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So we woke up in Cuzco in a creaky, loud hotel, which we escaped immediately. Rob worked his usual hotel magic, and we ended up in a room with a balcony, high on a neighborhood hillside overlooking the town. From our perch, which cost us some breathlessness every time we walked back up to our room, we could see the red-tiled roofs stretching all the way across the valley...it almost appeared that I could walk on the red tiles all the way down to the square.
The town and area around Cuzco was the original center of the Inca people, and there are still original walls in town built during that time period. Perhaps a short (and I do mean short) history of the Incas could be in order. At the beginning of the 1400's, give or take a few years, the Incas were just a small tribe living around Cuzco, Peru. After accidentally winning their first battle against another tribe, they rapidly began expanding, and within a hundred years, had extended their reach all the way up the Andes mountains stretching between modern-day Chile and Colombia. Perhaps they fatally overextended themselves, and perhaps they had the bad luck of encountering Spanish guns and diseases at just the wrong time, but by the mid-1500's they were already on the decline. Their very popularity and fame seems to be partially due to the fact that when they conquered other nations, they subdued their oral histories, and took credit for their achievements; making it hard for historians to really figure out who was who.
The town of Cuzco was nice enough to walk around in, although it's a tourist mecca, and higher-than-normal prices reflect such hordes of foreigners. Just the entry fees for visiting the various Inca ruins, Machu Picchu, and mandatory train ride to the ruins, were probably enough to eat half of anyone's vacation budget, regardless of how long said vacation might be. We mortgaged our backpacks (just kidding) to pay the fees, and wondered whether it would be worth it to see this particular "New 7 Wonders of the World".
May 29 - Sacsayhuaman Ruins
Our first taste of the Inca ruins were just above the town of Cuzco. We took a bus to the top of the hill, got off, and walked back into town. Along the way are four ruins sites: Tambomachay, Puca Pucara, Q'enqo, and Sacsayhuaman (pronounced "sexy woman"). The first three weren't very large, but included still-functioning fountains, caves carved through solid rock, and great views of the surrounding valleys. Sacsayhuaman, on the other hand, was huge, and what we saw was just a fraction of the original structure. The Spanish and subsequent residents had robbed quite a bit of the stonework from the site. Plenty is left, however, and it was quite impressive to see all the stones fit tightly against each other. The largest stone in the zig-zag levels of fortifications weighs at least over 100 tons, and I have no idea how they moved it into place.
May 31 - Pisac market and the Sacred Valley
We happily left our large backpacks in the hotel storage room for a few days, and set off very early to visit more sites left by the Incans. Carrying just a daypack and a change of clothes, we caught a bus into the Sacred Valley, which is where I would say most of the major Inca ruins are located. Our first stop was in Pisac, where the huge Sunday market was just getting going. While I was wandering around drooling over the tourist trinkets, Rob found a new friend and got a tour of his house, met the family, and saw his herd of Guinea Pigs (sorry, kids, roast Guinea Pig is considered a delicacy here).
To save ourselves the steep walk up to the ruins above town, we cheated and took a taxi. The Sacred Valley, at 10,000 feet elevation, is still no joke in terms of walking up hills, and instead we walked through the ruins and then back down into town, and even coming downhill it was quite steep. These ruins are where we saw the first major evidence of the extensive terraces done by the Incas...unlike many other ancient cultures, they seemed to have little interest in massive buildings or pyramids, instead focusing on agriculture and water movement. Building some of these steep terraces must have been just as much work as a pyramid, though, considering the stonework is so tight that it doesn't need mortar, and a knife blade can't fit through the cracks between stones.
June 1 - Ollantaytambo Festival and Inca Ruins
Our afternoon arrival in Ollantaytambo, also in the Sacred Valley, just happened to coincide with the Festival of Pentecost, and the whole town was involved, it seemed, with dances, parades, bullfights, and a lot of beer-drinking. Rob went to the bullfight, which was more of a parody than a real fight, but it was the town itself that was the most fascinating. On many of the streets there were sunken waterways and canals, and the town walls occasionally had the authentic look of ancient Inca stonework. We read in our guidebook that this town has been continually lived-in since the Inca days, and many of the current inhabitants are still direct Inca descendants.
The next morning we climbed the Inca ruins of Ollantaytambo, on hillsides dominating both sides of the town, seeing more terraces and neat stonework, including a few walls that were abandoned and never finished. From the ruins, we could hear and see a few of small bands and costumed groups wandering around town. Occasionally they would stop playing and all stuff themselves into a house somehow, before emerging again later to continue their mini-parades. We passed a few as we descended back into town. There didn't seem to be any spectators, but it was completely possible that everyone in town was already costumed and marching around.
As we got to the church, the first group came up to it and went in. One of the the participants reported to us that 15 bands were somewhere around town, and all of them would be gathering in the church soon. Sure enough, we could hear approaching music, and they started pouring in. Each unique group consisted of about 8 band members and 20 costumed folks, and the costumes really defied description. Most of them seemed to value loud, bright colors and sparkly decorations; with devil masks, long-nosed pig masks, and sequined, rainbow-striped pants being our personal favorites. A few groups actually were dressed as cowboys, Spaniards, and other more normal costumes. They all crammed into the small church for at least an hour, and between short sermons appeared to be having band-playing competitions. We wanted to stay and watch them come out again, but our train ride to Machu Picchu was leaving soon from the station.
June 2 - Machu Picchu
Except for those hardy souls who elect to make the climb all the way up to the ruins, everyone else (including us) takes a bus up the windy, zig-zag dead-end road up to the ruins. Thousands of people come here each day, but somehow the places is big enough to somehow swallow them all and leave plenty of space left to breathe. We spent some time wandering around the ruins, and often I turned a corner or found an overlook where absolutely no one was in sight.
We were lucky to have beautiful weather for our visit, and even on the mountain overlook it was sunny, warm, and not windy, so we had great views of snowy Andean peaks all around us. And the ruins from this angle were still incredibly huge, although the people were ant-sized. On the other side, we could see the ancient (and now very popular) Inca trail winding down to the ruins...this is where the trekkers emerge into the ruins after days of winding their way over high mountain passes. What more can I say? Machu Picchu is amazing, and you`ll have to see it for yourself someday, if possible.
June 4 - Lima
The flight out of Cuzco to Lima was pretty amazing...even at our cruising altitude for the one hour flight, we were still only slightly higher than some of the Andean peaks, and we could see over the snowy summits and all the way down into the Amazon. As we descended into Lima, the normal coastal fog enveloped us, and for the first time in weeks we lost the sunlight and felt damp, cloudy weather.
Perhaps that colored our opinion of Lima, or perhaps the city is really as run-down, grey, and unappealing as it looked to us from the window of our taxi. There is no central bus station in Lima; instead there are perhaps a hundred small companies scattered around through the city, each with their own buses, timetables, prices, destinations, and levels of comfort. We directed the taxi to one of the bigger ones mentioned in the guidebook, and found it almost deserted with one lonely guy manning the ticket booth. He didn´t have anything leaving for our destination until late that evening, but sent us down the street to another company with a bus leaving almost immediately.
There were quite a few characters hanging around the next station, including one overly friendly guy that wanted our stateside address and telephone number for whatever reason, and wouldn`t believe that we actually didn`t have a phone number or a house at the moment. The bus driver insisted that we board the bus immediately once we bought tickets, although it wasn`t supposed to leave for another 1/2 hour. He carefully went around writing everyone`s full name on his clipboard and making sure they sat in their assigned seats...I`m sure I threw him for a loop by moving across the aisle from Rob to get more leg room. The bus was a dilapidated old relic, with broken seats and no bathroom, but that was no surprise, really.
It was an nine hour trip up into the mountains to Huaraz, and the bus stopped literally only one time for a lunch and bathroom break, so we were glad that we had brought a few snacks, and hadn`t had much to drink. As we drove out of the bus station, a security guard came on to make sure that we were all wearing our seat-belts (Seat-belts!! In a bus! In Peru!), and I reluctantly put mine on, only to take it off again as soon as the guard got off. The lady across the aisle gave me a disapproving look. Another bus station employee got on with a video camera and made sure he got a glimpse of everyone`s face in the video, for what purpose I have absolutely no idea.
Once out of the bus station, a man immediately got up and started speaking for a while, I didn`t catch much of it, and most of the other passengers appeared to be napping as well. At the end of his speech, or perhaps sermon, he handed out something to all the passengers (except me, maybe because I was a foreigner, or looked perhaps disinterested). Whatever it was, was for sale, but no one was buying, so he collected them all back up again. When he sat down, a woman got up and started in on something else. She gave all the passengers (again, except me) samples of her product, which made the whole bus smell like Vick`s Vapor Rub for a while, but I don`t think she sold many (or any) of her little packets, either.
The Panamerican Highway runs along the coast of Peru, almost all the way from Ecuador to Bolivia. We spent our first couple of hours heading north on this road. It is a literal desert almost all the way along the coast, as not much rain makes it over the Andes from the Amazon. For a while along the highway, out my window I could see nothing but an extremely steep, huge sand dune, which threatened to engulf the road at times. On the other side, the crashing ocean was also almost along the road. There was nothing growing at all.
We turned inland and started climbing, and by the second half of the trip the bus was crowded, with every seat filled up. Even worse, we were forced to watch three crappy Steven Seagal movies in a row, dubbed over into bad Spanish. I fervently started hoping we would arrive before the next person was shot in whatever movie we were watching, but of course that didn`t happen....then I started hoping that I wouldn`t have many more awful bus rides before the end of this journey, but that`s unlikely as well.
After driving through so much desolate nothing, it was an absolute shock to drive into Huaraz and find it a functioning, lively city. Even in the late evening the streets were crowded and the shops were open, and it seemed like a good base where we could once again figure out where we had landed ourselves this time....!
June 5 - 20 - Huaraz
Settling into Huaraz and finding everything we needed to be comfortable made our next decision easier. I had calculated that it would take another 5 days of buses to make our way up to Colombia for the final flight, and with our time remaining we would be traveling more than stopping. Neither of us liked the thought of that, so we have radically changed our plans, and we are now going to fly from Lima, Peru, straight into Colombia. Ecuador will have to wait for another year.
Huaraz is up in the middle of a very beautiful, and high, section of the Andes. To make a comparison, in North America there are only 3 peaks higher than 19,000 feet, and in Europe there are none. But in the mountains surrounding the Huaraz valley, there are 50, yes fifty, peaks over 19,000 feet, with the highest topping out at 22,205 feet! The Cordillera Negra (Black) mountain range on the ocean side blocks the warm winds off the water, which means that in the Cordillera Blanca (White) range to the East, there are many permanent glaciers above 16,000 feet, making for striking scenery and great photos. Just from our 3rd floor hotel room we could see quite a few peaks, with more all around town.
Although the cost of traveling in Peru is slightly higher than it was in Bolivia, the best deal around is still the set menu that most restaurants serve at lunch. It usually includes a soup, salad, rice and some sort of meat, and costs less than $2. This almost rivals the low prices in India, although taste (or lack of it), can be a factor here. I wouldn`t call South American food very interesting...at most I can assure you that it is very filling. Broiled chicken restaurants are very popular in Huaraz. Literally all they serve is chicken with french fries, and they do a roaring business. Soft drinks are usually served room temperature, and normally the only choice is Coke or Inka Cola, which is a really, really sweet version of lemon-lime. The oddity is that there is actually Diet Inka Cola, since diet drinks are hard to find in most of the world. But, be careful when opening the sugarless version...the bottles fizz over radially when they are twisted open, even if they have been sitting sedately on a grocery shelf for weeks. I entertained my bus-mates the first time I drank one by spilling fizzy yellow liquid everywhere.
Most of the trekking and hiking around the area is done in the Cordillera Blanca range that runs north of Huaraz. Several smaller towns, including Carhuaz, Yungay, and Caraz are located up the valley, and gravel roads branch out from them and lead up into the mountains. Back in 1970 there was a massive earthquake in Peru, which measured 8.0 on the Richter scale, causing homes and buildings to crumble like toothpicks. Huaraz was almost totally destroyed and rebuilt, and other towns fared poorly as well. But Yungay really got the worst of it, as a huge chunk of glacier broke off the side of towering Huazcaran, and within 3 minutes of the quake, 80 million cubic meters of ice, mud and rocks reached the town. Almost all of the town`s 25,000 inhabitants were buried alive, while a few managed to reach the high point of the cemetery stay above the destruction. Today, the whole area of the former town has been declared a national cemetery, and a new town of the same name has been rebuilt just a few kilometers away.
June 10 - 13 - Santa Cruz Trek
The extra time in Peru gave me the chance to convince Rob to do what might be considered the best hike in South America...although that`s debatable, of course, and I wanted to decide for myself. A rental outfit in Huaraz set us up with a lightweight tent, sleeping bags, sleeping mats, and a camp stove. The grocery store in town was just big enough for us to find enough snacks and easy-to-cook meals, and we set off up the valley after leaving all our extra stuff in storage.
It took a couple of hours on the bus to get to Caraz, but the views of the mountains from the road were already amazing. We spent the night in Caraz, and the next morning found a shared taxi to take us up to the trail-head, which was another two hours up a really bumpy road. Our overloaded car (7 people and luggage are not supposed to fit in a 5-passenger car) hit bottom on a few ruts, and my seat (half on Rob`s lap and half jammed into the gear stick) wasn`t very comfortable. The road climbed a long way, and then once back on our own two feet and lugging heavy backpacks, we climbed even more. In fact, we climbed the entire first day of the hike, up into this narrow, deep valley next to a rushing river. The weather was warm and sunny, and aside from a few pesky horseflies, it was a beautiful day of hiking. Unfortunately, the valley was deep enough that our views of the snowy peaks all around us were obliterated. It took most of an afternoon of climbing before any snow was visible, and then it was still just now and then. But perhaps that is part of the charm of the Santa Cruz trek...the farther along we got, the more amazing the views became, and the more we wanted to keep going to see what else was up the trail.
There were a few other people actually lugging heavy back-packs with all their gear, but we also met a few groups of people that were carrying only a small day-pack and invariably walking faster than we were. We wondered how it was possible to be so far out here with no gear, but then when the first loaded donkey train came by us, all our questions were answered. The donkeys were moving fast, even loaded down with more gear than I could ever carry, and their handlers were almost running to keep up with them, uphill and down. Yet the donkeys wore no harness or halter, and seemed to know just where they were going. We always got out of their way, and Rob coined the phrase ¨Where`s YOUR donkey?¨ in the same tone that Joey on the TV show Friends would ask ¨How YOU doing?¨.
Our first campsite was named Llama Corral, and although we saw cattle, horses, donkeys, and chickens running around, there seemed to be no llamas. The donkeys roamed around loose, and a few came over to peer into our cook-pot as if it might contain a nice bowl of oats just for them. Our theory of packing was that we should eat all the heavy stuff first so that our backpacks would get lighter, faster. That never noticeably worked until the last day, as most of the time while hiking, we were craving liquids and soups, not dry cookies. Eating a Ramen noodle soup doesn`t remove as much weight, as say, a package of Oreos. There was only a tiny hut next to the campground, where a family sold a few soft drinks and ostensibly cared for the non-existent llamas, but that was the last sign of civilization that we would see until the end of our trek. Although this is supposed to be the most popular trek in Peru, we still saw amazingly few people going either direction, perhaps less than 40 over the whole 3 days.
On the second day we again climbed the entire day, into a wide valley alongside a couple of blue lakes. A few more peaks were visible, and the glaciers were brilliant blue cracks against the sky. Near the end of the day, we climbed a very steep switchback to get a view of the Alpamayo, called by some the most beautiful mountain in the world. I think they were referring to north face of the mountain, which wasn`t visible from our point of view, but the truth as we saw it, was that all the mountains around us were beautiful. We had never seen so many jagged, glaciered peaks just begging to be photographed. As we came around the corner to our second campsite, we drew in a collective breath and again scrambled for the camera. Seemingly near enough to touch was the mountain we had been chasing since it came into view the night before, and finally we could see the layers of snow waiting to fall into the lake. Sure enough, as we watched, the warm afternoon sun cracked a large avalanche of snow of the steep side of the Nevado Taulliraju, and the crack of it reached our ears like a clap of thunder.
We pitched our tent under clear skies in the middle of a rocky pasture, surrounded by views of three glaciers basking in the pink of the setting sun. Although we are geographically close to the equator here, we were also nearing the shortest day of the year in the southern hemisphere, and these elements combined to give us about 12 hours of darkness each night, which can get pretty long if you have to spend it in a tent. We slept well the first night, but as I lay sleepless in the darkness on the second, I heard the unbelievable sound of raindrops starting to hit the tent flap. Sure enough, a glance outside showed a bank of fog approaching, although the sky had been clear at dusk. We stuffed our packs at our feet, prayed that our rented tent was actually waterproof, and tried not to let anything touch the edges of the tent fabric. I didn`t get much sleep that night, and it drizzled almost all night, at times windy and threatening to crumple the whole tent into a soggy mess.
By morning it was over, and blue skies were peeking out at dawn...but our down sleeping bags were quite damp, and the tent was soaked. Luckily it was breezy still, and we managed to dry it while we cooked breakfast. Meanwhile we were awarded amazing glimpses of the glaciers through the rolling fog. We started our third day of hiking, and we were still climbing; the glacier that had looked so close still zapped a few more hours of switchbacks out of our legs. We eventually reached the bright green lake and kept climbing to a notch in the pass at Punta Union, reaching 15,695 feet of elevation under our own steam. It was chilly at the pass, but once on the other side, it was all downhill for a long way. In fact, we dropped almost 3,000 feet by the time we reached our third campsite.
Our last morning was a lot more downhill, passing through pastures and red-barked quenua trees and more views of the Nevado Taulliraju, which somehow had just the right angle to be visible from both valleys. After a couple of hours we came to a road-less village that could only be reached by hiking there. Quite a few kids and herds of sheep passed us going uphill to the pastures. The people were friendly enough, but almost every single kid asked us for candy, and a few boys got mad and threw rocks when we didn`t oblige them. I guess the village does see plenty of hikers come through with leftover food, but to me it was just begging, and brought on by earlier hikers setting a bad example. Rob enjoyed his chance to see the village life, and took quite a few pictures of snotty kids, as evidenced in the photos. Once through the village and across the river, it was a very steep climb up to the road, made worse by our already tired legs.
So at noon we found ourselves sitting on the side of a dusty gravel road waiting for a ride back to civilization. After an hour we moved into the shade, and still not one vehicle had gone by us. A couple of locals and their kid were waiting with us, so we didn`t feel too lost. When a van finally came around the corner and shouted the name of our town, we were quite relieved, even if it was going in the wrong direction. Somehow we found ourselves clambering in and driving the wrong way...I guess we honestly thought that the road ended just around the corner and we were just turning around, and we also were glad to have gotten seats, which is never a given in Peru. The locals had gotten in with us, maybe they had the same thought about getting seats.
But a half an hour later, we were still going in the wrong direction, and having second thoughts about our decision. The scenery was really dramatic, and our cliff-hugging road gave great views over the populated valley below us. We dropped down into the town and stopped in the main square. After a moment of confusion, the driver told us that our vehicle wouldn`t be going back in our direction but the one behind us would. There already seemed to be too many people hovering around the mini-van, but he assured us that there were still seats. Our bags were lifted onto the roof, and sure enough there was a free seat in the very back, which is the place that everyone hates to sit, as we`ve found out before. More people climbed in after us, and sure enough, we were forced to fit 4 people into a seat meant for three. We crammed in by all turning our shoulders sideways and getting really cozy with our seatmates. People kept on getting in the van until there was absolutely no space left, and at least three more climbed onto the roof to ride with the already considerable pile of baggage.
So on the ride back to where we started, we amused ourselves by trying to count how many people could fit into the vehicle, which was hard to do because we couldn`t see through the mass of bodies to the front seat. Keep in mind that this is a 14 passenger van...after a few people got off just up the road, we came up with a count of 31, including just kids and the guys on the roof. The amusement didn`t last long when we realized that we were driving on dangerous mountain roads with no shocks and double the number of preferred passengers. Even worse, our dusty window wouldn`t open, and the locals, still wearing sweaters and hats, seemed to think that this was their chance to enjoy a sauna, and left their windows purposely closed.
By the time we had gotten back to where we started, it was at least 90 degrees inside the van, and there were still 21 people crammed into it, although now everyone had somehow found a seat, and we settled in for a long ride down. We hadn`t showered for 4 days, and I was sweating and cursing the closed windows. This drive was mentioned as behind a highlight of the whole circuit, but the windows actually fogged up from the inside from the mass of people, and the outside was quite dusty, so I guess our guidebook author had found a nicer way to enjoy his trip back.
Before we could go down, we had to go up and over a 15,000 foot pass, and the sparse air inside the vehicle got even thinner. The views, when I could catch a glimpse of them, were quite full of glaciers and lofty peaks, and if our legs had hurt any less, we probably would have demanded to be let out so we could continue walking. Once over the pass, the valley of Llanganuco came into view with its jade green lakes, and an endless series of switchbacks down to them on our bumpy gravel road. Towering over the valley to the south was the massive bulk of Huascaran, at 22,205 feet the highest peak in Peru and anywhere in the tropics. The day was kind of cloudy and foggy, but occasional breaks of sun and blue sky gave us beautiful glimpses of the peaks and glaciers. The valley was clear, and the drop from the pass all the way down to the main valley was at least 7000 feet, yet the peak of Huascaran was still 7000 feet above the pass.
June 16 - Mountain Bike to Laguna Llaca
When I woke up this morning, I was supposed to be headed out to do some rock climbing outside of town, but one of the guys in the group got bit on the ankle and couldn`t walk from the swelling, and they decided to wait another day. So I huddled with the owner of the travel agency to figure out what else I could do on such late notice. He suggested renting a mountain bike and riding some of the hills outside of town, which sounded like a great idea. I picked a route where I would have some uphills, and tied my bike to the top of a shared taxi for a ride partway up the mountain. I soon found myself pedaling on deserted gravel roads with a few houses scattered around. The first couple of hours were all uphill, although pretty gentle and the road wasn`t too bumpy. When I got into the canyon, the uphill turned into a downhill and it would have been another couple of hours freewheeling back into town. But I wasn`t quite ready to quit yet, and felt I could use I little more exercise.
So I looked at my map and found a turnoff nearby, with a road leading to a lake another 12 kilometers up the hill. I turned off onto the new road, and it immediately became much more rocky, and it seemed impossible that a normal car could navigate such a path. The bike handled it ok, although it was a lot of work going up hill on such terrain. I never really considered going all the way to the lake, I just kept saying to myself, let`s see what`s around the next corner. At the halfway point was a gate guard who checked my ticket, and told me it was still all uphill to the lake. By then the elevation was getting quite high, and for a ways I found myself pushing my bike up the hill and breathing quite dramatically. Unfortunately, Lake Llaca was not easy to get to, it was tucked up into the very corner of a steep valley surrounded by glaciers, but once I had gotten within a few kilometers of it I figured I might as well go all the way. I walked and pushed my bike the last couple of miles, I think, dreaming of the moment when I would turn around and feel the wind in my face on my way back downhill. A bunch of soldiers were camping at the lake, which really was spectacular even in the afternoon shade, and they said that the elevation was about 15,500, higher than we had walked on the Santa Cruz Trek. No wonder my lungs were hurting!
Going back downhill was a joy, and for two hours I shook every muscle in my body while descending on the terrible road and also on the slightly smoother gravel into town. The shocks on the bike helped a bit, and I actually passed a van load full of people on the road, as they all stuck their heads out of the windows to watch me go by. But there was almost no traffic on the roads, and at one point I had to go under a net which had been set up across the road, through the group of teenagers enthusiastically playing a game of volleyball. The dogs weren`t so nice, and quite a few of them chased me with teeth bared and barking madly. I was happy to make it safely back to town at dusk.
June 17 - Rock Climbing
The next day I did get to go Rock Climbing, with arms that were probably quite tired from the biking. I went with two British guys and a guide, and our climbing site was just across the valley from Huascaran mountain, the highest peak in Peru at 22,202 feet. The climbing was pretty good, but the guide was not. He was apparently very tired, and as I was lead climbing a wall (i.e. bringing the rope up the wall with me to hang it at the top and then rappel back down), the guide fell asleep while belaying me. I couldn`t believe it, and I was left clinging precariously to the wall while shouting to the other guys to wake him back up. Lead climbing is probably one of the most dangerous forms of climbing a wall, although it can be safe enough with a good belayer, and I wasn`t very happy with this experience. But...I lived to tell about it, which...is good!
June 19 - Hike to Laguna Paron
Rob finally decided to get back in on the action after a few rest days, and we took a bus, then a taxi up to a high lake through some very steep cliffs. Unlike the valleys on either side of it, which are famous for being the start and end points of the Santa Cruz Trek, this valley is litte visited and hard to get to. We had to hire our own taxi for the day to make sure that we would have a ride back down the mountain. And although the valleys around it are very near, they are separated by a horseshoe of steep, high mountains glaciered with blue ice. We walked on a faint cattle trail for a couple of hours along the aqua blue lake, and saw only a couple of other people the whole time. The lake level seemed to be lower than in the distant past, I think it was actually manually lowered to pose less of a mudslide risk in the case of a big earthquake. We could see the old water line on the cliffs. But, it was also higher than currently normal for some reason, and the cattle trail actually descended into the water at one point, making our passage end adruply at an impassable cliff. But our view from there was amazing already and it didn`t matter. At the end of the lake was a mountain which was aptly named itself Pyramid Peak, and the contrast between the lake and the glaciers was unbelievable.
June 20 - Mountain Bike to Llanganuco Laces
For one last hurrah, I convinced Rob to take a mountain bike ride along the Llanganuco Lakes from the Portachuelo Pass all the way back down into Yungay. This is the same pass we went over after the Santa Cruz Trek, although then we had been stuffed in the back of a van and couldn`t see anything. To get there we put our bikes on top of a real bus going all the way up, and felt lucky to have real seats and our own (openable) window. But, it seems that every bus journey in Peru must be memorable, and this one had its own excitement. About 1/2 hour out of town on our 4 hours journey up the hill, the police stopped the bus and decided that the driver didn`t have the correct paperwork. So we all got off the bus and then had to wait another 1/2 hour to get it straightened out. By then we were quite behind schedule, and the aisles started to fill up with people standing. Luckily, we did get up to the pass while it was still morning, and on the gentle, switchback ride down, got great views of the glaciers all around us.
The blue and green lakes were just the half-way point, and it really was a long way down to the bottom, taking us almost 5 hours of riding to go 30 miles. The bumpy gravel roads didn`t make it any easier because they jiggled our muscles until our teeth started to rattle, but the views made it all worthwhile. At the first lake, Rob caught the edge of his tire on some gravel and took a small tumble into the dust, which mainly just injured his dignity. By near the end of the day, we were both starting to get tired, from the long bus ride and the long bike ride. The roads never seemed to smooth out much, and while I compensated for the rattling by going faster, Rob chose to keep a safe speed, due to obstacles like large boulders, dogs, and actual pigs wandering out in the road. That didn`t help him, though, and he fell a second time, over an imaginary pebble in the road, sliding chest first over the front of his handlebars and getting an ant`s eye view of the gravel. He got up covered in dust with ripped pants and a few scrapes, but mostly fine and demanding that I not write about his mishaps in my story. (Sorry, Rob, but the truth has got to be told!) Luckily by then we were mostly back down to town, and just had to suffer one last bus ride back to Huaraz. To round out an already long day, we packed up our stuff, and got on an overnight bus to Lima that left at 11 at night, where we slept very well indeed after such a day.
June 21 - Peru - Panama - Colombia flight
As little as we like Lima, this would now be the third time we have passed through here. As usual, when we woke up on the bus, it was to grey skies and cool fog. We had about 7 hours to kill before our flight up to Colombia, so we made our way by bus to a suburb of Lima on the coast, where there was an actual US-style Mall on a cliff overlooking the coast. Too bad it was Sunday morning and absolutely nothing was open yet. But the views over the water were great, if a little foggy, and the swells coming into shore were in perfectly straight lines. Quite a few surfers were taking advantage of the perfect breaks, although they looked like ants from our high perch.
We finally headed to the airport and realized why we had taken such a dislike to it the first time we were stuck there. The place does have a food court, but it is located before you enter security, and once through there is nothing but a few small touristy shops. That wouldn`t normally be a problem since it wasn`t very crowded, but since there is a $31 airport exit fee, leaving to get lunch and going through security twice could get quite expensive!
We finally left Peru for the last time, and to our delight flew right over the Huaraz valley. Popping up through all the clouds was the monster mountain of Huazcaran, and we also got glimpses of the Santa Cruz valley and the Llanganuco Lakes...it was amazing. We waved goodbye to the glaciers and hoped to see them again someday.
After flying close to the Panama Canal and a short layover at the airport, we continued on to Colombia. Even at night the air was still humid and hot, and we could tell we weren`t high in the mountains anymore. We were excited to realize that we wouldn`t have to travel again until our final flight home to the States....yahoo!
***On to Colombia!***


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Coconut Rice Pudding Parfait with Strawberry and Mint
Another Anniversary post for KBB, The Chief decided to host two kinds of competition, cake decorating and food photography, I decided to participate in the last one only. I would like to do both of them but timing seems not to be on my side.
With this post also I would like to inform you guys that maybe posting in Simplicious might be a "little bit" slow , I'm not going to be "Missing In Action", still going to tweet from time to time, and promise will be back as soon as possible with a new post.
Without further due, here is my contribution for KBB challenge #13: Merah Putih-from My Kitchen
Coconut Rice Pudding Parfait with Strawberry and Mint
- 1 1/2 cup water
- pinch of salt
- 1/2 cup long grain rice
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 can coconut milk (13.5 to14.5 ouce)
- 4 tbsp packed brow sugar
- 4 tbsp granulated sugar
- 7 fresh mint leaves
- 100 gr strawberries, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- Cook the rice with water and salt to al dente
- Stir the whole milk, coconut milk, brow sugar and granulated sugar into the rice, bring the mixture just to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat and cook at a bare simmer, stirring frequently at first and constantly toward the end, until the mixture is thick and creamy and the rice is very soft (+/- 30 mins). Transfer to a bowl and let it cool to room temperature, stirring frequently to keep the skin from forming.
- Refrigerate the rice pudding, tightly covered, for at least 4 hours.
- To serve, cut some of the mint leaves into fine shreds. Stir together the strawberry, shredded mint and lemon juice in a medium bowl. Spoon a layer of 2/3 batch of rice pudding into each of 4 short glasses, add 2 tbsp of strawberry mix, top with the rest of pudding batch, add another 2 tbsp of strawberry mix. Garnish each serving with a whole mint leaf.

subset: commoncrawl


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#OOTD for August 14, 2014
As the summer draws to a close (say it ain't so!) and our legislative session has long since ended, things around my government office have become a bit more casual. Still, I like to look polished and put together, despite this new relaxed dress code. I really love the outfit I wore today.
I started with this super cute linen top from Old Navy. I really love this piece because it is so lightweight, but the collar really makes it look put together. And the tie at the bottom adds a bit of visual interest.
I love the vibrant color of my coral cardigan, also from Old Navy. And it came in handy today; I think Boston may have trumped Chicago as the Windy City this morning!
On bottom I wore these ankle cut trousers that I recently purchased (on sale!) from Nautica. I really like them! I mean, they're navy, why wouldn't I? But I would advise getting a size down, as they do stretch and don't have belt loops. I'm thinking of having them taken in at the waist.
For shoes I wore these comfy tan and silver flats from Burlington Coat Factory. And yes, I did wear these ugly socks with them. Sue me. All you'll be left with is your pretention and I'll have dry, blister-free feet. So who's the real winner here?
Because one always needs to be punctual in the professional world, I wore my Anne Klein watch along with this simple Alex and Ani compass bracelet.
On my nails, I wore Essie's 'Muchi, Muchi.' I recently had a tumblr follower ask me about what sort of nail color to wear in a professional setting and I recommended neutrals, but I can definitely see how this pastel pink can look cute but still professional.
I finished off the look with some pearl studs and I was ready to go!
I hope you guys liked this look. Thanks so much for reading!
What's your business casual essential? What does your work dress code look like? What did you think of my look? Let me know in the comments below! 🙂


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After the soup and gougères, we still had several courses to go.
For our main course, I had heard a rumor of a Nigella Lawson recipe of a brandy and bacon chicken–a quick search online found the recipe, which, to be honest, had left me a little underwhelmed. Still, it was a great inspiration, and used that as an idea to work into my own. I started with a half-cup apple juice and a cinnamon stick in a skillet, and simmered that for a few minutes until the apple juice had reduced by half. I poured in about a quarter cup of Calvados and set it aflame–one of the BEST parts of cooking! Controlled fire!–and let it burn off all the alcohol. One the flame was gone, I whisked in about 4 tablespoons worth of bacon fat, and I had something of a lovely, apple-ish, bacon-ish glaze for chicken.
I stuffed the cavity of the chicken with an apple half, and a few sprigs each of fresh sage and thyme. The skin was rubbed down with salt and pepper, and spooned the Calvados glaze all over the skin. The chicken was roasted at 400° for a little over an hour–I didn't really time the chicken since I had a digital thermometer in the thigh to tell me when it hit 165°. Because of the residual sugars from the juice, the chicken did need to be tented with foil to keep the skin from burning.
Now, this was where I was a bad, bad food blogger and forgot to take a picture of the chicken when it came out of the oven; this makes me sad because it was an absolutely gorgeous mahogany color when it was finished. I did, however, take a picture of a main course plate:
We served that chicken with Cauliflower Gratin and Haricot Verts sauteéd in bacon and shallots.
I have to admit, I need to work on the recipe for the gratin (else I'd share it with you); it came out kind of wet–it was still remarkably tasty, but the recipe needs some tweaking.
Haricot Verts with Shallots and Bacon
serves 4 as a side dish
3/4 pound fresh haricot vert (French green beans; regular green beans can be used), washed and stem ends trimmed
4 strips bacon
1 medium shallot, finely diced
- Steam or blanch beans to partially cook and set aside.
- In a large skillet, cook bacon strips until crispy and remove from pan to drain. Leave bacon drippings in pan.
- Turn heat down to medium and add shallots. Cook until glossy; toss in beans and cook until fork-tender, about 3-5 minutes.


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Thursday, 3 March 2011
Big Red Barn
Available from itunes here...
Friday, 24 September 2010
Busy Summer !
It's Autumn already and I see that I've failed to post at all recently - this is because I've been, thankfully, extremely busy - the unpredictability of self employment means it can be feast or famine. Take last August for example, my first for as long as I can remember without any work, luckily I was building my new studio, so that was kind of fine - but a year later it's the opposite - my busiest August ever. Who knows why these things happen - so I've been juggling cbeebies work with 'My first Encyclopedia' and a giant world map (with quite a lot of detail on). In addition to planning a new campaign for Dinky the Dinosaur. So I've been struggling even to get Book 6 of the Elly apps out, but it's finally done and should be out in October...
Monday, 12 July 2010
It's sometimes worth a surf !
With Elly book 4 up and running, and Elly book 5 about to go live I thought I'd surf "Elly the Reindeer" on google in case there had been some postings out there. Aside from the reviews we've already had, I stumbled on a new article about Elly in the June issue of an ezine/blog/marketing magazine called Luckie. Somehow they'd picked up on Elly and written this positive piece - which made my day !
Monday, 17 May 2010
Work in Progress....Elly Book 4
"Meet Elly the Reindeer. A cute little book character with 3 apps already out that are just adorable. Elly and friends like 'Aapo', 'Fin' and 'Snowy Owl' go on delightful adventures in 'The Birthday Party', 'Elly Goes to School' and 'The Windy Day'.
The apps have clean and beautifully structured illustrations, that make excellent use of colors and proportions, really helping on our kids' visual education. Stories are simple and fun, the ones that kids ask us to read over and over.
Although these are straight-forward books, with no voice, sound of interaction, the stories and illustrations are so nice they are worth having on board of our touch devices."
Michel from iphone4kids sent me a nice email too asking when the next Elly was due - well Michel I'm hoping mid June and here's the cover art...best get ny head down....
Thursday, 6 May 2010
So How well Is Your App Doing ?
So, once you've got your apps out there, aside from marketing them to app review sites how do you know how well they are doing ? Well for one my developer sends me a weekly spread sheet of sales (approaching a total of 1000 downloads a week + ago), which is great and I can also see which country it gets really popular in ! Another method is to visit say apple itunes in the states by clicking on the flag on the bottom left of your itunes (if you're in the UK like me). I did this today to get the ipad book chart as Elly book 1 to 3 all went ipad in the last week - well the good news is I'm at no 30, 56 and 58 in the top paid ipad apps (books section) - thrilled by this I'm now awaiting the sales figures for the last week - keep you posted. How else can you monitor though ? Well I also found a site called appannie.com which is currently free during open beta and provides rankings figures for your apps throughout the world on daily/monthly basis, on iphone or ipad... plus top grossing apps etc.
Wednesday, 14 April 2010
The ipad meets the childrens book
Friday, 9 April 2010
Elly Book 3
Two good things happened since I last updated, 'theiphonemom' reviewed Elly Book 1, and Elly Book 2 (goes to school) and Book 3 (the windy day) are now up on itunes. Hopefully the review (I did note from google analytics that traffic was arriving via iphonemoms site to my site) will increase sales, together with the force of numbers, well three titles ! In fact an editor at a childrens publisher once said to me about one of my ideas ' bring me a series of three than I'll look at it' - so there you go. Starting another app project whilst thinking about book 4, which may well be 'goes camping'.....
Thursday, 25 March 2010
Elly the Reindeer APP - book 2
As I type, and await sales figures for ELLY BOOK 1, I am finding that to get the thing reviewed on one of the myriad of app review sites is a challenge indeed. I do get replies, mostly saying that we may get round to reviewing your app, but if you part with some readies then we'll review it more quickly (but they stress that the handing over of money does NOT guarantee a necessarily favorable review). But after much perseverance and emailing, iphonemom emailed me saying she found Elly a delight and will review the app in early April. What's interesting here is that she has an angle, that the iphone is not just a boy's toy, or adult toy for that matter. In fact in my researches I found that the Americans have embraced the childrens based app far more readily than over here, with an ever growing list of educational apps, childrens books etc etc. The french too, especially AVE! Comics have thrown themselves into the graphic novel app big time, with well over 100 titles - I find it surprising that some of the big names in childrens publishing here in the UK are not up there yet - Dr Seuss has been launched too on itunes with a fanfare and advertising banners - so are UK childrens publishers rabbits caught in headlights , or, are they about to launch big time ? Perhaps someone in the know out there can tell me....Oh, the picture is Elly Book 2 (goes to school), which is nearly ready to go - Book 3 is under way and I'm looking at getting french versions out soon.
Sunday, 14 March 2010
Elly the Reindeer APP
As I type, apple itunes has launched my first APP/digital childrens book - Elly the Reindeer. (ELLY BOOK 1) But how did this all come about ? Well, talk to just about anyone with a kids book idea about how easy it is to get publishers to view, let alone take a punt on a book these days (or for that matter ask a literary agent) and most of the time you'll hear tales of 'they never got back", 'they're not accepting any more submissions' - or in the case of two literary agents I wrote to, "the markets way too difficult right now". Fed up with emailing, posting and begging people to take a look, I took things into my own hands and found an APP developer in Mubai, Dipali Vaidya of phonetesting.mobi. Her enthusiasm and dedication helped propel this book onto the APP store in no time.
Friday, 12 February 2010
Hansel & Gretel
Tuesday, 9 February 2010
Space Encounters
In January this year I was invited to take an animation module with first year students on the FDA course at Hastings Art College. The brief was about story-boarding a narrative and then creating a stop frame animation - refreshingly all the students created the artwork by hand and amongst the enthusiastic ideas and productions were a couple of space themed animations. Inspired by the students work I decided I should have a go and collated some images from previous commssions and used them in my own space animation. Without the stop motion equipment at home I elected for a flash movie - a fairly low res version can be seen above ! Much room for improvement me thinks but it was fun doing it. I'm now looking forward to seeing the students finished animations this week.
Wednesday, 18 November 2009
Christmas Cards
I'm delighted to have my work up on MOO.com for the second year running - royalties have been modest but very welcome - but now they've expanded into the US with both offices and a dedicated US site, so who knows could go better - in the meantime, this years paperchase card (pictured) is in the shops and as you can see I introduced a slight hint of topicality into the design - hope it goes well, they've already bought another design for next christmas...but it's a tad early to be posting that one up...
Friday, 13 November 2009
Where I (now) work
A few weeks ago Creative Review had a 'show us your work space' type article running, and I quite wanted to post my new studio up there - trouble was at that stage it wasn't finished and I was, despite building it on and off for 2 months, having serious problems finishing it, so much so Tim the builder had to come to my rescue as we battled over 2 days putting it all together in lashing rain (It weighed a ton too which didnt help, I'm a light weight illustrator after all !).
After a lot of hard work the result - a fantastic work space I'm thrilled with and better than my last studio on a farm which was a tad cold and damp and got broken into (losing all my hardware, note to all digital illustrators, back up and keep the back up elsewhere). Trouble is this is only a few paces from my backdoor so no more cycling to work - so out with the jogging gear ! That's all for now as I'm busy with Christmas commissions (before it all goes horribly quiet over christmas !)
Friday, 17 July 2009
The Ashes 2009
Cricket, paint drying material for some , passion for others - this illo I did today, as 2 quick Aussie wickets fell, should tell you where I stand on the issue ! Comon England !


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I hope every one has an enjoyable one. We are heading to Hubby's brother's place. Things are a little tight at their house so I dug around in the freezer, refrigerator and pantry and came up with lasagna, salad, pumpkin cheesecake, apple pie and no-knead bread. The lasagna is from my 1963 Pillsbury Cookbook that I've made a bunch of times and is a real crowd pleaser. The apple pie comes from the same place. The cheesecake however is a new recipe so I'll let you know how it turns out.
Friday we have another Thanksgiving at my house for my family and that will be ribs, corn on the cob, sweet potato fries, and maybe regular fries. I'm thinking brownies and pumpkin pie for dessert. I should have enough left-overs that I don't have to cook much for the next week or so. LOL
By the way I've been sewing like a demon but haven't taken any pictures, so maybe this week-end with Sister Suzy's help I can get some.
Have a good day!


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December 5, 2012
Wordy Wednesday - an award
Isn't it pawsome? The rules are that you give a star to the anipal who sent the award to you and everytime YOU get the award you add a star. This Blog of the Year award is terrific because you can get it back six times! And when other kitties or woorfies who receive it link back, another star is added to yours until they are all lit up. How pretty would that be!
So, Thanks to the Cherry City Kitties!! We hope we did this right....if not, please let us know. Mom's a bit slow sometimes!
We're sending this along to
Truffle and Brulee
The Island Cats
Brian's Home
Katie Isabella
Cousin Trooper asked us to give you an update on his Mom. She did have her chemo on Monday but her bloods were not good so she had to have another transfusion yesterday. She'll be having a PET scan soon and we hope it will show that she only needs one more treatment. Thanks for the prayers and purrs.
24 comments:
- Cheysuli and gemini said...
Concatulations on your award and our purrs to Cousin Trooper's mum
- December 5, 2012 at 12:15 AM
- Prancer Pie said...
We is purrin hard fur Trooper's Mom!
- December 5, 2012 at 12:34 AM
- Cotton said...
Congrats on your award :)
- December 5, 2012 at 12:42 AM
- Sparkle the Designer Cat said...
Concatulations on the award! I'm purring lots that Auntie El only needs one more treatment - a good friend of my human's had to go through this, so she has seen firsthand how hard it is to go through.
- December 5, 2012 at 3:02 AM
- Marg said...
Congrats on the award. We know you will get all those stars really soon.
We sure are thinking about Auntie El and hope she only needs one more chemo. We sure are sending many purrs and a bunch of prayers.
- December 5, 2012 at 6:44 AM
- Barb and TheDailyGs said...
Oh, bless her heart. Sending prayers for Elinor to start feeling much better soon and for a great scan result! xoxo
- December 5, 2012 at 7:01 AM
- Hilary said...
congrats on your award!
Sending purrs and prayers to Troopers mom...
- December 5, 2012 at 7:07 AM
- Katie Isabella said...
Many many many purrs to Aunt Ellie. Fanks you for the STAR awardie. I has it a week or so ago, and I appreciates it again. xoxoxox I award you one back. <3<3<3
- December 5, 2012 at 8:06 AM
- Marilia said...
Concats to the award!
- December 5, 2012 at 9:13 AM
- Kwee Cats and Life said...
We are purring for Trooper's Mom. Hey! We got stars too :-) We gives you one too so now you gots another! Okay? On account we think you deserve lots of stars!
Hugs to you all.
- December 5, 2012 at 9:25 AM
- Brian said...
Congrats on the noce award and thanks for sharing with us! We needed another star! We are all purring for your Mom Cousin Trooper and we won't stop!
- December 5, 2012 at 9:49 AM
- catsynth said...
Congrats on your award!
- December 5, 2012 at 12:10 PM
- Cole Cat said...
Congratulations! Very well deserved! Purrs...from your friends at Colehauscats.com
- December 5, 2012 at 12:33 PM
- Cat Chat With Caren And Cody said...
Hoping the scan results come out well and CONCATULATIONS on your award!
- December 5, 2012 at 12:59 PM
- meowmeowmans said...
ConCATulations on your great award! We always knew you were stars. :)
We are purring and praying for Auntie El!
- December 5, 2012 at 1:42 PM
- da tabbies o trout towne said...
conga rats on yur awards N we hope cuzin trooperz mom gets better reeely quik...dont suppose her mite wanna try sum trout ? :)
- December 5, 2012 at 2:15 PM
- ♥♥♥ The OP Pack ♥♥♥ said...
Congrats on that very nice award.
All paws crossed and prayers for Auntie El to do well.
Woos - Phantom, Thunder, Ciara, and Lightning
- December 5, 2012 at 3:14 PM
- Jacqueline said...
Congratulations on your award!...Loved the beautiful Allie photos yesterday...Hope you all are enjoying the week, sweeties...xoxo...Calle, Halle, Sukki
- December 5, 2012 at 3:47 PM
- Sherlock, Ash and Traveler said...
Concats on your stars! xoxo
Sherlock,Ash and Traveler
- December 5, 2012 at 6:48 PM
- The Island Cats said...
Congrats on your award! And thanks for passing it on to us!!
- December 5, 2012 at 9:34 PM
- Oui Oui said...
Concats on your stars & we are purring for Cousin Trouper. Chemo is hard enough on peeps, we can't imagine how kitties must feel, who really don't know what is happening.
- December 5, 2012 at 11:21 PM
- Kjelle Bus said...
ConCATulations to the pawsome award !
- December 6, 2012 at 7:57 AM
- Eric and Flynn said...
Concats on your award. We are sending our biggest purrs for Auntie El.
- December 6, 2012 at 4:13 PM
concats for the Award, if I get one more star, I will be sure to pass it along to you next, purrrs, Savannah
- December 6, 2012 at 7:56 PM


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Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Ginger Sweet Potato Muffins
*Updated 12/5/13 I've made a few modifications to these muffins to make them lighter and fluffier and with half the sugar! They are better than ever!
When I think of fall, I think of these muffins. I absolutely love them! I got this recipe a few years ago from a friend of my mom's and have made them so many times since. They are a perfect little breakfast treat on a fall morning, or a quick and easy afternoon snack. I have experimented with using less sugar and they still turn out ok. You can get crystallized ginger at your local good earth store or fresh market.
Ginger Sweet Potato Muffins
makes about 9 muffins
1/2 cup sucanat (or other sugar)
1 cup mashed sweet potatoes
2 Tbsp. coconut oil (or light olive oil)
1 egg
1/2 cup milk (I used almond milk)
1 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 Tbsp. Pumpkin Pie spice
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup crystallized ginger, finely chopped
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place liners in muffin pan or spray with cooking spray. Combine sugar, sweet potatoes, oil, egg and milk. Whisk until smooth. Add dry ingredients and mix until incorporated. Fold in ginger. Divide batter evenly among 9 muffin cups. Bake 12-15 minutes or until toothpick inserted into centers comes out clean. Cool slightly and remove from pans.
Linked to...
Colleen's Recipe Swap @ And Baby Makes Five
Potluck Sunday @ Mommy's Kitchen.
This Week's Cravings @ Mom's Crazy Cooking
Labels: Bread, Fall Baking, Figure Friendly, Muffins, Potatoes
3 comments:
These sound wonderful for fall! Thanks for linking up this week!ReplyDelete
I've already spied a few recipes here that I'll definitely be trying. Lots of food love here ;)
Thanks so much for linking to THIS WEEK'S CRAVINGS and we appreciate the link back! I love Sweet Potato Muffins too!ReplyDelete
I want to try these!ReplyDelete
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


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Historian Angel Collado-Schwarz talks about the President's opinion about Puerto Rico's status. - YouTube
Click on the above link to see a video about how in 1989 all the Puerto Rican political parties agreed with President Bush to resolve the island's 114 year old colonial problem. The United States (US) Senate killed this initiate, because it was not willing to allow Puerto Rico (PR) to become a state, should PR had voted for it.
This is precisely why decolonization is not within the jurisdiction of the country that processes the colony under international law. Decolonization is not a civil right between a particular country and her citizens. It is a human right that every human being is born with by virtue of being a human being. Therefore, the
is committing a crime against humanity, like in the Nazi Nuremberg Trails after World War II, by maintaining PR under her colonial rule. US
Join the protest this June 17, 2013 at the United Nations to stop this illegal aggression against PR!


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Saturday, March 7, 2015
I mailed over 20 packages yesterday, so if you didn't see the list, go back and check if your package went out. Almost all the rest of the packages went out today, there's just a handful let to mail now. These went out today: Berina, Virginia, Nancy, Karissa, Sara, Diane, Carol, Pam, Linda W, Shell B, Pat, Lucie, Shannon, Holly, Sandy, Teresa, Conie, Sher, Vinita, Ionabunny, Pat R, Gemiel, Carol Ann, Amy, Paula, Mary K, Barbara M, Linda T, Linda C, Gail, Sue, Melody.
I hope to get the rest of the packages out by Monday!!
28 comments:
beautiful image and card HolleyReplyDelete
here shines the sun ands it's 17gr but only for 2 days than it goes to 13 gr.
Gr Karin
Another cute image!! To be that young again! Those certainly were the days to remember!! If I could have some of that energy now it would be nice!! Hope your niece has fun at the prom!ReplyDelete
i have 3 kids in High School! Prom is an oft discussed topic around my house right now! lolReplyDelete
Cute image! It does indeed look promlike! I hope your niece has a grand time!
Gorgeous card! My favourite colour! And I LOVE that ribbon! Have never seen anything like it. Great find in Istanbul!ReplyDelete
Love the ribbon , must get some like that , lovely colour on the image matches the ribbon and buttons beautifullyReplyDelete
Beautiful girl her hair is soooo pretty, My daughter's prom dress way back when was a metallic pink to the floor in the back and the front was silver lace bodice and white ruffles down to the knees (like a showgirl) It was soooo beautiful.ReplyDelete
Cute card. Love how you did the bg. Ooh look a package for me. You are so sweet. HugzReplyDelete
A wonderful card Holley and a gorgeous image. She is fabulously coloured and I love your special ribbon, it's so pretty xxReplyDelete
C U T E Card.....SWEET!!! Love the P I N K S!!!ReplyDelete
THANKS for the mailing packages Update!!
E X C I T E D & Anxious to receive Mine!!!!
GREATLY Appreciate You & Your Sponsors Kindness!!
Love the colour. so bright and cheery.ReplyDelete
Love the vibrant pink and your pretty ribbon! Lovely card. XxReplyDelete
Another great card Holley, love all the pink. Hope the weather get better for you soon. Hugs JenniferxxReplyDelete
- AnonymousMarch 8, 2015 at 3:42 AM
Good morning Holley, a fantastic card and gorgeous image. Love the colours and the ribbon. I'm sure your niece will enjoy the prom. Glad you got through all your goodie bag packing.ReplyDelete
Chrissy xx
A great card, love how you've coloured her hair and the ribbon is gorgeous xReplyDelete
A really lovely card.ReplyDelete
Beautiful card Holley, love the image and hot pink colours.ReplyDelete
Linda xxx
She looks like a fairy tale princess and that ribbon is fantastic!ReplyDelete
Gorgeous card Holley.ReplyDelete
So excited to receive my package!!! Thank you so much for all you have done for all of us!! It is very much appreciated! I have already "Paid it Forward" by sending out a few surprise packages to random people!ReplyDelete
Hi Holley this is a gorgeous card. Thank you for all generosity to us all. Hugs JackieReplyDelete
Beautiful creation Holley. Love the ribbon, looks unique.ReplyDelete
She is a beauty Holley. Wonderful image and color. Love that stunning ribbon.ReplyDelete
Oooo pretty in pink! Creative Blessings, Tracy xReplyDelete
Great image but that ribbon really grabs my attention too. Fantastic choice!ReplyDelete
I like the ribbon on this!ReplyDelete
- Gail BehrleMarch 13, 2015 at 10:07 PM
Love the bright, cheery feel of this card. Spring is coming! The ribbon and button background is beautiful. And the image is cute.ReplyDelete


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Gerberas are daisy-like blooms that grow up to 5 inches wide with layers of thin petals. Flowers of different colors attract the attention of everyone. For all the floral enthusiasts, this bunch of one dozen colorful Gerberas is a perfect gift. The flowers are placed in a glass vase and adorned with green leaves that attract many eyeballs.
Hurray!! Free Delivery
Regular Delivery:- Delivery Charges Rs.
Midnight Delivery:-
Delivery Charges Rs.
Important instructions:- If occasion is on 13th March please select 12 March as desired date of delivery


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The West Kelowna Warriors got off on the right foot in the first game of the third round in the BCHL playoffs, knocking off the Chilliwack Chiefs by a 5-1 score from the Lower Mainland.
A scoreless first period was the result of each team starting off the game trying to feel one another out, but also try and figure out the way the other was going to play. The Chiefs had the majority of the chances early on, with Matthew Greenfield standing tall in the Warriors net, before the Warriors started to find their legs. The turning point of the first, and maybe the game was the Warriors Kyle Marino getting ejected halfway through the period for checking from behind. West Kelowna seemed energized from the kill, and picked up their physical play while narrowing the gap on the shot clock, which read 14-13 Chilliwack after the opening 20.
Speaking of the shot clock, it was the Warriors who gave it a workout in the second period, firing 19 shots on Aidan Pelino in the frame, and picking up a pair of goals as well. Jake LeBrun got West Kelowna on the board with a good effort on the forecheck, stealing the puck from the goaltender Pelino and tucking into the open cage. The goal silenced the 1598 in attendance, and shortly after, the Warriors made it 2-0 as Connor Sodergren buried one from the left circle on a great cross-ice pass off the rush from Bryan Basilico. The Warriors continued to frustrate the Chiefs rush, breaking up passes or stealing pucks in the neutral zone. One rush did work out for the Chiefs, as Jordan Kawaguchi picked the top corner on a great rush through the attacking zone, beating Rylan Yarekmo in tight and then firing one past a screened Greenfield.
The Warriors were given an early power play in the third after Yaremko was slashed on a rush through the neutral zone by Vimal Sukumaran; and they made good on the opportunity, as Quin Foreman was the recipient of a loose puck in the crease that he was able to tap in. Liam Blackburn sent the puck towards the goal, as LeBrun tried to tuck it in; it went right to Foreman for the marker. The man advantage worked again for the Warriors once again in the third, as Blackburn picked the inside of the post with a shot as he showed great patience between the circles in picking his spot. The play was made possible by a great keep in by Kristian Blumenschein at the blue line.
The Chiefs pulled Pelino with 6:20 remaining in the third period to try and get within a pair, but Kylar Hope put the final dagger into the open net with a shot from center ice with 4:10 to go.
Game Thoughts:
- The Warriors weren't great to start the hockey game, but had that bend but not break attitude in the first seven or so minutes. The Chiefs held an early shot clock edge but there were no results from any Chilliwack opportunities.
- The rallying point of the first period was the Checking from Behind minor and Game Misconduct to Kyle Marino. You could tell that this team got behind their captain, killed off the penalty, then made sure it was their mission to win it on his behalf.
- The power play was the killer instinct the Warriors needed tonight in the third. They looked like the better team in the middle frame, and getting the early opportunity to score was the key to the third. Quin Foreman was in the right spot but some great work before that by Liam Blackburn and Jake LeBrun lead to the goal.
- Speaking of LeBrun, it was good to see him get his first of the post-season on a hard-working forecheck, then have a good night playing with Bryan Basilico and Connor Sodergren after the Marino ejection. Some good moments for LeBrun with the puck, and not afraid to finish checks and help out. Maybe his best game of the postseason tonight.
- The Warriors give up 33 shots in the game, but that's not a number to be concerned with anymore. Prior to December 18th, the Warriors were allowing around 28.6 shots against per game, and had a 19-13-0-2 record. After that, they allowed 34.9 shots/game, but Matthew Greenfield and Keelan Willaims has been back there and it hasn't mattered. Another first star effort after 32 saves.


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Surveying the Footings
Most of the materials had to be brought over by barge, including this 4,000lb battery!
The first solar panel goes up!
A look at the structure that will hold the solar panel array.
We will post pictures of the finished system as soon as it is complete!


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VK (Originally named VKontakte) is a European social network service popular among Russian visitors around the world. It is especially popular in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Belarus, and Israel.
C++ is a statically typed, free-form, multi-paradigm, compiled, general-purpose programming language. It is regarded as an intermediate-level language, as it comprises a combination of both high-level and low-level language features. Developed by Bjarne Stroustrup starting in 1979 at Bell Labs.
An open source license is a copyright license for computer software that allows the source code to be freely, that is by anyone for any purpose, used, modified and shared.[1] This allows end users to review and modify the source code for their own customization, curiosity or troubleshooting needs.


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Monday, 20 September 2010
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm
So apparently the expansion is out at the start of November, and I'm still not settled on what I'm going to play yet. I'm mostly playing my Shaman at the moment, and will probably continue playing that. Healing can be pretty boring if you've got nothing to heal, you are mostly just stood there waiting to click grid like a frantic game of whack-a-mole, but healing is getting better in Cataclysm. When I'm not healing, I will throw a few Lightning Bolts and keep Flame Shock up, and this is exactly how healing will be like in the expansion.
It looks like Priests and Shamans will be expected to Smite and Lightning Bolt when not healing, I don't really care much about Priests, but the talents that Shamans get are pretty hot. Throwing Lightning Bolts will restore mana by 40% of the damage done, and casting a Shock spell will increase the healing power and decrease the mana cost of your next healing spell. Pretty cool right? So it seems like Resto Shamans are going to be offensive healers, sign me up! Elemental is getting a nice reboot also. Elemental has always been a boring facerolling spec, but a couple of spells are adding some much needed complexity to the spell casting priority. Rolling Thunder is a talent that gives you 30% chance to return some mana back every time you do damage with Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning, but it also generates an extra charge on your Lightning Shield up to 9 stacks. Fulmination is the next talent that works hand in hand with Rolling Thunder. Fulmination allows your Earth Shock to burn any extra (past 3) stacks of Lightning Shield you've generated. So you wait until you've got 9 stacks of Lightning Shield, and then you Earth Shock to do Earth Shock + 6 stacks of Lightning Shield damage, pretty awesome. Another cool talent that adds a bit of unpredictability to the rotation is Lava Surge, this talent gives your Flame Shock ticks a chance to reset the cooldown of Lava Burst.
So that's what I like about Shaman, but I've always been a Protection Warrior, and I'm not really impressed with the gimmicky talents in Protection, it looks more like a DPS tree than a tanking tree. The talents look fun for tanking heroics and such, but there aren't many talents in there that improve your survivability. Oh well.
So when the expansion comes it looks like I know what I'm doing for the next few months, hah! I just have to discipline myself to keep up with my good eating habits and exercise. I'd hate to turn back into a fat, lazy slob.
I saw a cool quest preview from Cataclysm today, it's a Plants VS Zombies clone called Peacebloom VS Ghouls, heh. Credit goes to TotalBiscuit of http://www.cynicalbrit.com/ for this:
41 comments:
I came across this today too. Looks awesome, actually. I think they said that there's repeatable or dailyquests available once you beat it. Should be a fun little timekiller within a timekiller.ReplyDelete
Whoa, game looks totally awesomeReplyDelete
I quit during WotLK, but may come back for Cata... looks interesting!ReplyDelete
Sweet I'll check it outReplyDelete
I might also come back for cata, my account is still running... and i'm still paying for it :/ReplyDelete
Looks awesome. I'm gonna check it out.ReplyDelete
I'd like to check it out but I never managed to level to 80 before quitting. Enjoy the info though, WTB F2P option for WoW PST!ReplyDelete
does anyone know the title of the song in the beginning?ReplyDelete
The plants VS zombie style mini game looks incredibly fun! look forward to playing it my selfReplyDelete
Does somebody know the name of the song in the beginning?ReplyDelete
I've never played that game, but looks awesome, I'll buy it, good article! I like your blog.ReplyDelete
- Anonymous21 September 2010 at 05:52
Plants vs zombies was fun so this should be too.ReplyDelete
sweet, shame i dont play wow though :(ReplyDelete
If the addon cames out, I will play it againReplyDelete
Plants vs Zombies! Nice!ReplyDelete
well, i think I´ll also play Restoshaman and Rogue when Cata comes, maybe gonna reroll shaman although I have already one at 80, but I really want test leveling now that they changed so much.ReplyDelete
This is sweet!ReplyDelete
While I no longer play wow. I spent many years as an avid PvPer and occasionally raided. My favorite class, by far, was a disc priest.ReplyDelete
Amazing heals with crazy offensive power to boot.
its gonna suckReplyDelete
might get into wow now. nice review.ReplyDelete
Looks pretty awesome. Can't wait...ReplyDelete
WoW has sucked way too much of my life away from me. I'll never play it or any of it's expansion packs again. Good luck to you with that man.ReplyDelete
Cata looks awesome. I can't wait to come back to WoW after over a year.ReplyDelete
I can't wait to play this!ReplyDelete
Blizzard seems to have put a lot of effort into this expansion, even though I'm just a casual wow-player, I'm looking forward to it :)ReplyDelete
nice post man. I am personally not a fan of WoW but you made it interesting!ReplyDelete
great viDeo!ReplyDelete
Man, I've lost count of how many times I've quit WoW. Yet I keep coming back even tho it will never be as good as during vanilla. Tho I don't think I'll start playing again, but that's what I said last time too.ReplyDelete
I like your blog's design!ReplyDelete
- Anonymous23 September 2010 at 12:01
it s awesomeReplyDelete
looks like fun!ReplyDelete
check out my new blog, The Stepback Fadeaway!
Plants Vs Zombies owns haha.ReplyDelete
Owned, ahaahhahaReplyDelete
Great post!ReplyDelete
looking forward to reading the next one
Kewl post broReplyDelete
Check out my new posts at CrazyStupidShit
New joy wait on you! Here our play has ending. Following!ReplyDelete
Nothing but curious pleasures, as from thence Following!ReplyDelete
See where she comes, apparelld like the spring. Following!ReplyDelete


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My goal is to change the way the world thinks about mental illness and the people who experience it.
Eugene, OR (PRWEB) June 21, 2013
On Monday, June 24th at 7:00 PM (PDT), author Tanya J. Peterson will discuss mental illness and her novel Leave of Absence in an interview with Dr. Chris Gorman on Beautiful Minds Radio. Peterson was invited onto the show after the producer learned about Leave of Absence.
Beautiful Minds Radio is an online radio program dedicated to mental health issues. "Beautiful Minds seeks to inform people about mental illness, promote mental health in all of us, increase acceptance and erode the stigma of mental illness." Beautiful Minds Radio
As such, Beautiful Minds Radio is the perfect fit for Peterson. "My goal is to change the way the world thinks about mental illness and the people who experience it," says Peterson. She does this through both writing and speaking. For more information, visit her evolving Events and Interviews page of her website.
On the evening of June 24th, Dr. Chris Gorman will interview Peterson about mental illness and Leave of Absence. As a psychiatrist, Dr. Gorman is dedicated to helping people who are experiencing mental illness as well as to the mental health and wellbeing of everyone. Adding to his long list of professional credentials in both the United States and Canada, Dr. Gorman is currently Secretary of the British Colombia Psychiatric Association.
Peterson and Gorman will discuss the themes and concepts of Leave of Absence and their transferability to the real world. While Leave of Absence is fiction, its accuracy and realism lend themselves well to increasing awareness of mental illness. Peterson explains, "Fiction is a powerful vehicle for teaching fact. People empathize with characters in novels. Commonly, people transfer their empathy to real-life human beings." As such, Dr. Patricia Gorman, producer of Beautiful Minds Radio, calls Leave of Absence an "excellent fit" for the program.
In the insightful and evocative Leave of Absence, Tanya J. Peterson draws upon her counseling background, life experience, and education to delve deeply into the world of post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and schizophrenia. Peterson has unique expertise on both sides of the proverbial couch, having experienced firsthand PTSD after a terrible car accident, being diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder, spending time in a behavior center, while also having earned her Master of Science in counseling, working as both teacher and counselor in a variety of school settings, and becoming a Nationally Certified Counselor who has volunteered her services in her communities. Visit her professional profile on LinkedIn for further information.
In a communication with Peterson, Dr. Patricia Gorman stated, "Thank you for making the time to discuss mental illness and help reduce the stigma."


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Portland, OR (PRWEB) April 02, 2013
Montville University (MU) continues to expand its global reach and strives to provide a number of educational opportunities to people from all over the word. In this regard, the University has launched Online Certificate Programs in 16 diverse disciplines, with the aim of providing students with the opportunity to pursue their education in their desired fields.
Established in 1999 with the aim of educating a diverse body of students with personal or professional commitments—veterans, working adults, professionals, and housewives—MU now ranks among the top online universities providing a wide range of programs in many in-demand fields. Since its inception, the University has shown a strong commitment to providing a top-quality education to students globally, irrespective of their financial or geographical background. To its credit, MU currently enjoys more than 6,200 active enrollments from different parts of the world.
"Montville University introduced certificate programs to offer students an extensive range of subject areas, enabling them to follow their educational pursuits in the fields of their choice. It's a great step forward and we are sure this will go a long way towards ensuring that ours is a university committed to students' welfare and wellbeing. We are also expecting over a thousand enrollments in the inaugural launch of MU's online certificate program," said Charles M. Bradley, the dean of Montville University.
Online programs, ranging from business administration to Engineering, Nursing, Political Sciences, Education and Performing arts (view complete list), are accredited by International Accreditation Organization. These courses are offered throughout the year and can be completed in just 6 weeks.
About Montville University:
MU is a world's leading virtual university, offering fully accredited programs in 16 different disciplines to a diverse body of students globally. With student base of over 7,000 undergraduate students, 3,000 graduates and about 500 global faculty members, Montville University proudly claims to be one of the finest and most sought-after online learning universities in the world.


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A couple days later we did a joint check-up at the pediatrician for Charlie and Jack. Luckily Grandma Lang came with us - not sure I could have had any meaningful conversations with the doctor without her there helping with the boys!
Jack passed his check-up with flying colors. The doctor told me a few of the things he's doing are 4 year old skills, so he's cruising right along.
At three years old, Jack weighs 37 lbs (90th%) and is 40" tall (91.5%). He didn't have to get any shots this time (off the hook until age 5) so he was a happy camper.


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|Amy and Mickey Congratulating her on her Master's Degree! LOL..
|Us at the "Harley" Store!
|Us On Our Way To The Luau!
Hello Luvs,
Well... I must say that my Summer started out with a "BANG"!! It was my husband's last day of school and my daughter had one week off from her new "REAL people job" (she calls it)! She just graduated "Sum Cum Laude" *(with highest honors) from the Masters Degree program at a Major University, here in Michigan. She is now a true Business Librarian! She does much "I.T." work with computers and such. She really is loving it and I'm so happy that she's happy!
We wanted to give her a gift for graduation. Especially since she did it all on her own and we didn't have to pay anything (much ..LOL) for her education. She got full scholarships all the way through! All 6 years she got them and she earned them with her 4.0 GPA! I can't express enough how proud we are of her!
She wanted a trip to DisneyWorld for her "gift" for graduation. We started planning and decided to get a "Summer Special Magic Your Way" vacation...and off we went to Florida! We stayed 8 nights and 9 days in the "Caribbean Beach Resort". I won't say that I liked the resort so much...but I will say that I thought the scenery was gorgeous and the company was the best ever! We had a wonderful time of magic, memories and mostly great weather too! Here are some wonderful pictures that we managed to take from our beautiful trip/vacation together. Thank you for letting me share this with you!
|Me, Craig, Amy and Amy's friend, Angela !
|The "Animal Kingdom"
|Amy in "Italy" at Epcot
|Me and My Amy "Joy"
|My Dreams Do Come True Lots Of Days!!
|me with my wheels!
|Us with Mickey Mouse at "Hollywood Studios"


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Saturday, May 23, 2009
Before and After: Working with Trash
Friday, May 22, 2009
Summer is Everywhere and I Couldn't be Happier
Summer starts early in South Florida. With temperatures in the mid 80's in May it feels like summer to me. Seasons do change in Miami, subtle yes, but changes just the same.
I know it is summer when...
1. My pool is warm enough to swim in. Not just splash around my big toe, but a real swim especially just before bed. There is nothing like a moonlit swim when my gardenias bushes surrounding my pool are in bloom.
2. My garden becomes a tropical paradise. The heliconias start shooting out blooms twelve inches high and the Royal Poinsettia trees burst into an explosion of red. Color is alive and vibrant everywhere, an artist's dream. (See photos: http://twitpic.com/photos/ecoartist)
3. The smell of sunscreen is everywhere. My oldest son starts complaining because he hates the smell of sunscreen. Why can't we make a sunscreen that smells good and doesn't burn when you rub your eyes? I would make my life so much easier. What Miami mom hasn't chased her kids around with the sunscreen bottle trying to get out the door?
4. The days are gloriously long. It's light out when I go to work in the morning and somehow I have more energy to go for a bike ride or a swim with the kids before dinner.
5. The bay is flat and perfect for kayaking, my favorite sport. I don't mind getting wet when the water is warm and refreshing and because the water is calm I see more wildlife. I still get startled every time I hear a loud "whoosh" next to me: dolphins.
6. The heat slows everyone down. It seems like the whole city relaxes. Sure everyone complains about heat, but the balmy nights are heaven.
7. I don't care how clean my house is. I can't explain it, but the mess just doesn't bother me like it does during the winter holidays.
8. All you need is a bikini, sandals, sunscreen, cover-up and a hat. You can go anywhere like that in Miami… or at least any place you would want to go.
9. Mangoes are in season. There are over 250 varieties of mangoes. Fairchild Tropical Botanical Gardens has a mango Festival every year. This year it is the weekend of July 11th. I never miss it. I even plan my vacation around it. They have mango tasting, mango workshops and even sell the mango trees. I always recommend tasting a mango before you purchase the tree. The taste and texture varies from super sweet to a bland cooking variety and from smooth to stringy. My favorites are: Ice Cream, Haden, Kent and Carrie.
10. There are no excuses needed to go on an adventure. That is what you are suppose to do during the summer: go places, try new things, explore.
The part that I love most about summer is I get to reunite with my family. My kids will be grown before I get another change to chase them down the beach laughing all the way. I like just hanging out with them pondering over a big decision of the day like: what type of cookies we should bake.
Hope you summer brings you joy and tell me about your next adventure...


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IndiaJiva are multi-instrumentalists and composers Vicki Hansen and Ronni Ragel, who have carved a niche for themselves in the field of world fusion music – creating a new synthesis in sound, transporting their audiences and listeners beyond the borders of both East and West.
They perform an array of traditional and modern instruments such as sitar, lap steel guitar, keyboards, flutes, didgeridoo, guitar, bass, percussion and vocals.
Their Youtube channel www.youtube.com/indiajiva has amassed a large audience with nearly 8 million views on their videos. They are consistently one of the biggest sellers in the Yoga/Mantra/Spiritual/World categories with CDBaby – the largest on-line distributor of music in the world
Go to our Medicine Music site to find out more about IndiaJiva's music or to purchase CDs, DVDs or books.
Listening to the music of IndiaJiva on their CDs or live in concert is a profound experience. Their performance outfits range from Ron and Vicki as a duo, playing their exotic instruments, to a full blown band – a truly unique phenomenon who weave together seemingly disparate elements into a thrilling organic Musical Whole.
They can be seen in small and large concert halls from yoga barns to Festival stages, IndiaJiva continue to quench the thirst of their local fan base to international audiences and continue to find newer audiences.


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I just read Kris Dunn's piece on social networking and Web 2.0 at the office, and the timing couldn't be better. I'm still on the fence about Facebook and MySpace because I'm still not sure exactly what I'm supposed to be doing on those sites.
Maybe I'm missing something, but Web 2.0 seems to inflate my ego and enable my worst narcissistic tendencies. It's like blogging — with more pictures of me and my cats.
- Right now I'm chilly with a chilly smiley face.
- Yesterday I was sad for Robert Goulet with a sad smiley face.
- Later on I will be annoyed with a red, annoyed smiley face.
Christ, enough already. I'm sick of myself, which brings me back to Kris's original article. Many companies are developing social networking strategies and platforms as a means to service and monitor employees. Unfortunately, Corporate America has demonstrated time & time again that something useful and/or fun becomes less interesting when incorporated into the workforce.
So let me cut right to the chase: Corporate America, please, don't try to deliver a Facebook-lite experience at work. I don't want it and I won't use it. If I want to use Facebook, I'll go on Facebook without your help.
My previous employer had a pretty snazzy web portal designed to deliver Human Resources content and information. You could go online and manage your retirement funds, learn about your benefits, read about the vacation plan, etc. The site was designed to replace the traditional HR Assistant in the office who would address the normally benign HR questions and issues.
Unfortunately, no one wanted to use the HR web tool. My department had meetings on whether or not the interface was too clumsy, the speed was too slow, the look was too static, etc. We talked about designing "work arounds" to the system because — maybe, just maybe — the system wasn't flexible enough to meet the employees' needs. We strapped on MS Access databases and cute, fancy web portals –all of which led right back to the boring, unloved HR web portal.
Do you know why the employees didn't use the HR web portal? It's simple: the company branded the product as "mandatory," stopped investing in its development, and the HR web portal turned the internet into work.
- If I'm going to work at anything, it's my day job.
- If I want HR advice, I'll ask the woman sitting in the office down the hall who gets paid to answer HR questions.
I don't know about you, but I feel that the internet at work is supposed to be fun and diversionary. If you want to know how I'm feeling, ask me — don't ask me to input my feelings about the company or my boss onto a social networking tool. Please stop trying to find ways to use technology to simulate human interaction. I will never be as excited about a work-related social networking tool as I am about I CAN HAS CHEEZBURGER.