos! Brilliant! We were hoping to get these done eventually, so it was a wonderful gift!
It was really hot yesterday - hot for us San Francisco weather wimps, that is. Somewhere in the mid-80s. Oy.
Dick and I were busy bees yesterday - we wired an ethernet cable from the downstairs unit closet (where the media center will live) down to the basement, up the wall of the building, and into my office upstairs (where our high-speed cable modem lives)! Dick ordered 1,000 feet (yep, 1,000!) of ethernet cable, and a cool little kit so we can make our own ethernet cables. We'll do a little more wiring during the week so our media center/Xbox(s) will be all ready to hook up once we make the big move downstairs.
Saturday: I spent the day with my family at my sister's place in Oakland. We painted two walls in her bedroom, and her guest bathroom. It turned out really nice. We also had a great visit from my Grandparents, who came down to do some shopping in Oakland Chinatown! They brought us Dim Sum for lunch, and we all went out to dinner in the evening.
Dick spent part of the day installing our new garbage disposal in the downstairs kitchen. yep, that boyfriend of mine - he's a handy guy! He was very excited about the project. Neither of the condos have ever had a garbage disposal installed before (that can't be too unusual in old houses) so there was a lot of work to be done. Dick did all of the electrical wiring first, used his new Dremmel tool to remove the old drain from the sink, then attached the new unit, and hooked it up to the plumbing. Wow - impressive!
The painters didn't come over the weekend, which was a surprise only because they told us when they left on Friday that they would come on both days. Oh well. I'm not sure what that means as far as our scheduling goes. Hopefully, we'll be able to move in this weekend, but I'm not sure yet....
They did manage to get very far last week, though. They prepped the whole downstairs - it took 3 guys 3 days just to do the prepping! (lots of work to be done) They are painting the ceilings today, and will probably paint the trim tomorrow. I'll keep ya posted.
Friday: Dick and I drove down to Woodside to have lunch, and a meeting with my client at Buck's. It was a yummy lunch, good meeting, and a nice drive down 280.
That's all I can remember off the top of my head. I'm sure that there were other interesting things that must of happened, but they simply escape me at the moment.
Sunday:
(night) we took my family (Mom, Dad and Sis) and our Real Estate Super Agent, Pete Brannigan out to dinner at The House of Prime Rib to thank them for all of their help with our move. It was an exceptional meal.
My parents and my sister gave us a wonderful house-warming gift: "His" and "Hers" brass plates for us to put on the doors of our individual condos! Brilliant! We were hoping to get these done eventually, so it was a wonderful gift!
It was really hot yesterday - hot for us San Francisco weather wimps, that is. Somewhere in the mid-80s. Oy.
Dick and I were busy bees yesterday - we wired an ethernet cable from the downstairs unit closet (where the media center will live) down to the basement, up the wall of the building, and into my office upstairs (where our high-speed cable modem lives)! Dick ordered 1,000 feet (yep, 1,000!) of ethernet cable, and a cool little kit so we can make our own ethernet cables. We'll do a little more wiring during the week so our media center/Xbox(s) will be all ready to hook up once we make the big move downstairs.
Saturday: I spent the day with my family at my sister's place in Oakland. We painted two walls in her bedroom, and her guest bathroom. It turned out really nice. We also had a great visit from my Grandparents, who came down to do some shopping in Oakland Chinatown! They brought us Dim Sum for lunch, and we all went out to dinner in the evening.
Dick spent part of the day installing our new garbage disposal in the downstairs kitchen. yep, that boyfriend of mine - he's a handy guy! He was very excited about the project. Neither of the condos have ever had a garbage disposal installed before (that can't be too unusual in old houses) so there was a lot of work to be done. Dick did all of the electrical wiring first, used his new Dremmel tool to remove the old drain from the sink, then attached the new unit, and hooked it up to the plumbing. Wow - impressive!
The painters didn't come over the weekend, which was a surprise only because they told us when they left on Friday that they would come on both days. Oh well. I'm not sure what that means as far as our scheduling goes. Hopefully, we'll be able to move in this weekend, but I'm not sure yet....
They did manage to get very far last week, though. They prepped the whole downstairs - it took 3 guys 3 days just to do the prepping! (lots of work to be done) They are painting the ceilings today, and will probably paint the trim tomorrow. I'll keep ya posted.
Friday: Dick and I drove down to Woodside to have lunch, and a meeting with my client at Buck's. It was a yummy lunch, good meeting, and a nice drive down 280.
That's all I can remember off the top of my head. I'm sure that there were other interesting things that must of happened, but they simply escape me at the moment.
&
