Useless Facts

As you may have noticed on Tuesdays I take one of those chain emails that never cease to come my way and I'm posting them here, you may have alredy read them but sometimes it's fun to see them again... for the first time.

So here are a few interesting tidbits that will make you go Hmmmm!

• Everyday more money is printed for Monopoly than the US Treasury.
• Coca-cola was originally green.
• It's imposible to lick your elbow.
• The average number of people airborne over the United States any given hour is 61,000.
• The world's youngest parents were 8 and 9 and lived in China in 1910.
• The youngest pope was 11 years old.
• The first novel ever written on a typewriter: Tom Sawyer.
• Those San Francisco cable cars are the only mobile National Monuments.
• 111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321
• Hershey's Kisses are called that because the machine that makes them looks like it's kissing the conveyor belt.

Q. What occurs more often in December than any other month?

A. Conception.

Q. Half of all Americans live within 50 miles of what?

A. Their birthplace.

Q. If you were to spell out numbers, how far would you have to go until you find the letter "A"?

A. One Thousand.

Q. What do bullet proof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers, and laser printers all have in common?

A. All invented by women.

Q. What is the only food that doesn't spoil?

A. Honey.

Q. There are more collect calls this day than any other day of the year.

A. Father's Day.

In Scotland, a new game was invented. It was entitled Gentlemen Only Ladies Forbidden... And thus the word GOLF entered into the English language.

~~~~~~~~~~AND FINALLY~~~~~~~~~~

At least 75% of people who read this will try to lick their elbow.

The Summons

THE FAMILY GATHERING

My niece: Hello tio!
Me: Hello princess.
My niece: I’m calling you to let you know my mom came out with a brilliant idea.
Me: And what is that idea.
My niece: She wants to cook for us on Sunday.
Me: Say no more I’m there.

What’s better than to be summoned to your sister’s house for no particular reason than to just have a family gathering complete with food, food and more food. Yeap, when my niece called me to tell me her mom came out with that great idea, they did not have to ask me twice nor they had to twist my arm. So when she asked me “What do you think tio?” I said shut up you had me a Hello.


Really what kind of human being would I be if said no to food? Not likely, the word food carries more weight than the weight it will make me gain later on, let it be nown that we fry everything. When you are Hispanic you know that if you are invited to a family get together there is going to be lots and lots of food, which in our case works out because there are lots and lots of us.

Just a simple summons from my sister, just a couple of calls here and there and there were about 30 of us at her house. See we don’t require formal invitation or anything like that, in our case word of mouth works like a charm. A good example of a typical invitation would be as follows:

Me: (Inviting my sons in law and respective families) what up fool? My sister is having tacos on Sunday you coming?
In law: What kind of tacos?
Me: Who cares what kind, the free kind.
In law: Will she have “frijoles”?
Me: Yeap!
In law: In that case, yes.
Me: Alrighty then! See you there.

Then my in law in turn calls his brother…

In law: What up fool? Tacos at Marya’s. You coming?
His brother: Will they have frijoles?

Yeap, in our case you invite five people because those five people will invite some more and before you know it you have a full house which in our case is called:

A BEAUTIFUL FAMILY!

Hola "Mi Chica" Welcome Home

So "mi chica" had to take a quick trip to San Francisco, California and left me behind. I for one am glad she'll be home soon. No body takes care of this "fool" like she does.

Hurry up baby, I'm waiting for ya!

To Post or not to Post!

The add reads “Explode your Blog traffic”, naturally I was lured into joining BE. It’s free, it’s fun, it’s addictive and it’s supposed to increase your Blog traffic. There are many ways to accumulate points but my favorite way is by challenging other Blogs in the Battle of the Blogs.

I don’t care what anybody out there says but to me my Blog is the best, I know what it takes to put it together, I know what it takes for my brain to think of something to post. Sometimes ideas don’t come easy and sometimes they are served to you in a silver platter, therefore the effort, or lack of is all mine and when I hit that button to publish my post I think that at worst I’m posting something I will read again. Yeah, my Blog is the best… so why is it that sometimes when I battle I’m like totally crushed? I not only lose but I lose by a huge margin, really like maybe 12 to 3 or something like that and I can’t help but wonder darn is it really that bad?

So not to be discouraged I will gather some more points and take another crack at it. Upon completion I go and check to see my score and I’m sure that most of you think my Blog sucks so my hopes and expectations are not high, although I’m still pretty proud of my work. So I check and… tada! I just beat like one of the best blogs out there by eleven points. What gives? How can I lose so miserably one time and win so convincingly the next?

Well, it’s all in good fun. Out of the thousands of blogs thrown at me on a daily basis only a chosen few will grab my attention to the point where I am actually going to read and pay attention to what my fellow blogger is writing. I look for diversity the most, if I visit your blog and after reading it I feel you have a plethora of topics I will probably be back. However if nothing changes or even worse if there are no new posts, then you’ll lose me as a reader.

So I came to the conclusion that the 20 or 25 seconds you get to peruse your opponent's blogs will only give you a chance to read the title and maybe the header of the first post, and in this time a lot of us already know where we are casting our vote. I know that the criteria we use to evaluate some of the blogs out there is whacked. I can’t help but wonder what goes through our heads before we cast that vote. Again it doesn’t matter, it’s all in good fun and if out of 100 readers one decides to post a comment and give me either cheers or jeers on what I wrote then the time I spent by the computer writing is worth the effort, and in the end if the only readers I get are my family members then so be it.

Note: Those of you that have become my regulars, thanks for visiting I love to have you.

What To Do With Credit Cards...

WHAT TO DO WITH CREDIT CARDS WHEN YOU'RE GONE

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Disclaimer - This is a story that came to me over an email and I thought it was funny enough to post it here on my blog. This DID NOT happened to me.

This is funny, but also frustrating if you have been through something like this with credit cards or late charges.

• Motto: Be sure and cancel your credit cards before you die... This is just so priceless... and so easy to see happening, customer service being what it is...

So the story goes...

My aunt died this past January. The bank billed her for February and March for their monthly service charge on her credit card, and then added late fees and interest on the monthly charge... the balance had been $0.00... Now was somewhere around $60.00

I placed the following phone call to the bank:

Me: 'I'm calling to tell you that she died in January.'

Bank: 'The account was never closed and the late fees and charges still apply.'

Me: 'Maybe you should turn it over to collections...'

Bank: 'Since it's already two months past due, it already has been.'

Me: 'So what will they do when they find out she's dead?'

Bank: 'Either report her account to the frauds division, or report her to the credit bureau... maybe both!'

Me: 'Do you think God will be mad at her?'

Bank: 'Excuse me?'

Me: 'Did you just get what I was telling you... the part about her being dead?'

Bank: 'Sir, you'll have to speak to my supervisor!'

(Supervisor gets on the phone)

Me: 'I'm calling to tell you, she died in January.'

Bank: 'The account was never closed and the late fees and charges still apply.'

Me: 'You mean you want to collect from her state?'

Bank: '...(stammer)... 'Are you her lawyer?'

Me: 'No, I'm her great nephew.' (Lawyer info given...)

Bank: 'Could you fax us a certificate of death?'

Me: 'Sure.' (Fax number is given)

(After they get the fax)

Bank: 'Our system just isn't set up for death...'

Me: 'Oh...'

Bank: 'I don't know what more I can do to help...'

Me: 'Well... If you figure it out, great! You could just keep billing her... I suppose... don't really think she will care...'

Bank: 'Well... the late fees and charges do still apply.'

Me: 'Would you like her new billing address?'

Bank: 'That might help.'

Me: 'Odessa Memorial Cementery' (address and plot number given.)

Bank: 'Sir, that's a cementery!'

Me: 'What do you do with dead people on your planet?!'

If I Had to Explain, You wouldn't Understand!

------------------This is my 1994 Harley Davidson Fat Boy-----------------

It has been my dream of mine to ride through all 48 states on my motorcycle. Riding is entirely different from driving, in a car you can enclose yourself into a shell, surround yourself with music and or engage into a conversation if you have a passenger and basically create a tunnel vision with the goal of getting from point A to point B in some sort of a timely manner and in a great degree of comfort. Nothing wrong with that, but that’s just a way for us to commute.

However if you want to experience the road, if you want to see the sights and absorb the beauty that is out there being offered to us by mother nature, then the only way to go is by taking a motorcycle road trip. In addition if the motorcycle is a Harley Davidson it’s all the better.

Some may say that a bike is a bike! But that’s not entirely true. While the Japanese bikes are affordable and reliable, quiet and fast, they are still entry bikes. These are the bikes we start with; these are the bikes we buy first because that’s all we can afford. Some may keep theirs forever, but most are disposable, after a few years and some thousand miles later they are entirely discarded. Unless you are a true collector most of them will disappear.

The European bikes on the other hand are expensive because they are very well built, but most of them lack personality. Some of them are down right ugly and they normally require a special kind of owner that will love them and care for them. These bikes are not so common and therefore will be more sough after by collectors.

Now the American bikes, especially Harley Davidsons have established themselves as the bike to own. Long gone are the days of the “outlaw” bikers but the mystique and history of them still persists. Now anybody can own a Harley and we all love that freedom that they offer, the sound of the V-Twin engine is music to the riders ears, and if you made it a little louder than it should be it’s even better. The minute you put on all your leathers and start that engine you will be transported into a different world, a world that offers freedom and joy.

When you take a road trip, you don’t concentrate on the road but on its surroundings. You notice the little things like the abandoned shacks on the back roads, or the charming little towns with its friendly people, or the cows grassing by the road and not to mention the smells that surround the environment. There’s nothing like the smell when riding in the middle of a pine tree forest or the smell of the ocean when you ride by it, and if you ever ride through a canyon the echo produced by the pipes is loud and mind boggling. These are the things that you miss while driving.

I’ve ridden to California four times to participate in “The Love Ride”; this is a one day event that takes place in November. An average 20,000 bikes show up for this ride which starts at the Harley Davidson of Glendale dealership and end 50 miles north at Castaic Lake. Imagine all of a sudden a pack of 20,000 bikers merging into an unsuspecting I-10, one of the busiest freeways in the L.A. area and it’s not like they have a special lane for us, so for these 50 miles cars and bikes need to share the lanes as bikes use every available little space that can be found. In California it is allowed to ride in between cars so imagine the madness.

I have also ridden to Laughlin, Nevada to be in a part of the madness that is called “Laughlin River Run” These event takes place the last week of April and it used to be lots of fun, normally 75,000+ used to attend this run but now since the shooting some years back the police presence is too heavy and “patch holders” can’t wear their colors. I for one have not gone back since, the run in my eyes lost its charm and when so many restrictions are applied and you get the “I’m watching you” feeling it’s time to move on. I hear that they attendance drops each year.

Now when it comes to riding in my own state, we have been all over the place. Arizona has the best back roads and they all lead to some great destinations. We have Sedona, Wickenburg, Jerome, Williams, Prescott, Tombstone, Bisbee, not to mention The Grand Canyon; we still have so many places to go and to see but need time and money so we’ll just keep them in our “to do“ list for now. Another awesome thing Arizona offers to us riders is good riding weather all year round

Riding our bikes is not only our hobby; it is our way of life. Next time you drive down the highway and see a biker or a group of bikes don’t think of us as an obnoxious loud and rowdy group, but think instead of the places we have ridden to, the people we have met and the stories we have to tell of our adventures. If you take the time to say hi you’ll see that we are a nice friendly bunch.

So about riding the 46 states, well we have three out of 46 and that’s a start… a very slow one at that but a start.

Tidbits

Well yesterday was another record day here in Phoenix, our official temperature for Phoenix was 117 degrees. This was the first time in 10 years that we hit this mark again and they said in the news it’s only going to get worse over the weekend. So while I was going home driving in beautiful clear skies our neighbors in Tempe and Mesa had monsoons complete with heavy winds and heavy rains… go figure! Just in case you are wondering if you are not from Phoenix the record is still 122 degrees on June 26, 1990. It was our welcome to Arizona as we had just moved from Hacienda Heights, California.

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Well it’s official, I will be wearing glasses soon, even though I don’t need them that bad my eyesight is starting to get tired. I totally need them for reading and for night driving too. A funny thing happened while I was trying them out, as I put a pair on to see if I liked the style, I thought I kinda looked like Clark Kent but amazingly when I took them off my resemblance to Superman was undeniable. Jeez what a pair of glasses can do. My reading glasses from Walgreens $20.00 dollars for two. These suckers from Lens Crafters $280.00 (What the hell, do they see by themselves?) “Mi chica” telling me she’ll kick my butt if I lose them, break them, or not wear them… Priceless!

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Take notice, I have added Google Adds. Do not be afraid to click on them to see what they’re all about, that’s why I put them there.

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Kudos to the following people for visiting my blogs and posting your comments which in turn are the fuel for me to keep writing:

First and foremost to “Mi Chica” Love ya baby! (You complete me)

And then to…

• Michelle
• Nikki
• Vane
• Maryita
• Chely
• Crystal
• Thalia

Also my kinda regulars:

• The PDA
• Angie
• TLR
• hoping4more
• DJSlim
• Neenie
• JDillio
• Bex

The Heat Wave

I live in the Valley of the Sun, so for us here in the Phoenix area the sun and it’s heat is a way of life, we learn how to live with it and deal with it as well. Most of our homes and cars are equipped with AC units this makes the heat a little bit more tolerable. We are now in the middle of summer and 110+ degree-days are a daily occurrence.

There’s no way we would survive the extreme heat if we didn’t have AC, or at the very least a swamp cooler and yet some renters have to deal with landlords that do not comply with the law and provide them with good working units. I can’t begin to think how unbearable this would be.

I have lived here in the valley since my family and I left Los Angeles back in 1990 and have no regrets about moving. Phoenix was a smaller city and it was a better place to raise our three kids, so the heat was just a little inconvenience. “Arizona… But it’s a dry heat” is how the saying goes, and for the most part it’s true but the monsoon season has started and with it comes the humidity.

You would think that knowing how hot it gets I would have my car’s AC in good working condition… Not! For the past six years it’s actually been broken and I’m pretty much used to it but then there are days like yesterday, that the temperature must have gone up to about 115 degrees which means that inside my car it was probably about 120 degrees or so. I swear I thought my car was a sauna and I wouldn’t be surprised if I lost a few pounds in the half an hour commute going home. Really cars with no AC should have the right of way at all times.

I was watching the news and there was a segment on “illegal emigration”, they were highlighting these people that think they’ll beat the heat while attempting to cross the desert, and I just could not comprehend what makes a person think that they may be able to beat the wrath of the blazing sun, desperation is one thing but stupidity is something entirely different.

So as I hear that there’s a heat wave going on across the country all I can do is hope that your homes are equipped to handle the heat. I feel for you if you live in a state with high humidity. In our case I think it’s only six or seven weeks max of this weather and then we should be home free. In the meantime attack the swimming pool or at the very least the garden water hose and stay cool.

So You Think You Know Everything?

Part II

Here's part two of "So You Think You know Everything?" I would assume that these are true as I didn't have the time to go and verify them.

• On a Canadian two-dollar bill, the flag flying over the Parliament building is an American flag.
• Our eyes are always the same size from birth, but our nose and ears never stop growing.
• Peanuts are one of the ingredients of dynamite.
• Rubber bands last longer when refrigerated.
• 'Stewardesses' is the longest world typed with only the left hand and 'lollipop' with your right.
• The average person's left hand does 56% of the typing.
• The cruise liner, QE2, moves only six inches for each gallon of diesel that it burns.
• The microwave was invented after a researcher walked by a radar tube and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket.
• The sentence: 'The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog' uses every letter of the alphabet.
• The winter of 1932 was so cold that Niagara Falls froze completely solid.
• The words 'racecar" kayak' and 'level' are the same wheather they are read left to right or right to left (palindromes).
• There are 293 ways to make change for a dollar.
• There are more chickens than people in the world.
• There are only four words in the English language, which end in 'dous': tremendous, horrendous, stupendous, and hazardous.
• There are two words in the English language that have all five vowels in order: 'abstemious' and 'facetious."
• There's no Betty Rubble in the Flintstones Chewables Vitamins.
• Tigers have striped skin, not only striped fur.
• TYPEWRITER is the longest word that can be made using the letters only on one row of the keyboard.
• Winston Churchill was born in a ladies' room during a dance.
• Women blink nearly twice as much as men.

There... Now you know everything!

Alayna Danae Turns One!

“On Sunday July 17, 2005 at precisely 9:52 a.m. a miracle of life took place. Michelle and Jr. had their little baby girl whom they named Alayna Danae.”

Fast-forward a year later, Alayna will be one year old on Monday and we celebrated her birthday with a party at the park today. Alayna is no longer the tiny baby that came home but a big healthy beautiful baby that has brightened our lives with her beautiful smile, her funny laughter, and the “monkey faces” she makes, that’s why we affectionately call her our “Chunky Monkey”.

It doesn’t take much for this little girl to steal your heart; it’s in her nature to win you over as soon as you meet her. She recently started walking but has not completely given up on her crawling, and if she wants your attention and you happen to ignore her you’ll find out very fast just how powerful her lungs are, yes this little girl can scream.

You know what they say, “pictures are worth a thousand words”, so I will let these pictures do all the talking. So, please join me in wishing Alayna a Happy Birthday and enjoy the slide show that I put together for you.

Surprise for a "Fool"

Back in the 80’s there were two catch phrases said by a certain individual that I’m sure was liked by most even though he wasn’t really an actor, or wrestler, or sports star or anything like that but if you hear the phrases “I Pity the Fool”, or “Be Somebody… Or be Somebody’s Fool” I’m sure you’ll start thinking “Rocky III” and “The "A" Team”. Yes after all this years of being in obscurity (at least in my world) Mr. T came back into my mind and the insane thing is that my two grandsons the double Ds “Ducko” and Diego were the ones to bring him back into my mind. Not necessarily their choice as much as it was their respective parents the ones to blame for my going down memory lane 80’s flashback.

It’s Friday afternoon, it’s well over 110 degrees and the one day I forgot my house keys, I got home rang the bell and to my disappointment there’s no one home, there’s nine of us in this house there’s always somebody here but not today so I wait by the garage to see who comes home first.

After a good 50 minutes Lolo’s car turns around the corner and heads for our driveway, to my surprise it's “mi chica” behind the wheel, the guys went to her place of work and traded cars with her so they could take off mall hopping. Oh my savior is home and she is more than willing to let me in the house so I can cool down but… “Wait my house key is in my keychain and this one does not have one” she said, so much for cooling down.

Well Fridays is usually our day to go out and eat so we figure eating at a nice cool restaurant beats standing in front of our garage door so off we go; besides I was starving and needed the nourishment. Once there while waiting for our food mi chica tells me that the kids have a surprise for me but they have sworn her to secrecy so I don’t even get a glimpse of what it could be. I threw out a few guesses but was told repeatedly that I was cold, cold, and cold again.

We finished eating and I asked mi chica to find out where the kids were by calling them on the cell phone, it turned out they had just gotten to Wal*Mart so we decided to go and meet them there to pick up the house keys. We got there and as I saw both my sons in law I greeted them with my favorite cuss word “what up fools” then out of the aisles my "surprise" jumped out, all I could say is “ahhh the beauty of being young and beautiful”

As for Mr. T, thanks for letting me know that it is cool to call anybody “fool”, even though I already had to explain to Diego that “fool” is a grown up word, and he is too young to say it. Yep I walked in once and said “what up little fool” and kissed him, his reply was “what up big fool” Oops! – Do you think that I have some explaining to do…? Not. That’s why I hold the title of GRANDPA.

"Click Here Fool" and you will see what my surprise was.

So You Think You Know Everything?

Part One

There are lots of you that think you know it all, here try some of these you just may learn something new.

• A dime has 118 ridges around the edge.
• A cat has 32 muscles in each ear.
• A crododile cannot stick out his tongue
• A dragon fly has a life span of 24 hours.
• A gold fish has a memory span of three seconds. (How they found this out is beyond me)
• A "jiffy" is an actual unit of time for 1/1000th of a second.
• A shark is the only fish that can blink with both eyes.
• A snail can sleep for three years.
• Al Capone's business card said he was a used furniture dealer.
• All 50 states are listed across the top of the Lincoln Memorial on the back of a $5 bill.
• Almonds are a member of the peach family.
• An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.
• Babies are born without kneecaps. They don't appear until the child reaches 2 to 6 years of age.
• Butterflies taste with their feet.
• Cats have over one hundred vocal sounds. Dogs only have about 10
• 'Dreamt' is the only English word that ends in the letters 'mt'.
• February 1865 is the only month in recorded history not to have a full moon.
• In the last 4000 years, no new animals have been domesticated.
• If you are an average American, in your whole life, you will spend an average of 6 months waiting at red lights.
• It's imposible to sneeze with your eyes open.
• Leonardo Da Vinci invented the scissors.
• Maine is the only state whose name is just one syllable.
• No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver, or purple.

Now calling number...

While Michelle and I go into the battle of the blogs on Blog Explosion every now and then, there’s a new battle a in our own backyard… Ok our own office room.

With our new found hobby we find ourselves taking numbers to use the computer, let’s see let me take roll call; Jr., Bridezilla, Lolo, Nikki, ‘mi chica” and I, that makes six computer users and only one very busy computer.

Nikki, Bridezilla and I (Joe Cool) have been blogging, Bridezilla and Nikki are also avid “My Space” users or should I say addicts, Jr. and Lolo like to surf the world wide web, they download shit and a half and who knows which sites they visit (Uhmm I wonder were those pesky viruses that freeze the computer come from?), and "mi chica" loves to play Slingo and and any game that has to do with Las Vegas, Casinos and gambling.

All of us are addicted in one way or another and it’s a fact that a second and maybe even a third computer is needed indeed. While money is tight we have to do something before tempers flare and none of us get to use the computer, time allotments are getting shorter and shorter and that means that my stories may get smaller… Not!

So we just have to make do with what we have and we shall all get our computer time as scheduled. Me, being the creative man that I am, came up with my own home made laptop fits perfect on top of my legs but the question remains… will it write? – Well probably not but my daughter as usual called me a “dork” for coming out with ideas like this. I was just hoping they would like it so I could give the "laptop" to them while I got to keep the desktop all to myself.

Happy Birthday Crystal

Crystal told Nikki and I quote "Nikki ask my tio how come there's no happy birthday wish for me on his blog". Well my little sweet heart, better late than never. I hope you had a happy birthday and don't forget to save me some cake. Hopefully we'll visit you in California soon.

My Mexican Adventure

YOU’VE GOT TO BE KIDDIN’ A VISA CARD!

There’s a card in my wallet that comes out many times a day, it has replaced cash and I use it for 99.9% of my purchases, so if I pull my wallet out chances I will be reaching for it.

My father in law had a dentist’s appointment last Saturday so “mi chica” and I drove him down there (truth be told she drove both ways). It only takes a little over three hours to get to Nogales from Phoenix and the last leg from Tucson to Nogales is actually an enjoyable drive. We got to Nogales and by that time we were pretty hungry, his appointment was at least and hour away so we decided to go eat first. We found a restaurant about a block away from the dentist so we stepped in, what a colorful place it was early so we were the only patrons there, bird cages of all colors decorated one of the walls, half spheres protruding from another wall, and every table was nicely set. I found a couple of skeletons lying by a wall and old furniture of the Mexican kind rested nicely against yet another wall. Luis Miguel was the background music and the food was actually not bad, I had “enmoladas con pollo” a little sweet but otherwise good.

It was time for my father in law’s appointment so we dropped him off and then “mi chica” and I went out for the next hour to do some haggling with the vendors and maybe actually buy something. Nogales if you never been there, is a charming small town visited by tourists but mostly by people going to see the doctor that cannot afford one here in the U.S. There’s a lot of traffic the buses and taxis come and go all day long. Their architecture is so different to ours and the diversity shows, one of their little buildings even reminded me of “The Caesar’s Palace in Vegas”, Ok maybe I’m exaggerating but hey it’s my story. Houses are built everywhere even on the hills, although I bet they didn’t pay a premium for the hill top spots, it looks more like a first come first served basis.

Many of you know by now that I'm a Mustang enthusiast, walking down the streets of Nogales I found a good example of how not to use a Mustang, I hope you agree with me.

It was hot so after about an hour of walking around we decided that the air conditioned office was where we needed to be, soon after we got there the doctor was done and after setting a new appointment we were ready to hit the road back to Phoenix.

When we crossed into Mexico there was a huge line of people trying to come back into the U.S., but we were lucky because when we crossed there was no line at all. First “mi chica” pulled her ID and told the immigration officer she was a U.S. citizen, he asked her why were we in Mexico and she pointed to my father in law’s face and just said “dentist”, my father in law with ID on hand also just walked in, I was the last of the three and I pulled out my wallet as I told the officer “I’m a U.S. citizen” and produced my ID. I had pulled my shades over my eyes so he could compare my face to the one in the picture but to my surprise he tells me “A Visa card, you have to be kidding me” yeap my inner mechanism automatically picked my bank card as the ID of choice, “mi chica” came to the rescue and told the officer “he can’t see without his glasses” so the officer tells me “well then at least pull the ones your wearing down, even though they are dark you may see better” I started laughing as I couldn’t believe I had done that, next I pulled my driver’s license and proceeded to cross, we all laugh for the next five minutes or so. Hey at least my Visa card had a picture on it!

Arizona - It's a dry heat!

Last Monday as we were leaving for a BBQ I realized I was forgetting my camera so I asked “mi chica” to stop the van because I wanted to go get it, all she could say to me was “You and your camera”.

Well I take after my dad, he loved to take pictures and so do I, we now live in the digital era, downloading your pictures is 100% easier than taking the film to a drug store to be developed and you don’t have to be so selective as to what to shoot as was the case with the 35mm cameras. Now you can take 100 pictures and then go down load them into your computer to save on your hard drive or you can just delete them and then go take some more, it’s that easy.

I decided that it would be nice to come up with a blog to display my pictures or at least for some of them so I could show you those things that I see when I’m looking through the viewfinder. Since I live in Arizona I have named it “Arizona – But it’s a dry heat!”

I would think that the biggest amount of them will be pictures taken here in Arizona but I’m sure that I will find exciting pictures from trips and vacations as well. Tell me what you think and comment as much as you want because to me your comments are food for thought.

I also expect both my daughters to contribute some pictues here and there as they too seem to live with a camera on their hands. This will add a variety to the mix.

I hope you enjoy it and visit often; I will be posting two pictures per day so come back daily.

Click on the picture and explore!

How to learn Chinese

Hey!!! - For those of us who always wanted to be bilingual!!! – here’s our chance.
Chinese is the easiest language to learn! Just try it!
This has been around gor a while on the email circuit but I still think it's funny.
Oh and jeers to my daughter for posting it before me.

• English: He's cleaning his car
• Chinese: Wa Shing Ka
• English: This is a tow away zone
• Chinese: No Pah King
• English: Is there a fugitive here?
• Chinese: Hu Yu Hai Ding?
• English: Small Horse
• Chinese: Tai Ni Po Ni
• English: Your price is too high!!!
• Chinese: No Bai Nut Ding!!!
• English: Did you go to the beach?
• Chinese: Wai Yu So Tan?
• English: I bumped into a coffee table
• Chinese: Ai Bang Mai Ni
• English: It's very dark in here
• Chinese: Wai So Dim?
• English: Has your flight been delayed?
• Chinese: Hao Long Wei Ting?
• English: I thought you were on a diet?
• Chinese: Wai Yu Mun Ching?
• English: They have arrived
• Chinese: Hai Dei Kum
• English: Your body odor is offensive
• Chinese: Yu Stin Ki Pu
• English: You know lyrics to the Macarena?
• Chinese: Wai Yu Sing Dum Song?
• English: I got this for free
• Chinese: Ai No Pei
• English: Stay out of sight
• Chinese: Lei Lo
• English: Phew! Does this bathroom stink!
• Chinesese: Hu Flung Dung?
  

Happy Birthday Maryita

On my nieces birthday there are fireworks, yes it never fails but fireworks are displayed every year when she celebrates, I know she's special but fireworks? Well her birthday just happens to be on the 4th of July. This year happens to be on a Tuesday, which was nice because most of us didn't have to work on Monday making this a four day weekend. My sister invited us to have a "cafesito con pan dulce" at her house to be with Maryita. Well as she turns into a beautiful señorita, Maryita continues to bloom beautifully, and we just see how our little girls are no longer that little. Maryita celebrates her 16th birthday and she will soon find herself making more mature decisions on her own, just know that behind her is a whole family ready to help her and guide her if that is her wish. Maryita never forget that all you have to do is ask.

I am just too old to be in traffic jams just to go see fireworks, I'll leave that for the younger ones as they seem to have the energy needed for that, me the "cafesito" gathering sounds more appealing besides when it comes to fireworks mi chica and I can create our own thank you very much and we don't have to wait for the 4th of July.

Maryita is one of the kindest persons anybody will ever know and she has a beautiful singing voice which she selflesly displays every Sunday at mass, to know her is to love her.

Soooooo.. Maryita have a Happy Birthday! And a great 4th of July. Your tia and I love you very much.

Little miss thang!

Here's a preview of what you'll see next week.

This is Alayna Danae, the youngest of our five grandchildren, and she'll turn one year old next week, so come back and see more of her next week.

droppingknoledge.org

Dropping knowledge is a global initiative to turn apathy into activity. By hosting an open conversation on the most pressing issues of our times, we will foster a worldwide exchange of viewpoints ideas and people-powered solutions. However knowledge is designed, by dropping freely to ours, we all gain wisdom. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------dropping knowledge.org

Organizational supporters are needed and being nominated from all over the world, and on September 9, 2006, dropping knowledge will host 112 nominees at the Table of Free Voices event. The dropping knowledge pool of nominees represent individuals from all walks of life, from celebrities/artists to activists, scientists to writers and every thing in between. These nominees are some of the most accomplished individuals on their fields and they all demonstrate social responsibility and civil courage.

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Sometimes all it takes is a simple individual such as you or I to initiate change, dropping knowledge is giving us a chance to take part by asking questions, actually just ask one question and the nominees will chose which questions that we submit will be asked at the Table of Free Voices event. There’s so much you may learn just by visiting their web site www.droppingknoledge.org it will be interesting to read so give it a chance and see it for yourself. It’s more than a well intended project, actually is more of a let’s take action for ourselves now.

Superman Returns

I said it before, I’m a Batman kinda guy, all of his gadgets are man made and he’s just basically cool both as the bat and as Bruce Wayne. So with that in mind we went to see Superman this Friday, for starters I didn’t realize it was going to be a long movie, I expected lots of action but that didn’t happen, I also expected lots of special effects but I didn’t see anything I didn’t see Christopher Reeve do, actually the new Superman (Brandon Routh) whom many say looks like Reeve also played Clark Kent in the same manner Reeve did, however Brandon Routh did portrait Superman as a more secure super hero and not as a second banana to Louis Lane.

One of the cool features of this new Superman is that he is not only faster than a speeding bullet but “homey” can fly at hyper speeds, and even though in this movie he doesn’t have a place to live (his baggage is still in a closet inside the Daily Planet) he still call Metropolis home but now he doesn’t just fight for the American way but now he travels all over the world saving people, he’ll just go into outer space and listen to find out where he is needed.

Ok here’s my only spoiler, Superman is indeed the man of steel, a bank robber shoots him point blank in the eye and the bullet just flattens itself as it crashes into his pupil… what? You can see that in the movie trailer, so then I didn’t spoil anything did I.

Kevin Spacey is a great actor so he is also a great Lex Luthor but I liked Gene Hackman better. Lois Lane is prettier this time around but has a fiancé and… she’s mad at Superman, but yes you guessed right there is some romance left in her.

All in all, Superman is a good movie but it’s wasn’t fast enough for me, and my date told me she could have waited for it to be released on DVD, but then again she’s not into Super Heroes unless the super hero is me. I didn’t see anything I hadn’t seen before but at the same time the movie did not feel like it was a repeat of the last three. Kudos to Superman for not letting this chick destroy a classic Mustang, instead he lifts the car and gently puts it down again.

If you like the man of steel you will like this movie, but me I eagerly await the next Batman Movie.