Feb
21
2010
Six months since my last blog, how about that? I haven’t been particularly busy with anything. I have to admit that sometimes I just don’t want to do something. On the other hand I have found a few ways to entertain myself. I did do the Thriller event and it was awesome! The official video of the event keeps coming back to where our little group was performing. I met some really great people and was really glad that this project was followed through to completion. Christina and I also performed Thriller during the half time on Halloween at the Clippers game. That also was exciting, but not nearly as fun and crazy as the world record event.
Our big Station fire finally put itself out. Well we can only hope it is out. The last of it was burning in rough terrain. I don’t even think it extinguished itself with the first rains. There was one report from the forestry department that claimed it was so hot and big that it was burning underground in the roots of the trees. They made the claim that it could start up again next fire season. Well we have had a lot of snow this season. It is a welcome view from the kitchen window. If there is fire burning underneath that snow pack then that is just creepy. I don’t know what else to call it…
I haven’t done too much to bring our mix to market other than tasting on weekends. That is what I am doing now, tasting one of our fine hand mixed drinks. I have found that I can be easily distracted, and am hoping that this Bloody Mary that I am sipping won’t be the beginning of my current distraction. Jim keeps talking to me too… Blah, blah, blah, someone is missing in Vancouver. Nascar is on the television also. The race is at our own Fontana Speedway today. I am particularly interested in Danika Patrick. Have you noticed that I bounce around a bit too with this chatter? My whole morning has been like that. I have a list of things to do today. I start one thing and then don’t even know how it turns into cleaning the refrigerator. Cleaning the refrigerator is not on the list. Nascar is not on the list either, but I’m going to watch anyway, unless the Olympics are on. Stay focused!!! Oh, so hard to do when the jets for the fly by just passed over the house. Hey Fontana, here they come, such pretty formation… Ok, the Blue Angles flew over the house 3 times. How awesome is that? That is the kind of distraction that I want to live with. Shiver me timbers!
OK, I am working some self improvement . There have been lay offs at work and you just never know if or when it could happen to you. I had my resume written for me and I am quite impressed with how skilled I have become. In this case someone else has interpreted what I thought was a good description of what I have done into a very nice resume. One thing on my list today is to get it uploaded to the internet. I have also joined Toastmasters. I have known about Toastmasters and wanted to join forever. It is just one of those things I should have done and didn’t. I really like my club, which is important if you want to succeed in your goals. I am a member of the “Words of Hope” at the City of Hope hospital. I gave my first speech last week. The first one is called the Ice Breaker. I titled it “All about me.” Six minutes of me talking about me. Yeah, I did ok! This Wednesday my role is General Evaluator. That is a big one for me so study for the role is on my list of things to do today. I am quite happy with what I am doing
for myself but I have to ask myself “What are you going to do to stay motivated?” Well, weekends are when I have to do this and weekends are also the time I like to play. I decided to make my list of things to do. I got a new smart phone that you can add applications to. I got an application for a to do list and it actually nags at me, sort of. Yesterday it went off at 8:00AM. I hope to complete all of my tasks on the list today so I can turn it off before it goes off. I have decided that I just have to make the time and if I do my tasks regularly it won’t be so hard to catch up. Jim is also going to add my Twitter to this blog. I think I like the Twitter! I’ll follow up on that one, quite 
possibly with a tweet.
Hey, something else I’ve jumped into. I got a GPS for Christmas. I got it because I wanted to go Geocaching. I signed up for an account back in 2007 but the GPS I tried to use was from the boat and a bit old. It didn’t update very quickly. Geocaching is using GPS coordinates to find hidden treasures. They are actually containers hidden by other geocachers that have a log inside. When you find a cache, you sign the log book in the container and then register your find on the web site www.geocaching.com Some containers are very small and some are actually ammunition tins which are quite large. There are often trackable items in the containers and we have found and relocated a fair amount. I love it! Funny enough once Jim went looking with me he got hooked too. I got the new smart phone as mentioned above so I could have a geocaching application with a swinging compass. Now that is cool! I have 33 finds since Christmas. I have to go get some more because I have 2 travel bugs(trackable items) in my possession. You know, it isn’t any big surprise to me that I really just want to have fun whatever I do…
With these changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes
Nothing remains quite the same
With all of my running and all of my cunning
If I couldn’t laugh I just would go insane
If we couldn’t laugh we just would go insane
If we weren’t all crazy we would go insane
Jimmy Buffett
Sep
13
2009
It has been a busy kind of non busy week and a half. I’m not sure that makes sense, but it is what it is! The fires were/are horrible! They are almost out and have not had any impact on me for about a week. I can still hear the choppers working the east end of the fire, which is my end, but not with the frequency of little over a week ago. The cars were covered in thick ash and have recently been washed. During the worst of it, the rising sun was bright red. I took a picture of it but the photo didn’t represent the color too well. Too bad because it is strangely pretty. There were days that you could barely see across the street over where I work. Then there were the days of huge cumulus clouds from the fire.
My heart was with the firemen this entire time. What a tough job! We were having one of those lovely California heat waves during the fire which had to make their jobs so much worse. Their suits are really thick and heavy. They also lost two of their own. It really is sad that one stupid “arse”onist can hurt so many people.
I can’t complain that I was driving the 1981 XJ6 battle tank back up vehicle with no air conditioning most of that time. The daily driver has finally been released from the shop with a brand new (rebuilt) transmission. It is good to be getting back on track all the way around. The air is clear and breathable, so back to the gym in the morning.
Work is going to be interesting this week. On Tuesday I will be hosting and presenting at my monthly “Lunch and Learn.” In the past I have arranged for guest speakers and set up a few that didn’t require anything from me, but this is the first one that I have to actually throw down. Fortunately I have a learning video lined up that is part of the corporate learning center that requires interaction on my part. I even get to offer credit toward end of year goals for attendees. I’m looking forward to it.
For the Bloody Mary research… This week’s testing was a virgin Bloody Mary and all I can say is no amount of vodka would have helped this drink. I don’t even know what they put in it other than the garnish of an olive and a slice of lime. OK, in all fairness I was at the Yard House and they do beer. If you go to the Yard House do yourself a favor and get a beer!
Sep
1
2009
This week has started out much better in spite of the mountains burning outside our kitchen window. We certainly are becoming familiar with the air strike portion of the fire fighting team with a reservoir and major airport nearby. I don’t often wish for rain but once again I am hoping that a hurricane would blow into my neighborhood. We always seem to miss them by ‘that’ much!
Hey, stay tuned for an event that I want to do. It really has nothing to do with the Bloody Mary mix, but has everything to do with event planning. This year I would like to participate in the Thrill The World event on October 25th. It is a world record attempt for the most people dancing Thriller at the same time. Christina wants to participate as event coordinator and she has recruited make up artist Ashley to paint us all up as zombies (and also dance). Do we know how to dance Thriller? NO! Are we going to learn and teach? Well my theory is if I write it here I have to commit to the project. Let me know if you would like to be a part of our group. At the moment it seems like we may group and learn and then participate in one of the Los Angeles public events. Check it out http://www.thrilltheworld.com.
Aug
30
2009
I suppose I owe an explanation based on the title of this particular blog. Instead of stating all that was exhausting, I will note all of the outcomes. Monday I finally got my computer at work fixed, as a result I was able to complete 2 learning modules on Tuesday. The car is going to be released from the shop soon with a brand new transmission. Jim’s mom was released from the hospital and is home recovering. The smoke from the local fires has moved north. We got to see Jim’s sister and brother-in-law this weekend.
Ok, being positive didn’t even begin to cover why I was whupped… Monday I woke up with vertigo. I still made it to work early to attempt the learning modules. My work computer was unable to log into anything, argh! The help desk is in India and I can’t really understand a single word when my head is spinning uncontrollably… Fortunately as noted above the computer was fixed before the morning passed. Tuesday the vertigo was better and I was able to complete my learning modules. I printed the certificates although the credits did not carry through on my internal transcripts, whatever!
We also found out that Jim’s mom had been admitted to the hospital and was not doing so well. Wednesday after work the car decided to have an attitude problem. Also noted above it should be released soon with a new transmission. In the meantime I have been driving the other Jaguar with no air conditioning and also has a bad attitude. It has been over a 100 degrees all week. It wouldn’t be so bad if the firewall stopped the engine heat from blasting into the car.
To end on a positive note, Mom got out of the hospital on Thursday. Friday was great! Saturday was better! Today (Sunday) was pretty good too. We went up to see Mom and Jim’s sister and brother in law. It was a good catch up for us all.
We drove along the 210 freeway the and had a good opportunity to check out the fires on the way back. Yikes! It is really awful. We have a friend that had to be evacuated from the Morris fire. Christina’s friend’s father is a fire captain for La Canada. It is so scary. The news just said that only 2 people have been hurt so far. That is amazing considering the severity on the La Canada fire.
Ok, a new update on the news from the fire department, two firemen were lost to the fire when their truck tipped.
I have no reason at all to complain about my stupid little hiccups .. Y’all be safe and take care.
Aug
27
2009
Oh, I know this is a commitment and I do have some things to tell, but I am so sleepy. Once I get a few winks in I will be able to sort my thoughts. Tomorrow is Friday! That really is all I have in my hat for now. Not as exciting as I hoped it would be for a mid/late week update…
Aug
23
2009
Hi Friends,
You may have just received a facebook email from me. I am trying to build support for my efforts and that was an attempt at one of my goals of networking. I have often had an idea and not followed through. This time I want it to be different. Please register with this page and leave me your comments. I’ll take it all! Oh, and please tell a friend. 
Thank you,
Cyndee
Aug
23
2009
I am happy to report the market research was successful. We decided that the Bloody Mary at Turk’s is definitely one of our favorites. They pour a thick dark home made mix in a bucket glass with a squeeze of lime. It is perfect with the Eggs Benedict. It is perfect with everything they serve at Turk’s.
We also decided to go check out Proud Mary’s right next door to Turk’s. It had burned down and the re-opening was this past February. Their Bloody Mary is served in a tall glass. As the bartender pours the vodka, he is also squirting in Worcestershire. He tops it off with Tabasco BM mix, then finishes with an olive and a kosher pickle slice. I’m going to stick with Turk’s. I really love Eggs Benedict.
As promised on our events calendar we had our tasting – Sunday Services. Wish you were here! As always Jim mixed up a perfect TeamToucan Bloody Mary accessorized with a jalapeno stuffed olive. I’ll have to explain Sunday Services in another post.
I also made hot sauce from scratch. My hands are on fire from pulling apart dried chilies. It is really hot, but has a good flavor. It will make some good nacho appetizers for our next tasting. We may also be tasting the Lemon Verbena Liqueur that is ready to bottle for Christmas gifts. It is a good weekend.
Tomorrow I start learning modules on the computer to learn as much as I can to get this project a little further down the road.
Aug
21
2009
Hey,
Check me out! I have some big ideas and I really want to start working on them. I would like this blog to be my adventures into launching TeamToucan Bloody Mary Mix. I’m really not too sure how this thing works, so let’s hope we can laugh at my mistakes and me while I jump headfirst into my newest adventure.
I know a few of you have had the pleasure to consume a TeamToucan Bloody Mary and know that we have a great product. I am sure that while the recipe has been tried and tested and in our opinion is perfect; you can count on a few more trials. Just let us know if you want to be a part of the testing committee. We have been talking about this for years and have not set a deadline to launch. Don’t you think it is time we finally got it rolling?