Monthly Archives: March 2010

Grumpy Grumpy Grumpy!

  By Pia | March 24, 2010 - 1:17 pm | In a Nutshell...
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I am SO grumpy today!  Even as I type this I can tell I am super grumpy because I am pounding the keys harder than usual.  I don’t know why I am grumpy.  I will assume for now that it is some chemical imbalance. I get this way sometimes.  I slip into a mood or phase or some other category yet to be defined and like Snow White’s kiss, only one particular trigger will snap me out of it.. the problem?  I don’t know what that trigger is. I think what bugs me the most is that I have everything to be happy for and nothing to be grumpy for. Ok so I know I have a bad habit (unconscious) where I tend to absorb the moods of those around me.. but to my knowledge no one around me is overly grumpy today.  Who knows.. maybe I am channeling someone … Read More →

Writing, speech and education…

  By Pia | March 8, 2010 - 11:46 am | Education, In a Nutshell..., Writing
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Another day recently… I was in the elevator and I was witness to this comment…   “I haven’t been sleeping well lately.. I don’t know if it’s something in the air….??”   Seriously, What?  What is in the air? What IN THE AIR is making people not sleep???   As a technical writer I laugh at these comments people make because we’re all guilty of it… figure of speech… slang…   I have a good friend named Connie who is Chinese so English is her second language.  What happened with her is a constant reminder stuck in my head about why figure of speech and slang are useless in communication… We were discussing location of the buildings we worked in and I explained to her that my building was kitty-corner from hers.  She looked at me completely puzzled and said, “what is kitty corner????”.  I said.. ” diagonally”.  She then responded … Read More →

Annual Cook-off 2010! Feb 14, 2010

  By Pia | March 8, 2010 - 11:41 am | Food
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Instead of a sappy Valentines Day filled with commercialism and spending money at an overpriced and crowded restaurant Lauren, Neil and I decided to do a cook-off!   In advance, we each chose 10 “mystery” ingredients and we entered them into a database.. we then took turns drawing a total of 4 numbers which corresponded to a secret mystery ingredient. Additionally, we had to select one secret pantry ingredient… The rules were pretty simple and not that strict… We had to use the 4 ingredients and 1 secret pantry ingredient in the dish of our choosing.  We could prepare as far in advance as necessary but the main cooking was to take place on Feb 14th!   Aside from that, we also had to nicely share the kitchen, cookware and dishes… For the ingredient list, we ended up choosing the following: Neil chose: Shrimp Pita Bread Chicken thighs Shallots Croutons (secret pantry … Read More →

Catching up.. birthdays, art, puzzles and more!!!

  By Pia | March 8, 2010 - 10:58 am | Education, In a Nutshell...
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I would normally post a whole bunch of blogs in a row to catch up but for the sake of actually getting it done, I am going to post several topics in each blog (grouped by the appropriate category…) So it was my birthday a month ago… almost to the day…  I organized a bowling/dinner event and shared the day with two very close friends of mine who are fellow Aquarians and were born very close to when I was.  Everyone met at the bowling alley (lanes were rented by the hour) and the four lanes were filled with people bowling. Now I don’t know how I always end up in this situation and you think I would/should have learned by now but we pre-paid for the lanes at $35/hour (2 hours and 4 lanes) which was well over $200 for the day.  That included shoe rental.  Well somehow we ended … Read More →