Arie's Blog

Lightning Storms!

Jun 10, 2008
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We're having a bit of a thunderstorm tonight. There is a lot (a lot) of lightning. I have a handy tripod, so I decided to try taking some pictures. I uploaded the best ones to my Flickr account. See them here.

Lightning

Gas Prices

May 30, 2008
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So the fact that fuel prices are rising on almost an hourly basis, isn't really news to anyone. That said, it's not like I've been paying that much attention to historical data on the matter. I just know I'm paying an outrageous amount every month for gas when I work from home and hardly drive.

I filled up my car today for just under $27. That sounds awesome until you realize I already had half a tank when I filled up. I know I'm not the only person who considers the halfway mark the new "E." It makes it seem less awful to put in $30 or so at a time. Filling up at empty for $60 a pop is just painful.

All this got me thinking. Just how much was I paying for gas before? What was I actually spending on gas every month or year? Turns out I can answer this question! My checkbook register goes back to December 1st, 2003, I'm really anal retentive detail oriented, so I always categorize my expenses, and I never pay cash, I always use my debit card!

Monthly Fuel Cost Based On Oldest Available Data

December 2003 - $27.00
I didn't have a regular job at this point and wasn't driving a lot.

December 2004 - $33.01
I was working at GSCI.

December 2005 - no data

December 2006 - $47.38
Working from home.

December 2007 - $55.60
Still working from home.

Annual Fuel Cost Based On Oldest Available Data

2004 - $695.80

Max: $123.23
Min: $15.01
Avg: $57.98

2005 - $478.41
I started working from home January 4th.
Max: $150.00
Min: $20.00
Avg: $71.34

2006 - $616.42
Max: $133.28
Min: $29.01
Avg: $53.45

2007 - $474.60
Joel moved in and we started driving his car when we all went places together. Big gas saver, that. ;)
Max: $102.87
Min: $19.75
Avg: $44.11

2008 (to date) - $386.29
I've been trying to cut back on my driving this year, but Sage is now old enough to participate in several activities. None of which are close to home.
Max: $120.95
Min: $54.02
Avg: $77.25

Other Random Data
May 2008 - $120.65

1 year ago: $43.51
2 years ago: $54.62
3 years ago: $62.81

Last 365 days - $782.03

Basically all this means that I'm driving way less but spending twice as much, if not more. I knew that already, but was curious what the actual numbers would be. At the rate prices are going up, I'll likely top $1000 in fuel costs this year, without ever actually having gone anywhere and WITH cutting way back on my driving. Joel, who drives to work every night, will likely top $3000.

Well that was depressing.

Claims

May 30, 2008
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I uploaded this picture to post yesterday, but somehow managed to not include it in the big picture/video post.

Charlotte's Box

Charlotte: "I claim this box in the name of the land of Charlotte! NOT YOURS!"

Also, I finally got around to using the Flickr Pro token I had from the Moo Sticker contest and trying out Flickr for real. I have 8 pictures or something sad like that right now, but I can see why people like Flickr so darn much. I'm going to use the heck out of this thing. Check out my Flickr! Add me and comment with your Flickr account name so I can add you back.

Picture Catch Up

May 30, 2008
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Had a bunch of random, unconnected things going on the last couple of weeks. So, posting a bunch of random, unconnected pictures to get caught up!

Chess

Sage's chess club finished up for the year and they handed out their trophies and awards. Sage earned two. One for blitz chess and one for bug house (team) chess. She got 2nd place in both overall (for the whole school).

Sage's Trophies

Joel had volunteered with the chess club all year and the kids made him a very cute poster they had all signed.

Note from the kids

Bento

I didn't take pictures of Sage's last few bentos the last week of school. I also didn't take pictures of a couple I've packed since then, one for Joel to take to work and a picnic bento I made for Sage and I to take to the pool. At the time I didn't think anything of it, but now I kind of wish I had for the continuity. I'm probably not going to make a collage of the last few I did before that, since they were so spread out and erratic (the pictures, not the bentos).

I did order a bunch of stuff from Ichiban Kan's online store. I ended up placing two orders, since they got a bunch more stuff in after I placed my first order. I very highly recommend them, if you're looking for bento supplies that aren't hugely (and I mean hugely) marked up, like almost all other online retailers. They are incredibly fast, everything was well packed, and the prices... the prices just speak for themselves. Compare their prices and shipping to any online retailer anywhere. It may look too good to be true, but I can tell you from firsthand experience it's totally not. They're awesome and totally legit!

My latest shipment from them for less than $14 including shipping:

Bento Supplies

Work

It was a big package day today. I got a UPS package, priority mail box (for something Joel ordered), AND a FedEx delivery.

Got my new computer for work this morning. I fell immediately in love. It's just beautiful. The wireless keyboard is a work of art. The wireless mouse is the perfect size for my hand and is just the niftiest mouse I've had in a long time.

New (work) Computer!

Sadly, I did have to install Windows on it. But! Thanks to Parallels, Windows is seamlessly integrated into the computer and works along side OSX to run programs in such a way that they appear totally native.

New (work) Computer

Say what?

May 28, 2008
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Joel and I discussing Wii friend codes...

Me: I will get us lots of friend codes so many mii's can come visit us!

*pause*

Me, trying to make that sound less awful: Uh, because I think more of my friends have wii's! *fails at making it sound less awful*

Joel: Yeah, I think all of my friends who have Wii's are actually your friends...

Me: I think so too. You can't ever leave me or you wouldn't have any friends.

Joel: That's okay...

Me: Oh and also I claim the Wii if you ever leave.

Joel: That's not fair.

Me: We need a wii-nup.

Sage's essays + A message from my mother

May 13, 2008
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A while ago I posted an essay Sage wrote about Pluto. Apparently Sage is still very concerned about poor Pluto. The school year is wrapping up, so all the work that they've done throughout the year is coming home a little bit every day. Today I got an essay about me, with a very interesting picture.

Story

The story reads (translated from 7 year old):

"I love mommy. Mommy brings me everywhere. She brought me to her wedding. I love her because she loves me. She makes really good stuff. As you can see, I love mommy."

That's really sweet and made me go "awwwww." The picture, though, is what killed me. Look closely.

Rocket ship

A little closer...

Weak!

See a resemblance to any clothing I might own? We start them early in my house, we do.

Also, my mother would like everyone to know that she doesn't like cats. Unless no one's looking.

Awwwww

Soccer Game & Baby Ducks

May 11, 2008
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Another week, another post with soccer pictures. This time there's bonus baby ducks!

I weeded through the pictures a little more this time, thus the smaller number of new pics.

More flowers

May 10, 2008
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Mom's flowers 2

Yesterday (? I'm pretty sure it was yesterday...) I took pictures of the rest of the flowers that mom got at the hospital. See the full-sized versions in the Flower collection.

Mom was discharged this morning and I brought her home about lunch time. She's doing pretty well. Still sleeping a lot, but that's normal. I wasn't in the room 6 seconds before she was calling the nurse to let her know I was there and she was ready to go.

I haven't slept much at all for the last week. Sleeping at the hospital Tuesday through Friday didn't help. I went to Sage's soccer game Thursday and her play Friday, but other than that I've been at the hospital for the last week. I have the most massive headache I've had in months. I thought it was because I needed dinner, but it came back immediately after I ate. I took some advil and as soon as I post this (waiting for the advil to kick in) I'm going to collapse into bed. If I'm lucky, I will sleep the blissful, uninterrupted sleep of the completely exhausted for at least the next twelve hours.

Also: Bonus pics of Sage as a pirate...

Mom's Flowers

May 7, 2008
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Mom's flowers

I took some pictures of the different flowers that mom's gotten today. I'm especially fond of the pictures of the sun star (the yellow flowers). I also think the picture of the orchid came out well, though I only got one usable photo. The orchid is inside a plastic cover that I don't want to take off until we get it home and the light I had available wasn't right for taking pictures of white flowers. Not to mention taking pictures of white flowers on a white background is just asking for trouble to begin with.

She got another bouquet after I took these with yellow roses, a really lovely lavender iris, purple baby's breath, yellow snap dragons, and a yellow stargazer lily that I can't wait to take photos of tomorrow.

See the full size images of the thumbnails and pictures of the full bouquets in the flower collection.

Moo sticker contest winners (and I'm one of them!!)

May 6, 2008
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They announced the Moo sticker contest winners today! Two of my pictures won!! They choose 90 out of 624 entries and TWO of mine won! I can't believe it. I entered three and the one of mine that didn't win was the one I was least happy with, so that just proves that I should trust my instincts more.

Here's the two I entered that were among the winners

Luck of the Iris