Response to comments, and where I work

Thanks for all your nice comments yesterday.  Moaning about working and commuting so long yesterday and it's effect on Katie was very therapeutic.  I think I don't have enough to complain about!  : )   

In response:

1.  Yes, potty trained dogs really do hate to have accidents.  And I'm always afraid once she does, it will be easier the next time.

2.  I do have potty pads, but forgot about them.  Thanks, I'll put one out for Katie and keep it there, Just In Case. 

3.  Hulu - yes, I have that on my computer, too, as a Favorite, but for some reason I never use it.  It does have more to choose from than ch131.com. I'll have to pull it up today and see which shows are there.  I'd love to see Dr. Phil and Oprah's past shows, if anyone knows of a website that has them.

4.  I had a question about where I work - that would allow me to bring Katie in. It's a small office, working for a general contractor who has businesses in northern and southern California. He is very entrepreneurial.

We do not have customers coming into our office, and there are only three full time office staff here in San Diego (the corporate office) and the boss, who is gone a lot.  The rest of the employees are in the field.

He also owns a body/repair shop where he takes care of our fleet of trucks and works on custom cars which he buys in ragged condition and brings back to like-new appearance and working order, and then sells.  I think that's his favorite business, his baby.  He does a lot of the hands-on work there, orders all the parts, I think he still paints them, too, in the paint booth.  He drives them for a while, then sells them.  

We owned a restaurant for a few years that was voted the Best in San Diego in it's class, that was just sold.  I think he owns four businesses now, but I expect something new will appear when he's finished working on our new office/shop.    

We don't bring pets to work, but I have in the past when work was being done in my condo and I couldn't leave Katie there.  Another employee occasionally brings in her daughter if she's in a bind.  He's the kind of boss who doesn't care what we do all day, as long as the work gets done. We have an office manager, who watches TV all day while she works and takes care of all her personal business, the bookkeeper works from 8:00 to 2:30, with an hour lunch.  Then there's me.  I work four days a week from 7:00 to 3:30.  I am his personal assistant and handle some personal business as well as whatever else he needs me to do for his businesses -  marketing, correspondence, collections, advertising, research, etc.  Sometimes I'm swamped, and sometimes I'm not, depending on what's going on. We all have different jobs and different hours, and we back each other up when needed. 

The IT guy, accountant, attorneys, and others are not on the payroll, but are called as-needed.  It's a pretty sweet operation.

My boss is very good at what he does and is a bit of a perfectionist.  He's easy to work for as long as we do our jobs well.  He provides full medical, dental, vision, and chiropractic benefits, vacations and holidays, an ongoing stash of treats for the office staff (whatever we want) and daily coffee, and the best work environment he can provide.  He has almost no turnover in the office, as you can imagine.    

So, that's where I am four days a week, and will stay until I finish building my castle, and retire.

(No photos today. The only thing mentioned that I could get a photo of is a potty pad.  No photo is better than a photo of a potty pad.)  

It's Saturday!!!  From me and Katie, have a wonderful day, everyone!  : )

www.ch131.com

First, I want to thank everyone for their comments.  I really appreciate it when I see that someone has left a comment, and it's fun to see what you all have to say.  And I appreciate it when you leave answers to my questions.  Believe me, I'm listening!  I love reading your blogs and leaving comments, too.  : )

I had to work today on my normal day off (a co-worker asked if she could take today off and switch with me and I agreed) and it was a looooong day with an hour and a half drive home.  Then I found a big yellow puddle in the middle of my bedroom carpet, which is very light tan.  It really shows the yellow. :(   Not Katie's fault.  I left at 7:45 a.m. and got home at 6:00 p.m., longer than her usual day being cooped up in the house.  She went out in the morning at the usual time, and I'm home two hours later than usual.  That's a long day for her, too.

When I agreed to take this job almost 3 years ago, it was with the provision that I could set my own hours, and I chose 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. because of the terrible San Diego traffic.  Those hours help my commute immensely.  I pretty much get to drive the speed limit all the way to and from work.

However... when I work in place of this other employee, I have to work her hours, and I get off at either 4:30 or 5:00, depending on the day.  Driving home on a Friday, leaving at 4:30, increased my commute by one hour.  And I took some detours and made u-turns to speed things up.

I decided when I got home and saw the puddle, and took Katie outside and she still had to go more, that I'm not doing this anymore.  From now on, I'm taking Katie to work with me if I have to work anyone else's days or hours.  Otherwise, it just doesn't work for me. Or for Katie.  I'm sure it will be okay with my boss, but I just hate to ask for favors, you know?  But since I'm doing a favor, I'm going to ask for one in return.  I'll let you know how that works out next time.

So...  now that I have that off my chest... : ) ...

Other than the above, this is going to be a short post.   Because, I'm tired (see above) and going to climb into bed and watch TV until I fall asleep.

I wanted to tell you, in case you don't already know, about www.ch131.com.

Now that the new shows are out and THANK GOODNESS there's something to watch on TV again, especially for us frugal folk that only have Basic Cable, I'm really enjoying my old shows and some new shows.  Unfortunately, sometimes I'm too tired to stay up to watch them, or there are two on at the same time.

I know, I know.  Can you say TiVo?  Or DVR? 

But, being one of the frugal folk, I don't want to pay for them.  I did call my cable company yesterday to ask about the DVR, and it costs almost $20 per month.  Just to tape shows????  I have a DVD Player/Video Cassette Recorder.   I have cassette tapes.  Then I thought, TiVo?  What would that cost?  I did some Internet searches, but couldn't quickly find the cost of TiVo, but the TiVo machine looked pretty expensive.

So, those two are out.  But ch131.com is in!

If you haven't heard of ch131.com, it's an Internet site where someone in the mid-west or on the east coast films TV shows without the commercials, and puts them up on this site.  So, I can watch them an hour sooner than they are showing here on the west coast, which gets me to bed an hour earlier, and also, I can watch them any time after they are up on the site, so if I want to catch up a week later, I can.

If you click on this, you can read the TV shows listed so far this week.

I just caught up on the shows I've missed this week (the ones in the purple color).  I don't think it's as good as a DVR or TiVo, but maybe it is.  I don't have to set anything, just go to the site and pick what I want.  Of course it doesn't have everything that's on TV, but enough for me.

By the way, when you click on a show you want to watch, a screen comes up with a box in the middle with an ad on it.  Wait for a minute, and another box will appear at the bottom that says: "Close to Play."  THAT'S WHAT YOU CLICK ON TO SEE THE SHOW.

So, that's my tip for the day.

I just let Katie out for her final final, and when I stood up I could smell the most wonderful smell.  I said to myself, "Boy, someone is cooking something good!"  That's when I remembered the chicken I put in the big pot of water when I got home from work.   Thank God I put it on LOW!  The remains of a roasted chicken I got at Costco - they are so good.  To make soup tonight that I can eat over the weekend.   I have all the veggies and chicken pieces all cut up on a plate next to the soup pot, ready to throw in once I drain the broth out.

Well.    I sure do have some potent soup broth.    To throw the other ingredients into.    Tomorrow.

From me and Katie, have a good night, everyone!  : )

Build your own castles

WELCOME to my new followers John and Bridget, Travels of John and Bridget.  I'm so happy you've joined me and my dog, Katie, on our journey.  We're glad you're along for the fun.

I don't remember when or where I first saw this picture:

I think it may have been in an ad, but I'm not sure.  I only know that when I saw it, it really resonated with me and I thought, "Build your own castles," and I scanned it into my computer and saved it so I could keep it. (My apologies if the creator of the image reads this.  I can't give credit at this point, since I don't know where I got it.)

This was lots of years ago, and I must have been going through a period in my life where I was disappointed in people, and my plans and relationships with other people weren't working out, and I guess I decided I was going to "build my own castles," and not rely on anyone else. 

I made personal stationary with a small graphic, used the image as a logo on a personal "business" card, and made an iron-on sheet to press it on a t-shirt.  I always put "Build Your Own Castles" under the graphic.  And I meant it both simply and aggressively, I think.  This graphic became my own private, personal Statement, with a capital S.

I remember this box of blocks, maybe my kids had them when they were young.   They fit perfectly into a wooden box when the blocks were arranged correctly.  I don't think it's a memory about the actual box of blocks that draws me, but there is something that speaks to me when I look at the graphic.

All my life I've had dreams about houses.  Really good dreams, about a house that I suddenly find out is mine, and when I go into it and walk around, I find secret rooms or closets filled with treasures of various kinds, and they are all mine, too.  Each dream has had a different kind of house, and each house has a different kind of treasure.   I specifically remember the first "house" dream I had when I was a child.   That's when I realized I dream in color.  I can still see the dream as I'm moving through the house, all the bright colors.  Many others followed throughout the years.  Always good dreams and I'd wake up feeling happier than usual.

Somehow my "house dreams" and this graphic go together.  I get the same good feeling when I see this block castle, and think about building my own castles, or in other words, fulfilling my own dreams.  Not needing anyone to help me build my own future.  Not having to help someone else realize their dream, and ignoring my own.

I think that's what I'm doing with my plan to retire, dispose of my condo and all my "stuff," buy a small RV, and live on the road.  This will be my "dream house," and think of all the "secret rooms" I'm going to find with all the treasures.  Each campsite, each RV park, each city and state, everywhere I travel will have new secret rooms with new treasures for me to find.  Building my OWN castles, on my own terms, for myself.

BUILDING MY OWN CASTLES 

I might even put the graphic and title on my little RV when I get it.  Wouldn't that be great?  I think living out my dream of residing in a small RV will be wonderful, and hopefully put me in a place I really want to be.   Emotionally, spiritually, and physically.  And if not, I'll move to another place.

So, congratulations to all of you out there who are building your own castles.  And for the rest of us, let's start Building Our Own Castles!

From Me and My Dog, have a great evening, everyone!  : )

Odin's Temple of the Tiger

WELCOME to my new Follower, Dixxe, My Life My Art.  You have gorgeous photos on your blog! Thanks for joining my journey, hope you enjoy following along! :-)

As I said in my September 13 posting, my daughter, son-in-law and grandkids took me to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom.  I had never been there before (they have season tickets and go often), and as we walked around, I couldn't believe all the rides and exhibits and animals--that's where the butterfly conservatory was, too.

They have over 30 animal attractions, over 100 different species, and over 500 animals.  We saw giraffes, dolphins, alligators, sharks, stingrays, elephants, tigers, and butterflies, and many, many more.  It's definitely a full day.

According to their website, "Six Flags Discovery Kingdom has been the home of tigers since 1968, advocating conservation and awareness of these magnificent animals and educating the public about these critically endangered cats.  The park is home to 11 Bengal and Amur tigers."

They are very large, very beautiful, and very graceful.  To see a cat that large walking, running, and swimming was amazing.  They explained that they don't train the tigers to do "tricks," they train them to perform natural activities that they would perform in the wild, they just do the activities on cue for the trainers.

 Odin, white Bengal tiger

Again, per their website, "Odin's temple of the Tiger is an exhibit, stage venue and showcase for Odin, the park's famous white Bengal tiger, renowned for his agility underwater.  The show also features Fedor, Nalin, and Akasha in this untimate demonstration show."

We attended this show, and it WAS amazing. Here is a YouTube video of the underwater part of the show. The trainers throw hunks of meat into the water, and the tigers dive for them. 

There were all kinds of animals to see - unfortunately I didn't get photos of many, but you've seen them all before.  I did snap a picture of some camels.  Can't remember the last time I saw a camel.

There were lots of rides, too.  We stayed in the area for younger kids, and went on a lot of rides. Here's Andrew, Lauren and Daddy, Matt in a car that goes on  a track around the grassy area in the middle.  See the little building in the back?  It's a turtle house.  If you click on the photo, you'll see a large turtle (tortoise?) in front of it - looks like a large rock.  They have, I think, three turtle houses, and we saw two or three large turtles.

And, of course, the final animal. A large, hard-skined, orange-footed, smiling, two seater turtle, with a rather bored looking Andrew in the second seat:

From Me and My Dog, have a good evening, everyone! :-)

Happy Birthday, Lauren!

Today is my youngest granddaughter's birthday - Lauren is Three!  When I was visiting in Vacaville, Lauren told me when she is three, she will be a big girl.  So as of today, Lauren is a big girl.

 Lauren's 1st Birthday Party

They are going to Chucky Cheese Pizza for her party this evening.  Lauren and her brother, Andrew, are probably already home and in bed. I hope they had a good time.

 Lauren visiting Grammy (me) a few days before her 2nd Birthday.

We made a little cake together, and Lauren decorated it all by herself.

When I called this morning, Kristy and Lauren were making cupcakes to take to Chucky Cheese for the party. They were waiting to pick brother Andrew up at kindergarden so they could all decorate them together.  I asked Lauren to have Mommy send me pictures of the finished cupcakes. 

Lauren, the Big Girl, 3 years old

Lauren just LOVES Katie.   When we'd leave Katie home to go somewhere, out of the blue Lauren would say, "I wonder what Katie's doing now."  I'd say, I'll bet she's sleeping.  Lauren would say, "I think she's waiting for us to come home."  And of course, when we'd get home, Katie would be waiting right by the door, so Lauren probably thinks she's been standing there waiting for us to get home since we left.  Her mom and dad told me she talks about Katie a lot.  

This photo was labeled "Lauren's first slumber party" on her mom's face book page, so cute!  She sleeps with her babies and animals every night in her little bed.  Not always this many, though.

So, Lauren, I hope you had a Very Happy Birthday and lots of  fun at Chucky Cheese.  Sleep well, Baby Face.  (To which Lauren always says, "I'm not Baby Face!")

From me and Katie, have a good evening, everyone!  :-)