I almost died today

Not really, but but it felt like it! I don't care too much for those gecko's. They have the same ones here that we had back in Katy, TX. The one on the TV commercial is cute, but in real life they creep me out. I think it's their translucent appearance and their little sticky feet. When I was getting on the elevator to go down to the parking garage to leave for work one scampered on as I was getting on. Then I didn't know where it went. I was hoping around looking for it and didn't see it anywhere. The elevator isn't that big. So when I didn't see it I checked the bottom of my shoes, nope, not there. So, where was the little shit? Now, I'm panicking thinking it's in my hair or on me somewhere. By now, the elevator has reached the bottom level and then I see it along where the floor and wall meet. It peeked around at the opening when the door opened but it didn't get off when I did - Thank God!

Blogging Addict? I think not!

70%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

Mingle² - Online Dating

Is there a 12-step program?

I passed!

I forgot to mention that I passed my driving test. It was kinda cool as far as driving tests go. The test is administered in a room with 44 computer screens arranged on 3 rows of tables. Fifteen minutes before the time the test is to start everyone signed up to take the test (which costs S$65) checks in a the desk by the door where you enter the room. You have to show either your Singapore passport or your foreign passport and your employment pass. (Side thought here...if the US wants and idea on how to handle immigration they should look here). You are then given a piece of paper with a pass code on it. When it's time for the test to start the screens show a keypad where you enter your pass code then start the test. It's all touch screen by computer. You have 50 minutes to answer 50 questions. The parts of the test where they asked questions concerning stuff like when there are several cars at an uncontrolled intersection, "who has the right away?", was the best part. They showed the diagram with a little video of the situation being covered. You could even replay it if you needed to. I think it took me less than 20 mintues. You can only miss 5 questions or you fail. They don't tell you what you made, just whether you passed or failed. The one thing they still need to work on is the actual getting of the license. To do that I have to bring in my Texas license, my passport, my employment pass and a passport photo, along with copies of all that. They didn't tell us that part, so now I have to go back. (Rob has my driver's license anyway. He had to take it with him for the closing on the house.) Well, now that I have my license all it's going to make me do is get even more p*ssed off at these people here that are so rude when they drive and drive is a term I use loosely for what they do. Now I "KNOW" what they are doing wrong instead of it just seeming wrong.

Mailing stuff to the US

I just realized I needed to mail something back the states. While it's easy enough to just put the required postage on it to mail it from here it just takes FOREVER to get there. It could take up to 4 weeks. You just never know. My other option is to put my letter in the regular weekly mail that our office sends back to the states bundled up via DHL. All I have to do is put a US postage stamp on it and once it gets to Houston they put it in the mail there for me. That takes about 3 days. Trouble is...I don't have any US postage stamps. BUT I found away to fix that. I made my own stamps. While this isn't going to help me right now, it will help me out in the future. The stamps I made and ordered online will be mailed to my office then they will send them FedEX to us here at the project office in our regular weekly mail run. I think I one time I saw a site where you could make them and print them out yourself. I couldn't find that one again so this time I used Zazzle. I created it in a rush so I didn't take the time to sort through ALL the digital photos I have but I thought for my first try they came out just fine. What do you think?

Crawfish Pot

This is how big I want my next crawfish pot to be. Think I can bring it back on the plane? We saw this in Chinatown. In my mind I can picture jungle natives deep in the jungle with some explorer they caught tied up and sitting in it over an open flame. Like the cartoons I used to see when I was little. It is one of the biggest pots I think I have ever seen. Using Avery as a measuring stick, she's about 5'-0" tall.

Yummm! I can smell the crawfish now.

Car Toys Hall of Fame - New Additions

Here is the latest in car dashboard, head rest, steering wheel accessories for your viewing pleasure:

Do you think this strange person has a thing for Winnie the Pooh? Keep in mind you have to be at least 18 to drive over here.

This person is not a freaky at the Pooh lover.

Driving License Test

Today I go take the written driving test to convert to a Singapore Driver's License. Wish me luck! I am studying now and came across a sentence in the handbook I wanted to share with you.

In order to qualify for a license to drive a motor car...you should not be suffering from any disease or physical inability which would impair your driving ability, for example: mental disorder, epilepsy and the liability to sudden attacks of giddiness.

No wonder all the driver's here seem to always be pissed off!

Catching Speeders!

Ok..I don't want to give anyone back home any ideas. Believe me, I have a hard enough time trying not to get speeding tickets without DPS or the Harris Co. Sheriffs Dept. putting these things to use. I just thought I would share with you some of the things they try here. This is a speed camera in a trash can:

New speed-buster on Singapore Roads. Can be deployed anywhere!! Can be set up by anyone!! Even Traffic Police disguised as Road Cleaners!! Don't be fooled and think speed cameras are only fixed on expressways!!! Not anymore.

This Speed Cam are now everywhere. So watch out not only for the bridges and expressway. Also look out for these cam in bin that are placed near the road for no reason.

Frequent Targeted Location.

• Holland Rd (near Botanic Gdns)
• Clemenceau Ave (near the Indian Temple)
• Upper Thomson Rd (after AMK Ave 2 Junction)
• Bukit Timah Road (outside Chinese High School)
• Tanjong Katong Rd (before the ECP)
• Cantoment Rd (opp Everton Park)....

Leg Inspections

No...I'm not talking about people's legs. I'm talking about the legs on a jack-up rig. Today I went on my first leg inspection. This is where the shipyard has blasted away all the barnacles and you go along each horizontal and diagonal brace and check for corrosion. Then the shipyard will replace or repair as you have noted, actually marked on each piece. This is how high up we were: We took an elevator up and climbed down level by level using the vertical ladders installed in all the scaffolding by the shipyard. I must have whacked my shin half a dozen times on the ladders. This is an annode. They are attached to the legs so that they corrode and not the leg. This one looks like it's been doing it's job:On the way down we noticed that some of the teeth on the leg chords have been deformed. Can you imagine the pressure it takes to do this to a solid piece of steel? If you look close you can see the edge had been curled back like you were sharpening a crayon:Well, I'm all grimy and dirty now. In bad need of a shower. Too bad it's only like 12:30, 5 or so hours until quitting time. Ok, one last photo. Look closely at this one. This is one of the jacking legs with scaffolding all the way up and around. Where it pokes through the covering doesn't it look like razor stubble? I thought it looked like "a leg that needs a shave".

House for Sale

Since we are living over here in Singapore now, we have had our house in Katy, TX for sale. I really liked the house and the area and wouldn't mind keeping it, but it's just too much trouble to keep up when you aren't there. We have a pool in the back yard and all the landscaping that we have to now hire someone else to take of for us. We have had a few interested parties since it's been on the market but nothing ever went through. So, now we have someone else interested in it so keep your fingers crossed that it all works out this time. The new people want to close on June 29th so Rob and I are trying to decide who will go home for the closing. As much as I would like to go home we are just too busy here right now for me to leave, and Rob was thinking about going home anyway for a visit. We'll see how it all goes. Blair is coming over the first part of July so whoever goes for sure has to be back by then. Neither of us want to be away somewhere while she's here visiting. Here's a picture of our house. So if it doesn't sale this time you can let me know if you know someone that might be interested! Great neighbors and schools in the area. Close to I-10 and Hwy 290.

Just kidding...this is really our house. :-)

I'm SO Excited!!

Rob has agreed to go with me to see Mark Chesnutt in October in JAPAN!! WhooHoo!! I am SO excited. For those of you that know me, you know that one of my favorite things to do is go to concerts with friends. Looks like it's time for a new ticker:

Thought I smelled something

Yesterday we were so busy here at work and had back-to-back meetings that I never got to go eat lunch. I had a bag of microwave popcorn instead. And as you can tell....I burned it. That's all I can smell this morning. I couldn't figure out why I was still smelling burnt popcorn from yesterday until I remembered I through a big fused ball of it in the garbage and our guy that empties the trash cans hasn't made it around yet. I guess I'll go find a place to dump this out. I do know how to microwave popcorn by the way...but remember our microwaves here don't have the cool "popcorn button", so I didn't cook it long enough the first try so I added 30 seconds and it was just starting to pop again when there was like 10 seconds left so I kept adding time until I over cooked it.

Need a recipe?

I'm in the process of putting my favorite recipes on another blog site (What's Cookin' Tonight). I love cookbooks and clipping recipes out of magazines to try later. In an effort to get them all in one location I am putting them on my blog. Feel free to take a look and try some out. I'm happy to share. In an effort not to infringe any one's rights I have added the source of the recipe at the bottom of each recipe if I know where it came from.

What's up with the Kleenex's?

See the box of Kleenex's in the back window of this car? No? They are hidden in the "cute" little fuzzy box shaped like a house with a duck peeking out of the front door. Now do you see them? The tissues are dispensed through the chimney. (BTW...it was a guy driving this car). It's really strange to me to see all these cars over here with at least one box of tissues in the back window or on the front dash. A lot of times you see two, one on each side. AND they must sell these decorative covers somewhere. This morning coming to work I saw a Strawberry shaped box cover, again fuzzy, sort of like a stuffed animal. (Again, another male driver) If you were in need of a Kleenex, how do you get to it if they are in the back window? Oh! Wait a minute! That helps explain the bad driving!

Pictures from Phuket

Busy 'Round Here

Well, this week has been super busy with work. So I haven't had much free time to update here. Let's see...

• At Avery's graduation she received a Presidential Excellence Award for maintaining a 3.5 GPA throughout the year. I thought that was pretty cool.


• Afterwards we went to eat at a Brazilian Churascaria called Carnivour. It was ok..but not as good ad Fogo de Chao in Houston.


• Looks like I might go back to school to get an Engineering degree so that I can move up to Project Engineer with the company I work for. Excited about that too.


• Last Saturday I went to my first all-day scrapbooking workshop. It was from 10:00AM to 11:00 PM. Believe it or not time flew by. It was a lot of fun.


• We have removed the derrick and the drill floor off the rig that we are upgrading here in Singapore. Here are some pictures of that:

End of the 8th Grade

This post is geared more towards family & friends just update y'all on Avery. She had her 8th grade dance this past Friday and today is her 8th grade gradutation. I can't believe she is going to be in High School next year. Tomorrow is their last day of school. Rather than going to school they are taking a day trip to one of the islands close by. I'm not sure how many of her friends are headed back to the states or wherever they call home for the summer. Hopefully there will be enough of them around though so she doesn't get too bored.

Signs

Why is it that I am living in a country where over 75% of the population is Chinese do you not see any street signs written in Chinese, but back in Houston, in the areas where the residents are mainly Chinese the street signs are written in Chinese and English?

Ewww!

Ok...I have come to the conclusion that Singapore women must not wear slips under their skirts and dresses. Avery has her 8th grade dance tonight. Last night we went on a search for a 1/2 slip to wear under her dress. Why did I wait until the last minute? What was I thinking? Had I known that our trip to one of the largest, newest malls on the island wouldn't have a store that carried slips I would have started looking months ago or had someone send one over to us. Not only did the stores we went in not carry them, they looked at us like we had lost our minds. And I'm sure I was giving them the same look back. The sales ladies in one store, hell I'll name names TANGS, were all standing around not doing a damn thing including offering assistance to Avery and I as we scoured the lingerie department for a slip. I asked the lady in the section to the far left of the department and she sent us all the way over to the far right end. Of course when we got there they didn't carry them. The lady looked at me like she didn't even know what I was talking about. I asked if they knew of a store where we might find one (which is something I would have offered on my own if I had been the salesperson) and of course she had no idea. At that point you know I couldn't resist making some smart a** remark about the women in Singapore not wearing slips....EWWW! .... especially since everyone was being so friendly and helpful, NOT! So, leaving the mall...slipless...I told Avery I would go look today at lunch. And again, no luck, even in a lingerie store...where that is all they sell. Where is a Kohl's or Wal-mart when you need one?

Welfare Urine Test

Thank's to my hubbie for this post topic. I like the way this guy thinks! If you can't read the photo, this is what is says:

Don't help people sit on their rears

I have a question, not only for Douglas County, but for the entire state of Oregon. Like a lot of folks in this state, I have a job. I work, they pay me, I pay my taxes and the government distributes my taxes as they see fit. In order for me to get that paycheck, I am required to pass a random urine test, which I have no problem with.

What I do have a problem with is the distribution of my taxes to people who don't have to pass a urine test. Shouldn't one have to pass a urine test to get a welfare check, because I have to pass one to go earn it for them?

Please understand, I have nothing against helping people get back on their feet. I do, on the other hand, have a problem with helping someone sit on their butt. Could you imagine how much money the state would save if people had to pass a urine test to get a public assistance check?

Leonard Wilson

Learn to Speak Chinese!

Thank you Breann for supplying me with today's post! I love it!! It's perfect for being over here. I think I'll try some of these:

Learn Chinese in 5 minutes (You MUST read them aloud)


English Chinese

That's not right Sum Ting Wong

Are you harboring a fugitive? Hu Yu Hai Ding

See me ASAP Kum Hia Nao

Stupid Man Dum Dum

Small Horse Tai Ni Po Ni

Did you go to the beach? Wai Yu So Tan

I bumped into a coffee table Ai Bang Mai Ni

I think you need a face lift Chin Tu Fat

It's very dark in here Wai So Dim

I thought you were on a diet Wai Yu Mun Ching

This is a tow away zone No Pah King

That hurt. Ou Chi

Staying out of sight. Lei Ying Lo

He's cleaning his automobile Wa Shing Ka

Your body odor is offensive. Yu Stin Ki Pu

Great!!!! Su Pa

My Mother's day present

While we were in Phuket we visited a huge jewelry store. Thailand is known for their mining of sapphires and rubies. Rob was wanting to get me a mother's ring with Avery's birthstone being diamonds and Blair's being rubies we were in the perfect place to look. When we first walked in I spotted the most beautiful ruby ring I have ever seen. The ruby looked like it was on fire. But the price tag, although much better than in the US, was still more than what we were looking at spending. I found another really pretty ring with channel set diamonds and rubies in two rows. We bought that one however they had to re-size it and when they cut the ring all the stones came loose. So, they had to repair it and deliver it to us the next day. Well, when the delivered it the repair was done very poorly. So we went back up the the store later that afternoon. After a lot of looking and discussion, we left a deposit on the ring we saw first. I told Rob that if our plans were to come back at a later date and hope that ring was still there (or one like it), I'd rather just put the money into that one rather than buying one now then another one later. My birthstone is also the ruby (Blair and I have the same b-day). Tell me what you think:

What Flavor Margarita are You?

In honor of it being Friday and a great day to enjoy a Margarita, here is another quiz I took at Lauri's Blog:

You Are an Orange Margarita

At first glance, you are very unique - but deep down you are still quite a traditionalist. A margarita may be "too fancy" for you, but you'll never turn a free one down.

What Flavor Margarita Are You?

Don't Squat on the Toilet Seat

If someone said something to me about squatting on the toilet seat I would assume they were talking about what I refer to as "hovering". When most gals use a public restroom we either "hover" over the seat never coming in physical contact with the toilet seat or we put t.p. on the seat before sitting down. The second option is one I reserved for my two girls when they were younger, before they were too big to "hover". So with that little bit of backgound info there you can see how I was amused by the following sign in the ladies restroom at the shipyard where we have our weekly meetings:

Look at the drawing of the toilet in the bottom left of the sign. There are two footprints on either side of the toilet seat!!!! You see here, most public restrooms have western toilets, like what we have in our homes and they also have "holes in the ground"...well that's what I call them anyway or also known as "squat toilets". To use one of these, you stand with your feet on either side of the hole and lower your pants, squat and pee. Kinda like you would if you were camping. But I would think it would be tricky to get your clothes out of the line of fire while not emptying the contents of your pockets into the toilet. You will also find some of these types of toilets come with a water spray nozzle on a hose attached to a spicket on the wall. I don't even want to get a metal image of how you clean up yourself with one of those things. So why would someone go through all of that and stand on the seat when they can just use the toilet the way it was designed to be used?

Off to Phuket

I meant to post this before I left on Friday....oh well! This is where we went. I'll post pictures as soon as I get them off the camera.

Well while the rest of you are slaving away at work on Friday we will be jetting off for a much needed break in Phuket Thailand. Phuket is an island in the Indian Ocean, 867km from Bangkok. Where we will lounge around the beach and the pool bar, drink too much, eat too much and sleep too much. I will work on my tan. I'm paler now than I have ever been and I live 1 degree north of the equator! That's SAD! It will be a short weekend trip but that is OK. It will give us a chance to check things out and plan a longer trip there in the future. I'm sure sometime during the weekend we will squeeze in a spa and some shopping. We will be staying on Karon Beach which is one of Phuket's longest beaches. There are a lot of things to do in Phuket, such as: tours to the temples there, visit their aquarium and butterfly farm or sea shell museum. They also have shows with elephants. Not sure how much of that we will be able to do as I've already listed our top priorities for this trip, but there's always next time!

Blair's Aggie Ring Day!

Blair has put in for her ring audit so now we officially start the count down:

Another word I won't replace

I thought of another word I won't replace with the Singapore version:

Trunk --> they say Boot.

The first time I went to Avery's school which requires you to go through a security gate they asked to look in my "boot". If I hadn't see the car in front of me open their trunk for the security guard I don't think I would have known what he was talking about.

Cute Car!

Isn't this just about the cutest car you've ever seen? Rob and I saw this one afternoon while we were out and had to take a picture of it. Just to mess with Avery, we told her that we'd get it for her when she learns how to drive. Rob had to stand by it so you would be able to get a good idea just how small it really is. It was acutally for sale. I can't remember what the asking price was.

Miss All My Kitchen Stuff

I have to admit I like to cook when I don't have to cook. Does that make sense? I like cooking for parties and special occasions, not so much the day to day nessecity sort of cooking. I will also admit I love Pampered Chef kitchen stuff too. It makes cooking much more enjoyable. Luckily I have a friend who keeps my addiction satisfied. She sells Pampered Chef products. The only problem is figuring out how to get it over here. Daughter no. 2's birthday was on April 23rd. She wanted to take cup cakes to school. I soon figured out I needed a cup cake pan that holds more than 6 cupcakes. I bought that with big breakfast muffins in mind, not feeding an army of 8th graders. Then, she had some girls over for a slumber party to officially celebrate her birthday. I made a huge chocolate chip cookie cake and soon realized I needed a large bar pan to contain all of the cookie dough so it doesn't run over the sides of my rectangle stone and burn in the bottom of the oven. Luckily just as the first blobs where spilling over the edges I remembered I had two of those throw-away aluminum pans so I immediately put them in the bottom of the oven to catch all the ran over the sides. Eventually the dough was set enough that it quit dripping and finished baking. It came out just right. I trimed the edges with my pizza cutter so they were nice and straight. By that time the girls where all at that house and it was time to load up and hit the mall for a movie. Hubbie stayed home and after the cookie had cooled he decorated it. It turned out really cute. If he had the Easy Accent Decorator it may have even been cuter, maybe not. I thought he did a wonderful job. ('ll try to remember to post a photo of the cookie cake once I get home)

Are you a True Texan??

Here's another quiz. Thank God for quizzes - they make great fillers when you haven't had time to think of something interesting to write about. At least this test must have had all the correct answers as you can tell by my score. That other one was messed up somewhere. Now it's your turn....and let me know how you do. There's even a hint above:

You are 100% Texan!

Great Job, you got a passing grade!!! That's just Wonderful!!! you rock my Texas Socks!!!! Once again, congrats!!!

Are you a true Texan??
See All Our Quizzes

Oh! And Happy National Scrapbooking Day!

Guys and their Toys

Ok. I've been dying to show y'all these pictures but unfortunately they were taken with my cell phone and aren't that good. The guys here are strange. How many guys from Texas do you know that would cover the dashboard in their car with these toys? You would think that these cars belong to girls....little girls that still play with toys. You don't see too many cars with bumper stickers but you see a lot of cars with toys. Toys on the dash, cute little stuffed pillows on the head rest with cute matching steering wheel covers and toys in the back window (or boxes of kleenex's - but that's another story). So, now that we have are getting a digital camera for the shipyard I'll try to keep camera in hand and post better pictures of this strange phenomenon.

Come back again and see what other fun toys I can find.

How Many Kinds of Tuna does a Person Need?

I doing some looking for grocery prices I came across all these different types of tuna in a can. I knew they had some different ones but I didn't realize there were this many. Which are your favorite? Are there any that you would like to try:

• Black Pepper Tuna
• Chili Tuna
• Curry Tuna
• Deli Tuna - Hot Mayo
• Deli Tuna - Mild Mayo
• Ginger Soy Tuna
• Onion Tomato Savoury Tuna
• Spicy Lemak Tuna
• Tom Yam Tuna
• Tomato Chili Tuna
• Tuna & Onion
• Tuna 1000 Island
• Tuna Dinner Green Curry
• Tuna Dried Tomato Herbs

There were some others but they seemed to be variations of the ones I've listed here. Let me know if you need me to send you some!

The Price of Eggs in Singapore

Normally the saying is something about the price of eggs in China, but since I'm not in China we are going to look at the price of things here in S'pore. My hubbie thought it would be a neat idea for you to see how much things are here and then you can let me know what they cost where you are. So, here is my list (the approximate price in USD is in parentheses):

• Cheerios (375gm box - 13.2 oz) - S$10.90 ($6.89)
• Fresh Raspberries (170gm - 6oz) - S$8.90 ($5.63)
• Hostess Donuts (13.5 oz) - S$9.40 ($5.95)
• Pilsbury Bread Sticks - Refrigerated in a can (11oz) - S$10.30 ($6.52)
• Kellogg's Breakfast Bars (222gm-7.83oz) - S$9.40 ($5.95)
• Tiger Beer (6 pack) - S$16.50 ($10.82) --> This is the local beer so compare to your local beer in price.
• Velveeta (454gm - 160z) - S$13.60 ($8.92)
• Betty Crocker Cake Mix - S$5.40 ($3.54)
• Hunts Stewed Tomatoes (14 oz) S$2.05 (1.34)
• Flour Tortillas (10 count) - S$8.90 ($5.84)

Why Can't they Make Iced Tea?

Ok...here in Singapore there are tea shops, places that sell tea leaves and all sorts of tea kettles/pots. I know they are mainly for drinking hot tea. But darn it! it's sweltering over here...why can't I go into a restaurant and order a plain ole' Iced Tea? Instead I have to order Iced Lemon Tea which comes in a can and is sweetened already. They have the same brands we have back home like Nestle and Lipton (I think?) plus others I've never heard of. I just don't get it. How come they act like they have never heard of making regular iced tea so I can sweeten it as I like? Note to self: From now on, don't give in. If you want Iced Tea, then let them figure it out. It isn't that hard.

How Texan Are You?

Ok. I think this is the perfect quiz for our little page here. Now, I don't know what question they think I got wrong but whatever it was I have to disagree with them. Now, you go try and let me know how you did.

You are 95% Texan!

You did GREAT!!!! You are born a true Texan!!!!! AWESOME job, you don't have to go back to school to come here!!! You are good enough already!!!! You have the blood of a true Texan in you!!!! You are PERFECT Texas Material!!!!! You Rock out loud, You rock my Texas socks!!!!! :-)

How Texan are you?
Create a Quiz

Resisting the Urge to Conform

Ok...I am not going to change my way of saying things. I feel I must resist the urge to use these phrases even though it may mean that the people here won't understand me. I must stay true to myself as a Texan.

I will not say, (when I mean):

Car Park (Parking Garage/Lot)
Petrol (Gas)
Esso/Mobil (Exxon/Mobil)
Expressway (Freeway/Highway)
Take-a-way (To Go - Like when you are at a restaurant and you ask for a "to-go" container for your left-overs)
Handphone (Cellphone)
Slip Road (Feeder Road)

I know there are many others...for some reason this is all I can think of at the moment.

Can Someone Tell Me....

Can someone tell me why a person would own a Ferrari, Lamborghini or Mazerati on an island where the top speed is 90km (about 55 mph)? The stretches of highway that are 90km are few and far between....and normally congested, you are lucky to go 30km. On top of that the island is only 26 miles east to west and 14 miles north to south. So why would someone pay the not-so-small fortune it would cost to own one of these here?

Safety Rules about using the restroom

We had our Safety Induction Meeting the other day since the rig has arrived and we will be in the shipyard and on the rig quite regulary. This is from the handbook given to us from the Shipyard....notice item #5.1.6:
The scary thing is that I guess it must be an issue since they had to make a rule about it. I hope they clearly mark this designated area, not that I am going to need to know where it is as I plan on taking care of any business I need to before or after I make a trip to the rig.

It Snowed!

Well...not here in Singapore! But it snowed our last (full) day we were home. Yes, we were home for about 2 weeks. We got to see a lot of family and friends. It went by way too fast. We ate Mexican no less than 4 times. The one other food "must" on our list was Shipley's Donuts. We didn't get that until we were at the airport leaving to come home...and they weren't hot. :-( I drove all over the place from Houston to Midway, to Huntsville, to College Station, to Magnolia, to Austin, to San Antonio...the blue bonnets and other wild flowers were blooming...it was beautiful! Thank you to everyone that let us camp out with them. A BIG Thank You to my brother that cooked up some scrumptious crawfish for us. If we hadn't come back when we did I might have stayed! I think Rob was feeling that too because he called us a few times while we were at the airport to come home. I think he was just checking to see if we were actually coming home. We did A TON of shopping. There is just so much we can't get over here. I stocked up on over the counter medicines. Stuff that we took for granted back home like: pepto, sinus stuff, alka-seltzer, etc. I even brought back Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce and cans of Green Enchilada sauce. And we bought clothes. Not sure when we will be able to make it back again. Hopefully it won't be too long though. It was so nice just getting in my truck and driving all over Texas.... There's No Place Like Home! (The photo was sent to me by our welding inspector on our project here. His Mother-in-law sent it to him. He thinks a friend of hers took it somewhere near Franklin, TX)

Veils or Headdress...That is the Question

Being here in Singapore there are a lot of women who where various forms of headdress. In an effort to understand more about what I see I searched the internet to see what I could find. I thought I would share in an effort to help all of y'all out there broaden your knowledge of the subject as well. The truth is...if it makes me go hmmm? or huh? Then when I find the answer it becomes my next post here on my little blog.This is what I found so far:

The burka comes in many variations, but in its most conservative form, it thoroughly covers the face of the person wearing it, leaving only a mesh-like screen to see through. This refugee is wearing the conservative burka that the Taliban regime requires women in Afghanistan to don outdoors. The burka is thought to have originated in the Arabian peninsula and can still be found there today. They are not always as conservative in form as the one shown here and often allow parts of a woman's face to show through.The word hijab refers to the variety of styles in which Muslim women use scarves and large pieces of cloth to cover their hair, neck and sometimes shoulders. As shown on this Seattle-area Muslim woman, the hijab often leaves the entire face open. In the United States, the hijab is the most common form of headcovering for Muslim women.

The chador is the full-body cloak Muslim women in Iran are expected to wear outdoors. Depending on how it is designed and on how the woman holds it, the chador may or may not cover the face. The chador was forbidden in Iran under the reign of Mohammad Reza Shah, who was brought to power with help from the United States and sought to modernize the country. After the shah was exiled during the Islamic Revolution in 1979, the chador became required wear for all Iranian women. Many Iranians today subvert their dress-code by wearing Western-style clothing beneath the chador.Hindu women also wear a veil, a practice that highlights the fact that veiling is not exclusively Muslim. Traditional and orthodox Hindu women, such as this one, will cover their heads and at least partly obscure their faces in the company of unrelated adult males. Sometimes veiling is accomplished with a loose end of the woman's sari, and sometimes it is done with a scarf-like fabric known as the dupatta.

Many Pakistani Muslims, such as this one, wear some form of veil. This woman is wearing the nikab along with a bandana that reads, "God is great!" The veil existed before Islam existed, but it has been embraced and spread by the religion. Not all Muslim women wear a veil, but among those who do, styles vary wildly, from simple kerchiefs and elaborate head scarves to full face-and-body coverings. The nikab is the form of Muslim veiling that comes closest to what is actually meant by the English word "veil." English speakers tend to use the word veil as a catch-all term that covers all types of Muslim head and body coverings. The nikab, worn in black by this Moroccan woman, is a veil in the true sense of the word. It covers everything below the bridge of the nose and the upper cheeks, and sometimes also covers the forehead.

Now...what about their actual dress. Some dress very modestly while you see some women dressed in very bright colors where their outfit consists of a loose wraped skirt, a tight lycra top that bares the midriff with a matching scarf to cover their sholders and hangs below the waist in front and back. I wonder why the differences? That will be my next challenge.

Funny Joke

I heard a funny joke on the way to work. Now, I'm really not that good at telling jokes, but I'm not so bad at typing them. So if you don't find this funny, then you aren't good at reading jokes. Ok, here it goes...it helps if you imagine the voice of an Asian DJ doing a Scotsman's voice:

A man and his wife are out in the backyard. The husband makes a comment about how large his wife's backside is getting. He says that her bottom has gotten almost as large as the gas grill. His wife not, liking the comments moves farther way in the backyard but the husband continues with his comments. He even goes as far as to get the measuring tape out and declares that her rear end is in fact the same size as the gas grill. Well, later on that night after they have gone to bed, the husband is snuggling up next to his wife trying to get frisky. She moves away from him and he asks, "Honey, what's the matter? What's wrong?" And she says.....

"Don't get any ideas. There's no way I'll be firing up the grill for one little sausage!"

Coming Home and Crawfish

I thought it wasn't too far away for me to start counting down the days to mine & Avery's trip back home. We are really looking forward to it. I think my brother is having a crawfish boil, so we will make it to that for sure! That reminds me...if you scroll down to the picture of the things they call crayfish here...I found out these are actually spiney lobsters. See..I knew they weren't crawfish, crayfish or any other type of *fish.

To All Those....

Sweet Taters

Out there!

This was too cute to pass up. Click on the link above.

Thanks Kim for sharing.

What I Miss About Texas:

We went out this weekend with a co-worker of mine and one of the questions she asked was what I miss most about home. So here is my list of what I miss about home:

• Family & Friends
• My co-workers (which I consider friends but wanted to make sure they knew they were missed)
• Mexican Food
• Tequiza
• Shipley's Donuts
• Going to see Dwight, Tbyrd or Mark Chesnutt with my friends
• Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo
• Whataburger
• Texas BBQ
• Country Music
• Mexican Food
• My pickup truck
• Bluebonnets
• Oh! and did I say Mexican Food?
  

Candy Hearts!

Got this from Lauri:

Your Candy Heart Says "Hug Me"

A total sweetheart, you always have a lot of love to give out.Your heart is open to where ever love takes you! Your ideal Valentine's Day date: a surprise romantic evening that you've planned out Your flirting style: lots of listening and talking What turns you off: fighting and conflict Why you're hot: you're fearless about falling in love

What Does Your Candy Heart Say?

Crawfish Time!

Well thoughts of making a trip home and making plans on how to spend our time while we were there eventually reminded me that it should be crawfish season while we are home. I sure hope someone is having a crawfish boil while I am home. We may be too early for all of the pre-OTC parties. I'm wondering what kind of crawfish season it will be. Has it been warm enough? Has there been enough rain? Now they have what they call crayfish here. They don't look anything like a crawfish to me:

This is the only photo I could find. Can someone please tell me what these things are? I've searched the internet and anything that is called a crawfish looks more like the mudbugs we boil up nice and spicey and eat until we are miserable. They have claws....I can't see claws on these that they have here. I have eaten these things pictured here. There is a restaurant (hawker center) near the shipyard that searved them as "Black Pepper Crayfish". . . and they are good but I just think they look prehistoric. I like to know what I'm eating. I think I'll have to bring back some "Swamp Fire" or "Swamp Dust" back with me so we can see how these things taste cajun style. Well "Laissez le bon temps rouler!" and let me know if you know of any crawfish boils coming up between March 26th and April 8th so I can mark my calender!

New York Ban on Talking, Walking

I heard on the radio today....way over here in Singapore....that a state senator from Brooklyn said on Tuesday he plans to introduce legislation that would ban people from using an MP3 player, cell phone, Blackberry or any other electronic device while crossing the street in either New York City or Buffalo. Apparently pedestrians are so tuned into these things they are being struck by moving vehicles. Well I'm not sure how you feel about that but let me tell you how it is over here. Here in Singapore it is a common site to come up to a cross-walk in your vehicle and have a pedestrian step out, never looking to see if anyone is coming all while either SMS-ing someone one their cell phone, talking on their cell phone or listening to music. THEY NEVER LOOK UP!! You want to know why this is? Why are they so comfortable knowing that they aren't going to get creamed by a bus? It's because over here most of the cross walks are painted with the wide black and white strips and there are black and white stripe painted light poles on either side with blinking lights at the top. They have total right-of-way. If their foot reaches the cross-walk before you do then you have to stop. Let me tell you though...imho they should bear some of the responsiblity for their own safety by looking to make sure it is safe to cross. Drivers do get distracted, especially over here! Nine times out of 10 when I look to see why the idoit driver next to me can't stay in his lane it's because he's on his/her cell phone or SMS'ing someone WHILE they are driving! They aren't supposed to be but they all do it. I can tell you I don't just blindly walk across those things! I doubt New York driver's would be easy to train to not speed up to try and beat a pedestrian to the cross walk. If people are stupid enough to walk out in the road and not look first it's their responsibility, I don't think the government should be responsible. What do you think? MSNBC Story - click here.

Cowboy central? - Opinion

Cowboy central? - Opinion

Saw this in the online version of The Battalion. Thought is was pretty humerous and got the message across too!


I also liked this photo:

Spencer Selvidge - THE BATTALION

The Texas A&M student section holds up 'Beat Texas' signs during Texas' starting lineup announcement in Reed Arena. The Aggies beat the Longhorns 100-82.

How are your New Year's Resolutions going?

Thank you Joe for today's post:

Hey!

Don't you think it's time we all became more physically active. Beginning in 2007, I (and a few friends) will be riding 5 miles every day.

If any of you would like to join our Bike Club, please let me know and we can make arrangements.

I think it would be appropriate to ride somewhere between 4:00 and 7:00pm. We can call it happy hour, if it will make you say yes.

I have enclosed a photo of my bike - see below.