Sis Ready for Office Holiday Lunch

Sis all prettied up for the office get together.

Papaya for Mid-Morning Snack

Yummy and refreshing after cleaning up & feeding everyone.

My beloved grandpa must be watching me from above & kept me from the humiliation that would've rained on me had I reported the "theft."

Brushing Elaine's Teeth

Trying to make a video of home dental care is tough when I have to use the tripod with the camera.  Elaine was great but I had the mark off so we end up having her back and rear in view instead of her mouth!

Take 2 was better though but I ran out of memory so did not have both sides. O well.  We'll keep working!

My first love letter from 4 y.o. Danika

NGA is my Vietnamese short name; LY is hers.

Kobi is so good with Danika

We're fortunate that Kobi tolerates Danika's handling. She's better now that she's older. She really loves Kobi. She even walk him with just the leash draped over his back :)

Danika in Her First Piano Practice Session

She is only learning the keys so far. You can tell she is not looking at the music sheet. Guess, she memorized the keys and playing them from memory.

Manhattan Portage Messenger Extra Velcro Strips

I searched the web but couldn't find the purpose for the extra velcro strips in the Manhattan Portage Messenger Bag. Decided to use them to decrease the exposed surface of the velcro strips sewn in the flap. This makes the flap easier to lift -- speedier access to the bag.

Working with Elaine in the Dark

Practicing cues with Elaine. She was distracted by some passerby but did finally learn to stop, attention, and come.

Slowly Breaking Out The Holiday Spirits.

Had to dig out my holiday cup for the sappy Hallmark Channel holiday movies.

Pixelpipe Update via BlogBooster

Yeah! The video upload worked fine via Pixelpipe last night (Centro). The crashes were due to me recording the video in portrait instead of the landscape that the Pixi video app warned me to change. That must have messed the setting somehow.

Centro

Test

Thumper Video via Pixelpipe

Trying videos again. Previous one of Kobi crashed system.

Danika via Pixelpipe

Danika on Priscilla's 19th Birthday.

 Pixelpipe is working well so far.  Lots of features and will allow me to post to work accounts also. Yay!

Pixelpipe

BlogBooster is great for the style and formatting of blog posts. However, I could not get it to upload images from the phone. That limitation was a deal breaker as I need an app to upload blog posts with my own images.
Enter Pixelpipe.  This is my current favorite picture of Priscilla on her 19th birthday.
Hope this works.

BlogBooster (Part Deux)

The previous BlogBooster published well. I have to remember the return or line break thing - the published version had a lot of lines between paragraphs. There's also an odd square at the end of the post. Could not make that go away; not sure what it is or where it came from.

The hyperlink needs the http:// for it to work.

Otherwise, BlogBooster seems to be a good alternative for mobile blogging.

Let's try the image from Photo Roll. Yesterday was Priscilla's birthday. I snapped what is now my favorite picture of her (you think it's easy getting a picture of your teen niece?)

Priscilla

Addendum: Looks like attaching an image from Photo Roll is not working. That's too bad as that would have been an often used feature.  May even be a deal breaker for me.  I'll have to see if there's a workaround for this. For now, I may have to stay with emailing the posts with the image to blogger.

BlogBooster

This is the third time trying out BlogBooster. The other times failed since it would not let me "Save as Draft" -- they both were published instead. Maybe a bug that still needs to be fixed?
Anyway, I figure we'll try again, at least to see if the other features work. Besides, ideally, I would be publishing the post directly.
BlogBooster allows for different styles such as bold, italic, underline, and color.

It also does text alignment and hyperlinks!

The Family Vet

Adding images should be a snap also. I can add it from Autocontent from the web:

That's just a random image that BlogBooster thought would be relevant to this post.
I can also add from Photo Roll but that gave me an error last time. I'm testing this first without Photo Roll and will try again later with it.
Well, let's see if this posts properly!

Red itchy puffy eye

.. after eating something I guess I wasn't supposed to!

The Big 4-0

Today is my unofficial but legal birthdate (long story). Sis got me a birthday cake. No, she did not leave out the year by mistake, there just wasn't enough room for it. And no, it's not my first birthday and no, I'm not trying to hide the fact that I'm FORTY years young. We forgot the candles and the "1" from one of the kid's birthday was lying around so we used it to symbolize the passing of one year.
Great quiet time with my sis, her family and Dad. Mom is away up north with my brother's family and HIS sons, one of which is celebrating his fourth birthday today.
Happy birthday, Tommy!

All cross-eyed from working on social media cross-linking! I don't even know where this message is been posted, tweeted, facebooked, updated, or blogged :D

Big Ben

Testing out the Share feature.

Synchronized Grooming

Zuri (the Bengal) and Rorke (the Savannah) grooming to the same beat.

Uploaded by www.cellspin.net

CellSpin Simultaneous-Posting on Multiple Social Media

Really enjoying CellSpin mobile blogging, twittering, & facebooking app. Best of all, it has a Palm version!

Testing out the different setting to see if I can post to the blog at the same time. Will likely not continue to do so after this; short updates for Twitter and Facebook but still use this blog for longer write ups.

Reactivating Facebook

I finally caved in and re-activated my Facebook account. I don't like Facebook much --- actually, I don't know/use it at all so can't really say I don't like it. But I need to start using it if we end up using it more for work.
I stuck with Twitter only because having multiple social network accounts seems so redundant. I can barely keep up with my blog, as it is. I wanted to keep the blog more than Facebook. Now, with CellSpin, I can post to multiple sites at once!

CellSpin Mobile Blogging

I came across CellSpin mobile blogging app for Palm OS and had to try it out. I am still surprised when I "discover" Palm apps. Hoping this will also help me with blogging more often. So many things happened these past several months. It's a pity I didn't take the time to document it all.

Let's see how this tool may help.

Elaine Acting Her Age (Not)!

A ritual for Elaine. She runs circles around the treats or toys before picking the one she wants.

Had Forgotten the Colors!

I don't think I ever noticed how colorful food is in its natural, uncooked state. Yes, we added food colorings when we cook and we made stirfry colorful with the different veggies. But that can't compare to the innate color of food.

I was prepping tomorrow's midday snack - honeydew melons (I picked a winner!) - when it hit me. I had cantaloupe today, a nice rich orange and tomorrow, I'll be eating light green honeydews. My salad and avocado salsa side is like a color wheel, especially when there's a tinge of purple from the red cabbage.

Colors that would have looked out of place in a traditional cooked meal seem very at home and natural with my new fresh food meals.

This honeydew camera-phone picture in the dark kitchen doesn't do the color justice. I just have to look at the pictures from the previous post to see the food rainbow!

Fresh Food

Never thought I would enjoy fresh fruits and vegetables so much. It's been 2 weeks since I switched to a raw vegan diet. I figured it would be a good food trial to see what I may be reacting to. I suspected it was to flavorings and seasonings, not necessarily the meat or nuts themselves. And since cooked food without seasonings can be bland to me, I tried the raw vegan diet and things have been going very well. I'll probably write more later but just want to add some stuff here to capture the "beginning."

Stocking up with fresh fruits every 2-3 days.









Mom's stockpile of bananas. We froze some to use in fruit smoothies. We finished the box in 2 weeks.








Learning how to pick melons was a challenge. I got the cantaloupe down (tan or not-green veins and some give on the end) but still hit-and-miss with the honeydews and watermelons.

Waited too long to eat this cantaloupe :)





Dinner from last night. Loving my salads right now. A mix of red romaine lettuce, saladson or what I call bitter lettuce (I get them at the local Asian Farm Market), chopped cabbage, tomatoes, red bell peppers, onions, Thai chili (for the spicy kick!), cucumbers, and a variety of fresh herbs (basil, mint, rau ram). Dressing was lemon, apple cider, olive oil, salt & pepper, and more Thai chili :)

I experimented with a salsa-like side dish and absolutely loved it. It was supposed to be a thick salad dressing but I went overboard with the tomatoes and onions and it became a side dish. Chopped one tomato, one medium onion, half an avocado, juice of half a lemon, half a Thai chili (yes, I like my food spicy!), and salt & pepper if needed (I didn't need it). Mix them all together and yummy!
I chop and prepare extras when I make the salads in the evening and save a large portion for the next day's lunch. The dressing marinates the salad and it tastes even better the next day. I did one with mostly cabbage and it turned out like a healthy coleslaw -- without the creamy mayonnaise. Elias call them "veggie ceviche" --- I can get really heavy handed with the lemon vinaigrette; the onions and tomatoes swim in the dressing.

Added blueberries to this morning green smoothie (bananas, spinach, blueberries, water).

The reusable Copco tumbler from Bed Bath & Beyond is one of my favorite recent purchase. Makes smoothies taste even better and helps me keep up with the water intake during the day.






Cantaloupe for mid-morning snack. If you told me 2 weeks ago that I would eat a whole cantaloupe by myself in a day, never mind as a snack, I would think you're crazy.

Now, I buy these cantaloupes, honeydews and mini-watermelons and eat the whole melon as a snack.




The problem I had was eating enough calories to keep me going during the day. Ha! Can't even believe that I am having problems eating enough calories :)

These smoothies come in handy. Bananas, mangoes, strawberries, apples, and water. Got the fruits in me that would probably have taken me the whole afternoon to eat (assuming I would be able to eat all of them).

Oh, another new find for me ---- all these different nuts. Eating almonds and cashews for now -- unsalted and unroasted; they actually taste great. Throw them on top of the salads or eat as a snack.

Anyway, more later. Things have been busy so I have not blogged much but hope to catch up soon. It's been great though, not having to fight through the mental fog either from the food I was reacting to or the Benadryl I took to counteract it.

Looking forward to sprouting chickpeas to make hummus and trying some tomato soup recipes in the blender!

Adventures in fresh food. Who knew?!! :)

Memorial Day 2010

I left for my morning run around the neighborhood as planned this morning. Not long into the run, I wondered how far it was to my grandpa's grave. A quick call to my mom determined that I was on the right track and should make it there and back without any problems. Round trip is less than 7 miles.

Running there was nice as it was still early and barely any traffic. Passed some people waiting for the shuttle to Vegas in the supermarket parking lot.

I walked once I got on the cemetery ground. Just did not seem right to go running around the graves! I quickly found Grandpa and Grandma's place.

Took a quick snap of me at the marker --- surprisingly got it on the second take.
Grandma died in Vietnam in 1989. We were finally able to sponsor Dad and Grandpa over in 1991. Grandma was cremated and the ashes brought over later by relatives.

I am glad we were able to bury her ashes with him. I like to think he is less lonely that way.
The photo is one of my favorite of him. It captured his smile and cheerful look just right.

Across from Gramps' place is the Vietnamese Veteran's Cemetery. I stopped over there and paid my respect.

Thank you.

Simple things.

Feel good just using them. Spoon from Cha for Tea. Hotel plastic coffee stirrer.

Kobi and the Bebop

We had a full day today. Worked on Kobi and the Bebop harness trial. Still need to do the write up. Probably won't have a chance until next week.

click on image to enlarge

The harness was not very impressive at all. It was supposed to be padded but it looks just like a regular walking harness. The description noted that the straps are lower on the shoulders to avoid damage to the trachea but I could not appreciate the difference compared to the regular harness from American Kennel Club.

What I do like is the Safety Strap. It keeps the restraint strap off the seat so less tangling. I wonder about it's sturdiness though. It looks fine for a small to medium sized dogs but any dog over 40 pounds? Not so sure. Will have to test it out on Elaine later.

click on image to enlarge

It does give Kobi a lot of freedom to move around and he did not seem to mind it at all. Initially, he did wrap himself with the safety strap when he circled around in the seat. But he quickly learned to duck under the strap to avoid tying himself against the seat.

Overall, good impression of the harness system. Disappointed that the harness was not padded as advertised on the website. Also so-so customer service as my emails regarding the padding were not answered.

A Running Milestone at Mile Square Park

Remember back in October when I first discovered Mile Square Park (MSP)? Of course you don't. It was nothing special, no earth shattering event to make it memorable to you.

Why do I remember that day?
1) My airheadiness for thinking it was one mile around the Mile Square Park. How long have I been around Fountain Valley? But in all those years, I have never really gone to this gem of a park -- until I took up running.
2) October was when I decided to take up running. I think that day was day 2 of my running project.
3) I remember huffing and puffing on those 45 seconds running intervals and wondering if I would ever be able to run a block non-stop, never mind around the park.

Well, I went back to MSP this evening to do my 4 mile run. What a difference 6 months have made. It was a great evening for a run; a little breezy but that just made me feel as though I was running fast with the wind in my face :).

Every time I run in the OC, I feel a little nostalgic and sad about my hometown LB. It would have been perfect if the scene at MSP was in LB.

A lot of people were out and about. All ages. Seniors walking. Mothers and fathers running with the strollers. Families with kids running together. And serious runners passing all of us. Oh, and dogs, quite a few dogs running -- and behaving -- with their running partners. One of these days, I'll have to take Elaine running here.

I ran a little over 4 miles, about 4.2 miles in 46:45, 11:04 pace. I felt great; no pain.

I was able to talk to some of the kids running with their family and dog. The kids and dog were doing one of those run-walk yo-yo. They ran full speed ahead of me then stop when the dog stopped and walked. I would pass them with my slow steady pace. Then later, they would all run full speed and pass me again. Repeat for several times until I finally noticed that the dog was limping on his right rear leg. I told them when I caught up with them. They must have thought I was crazy, breathlessly telling them that their dog is running as though his knee is bothering him. Fortunately, the dog picked that time to start running on 3 legs so they stopped him and waited for their parents. They walked the dog the rest of the way and waved as I continued with my run.

Before long, I made the final turn and completed the run around Mile Square Park. This was not my first 4-miler. I ran the first 4-miler last Monday. But, for some reasons, this 4-miler made a bigger impact on me. Maybe because I feared that last week was a fluke, that no way can I run 4 miles non-stop. Maybe because MSP was where it started and running it today became a milestone, a reflection of how far I've come since October.

What a great way to end the day.
Elaine behaving superbly in Petco. Delicious lunch prepared by my nephew. And a run around Mile Square Park to commemorate my 6th month of running.

Elaine & Rope Ball

Elaine chewed up the last rope toy (knot) easily. They used to last months; we'd buy a couple a year. But this last one was chewed up in a month.

So we went shopping at Petco.

This was our second trip to Petco. She did great. Not even a growl or bark. She was a little nervous when a nice brave Petco employee approached us to see if I had any questions. She (the employee) wisely kept her distance and did not try to baby talk or coo-coo at Elaine. Then a pit puppy came bouncing down the aisle and I thought "uh oh." Lo and behold, Elaine sat down and just looked at me! Needless to say, I couldn't hand over the treats to her fast enough :).

The same employee started talking to the puppy owner. I took that opportunity to test Elaine and gave her the "down" gesture. She plopped down and stared at me. She always had problems in a strange environment and is easily distracted. But not today. She did us proud!

We had a small glitch at the check out line when a lady pushed a full shopping cart towards us. Elaine had been wonderfully by my left side the whole time. She was freaked by the cart coming at us and scooted around and hid behind me! So much for guarding me! But she redeemed herself by patiently waiting by my side as we paid for the rope ball.

Notice the furrow between her eyes as she kept a wary eye on the shopping cart

Everyone kept their distance and I was careful to turn corners ahead of Elaine to avoid walking into anyone, 2- or 4-legged.

The car ride was also great. No jumping around or barking after skateboarders. We used the Roadie today. She did not seem as comfortable (compared to the Champion Canine) but tolerated the harness fine.

So far, she seems to like it. And, Lis, yes, it does roll away :).

Bloopers - Demonstrating the Floating Chest Pad

Elaine had a full day today. Before we left for the day trip, we taped a quick segment showing the floating chest pad in action. One of the feature of the Champion Canine Seat Belt System was this floating chest pad but I never understood its purpose until I saw it in action. Basically, it allows the harness to be pulled down the side without twisting the harness under the dog -- the chest pad stayed on the chest, not pulled to the underarm.

To be honest, I thought it was just a neat feature but didn't think it was such a big deal. But after using it these past several weeks, it does seem to make a big difference. I don't see Elaine getting twisted in the harness as she turns every which way in the backseat.

Towards the end of the video, I had tightened the harness so it couldn't slide as designed. Ended up wrestling with Elaine instead.

It was an impromptu taping. I have been putting off finishing the reviews since we've been busy at work. I also had to postpone Kobi's part when he hurt his back a couple weeks ago. So, on a spur of the moment, I grabbed Elaine for the segment. Only after did I realize I was wearing my colorful Farmer Tran plaid shirt I bought years ago for my New Zealand farm visits. Oh well, may not be professional, but I guess it's in keeping with the informal nature of the reviews.

This is what it looks like when I edited out the end.

Day Trip w/Elaine

Elaine made her first visit to the "new" Petco in town. It was a better place for her because it's still not busy midday. We did not have to worry about other dogs or too many kids. We were going to the park afterward but changed our mind (rather I changed my mind). This parking lot was up the hill and isolated. We end up walking around the mini plaza instead. Elaine did well considering she is still confused about walking on my left instead of my right.

That's what I get for not knowing any better when I first leash trained her. She got used to walking on my right. Now, I'm trying to retrain her to be on my left so we can go running (safer for her to stay on my left).

Rolling Easter Sunday

Danika gave me an Easter egg she decorated at her dad's family's gathering. It's a Snow White theme.

In other news, we had a rolling earthquake this afternoon around 3:40 pm. It was the longest quake I've ever felt --- rolling sensation and luckily, not very strong. The epicenter was in Mexicali 7.2 magnitude and we felt it in OC! Lasted about 40 seconds.

Elaine & Hands-Free Leash

Notice the slack leash! First walk with hands-free leash in public. Elaine tried to go after a barking dog but quickly came back to my side. Progress!

Danika - Stretching Her Face

We got out of the clinic early today. I still had quite a few emails and phone calls to make but decided to re-energize with a run before settling in for another couple hours of work tonight. It was a good run. Ran 3.44 miles around the neighborhood -- and no pain! The last 3 runs have been great -- not sure if it's because I'm having at least 2-3 days (sometimes 4) between runs to recuperate or what. Wish I can run 3 times a week but things are so crazy at work that I've been only running twice a week. Oh well. At least they have been nice pain-free runs. Once things calm down, I'll sneak in a third run for the week.

Danika has taken to joining me for my post-run stretches. It is becoming a nice auntie ritual. She counts to 10 four times while we hold each stretch. Today, she recited her ABCs instead of counting; quite a creative kid, eh?

She scraped her knees earlier in the week so could not bend her knees well enough for some of the positions. She got bored counting and watching me so she started doing all these funny faces -- claimed she was stretching the muscles in her face!



Sweet silly kid.

Fuzzy Picture but Still a Favorite

My favorite picture of a picture of my brothers and sister this past Christmas. My nephew Andre snuck in (second on the left in the red shirt).

Daisy - Morning Walk

Elaine's New Rope Toy

Update 03/01/2010
Looks like Elaine prefers the old rope toy after all. I've trimmed and removed the ends of the old toy as it got too worn and scraggly. But she still likes it better than the new rope. The new rope falls apart easily too. Same brand. Guess they don't make them like they used to :)

It's the Little Things

Forgot to buy more peanut butter for my PB & sliced banana sandwich for breakfast. Banana slices on dry toasts just don't look right so I mashed the banana with a fork and spread it on toasts.

Yummy!
Just the right amount of sweetness.

Why did it take me this long to discover mashed bananas!?!

Re-Discovering the Outliners

I've enjoyed writing the product reviews for work. I get to spend more time doing things with Elaine that I probably would not have otherwise. She continues to amaze and surprise me with her eagerness and cooperation. The other perk is refreshing and improving my writing skills.

I used to write a lot for classes in high school and college. The writing tapered off in veterinary school and almost came to a complete stop after graduation. Medical records are written with abbreviations, notes, and incomplete sentences. Unless I'm writing a referral report, paragraphs have no place in medical records. Frankly, I think the other doctors prefer the abbreviated versions, not the long proses.

One reason I took up journal writing was to practice my writing skills. Actually, it started as a way to practice handwriting skills as that, too, was falling on the wayside as computers took over most aspects of my life. Hence my interest in paper journals and pens. I soon learn that even though my handwriting is still pretty good, I had forgotten how to write things coherently and succinctly. I still don't do it well but, at least, I am working on it and blogging is a good outlet for it.

Outliners had always been a great help with my writing. I used Bonsai back in the days when I thought it was the answer to my GTD implementation (I was wrong). I was clearing out my Palm OS application folder when I came upon Bonsai again. Lo and behold, within minutes, Bonsai spat out an outline for the Canine Vehicle Safety Restraint System review.It feels good to have a big picture of where I'm going with the review. The ability to carry this outline in my Treo is a bonus. I've been known to get the writing bug while waiting in lines, dental appointments, etc... With Bonsai, I can access the outline and work on the review on my Treo. Bonsai has a lot of feature (to do's, etc...) but I'm only using it for the traditional basic outliner.

I stopped looking for a jack of all trade software. Why use an outliner to manage tasks when I already have something for that?

I'm using an outliner to create outlines. Big revelation, I know :)

Year of the Tiger

My Sariah

Lis got this nice one of Sariah, lounging in her bed. Best picture of her. Period.
Thanks, Lis!

Dead Clock

What's wrong with this picture? It was taken at 5:37 pm today. At the time, I thought it was still early afternoon because the last time I checked the clock a couple hours earlier, it was about 9:35 am.

Downside of working in a windowless room and not taking breaks to look outside.
Time is determined by the clock --- even when it is not running.

Needless to say, I was late for several meetings.
On the good side, I was able to finish working on the Roadie review.

If I wait another 40 minutes or so, the clock will be on time again!

More of Elaine & Roadie Elite

There are tricks and tips to help in putting the Roadie Elite on your dog. I had a difficult time in the beginning. The company website's video made it look so easy. I saw the difference was that I was pushing Elaine's legs through the opening, whereas the demo video (animation) showed the legs being pulled through the opening. So I gave that a try today and it was easier. I still have my doubt about using it for geriatric dogs and/or those with joint problems. I can still see dogs that are not used to harnesses or restraints panicking when one of their legs is still caught in the opening and hurting themselves trying to get free. Probably not a harness for first-timers.

Taking the harness off can also be a challenge --- at least, it was for me. Maybe I had my directions and orientation confused trying to face the camera. Instead of reversing the leg out of the opening, I tried to pushed the leg through into the next opening (for the neck). Luckily, I realized my mistake and backed out in time. Once I re-oriented myself, taking the harness off was not that bad.

After the videos, we went outside for some pictures and a test drive. The Focus is a small car. Even with the harness, Elaine can easily slobber on the front passenger. We will remove the wire barrier as soon as Elaine gets used to the harness and learns some carpooling etiquette :)

Click on image to enlarge

Plan to finalize the review for the Roadie tomorrow. (02/09/10: Done!)
Next week, it's the Champion Canine Restraint System!

Spring is Coming (& sore knee)

We went for our Mom & Me walk this morning. Love this time of the year when it's still chilly but signs of Spring are emerging. We came upon this front yard with 3 short trees of sort. They had blossoms that reminded me of cherry blossoms. Mom said they're not. She should know as she visited friends in DC and saw lots of cherry blossoms. Dad saw the pictures and said they are some sort of cherry blossoms (at least, that's what I get after I translated it from Vietnamese!). Anyway, they made me think of Spring or at least the passing of time. I walked by this house with Mom weekly and ran by it several times a week. Up until this week, those trees had been bare --- twigs sticking out of trunks. But then the little buds started appearing and this weekend, all the buds seemingly exploded into blooms.

My favorite one of Mom after our walk

There were also red and pink ones but not as full as the white ones above. We did a shorter walk this week as my right knee was bothering me a bit. I probably overdid the running this past week. Ran another 3.6 miles late last night and exceeded my week's goal of 9 miles (yeah!). But I may have increased my distance too quickly, going from not running for a couple of weeks to running 3.6 miles every other day. I need to remember to slow own or I'll get hurt again. I was planning to take it to 4 miles this week but it may be more prudent to stay with the 3.6 miles or even less if my knee is still bothering me.

Mom said I was slowing her down on the walk :). We covered 1.5 miles in about 28 minutes; slower than we normally do so she had a point.

Still a gorgeous morning.
And a good harbinger of wonderful things to come the last week of this lunar year. Lunar new year (Tet) this weekend! Year of the Tiger!