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Koronaberg's Ren Fair
A month (or two) ago, Liz, Xinh and I went to an Irish Fair, and because we arrived early we got free tickets to a Renaissance Fair in Corona. We decided to go this Memorial Day (being Monday, May 30), so Xinh rocked up around 10'ish and off we went. Somehow we managed to miss the 71S of the 10E and went all the way out to Ontario. After a detour around Ontario Airport we got onto the 60E then got off at Archibald Ave, one exit later :P
We drove for miles (really, like 7 miles) to the middle of nowhere. We were at the point of thinking we'd somehow missed the Ren Fair when we came across the sign promoting it. Parking was free, or for close to the gate. With two little ones we sprung for parking close to the gate and headed in. One of the staff directing traffic into the paid parking spots was dressed like Brandon Lee's character in The Crow, with the black pants, long black jacket, black combat boots, complete with black Punisher t-shirt. Considering the sun was beating down out in Corona this dude must have been hot.
Immediately inside the gate we were accosted by the Ren Fair equivalent of Walmart's greeter, who insulted me while complimenting the kids, Xinh and Liz. Good fun :)
We stopped at a small stage where a guy was putting on a show, telling jokes and stories and entertaining the crowd. He told the story of Gransel & Hetel (using spoonerisms in case it's not obvious) which would have made for a confusing story if you hadn't been so familiar with it. He pulled three guys out of the crowd for the Wood Cutter and his wife and the Witch (w/ the Gingerbread House) and it made for an amusing show.
We continued around the Fair, catching the tale end of a parade which we followed to the arena where they held a Memorial Day presentation complete with 21-gun salute.
We grabbed some lunch, corn chowder, fish & chips and roasted corn, but unfortunately they had sold out of meat pies. They may have been Shepherds Pies anyway, not quite the same as an Aussie Meat Pie. The food was still pretty good.
Among the activities we participated in were painting of little plaster medallions, bubble blowing (w/ BIG bubble wands) and brass rubbing. Xinh got her hair braided and while we waited we played a game of chess in a little R&R area, complete with a mister/sprayer to make it a delightfully cool area.
While Liz was waiting in line for some ice cream and JE was playing with the BIG bubble wands a trio of entertainers were drumming up audience members for another show "The True Adventures of Marco Polo (the stories about the Yeti are just a rumor)". It was very entertaining and contained some rather bawdy humor which (most likely) went right over the heads of many of the children in the audience, and a good thing too. We got to throw radishes at the actors in one scene, and Xinh has a rather amusing, albeit painful (for someone else) story to tell about the radish throwing incident.
With practically no money left (good thing admission was free because almost everything else cost money) we decided it was finally time to leave. JE fell asleep shortly before we got home and he stayed asleep while I carried him upstairs. Xinh stayed and chatted for a while. Just before she was ready to leave I went upstairs to wake JE and tell him Xinh was leaving soon. He was like Elliott Ness (sort of), he was unwakeable, so I let him sleep.
Xinh left, Amber got fed and went to bed, JE stayed asleep, so Liz and I just kicked back and relaxed for the remainder of the day. I played a little bit of World of Warcraft but when Blizzard restarted one of their servers they shut down the Realm I normally play on. I started a new character on another Realm but it seemed to be having problems too so I called it a night and went to bed, at 10:30 no less. I have a feeling Liz came to bed shortly after that, although shortly after might mean 1:30am :P
Update #1
Coz Xinh mentioned it, and Dusty wanted to know ;)
One of the stalls at the RenFair was a crockery throwing stall, where the sucker customer paid (I hope it was just , I have a horrible feeling it was ), picked out a plate, then hurled it with gay abandon at the rear wall of the booth upon which were mounted half a dozen boar heads. If thrown with sufficient force the plate/bowl/saucer of choice would strike the back wall with a resounding BOOM! before falling to the floor of the booth to join its shattered brethren. We paid our (I hope it was ) and JE picked out his plate and threw it at the boar heads. Now although JE has a good arm, he's not used to throwing plates, so his plate fell short landing at the base of the wall. Although it landed on many broken shards of crockery, it didn't break itself. As the "prize" for taking part in such an activity is the satisfaction of throwing a plate against a wall, the guy staffing the booth didn't have any prizes for a 4 year-old.
Where we did score a prize was at the 5-headed Hydra shooting range. Again I paid (maybe it was only at the plate throwing stall) and JE got his 5 crossbow bolts to shoot at the Hydra. With the crossbow balanced on top of his shoulder, and me behind JE "supporting" him, I was able to sight down the bolt and make sure he was on target. We JE nailed 4 of the 5 Hydra heads and the guy decided to give him one more bolt. Unfortunately we JE missed with that bolt as well, he still won a prize though, just not one of the 5 Hydra head prizes being a pewter medallion on a leather cord.
I think that's everything ;)
Traralgon
This is Traralgon, Franklin Street in particular. You're looking north towards Kay Street, which is the largest road (bar the Highway) that runs through Traralgon.
The tall, churchish looking building down the end on the left is the local Post Office. The lower building behind it is one of Traralgon's first Hotels. My first real job was at the Franklin St. Newsagency, which is in this picture but can't really be seen unless you know exactly where to look. See the small black sign close to the Post Office? It has a word at the bottom of the sign with a symbol above it. That's Traveland. The Newsagency is immediately before Traveland in this photo. This is the town where I grew up. Apparently it now has approx. 18,000 people living there :)
Oh ye, of little faith
Liz was watching the TV early this morning, apparently some young girl in Florida was abducted and left in a trash bin at a landfill. She was still alive when S&R found her. The relieved, ecstatic mother was shown praising God that her baby was found, but she didn't just praise or thank God, she professed that you had to have faith, you had to keep believing.
I find this kind of thought disturbing, both for a Christian and as a Christian. The daughter was found just seven hours after she was reported missing. Just seven hours after their child goes missing, every parent will still believe their child is missing. Oh, but this woman is claiming belief in God saved her child. Well then, what about those other Christians whose children are abducted, Christians with a strong belief in their God, whose child is found killed, or never found. Isn't this woman's comment a slap in the face to all of those people. "Nyah nyah nyah! My baby was found alive because I have faith. Your child was murdered because you didn't. Nyah nyah nyah." That's not what this relieved mother said, but that's what I heard her say.
That reminded me of one of the mothers who lost a child in the Tsunami last year. She was reported as saying, "What did I do that God would take away my child?" There's a couple of thought processes wrong with that idea. One, lady, did you forget that over 100,000 people were killed by the Tsunami and it's after effects? That's like saying God drove a semi-trailer into a crowd, killing and injuring hundreds of people, just to punish one person. Don't you think if God wanted to punish you by killing your baby, he'd just touch her and stop her heart? Or spontaneously combust her? And two, what kind of a god do you pray to that you believe he (or she) would punish you for a transgression by killing your baby? I'm sure your god is really happy with you for thinking that he (or she) is such a bastard that they'd punish you that way. If your god would punish you that way, don't you think it's time you chose a new god? One a little more forgiving and benevolent? Who won't kill your loved ones because of your sins?
WOW
I bought Blizzard's World of Warcraft last weekend (you may have noticed the lack of updates this past week ;) and my evenings have been spent questing and killing monsters with my Dwarven Paladin.
I also got a promotion this week! For real, at my real job. I don't mean my Paladin got promoted ;)
It's Friday and my RDO. I got to sleep in until 7:45. Liz and Amber are still asleep. I've had my granola and now it's time to play again :)
I think I'm gonna need a cape...
but then again, after watching "The Incredibles" several times, I don't think a cape is a good idea.
I was waiting for my bus at the City Hall Bus Stop when I noticed a lady lying on the grass near the steps to City Hall. I thought nothing of it, because you'll regularly see people lying down while waiting for the bus.
Gradually I noticed an increase in the activity level of my fellow commuters, including a couple of people talking on cell phones...all were looking anxiously at the lady lying on the grass.
A female passenger came up to me and asked me if I knew how to dial 911 on a cell phone...WTF??? Dial 911 on a cell phone? Of course I know how to do that. You press 9 1 1 then SEND. I didn't say that, but I obviously looked a question at my fellow passenger, because she gestured at the lady lying on the grass and commented that she'd fallen down and wasn't getting up.
Obviously some people have older cell phones which do NOT allow 911 calls to go through. Did you know some older cell phones won't connect to 911? You didn't? And yet that's one of the primary reasons you have a cell, right? Kind of pointless, not being able to call 911 from your cell, isn't it? Unfortunately it's kind of hard to check if your cellphone can dial 911 without actually dialing 911.
Anyway, I pulled out my cell phone, pressed 9 1 1, then SEND, and approached the lady lying on the grass. CHP Dispatch answered within seconds, an unusually fast response time for them. (And in case you're not aware of it, dialing 911 from a cell phone usually puts you in touch with your local Highway Patrol's Dispatch). I informed them that I was in downtown L.A. and needed a Paramedic. They transferred me to LA Dispatch where I again requested a Paramedic, then chatted with the 911-Rep for a few seconds.
Not really chatted, per se, he asked me a few questions, I answered them. The lady looked in her 30s, breathing was relatively normal, she didn't appear pregnant, eye lids were fluttering rapidly and she was not responsive to external stimuli. She was having an epileptic fit, like Anzac gets sometimes.
I talked to both her and the 911-Rep, who told me to stay with the lady. I could hear sirens by now, and I crouched next to the lady, placed my hand on her shoulder and told her it was ok, the Paramedics were on their way. Just like when Anzac has a fit and can still hear me, I noticed a slight nod from the lady. I mentioned to the 911-Rep that I believed she could hear me.
You can hear me, can't you, I asked the lady. Again there was the barest of nods.
I thought so, I said, patting her shoulder (like I pat Anzac and talk to him when he has a fit ;) GSD (City Hall) Police arrived and sort of took over (like cops tend to do). I stood a couple of feet back and kept the 911-Rep apprised of the situation. He told me to stay with the woman. I'd already seen my bus pull up then leave; I wasn't going anywhere for another 20 minutes.
The first Ambulance came around the corner and I stepped to the curb and flagged them down, making sure they knew exactly where they needed to be. I then returned to the lady, knelt beside her (yes, between the cops) and told her it was ok, that the Paramedics had arrived. The 911-Rep thanked me and said I could hang up now.
The second Ambulance pulled up and its crew unloaded a stretcher. The woman had recovered enough by now that with the Paramedics' assistance she got to her feet then sat in the stretcher, which had cleverly transformed into a wheelchair. I kid you not, one of the paramedics had folded up the stretcher and turned it into a wheelchair. Awesome!
With 4 Paramedics and 2 cops on the scene, it was obvious that my job there was finished. Nothing more to do but step back and wait for my next bus.
Monday morning funny
This funny video might take a few seconds to open, or do a "Right Click & Save Target As..." (for all you Windows users) for enjoyment at your own time and leisure.
If it ain't viewable there (dude exceeds his bandwidth limit, perhaps ;) try this link instead.
He's ba'ack!
The Plumber made it back this afternoon. He got suckered in by another customer who called him and said he had a job which would only take a few minutes. He stopped by that guy's place first, found a huge mess, and because my plumber is such a nice guy, he couldn't walk out on him so he got stuck there for the entire morning. I suspect that's a trick the guy has used several times. Tell the contractor it's only a small job and won't take long, so the contractor comes around. Then, because he'd feel guilty if he walked away, the contractor stays and does the job.
He brought a buddy with him. My guy does repair plumbing work, so he was a good choice, and an excellent recommendation. Thanks, Jimmy, me old china ;)
Because the plumber's buddy does plumbing jobs in new buildings, he'd never seen a pin hole leak before, in fact he was a little dubious about them existing. We made a believer out of him :D
They got the leak permanently repaired by cutting out the old, leaky section of copper, and replacing it with a brand new length with just two holes...one at each end ;) Yeah, I'm feeling a lot better now, obviously, coz I'm making jokes like nobody's business :)
Then my two plumbers repaired the drywall they'd had to knock out to find the leak, cemented the hole in the slab they'd dug to get to the leak, then put the vanity back into the bathroom, and even touched up the molding around the base of the wall. The only thing not replaced is the wooden slats from the floor; I've got to put them back down myself, after they dry out thoroughly.
Total cost was around 50. I reckon that's pretty good for getting a new water heater installed and having a plumber over three days in a row, with a second plumber on the last day. Plus they did a top notch clean up job, my oath they did. I hope I never need a plumber again like I did this week, but if I do, I know who I'm calling.
~ and it don't look good ~
~ who ya gonna call? ~
~ A Plumber Rooter! ~
The Plumber is here
He's making a hole in the cement slab underneath our downstairs bathroom cabinet, which is where the leak is coming from. He's positive it's only in the first few inches of where the pipes are coming out from under the slab, but he still needs to cut into the slab to give himself room to work and fix the leak. We've dropped 0 so far for a water heater which he put in this morning. He hasn't given us labor costs on that yet but I don't think he's going to hit us up for Prevailing Wage, which for Plumbers in LA County is around /hr. I think he's going to charge us a little less than that.
We've pulled out the entire downstairs bathroom cabinet, the sink, faucets & everything, and now there's a hole being cut into the very base of my house...but I'm strangely ok with that.
Ok, he cut a hole in the slab, and he's not impressed with the plumbing work done by whoever built the houses in our complex, but WE FOUND THE LEAK!!! It's a pinhole leak in one of the pipes, and it was just a few inches under the slab. We've knocked a hole in the bathroom side of drywall behind where the cabinet would go, so it's not going to affect the look of the house AND we pulled up the floorboards I put down just before we moved in, but only just on the other side of the wall, where the leak is. He had to cut a hole in the slab on that side too to give him room to work and fix the leak. Right now, he's gone home for the night but he's put a temporary patch on the leak and the hole he cut in the slab is not dry, but there's no standing water in it either.
I am so relieved to have this taken care of, even if it will cost us a small fortune.
I feel so friggin' helpless...
I just want to freaking cry! Or at least SCREAM OUT LOUD!!!!!
I am someone with a lot of self-confidence, but low self-esteem, if that makes sense.
As I was growing up I would frequently assist my father with projects around the house. Usually it was because he told me to (and when Dad told you to do something, by God you did it) so I helped out. I learned to do many things, and for someone who went to college and got a degree and now works in an office behind a desk, I'm pretty bloody good with my hands, and obviously I know it ;)
I kid you not, I honestly believe I could build a house.
I am so confident in my abilities to hammer two pieces of wood together (and so on, infinitum); I am so confident in my ability to connect a couple of pipes, an elbow bend here, a t-joint there, I've already replaced several sets of taps in our current house; I am so confident in my electrical skills that I've already replaced several lights in our house, and I'm talking about the entire fixture, I've disconnected them and wired up the new ones, switched them on and we've had light. Building a house is really nothing more than banging a few dozen (or more) pieces of wood together, running some pipes here, some cables there, putting in a door or two (or more, and I've rehung our bathroom door so it swings out instead of in), slapping in a window (or 10, or more), really, when all is said and done, there's nothing to building a house.
But I still have very low self-esteem.
That's why I want to cry right now. Our water heater went and leaked water inside our new house; new being a relatively objective word, it's a 15 year old house but it's new for us. Now the water heater was upstairs, which all things considering we got off pretty lucky. Usually upstairs water heaters leak water underneath themselves, weaken the floorboards, then they crash through the floor and drop into whatever space is down below. Our water heater leaked inside a wall until the water decided to flow out into our downstairs bathroom. There appears to be no water damage where the water heater is, so there's a leak inside the wall somewhere. AND I CAN'T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT!!!
The Plumber was around this evening. I am so bloody lucky to have a good mate who recommended a Plumber to me, a Plumber who was so good that he dropped whatever he was doing (probably having dinner) and came around to help me. He's coming back tomorrow after picking up a new water heater at the hardware store, and then we'll be installing a new heater and he'll be finding the leak, which could be a pinhole leak, but he's confident he will find it. Confidence like that I am very familiar with, and I totally appreciate it. It wasn't over-confidence; it was supreme confidence, and that's what gets a job done.
So the Plumber leaves and I go online to Lowe's website to check out water heaters, and I discover there are three types; electric, LP Gas, and Natural Gas. I go outside to my gas meter thinking it will tell me what type of gas I have. It doesn't tell me what type of gas I have, but I do find out I have a gas leak!!! Just one thing after another.
Liz has taken JE to an open day/evening at the local school, and I'm home alone with a 6-month baby, a broken water heater, and A GAS LEAK!!!
I call the gas company and they promise to send someone out right away. It wasn't right away, but it was within an hour or so. The guy found the leak, which fortunately was on their side of the meter, so they were paying for the escaped gas, not me. It was in the shut-off valve; apparently they can work loose and leak gas. He tightened that up and stopped the leak. He said it's SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) when they find a gas leak to come out at a later date and check the lines for leaks, which means sometime in the next week or so there will be a gas guy with a gas detector (which looks and sounds not unlike a geiger counter) outside in our complex checking the lines for a gas leak.
So Liz, if you're reading this, which I know you will, if you see a gas guy outside sometime in the next week, walking up and down waving a little box on a stick, and the box is making ticking sounds, don't worry about. If he suddenly drops the little box and runs screaming, grab Amber & JE, throw them in the car and get the hell out of here ;)
Ok, Liz is home now. I got a hug and I'm feeling better. JE is staying with his grandparents. That's not so good, but it's good tonight considering everything that has gone wrong. I had a hugely busy day at work tomorrow...I did have. It's not going to happen now. That included a promotional interview, which also won't happen (unless that department reschedules for me). I'll be staying home to help out the Plumber any way I can...which might be by just staying out of his way :)
Is it time to go home, yet?
Ramonda Blvd. is closed for the next two years while "they" lower the road and turn the rail crossing into an overpass. So I got up at 4:20 this morning to catch the early bus, just in case. I jump in the shower, it's cold. Run the water for a while, it's still cold. Get out and realize I need a shave. So I'm forced to shave with cold water. Not as bad as a cold shower. I check the Pilot light on the water heater. I can't see it, but there's a little metal door in the way. I lift the door out and still can't see the light. I turn the gas off and read the instructions on the side of the water heater. This is one of the few times in one's life when you really should read instructions. Reading the instructions alerts me to the second little metal door. I lift it out, but I've already turned the gas off so now I have no way of knowing if the pilot light really was out, or if Liz just used all the hot water washing clothes last night. Decide to have breakfast and wait the recommended 10 minutes before attempting to relight the pilot. I wave the BBQ lighter around what appears to be the pilot's location, first one side, then the other. Above it? Below it? The Lord smiles upon me and light appears...or fire at least, and in the right place too. Always a good thing when lighting gas appliances. At least Liz will have hot water for her shower this morning.
Run out the door with maybe 5 to 10 minutes to spare. It's been a while since I caught the early bus, and I know my watch is running a little fast, but I'd rather wait 5 minutes for the bus than watch it drive past as I get to the corner. That's happened to me too many times...once is too many. It's happened to me more than once :P
Wait forever at the bus stop. That would be Karma. There is a commotion across the road as an SUV backs out onto the road. A girl (young lady) follows it out, banging on the driver's door & window. "Give me back my car!" I think I hear her yell.
She gets in front of the SUV which pushes her down the road for half a block before the driver goes into reverse and zooms back down the road toward us. The girl runs after the SUV but it's going too fast. The driver gets enough distance, changes into Drive (or First), pulls around the girl and drives away.
I finally find the number for the El Monte P.D. in my cellphone. It's under Police, El Monte. It's now #9 on my speed-dial. Calling your local P.D. or Dispatch is always way faster than using 911.
I stay on the phone with Dispatch until an officer arrives on the scene. The guy waiting for the bus with me claims the girl said "Give me back my kid!" so we go from carjacking to a possible kidnapping. We point out the girl's house to the officer just as our bus pulls up.
Oddly enough, at 5:20am (or whatever time it is), the bus is pretty full. I still get a seat though, and a good thing too. I sit down, get out my book, and notice my hands are shaking way more than usual. Fighting crime really stresses me out.
I get into downtown L.A. a little before 6am, get off at the court house and wait for my connecting bus, and wait, and wait, and wait. I finally get into work at 6:10. I've almost been this early catching my usual bus! I get up 40 minutes early, have a choice of a cold shower or no shower, relight the water heater, deal with a carjacking and possible kidnapping, and get into work no more than 10 minutes before my usual time!
Tomorrow morning I'm catching my usual bus. If I'm late, I don't care. There's only a few of us in at 6:30 anyway.
March of Dimes
Through contributions from family, friends and coworkers, I raised $ 673 for the March of Dimes to help prevent and treat premature births. Thank you to everyone who donated!
Saturday morning I got to sleep in a whole hour, until 5:50am :) My coworker arrived at 6:30 and we set off for the designated March of Dimes parking area close by Griffith Park. The walk was not scheduled to start until 8am, but being punctual people we were at the staging area a little after 7. After finally making contact with our other coworkers through the miracle of modern technology that is the cell phone, we discovered our tardy coworkers were still at the parking area waiting to board the bus to bring them to the start of the Walk. We ended up starting without them, walked perhaps the first mile or so, got to the bus drop off area and picked up our coworkers. Our boss was walking with her two young daughters and one of their friends. When we passed the starting point our boss left two of the girls there and continued walking with her older faughter, but they eventually turned back so the little ones didn't wait too long by themselves. One of our coworkers and her friend had stormed ahead by this point, and we met them on the way back, so to the cries of "Cheaters!" from the crowd, led by our very vocal coworkers of course ;) we crossed the road and headed back. We probably cut out half a mile of walking.
At the start area (now the finish line) we discovered the road to our annual Burea BBQ/Picnic was closed and would not be opened for several hours. I called Liz and informed her of this because that's the road she was planning to take. After the bus took us back to our car we came in the back way, past a little known non-profit tourist spot called Travel Town. The BBQ went off relatively smoothly, if a little unorganized, but in order to guiltlessly complain about the lack of organization I'd need to volunteer to serve on the BBQ Committee next year, and I'm not planning on doing that, so I'm not going to rag on it. The food was good, JE had a good time, it was a nice day out for the family. Nuff said.
On the way home JE fell asleep in the car. When I put him in his bed, Liz climbed into our bed, and they both took a nap. I fed Amber, put her down in her cot, and was woken by muffled cries about 15 minutes later; She'd pulled her blanket up over her head. I uncovered her, left her in her cot, and was forced to return barely minutes later by more muffled cries. So I got her up and played with her (mostly) until JE got up and wanted to play Mario Party. Fortunately Amber is entertained by the TV so that worked to entertain both kids.
I thought I was doing pretty good for someone who'd walked 5 miles that morning, until after our Pizza dinner, at no later than 9:30pm, I decided it time for bed. Amber was finally asleep for the evening but Liz & JE probably stayed up playing Warcraft III together.
I slept for at least 12 hours last night and was woken in the early hours by an allergy attack and a runny nose. I hope it's allergies because if it's not, it's a cold. Liz is already recovering from a cold. It's probably a cold. JE was woken by my sneezing; I saw him check the clock but it wasn't 7am yet so he lay back down in bed. I crawled back under the covers and heard JE enter the family room shortly afterwards to watch TV or play computer. I think it was around 8am when he came in to wake me up and tell me it was after 7 o'clock. I told him to bug mummy, it's daddy's turn to sleep in. He left the room and returned around 9am when Liz decided if she was getting up, so was I.
It's been a lazy morning, and it will probably be a lazy afternoon. There's a nice breeze blowing through the house and I'm in a relaxed, "do as little as possible" mood.
Welcome, Ghoti
When I add a new link to the Blogs list over there on the right, I normally make it but Liz doesn't like it when I do that. So I'll just make a mention here that I've added a new link to Ghoti's Blog.
Ghoti stumbled across my Blog a couple of times through Pita's members pages. I like the randomness of that. Ghoti has been reading my blog for a month or so now, and from what I know about her and what is going to happen in her life in the future, I'm interested in making her blog a regular read of mine, too.
So, welcome Ghoti, thanks for stopping by.
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 Raised: $ 673 Goal: $ 1000 BLOGS: SimplyRed Bitka Calima Drucifer DustBuffalo Eccythump Ghoti Lavagrrrl Loki Luminati Morgan Prism Spyfor Xinher LINKS: Richmond Tigers! Round 10 Tigers 11.8:74 defeated by Demons 20.11:131 Aussie Rules Football! Cincinnati Bengals! Improv Everywhere! Puzzle Pirates! ARCHIVES: 2005 April March February January 2004 December November October September August July June May Dream Blog CREDITS: Thanks to me wife for redesigning me new Blog page, and to Greymatter, the web site where she got the idea for this design. 
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Chadwicks