TO DONATE TO THE AMERICAN RED CROSS, PLEASE FOLLOW THIS LINK: https://www.redcross.org/donate/donation-form.asp


"This Is Our Tsunami"

"Completely Destroyed"

"Totally Unbelievable"

"Complete Devastation"

All of these statements that I have seen and heard from others reporting on the devastation in New Orleans, Biloxi, and other communities doesn't even begin to explain what is happening to all these people and animals. And the water is still rising. PLEASE, DO WHAT YOU CAN. DONATE TO THE RED CROSS, OR TO YOUR FAVORITE CHARITY. The link above is directly to the Red Cross.

If you have a weblog, please add the Red Cross button and link to your site!

I am really beginning to have second thoughts about staying off deployment this time.

Disaster Strikes

By now, most of you know that Hurricane Katrina is due to hit New Orleans later tonight, and early tomorrow. Even as I write this, winds are gusting to 90 MPH on the coast of Louisiana. No, I don't live there. But as a member of Sacramento DMAT, I am keenly aware of what is happening. To those of you who know me, no, I will not be deployed for this. Some of our team members may be... We don't know right now. I need to concentrate on school (Thank you, Jason, for reminding me of that today... you are right.) which starts tomorrow.

However, people really need to realize how powerful this storm is. Currently, it is the 3rd worst storm to hit the U.S. EVER. It could end up the strongest ever by tomorrow morning. We all are hoping and praying that it actually weakens. This is truly a catastrophic storm, with potential to kill a large number of people. When most of you think about a thunderstorm hitting, imagine those 30-40 MPH winds being 160 MPH. That is SUSTAINED WINDS, not gusts. That is enough to blow down anything in its path. Remember Hurricane Andrew that hit Florida in 1992 and the devastation it caused? Yeah... that was a relatively low density populated area. Just in New Orleans alone, approximately 500,000 people live there, not including suburbs. Even with mandatory evacuations, people have not been able to leave. Many (up to 80,000) are hunkering down at the Superdome. New Orleans is below sea level, and a storm surge of up to 28 feet is expected. That means a lot of people could die. God, I hope not.

AOL Sending Crap

I have used AOL IM forever, basically since it started when I was an AOL Guide back in 1992. However, recently, I have been receiving commercial IM's from AIMCryWolf. After putting up with it, even blocking this username, I was still getting ads sent to me. A little bit of research later verified that this username was valid, was AOL, and there was a website set up: http://www.aimcrywolf.com. Lo and behold, on the bottom of the page was an opt-out. So, I went ahead and followed the directions, and typed the word "out" in the AIM window. According to their response, I won't receive any more notification. I will let you know...

In the meantime, if you are getting AIM's from AIMCryWolf, type "out" in lower case (no quotes), and you might not get more.

If you are a fan of the old television show Emergency!, the first season is now available on DVD! I picked up mine at Walmart today. Cost: About $30.00. They have done a great job of putting it together and fixing color fade (that some of us noted on the VHS copies).

One Week and Counting

Well, it is one week until the start of the new semester. I feel a little more nervous than I normally do, but this is a good type of nervous. A chance to start over and show that I can handle my schoolwork after last year's disaster, my last year as an undergraduate, my last year in the Sacramento region... This is the longest I have lived in one area since I was a kid. We moved to the Sacramento region in summer of 1997, as an intact family. A family struggling to deal with severe medical problems. Not just Rory's diabetes and dialysis, but David still recovering from being hit by a car at age 8. It was Shriner's Hospital moving to the Sacramento area from the Bay Area that provided the impetus for us to move here as well. Now, 8 years later, with Rory gone, and Diana moved out, the house is a lot more quiet. David is still here, but the energy of this household has changed dramatically. Now, I feel almost like a roommate with my own child. David is 19, after all. Working, struggling to define himself, having a relationship with a wonderful girl, still acting in some ways like a 13 year old (What 19 year old doesn't?)...

But at the same time, this new segment of my life will help me to define who *I* am. After all, I haven't lived on my own EVER. Technically, I still am not. That will occur after I graduate and move on, hopefully into a P.A. program. That is one of the reasons this last year will be so important. I *MUST* show the programs I can compete with 20-somethings that are applying for the same position I want. And I *MUST* ace all my courses. Thus, the nervousness. :-)

Battle with Comcast... Round Two

It seems that I am not the only person who has had serious run-ins with Comcast... http://www.kcra.com/money/4873906/detail.html
. Heh... at least she got an apology, but I applaud her for leaving a company that would allow her to be treated that way (Heck, simple programming should catch the "b" word...).

For those who don't remember, I had a major billing gripe with Comcast a few years ago, and was treated very poorly by their staff. It didn't even net an apology for me from them. My story was in BusinessWeek magazine last year, although they admitted to BusinessWeek that they mishandled my complaint. To read the story, click here. You may have to set up a freebie account to read it. I may scan it and post it as well.

Are you taking science courses at CSUS? If so, check out my textbooks I have for sale. I have posted them on Craigslist. Here are the books I have:

Quantitative Chemical Analysis, Harris, 6E
for Chem 31

Genetics, Brooker, 2E
for Bio 184

Both books are being used this fall at CSUS.

I may post some more.

Is Microsoft Trying to Rename RSS?

One MSN executive is defending the software giant against blogger accusations.

An MSN executive is defending Microsoft's rebranding of RSS (Really Simple Syndication) into "Web feeds" after a flurry of Microsoft bloggers accused the software giant of trying to recast the Web-site syndication technology in its own image.

In a recent post on his Web log "Torres Talking," Mike Torres, MSN Spaces lead program manager, made a clear distinction between the branding of the RSS technology and the underlying technology itself. He also said that Microsoft is adding its own functionality to RSS in the version the company is implementing in Internet Explorer 7. Because of this, its renaming of RSS is not a sign the company is trying to remake the technology for its own purposes but rather a way to make a distinction between RSS and a feature of IE. read on...

Speed Racer... Stay Out of Antelope!

This morning, a student from Center High School was struck by a car that was drag racing down Elverta Road. She wasn't a part of the racing, guys. She was an innocent who was walking to school. Now, because of these morons, she is in the hospital with broken bones and other injuries.

PLEASE... PLEASE stop the racing! Go take your cars to a racetrack and do it. Not on our streets. Don't hurt or kill others just because you are a racer wanna-be.

I ended up travelling back to SLC when Diana got pretty sick. But, she is going much better after I.V. antibiotics. After 3 days, they have moved her to oral antibiotics, so I know she is happy about getting the I.V. out of her hand. Keep getting better, Diana!

So, aside from driving at low altitude on my way out there, I took more pictures on the way back! There were things I didn't get good shots of last trip, so I took a few more minutes, and here are a few of the sights from highway 80:


What the HECK is this? It is on the Bonneville Salt Flats. If you know, email me, please!

UPDATE: This is called "Metaphor: the Tree of Utah", by Karl Momen. It was completed in January 1986. This was courtesy a little Google searching by me... I really wanted to know!


Another shot showing the state of Nevada has a great sense of humor


Bet most of you didn't know that Nevada has more hot springs than any other state! (Really!)

While on my trip to SLC and back, I had the chance to take a few pictures. I tend to look for odd signs, and funny statements, and ran into this one:



Deeth Starr Valley? I can only think that someone at the State of Nevada DOT has one helluva sense of humor!

Diana and Jon have a new kitten!



Cody joined them last Sunday when a fellow waitress at Denny's couldn't keep him. He is only about 5-6 weeks old and was really hungry (He was being fed evaporated milk only by the other waitress). But KMR (Kitten Milk Replacement) is fattening him up! Isn't he *CUTE*?

Its been a few weeks since I have posted. Why? Well, some of you know that July 28 last year was the date I lost my husband of 19 years. I was a bit down about that anniversary approaching. So, I did several things, including keeping busy during that time. I took care of my graduation petition corrections, filed my financial aid appeals, and starting cleaning up old paperwork and junk. It was actually very therapeutic. Yes, I found things that reminded me of our past together, but getting rid of 20 year old paperwork (yeah, I know) was rather liberating.

I also took a trip to the Bay Area, and volunteered at the San Jose Grand Prix on Friday, working with other members of DMAT CA-11 and CA-6. Worked my "regular" irregular job at Raley Field on Saturday. Then I took off for Salt Lake City, UT, to see my daughter Diana. I sure miss seeing her face every day at home (Hint, hint, Diana... :-) ). I brought her a lot of her stuff, and made sure she was doing ok. I am actually still here in SLC tonight, heading to Reno tomorrow for an end to my mini vacation.