text:
Thursday, November 13, 2008
We Were Playing Indiana Jones
Posted by Dawn at 9:42 PM
60 comments:
With so many kids getting in so many scrapes, and visiting hospital/doctors/ER so many times, how DO you manage with the medical bills?
- November 13, 2008 at 10:44 PM
- Vanessa Rogers said...
At least she has an imagination! ;)
- November 13, 2008 at 11:19 PM
- mary ann said...
I've worked in some doctors' offices. In Kentucky, we would get the drug reps to bring fruit and veggie trays and beverages for the waiting room. Because it was inhumane how long we were forcing people to wait. Those doctors overbooked and frequently one of them would have to leave the office to deal with an emergency. Wait times with an appointment would hit two or three hours.
In Arizona, we put coffee (decaf and regular) and cookies (sugar free and regular) in the waiting room for one doctor at his insistence. That doctor just vanished into a black hole everytime he shut the door to an exam room. He would spend twenty or thirty minutes seeing each patient. Established patients were happy to wait their turn to for so much undivided attention. The others in that practice could be relied upon to see their patients in something resembling a timely manner so we didn't provide snacks for their patients.
- November 13, 2008 at 11:43 PM
- Feisty Irish Wench said...
Maryanne, it's called $5 at a time honey.
And, just an observation here Dawn...but it appears that the middle children are getting the brunt of the scrapes. Are they getting enough attention? Shouldn't the oldest ones be tormenting them so they get enough attention in some form or another? At least that's how it worked in my house till we shipped the oldest one off to grandma...
- November 13, 2008 at 11:54 PM
I am with you on the wait, and no, I haven't worked at a doctor's office.
My ortho surgeon's wait and visit usually takes 2 hours. Most of the problem was overbooking because we would get to talking in the waiting room and would realize how many had the same appt.
It has got better lately-I think they realized the patients were getting upset over the time. Most of his patients were neck and back problems, and those uncomfortable chairs had everyone in a lot of pain!
- November 14, 2008 at 12:10 AM
- KraftyMommas said...
Cheers to Lexi!!! She was lucky to be out when she was manipulated. My DD broke her elbow Sept 19 and was manipulated in the ER with codine. OUCH!!! Lindsey gets her cast off tomorrow.... and it is the same color as Lexi's!!!!
Give Lex a big 'ole kiss from Texas!!
:0) Trevor
- November 14, 2008 at 12:15 AM
On doctor office waiting times...I get why it happens but what I don't get is the lack of communication and apologies. I love the fact that my kids' doctor will always see us (and anyone) vs. the, "sorry we're booked you'll have to go to Urgent Care." Due to that policy alone is why they get behind so it's a give and take (urgent care or waiting times with your regular doc?). However, I get so frustrated that I sit in a waiting room, sometimes with a very sick child, sometimes with all my kids, when a quick phone call would have allowed me to stay home for an extra hour. No time to call so tell me when I get there so maybe I can run an errand and come back is better that not knowing you're going to wait. It also bugs me that my time is not valued; an apology would go a long way (like any other service you pay for). The last thing is why do they pull you back into a room just to wait another hour? I would rather my kids were still out playing with the toys than be stuck in a small room with nothing to do. Sometimes we have some place really important to be but no one communicates. It's like you just have to deal with it...oh well. I walked out on a dentist appointment saying my kids were hungry and I wasn't waiting any longer (that kind is easier but for sick kids you're a prisoner). I didn't read all the comments but for those that have worked in an office like this you really have to see all sides; even if it's out of your control there are still things you can do to make it better.
- November 14, 2008 at 12:36 AM
I have one doctor who calls whenever he's running more than 20 min. behind. It works for me because I'm only 10 min away, but others have already left home.
I'm with Dawn on this...they just don't communicate enough. We all understand emergencies but EVERY SINGLE TIME???
- November 14, 2008 at 1:43 AM
I waited 2 1/2 hours in an orthopedic office to have my broken arm set and then another hour in the exam room. I was so angry I deducted my hourly wages from their bill when I paid it. They threatened to turn me into collections and take me to court. I said, "Go ahead, I work for a collection agency and you'll have a hard time winning." I was telling the truth - I was a credit manager! I never heard from them again regarding the bill(I never paid the deducted part) and never had to wait more than 15 minutes for any following appointments.
- November 14, 2008 at 1:44 AM
- Jan Scholl said...
Back during the 1984 summer olympics my son (age 7) set up a series of events in the house similar to the decathlon. I would wake up to hurdling (the sofa cushions were the hurdles), pole vaulting (using brooms), high jumps over the bar, marathoning doing circles around the stairs thru the foyer,dining room, kitchen and up and down the steps to the second level. This went on for months. He also ran track and cross country in HS. at least there was a track at the school for that. Then winter came-and luging using wooden ramps and his bike in the snow. I was happy when he discovered basketball and playing HORSE until 2 AM. He has no neighbors in Iowa to annoy with his antics. I pity his wife-no kidlets yet but he is only 31. and still a kid in so many ways. This too shall pass. and no stitches or broken bones. It was me who managed to do that cutting a bagel.
- November 14, 2008 at 2:43 AM
You know, my husband is a worker's comp (insurance defense) attorney and he knows all too well about dr's and how they schedule their patients. They will triple book their patients because they feel they should have no "down time". Their time is SO important that they should have 3 patients in examing rooms waiting on THEM! I totally agree with what you are saying, Dawn! It's totally ridiculous for dr's to be this way. If there are situations where patients will hold things up with their endless questions, tardiness, and just overall stupidity then the dr's should account for this and NOT triple book their time slots. It makes me livid to sit in a waiting room for a dr for 30 mins PAST my appt time only to have him/her come in and nonchalantly apologize for me having to wait because it's been "one of those days". Good grief..it's ALWAYS "one of those days" for them! OH..and not to mention the few times I have actually been running 5 mins late only to arrive and have the receptionist tell me I will have to reschedule my appt. WTF??? NO WAY!!! I will NOT reschedule my appt because you know what...It's just been one of those days for me!
Ok...I'm done with my rant. LOL
Amy Flippin Blankenship
- November 14, 2008 at 6:49 AM
- morninglight mama said...
I say you send the bill to Harrison Ford.
- November 14, 2008 at 7:02 AM
- Howdy said...
I try to not mind waiting... especially in an orthopedics office because I figure they have probably had to squeeze in a Mom with an injured child at the last minute... ;) I've been that mom before too.
One thing I learned when my girls were younger and always twisting this or breaking that. The Doc's and other professionals have to ask the kids what happened to them. My Doc told me that he appreciated that I always let my kids tell what happened... as it made it easier for them to move on. So - although it may take awhile... just let them tell the assorted professionals what happened - it really takes less time that way.
- November 14, 2008 at 7:28 AM
- Brenda said...
I bet she is going to be a writer too. GREAT imagination!
- November 14, 2008 at 7:39 AM
- Erin said...
Took my son to the eye dr. We were the first appt of the morning. After the nurse took us back and did the tests we sat in the room, with a wired 7 yr old and a 3 yr old ready to follow her big brother anywhere, for at least 20 minutes. FIRST APPT OF THE DAY people!
I'm thinking the Dr has time mgmt issues becaucse this wasn't the first time. Or, as my friend said, probably on Facebook.
- November 14, 2008 at 7:48 AM
I used to see an ob/gyne who had two exam rooms - his staff would book six appointment for the same time...the wait was endless, and many times there was no place to sit because everything was backed up, so you have people standing or sitting in the hallway for long periods until a chair opened up. My current doc uses a sign in sheet, and people are seen in the order in which they arrive. If you're late, you wait. Courtesy runs both ways.
- November 14, 2008 at 7:51 AM
- The Bertone's said...
I completely agree with you, the wait is ridiculous! Be sure to clear your afternoon before going to a doctor's appt... I'm glad she made out good. :) Must say, they at least have GREAT imaginations, which is rare in most kids these days. What a pretty blue cast! :) Good luck with the rest of the week.
- November 14, 2008 at 7:56 AM
In my entire life (I'm 44 now), I have never had a scheduled doctor appointment be on time, that I can recall. I always end up waiting, even though I'm on time and usually a bit early. Always. Always. Always.
- November 14, 2008 at 8:31 AM
When I scheduled an appointment with my old doctor I usually blocked off half the day. He would schedule his first appointment for 10 am and not show up at the office until after 11 am. I never took it out on his staff as I knew they had no control over him. It drove them as nuts as it drove me (we had plenty of time to talk while waiting for him to show up.) I put up with it for way too long before finding a new doctor.
My new doctor has a sign in the office that says "If you have been waiting more than 15 minutes passed your scheduled appointment please speak to the receptionist" Also, if the doctor is running really behind due to an emergency or something like that the office will call and let me know so I can reschedule if I need to. I'm usually early for my appointments and about half the time I'm done and out before my scheduled appoitment time! Best of all, I don't feel rushed when I'm talking to the doctor. He/she takes the time to address all my concerns. That's the way it's supposed to be.
- November 14, 2008 at 8:36 AM
- Cheryl said...
Not to start a debate, but you're completely right about the doctors's office. If you make an appointment you shouldn't be waiting 45 mins in the waiting room then another 30 in the exam room. Yes patients can hold things up and stuff goes wrong...but isn't taking that into consideration part of proper scheduling? If it happens every day and it's expected then whose fault is it really? The patient who needs more explanation or the doctor who knows what's going to happen and still insists on scheduling patients every 10 mins? Yeah.
BTW, my mother-in-law worked in a doctor's office whose patients continually had to wait because his golf games ran over his lunch hour.
- November 14, 2008 at 9:01 AM
- melech said...
Hi Dawn: I hate to mess up all of the nice messages from other readers...BUT...Having watched your video about your trip to Linden Street...I suddenly got the urge to visit my local JC...and check out the 300 count real Egyptian sheets.
The store had a nice little display..so when I slipped off my LOAFER..with the intention of recreating what I had seen YOU do...I was suddenly surrounded by two uniformed SECURITY GUARDS who did NOT know anyone named DAWN..and who were shocked (SHOCKED, I say!) that some chubby guy would have the NOIVE to run his tootsies(no matter how clean..I mean, someone could EAT from my manicured HOOVES)over fine Egyptian cotton.
Anyhooo, I am just now back from the store. I noticed a reporter from our local newspaper...sorta-kinda smirking.I really hope that I am not the LEAD STORY!!
However, all's well that ends well. Even though my shopping spree was halted early, I DID manage to see the Linden Street Collection. Later, wearing a false moustache, I will sneak back in, and buy one of those really neat Comforters.
P.S. Perhaps you might include a DISCLAIMER with future videos..."DO as I SAY, NOT as i DO!"
- November 14, 2008 at 9:08 AM
- Susie said...
Feisty Irish Wench- Do you even have kids? OMG. I cant believe your comment.
Dawn - I love how Lexi is always smiling. Even with a cast on... : )
I am preggos right now and I have two Dr. appointments a week. I usually have to wait 1.5 hours for one and 2 for the other. Its insane. I dont know why they take so long but what i do now is call ahead to see if there is a delay and then take my sweet time getting there.
- November 14, 2008 at 9:15 AM
- Rick said...
So let me get this straight... it was the fall, or was it a boulder that broke her arm?
- November 14, 2008 at 9:46 AM
- Rick said...
P.S. A cute child there.
- November 14, 2008 at 9:47 AM
- Elleah said...
2 nights ago, I had a dream that I was pregnant with twins and that you delivered them in the hospital and it only took 10 minutes. No, I had not been drinking before that!
- November 14, 2008 at 10:51 AM
Broken arm story here...I'm 8.5 months pregnant, we are in Florida visiting old friends from when we lived there...staying in in-laws condo. Lots of kids over, dancing, having fun...all of the sudden, a child comes to the adults and tells us that Maddie, my then 7 year old has fallen while dancing and she is hurt. I am saying to the other mothers "oh, she is probably milking it for attention -she's fine..." Not so fine...fingertips are touching the elbow...husband and another dad rush her out of the condo before I can see her (8.5 months pregnant, shouldn't have been traveling, seeing grotesque arm...they are thinking it'll put me into early labor!) Ended up spending 4 more days in Tampa, in a hospital while Maddie had 2 hour surgery to reset the arm...try sleeping on a cot that pregnant...they wouldn't let me take the bed next to her!!! Had to get permission to fly back home (we drove down there from Atlanta). Maddie was casted for almost 3 months, metal plates on both bones in that snapped in half - all from an innocent fall! She is now 13, has had the plates removed in her arm, her baby sister that I was pregnant with is now 6 and all is well!
- November 14, 2008 at 10:54 AM
- Keeley said...
Hooray that Lexi has a lighter and prettier cast. Anesthesia was so totally the way to go here.
Your boy has a pink cast and your girl a blue one? =D
I'm with you vis-a-vis doctors. It's why I don't go unless I am absolutely DYING. And what I say is "Thank you Heavenly Father for the continued good health of myself and my children." so we aren't subjected to that kind of waiting room torture too often.
- November 14, 2008 at 11:30 AM
- Dennis said...
Oy! Your kids ARE imaginative.
My now 24 yr old broke his wrist when he was ,oh, 5, in the most creative way - he fell off metal monkey bars. Of course, it was a compund fracture and generally icky to look at.
He handled everything like a champ but it took nearly **11** hours to get his arm reset-the doc was at a Bulls game and had to come back to the hospital, much to the aggravation of the anesthesiolgist.
Luckily, he missed his growth plate and only has an oval scar from where the bone tried to leave his body. Ain't kids FUN!!??!!??!!!
- November 14, 2008 at 11:41 AM
- Melissa said...
Awww. Does she at least get to have kids sign the cast? I was always kind of jealous of kids that broke their arms because they could get people to write on it!
- November 14, 2008 at 11:52 AM
- Randee said...
Oh did I laugh when I read you told Lex to tell the "short version". My daughter is one of those who has no short version. (the summer she cut her toe cuz she had worn sandals to camp "we were painting in the room and I had to go to the bathroom so I asked Heather if I could go and usually she doesn't let us go alone but she said I could so I went to the bathroom and then I was washing my hands and then I was going to go back to the room when I opend the door it opend on my toe and it cut it" (that is actually the short version). DEFINITELY you did the right thing with anesthetic...I say the less trauma kids have with a doctor the less fear they have as time goes on. Just my 2cents, but from my own personal experience (as a kid who remembers painful stuff) and a kid that has had icky stuff done, I was thankful for the option!
OH, I was so excited my post made it into the SSO!! :). I'm like, almost famous now!
- November 14, 2008 at 1:20 PM
You totally did the right thing by letting the doctor give Lexi anaesthesia. When I was her age, I had my broken arm set in the ER with not so much as a tylenol. I'm 37 now (and a nurse) and I still have not forgiven my parents for letting the doctor do that to me!
- November 14, 2008 at 1:56 PM
- Made To Organize said...
Yes, it is definitely OVERBOOKING that is the honest reason as to why we get to the appointment EARLY yet we wait an hour and a half to be seen for FIVE MINUTES! (yes, it is a pet peeve of mine as well!). My doctor actually switched his appointment blocks from 15 minute blocks, to 30 minute blocks, which allow him more time with each patient and less waiting time. He probably took a pay cut (or someone else did), but I GREATLY appreciate that person's sacrifice! :)
P.S. that Seinfeld clip had me laughing histerically!
~audrey (animal tamer to three little boys)
- November 14, 2008 at 2:31 PM
- VanDerHoekArt said...
Lexi's story to the Dr. is a crack-up!
Have you ever noticed how waiting rooms in Dr's offices Never have clocks in them? That's so that you'll have no idea if you've been there 6 months or a year.
Haven't they heard of that cool new invention called the telephone? I know when I'm running late I pick up the phone call the person I'm meeting and let them know I'll be late. You'd think they would want to keep their customers happy because we are customers as well as patients, right?
- November 14, 2008 at 4:12 PM
- snippity1 said...
You know, my middle child broke his wrist falling off a bunkbed, too. At least yours has a better story to go along with it! My kid just 'fell', with a little help from his sister;) We had the same blue cast, but didn't need any setting or anesthesia thank goodness.
- November 14, 2008 at 4:39 PM
- Michelle said...
I was wondering if Indiana Jones would be a banned game going forward... and you answered that question!
As for the doctor... I've switched doctors (and let them know) due to excessive waiting. When I feel the need to call them to see how far behind they're running before I leave for the doctor, that's when I start wondering why I'm going there :)
- November 14, 2008 at 6:00 PM
- Katie Skiff said...
Ohmygoodness!! I am so glad my boys aren't figuring out the garage door for Indiana Jones!! Good Grief!
Thanks for sharing...the laughs are always great!
- November 14, 2008 at 6:29 PM
About the waiting. . . I once visited my former internist with two related medical problems, but I had a third medical issue I also wanted to talk to the dr. about. When the nurse asked me the reason for my visit, I told her the 3 things. She said they limited each visit to 2 complaints. For the third, I'd have to set another appointment. I never went back for the third issue. The thought of having to either take my young children with me again or find a sitter was just too daunting. Luckily, it was a minor issue. But it always seemed like bad practice to me to send patients away knowing they needed care for something. I will say, I never had to wait longer than 10 min. to see that doctor, though! I guess you get the good with the bad.
- November 14, 2008 at 8:06 PM
- Kim said...
I agree with the doctor's office wait issue. It doesn't matter what the reason is or whose fault it is, an appt. is an appt. It irritates me to death. I believe it is overbooking and too short of appt. blocks. Whether it is the family doctor or the chiropractor, I've had to wait too long. I've switched chiro's and now I walk in and he see me right away; I can also schedule the appt. in the morning and be seen by noon. I love it.
- November 14, 2008 at 9:23 PM
Awww, what a cutie! :)
- November 14, 2008 at 9:57 PM
- Cassoulet Cafe said...
I, too, get TICKED OFF about the waiting time in doctor's offices. I spent almost 45 minutes yesterday there in the waiting room for a well baby visit. I'm sure by the time we left, the next visit won't be for a "well" visit, it'll be because we caught something waiting with all those sickies.
- November 14, 2008 at 10:26 PM
- SuburbanCorrespondent said...
Susie, I think Feisty Irish Wench was joking - don't worry! She knows how it is with kids.
And, Dawn - if the doctor was recommending anesthesia, she probably needed anesthesia. Stop worrying! Lexi has had quite a year, though, eh?
- November 14, 2008 at 10:39 PM
- Angie [A Whole Lot of Nothing] said...
I'm so glad she's doing better!
- November 14, 2008 at 10:57 PM
- Vivian M said...
Awww hope your little girl gets well soon. And shame on the doctor(s) office for not having handicap access.
- November 15, 2008 at 3:54 AM
Hi Dawn. I had broken my wrist before and it is not fun. It was Holloween night and I was coming down the stairs and climbing over the baby gate. I tripped and fell (dove) down onto my wrist. My wrist was all crooked looking as we drove to the hospital. I said now this is a scary holloween costume. It was my right hand and for the next few months I was changeing diapers with my wrong hand and feet. Wish Lexi a speedy recovery from Kristine in Michigan.
- November 15, 2008 at 9:58 AM
- Patois said...
Here's hoping the wait is nearly nil when it's time to hack the cast off.
- November 15, 2008 at 10:10 AM
I worked in an optometrists office for a year and the number one reason for patients having to wait was simply overbooking!! The doctor can only be with one patient at a time and yet they insisted on scheduling several.
- November 15, 2008 at 3:51 PM
- mommeeof9 said...
My younger sibling had a run on broken bones, 3 with broken legs in less than 6 months. This included my then 2 yr old brother in a body cast, as he broke his leg near the hip with help from some siblings jumping on the bed with him. Mom told all of us that she would set the next broken bone herself. There were no broken bones after that for 10 years.
- November 15, 2008 at 4:51 PM
I've been married for 10 years, and my husband has been in school or medical training the WHOLE 10 YEARS we've been married, with a couple years still to go. So it bothers me when people say things like, "We have to stick up for our rights in the waiting room!" It takes 13 YEARS of school and residency to become an orthopedic surgeon. If there weren't people--and their families--who were willing to spend all that time and money to become a doctor, it would be really hard to get the care we need. (This is not an attack on you, Dawn. It's in response to some of the comments.)
- November 15, 2008 at 11:17 PM
About double booking--I think people would rather be squeezed into an already full schedule than have to wait weeks longer for an appointment. So it's kind of a necessary evil.
If medical care becomes a "right" in our country, there will be fewer doctors, they will have no incentive to overbook, and we'll have to wait a LOT longer for appointments!
- November 15, 2008 at 11:25 PM
- Shellie said...
Yeah, I'd say Indiana Jones is right out after all that!
- November 15, 2008 at 11:47 PM
I know you must have answered this a million times but I can never remember... how old are all your kids? I can remember the order the go in and I have a vague idea of the age range, but I can never remember specific ages & I'm always curious.
I also wonder just how often your kids are seriously hurt! It seems like someone is always getting a broken bone or crushed under the garage door or something! I don't think I could handle that. I'd have an ulcer or something by now! You really are amazing!
I'm always hearing that kids with ADHD are more accident prone & that certainly was the case with me personally. Do you find that to be at all true? My oldest (9) has ADHD and the most "serious" thing to ever happen to her was when I had to take her to urgent care because she couldn't walk... and then it turned out she was faking just so she could see an x-ray of her knee. I think she's just been lucky never to have been seriously hurt. My other child is 5 and he's never had anything serious either. Either real or made up. I've been so lucky somehow. Course now that I've said this they'll probably both break something this week, right?
- November 16, 2008 at 12:13 AM
Oh yeah I forgot to mention (blame the ADHD, lol) that luckily the wait times with my kids' regular doctor is not too bad. Since there have been no serious injuries that's all I have experience with really. I think the worst it gets is one hour from arrival to when the doctor walks into the room. And that's broken up a little with the getting of the vitals & height & weight, and then of course taking us back to the room. One thing I think is cool is our clinic has these prepared packets for the kids with a couple crayons & stencils & pictures to color, etc. That always keeps them busy & since they can take it back with them to the room it keeps them busy there too. Very good idea if you ask me.
- November 16, 2008 at 12:18 AM
- Joannie said...
One commenter said that she goes early and then always has to wait? You'd think she would learn by now not to go early, if she knows the doctor isn't going to be on time!
My dad is a doctor and really struggles with staying on time. Part of his "problem" is that he is willing to listen to all his patients, especially the older ones who want to talk about every single health issue. He views his patients as people worthy of his time-- but since he also is willing to work people in so that they don't have to go to Urgent Care or the nurse practitioner, he ends up running behind schedule. He is by far the most popular doctor in their practice, however, because he does these things-- he doesn't rush patients through their visits and he works people in who really need to see him. He does limit the number of physicals in a day, because those are often the appointments that take the most time.
He recently stopped accepting new patients because he knew if he had too large of a patient base, he could never adequately serve his patients (and that's what a good doctor's mentality MUST be-- he's there to serve). He's gotten SOOO much flak for not taking new patients, it's incredible.
It seems that sometimes doctors can't win. If they rushed people through their appointments to stay on time, they would hear about that. If they didn't work people in who were really sick, they would hear about that.
- November 16, 2008 at 6:34 AM
So, the carpenter guy who billed his doctor for money he lost being away from his job...Does he also send a bill to the DMV when he has to take time out of his busy schedule to go there? How about the post office, or a long wait in the McDonald's drive-thru?
- November 16, 2008 at 12:41 PM
- LaLa said...
Hello, big fan here!
I am pregnant and one of the websites I check out was advertising this book "Because I Said So", but the cover was different from yours, so I looked at it.. It's not yours! Do you know about copyright on names of books, etc... and know if it matters?
- November 16, 2008 at 7:25 PM
- Dorothy said...
wow, I'm glad she's alright and you never can be certain when you make a judgement. You just react to your mom's stomach feeling and most of the time I'll bet your right.
Dorothy from grammology
- November 16, 2008 at 7:40 PM
okay, I was just wondering, In your post Disney day five you said you were going to make a big dos and donts kind of list. no rush, but are you still going to do that? please do, I need some tips coz im going to Disney world
- November 16, 2008 at 10:24 PM
As far as wait times in the office, I'd rather wait there over waiting days, weeks, etc for an appointment. When my son broke his arm he had his first appt with ortho rescheduled and ultimately waited one week to get casted. Very frustrating.
Scheduling can be tough, as many visits are related to a recent acute event. Especially with a specialty like orthopedics or pediatrics.
I think most of the waiting is due to patient care, not the provider off playing golf or whatever many commenters suggested. Most providers do want to give the patient their full undivided attention. Not all, of course, but it is more common that a provider is there with the goal of helping people...
All that being said, waiting is very annoying. I had an OB who did all of his own daytime deliveries. The routine there was one would call one hour before the scheduled appointment time to see if the doc was running late. This really cut down on waiting in the office. It was a good system. Maybe more providers could enact something similar.
- November 17, 2008 at 7:26 AM
- Rosie : ) said...
Wonderful post again, Dawn. :) Thanks for sharing!
- November 17, 2008 at 11:09 AM
- Liz@thisfullhouse said...
Poor baby - feel better.
- November 18, 2008 at 5:45 PM


text:
Friday, February 15, 2008
In-Progress At Daytona: Craftsman Trucks On SPEED
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series kicks-off Friday night beginning at 7:30PM with The Set-Up. This pre-race show is hosted by Krista Voda.
Coverage of the race follows at 8PM live on SPEED. Rick Allen again handles the play-by-play with veteran Phil Parsons and the always colorful Michael Waltrip alongside. Ray Dunlap and Adam Alexander return to handle pit road reporting duties.
SPEED has been consistently good in covering this series, which many believe is the best-produced TV coverage of the three NASCAR national touring series. This season will allow SPEED to try and continue the NASCAR momentum the network has built-up with the exceptional coverage of both pre-season testing and the Daytona Speedweeks.
This page will serve to host your comments about the TV coverage of the Craftsman Trucks from Daytona on SPEED. To add your opinion, simply click on the COMMENTS button below and follow the easy instructions.
The rules for posting are on the right side of the main page. Please remember this is a NASCAR TV blog, and your views should contain a TV reference to the event. Thank you for taking the time to stop by.
45 comments:
- Anonymous said...
I don't have SPEED HD, but I have to ask, how does the HD picture and graphics for the race look to those who can see SPEED HD?
- February 15, 2008 at 7:59 PM
- Anonymous said...
Another great Setup! Krista Voda absolutely rocks!
I can't wait for the race tonight!
- February 15, 2008 at 8:00 PM
- SophiaZ123 said...
I have normal TV and SPEED is messing upp somethinig fierce...digitizing and jumping around.
Same thing happened last night at 12.30AM for about 10 minutes
Anybody else? I am on EST..digital TW
BOTH cable boxes.
- February 15, 2008 at 8:07 PM
- SophiaZ123 said...
better at the moment..THANK GOODNESS.
Last night it was a good 10 minutes.
Kind of late for solar flares in my area
Not too many watching the trucks here or anywhere to ask about this I guess
- February 15, 2008 at 8:12 PM
- Rick said...
I'm here, but wasn't paying close enough attention to the prerace ceremonies to answer your question. ;)
- February 15, 2008 at 8:14 PM
- SophiaZ123 said...
can somebody explain why they sometimes use smaller fuel cells?
Especially at a huge track like Daytona to make them use more tires and more pit stops. That theory is lost on me.
Here we go.
- February 15, 2008 at 8:22 PM
- Anonymous said...
SophiaZ123 said...
to make them use more tires and more pit stops.
February 15, 2008 8:22 PM
I believe THAT is why they use smaller fuel cells.
I always thought they wanted them to make more pit stops to prevent tire wear and the bad accidents that can come from tire wear.
- February 15, 2008 at 8:26 PM
- Newracefan said...
I think Nascar changed both truck and Natw to the same size fuel cell as cup which is smaller than last year
- February 15, 2008 at 8:27 PM
- SophiaZ123 said...
Ok...thanks for the explanation Anon. That makes sense
- February 15, 2008 at 8:27 PM
- Anonymous said...
WOW, did that set a record for the fastest time to go to commercial!
- February 15, 2008 at 8:28 PM
- SophiaZ123 said...
SPEED has gotten into the bad habit of horribly fast transistions to commercials this year...shame they do it during racing but I know they gotta get the commercials in.
It really makes some of their shows/editing choppy and sloppy imo.
I did not see the one just now though as I saw somebody at SPEED TV posted about audio problems at SPEED yesterday and I wanted to add my two cents about tonight's issue
- February 15, 2008 at 8:37 PM
- Anonymous said...
With this being a 100-lap race, I'd look for the commercial breaks to come at a quicker clip....especially if there's a long green flag run.
- February 15, 2008 at 8:37 PM
- SophiaZ123 said...
WOW! That was a horrible crash...poor guys...so many out already
- February 15, 2008 at 8:42 PM
- SophiaZ123 said...
Could you believe the wide shot of all those emergency vehicles and stop cars on the track!
Holy toledo! This is terrible so early...hope everybody is ok....physically that is...crazy out there...
- February 15, 2008 at 8:48 PM
- snowfaller said...
There were a couple of truck races last year where people didn't even have to pit! Therefore - the smaller fuel cell...
It was good of NASCAR to give the teams an extra set of tires. It's always good to add some strategy and flexibility to the shorter races.
Looks like another good year of trucks! 20 laps and our first red flag!
Sophia - no picture problems for me tonight but I'm on DirecTV. Just the normal formatting issues where the whole picture doesn't fit on the screen for those of us who don't have HD.
- February 15, 2008 at 8:51 PM
- SophiaZ123 said...
thanks snowfaller.
Picture looks good on my screen...but that crash. wow..the only thiing I notice is the NASCAR on SPEED logo is a little off my screen..but it could disappear for me if they can't make it transparent or smaller. :)
I seem to remember somebody griping about the mileage somebody got last year during the truck race...didn't remember if it was this one....I do remember Skinner dedicating a win to his late dog Opus....wild evening so far
- February 15, 2008 at 8:56 PM
- SophiaZ123 said...
i wasn't going to say anything until I heard Brendan but I think it's that brat Kyle's fault, too....funny nobody is saying anything....
but what do I know...might have been a racing deal but I hate to see it
- February 15, 2008 at 9:05 PM
- Anonymous said...
Big crash...Good job by the director. I like how they can find and take the best shot when a crash is in progress.
- February 15, 2008 at 9:13 PM
- SophiaZ123 said...
NASCAR messes up pit road light again....geez.
The first crash we were riding a long with Skinner when it happened....bad night so far for wrecks but good for camera work, for sure
- February 15, 2008 at 9:21 PM
- snowfaller said...
I'm a Smoke fan so I'm trying to have a softer side for Kyle - but that first one was definitely his fault.
Good coverage so far. The announcers have had lots of time to kill and they are providing us with good information and good replays.
- February 15, 2008 at 9:24 PM
- Daly Planet Editor said...
What do you guys think about Michael Waltrip tonight?
- February 15, 2008 at 9:26 PM
- Newracefan said...
Wow what a crash fest. Good job by Speed trying to determine causes and most appropriate Ray's biggest question "are you alright", yes the drivers are more important than the the trucks. Thanks for staying on PJ's buring truck until we we sure he was out. And yes Kyle there are still losts of laps to go so patience patience patience. You would have thought the red flag would have cooled these guys off a little bit but apparently not. Ray's awfully busy outside that infield car center
- February 15, 2008 at 9:26 PM
- snowfaller said...
I think MW is proving great insight without being obnoxious tonight...
I don't know how anybody can fault his enthusiasm.
- February 15, 2008 at 9:28 PM
- SophiaZ123 said...
Oh I am a smoke fan as well...my brother and friends have gotten me a hat, two T shirts and a HOME DEPOT jacket! But I still wanna spank Tony sometimes, too. :)
Shrub...I would like to clip his wings...he's a good driver usually but.....
well....if you can't say something nice....says a suddenly pious Sophia
- February 15, 2008 at 9:28 PM
- Newracefan said...
I like Mikey, he's actually the reason I started to watch truck races, I recognized his voice and stopped flipping channels. I haven't noticed him being too Mikey but like I said I like him to begin with.
- February 15, 2008 at 9:29 PM
- SophiaZ123 said...
Gonna be a long night.
- February 15, 2008 at 9:30 PM
- Newracefan said...
I just realized that Nascar Live starts at 9am tomorrow, I am almost on Nascar overload. Thank goodness for the new DVR or no clean clothes for this house's residents plus I stopped burning dinner. (no TV in the kitchen)
- February 15, 2008 at 9:36 PM
- Daly Planet Editor said...
It certainly seems like Michael has found his role in this group after last season's interesting times. His excitement is a nice balance against the laid-back style of Parsons.
- February 15, 2008 at 9:36 PM
- TexasRaceLady said...
Mikey has been great tonight --- enthusiasm and excitement, but not terribly over the top.
- February 15, 2008 at 9:39 PM
- Anonymous said...
I don't understand why Speed, Fox or Truckseries.com do not provide internet updates for the trucks. Truckseries.com has qualifying updates but no race "in progress" updates. A FoxTrax or Jayski style "semi-live" race update would be most welcome.
In my opinion, the trucks need a bigger online presence to get the attention they deserve.
- February 15, 2008 at 9:40 PM
- Newracefan said...
When Mikey is happy he doesn't seem to try so hard and things flow better. They may also have gotten some signals in the booth to keep Mikey from going overboard (Mike Joy and Larry Mac prob have the same to keep DW from going over the edge):)
- February 15, 2008 at 9:42 PM
- Newracefan said...
anon 940 I agree I was just looking for the same thing and realized that the usual sources have nothing. What a bummer.
- February 15, 2008 at 9:44 PM
- snowfaller said...
Mikey is really good on the truck races. You still get some shilling for Toyota but it's hard to fault him since he is trying to pay the bills...
It looks like this year's Cup year will go better for him so maybe (hopefully) he won't be quite as bad in his normal media roles trying to make his sponsors happy.
I do agree the mix of personalities in the booth is great as long as they all give each other their space.
- February 15, 2008 at 9:46 PM
- Daly Planet Editor said...
I thought that NASCAR.com (which is a company called Turner Interactive in Atlanta, GA) owned all the online rights to the actual races?
Are those guys providing updates?
- February 15, 2008 at 9:52 PM
- SophiaZ123 said...
Well I love Mikey but gotta admit, earlier in the race, his voice was an octave higher at one point and a semi-screech...I decided not to post about it here and thanfully, he went back to his normal voice.
And I say that as somebody who likes his normal speaking voice. :) These guys in the booth are great...and are quick to correct themselves.
- February 15, 2008 at 9:54 PM
- Newracefan said...
No but you can listen to MRN with free trackpass
- February 15, 2008 at 9:57 PM
- Newracefan said...
gotta love the split screen
- February 15, 2008 at 9:59 PM
- Newracefan said...
It was all going so well and then we only saw the first 5 or so cars cross the line before the crew camera shot. Hello Speed you know better than that :(
- February 15, 2008 at 10:41 PM
- SophiaZ123 said...
I think I only got a glimpse of THREE crossing the line.
BOO! We HATE when you guys do that...Bad TREND to start the DAYTONA racing Triangle of racing. :(
Blew it all with that ending.
- February 15, 2008 at 10:43 PM
- Truck Series Fan in Houston said...
The trucks rock! And great broadcast with Rick, Phil & Mikey. Todd deserved to win and am happy for him and his team. And Houston's David Starr coming in 4th is wonderful, of course we won't see it in the Houston Chronicle tomorrow . . . . .
- February 15, 2008 at 10:48 PM
- Anonymous said...
COME ON!! with such a close finish, you need a close shot to see it! If we had wide shot, we would have not known who won.
we did not see all the cars finish with last years truck race either. If cars are coming across 3 wide at daytona, I WANT TO SEE THE FINISH close-up.
- February 15, 2008 at 10:56 PM
- Anonymous said...
Very good broadcast for the first truck race of the season.
Only thing I would say for them to watch is the in-car shots when there's so much going on in the front of the field. I found myself saying 'change shots, change shots' several times when we were looking out the side window at the fender of the truck beside us while passing was going on in the front of the field.
I'm amazed Kyle didn't wreck Bodine for the win. He's so careless when it comes to races outside of his series. Those full time truck racers have a lot more to lose if they wipe out, he just jumps out and strutts away to his camper.
I still enjoyed the telecast. I'm afraid I won't be saying that after tomorrows race.
Steve L.
- February 15, 2008 at 11:35 PM
- Anonymous said...
Kyle's truck is running full-time this year for the owner's points. He and Stremme are splitting it. He pointed out in the interview after the race that he's racing for points this year, meaning other guys better get used to him not rolling over and getting out of their way because his truck is full time like theirs now.
- February 16, 2008 at 12:17 AM
- stricklinfan82 said...
Speed only let us see 3 trucks cross the finish line - not good. I hate that cable cam that Fox/Speed uses for the finishes of these Daytona races. Even if they had held the camera at the line like they did in the Shootout last week it still would have been impossible to distinguish the vehicles from one another and tell who beat who to the line. We'd just see the vehicles come from nowhere, enter the picture for half a second, zoom across the line, and never be seen again. There's just no way to follow the battles to the line when all we can see is a milisecond of a bunch of blurs zooming past the infield cable cam at the finish line.
You can still zoom in just fine on the battle for the win at the line by using a rooftop camera with the vehicles coming at it, and then hold that camera at the line to show the rest of the vehicles racing through the tri-oval and crossing the line.
I really really really hope Fox uses a rooftop camera to show the live finish of the Daytona 500 and not the cable cam.
- February 16, 2008 at 3:47 AM
- pbump said...
JD - No live leaderboards for the truck series (at least that I could find). Only streaming of the radio feed and periodic updates on certain sites. I gave up looking and put my laptop away to watch the race via TV only (old school - haha!).
Thought Mikey did a great job last night and enjoyed the broadcast. It was kind of funny when they couldn't decide whether Gaughan hit Skinner or not. I like those impromptu debates!
I did notice the HD replays would freeze up quite often. That was odd. Other than that, really enjoyed the HD broadcast.
- February 16, 2008 at 9:39 AM

subset: commoncrawl


text:
This Father's Day, we're celebrating one of our favorite on-screen (and real life) fathers: Abraham Quintanilla, Jr.
Selena Quintanilla's papa (played by Edward James Olmos) made us laugh, cry, roll our eyes and shake our heads in disbelief because he reminded us so much of our own Latino dads. Here are five ways your dad is exactly like the dad from Selena:
1. Taught You
1. He taught you everything you know.
Let's be real, we weren't always willing students! But still, our dads patiently taught us everything we know: how to read, how to ride a bike, and how to roll our "r's". They molded us and shaped us into the strong, talented, intelligent Latinas we are today.
At first, little Selena didn't want to learn how to sing Mexican music, but her dad kindly teaches her how wonderful and magical singing in Spanish can be. As we all know, the rest is history...
2. Believed in You
2. He always believed in you.
He always pushed us to better and be better... but only because he knew we were capable of reaching any goal we set for ourselves. When Selena's mama scolds Abraham for pushing the kids too hard, he answers perfectly: "She is special. She's got it. I know it. She's going to make it!"
3. Latino Rant
3. He rants about Latino problems.
We can always count on our papa to set us straight with a good ol' fashioned talk about how tough it is being a Latino sometimes. "We have to be more Mexican than the Mexicans, and more American than the Americans -- both at the same time!" Abraham tells his kids. "It's exhausting."
Admit it: you can practically hear the words coming out of your own dad's mouth!
4. Questions Your Wardrobe
4. He questions your wardrobe choices.
Our dads would never let us go out wearing anything that showed off too much leg, too much cleavage, or too much stomach. Not while we live under his roof! Abraham's reaction to Selena's bedazzled bustier is perfect -- and exactly what our own fathers would have said if we attempted to leave the house in that outfit. "Bustiquela?!" he yells. "Es un bra!"
5. Your Biggest Fan
5. He's your biggest fan!
Best of all, our papa was always our biggest fan. He taught us everything we know, pushed us to achieve our dreams, and always wanted the best for us. Whether we're four-years-old or 40 -- we'll always be daddy's little girl.


text:
Tim Hearden/Capital Press
Capital Press
RED BLUFF, Calif. — Escalating cattle prices pushed receipts at the annual bull sale here above the $1 million mark again this year, even with fewer bulls on the auction block.
Winning bids for the 318 bulls that sauntered through the Don Smith Pavilion totaled $1.038 million — an average of $3,264 per lot. The per-bull average topped last year's $3,237, when 378 bulls generated more than $1.2 million in total sales.
This was the fourth straight year the bull sale tipped the $1 million mark. The top seller was Turlock, Calif.-based Cardey Ranches' champion range-ready Angus bull, which went for $8,700 to Shufelberger Ranch in Redding, Calif.
"The bulls were slightly higher than last year, which was sort of a shock because there were fewer bulls," sale manager Adam Owens said.
The bull market capped five days of showcases and auctions at the 73rd annual Red Bluff Bull and Gelding Sale at the Tehama District Fair grounds. The bidding began with the sixth annual online feeder and replacement heifer sale on Jan. 30, whose more than 150 lots were about three times as many as last year's.
Like many other ranchers, Steve Hall of Winnemucca, Nev., said the drought has prompted him to sell more of his cattle.
"Hay's getting short, so I've got to get them gone," he said as he waited for his lots to come up. "We had some snow earlier, then it turned below zero, so it wasn't like we got anything."
Lots in the online sale went for as much as $275 per hundredweight for weaned steers and $266 per hundredweight for weaned heifers, trampling last year's high prices per hundredweight of $199 and $172, respectively.
Geldings and mules auctioned off Jan. 31 generated $488,300 in combined sales, falling short of last year's $553,200 in combined receipts. The top seller was Fresno, Calif., resident Nancy W. Tingey's 6-year-old buckskin Yellow Texas Star, which went to 3 String Cattle Co., in Wallsburg, Utah for $28,500.
"That's a pretty significant sale," Owens said, adding it'll enhance the Red Bluff auction's reputation. "It's not the highest ever, but it's really close."
The Jan. 31 sale of 20 working cattle dogs brought $66,900. The top seller was Red Bluff breeder Merle Newton's border collie Rex, who sold to Steve Robinson of Columbia, Md., for $10,200.
It's not the first time someone from back East has come to Red Bluff to buy a dog, Owens said.
"We've sold several dogs to New York and Tennessee" buyers, he said. "We've always had interest from across the country."
Red Bluff Bull and Gelding Sale: http://www.redbluffbullsale.com


text:
Trojans, worms and spyware sound like elements straight from a summer blockbuster, but the kind of action/adventure they provide on your PCs, Macs, smartphones and tablets make them more like a horror movie.
By deploying effective endpoint security, you can help prevent attacks and keep your users safe from viruses and other malware, such as spear phishing and advanced persistent threats. Today's state-of-the-art endpoint security has come a long way from its early roots in "antivirus" and has morphed into a complex suite of sophisticated protections against modern threats.
But good protection isn't free; so, how can you save money, while still protecting your computers? Here's how to reduce your investment....
In an ideal world, users would be perfectly security conscious. These mythical users wouldn't:
Sadly, our world is less than ideal. Much, much less: A recent report said that 86 percent of U.S. businesses surveyed had lost sensitive data during the previous year.
User awareness training helps, but it isn't sufficient. That's why your endpoints need securing. Doing so helps prevent your users from accidentally exposing sensitive business information, such as your banking credentials, secret-sauce recipes or future product plans.
Your challenge is to protect your users while minimizing costs: How do you save time and money, while keeping your company safe?
Look for a modern endpoint security solution – not one thrown together from an old antivirus program and a fresh coat of paint.
A start-of-the-art solution does the following:
A modern solution will reduce costs by being integrable, controllable and reliable. That means your operating costs are lower, and you won't lose money from malware infections that only waste IT workers' time and squander end-user productivity.
Purchase cost is, of course, a factor. However, in most analyses of total cost of ownership (TCO), operations and end-user productivity losses dwarf all other costs.
You have to first consider your budget realities, but it's smart to benchmark yourself against what similar companies spend. There are free security solutions, but they don't provide the control or sophistication to minimize your TCO.
Keeping your company safe requires more than a warmed-over, 10-year-old anti-virus product. You need a state-of-the-art endpoint protection solution to safeguard your organization, in addition to user awareness, enforced policies and proper patch management.
The best solutions allow you to sleep soundly, knowing that you've taken the key steps to protect your systems, while keeping costs low.
By Richi Jennings


text:
Army Pvt. Raymond Swingle has graduated from One Station Unit Training at the U.S. Army Infantry School at Fort Benning in Columbus, Ga. The training consisted of basic military training and advanced individual training.
During basic training, the trainee received instruction in drill and ceremonies, military customs and courtesies, map reading, tactics, basic rifle marksmanship, physical fitness, field training, and first aid skills. The recruit developed combat skills and handled various weapons available to the infantry soldier.
If you currently subscribe or have subscribed in the past to the Canyon Courier, then simply find your account number on your mailing label and enter it below.
Click the question mark below to see where your account ID appears on your mailing label.
|ZIP Code:


text:
Even though it's been so hectic for me lately, I just wanna wish you ALL and your families a very Merry Christmas!
Jon and I flew in on Tuesday to Washington to visit my parents and my sisters, our flight was delayed by 2 hours thanks to the snow conditions, but I am just glad we were able to get here because just the day before Alaska Air cancelled numerous flights and there was word that no one would be able to fly in in time for Christmas...so we were a bit worried but glad we made it!
We have been playing in the snow here and there and it's nice to finally be on vacation! I haven't taken a vacation ever since I started working when I was 19. And spending time with my sisters and family has been fun....we don't even sleep here! LOL.
Anyway here are some pics that we've been taking, the BF got me a digital photo frame which was nice since I have a ton of pics, and what's funny is that I got my mom a digital photo frame for Christmas and wanted one for myself! My sister loved her makeup kit from Kohls and the brushes I got her as well as the new kicks from Pastry she wanted, and my other sister Megan really liked her new backpacked that I filled with other goodies that was on her wishlist. My dad really liked the iPod we got him as well and Jon loved the clothes and digital camera I got him- so all in all, I am glad that everyone liked their gifts.
It truly feels like Christmas here...I haven't had a white Christmas since I left Canada when I was 11, so it was nice to sorta re-live childhood memories, especially with my mom's cooking and all the Christmas decorations they have at the house.
I just hope you all are enjoying the holiday and got everything you wanted from Santa!
With the lights on!
Snowed in!
View from my mom's backyard....
From the plane, it was nice and clear skies!
Me and Megan playing in the snow
Snow on my boots!
Christmas decorations...
We are matching!
Megan opening one of her presents...
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Thursday, December 25, 2008
Merry Christmas!
Even though it's been so hectic for me lately, I just wanna wish you ALL and your families a very Merry Christmas!
38 comments
- ting RN said...
cute family pics!!! your house is beautiful!! merry Christmas :)
- December 25, 2008 at 3:20 PM
- ' * : . b | u 3 . : * ' said...
lol its so cute how all of you are going with the same theme of red tops and red lips! Merry Christmas :)
- December 25, 2008 at 4:00 PM
- Askmewhats said...
Nessa, wonderful photos!!! Looks like everyone had a great time!!!! Merry Christmas to you and your family!!!
- December 25, 2008 at 4:01 PM
- Kimberly Tia said...
No wonder you love going home for Christmas!!! What a beautiful home and so warm and inviting to come home to!!!
I'm excited I'm going to Toronto, Canada myself within the next couple of months to visit friends -you gotta school me girl one what I should pack to prepare for the cold ass weather ahead of me!!!
Muahzzzzzz and have wonderful 2009!!!
- December 25, 2008 at 4:14 PM
- iamgrape1119 said...
Merry Xmas Nessa!! Your family looks SOOO adorable!! I hope you had a great one!
- December 25, 2008 at 4:15 PM
- Fabuless Beauty said...
Happy Holidays! You and your family are beautiful!
- December 25, 2008 at 4:27 PM
- senoritabonita said...
Merry Christmas Nessa!
Sounds like you and your fam had a great time. You and your sisters are adorable!!
- December 25, 2008 at 4:36 PM
- mayaari said...
sounds and looks like you're having a great christmas with your fam :)
- December 25, 2008 at 5:34 PM
- Saito Florence said...
Awesome Awesome!This is what I called a real white christmas!!!In singapore you can't feel at all :( very nice photo & I really wish I can be there:)
- December 25, 2008 at 6:32 PM
- SPECiAL x GiRL said...
MERRY CHRiSTMAS! i love your pictures! the house was very nicely decorated : )
- December 25, 2008 at 6:48 PM
- A. Rose said...
you and your sisters are too cute! happy holidays!
- December 25, 2008 at 8:05 PM
- sab said...
Merry Christmas hunny! you and your family look lovely!! :) i'm glad you had a great time! i love the tree!
- December 25, 2008 at 8:07 PM
- xphoebelinax said...
very cute!
im so jealous you had a white christmas! its boiling hot over here!
merry christmas hun! :)
- December 26, 2008 at 12:25 AM
- Nanzy said...
Merry Christmas to you too, here in Hawaii is so warm and I had a very warm Christmas =D You & your sisters are so cute, love the tree & decorations. Anyway, Mele Kalikimaka, Nessa...
- December 26, 2008 at 2:22 AM
- Jenn said...
Merry Christmas Vanessa!! Wonderful pics you have there!! Your parents' house is soo beautiful and homely!!
I've always wanted to experience a white Christmas!! It looks fun! :D
- December 26, 2008 at 3:44 AM
- =- Junista -= said...
Love the house decoration. Merrry Christmas!
- December 26, 2008 at 7:54 AM
- Girl with Curl said...
Merry Christmas! I love white Christmases. Your parent's house is beautiful too.
- December 26, 2008 at 8:27 AM
- Lavinia said...
All i can say is that Christmas tree is wonderful and all the snow makes the whole picture just perfect.I have seen similar view from the plane and i felt like in the north pole
- December 26, 2008 at 8:45 AM
- itsjudytime said...
Welcome home Vanessa!!
- December 26, 2008 at 12:26 PM
- Mac It Pink said...
your home is sooooo pretty!! WOw snow!! Ive only been to the snow once. Im not into snow..i freeze too fast..lol But I am glad you enjoyed yourself!! You and your family are soo adorable!
<3 Penelope
- December 26, 2008 at 2:15 PM
- Sher said...
wow your tree is pretty spectacular!! I think I'm tired of the snow here in Toronto :( too many accidents and people who cant drive, no thanks! merry christmas vanessa!
- December 26, 2008 at 2:40 PM
- Emilita said...
Wow, all so beautiful. Hope you're having as much fun as the pics indicate!
- December 26, 2008 at 4:53 PM
- Vanny said...
Woah snow snow~ I also live in Washington(vancouver area) and for the past week, there was A LOT of snow ^^ Which is rare... ICE AGE IS COMING O_O lol.
Anywho, happi belated xmas :)
p.s your lil sis is so wannabe 20 year old girl =p youngsters always want to appear older and oldies always wanted to appear younger x_x
- December 26, 2008 at 11:00 PM
- Anonymous said...
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!! beautiful pics! WHITE christmas yay!
- December 27, 2008 at 1:00 AM
- xbrookex said...
Your tree/fireplace setup is BEAUTIFUL, so Christmasy I love it!
- December 27, 2008 at 2:32 AM
- Carly said...
I would LOVE for it to snow like that in the UK at Christmas time..never happens :(
Merry Xmas
- December 27, 2008 at 8:49 AM
- Anonymous said...
your little sis looks just like a mini you =)
- December 27, 2008 at 12:43 PM
- Carla L said...
Lovely pictures, Vanessa!
Happy Holidays :0)
PS: it's so hot here in Brazil - I wish I was there ;)
- December 27, 2008 at 7:03 PM
- Phyrra said...
Beautiful photos! Happy Holidays :)
Best wishes for you into the new year!
- December 27, 2008 at 8:07 PM
- アギーちゃん said...
Merry Christmas to you too =)
- December 28, 2008 at 5:14 PM
- MakeupByRenRen said...
awww sis your family is so cute! you had a white christmas, mine was a hot one in orlando, lol...we missed yah!
- December 29, 2008 at 11:14 AM
- Hollie Wood said...
Your pictures turned out amazing! What brand digital camera did you use?? I saw that you had two listed!
- December 29, 2008 at 1:10 PM
- Hollie Wood said...
Your pictures turned out amazing! What brand digital camera did you use?? I saw that you had two listed!
- December 29, 2008 at 1:11 PM
- yummy411 said...
merry christmas vanessa! i hope you have a wonderful new years!
- December 29, 2008 at 2:08 PM
- vtgirl1993 said...
The pictures look wonderful. I hate snow, but it looks gorgeous in a picture. Glad everyone loved their presents. Happy New Year to everyone!
- December 31, 2008 at 8:15 AM
- SimplyShy011 said...
You took amazing photos and your family seems so tightly nit (sp?), :)!
- January 2, 2009 at 1:38 PM
- Anonymous said...
Wow, your house is amazing! I love how your room with the christmas tree looks! and the decorations around the stair railing is such a cute idea! I'm new to blogger but im excited to follow your blog and read up on more useful makeup advices :)
- January 2, 2009 at 6:40 PM
- jeSmakeup said...
wow!!!!!!!!! beautiful pictures! Just so Beaituful!!!!!!!!!!! i want a good camera tooo.. u look good.. u ur whole family n u n ur bf!<333 where is ur mom from? i wcali to snow tooo
- January 7, 2009 at 11:54 PM


text:
A shorts program should allow the directors and cartoonists to try things out, to experiment and make some mistakes that they can learn from. If each crew only gets to do one short, that's a total waste.
You need to keep a crew going for awhile to see if they learn and get better. Instead of having 20 shorts in a year and 20 units, have 2 units who do 10 shorts each. That makes a lot more sense for a number of reasons. Here's two:
1) you can't find 20x 10 per crew people (200) who have lots of talent. It waters down the potential of each unit. Just hire a handful of really good talent and let them make a bunch of cartoons until they get good.
Tex Avery didn't make a hit with the first cartoon he made. Neither did Walt Disney or anyone else. All the most successful people in history needed practice, experience and the opportunity to make some mistakes.
Of course if you have a unit that ONLY makes mistakes and never gets to the point where the audience likes their cartoons, then fire the director and try again.
2) having 10 or 20 crews (too many) means you never develop a studio style or personality. Warner Bros. started with 1 crew, then went to 2, then 3 and then 4. The whole time they were developing a style and attitude that the audience could recognize and anticipate. They were "building a brand".
1) He was greedy.
2) He liked to laugh.
If you could make him laugh, then he was smart enough to know that the audience would laugh too. The more you kept him laughing, the more time off he could take to go to the racetrack and spend all the money you made for him.
But once they found their style, they were on a roll and created money-making character after character.
The talented people who are able to constantly produce new ideas and characters. Today's execs seem to think ideas exist in a vacuum. That an idea is either a "good idea" or a "bad idea", so they go through young cartoonists like crazy trying to find the one who has the latest good idea, rather than developing talent and a whole studio system that allows people to gain experience, work together and try new things on an ongoing basis, the whole time improving their skills without interference from amateurs.
Bugs Bunny is a good idea, right? Then why has no one been able to make a good Bugs Bunny cartoon since the 1950s? Because other people with less experience, talent or time to work together tried to compete with what took years of a long gone logical system to produce.
Ways to waste money that could be better spent directly making cartoons
Execs today spend a fortune worrying about each short - rewriting it 20 times, testing the damn thing, writing storybibles, taking luxurious treks around the world to "creativity summits"having too many discussions about the characters and their motivations - instead of planning the big picture and building strong crews and a studio personality. LA is just stuffed with talent more than capable of doing what Looney Tunes did. So is Toronto and Ottawa. -and Vancouver, as someone just reminded me - the home of the great Carbunkle Studio and many other animators. It's the system that's messing it up.
Creative growth happens naturally if you just set up the system to let it. Like Leon did.
Leon would give each director and crew a year at least to see how they did. If they did well, they stayed on and kept improving. If they made boring pictures, he fired them and replaced them with some eager new director (who had worked his way up the ladder by assisting, animating, writing gags and learning the whole process.) He didn't hire inexperienced kids off the street and put them in charge of his own loyal experienced animators just to kill their loyalty.
Everything about the Looney Tunes system made perfect logical common sense. It was geared for success at the least cost, and it achieved it, both in terms of developing the best talent, and creating the best, most and longest lasting cartoon characters.
So when execs say they want to discover the "next John", they need to understand that I wasn't 20 years old when I made the Ren and Stimpy Show and I had learned a lot of stuff on my own (since there was no supportive studio system in the 80s) and made some mistakes that were also valuable and helped lead to the success of my first self-created show.
In 1987 I got my first shot at directing from Ralph Bakshi. I hired the crew and we made the first real cartoons in 25 years. (meaning actually created by cartoonists and using the medium)
I adapted my layout system to the show and added new production systems that combined the realities of TV budgets with the creatively more efficient classic Looney Tunes Unit system.
The show was innovative and a cult hit but not mainstream and popular enough for CBS to keep on, so I scratched my head and sat down and figured out why not.
I didn't consult any focus groups; I just used common sense and reasoned it out. Some cartoons got bigger laughs than others, and it seemed to me that they were the ones that had the most personality and structure.
I swore if I ever got to make my own cartoons, I would concentrate more on the characters, which is what I like the most anyway.
So when Ren and Stimpy sold, I already had a lot of experience, had made creative mistakes and learned from them. It wasn't merely talent that made the show work. It was experience guided by logic. And weird ideas, of course...but controlled weird ideas. And PRACTICE!
I also had a team of great artists that I already had worked with. We knew each others' styles and strengths, so I took advantage of that on Ren and Stimpy.
The show was a smash hit, put Nickelodeon on the map, bought their studio and put cable cartoons in business. All this with no marketing, no focus testing and only 1 executive. A very good deal for Nickelodeon and it killed Saturday Morning Cartoons (which were already pretty unhealthy). And then of course Nick didn't give it a chance to make further money and cut it short. God how they hate to make money the easy way. Now they have been copying it for years using theories, market research, voodoo, soccer Moms and clones and the "formula" gets watered down and the clones get replaced by new clones after every few months. Then they wonder "where is the next Ren and Stimpy?"
They could have had 20 more by now if they just let it happen while we were on a roll. Instead they waited 10 years and spent a hundred times the cost until Sponge Bob snuck in through the back door under the radar. Now of course they want the next Sponge Bob "but not so weird". So why don't they get the Sponge Bob crew to do it?
Because that would make too much common sense. Get other people with no or little experience to imitate it superficially, then apply market voodoo to it and make the same mistakes over and over again and watch the quality and originality get filtered out year by year till we end up with intensely simplified formulaic copies of what was once alive, exciting and evolving.
Of course now the question in everybody's mind is probably:


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On 1-9-1989 Daniel Sturridge (nickname: Daniel Andre Sturridge) was born in Birmingham, England. The football player is in 2018 famous for Liverpool FC & became the only player ever to score in the FA Youth Cup, FA Cup and Premier League in the same season.. Daniel Sturridge's starsign is Virgo and he is now 28 years of age.
- 10 incredible celebrity houses & cars
Type of Car: Ferrari
Who is Daniel Sturridge dating in 2018?
Will the relationship of British football player Daniel Sturridge and current Girlfriend, Jourdan Dunn survive 2018? Comment below!
Must read: 2017's Hottest celebrity wives and girlfriends!
Does Daniel Sturridge have official Social Media profiles?
Discuss the latest gossip and rumors (Plastic surgery, Scandals etc) and post the latest photo's and video's of Daniel Sturridge here:
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Facts & TriviaWhere does Daniel Sturridge live? And how much money does Daniel Sturridge earn?
|Birth date
|Religion - believes in god?
|He lives in an unknown fashion in Birmingham, England
|Estimated Net worth
|17 million Dollar New: Top 15 highest paid footballers of 2017!Must-read: Top 20 richest actors of 2017!
|Yearly Salary
|N/A Salaries of TV's best paid actors
|Product Endorsements
|Nike&EA Sports
Possessions, fortune & earningsCurrently no houses listed on Taddlr
Type of Car: Ferrari
Love, Family & Friends
|Relationship status
|Dating (Since 2013)
|Current Girlfriend of Daniel Sturridge
|Jourdan Dunn
|Ex-girlfriends or ex-wives
|Has any kids?
Must read: 2017's Hottest celebrity wives and girlfriends!
Body Measurements & HealthThis friendly football player originating from Birmingham, England has a athletic body & oval face type.
|188 cm
|Hair color
|Eye color
|Dark Brown
|76 kilo
|Does Daniel Sturridge smoke?
|No, never Read: 20 Celebrities you did not expect to be smokers
|Does Daniel Sturridge have a tattoo?
|No- Read: 20 Craziest celeb tattoos!
Gossip, Rumors & Social MediaOfficial websites/fansites: www.danielsturridge.net
Does Daniel Sturridge have official Social Media profiles?
Discuss the latest gossip and rumors (Plastic surgery, Scandals etc) and post the latest photo's and video's of Daniel Sturridge here:
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On Taddlr you can find the 2018 girlfriend, wife, lover or kids of celebs. Also info about the ancestry and origin, age, height, weight, hair style, diet, fitness routine & tips or whether he smokes (cigarettes or weed) or has a tattoo. And read about his net worth, salary, house and car. Has a couple broken up or gotten a divorce? Or does someone earn more salary this year? Sometimes we are forced to speculate. (July 11, 2016)


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The Australian opened with strength at Saquarema in a do-or-die heat against injury replacement Bino Lopes.
Owen Wright's Winning 8.50 in Rio Round Two
Up Next
Marco Mignot and Neis Lartigue come out victorious from a tricky finals day at the Junior Pro Sopela.
More Videos
Beautiful conditions with sunny skies and high-performance waves in the 3-4 foot range greeted the competitors on Saturday.
Marco Mignot and Neis Lartigue come out victorious from a tricky finals day at the Junior Pro Sopela.
The Junior Pro Sopela goes through another massive day of competition and multiple upsets to only keep eight men and eight women for finals
Robo may only be ranked No. 56 on the QS but he's leading the pack when things get heavy, which he proved this week at the Rip Curl Cup.
On the biggest swell to hit Indonesia in years, Jack Robinson won the 2018 Rip Curl Cup at Padang Padang in treacherous tubes.
The Junior Pro Sopela completes three rounds on Day 1 and sends home 80 surfers to start with.
Hurley Surf Club and Rob Machado came to the Corona Bali Protected to support the local kids in Bali through surf.
An event that continues to progress women's action sports is back at Oceanside July 27 - 29 and features another stacked lineup.
The Junior Pro Sopela comes back for a seventh edition to help decide the 2018 European title and qualifiers for the World Junior
Kanoa Igarashi, Leo Fioravanti and Johanne Defay celebrate the France win.
Padang Padang pumps out the goods as eight surfers advance to finals day.
Wear nature's best in our latest range of Merino wool lifestyle apparel.
Stephanie Gilmore, Lakey Peterson and Tatiana Weston-Webb dominate Finals day in South Africa.
After reclaiming the No. 1 spot on the rankings, her advice to young surfers? "Have fun, because this is a hell of a life."
Today Stephanie Gilmore won the Corona Open J-Bay for the first time in her career. The WSL desk crew breaks it down.
The surfer from Kauai takes lay days to a whole new level by diving off the world's highest bungee jump in South Africa.
In July the WSL will return to the island of Bali when the Rip Curl Cup kicks off at the storied lefthand barrels of Padang Padang.
Final Day(Day3) Highlights - MURASAKI SHONAN OPEN 2018 supported by NISSAN CARAVAN
We can't get enough of this place--can you? Featuring tennis great Guga Kuerten and Tatiana Weston-Webb. Subtitled.
Day 2 Highlights :: MURASAKI SHONAN OPEN 2018 supported by NISSAN CARAVAN
Opening day of the men's QS 1,500 kicked off in great fashion.
Midway through the season, with two wins and a Final under her belt, the Californian has a good crack at making her dreams come true.
Jack Entwistle and Georgia Young earned one of the region's most prestigious trophies at the 21st annual Whalebone Longboard Classic.
Coco Ho, Filipe Toledo, Keely Andrew and Tatiana Weston-Webb spend time outside of the jersey. Next call is Wednesday, July 11th.
Finalists decided in smaller, but still super clean and fun surf at Cottesloe, Perth.


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Police log for April 29
Police log
April 29
1:16 a.m. Arrest and citation on West Wilson Avenue of unlicensed driver.
2:09 a.m. Residential-burglary report on South County Line Road.
3:05 a.m. Disturbance – neighbors on South Silver Ridge Street.
3:57 a.m. Follow up on South County Line Road.
7:01 a.m. Petty-theft report on South Silver Ridge Street.
7:43 a.m. Vandalism report on South Gold Canyon Street.
7:58 a.m. Runaway/out-of-control juvenile on West Wasp Avenue.
10:37 a.m. Found-child report on North Fairview Street.
11:03 a.m. Breaking/removing-vehicle-parts report on West Upjohn Avenue.
11:06 a.m. Violation-of-court-order-to-prevent-domestic-violence report on East California Avenue.
11:29 a.m. Harassment report on North China Lake Boulevard.
11:30 a.m. Subpoena service on North Alvord Street.
11:41 a.m. Supplemental report on West California Avenue.
11:42 a.m. Subpoena service on North Sanders Street.
11:48 a.m. Subpoena service on North Fairview Street.
11:58 a.m. Subpoena service on North Florence Street.
1:32 p.m. Vandalism report at Burroughs High School.
1:50 p.m. Subpoena service on East Monte Vista Avenue.
2:11 p.m. Vandalism report on West Haloid Avenue.
2:16 p.m. Follow up on East Burns Avenue.
2:33 p.m. Subpoena service on North Randall Street
3:13 p.m. Arrest on South Helena Street for land trespass.
3:50 p.m. Cruelty-to-animals report on East Ridgecrest Boulevard.
6:01 p.m. Counseled runaway/out-of-control juvenile on North Gold Canyon Drive.
6:42 p.m. Arrest and citation South Warner Street and West Church Avenue for possession of controlled-substance paraphernalia.
7:35 p.m. Arrest and citation on North Robalo Street of unlicensed driver.
7:41 p.m. Found-property report on West Haloid Avenue.
7:59 p.m. Follow up and report on North Sahara Drive.
8:30 p.m. Battery report on North China Lake Boulevard.
10:18 p.m. Warrant arrests on West Robertson Avenue for possession of controlled-substance paraphernalia and petty theft with a prior conviction.
Officers made 21 traffic and bicycle stops.


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Application delivery specialist Serena Software is usually vocal on the subject of software rollout out inside what the firm terms an "orchestrated" IT environment. The firm's chief evangelist Kevin Parker states that not all software releases are created equal so it is a false premise to have standardized processes, controls, and deliverables for all releases.
Parker contends that release teams want to be able to vary the controls imposed during the release process to meet individual project needs at different stages in the project lifecycle.
"What this means is allowing developers to drive the release cadence in some situations and to allow operations to drive at other times. [We advocate] a collaborative approach amongst DEV, DEVOPS, and OPS to determine where the 'trust line' is along the release continuum," said Parker.
In Serena's view, fast-paced projects need continuous delivery during test and integration and should be "as repeatable as possible" and have minimal controls to maximize velocity. This will mean that automation of every step of the process is essential to maximize speed and minimize error.
According to Parker, automated instantiation of test environments (physical, virtual, and cloud) and automated deployment to these environments is essential to maintain that delivery cadence.
"But that does not mean throwing out the pre-production verification, controls, and reporting. Once the trust line has been set this becomes the point at which appropriately defined, service-transition processes are invoked. Once again though, we believe that, on a project-by-project basis, controls should be set accordingly. Critical to this is a central IT-calendar so there is clear understanding of which projects cross the trust-line and when, what their current trajectory is," said Parker.
"Our goal here is to liberate the DEV teams so that continuous delivery is no more complex or involved than using the version management system. We want to facilitate the agility of the team to meet the project's profile while ensuring the organization governance is complied with but not in the way," he added.


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I want to point out a series of daily blogging prompts entitled Fearless Females created by Lisa Alzo of The Accidental Genealogist blog in honor of Women's History Month which starts today, 1 March 2010.
* March 8 — Did one of your female ancestors leave a diary, journal, or collection of letters? Share an entry or excerpt.
Actually I have two.
Ann C. Whitall, the Heroine of Read Bank, the Battle of Gloucester
From Tennessee to California in 1849. Letters of the Reeve Family of Medford, New Jersey.
In light of the most recent "Who Do You Think You Are" episode, with Sarah Jessica Parker, and her Gold Rush Story, I'll put a short quote from one of these letters.
Sacrament City, California
December 30th 1849
(Letter written by Rebecca Reeve and addressed to her cousin, Mary W. Ely, Medford Burlington County, New Jersey.
Dear Cousin
With what feeling of happiness could I adress a letter to thee now, my first from this pleasant City, this City grown up as if by magic, this the end of our long and tedious journey. This our resting place and I expect future home, . If we could number three, but Ah my Cousin, brother R and myself only lived to reach the end of our journey. I have to nerve myself to look back and relate to thee the horrible death of our dear brother Clayton. I wish the task were not mine. I seem to almost feel the terrible arrows of the savage Indians pierceing me as they pierced our deat brother. He was indeed killed by them, killed by some of the most fierce and Savage tribe in North America. The Clamath Indians, of Clamath lake, Oregon. over at their hunting and fishing grounds upon Pit river, upper Californina, where the emigration passed.
<end snip>
These letters were published in The Journal of the Rutgers University Library, Volune XI, Number 2, June 1948.