It's Talk Like a Pirate Day! Shiver me timbers!

I'm totally exhausted from my trip down to San Diego. My Mom flew back with me last night for a week's vacation in the PNW and our flight was a good hour late last night, finally landing at 11PM.

I wish I had more to add, but it will have to wait until later in the week when I've washed some clothes and caught up on sleep.

So nice to be back where it's not a million degrees outside!

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I'll be traveling back to San Diego on Thursday to visit my family and take a trip up to Los Angeles to see their ongoing production of Wicked. Since I've been traveling quite often for work and pleasure, I figured with this most recent release of upgraded iPods it was time to move up in the world and get something other than my old-school blue 4GB Mini.

Originally I had purchased the Mini for Frinklin several years ago when it was the cutting edge of cool. It was the first iPod in our family and for a couple of years things were just fine. Then Frinklin's parents bought him an 80GB black video iPod just after they were released. And, lo - there was much rejoicing over the color screen and the video capabilities. The mini became my iPod, and although I coveted Frinklin's color screen and everything else my tiny iPod couldn't do, I got along pretty well. I thought about getting a Nano when they first came out, but didn't want to spend the money just for a color screen.

And then - I saw the NEW Nanos! With VIDEO! And COLOR! And EVERYTHING I EVER WANTED! I was ready to buy! buy! buy!

Since this week is jam packed for time I planned a trip after work yesterday to the closest Apple store near my house, the SouthCenter Mall in Tukwila, a good 25 minute drive or so away. I played with the Nanos, which were very cool, but finally decided on a silver 80GB iPod Classic, which holds 100 hours of video compared to only 5 hours of video on the Nano. Big difference for only $100 in price, plus the screen is larger on the Classic.

Of course, the store was sold out.

"Just head up to Bell Square," said the sales clerk, "It's only a 10 minute drive this time of night."

It ended up taking us about an hour once were were all said and done. Up to Bellevue, find parking, find the store, got the Classic, find our way out, back down the freeway (dodge the line of cars on their way to the Daughtry show at the Puyallup Fair). We missed meeting friends for dinner at The Red Hot (Sorry Kevin and Steve - so wanted hot dogs!).

The Classic is very cool. I haven't even had a chance to listen to it. It'll be broken in on the plane ride on Thursday morning. It has been synced up - all the music is loaded and videos will be added tomorrow. Cover Flow is very cool - it's something that I've had in iTunes for some time and having it on the 'Pod is sweet! I'm psyched to use it to start listening to some audio books as well!

Posted by: Ensie at 09:21 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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There is a new kitty in the Ensie-Frinklin household. There was no misadvised adoption this time. This feline came to us via Frinklin's parents. She was a birthday gift from us to Frinklin's Mother 5 years ago and never adjusted to the move from California to the Pacific Northwest. Or rather, never adjusted to the two Westies that Frinklin's Father owns. She started refusing to use the litter box due to stress and despite undergoing every medical test, trying every brand of litter in existence, changing foods, using every trick, and even using prescriptions, no solution worked.

Frinklin's parents are installing new carpet this week and the cat pee damage is so bad that they need to do work on the concrete pad before they can install the new stuff (my parents had to rip out some drywall in our rental house due to cat pee damage - it's serious stuff). They tried to send their kitty to the Humane Society, but were told that cats with litter box problems are not accepted and that they would need to either find her a new home on their own or put her to sleep.

After discussing it, Frinklin and I offered to take Sadie in. She's very sweet and even though our house isn't exactly calm, a new situation may remedy her litter box issues. The last 48 hours have been smooth sailing as far as the litter box is concerned. There has been a lot of hissing and growling whenever the other cats spot each other. The boys don't know what to do with her.

Every time we reach an equilibrium in the household we add something/one else to throw everything off.

And did I mention that Sadie's nickname is "Thumbs"? She is a polydactyl cat (she gots extra toes). It makes her look like she is walking around on little mittens.

Sweet little Sadie:

Thumbs!

Posted by: Ensie at 08:39 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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1 Aww! Tooo cute! I can't wait to meet her in person!

Posted by: Cassioposa at September 05, 2007 08:07 AM (/fI+2)

2 Sadie is finally getting her first real sleep, I think, crashed out on her side on top of Jeffrey's crate. I've had to carry her to the food, to the litter box, to the "safe" places in our house as she is so standoffish around the other cats. She ate like crazy last night after fasting for 36 hours. She's also so round and not used to exercising that she's having a few issues jumping to reach food and with balance getting into and out of her preferred litter box. She's a little butter-ball right now! She has yet to realize that there is an upstairs.

Posted by: ensie at September 05, 2007 08:28 AM (6We+3)

3 I love those little paws!

Posted by: Violet at September 05, 2007 09:09 AM (m3fNl)

4 Love the mittens, er, paws. Love the name and that's a beautiful cat. PS: Forgot to say that the book came last week. LOVE it. Thanks again

Posted by: Eden at September 05, 2007 06:52 PM (BDCWt)

5 She is so sweet. Congrats on your new family member.

Posted by: Jen at September 08, 2007 12:15 PM (LMqvC)

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Another blogger outing to a local Tacoma restaurant resulted in full and satisfied stomaches I'm happy to report.

Jen noticed Opa! opened their doors August 24th and organized a blogger meetup last night for dinner. Never one to pass up good Greek food I happily agreed and sat down with Jen, Kevin, Sarah, and Joe for an excellent meal.

Service was extremely quick from our appetizers to our meal. Drinks came immediately (Kevin - a Fanta? Seriously?) and we settled in to eat. We ordered a selection of four dipping sauces and were impressed by most except the hummus, which I noticed sat untouched by most after the initial dip. The Tzatziki was excellent, as was the Skordalia (potato-garlic dip) and we all enjoyed the Tirokafteri (Feta cheese, olive oil, lemon and herbs) as well. The pita was served hot and delicious.

When our meals arrived we dug in with gusto. Sara and I both ordered Myzithra spaghetti which was fantastic. I had never tasted myzithra cheese before and absolutely loved it. I highly recommend it, but plan on taking a box home with you - my stomach was full long before my plate was empty. Jen and Kevin ordered lamb dishes - Jen a stew and Kevin chops - both of which were gorgeously plated and came with rice and potatoes tasting deliciously of lemon.

Joe was the only one to clean his plate, having ordered a chicken dish. You can see Kevin's shots of him digging in here, and the aftermath here. Well done Joe!

I ordered the strawberry cheesecake for dessert and Sarah and Kevin split the white chocolate baklava. The menu states that the desserts are all fresh and homemade, but they taste like they come straight out of a freezer box at a mass produced warehouse. The only disappointment of the night.

The was a bit of a surprise when the check came. I thought the total was a bit high so I looked over the check closely and noticed that there was a gratuity already added. It seemed odd to add a gratuity for serving just 5 people, so that's something they may want to reconsider. Either make your customers aware that this is the practice in your restaurant or do away with it since it's not customary.

For a place that's only been open for 5 days, Opa! was bustling with customers and has a good feeling. The owner came out and bussed our table and said hello, which was nice. The menu has a lot of choose from, if you don't want Greek food you can have lots of other "fusion" options. Our waitress was funny and friendly, the atmosphere was nice, and I will definitely be making a return to Opa! in the future.

Posted by: Ensie at 09:57 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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We've officially reached the point where blogs are controlling people's mealtime habits in Tacoma. Kevin will point us in a direction and say, "EAT" and people will show up and eat they will!

Today the designated hot spot was Mary's Burger Bistro on Pacific. They opened their doors bright and early for breakfast, but Frinklin and joined in for the noon rush hour, and holy crap, was it busy!

We met up with so many well known Tacoma bloggers I hardly need to name them. Head over to feed tacoma and pick anyone you want and they were likely there. Reviews are up all over the place. I sat with Frinklin and Jen, Kevin, Sarah, and met Todd for the first time. I also spotted Joe (with a fancy new blog) and Michael of Red Hot Tideflats fame. And I had the luck to meet Tacoma Chickadee in person finally. It appears that even Ed of Ed's Diner made an appearance today.

The atmosphere was festive when we arrived at noon, and the line was out the door. The folks behind the counter were jumpin'. It took about a half hour to order, but we entertained ourselves by meeting new people and munching on the free cookies that were handed out (great cookies, BTW!). Once our food was ordered came the long wait. And long wait it was. Our food took about an hour to come, but we chalked it up to working out the kinks and there was very little grumbling. Free cookies continued to keep the troops happy.

Frinklin proclaimed his BBQ onion burger "great" and happily inhaled it. Unfortunately mine resembled more of a burnt hockey puck. When I pointed out my disappointing burger to Mr. Mary, he immediately swept away the hockey puck and moments later an enormous MIGHTY BURGER was thrust into my mits. Piping hot and deliciously adorned, the MIGHTY BURGER was perfection in burger form. The fries were fantastic and I left mighty satisfied.

The general consensus is that the food is good, operations are still working the kinks out, but overall everyone left feeling full and happy.

Posted by: Ensie at 04:11 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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The Free Book Challenge Winners have been chosen!

The winner of Advice to Writers: A Compendium of Quotes, Anecdotes, and Writerly Wisdom From a Dazzling Array of Literary Lights Compiled and Edited by Jon Winokur is Eden of so anyway.... Eden wrote an amazing start to a memoir that I hope she'll continue at some point. That is one memoir I'm already dying (hee) to read. Eden, please email me your address and the book will be in your hands in just a few days.

Heather at Hamster Boy won the Slummy/Yummy Mummy Challenge. She's a slummy AND a yummy mummy. Kick ass! Heather, send me an e-mail at ensie1@gmail.com and the book Slummy Mummy by Fiona Neill is on it's way to you!

No one e-mailed me about Mister Pip, so he'll recirculate into the pile to be given away later, or maybe he'll go our into the world of bookcrossing.

Keep your eyes peeled for a new Free Book Challenge in the near future!

Posted by: Ensie at 02:16 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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1 Squeeeee! I'm excited! And this means I'll be giving away a writing book in turn, to pass on the good karma. I may continue it. I'm not sure what I'll follow up with but I can talk about the frog legs

Posted by: Eden at August 22, 2007 08:20 PM (BDCWt)

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I totally blame Kevin and Sarah.

But now that the blaming is over, we're having a blast. You can read the sumarized version of how we came to own a Wii this weekend. The slightly expanded version is that we played around with Sarah and Kevin's on Saturday night and by Sunday afternoon we were playing around with our own.

The gaming console is tiny and takes up almost no room. It's shockingly simple to set up and even more easy to use. There are no complicated manuals and walkthroughs to play the Wii Sports game that come with the system (yes, you heard that right Playstation and XBox fans - FREE GAME). There is the simple wireless remote ("wiimote") that is super cool and minimalist. And there is the idea that anyone can use this gaming system from the very young to the very old and have a good time doing it.

Frinklin and I are having much fun beating the crap out of each other at various games and sports. We picked up a few other games including the Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess and Wii Play. Wii Play may go back to the store as a trade in, but Zelda has proven to be pretty cool.

In addition to the games, Wii also includes a news channel with the latest in national and international headlines, global weather, and photos. It's like a web browser within in your gaming console. I've found myself using the Wii in the morning instead of the computer to read the latest news and check the weather.

If you're thinking about getting a Wii I highly recommend it. I'm hoping the next positive thing to come from this will be weight loss. I was on my feet for a good three hours today playing tennis, bowling, and boxing and I'm exhausted!

Posted by: Ensie at 07:39 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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Joining up with several other bloggers on Wednesday at the brand new Tacoma eatery The Red Hot turned into an excellent evening of great food and good company. Frinklin was, of course, in attendance. Kevin and Sarah were both there. Mr. In-Tacoma himself. And a representative of This Shirt Is Pants. Frequent commenter (start a blog already!) Erik was there, as was Sparkrobot (buy his house!).

Special message to Angela and Steve - get a website...everyone's doing it.

There was definitely a festive feeling in the air upon our arrival at six, and the place was already busy. The bartender recommended the Woodchuck Pear Cider which went down well on such a warm day (not recommended if you're looking for something strong - it's more like a soft drink). I started a tab and ordered a couple of appetizers for the table.

Consensus on the apps is that they were OK - not recommended for large groups, but we hardly paid anything for them, so no great loss. Everyone ordered something different. Michael ordered the Tideflats which has absolutely everything on it. He wins the award for bravery 'cause I know my stomach would have put up a serious fight over that thing.

I had the Chicago dog minus the onions, peppers, and tomato. I KNOW OK! I KNOW. What kind of Chicago dog is that? But I wanted the poppyseed bun. Essentially I had a dog with mustard and relish and it was delish! Whatever neon green relish is used - it's the best I've ever tasted. Absolutely amazing.

Kevin's dog had cream cheese on it which sounds weird, but tasty. I'm branching out in that direction next time. Frinklin said the sour kraut was great, as was the slaw.

After three dogs, the cider, water, a root bear, and the two appetizers our grand total was $20.25. Practically nothing!

This could become a regular thing. Thanks Chris!

Posted by: Ensie at 02:57 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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It's that time again! That time when I go through my ever-cluttered office and find loads of free books that I will never read and offer them to you, my small band of loyal readers and the slightly larger group of random people who will possibly stumble across this site through pure accident.

I have the following available for give aways this week:

Advice to Writers: A Compendium of Quotes, Anecdotes, and Writerly Wisdom From a Dazzling Array of Literary Lights Compiled and Edited by Jon Winokur (in hardcover). To win this item, please post on your own blog the first paragraph of your own autobiography and link that entry to this one. E-mail me the link to your blog at ensie1@gmail.com so I can pick a winner, who will receive this item free, all postage paid!

First entry is up!

Eden at so anyway... is off to a strong start. Think you can do better? E-mail me your linked entry and I'll check it out!

The next free item is Slummy Mummy by Fiona Neill. To receive this title, please compose a blog entry and link back to this post about why you are a slummy mummy or a yummy mummy. No preference will be given to either slummies or yummies, however, the vehemence with which one chooses to defend one's position will be taken into account. Again, the book will be sent, free of charge, all postage paid.

And Hamster Boy's Heather is takin' on the Slummy/Yummy Mummy Challenge. Think you can take her? Bring it.

And lastly, I have one copy of Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones. Be the first one to e-mail me with the subject "Mister Pip" and your name and address in the e-mail and I'll send it right out to you. No work needed.

I will link to everyone who enters to share the link love. I love giving away free books, and will giving free books away regularly on bothhands going forward.

You may enter as many times as you wish, although e-mailing multiple times may irritate the judge.

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Kevin Freitas and his lovely wife Sarah, along with a couple of friends will be joining Frinklin and myself for dinner at The Red Hot on Sixth Avenue for dinner on Wednesday, August 15th at 6PM. According the the blog of the owner of The Red Hot, Beer and Hot Dogs, they will opening their doors on that lovely day.

Who can resist beer and hot dogs?

Every time I pass The Red Hot my mouth waters with antici.......pation (3:33). Hope to see you there!

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My hits have been up lately. I used to get all my hits from three things. Jude Law, Harry Potter, and garbage disposal knock out plugs. However, things have expanded as of late. Lets see what's been going on.

· What looks good on a fat bridesmaid will take you to this post about my nightmarish (yet funny) experience looking for a matron of honor dress for my sister’s wedding. Luckily enough, I describe what I think looks pretty good on a fat bridesmaid. Hope it helped.

· Freakish boobs shoots you off to what is the my number on comment generating post. I have 22 comments on this post, most of which are long narratives about people's various boob situations. I described what it's like to have breasts on the larger side, other women let me know what it's like to have breasts of the smaller or larger side. I always wonder what exactly the person searching for "freakish boobs" is looking for. Do they think their boobs are freakish and they want someplace they can share and be understood, or are they wanting some kinky wack-a-doo porn?

· For the person who is searching for propane leak stove, I sincerely hope that they were doing so from the safety from a computer outside of their own home, unlike I did when I wrote this post. I know I could smell propane, and better safe than sorry, the gas was turned off for two days. And we were charged for having The Boonies Propane Company come out to check! Asshats!

· Someone decided to search for adulteress and came across the story of my lunch with another man while our waitress kept an eye on me for Frinklin.

· I commiserate with anyone who needs to search for strained chest muscles, because they suck. It took forever to recover from them, and I wrote about them more than once.

Posted by: Ensie at 05:29 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Happy Birthday to Meeee!
Happy Birthday to Meeee!
Happy Birthday to Ensie!
Happy Birthday to Meeeeee!

I'll be celebrating by going out to Joeseppi's (did someone say birthday tiramisu?!) tonight with Frinklin and the In-laws. Thanks so much to Kevin and Sarah for doing drinks and dinner last night. It was tons of fun, even as we discovered they are just better looking, younger versions of Frinklin and myself.

Posted by: Ensie at 09:37 AM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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1 Had a great time last night. Another fun fact: My car is dark blue and Sarah is silver. Happy Birthday!!!

Posted by: KevinFreitas at August 10, 2007 09:59 AM (/fI+2)

2 Happy birthday Ensie!

Posted by: erin at August 10, 2007 12:44 PM (wlZTb)

3 Happy Birthday to Youuuuu!! I had a blast hanging out with you both last night! I haven't laughed so much in one evening in quite awhile. We definitely need to get together again soon!!

Posted by: Cassioposa at August 10, 2007 01:04 PM (/fI+2)

4 Thanks guys! Kevin - Stop it. You are freaking me out. Cassi - Looking forward to it!

Posted by: ensie at August 10, 2007 01:56 PM (6We+3)

5 Happy Birthday! We need to get together sometime once I'm thoroughly done with the Martian Death Flu and not contagious anymore.

Posted by: jen at August 10, 2007 05:56 PM (LMqvC)

6 Happy Ensie Day!

Posted by: Eden at August 10, 2007 07:47 PM (BDCWt)

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I've always been really lucky with bosses. It's true that I haven't worked at that many jobs, and most of them have been ratherÂ…different. My resume starts off a little bumpy before settling into one job for the last ten years, something that most Gen Xers arenÂ’t supposed to do. No one ever had to tell me to get a job, I begged my parents to allow me to get my first job, created my second, and searched out my third.

1993 – 1994 Tutor
· Assist middle school students with English assignments
1993 – 1996 Horse Clipper Extraordinaire
· Shave horses as needed in winter and late spring
· Sounds like a crazy job but I made $25/horse plus tips or $15 an hour and I was good at it
1994 – 1994 Stable Hand
· Feed and look after 20+ horses on small farm
· I shocked myself by asking for $17 dollars an hour when I was negotiating for the job, and getting it! I only worked a couple of hours a day.
1994 – 1997 Unit Counselor – Camp Winacka Girl Scout Camp
· Look after kids, lifeguard, crafts, riding instructor, hike, etc.
· Became a lesbian in spare time
· This job was pivotal in changing my thinking about everything in life. If there is one period in my life I could relive just to experience it, this is it.
· Unit Leader in 1997, left early due to mononucleosis
1995 – 1996 Super Pets (bought out by Pet Co shortly after I left) Sales Associate
· Care, feed, clean, sell, and train domestic and exotic birds (we even had toucans!) at large pet store
1997 – current Bob’s Hogs and Weiner Pigs
· Many different jobs including the one I do now

Anywhoo – throughout this time, I’ve either been my own boss, or I’ve had really great bosses. I could go on and on about Osa, the Camp Director at Winacka, who taught me so much by saying so little. I was at one of the most confusing times of my life (lesbian? good Christian girl?) and she dealt with it so well. She had to deal with half of the counselors pretty much having that issue. In retrospect, taking us all down to Tijuana and getting us drunk probably wasn’t the best way to deal with it, but it certainly allowed us to let our true feelings show.

Or Ginny, my manager at one BobÂ’s Hogs location who helped woo me to another location with her and then when I left again for other reasons was smart enough to see that I wasnÂ’t happy and made me an offer I couldnÂ’t refuse (not that way you dirty birds). She pushed me gently in the direction I needed to go to move forward on my career path, forcing me to advance without my even knowing it. Growing my skills and abilities and allowing me to challenge myself when I became bored with what I was doing. And I loved her kindness and friendliness and the fact that she let me do my own job while she did hers.

And then for a time I was terrified when I was offered a new position with all new territory and answered to the High Powered Boss of All Things I Do and I fell apart a bit. One has an outline of a position and a goal, and itÂ’s my place to make up the points in between. Once I nailed that part down, the High Powered Boss of All Things I Do became more of a partner and I really got to like her.

And now there is Beet. To the best of my reckoning, all Beet does is sit around all day sending out crappy memos every so often telling us what great ideas other people are having. Sometimes he’ll ride a plane somewhere and then send us emails from that location. He’ll even title the e-mails “Thoughts from Phoenix” or some other such crap. You can see why the bullshit detecting antennae are immediately waving about.

Every Monday there is a conference call with Beet where we must start by unveiling some layer of ourselves that is personal and painful, such as what our childhood nickname was. IÂ’ll be damned if IÂ’m going to tell my work colleagues my true childhood nickname. Junior high school was a traumatic time for the best of us and I will not be known as space cow (internets, I am trusting you!) for the rest of my working life. So I throw out the name a roommate used for me in my early twenties, but I can feel the old nickname there, heavy on me for the rest of the call. When I met with another rep at work that had been on the call he confided that he had a terrible childhood and does not want to discuss that time at all, ever again. I can see tears in his eyes. This is bad, I think. Bad.

Next Monday I am asked to share what celebrity I most resemble. I panic. There is no celebrity that I most resemble. I am round. I am not angular and hollow like those women. No one has ever said to me that I look like a thin, starving woman that appears on stage, screen, and in tabloids. What do I say? I am quiet as others answer reluctantly or eagerly. I nod silently as the people I have met give their answers. One says, “The creature from the black lagoon” and everyone laughs. Beet says my name.

“No one.” I say. “I don’t look like anyone famous. I look like me.”

“Oh, you don’t want to play along that’s fine! That’s fine, Ensie!” yells Beet into the phone in front of 12 other people. “You’re just spoiling the game! It’s just an icebreaker!”

I’ve always had a hard time letting things go, especially criticism. I am unusually silent on this conference call and Beet calls me on it, stating that there are points given for participation, and inflecting a smarmy voice, “points taken for being silent!” The stew inside continues to boil and I say nothing except to argue with him occasionally.

I have tried and tried to find the good points of this man’s personality, but am having a difficult time. I thought maybe I was just jealous, he having gotten the job that might have been mine, had I a little more confidence or experience in management. But every day that he send another idiotic e-mail, or calls to ask for yet another update on a big sale that is confirmed but will not happen until late next month (“Still confirmed, still not happening until late next month, Beet.”), I wonder what this man is doing within the outline of his job description to make his goal.

And the haranguing just continues, “Justify your expenses!” Beet shrieks, “What is this $12.99 charge at Red Robin? Weren’t you in your OWN territory? Were you entertaining a client?” I explain that I was in a series of meeting hours from home and that I had taken a break for lunch, something I do once or twice month, something his boss had no problem with when she was my boss for several years. Beet pauses for a nanosecond, “Well, I spoke with the DIRECTOR and he specifically stated that you can no longer lunch ALONE on the company’s dime. Also, please look into you postage expenses and make sure that you are using your funds most EFFECTIVELY.”

The man speaks in capital letters.

I’ve spent hours on the phone with my Dad detailing the daily idiocy of Beet and how to deal with it. My Dad’s guidance has been great, except that he seems a little too anxious to guide me to quit my job (Well, if you don’t like it, you can always leave), which I know is always an option, but it’s not an option, if you know what I mean. He told me today that I could just start sending Beet a daily e-mail correcting his screw-ups. Because a) Beet requires a daily e-mail to correct his fuck ups (like “Hey Beet, today you stated that the book Loving Frank is an exclusive to Bob’s Hogs, but it’s so totally not, also, it is not an architecture book, it’s a novel”) and b) Beet would totally love it if I started correcting all his errors. Bosses love that kind of shit.

The problem really is, I love my job and I hate my boss.

I keep hoping that Beet secretly hates his job and all of us who work for him too. He certainly acts like it. Maybe heÂ’s looking for another job. I hope so.

Posted by: Ensie at 05:04 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Frinklin and went to a showing of Sicko at The Grand Cinema last night. Initially Frinklin wanted to see The Simpsons Movie tonight, but I wasn't in the mood for the ginormous multiplex, so I talked him into the health insurance documentary instead...what?

Little did I know I'd end up in hysterical tears on the way home, sitting in front of the house yelling, "And they're all evil! Evil!!" While my husband grasped at what the appropriate response would be to this statement.

This is your typical Michael Moore movie. In turns dramatic and funny, over the top and obvious. Hillary Clinton is the "sexy, sassy" bombshell wife of President Bill Clinton who brings the idea of Universal Health Care to the uneducated masses and when the idea fails is never allowed to mention it again. George W. Bush is seen as a bufoon and the Republican Congress is easily bought by the insurance and pharmaceutical industries.

Canada, England, France, and Cuba have Socialized medicine and therefore have superior health care than the U.S. Which, after watching not just this movie, but other documentaries and reading pieces on medicine in other countries, I am inclined to agree with. As someone who is seriously wanting to start a family soon it kills me to hear the expectant mother in the UK state that all new moms get six months paid maternity leave and another six months optional unpaid leave. And in France you get a nanny to assist with laundry and meals twice a week, it's mandatory to take at LEAST five weeks vacation each year, and doctors make house calls. Did I mention it's all free? Those crazy French.

The harder parts of the film are the insurance denial horror stories. The woman with the haunted eyes that tells the story of her husband who died of liver cancer while the insurance company denied treatment over and over again. "Experimental treatment" they claimed, month after month as his doctor tried valiantly to find something that would fall under the banner of "conventional" treatment. When the doctor found a bone marrow donor that matched perfectly and declared it his last chance, the insurance company denied that too. The woman pled her case in person in front of the insurance board who condemned her husband to die for no good reason. Whoops - there was one good reason - money.

Or the story of the baby with a deadly feaver insured by Kaiser Permanente who was brought to the wrong hospital - MLK in Los Angles - a place infamous to those in Southern California (I used to listen to LA radio and hear about how many people they would kill every month). Kaiser insisted that the baby needed to be taken by car to the nearest Kaiser hospital for treatment while the mother begged that the baby be admitted and receive treatment immediately. While the hospital, the insurance company, and the understandably hysterical mother argued, the baby was eventually moved, and died.

The movie ends with the much-talked-about trip to Cuba with 9-11 rescue workers and a number of other people. Initially they plan to go to Guantanamo Bay to get the same health care as the "evildoers", but abort that plan when alarms go off as they get close. They end up at the Cuban hospital instead where everyone appears to receive the treatment they need, free of charge.

What really got to me about this movie are the people who sit on high in the insurance companies denying claims for no good reason other than to keep the money in the hands of their company. There is a woman who testifies before Congress that in order to move up in the health insurance industry, she had to deny claims, and it is further discussed that saving the company the most money would win you a bonus within the company.

This is a seriously fucked up system. A very evil system.

It is truly evil to allow people to pay you, to allow them to think that they are paying you to protect them when they are at their most vulnerable - potentially dying from a terrible disease, or that their loved ones are dying from a horrible disease, when all the time you are looking for ways to undermine and destroy them. There is an entire system in place to ensure that your benefits are not paid, or if they are paid, that they are returned to the insurance company at a later date, and that you will be retroactively billed. Or that you will be dropped from the insurance company for making a claim.

I can't help but think what would I do if Frinklin were hurt or dying, and the insurance company that we have, that he works for, were to screw us in such a horrible way. Oh, the pain I would rain down upon them...

Universal Health Care Now!

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Because Kevin eats, sleeps, and breathes computers, he blogged about this event hours after it actually happened, however, I'm just now getting to it a few days later. I had some important, uh, weekending to catch up on in the meantime.

Last Thursday evening, myself, Frinklin, Jen,and Kevin traveled to the KOMO televison studios to attend a blogger meetup for the Seattle area. After scaring the bejesus out of everyone in the car a couple of times and taking a few wrong turns we managed to arrive safe and sound.

There were a good 75 bloggers present and the mingling was excellent. I met several new folks who I may never have run across in the blogosphere otherwise, and I hope to share a cup of coffee with in real life in the future. We also ran into Derek, and had a lovely time chatting it up Tacoma-style.

I know you're going to be jealous of this - but we go to take our picture in the Northwest Afternoon studio, and then we go to play a bit at the KOMO Anchor Desk and the green screen for weather. Somewhere there are shots of Jen and I doing the green screen weather thing. I even made it into the shot on the Seattle PI Big Blog (along with 20 other people, but still!). Since I'm anonymous, you'll just have to take my word for it. Although if you look at all of Kevin's pix, you'll eventually work it out. Although you'd have to be a really obsessed fan (or really pissed off supervisor of mine) to care that much.

After the meetup, the Tacoma bloggers sans Derek had a yummy dinner at the Cheesecake Factory downtown. We had a great time getting to know one another and I'm looking forward to spending time with them again!

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I once promised to write more about my sister Katie's wedding, and then promptly forgot all about it. I've decided to sprinkle a few stories in here and there to fulfill my promise. First, the real-life story about shopping for my bridesmaid dress, which, as you can imagine, was super-fun! not being a size six or eight like the rest of the women in my family.

My mom actually fluctuates between being a size 6 and a size 10 (please don't hate me for talking about this Mom). She's petite, and gaining or losing a few pounds makes a huge difference in her size, which sucks for her because it creates a major swing in her wardrobe. MOM - TOTALLY NORMAL. She's struggled with her weight her entire life, but is now a Weight Watchers lifetime member and I'm so proud of her. She works so hard at it and I love her so much for what she's accomplished because it makes her happy. But I love her no matter what she weighs or what she looks like.

My sister Katie has a hard time keeping weight on. Yes, you heard that right. Keeping weight ON. She works outdoors as a therapeutic horseback riding instructor for disabled kids and can walk up to fifteen miles a day in the So. Cal sun, so she's constantly working out, all day long. She tends to be a size 4 or 6, and was cautioned against losing weight before the wedding for fear her gorgeous dress would not fit. If I haven't mentioned it before, she also has almost nonexistent leg hair, is perpetually tan, small pores, and her hair is perfectly, naturally highlighted by the sun. She wears almost no makeup and looks great. I swear to God I'm not just saying this because I'm her sister. If she didn't want to remain anonymous I would post her picture and you would see it's true.

Sister Nikki is 15 years old and is a perfect six. She's freckled and naturally cute.

Then there's me. I'm into the double digits of clothing sizes, well into the upper teens to be honest. I've gained weight since moving to Washington and I haven't been as active as I once was, even though this place seems to spawn hikers and campers by the carload. I have a hard time doing anything in the rain and my job has changed from moving heavy boxes for at least an hour a day to being almost completely desk bound. I know I need to get active but starting is the hardest part.

Anyway - enough intro, lets get to the main event!

I made several trips down to San Diego, only to drive North again to Costa Mesa to a well known bridal shop. These were fun trips with all of us sharing a fitting room, watching my sister try on various wedding gowns until she found the perfect one, seeing my Mom find the perfect mother-of-the-bride-dress, and so on.

Predictably, the sample dresses were not available in sizes over 12, so I had to make due with slinging the hangers over my head and holding them against my body to see if I thought they would look good. Fortunately, I have a good sense of what does look good one my body, so I picked out a dress with a V-neck, empire waisted, floor length, with wide shoulder straps, and a relatively high back. My Mom and sisters picked out a few other dresses for me to try, but in the end the dress I knew would work was the one that was chosen.

Nikki, Mom, and I all needed out measurements taken to get our dresses ordered that day, and a sales assistant was called to help. She took Nikki's measurements, then carefully measured my Mom, then turned to me and asked, "Would you like everyone to step out of the room while I take yours?"

"What?" I asked, incredulously,"They're my family. I'm pretty sure they know I'm fat. Hey guys," I said, turning around, "You do know I'm fat, right?"

Katie laughed, Nikki blushed, and my Mom looked me disapprovingly (not because I'm fat, but because I was making fun of the sales assistant). The sales assistant had the decency to look chagrined. She took my measurements and shut the hell up.

I wish that I had taken it further - that I had asked her why she had offered to have everyone leave when I had to strip down to my underthings but not when they did. Or if she did that for everyone who is overweight. Or if she singles out all overweight people and treats them differently.

Getting that dress was so unbelievable stressful. If it had been up to me, I would have worn pants to the wedding. I had never owned a formal dress until until Katie's wedding. I did not attend a single formal dance in high school (I was too busy with horse shows), and wore jeans to my own elopement and backyard reception. I still haven't seen the official wedding photos, so I really have no idea what I really looked like at the event. But it still makes my eyes sting to remember how painful the process of buying the dress was.

Posted by: Ensie at 09:30 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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Today while riding in the car, Frinklin and I began discussing Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration which comes up in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. He had mentioned earlier that an article had been written pointing out the terrible economics of the series. Rowling addressing this with a bit with an all encompassing set of laws that apparently covers food (Hermione reminds Ron that one cannot create food out of thin air, only multiply what one already has, according to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration). It is also mentioned earlier that wizards and witches cannot force others to fall in love with others without the use of potions which wear off over time.

Since there is also the use of Gringotts to store riches and wizarding world money, and because one never sees anyone able to do it, it's safe to assume that no one can create money. Thus, the third law under Gamp's appears set.

So the first three laws of Gamp's (assumed) are:

1. One cannot create food, only multiply it once you are in possession.
2. Once cannot force another to fall in love.
3. One cannot create or multiply money through the use of magic.

Now, what would the last two laws be? I have one thought - You cannot change your shape or assume the guise of another person without the use of Polyjuice potion, unless you are a metamorphmagus or animagus.

Let me know what your thoughts are in the comments.

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1 Please, save Harry Potter.

Posted by: Pedro Morgado at July 28, 2007 05:16 PM (9H+8H)

2 I would suggest that you can't "vanish" something that is alive... if that were the case, then Vanishing Charms would be as illegal as the killing curse! And... hm, number five... tricky... I'd say a wizard can't magically enhance himself. If that were possible, we'd be looking at a world with weak magic users, and magic users who had learned how to enhance themselves into near-godlike status.

Posted by: Mitschu at November 07, 2007 05:23 AM (SdpqA)

3 Re Gamp's Laws of Elemental Transfigurations. 3) Money. Perhaps one can’t transfigure stuff into Metal, so even having a Philosophers stone you need real metal to change it into gold. ??? (4) Vanishing: That is true the vanishing cupboard is merely a form of translocating an living being to somewhere else I guess in regarding to living matter. I suppose one could suggest that the (5) "Enhancement" though is good as lead me to think... "Altering oneself permanently” is probably the 5th law as it also covers the fact that one can not transfigure Dead matter into living matter, thusly once dead ya stay dead. In a permanent type of manner. What do you think?

Posted by: Silvros at October 30, 2008 11:09 PM (e3Ehr)

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You scored 24% Slytherin, 12% Ravenclaw, 52% Gryffindor, and 36% Hufflepuff!

You might belong in Gryffindor,

Where dwell the brave at heart,

Their daring, nerve, and chivalry

Set Gryffindors apart.

Gryffindors are known for their courage, audacity, and devotion to what is good and honest.

Found at So anyway...

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I'm about a week late covering Harry Potter, as I finished the book in one day. Frinklin beat me by speed-reading through it in 5 hours. My Mom was amazed at this, "How can you finish a 750 page book in one day?"

"I have no children." I responded. Although Eden has two little ones and managed the feat as well. My Mom is a big reader and despite having two kids exactly in the HP age range (now 15 and 16) and me pushing them to read the series, it never caught on in their house. I think they'll enjoy them later in life.

Anyway...spoilers below more...

Posted by: Ensie at 09:03 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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1 Rowling is a great storyteller & her writing is immensely accessible. That's how people read it so quickly. FRED!

Posted by: Eden at July 26, 2007 10:33 AM (BDCWt)

2 Loved the ending, especially the final duel in front of everyone. And the epilogue fit perfectly with the book. ... and they lived happily ever after seems like a pretty good ending to me.

Posted by: Erik Hanberg at July 26, 2007 11:36 AM (7gFSi)

3 Eden, I KNOW! Frinklin totally called it too. We both called Mad Eye and he said he thought one of the Weasley twins was a goner. I thought they might be home free with the ear thing, but swore out loud quite a bit when Fred was killed. Erik, I'm so glad to hear that you liked the ending. I love happily ever afters, and this one with the characters all happy, in love, and with their children was perfect.

Posted by: ensie at July 26, 2007 11:41 AM (6We+3)

4 I, too, loved the epilogue. (I keep reading reviews from people who hate, hate, hated it, so it makes me happy when other people liked it too.) I loved that Harry, Ron and Hermione got to end up actually being family. It was nice...just a little snapshot of the future to let us know that things turned out all right.

Posted by: Erin at July 26, 2007 12:51 PM (wlZTb)

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So...I got a little got a little invite in my inbox today...

KOMO-TV and its owner, Fisher Communications, has graciously agreed to serve as host for a blogger meet-up at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday August 2nd. The event will be at Fisher Plaza, 140 Fourth Avenue North in downtown Seattle. Light hors d'oeuvres and refreshments (alcoholic and otherwise) will be served and everyone who attends is promised a cool piece (or pieces) of KOMO swag. That's right; we're digging deep for this.

This is a social event, so come prepared to meet and make new friends. If you know of a local blogger who's not on the list here, please let me know or feel free to invite them, too. We'd like to meet everybody.

If you don't already know me, I'm Chris Pirillo - coffee addict, Seattlite, and a regular ol' blogger who also has a YouTube channel. If you have any questions about this event, feel free to contact Leanne Dillon from KOMO-TV at (206) 404-6055.

KOMO-TV is interested in getting to know bloggers in the area, and what better way to do that than with a little party? Again, this is a social event; there's no agenda for the station other than helping facilitate this meet-up. Fisher Communications recognizes the significance of the personal media revolution, and they want to listen and pay attention to what you're saying. I think this is a good way to start.

KOMO-TV news anchors will be there, so don't forget to bring your camera! You'll also be able to take pictures of yourself (and your co-anchors) at the anchor desk.

Please use the RSVP function of this Evite to let us know if you're coming. We want to make sure we have enough food for everybody.

We should all use "komomeetup" as the tag for photos, videos, blog posts, etc.

Anyone planning on attending?

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