I found a really cool site for us analytical people. It's called
Cooking for engineers
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/
Thursday, April 27, 2006
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
It's back!
Sometimes I want to post multiple blog entries, and date them seperately (just like my men) because they happened at different times. I used to have that option - to change the time/date of a blog post, but for the past few months, that option had disappeared off my blog. I kept checking the settings and I couldn't figure out what was wrong. Well kids, it's back! I can now change the date and time - also a really good feature if I am blogging at work. (note the time here - it's as if I blogged from home!)
Monday, April 24, 2006
Fun times this weekend!
Well, I must say that for it not being a weekend with a "big" event planned, I sure did do a LOT!
Friday night I went for the first time to Martinis and Imax to see a really good swing band, and I knew a lot of the dancers would be out, so I even got a little dancing in! Saturday morning, I got up early and Betsy and I went down to GT campus to run the Pi Mile race (3.14 miles for all you non-nerds) - essentially, it's a 5K. I have been running 3 miles a few times a week for a while now, and it seems no matter if I'm on the treadmill or the ground, it takes me about 30-32 minutes to run 3.1 miles. Well, I guess I was inspired, because I ran the race in a little over 27 minutes. I calculated out to 8:50 per mile average. I ended up finishing #37 of the women overall. I'd guess there were somewhere between 300-400 people running, though I am not a great judge of numbers. Back home before 9:00 am saturday, and I got ready to go take a tour at the Lockheed plant to see where/how the F-22 Raptor is built. Scott's dad works there, so he was able to give us a tour, and it was pretty neat to see.
I came home to have a relaxing afternoon, and around 5:45, Amanda called to see what I was doing for dinner. We somehow ended up deciding that it'd be a really good idea to do an impromptu BBQ. Between the two of us, we had nearly all the materials for a good BBQ - Meat and Beer. We started IMing and calling friends, and within an hour had a group to come over! I think a total of about 15 people showed up, and it was so fun!
Sunday I came down to Tech to do a recruiting event for women who have been accepted but may not have yet decided if they're coming to tech, so I was asked as a "young alumna" to come and talk and schmooze with the girls and their parents. It was a ton of fun and brought back memories of my time at tech and recruiting. I love doing that.
Overall, I just really enjoyed myself this weekend. Oh yeah, incase anyone actually cares, my workout routine is still going strong.
Friday night I went for the first time to Martinis and Imax to see a really good swing band, and I knew a lot of the dancers would be out, so I even got a little dancing in! Saturday morning, I got up early and Betsy and I went down to GT campus to run the Pi Mile race (3.14 miles for all you non-nerds) - essentially, it's a 5K. I have been running 3 miles a few times a week for a while now, and it seems no matter if I'm on the treadmill or the ground, it takes me about 30-32 minutes to run 3.1 miles. Well, I guess I was inspired, because I ran the race in a little over 27 minutes. I calculated out to 8:50 per mile average. I ended up finishing #37 of the women overall. I'd guess there were somewhere between 300-400 people running, though I am not a great judge of numbers. Back home before 9:00 am saturday, and I got ready to go take a tour at the Lockheed plant to see where/how the F-22 Raptor is built. Scott's dad works there, so he was able to give us a tour, and it was pretty neat to see.
I came home to have a relaxing afternoon, and around 5:45, Amanda called to see what I was doing for dinner. We somehow ended up deciding that it'd be a really good idea to do an impromptu BBQ. Between the two of us, we had nearly all the materials for a good BBQ - Meat and Beer. We started IMing and calling friends, and within an hour had a group to come over! I think a total of about 15 people showed up, and it was so fun!
Sunday I came down to Tech to do a recruiting event for women who have been accepted but may not have yet decided if they're coming to tech, so I was asked as a "young alumna" to come and talk and schmooze with the girls and their parents. It was a ton of fun and brought back memories of my time at tech and recruiting. I love doing that.
Overall, I just really enjoyed myself this weekend. Oh yeah, incase anyone actually cares, my workout routine is still going strong.
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Working Out
Well, when I started working, I was either running or dancing 4-5 times a week. I felt really good. In the winter time, I dwindled to 1-3 times per week. But now that it is nice outside again, I decided to get back into it.
Saturday afternoon I went for the run for 3.3 miles around the loop. It was hot, humid, and polleny (if that's a word), outside, and I did the run much slower than usual. Usually it takes me about 30 minutes, but this time it took me about 35.
Sunday I went to the gym, and Daniel was there, so he distracted me by talking to me during my run, and I did my 3 miles in 30 minutes on the treadmill. I did a little on the elliptical, and he showed me some cool ab workouts, and then I left.
Monday (yesterday) I went back to the gym and did my 3 miles in 29 minutes (I just speed up the last couple laps at the end), then the elliptical, and then my usual ab workout, and then Daniel decided I needed some more (which I didn't argue with). He showed me an ab workout where your weight is on your forearms, hanging, and you bring your knees up. Bad gymnastics memories came back on that one. After that, we went and did some free weights and pushups. The pushups I was OK with since I always do pushups in my workout, but I'd never done weights (yeah, I'm a cardio gal), so that was new. Surprisingly, the only place I am sore is the bottom of my back and my abs. Yay!
Tuesday (Today) I will play basketball with work. that should give me at least part of a workout. The gym closes early today, and is closed wednesday and thursday for passover, And of course always closes early friday and is closed saturday, so I'd better find some other way to work out for the rest of the week.
I am just happy that I am back into it and feeling good.
Saturday afternoon I went for the run for 3.3 miles around the loop. It was hot, humid, and polleny (if that's a word), outside, and I did the run much slower than usual. Usually it takes me about 30 minutes, but this time it took me about 35.
Sunday I went to the gym, and Daniel was there, so he distracted me by talking to me during my run, and I did my 3 miles in 30 minutes on the treadmill. I did a little on the elliptical, and he showed me some cool ab workouts, and then I left.
Monday (yesterday) I went back to the gym and did my 3 miles in 29 minutes (I just speed up the last couple laps at the end), then the elliptical, and then my usual ab workout, and then Daniel decided I needed some more (which I didn't argue with). He showed me an ab workout where your weight is on your forearms, hanging, and you bring your knees up. Bad gymnastics memories came back on that one. After that, we went and did some free weights and pushups. The pushups I was OK with since I always do pushups in my workout, but I'd never done weights (yeah, I'm a cardio gal), so that was new. Surprisingly, the only place I am sore is the bottom of my back and my abs. Yay!
Tuesday (Today) I will play basketball with work. that should give me at least part of a workout. The gym closes early today, and is closed wednesday and thursday for passover, And of course always closes early friday and is closed saturday, so I'd better find some other way to work out for the rest of the week.
I am just happy that I am back into it and feeling good.
Girls' Night
Saturday night was girls' night at my house. seven of us decided to make dinner and watch sex and the city. We made twice baked potatoes, grouper, and had some yummy white kosher wine with it. Then afterwards, we made strawberry banana smoothies (spiked), and some manischewitz passover cake. It was all yummy. We also watched a fair amount of Sex and the city. It's nice to sometimes just hang out with the girls.
Fixing the house.
Luckily, the problems I have with my house are minor in comparison to what they could be. After all the issues going on with my house, here is the update about how it went:
The Closet:
I decided to put new rods in my closet in the "guest" room to make the closet a little more usable.
I think it looks good and worked fine. I probably should've put drywall anchors in the wall first, but I didn't have any, so I skipped that step. I may be sorry for that later.
The Water Heater:
We've been taking cold showers for about 2 weeks. It sucks. I have a home warrantee, so I called them, and for a $50 deductible, the plumber would come out and look at it.
He came, and as suspected, the lower heating element was broken and had to be replaced. He also replaced the Dip Tube. Now I can take long, hot, showers.
The Toilets:
Both Betsy's toilet and mine were running, pretty much non-stop. I wasn't too worried about it since water is covered in my HOA, so my bill wouldn't change, but I figured it'd be good to get it checked out if the plumber was coming anyway. He looked at the toilets, took the tops off the tanks, and decided that
a) the Water pressure was too high (While normal apparently is 50-80, mine is at 100 - not sure of the units, I'm guessing PSI)
b) the toilet componenets needed to be replaced in both toilets, but the one in Betsy's bathroom was too old, so that whole toilet needed to be replaced.
All in all, he replaced a toilet, replaced parts in the other toilet, and added a pressure reducing valve.
** All this was covered by my home warrantee. Thank you Home warrantee.
The Dishwasher:
The soap dispenser was not opening during the cycle - thus not fully cleaning the dishes. When looking at it, I couldn't figure out how it'd open anyway, because it looked like the drawer of the dishwasher was blocking it from opening. Well, the repair man came out, and looked at it, and decided he had no idea. A long overdue lightbulb went off in my head, and I decided maybe the bottom drawer was just in backwards. I was right. My solution cost me a $50 deductible.
The Washing Machine:
Since I was already paying teh deductible for the appliance guy to be there anyway, I figured since the knob was broken on my washing machine, I'd have him put a new one on. Apparently, with his company, it is $50 per unit, not per visit. I told him "forget it" on the washer, superglued it, and now it's good as new.
Phew! I am tired just writing about this!
The Closet:
I decided to put new rods in my closet in the "guest" room to make the closet a little more usable.
I think it looks good and worked fine. I probably should've put drywall anchors in the wall first, but I didn't have any, so I skipped that step. I may be sorry for that later.
The Water Heater:
We've been taking cold showers for about 2 weeks. It sucks. I have a home warrantee, so I called them, and for a $50 deductible, the plumber would come out and look at it.
He came, and as suspected, the lower heating element was broken and had to be replaced. He also replaced the Dip Tube. Now I can take long, hot, showers.
The Toilets:
Both Betsy's toilet and mine were running, pretty much non-stop. I wasn't too worried about it since water is covered in my HOA, so my bill wouldn't change, but I figured it'd be good to get it checked out if the plumber was coming anyway. He looked at the toilets, took the tops off the tanks, and decided that
a) the Water pressure was too high (While normal apparently is 50-80, mine is at 100 - not sure of the units, I'm guessing PSI)
b) the toilet componenets needed to be replaced in both toilets, but the one in Betsy's bathroom was too old, so that whole toilet needed to be replaced.
All in all, he replaced a toilet, replaced parts in the other toilet, and added a pressure reducing valve.
** All this was covered by my home warrantee. Thank you Home warrantee.
The Dishwasher:
The soap dispenser was not opening during the cycle - thus not fully cleaning the dishes. When looking at it, I couldn't figure out how it'd open anyway, because it looked like the drawer of the dishwasher was blocking it from opening. Well, the repair man came out, and looked at it, and decided he had no idea. A long overdue lightbulb went off in my head, and I decided maybe the bottom drawer was just in backwards. I was right. My solution cost me a $50 deductible.
The Washing Machine:
Since I was already paying teh deductible for the appliance guy to be there anyway, I figured since the knob was broken on my washing machine, I'd have him put a new one on. Apparently, with his company, it is $50 per unit, not per visit. I told him "forget it" on the washer, superglued it, and now it's good as new.
Phew! I am tired just writing about this!
Thursday, April 13, 2006
Half Matzoh
Ever tried to get a piece of Matzoh to cut exactly in half? I always thought it was impossible...until now.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0X0hzEDCLfI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0X0hzEDCLfI
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Mail in Rebates
I HATE MAIL-IN-REBATES
I hate them because no matter what, when you're buying something, you think - hey, it's really only x dollars when you take the rebate into account. And you often end up buying something a little nicer, because hey, with the rebate, it comes out closer to the lesser item's price, so hey, why not?
Here's why not. You never get the rebate. I don't care how many people tell me that they've gotten their rebates, there are ALWAYS problems with my rebates. For example. I bought a 120Ghz external harddrive back in August sometime. I never received my $30 rebate from BEST BUY. Then in February, I bought a LinkSys external wireless card for my work laptop while on a work trip, and yesterday, got a letter in the mail saying "we received your submission, but it did not include any original qualifying UPC's. Bullshit. I went to work this morning and looked at the box because I KNOW I sent it in. And of course, the area on the box where the UPC would be has been cut out, from when I sent it in. So now, I have no UPC, and they claim I never sent it. That is why I hate rebates. I never get them back. Why can't you just do it all online. you waste money mailing the stuff, you waste money buying it if you never receive the rebate, and all in all, it just aggrivates me. The worst part, is that there is no email or phone number to contact them. So I can't even call them to tell them I already sent it in. I suppose it's not accidental that there's no contact info on the card. what calls would they get besides people saying "no, I really did send it in" They do it because they're assholes who want to take your money.
that's it.
I hate them because no matter what, when you're buying something, you think - hey, it's really only x dollars when you take the rebate into account. And you often end up buying something a little nicer, because hey, with the rebate, it comes out closer to the lesser item's price, so hey, why not?
Here's why not. You never get the rebate. I don't care how many people tell me that they've gotten their rebates, there are ALWAYS problems with my rebates. For example. I bought a 120Ghz external harddrive back in August sometime. I never received my $30 rebate from BEST BUY. Then in February, I bought a LinkSys external wireless card for my work laptop while on a work trip, and yesterday, got a letter in the mail saying "we received your submission, but it did not include any original qualifying UPC's. Bullshit. I went to work this morning and looked at the box because I KNOW I sent it in. And of course, the area on the box where the UPC would be has been cut out, from when I sent it in. So now, I have no UPC, and they claim I never sent it. That is why I hate rebates. I never get them back. Why can't you just do it all online. you waste money mailing the stuff, you waste money buying it if you never receive the rebate, and all in all, it just aggrivates me. The worst part, is that there is no email or phone number to contact them. So I can't even call them to tell them I already sent it in. I suppose it's not accidental that there's no contact info on the card. what calls would they get besides people saying "no, I really did send it in" They do it because they're assholes who want to take your money.
that's it.
Monday, April 10, 2006
Sweet Baby Galang!
Well, a special arrival has come!! my Brother-in-Law Noah and Sister Evin had a baby today!!!
Baby Kesiah Grace was born Monday, April 10, 2006 at 6:09 PM, weighing in at 7 lbs 9 oz, and is 20 inches long.
Mom and baby are doing fine =)
I'll update more when I know more. You can start calling me "Tia Bela" now.
Straight Hair
I came to work today with straight hair. A male coworker came up behind my cube and says "Wow, your hair looks really good straight. I like it!" so I responded: thanks!, and he says "and I mean that it looks nice in a totally not sexually harassing way."
heehee
heehee
Friday, April 07, 2006
Baseball Player
New Receptionist at work (NR): Bela, what is it that you do??
Me: I am an engineer.
NR: Really? that's odd.
Me: Odd?
NR: yeah, I never met anyone that wanted to grow up and be an engineer. a firefighter maybe, but never an engineer.
Me: Professional baseball didn't work out.
Me: I am an engineer.
NR: Really? that's odd.
Me: Odd?
NR: yeah, I never met anyone that wanted to grow up and be an engineer. a firefighter maybe, but never an engineer.
Me: Professional baseball didn't work out.
Thursday, April 06, 2006
The sky is falling
ok, actually it's just my house. The joys of being a homeowner have finally started to sink in, and I have just made my first call to the home warrantee company to come out and fix a bunch of stuff - the washing machine knob, the dishwasher soap dispenser, the running toilet, but most importantly, the HOT WATER HEATER!!! This week, betsy and I have had cold showers, and let me tell you, it sucks. so hopefully we'll have this fixed in no time.
meanwhile, in the work field, we have been doing interviews. We have had a number of good candidates come out, each with a unique twist. On Tuesday, Betsy Jeremy and I took out two candidates to lunch. One of the guys made a comment during lunch that he is a "typical old fashioned kind of guy - I like to be the breadwinner so my wife can stay home and cook and be with the kids". wow. I was drinking some water, and literally dropped my glass on the table. it was quite funny actually.
Lastly, I just bought my ticket to Chris and Kevin's wedding in Houston for the beginning of May. I am excited about going, and I just may get to see Josh while I'm out there too, so that's nice =)
meanwhile, in the work field, we have been doing interviews. We have had a number of good candidates come out, each with a unique twist. On Tuesday, Betsy Jeremy and I took out two candidates to lunch. One of the guys made a comment during lunch that he is a "typical old fashioned kind of guy - I like to be the breadwinner so my wife can stay home and cook and be with the kids". wow. I was drinking some water, and literally dropped my glass on the table. it was quite funny actually.
Lastly, I just bought my ticket to Chris and Kevin's wedding in Houston for the beginning of May. I am excited about going, and I just may get to see Josh while I'm out there too, so that's nice =)
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
ATLX-haustion
Wow. This weekend was great. I hosted a total of 8 people at my house throughout the weekend, and that was a blast. Everyone came in town for an event called ATLX - the Atlanta Lindy Exchange, where we basically danced all weekend. No, it is not for a cause, and no, it is not for a weight loss program, it is just for fun. Fabulous dancers from all over came into town, and it was super fun to get a chance to dance with many of them! I think I got a total of 12 hours of sleep over three nights, but danced nearly 30 hours. I don't think that that is "steady state". The great thing about swing dancers is that many of them are nerds at heart, and so we can all appreciate each other together. I am still behind on my sleep, and my body is a bit sore, but what a weekend!
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