For those who took it the wrong way
Weeds is a TV show!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A very funny, but crazy show
http://www.sho.com/site/weeds/home.do
I am not, nor I have ever smoked a weed,reefer,pipe, huka, mushroom,dope,smack,crack,heroin, marijuana, glue, air conditioner fluid , or even a cigarette- never tried it and never will.
My vices are food (chocolate) and TV.
We are addicted to weed.
I have this addiction for years, and I introduced Alla to this stuff and she is now hooked too
So we sit on the couch on a Saturday night watching season 5 when a loud noise is ringing in our ears. We wonder if we have a fire alarm in the apartment (we don’t) the loud sound continues, I step out to the hall and- it is a fire alarm, the emergency lights are on and the noise is everywhere. People are steeping out of their apartments. I go out with my shoes off alla comes out as well and the whole floor tries to figure out if this is a drill or what is actually going on, then I walk by the elevator, where the main vent is located, and I smell smoke!.
By then alla had my sandals, and I quickly shout to the corridor that this is a real fire
And mip mip, alla runs down the stairs in record breaking speed, I am not kidding, she went down 4 floors in 10 seconds.
I was still straggling with my sandals (new teva one’s not like the old style, not easy to put on). I get to the stairs in a normal fast speed and get stuck behind a family that had a handy kept and they were going down slowly. Apparently Alla ran into them earlier (17 seconds before) and made a costanza and passed by them.
We get down to the 1st floor which is somewhat filled with smoke and go out. There was a fire in one of the 1st floor apartments, something was burned in the kitchen, there was still a smell of smoke for a few hours later. The fire department came over, and it was a nice experience for a Saturday night.
While we waited for the smoke to clear, we decided to do something and go for a pizza. So we walked in the plaza while waiting for the pizza to be ready, and we stumbled on block buster and took a movie.
While we walked back , we passed by the fire department , and they had a call and a fire truck comes out sirens flashing.
(at this time, the fire at our house was out, but we didn’t know that for sure) and we both had the same thought.
But the truck went 150 meters and stopped on the side. Not sure if it was an accident, but it was a bit funny for the truck to drive so close, they could have ran faster and got there. So with unanswered questions, we took our pizza and returned to our smoky home (1st floor with smoke, 5th only with the smell) and enjoyed a movie.
In the last month I started and completed a nice tiger puzzle. Only 500 pieces but the tiger colors are not easy to do so it was fun. After it was done I left it on the carpet and the wind blew up my tiger. Half the puzzle was turned upside down. Took me another hour to undo the wind damage, took me two weeks to go to the store to get a frame, took us several tries to hang it on the wall, but in the end the tiger is on our wall, hiding in the grass.
Last week alla finished her rotations and after this week she will be graduating from pharmacy school, which is a huge relief.
We went to see robin hood over the weekend (be careful, spoiler alert). I very much liked the previous robin hood movie with Kevin Costner and I had high expectations. They did not come true. The whole movie is a prequel to the regular story, I think there will be another movie next year. They say it’s a darker version, I think it’s boring, the battle scenes are not that crucial for the character buildup. It’s not a bad entertainment but could and should have been better. When we went the next day to block buster, I tried to find the original movie (original being probably the 5th version of this story) and they didn’t have it. They did have the postman (a bad movie) but not the older robin hood.
My opinion on action movies, is if you want to have a good movie, you must have a good bad guy. If the bad guy is lame, the movie is lame. The hero is always the hero, but the bad guy makes the movie.
In 6 days we leave for Israel…
Till then we will – dress up In a suit, go to Toronto, finish a season of heroes, finish a season of lost, film alla’s graduation ceremony, and go see a great show (the turtles , the monkeys, grass roots and Buckingham’s) all 60’s bands all in one evening, each with 1 song which I love. Will be fun!
Cheers and see you on the other side of the ocean.
Oh this week we had our 2 year anniversary and 1 year engaged anniversary J
My 1st and so far only time in a tux
Don’t worry, I am not wearing this to the wedding, but I had detailed journalistic coverage
p.s also photos of my better half
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I think this weekend I was a American as I could possibly be.
(btw , the was no change in my legal status)
This was a shopping weekend, Saturday at the mall and Sunday at an outlet mall- this activity has long passed baseball as the American favorite sport.
We started our Saturday morning with an oil change for racers’s car, followed by new tags for my car (you must do it once a year if you have a new car. Racer is paying once every 2 years (double price, no discounts)
If you have an older car and get an ECheck (checking that your car doesn’t pollute a lot and that the check that you pay for the ecehck doesn’t bounce). You can get tags for 2 years, it’s some incentive to avoid going to the bmv every year. But if you have a newer car, which means it Esafe and you don’t need an echeck, then you cannot get a 2 year tag. The BMV lady kept explaining that its because you don’t have an echeck, but you don’t neeeeeed and echeck, silly rules everywhere.
One anti gil rule is that ,if you get your tags after the due time (your birthday) then you pay a late fee, so of course I paid a late fee, and I will probably pay again next year. I can avoid paying a late fee if I had 2 year tags, but I need an ecehck for that, but I don’t need an echeck….
We stopped at the bank to deposit and I stopped in a jewelry store to discover my 1st shock of the day. The salesguy says that what I can get online for rings is crap and I don’t know what I am getting, which is so much different than the store, since I am experienced gold ring spotter and can tell the different between 14 karat to 10, NOT. I didn’t get anything there.
After that we went to the mall. This weekend’s mission is a wedding suit for me and a ring also for me.
1st stop at dilards, than back to the car to find a closer parking places (god, I am getting spoiled). The suits guy named Mustafa, he Is from morocco.
I never had a real suit before, I did have a cheap suit (which is not cheap, just cheap in the world of suits). But my knowledge of suites was less then ziltch.
Now I know some. Apparently there is this whole suit fashion that I knew nothing about. The 3 button suit is no longer in style, only the 2 button suit. The new thing is a double vent, the rest is up to personal choice (lapel, stitching, color). I tried a few on and one of them was very good (but expensive). So now we had a potential suit, we went on to get shoes, dilards had a wide selection, but I needed formal dancing shoes , and didn’t find anything I liked.
After a much needed charlee’s subs break (this shopping takes a long time), we stopped at a another jewelry store and found that I am a ring size 9. At the next store we finally struck gold, so to speak. Actually I didn’t like the gold shine on my finger, so I went with another option. You must wait for the wedding for the ring unveiling.
So 1st mission accomplished we returned to the suits.
When I first heard the tuxedo option, I thought of a 3 piece suit with tails. I was clue less. Yes those are tuxedos, but its usually just a regular suite, but it’s a bit shinier in some area. 1 line on the pants, a shiny lapel, a puffy shirt. I actually surprised myself and I tried the whole thing on, with the tie. It looks ok, but its warmer. I didn’t take this option in the end. A tux you can only wear to weddings, a suite you can reuse. The good thing that we had photos of the whole thing.
Still no suit, we stopped at Godiva for treats, and went to Nordstrom, where they showed us a better fitting suit, which was more expensive, this is a wedding , so this was now our number 1 suit, but we still didn’t get it. They do not discount, so we went back to dilards and sneaky alla go us an extra shirt and tie for the same price. But we still didn’t take it. On the way we picked up gifts for some people.
This whole thing took about 7 hours.
After that we went house hunting, looked around, there are many houses to sell, this was our 1st serious look at new possible homes. Tired, we went home for eggless chicken flied lice and few episodes of weeds (we are addicted).
Today was the outlet mall day , which is just by my work, but I never went there. Going quickly through the stores, we found that shoes will not be found here, but I got a few shirts at Haggar, which had polyester suits, not what I need. Polyester is warmer, but I did like the price…
Brooks brothers store came next, they had also wool suits, cheaper (but not cheap), after very longs debate, we passed on this option. A quick gap break (unfortunately Gap break takes an hour and you leave with lots of bags) later and we were about to leave the outlet mall, till we spotted a Saks 5th (actually Saks off 5th) store. And finally- a suit that suited me just fine (also pricewise). We also got a dress for Alla’s bachelorette party, white shirt for me, a spare. And cufflinks! Me in cufflinks! I am still In shock. We were kind of dehydrated after that and drank 4 bottles of water (both of us on the way to red robin for lunch (We like their burgers). We proceeded to DSW and found shoes with leather soles that are nice looking and I can dance with (the leather makes them slide on the floor), than we returned to Dillard’s and got the tie.
So we now have suit, shoes, shirts, tie, dress, cufflinks and the ring. now all I need Is a belt- which is easy- mission accomplished.
I don’t know how American shop all the time, after this weekend I need a vacation
I am leaving a parking lot on Babbitt street, on the corner of gay street, and just before I hit the road I see a little squirrel, trying to cross the road. The squirrel makes a dash and escapes the 1st car (on a double lane road) which slows down, but the squirrel does not make it to the other end.:(
Sad to see, I think it was still alive, I considered running the poor thing over to prevent it from further pain, but couldn’t. this was not the saddest thing today.
On a completely unrelated event, I was hoping that wiggan would not lose today to allow my united team to be champions, but no luck, Chelsea abused them with 8:0----8, shocking to win, almost ending this horrible sports year for my teams worldwide. The only good thing is Boston, with a win today and 2:2 in the series, perhaps something will happen here. I cannot wait for next season..what an awful “almost” season.
Back to normal and our lease was up for renewal, we didn’t decide what we should do, look for a new place now, or next year. In the end we settled for 6 more months here, so we expect to move by November. Our 6 months lease is more expensive (a$$ holes). So I get the bill which is without the extra 50$ monthly and pay it on time. I get a call from the office saying the check is wrong, they say they sent the wrong bill, I say I will pay as soon as the right one appears, we shake hands over the phone and next day there is an eviction notice on my door..if you don’t pay by …. We will evict you.
I felt like looking for a new place right away, what a chutzpa. Of course, the right check the next day and the issue was resolved. Not an impressive story , only true.
About a month ago I went on an orienteering event, but unlike previous times, I volunteered to help set up the controls, which means I have to be spot on accurate, usually, if you get close to the area, you see the control, but when you set them, you can’t make a mistake. So I get to a this state park, the trees are in full bloom. I park and right from my car sit I spot a red robin. A cute red bird, few meters to the side, a bunny hops on the grass, and off to the side ,a chipmunk is running. My 1st realization is the I have my camera. Actually a good reason why the latest camera is alive since august is me keep forgetting to take it. I start my orienteering with 4 control points to set, the 1st one is easy, on a big sign, but on a tree on top I notice a wood pecker. The only time I have seen a wood pecker is in a cartoon. And again I recall the lack of the camera. I waste about an hour on point #2, I think I got it in end, or at least very close to the point, and manage to get 3 and 4 very accurately , and see 3 more deer, skinny deer since the winter just ended. It takes make just over an hour and a half to complete and I return.
We went to a Chinese place a few days ago, the place looks fancy, the dishes look nice, but what happened to the flavor? They had dishes with the name of the province they came from ( Hunan, schatchwan) but again, the flavor was lacking.
2 weeks later I went on another orienteering event. This time is was a score event- and I made a strategic mistake by going to the close and easy one’s first, I was making decent time on the easy points, then picked up some harder ones, I was doing well till point number 8, I spent half an hour on it (in a 90 minutes race) and couldn’t find it, I picked up some more towards the ends, and made it with 10 minutes to spare but not enough time to get any more points (should never go for the easy one’s first, a rookie mistake.) I know my score, but they didn’t posted the result, so I don’t know how bad I did.
I had another orienteering yesterday, this time it was beginners event, so I took a group out and showed them how, nothing special except it rained and my shoes were soaked.
2 weeks ago we went to see john lovitz, he is an actor/ comedian and by far the best I have seen here, he’s warm up act was great too.
Not a lot of updates
May you all have a happy may
This was supposed to be written on march 16th, but life got in the way
So let’s see what we had on my 2nd us year
I got married and found a way to stay engaged to the lovely Alla
I ran a half marathon at record speed of 2 hours , 2 minutes and some seconds, and did not stop on the way (or gave in to cramps)
I had few days of pain after my first half marathon and all the cramps
I saw my favorite movie star in a not so great stand up (robin Williams)
I saw jerry Seinfeld in a show and he was good (not great)
I had a few more anonymous laughs – don’t recall who they were
I raised 2800$ for crohns and colitis (600$ paid myself, since couldn’t raise the whole thing on time.)
I managed to tear my calve muscle, sprained my left ankle twice, hurt my back and my hip (not sure how that happened)
I got my first MRI, not something to be proud about
I got my 1st work application, my first temporary green card, my first email saying I am about to get my first green card, and finally my first green card.
Completed 2 puzzles this year (one with my niece), and had the only puzzle I made half blown by the wind.
Had my 1st eviction notice.
Discovered that horse radish (and even red horse radish is edible)
Discovered I like fish.
Seen 14 bears, bald eagles, deer, deer and more deer, skunks, hawks, herons, ground hogs, chip monks, squirrels, a snapping turtle, bunny, red robin, blue bird, blue jay, red cardinal. Moose, wild turkey, red fox, wood pecker, lizards, wild horses, tarantula, buffalo, more deer, antelope, and more deer. (I saw more caged, but that doesn’t count)
I have been to area 51 (or at least the gate of some base with no name in Nevada)
Replaced 1 phone, 1 lap top, 2 cameras
I was saddomized by a capuchin monkey
Added Belize and Honduras to my list of countries (now at 43)
And the following states, Oklahoma, Alaska, Oregon, Wyoming- to a total of 32- it has been a slow year
I added 1 Canadian provinces (Yukon)- total of 4 provinces
I did not write a single not blog page this year, hoping to change this next year
I did not learn Russian like I planned, hoping to change it next year.
I didn’t fail a test , but only postponed my current 2 by a few months
I got 1 ticket for expired tags, which reminds me that my tags expire now
I got drunk once (thanx Kevin)
I visited the st. louis arch
I played snow football.
Tried to build my first snow man- barely managed to make a snow puddle and learned the difference of wet and dry snow
Ate Korean food for the 1st time
Ate Vietnamese food for the 1st time
Did not visit Vietnam or Korea
I stopped updating facebook and MSN as often as I did
I wrote less this year in general (not good)
I saw a ton of movies- I cannot say I have a favorite this year- which is bad- maybe shutter island, not that critical
Read a lot of books and managed to get my unread book count (on my shelves) to under 100- currently reading the princess bride, yes like them movie
Heard a lot of books on tape- there were few that I really liked, but cannot recall a single one
I was 3rd at one orienteering event- the closest I managed this year.
I saw my first football game (and we (Cleveland browns) one- which is a rare thing) and watch the Cavs win again, but not my first game.
I danced zumba which is aerobics.
I found edible cottage cheese.
I learned how to ski.
I gained 6 pounds this year and cannot get it off.
I assembled a pathefone cabinet , and I have a pathefon (thanx mom)
I assembled a shelving unit (took a lot longer than it should)
I saw air supply, rod Stewart, Brian Adams, Alan parsons project, u2 cover band, ABC, flock of seagulls, human league and Belinda Carlisle (or was it the year before?)
I finally purchased a bike
I added a lizard, crocodile, saber tooth tiger, dolphin, donkey penguin and camel to my statues\figurines collection
I found out I have a figurine collection,
I did my first pottery painting (turned out ok)
I visited the art museum a couple of times
The natural history museum once
I went to an indoor zoo.
Saw my first new style 3d movie (Avatar, and I am nit changing my above statement)
I flew in the cock pit of plane (a baby plane)
I missed my first flight
I have been twice to Israel
I threw up this year after some years (bad meat)
I had a trip to Holland cancelled twice
I got my 1st flu shot
This has been the year of the fish- ate more this year than previous 10 years combined.
I drank my 1st Portuguese shot (don’t recall what it was)
I purchased Vodka for the 1st time
I proposed for the 1st time (and last) (it’s not the same as being married, it’s a whole different event)
I bought a diamond and a ring and assembled them
I paid my taxes on time for the 2nd year in a row.
Plans for next year
Get married
Hip surgery
Learn Russian
Ski on blue courses
Finish the finance and accounting exams + 5 more courses
Do more fun activities like whirly ball
Climb mt Washington, go to mammoth caves, do zorbing again, visit 3 other new states and add at least 1 new country.
Go to another world wonder
Start training for a triathlon next year (after surgery recovery)
Start another book (or continue last one)
Move to a new place
End next year 20 lbs less then now
End next year at the same age I am now (there must be a fountain somewhere)
There are other things which I cannot write about (good things…..)
I would say it was an uneventful year…till next yearly update on march 16th 2011 , there are only 10 months left , time is short
