BBTB: Summer in Spring

We had a spontaneous BBTB today! Well, in my case it was NBTB -- nachos by the beach. But.. everyone else had burritos, from Chino's :) Being in outer Richmond reminds me of high school, oh how far we've come. It's absolutely unreal.

The weather this week is gorgeous and I'll gladly take a taste of summer in March (or anytime for that matter). Warm weather just makes me feel like a million bucks! We watched the sunset at Cat's Eye.. or "Land's End" as everyone else calls it, and I remembered for the zillionth time how much I love San Francisco.

And finally, there's something just magical about country music and the hot sun. I can't put my finger on it, but I can feel it in my bones.

A YouTube Gem: "YEAH YOU LIKE THAT IDIOT"

After extensive Googling and YouTubing, I FINALLY found one of my favorite YouTube videos of all time. This is definitely top 5, along with the honey badger video!

Preparing for the worst, or at least something moderately scary

I'll bet anything that at least 70% of the people I know don't have emergency kits. And those that do have kits, probably didn't assemble them. What fools. I used to be one of those dillydallyers - but no longer! Most of the things that I ordered for my emergency kit have already arrived. LOVE AMAZON PRIME!

I ended up spending about $200 to cover the essentials for three kits. Pricey you say? I say I'd spend $200 to give my family a chance to survive ANYDAY. Even IF my brother wasn't willing to chip in for it. Whatever, family is family. Two go-kits for the cars and one more substantial kit for home. I'll be honest though, I put a lot more stuff into my own kit - if disaster strikes I REALLY hope that I'm with Klaus.

Once finalized, all of the kits will have:
Duct tape, medical grade scissors (that can cut through pennies), zip ties
Books of matches, firestarters, hand-crank flashlight/usb chargers (cars), cash$
Hand-crank radio/USBcharger/LED flashlight (home only, since the cars have radios)
Packets of tissue, paper cups, bandages, neosporin, latex gloves, dust masks,
Medicine (Tylenol, Immodium), 3-day supply of food rations, emergency blankets
Paper plates, paper cups, chop sticks, garbage bags, zip lock bags, multitool

My kit has extra thangs:
Handwipes, mirror, emery board, hair ties, hair clips, earplugs, feminine necessities,
Plastic forks, plastic knives, plastic spoons, safety pins, tablet towelettes
Lotion, toothpaste, toothbrush, extra socks/undies/tshirt, hand warmers, beanie
Index cards, two pens, Apple USB charger, USB to mini USB charger, map of SF bay area

I think I've got most of my bases covered! I'll still be thinking about extra things to add over the next few days (while I wait for the dust masks to show up and Alex is getting me duct tape next week) then I'll be satisfied. The coolest items by far are the hand-cranking devices. I got the Eton Clipray and the Eton Microlink Self-Powered 3-in-1, and I am VERY happy with both. Even though some reviewers on Amazon said that they didn't produce enough power to charge smartphones, I tried it on my iPhone 3G and my brother's iPhone 4 and it worked with BOTH! The radio also gets great reception, both are very small and compact. The radio is the size of a desktop tape dispenser. Yeah, it's f'ing impressive.

I'm putting everything in a Jansport and I'll have more than enough room. I hope that I never have to use the kit, but I'm not stupid enough to risk not being prepared. Get ready people, disaster is no joke!

Red Cross CPR Certified !

I am officially ready to help save lives! I took a CPR course this morning with Charles and we learned how to assess situations, help choking conscious victims, and attempt to resuscitate unconscious victims who cannot breathe. The class wasn't too boring, we learned a lot and the volunteer instructors had some funny jokes. The best part of the class was when I had to roll Charles over (he's like a head and a half taller than me) and he said "good luck" and started cackling. But I managed to roll him over, even though it took a while LOL.

The part of the class I didn't like was when I was the "victim" and I got rolled into the recovery position. It required Charles to support my head by touching my neck and I kept screaming. I hate people touching my neck!!! I'm sure I made a scene... oh well. We got through it eventually..

I'm so proud of myself for getting certified! Now I have NERT and CPR under my belt, I'm just that much more prepared for the disasters to come -

Heavens to Murgatroid, even!

I've been watching this crazy cartoon all evening, about a presumably gay mountain lion with an impeccable vocabulary tainted by preposterous pronunciation. He likes the opera and show business, and he enjoys reciting nonsensical Shakespeare-like verses.

This is my kind of cartoon. All kinds of ridiculousness and randomness. Snagglepuss is a honey badger, he doesn't give a shit! He does what he wants when he wants, and he always keeps his cool. He's also always running into hunters and outwitting them. But he wears a bow tie and cuffs for goodness sakes, the guy has got style! Lots of wordplay and literal interpretations - some which make sense, all of which make me smile.

Before I did some light research, I didn't even know that this was the same animation studio that put together the Flintstones, The Jetsons, Yogi Bear, and so many more! I've heard the phrase "Hanna-Barbera" before but I never paid much heed. Now I know, but Snagglepuss is my favorite by far.

My First Video: Tiesto!