A lesson in not letting Kate get too bored

I have learned over the past couple of months that I do not sit still well.  I think that I have always known that but it has now been officially confirmed. 

When things get a little crazy with work I long for a couple of days of nothingness...which in my head is me sitting around doing absolutely nothing but reading a book or watching television...but that almost rarely ever happens.  Honestly, I think the only time I manage to have some nothingness time is when I'm on an airplane and am pretty much forced into it.

So, these past few months gave me quite a bit of down time.  I prepared and had tons of DVDs, books, etc.  Very early on I realized that the DVDs and books weren't going to keep me occupied.  So, instead, one day I decided to sweep the office floor.  After having swept it I realized it could really use some polish so decided to do that too.  I glanced down the hallway and figured I should do that too.  The next thing I know the entire house is turned upside down so that I could sweep and polish the hardwood floors.  If you doubt me just ask my friend Ronnie who happened to stop by in the midst of Kate's floor cleaning incident of 2010.

When I finished with the floors they looked so nice I decided to do a little dusting and general cleaning.  That just didn't seem like enough...I was bored and there is only so much daytime television that one can tolerate.  And let me just say that I could go on for a really long time about the quality of daytime television...and do not even get me started on the misery of daytime television commercials...ugh!

Back to the cleaning...the floors and dusting just didn't seem like enough...I was bored...we have lots of closets...you see where this going.  They are all clean now.  Things have been taken to the local charity.  Other things have been recycled.  Some things were just put in the trash.  All of the closets are clean & organized...so is the refrigerator...and the filing cabinet...and the dresser drawers...spring cleaning is complete!

I'm back at work now which is a good thing because I have run out of things to clean.  Do you think the flight attendants would be upset with me if I started cleaning and organizing the galley mid-flight?

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Expansion?

It is currently NHL playoff season...in case you do not know.  Also, I love hockey...in case you do not know.  My beloved Carolina Hurricanes did not make the Stanley Cup Playoffs.  We fans are disappointed but it is okay.  We'll be back...AND...we have the All-Star Game next year...woohoo!

Regardless, I still love watching hockey...especially playoff hockey.  This playoff season has not disappointed.  In fact, there have been some pretty amazing games and we haven't even made it out of the first round. 

So...my quandary...how the heck do I convince the NHL to have their next expansion team be placed in Singapore?  There have to be enough US and Canadian expats that would support them.  Sure...it'd be a long trip to compete with the rest of the teams...but many of us have become accustomed to beating jetlag...surely a bunch of professional athletes would be able to as well.  We could even name their mascot Humidity or some other silly name...there are plenty of silly mascots so we could easily come up with one.

What do you think?  What are my chances of getting a hockey team to Singers?  Heck, I'd even settle for hockey on satellite television...but I think I have better chances of actually getting the NHL team there.

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Playing with history

By history...I mean a 1929 cash register.  It may sound boring but it was pretty cool.  Especially since it was accompanied by a description from the great-grandson of the person who purchased it back in 1929.

We were at our local jeweler, Jolly's in Raleigh, NC.  We've been in and out of the store a number of times and for some reason today was the first day that I noticed this vintage cash register.  I totally should have noticed it before since it stands over 5' tall.  The metal register part of it isn't that tall.  Instead it sits on a beautiful mahogany cabinet that houses the cash drawers as well as some storage drawers.  This thing is huge but it is also a wonderful combination of functional machinery and stunning furniture.

The register itself has a larger than normal number of numeric keys with amounts ranging from cents up to 900.  It has a row of keys for the different jewelry departments such as diamonds, watches, repair, gold, etc.  It has a few keys to indicate the form of payment which were cash, charge, and credit (store not card).  Finally, it had a column of keys from A to K which were the keys assigned to the different sales staff. 

I was standing in front of the cash register admiring all of the different keys when up walks the owner of the store.  He told me to choose a dollar amount and punch it in...so I did.  I next had to choose the department, form of payment, and my sales person letter.  I entered in a $950 diamond cash purchase and became sales person 'K' (of course...for Kate).  He then told me to punch in the big black button...so I did.  It totaled the purchase in large numbers at the top of the machine and then popped open (to my surprise) one of the mahogany drawers in the cabinet below.

How cool was that?  I just used a cash register that somebody else first used over 80 years ago.  Even better than that was the time that the owner, and great-grandson of the original owner spent with us.  He told us loads about the register itself...it was in use up until the mid-70s...they just had it repaired within the past couple of years...it is fully functional today with the exception of the printer because they can no longer get the ribbon printer ink nor the register paper roll...it weighs a ton (remember I said mahogany).  He also told us about the history of the safes in the store and a bunch of other interesting information about the history of the store.

I love shopping locally.  I especially love shopping locally when the store has this sort of history and they are so willing to share it with you.  I really hope that in the current environment of chain stores that these local stores stay in business so that somebody else can play with that cash register in another 80 years.

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I am not a Rebel

Nobody will call me Dixie...and I'll never live on, at, near, or under the Southern Cross.  I am, of course, talking about the Confederate flag:

I am a Yankee living in the South.  I am not often reminded of this but do get reminded a couple of times a year.  And...I was reminded yesterday....mainly because of this:

This is the vanity license plate on my car which was parked in the driveway when the electrician came to do some work at our house yesterday.  He noticed it and told me in his very thick North Carolina accent that he "would get a lot of gruff from his buddies if they knew he was working at my house".  I told him that I like it here and that I don't impose any of 'northern ways' upon anybody here.  He promptly told me that it didn't matter..."you're a Yankee" and that was that!

He was partly joking but mostly serious.  He is actually a really nice guy (and excellent electrician) and he explained to me that his great, great grand daddy founded O'Kelly Chapel.  (For those of you outside of Durham, O'Kelly Chapel is a very old and very small rural church.  There are also a handful of roads near the chapel named for the O'Kelly family.)  I immediately understood that he is not only Southern but he is old South...his family has been here for a long time.

When I first moved to North Carolina from Michigan I didn't fully appreciate the Yankee comments.  I likened them more to a college sports rivalry.  It wasn't until I became friends with a woman from an old Southern family.  She explained to me that a lot of the Southern families lost quite a bit during the Civil War.  Not only did they lose their land, they also lost family heirlooms, family pictures, homes, family members, etc.  I think the most important thing that may have been lost, and she did not say this, was their pride...or maybe that isn't the best word...their sense of identity.

By no means do I condone slavery but hearing this from her totally shifted my perspective.  I had previously held a rather arrogant attitude that slavery is wrong and we...since I was from Michigan I was part of the winning team...won.  I had never before thought about the impact that the Civil War had on the families that were living here.  Shame on me.

I don't think I can ever fully appreciate the sense of having outsiders move in when you have family that have lived on the land for hundreds of years.  I do, however, have a sense of pride of where I come from.  I was born and raised in Michigan and I am proud of that....hence the vanity license plate.  It has nothing to do with being from north of the Mason-Dixon line.  It is totally an inside Michigan thing that you will likely only understand and appreciate if you are from Michigan.

I suspect that the equivalent of Yankee in Singapore is expat...

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3 quarts of yummy goodness

Last week I wrote to you about how I love to go to the farmers' market.  We went again this weekend and it is the start of strawberry season here in NC.  YUM!

I adore fresh strawberries.  They are one of my very favorite things.  I will do my best to eat my weight...or more...in fresh strawberries.  I never get sick of the fresh ones...am not a fan of those shipped in from California or Florida or whatever other warm climate grows them to supply the grocery stores.  I want them to have been picked that morning and still have dirt on them just to prove that they were locally grown.

At the NC State Farmers' Market they always have a couple of options for sizes: 
Quart - although I have no idea why....I'd have those eaten on the drive home.
Bucket - this holds about 3 quarts and is usually what I buy.
Flats - I think that these have 6 or 8 quarts.  These would are perfect to buy if you are making jam.

As usual, I purchased a bucket.  I normally just hull and clean them and then enjoy their strawberry goodness.  For some reason, this time I got it into my head that I wanted to make something for Alan out of them.  He asked for strawberry pie...like the kind you'd get from Big Boy.  I hunted online for a recipe and actually had a hard time finding one that I liked.  So, I turned to our stash of cookbooks and found one in the Officers Wives Club - El Centro, CA cookbook circa 1974. This was one of Alan's mom's cookbooks...it had a star next to the recipe...can't go wrong with this recipe:

My three quarts of yummy goodness have been decreased to just one quart...but Alan will enjoy the pie and I'll be sure to enjoy the fresh strawberries. 

Anybody want to come over and have some strawberry pie with Alan?

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What a day!

I know...how can I already be proclaiming 'what a day' when it has only just begun?

As I'm sure most of you know, today is the deadline for Americans to file their taxes (or at least request an extension).  It is also the tax deadline for paper filing of taxes in Singapore (they give you until the 18th if you are e-filing).  I have no idea why but I find it interesting that the deadlines are the same.  It raises the question to me as to when all of the other countries around the world are required to file their taxes?  Which reminds me, that this experience is making me think of things outside of the US which is a very good thing...even if it is as simple as when do the fine people of Peru or Ghana or Finland or Japan or Thailand have to file their taxes?

Today is also one year since my first blog...can you believe it???  Happy birthday to my blog!!!!  I've blogged about a bunch of different things...struggling with the cost of dish racks in Singapore...tracking the 22,000 miles I flew in one week...sharing pictures when I stepped on North Korean soil...moving...getting stuck in customs in Sydney...  I was a bit reluctant when I first starting blogging.  My brother convinced me it was a good idea but I really wasn't sure I would have anything to say or share.  I also really wasn't sure if anybody would be interested in reading about things that I experienced.  But...here we are, one year later and many blog posts later and I'm still writing.

Looking back on my blog posts, it has become sort of a diary for me...a good way for me to remember exactly what I was thinking and experiencing...for example on June 26, 2009...apparently I had a cold.  Sure, there are some big things that I would have remembered but probably not in the way that I can by reading exactly what I wrote and what I was thinking.

Am curious...what have been some of your favorite blog posts?  Anything stand out in particular?

So...lastly...today is my brother Alan's birthday.  He's not the hoopla kind of guy so I won't post a picture or go into too much detail other than to say thanks for encouraging the blog and Happy Birthday!

What a day!

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22 First Grade Pen Pals

We all know that I love the mail...I'm sure that you are all abundantly aware of that by this point.  I also tend to talk about the weather a lot when it is nice.  There is a perk to being in NC when the weather is nice as I can have the windows open in the house...this means that I can hear the mail truck coming from down the block.  While the thought of knowing that the mail is nearby is exciting...I shockingly do not jump up and go out and meet the truck...ask Alan...I really don't...I wait until it is a polite distance down the road and then promptly head out to see what surprises were left in the box.

About a month or so ago I received a package of letters from a classroom of first graders in Michigan.  My friend Tina (who is the art teacher at the school) had sent me a note and asked if I'd be a willing pen pal to 20+ first graders after they had seen my pictures from Chinese New Year in Singapore.  What better way to get a new group of people excited about the mail???  And seriously, it meant 20+ letters and a package in the mail for me...how could I say no?

The letters were wonderful.  Tina had the kids make them into cards so there was artwork on the cover of each.  The letters themselves were written on the lined paper you used when you were in elementary school.  They were obviously practicing their letter writing as they were all properly dated, had an appropriate header, and a very polite closing.  The best part of each letter was what they had written.  They asked a lot of questions but also told me about themselves in the way that only that age group can.  Now, I'm not around many kids these days so I was pretty impressed with the thought that went into the letters...the comments as well as their questions.  I had a blast reading through each of them.

What was far more fun was responding to each of the kids.  I spent a morning drafting letters to them making sure that I answered each of their questions.  It was interesting because I had to really think about the letters as I wrote them.  These kids were practicing letter writing so I wanted to be sure to use proper grammar and sentence structure (clearly not something I am worried about in my blog or when I just jot a card or note to a friend).  I also wanted to make sure I was using words that were part of their vocabulary.  I'm all for challenging kids so was less worried about it from that angle and more worried that I'd dumb it down for some reason. 

It was interesting...
These amazing letters that were part of a class project for them gave me a chance to look at things a little differently.  It has been a really long time since I've looked at anything through the eyes of a first grader.  What began as my just returning letters...seemingly a perk for me and my love of mail...ended up being so much more fun.  This is why I love the mail!

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Follow-up to market post

I was just reading a magazine and came across a very useful website if you are looking for the location of local farmers' markets in your area.  It is: http://www.localharvest.org/.  You just have to type in your zip code and what you are looking for and it'll give you a list of markets in your area.  Check it out.

I swear this happened after my post this morning...funny, eh?  But appropriately timed.

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Markets

One of my first posts almost a year ago was about the wet market that I visit in Singapore.  In case you missed it or would like a reminder, here's a link to the post about Tekka Market.  

Yesterday afternoon, Alan and I went to the NC State Farmers Market.  We love getting fresh and locally grown produce, locally made cheese, and will soon be venturing into locally raised meat.  In my opinion, these products taste so much better coming directly from the source and of course, we always enjoy supporting the local farmers.

As we were walking through the market it made me think of the differences between typical US farmers markets and the wet markets in Singapore or most Asian cities for that matter.  Sure, there are things that are the same...vendors pushing their products by giving you free tastes, items nicely arranged and organized on their tables, and a lot of people trying to fit through the aisles and jockey for space to purchase the goods. 

But there are also some differences at the wet markets in Asia:

• Aroma -  In Asia, the markets, for the most part, are divided into three sections.  1) Food to buy and take home to cook, 2) food to eat immediately, and 3) wares (clothing, household items, etc).  Because of the food court sections there are all these amazing aromas that your nose catches you when you walk in.  
• Food resembling itself when it was alive - As I mentioned in that first post about Tekka Market, in Asia, when you go to buy chicken or fish or whatever meat you want it is sitting on ice in the form in which it was alive.  The first few times you walk through the markets there it can kind of freak you out coming from the US where things are already pre-packaged.  But you get used to it and I now love that they will cut it exactly how I ask without complaint...and typically with a smile on their face.
• Heat - Okay, this may not be a fair comment since it was only in the 60s here yesterday and breezy.  The normal temps in Singers are in the 80s or low 90s and humid without a lot of breeze.  But it is a difference.  I left the farmers market yesterday without a drop of sweat on me, whereas, I am almost always completely drenched by the time I leave Tekka...hence my secret meaning for 'wet' market.
• Variety - This is nothing against the local farmers market at all but more just a statement on what is available in each.  Obviously, living in Singapore I'm in a tropical climate so I can get fresh mangoes or passionfruit or dragonfruit every week if I want.  We'll never see those items at a NC farmers market.  However, by the same token, I'll never see fresh peaches or locally grown strawberries at Tekka.  The same goes for the fish at Tekka.  There are some fish there that I've never seen before.  One of these days I may get the courage to try them...or at least ask what they are and how they taste...

I enjoy going to both types of markets.  As I said before, some of it is taking out the middleman and supporting the local guys.  Some of it is for the atmosphere and the visual stimulation of seeing the variety of foods.  Regardless, I encourage you to head out to a local farmers market whenever you can.  You don't have to buy a thing...just walk through and take in the atmosphere and overhear the conversations and enjoy being outside. 

I must confess, I haven't actually been to Tekka Market in Singapore to buy produce and meat for quite some time. I've been taking the easy route and just purchasing it at the grocery store.  I'm going to make a conscious effort to return to my weekly Sunday morning trip once I head back.

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Yellow says hello

T.S. Eliot once wrote "The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the windowpanes."

I believe that the NC pine trees took this quote a bit too seriously:

This past week we have literally been driving, walking, and generally avoiding being outside due to the giant yellow haze that has descended upon us.  It happens to us every year.  The Longleaf and Loblolly pine trees are to blame.  They are everywhere in NC and they are green yearround and pretty.  We observe them and appreciate them and they return our adoration by raining yellow pine pollen dust down upon us for about two weeks each Spring. 

The quickest way to rid ourselves of it is a few nicely timed thunderstorms.  We had some rain on Thursday night which washed a good bit of it away.  We now need one more good rain event early in the week and I think we'll be able to say so long to pollen.

Our household is not allergic to the pollen.  However, because of the large quantities of it, if we are out in the yard mowing or sweeping it can make your eyes water and you'll inevitably end sneezing a few times.

I know that it is hard to see the yellow in the picture above but that is my silver car with a one day coating of pine pollen on it.  There is no use washing it until the pollen stops dropping...it will just keep getting covered.

For those of you that live up north, while I know it has turned cold again, be thankful you do not have to deal with the pollen.  For me, I am ready to say phir melenge (goodbye in Hindi) to the pollen.

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24 days

HEY...YOU....GUYS!!!!!!!!!!!!  (Did anybody else watch Electric Company on PBS when you were kids?)

Are you guys still out there?   

**Imagine my face trying to peer into your computer to see if you are anywhere nearby.  BONK!  And that was my face getting too close...and yes, while this is purely a hypothetical for dramatic effect...I would totally bonk my head if I were to really try it.  It'd be on youtube and I'd end up on Tosh.O (great show by the way) and would be totally humiliated...**   

Will you continue to read my blog?  

Even though I have abandoned you for the past 24 days?

Even though I'm trying to peer into your computer to see where you are?...which I acknowledge is nerdy, creepy, and impossible all in one!

So, I've been MIA for a bit...duh...I just addressed that.  I've been busy taking care of some personal things which are going well and phase 1 is almost over...can I get a woohoo?  But...I've also been busy doing other things.  I'm not going to go into great detail today because I may actually blog about some of these.  Yes...I'm going to try to start blogging more regularly.  I'm hoping the thud I just heard was not one of you falling off your chair.

Here are a few of things I've been up to lately:

• Spring Cleaning...a lot of it...
• Trying not to turn yellow
• Responding to new pen pals...22 of them
• Watching the Duke Blue Devils win their 4th National Championship
• Walking...mainly around my neighborhood
• Cooking...yes, that collective thud was from all of you dropping to the floor at once, I know.

So that is what I've been busy with lately.  You should see me around here a bit more frequently...or at least I'll try.

What have you guys been up to?
 

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