I Got Married!!!

hello

Hi everyone, i am now on the blogger!

Congratulations Chunnan!!

Congratulations Chunnan for passing your final test for work!!! I'm so proud of you!!!

Happy Birthday David

To the best brother -in-law ever who has put up with my inquisitive nature. Happy Birthday!! I hope you have a wonderfully exciting day to remember!! I am looking forward to seeing you and Chunnan and the rest of the family in November (and it can't get here fast enough).

I Love You, Alice

Happy Birthday Barbara

This Birthday wish is going out to the best sister anyone could ever want. Happy Birthday Barbara.

Since Fred and I have been in Kernersville, it has been a real treat being so close and able to walk at Salem Lake, go to the movies, be a part of Tim & Keven's birthday parties, and the other fun stuff we have done together. I have really enjoyed getting to know you. You are a very special person to me.

I Love You, Alice

Assistance Dog Demo

For those of you that don't know, I am in the process of trying to get an assistance dog. I am currently on the list with Summit Assistance Dogs. In fact, I have my first of 3 assessments on October 7th where I go and work with the trainers and different dogs for a day.

Last week Eric, David, Dad, and I went to a demo that Summit Assistance Dogs had at a local church. They had one of their dogs do demos on a few things like turning on/off lights, retrieving objects like the telephone, opening doors, and pulling off gloves and coats. I've included a few of the pictures they had on their web site showing some of these activities. I've also included a picture of Myrna and her hearing dog Austin who came and did a demo of how he helps her.

House on the rock or sand?

So I updated my profile per request. Amy and I are thinking about buying a house. With our current income and expenses we should be able to save $20k in one year. We think that would be a good down payment for a house worth around $100k. We have not made up our mind for sure yet but it is an idea.

Then again we might have kids....

September 17th - A Day to Remember!

It's Alice's Birthday today! Let's get a round of Happy Birthday wishes going. Alice came into our lives when John was only six years old I think and I think she would agree that raising him up to his present position as the Youth Minister of a Church of the Nazarene in Charleston, WVA (or whatever your proper title is John) was both a challenging and love filled job. In the process, she became a much loved member of our family and Fred became John's father.

I don't think that any family I know has ever had such a helpful, loving, dependable, and adored daughter-in-law as Alie and I want to thank her with all my heart for all she's done for each of us along the way.

So, Alie, my wish for you today is for many, many more years of fun and excitement with this crazy MacKenzie clan!

Biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig Birthday Hugs from Ruth and Merle and Biiiiig Birthday slurps from Pepper!

P.S. Hey Gang, David's birthday is on Sept 21st....hint, hint

Speech #2: Taiwan

This is my second speech and the focus is on organizing your speech. I used this speech to show some great achievements that Taiwan has accomplished during the past twenty years and some key points behind the scenes.

*****

Madam Toastmaster, Fellow Speech Crafters, and Honored Guests. What is the first thing you do every morning when you come to work? For most of you, it would be turn on your computer, right? Computers have become such an important part of our everyday life during the past two decades. What does this have to do with Taiwan? Taiwan is the world’s largest provider of chip foundry service with 70% of the market. Without chip foundry you can’t make computers. Taiwan is also the #1 producer of notebook PC’s, the #1 provider of LCD monitors, and the #1 provider of PDA’s. Today I am going to tell you four key things behind these amazing achievements.

First: education. Taiwan, formerly named Formosa by Portuguese sailors, has a population of about 23 million living on an island of less then 14,000 square mile. As a comparison, Washington State has a population of 5.9 million. This is about a quarter of Taiwan’s. But Washington State is almost 5 times bigger than Taiwan. With such a high population density, competition becomes a norm of daily living. It starts from education system. Everyone in Taiwan is required to have 9 years of basic education. At the end of 9th year, if you want to go to a better high school then you have to take an exam. The result of this exam will decide which school you can enroll. It is a very competitive exam and you have to prepare for it at least one year ahead. After high school, there is another exam for college. The college exam is national which makes it more competitive then high school exam because it is only regional. Most families want their kids to get college education hoping this will give them a better chance after school and they push and support their kids for the whole process. The society supports this exam system because it is fair although this system may distort the purpose of education.

Second: transportation. Taiwan has a very good network of roads including the Sun Yat-Sen highway, which connects the north with the south. It is about 200 miles long. During the Lunar New Year holiday season, it could take you 8 or 9 hours or even longer to drive from the north to the south. Air transportation is becoming more convenient and affordable and the market is getting bigger everyday. As it only takes about 45 minutes from Taipei (in the north end of Taiwan) to Kauhsiung (in the south end of Taiwan) and people value time more. Taiwan also has excellent public transportation service. In Taipei, bus and metro services are so convenient that driving a car may take you more time to get to your destination and on top of that parking lots are almost always full in certain place and parking lot fee costs you a lot more than bus or metro fair.

Third: communication. There are more than 13 million phone lines and more than 25 million cell phones in use. The whole telephone system is digitalized. Also there are about 3 million Internet hosts and 14 million Internet users. With this massive communication network, information travels fast and spreads allover the whole island. This characteristic pushes business to be more flexible and efficient to stay competitive.

Forth: efficient government involvement. This includes a government built Industrial Technology Research Institute that is a collection of labs working closely with local companies. It strives to match the best that the West, Japan, and Korea can offer and it has alliances with scientists from MIT, the University of California at Berkeley, and other high profile colleges/institutes.

Barely a decade ago, Taiwan made components or assembled machines and was only a marginal player. Today Taiwan is tops in routers, notebook computers, and cable modems through its education system, transportation network, communication network and efficient government involvement. Someone says: the PC industry has really consolidated around Taiwan. From Formosa: a beautiful island to today a high tech center, Taiwan is a shining star. Madam Toastmaster.

Icebreaker: Sleepless in Seattle

This is my first speech to the Speech Crafter (a Toastmaster club at my office). Toastmaster is an international club and people join this club to improve communication skill and build leadership. The first speech is called icebreaker and it is used to introduce yourself to the club. It should last between four to six minutes and one club member will give you a formal feedback at the end. I delivered this speech in April.

*****

Madam Toastmaster, fellow Speech Crafters, and honored guests. Have you seen the movie: Sleepless in Seattle? I saw this movie when I was in Taiwan and I was so attractive to Seattle and the houseboat that Tom Hanks lived in the movie. At that time I thought I would like to visit Seattle one day and here I am. It has been 5 years since I moved here and I am going to tell you how I got here.

August 1, 1994 that is a very special day in my life as I left my family and friends and came to the States. It was a long trip from Taipei to Los Angeles and then to Tucson, AZ. I was so excited when my plane landed in Los Angeles international airport. Everything looks so big from the city of Los Angeles, to the LAX, Los Angeles international airport, to people in airport. Even hamburgers look bigger then what we have in Taipei. It was like a dream to me to see so many Americans in one place. I felt like I was in a TV show or movie because I only saw Americans on TV or movie prior to my arrival to the States. I waited there for a few hours then got on another plane and headed to my destination.

Tucson, AZ, a desert city. Have you been there? Do you know how a new comer is welcomed down there? Let me tell you. My plane landed there after midnight. When the automatic sliding door of the terminal opened, immediately you can feel a huge wave of dry hot air coming towards you and just a couple of steps outside the building you felt that you were cooked. Then you look at your watch, it showed 12 o’clock midnight. Welcome to desert, my friend said to me.

It only took me a few days to get used to the desert weather because I mentally prepared myself before my departure from Taipei. Besides, dry heat is more bearable then humid and hot coming together. The toughest part to adjust to is the meal. My family is not filthy rich but we manage to have fish in our daily meal. Every day you can expect some kind of fish cooked in a variety of ways. In a desert city like Tucson you still can get fish but the choice is poor and price is high.

When I first arrived the University of Arizona, I was only offered tuition waiver and I had to pay for my own living expense. One year later the University offered me a Teaching Assistant position in the Math department. After working half year as a tutor at Math Lab serving as training and preparing to be an instructor, my first teaching assignment came in spring of 1996. It was a relatively small class with around 20 students and the subject was Trigonometry. I was assigned to the same subject for 2 more times before I could move on to different classes. Most Trigonometry students were from science or engineer major and they were relatively easily to communicate mathematically. After Trigonometry I taught Business Calculus. As the title indicated, all my students were from business major and I encountered some difficult students. They hardly showed up to class, they turned in homework late or not at all, and at the end they blamed you for being a very bad teacher.

My best experience came in summer of 1999. The subject was Mathematical Reasoning and Writing and it was for junior or senior Math major students. This class covered Point Set Topology, one of my favorite subjects, and was the first rigorous mathematical training for most students. I had a really great time in teaching this class and received positive feedback from my students. It was a very rewarding experience.

My teaching career ended in December 1999 as I turned down an assignment for the spring semester of 2000. I started looking for an actuarial job in summer of 1999 and it took me 9 months to land one.

March 29, 2000 another turning point of my life as I started another career with Premera Blue Cross. I started as an HCE Analyst at the Healthcare Economics department. I was there for two years and then rotated to the Actuarial department. Seattle has treated me very well the past five years and I have checked out that beautiful houseboat several times. Have you seen the movie: Sleepless in Seattle? As a Seattle resident, if you have not, you should check it out. You will like it. Madam Toastmaster.

Investment Opportunities

I am actively seeking persons who are interested in investing in a startup nursery business, while at the same time making a profit for themselves.

I am very serious about turning this venture into a successful nursery. I believe this is the direction my life is headed, that it is not just a temporary thing, and to that end I have already spent a considerable amount of my own money.

So far I have spent...
$425 lumber for sand and dirt beds
$430 topsoil/compost
$250 materials to build intermittent mist system
$200 nursery startup information
$250 online message board access exclusively for backyard nursery growers
$225 bought some plants from other growers on message board to propogate from
$60 more plants I bought at lowes to propogate from
$95 propogation trays
$80 electrician to wire timers
$48 American Nurseryman magazine subscription
$40 landscape fabric
$30 screws
$20 rooting compound

$2,153 total so far.

So you see I am very serious about this. Below is a list of things I still need, either now or as the business grows.

$1,000 lumber
$1,000 shed
$1,000 stock plants to propogate from
$1,000 topsoil/compost/sand
$1,000 1 gallon pots (5,000)
$250 intermittent mist system add ons
$250 website/logo/stationary

Plus I need a 6 ft fence around the backyard but have no idea how much that costs yet.

So you see there is a need for funding. I could just get a line of credit at our credit union, but where's the fun in that? Seriously, I can do that. I am not pressuring anybody to invest as much as I am letting everybody know where things stand right now. Because I know you are all interested. And I appreciate that.

It might look right now like this business is a money pit, but the potential for income far exceding these expenses is great. However that income probably won't happen before the spring of 2007. So patience is needed.

I currently have about 4,000 cuttings rooting in sand and by next fall I should have another 15,000 - 25,000 rooted cuttings. These can be sold wholesale to local nurseries, online growers or even nurseries across the country. It is simply a matter of getting the word out of what I have for sale. I have several ways of doing this. American Nurseryman magazine is the leading national magazine serving the entire green industry (nursery/landscape/maintenance). You have to be a part of the industry to subscribe. There are many pages of ads where nurseries list what they have for sale. I will do this also. Once I have my business stationary ready I plan to direct mail many nurseries across the country introducing them to myself, my website and my product. I will offer to grow exclusively for them. Which means that they would not have to worry about availability of my product, because I will buy stock plants just to grow and propogate for them. They would be the only one to receive cuttings from these plants, therefore assuring availability. Another way to sell is through Ebay. I have not checked into this yet to see how others are doing it, but I know others are doing it. And I will also be selling to my fellow growers on the message board. These are my wholesale options, and I will probably find more options later, but I will also be selling retail each spring starting in 07.

Each spring I should have 5,000 plants at a size big enough to sell for $4.97. I will find an available spot somewhere in town to set up shop and advertise in the 3 local papers that cover an area containing over 600,000 people (all within 25 miles of my house). People love to buy cheap plants and I really don't think I will have a hard time selling out.

So that's $25,000 each spring selling retail and $15,000 - $25,000 each fall selling wholesale. I believe I can do this each year just from my backyard. At some point I would like to buy more land, and try to grow (pun intended) the business more. However I don't ever see myself owning the typical style nursery you see all over the place. I am not interested in that. I have a niche that all those other guys don't take advantage of, cheap plants only, and lots of them. They have alot of overhead expenses (buildings, electricity, employees, etc.) where as mine are very minimal. The majority of the expenses listed above are one time only expenses. Once the business has made enough to cover them the rest is mostly profit.

So anyway there is my info. Hopefully all of this has convinced you that I am serious about this. If anybody is interested in investing let me know. I have not figured out a repayment plan yet. Maybe somebody could give me some input as to what is fair. But I probably would not be able to repay anything before spring 07.

Once upon a time - this is how it started 10 years ago

I don't know how this happened but it just did. After I read Fred's first sentence "It was a day like any other day, the sun was shining brightly and there wasn't a cloud in the sky", the whole scene of my first arrival to Tucson, Arizona came back to me. It was August 1, 1994. I left Taipei that day, arrived LA International airport at the same day but a few hours back (due to time difference). Then hopped in another plane to my destination: Tucson, AZ. I got there at around midnight. Although it was 12 o'clock, when the sliding door of the terminal opened, I was embraced by a huge wave of heat. It is an experience that I will never forget.

Tucson is located in the sound end of Arizona and is two hours driving distance from Mexico. It is a desert city. But I found it not very difficult to adjust to dry heat. It is food that I had difficulty getting use to. My family is not filthy rich but we manage to have fish in our daily meal. Every day you can expect some kind of fish cooked in a variety of ways. In a desert city like Tucson you still can get fish but the choice is poor and price is high.

I went to the University of Arizona for PhD degree in Math Dept. I was offered tuition waiver for the first year and I supported my living expenses. The second year I was offered a Teaching Assistance position. I was not assigned to teach until the second semester. It was January 2005 and the topic is Trigonometry. Mathematical part of this assignment was not a big deal but the English part was so tough. I spent hours writing my notes. I was so nervous and I decided to write down everything that I was going to say in the class. Every sentence. I taught the same class for a couple more times then I had a change to teach different subjects. I quite enjoy teaching and might go back to teach later.

I should stop now. But I will share more of my experience with you later.

Comments About "Once Upon A Time..."

Since comments to the other post should be story lines only, lets use this entry for comments ABOUT the story.

Once upon a time...

Ok folks let's have a little lighthearted fun. Let's write a story together, one sentence at a time, one author at a time. I will start it and then each of you can write a sentence. We can carry on with this for as long as we like. I don't know if there should be a certain order of authors, or if just whoever is online at the time should write something. I would think it would be easier to follow if each time somebody writes their sentence, they first copy and paste the rest of the story into their post. So that each new post has the entire story in it, ok? Anybody can take the story in any direction they want, but with only one new sentence per post somebody else may take it a completely different direction.

[this is David the Moderator]
Since I have "god-like powers" on this blog, I'll monitor the story. If two people post a follow-up sentence at the same time I'll go in and delete the second one (there's always gonna be at least a second or two between posts). I also propose an additonal rule...a person can only post one sentence per day.
[ok, back to Fred]

Anyway let's see if we can have some fun with this. If we need to change it to allow more than one sentence per person per post, we can. Ok I will start our story now.
.
.
.
It was a day like any other day, the sun was shining brightly and there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

Dim Sum Saturday Morning

Peggy and Eric and Chunnan and I went for Dim Sum on Saturday morning. Dad (Doug) opted out since he's more of an "Americanized" Chinese food lover and we were going out for the real thing. I know many of you already know what Dim Sum is because I sing it's praises every time I can, but in case anyone doesn't let me explain. Dim Sum is like Chinese Brunch ala-cart...one bite at a time. And when I say "ala-cart" I literally mean "On The Cart".

I should have gotten pics at the resaurant but I'm too shy to just stand up and start snapping pics left and right so these images from the web will have to do. So, imagine yourself in a large restaurant, crowded with people and a cadre of waitresses pushing carts up and down the isles betwene the tables. Each cart is a little different, one is filled with stacks of small bamboo bowls and rising steam keeps it all warm, another is covered with small plates of food some open and some under metal caps or covered in cellophane, another is like a giant square soup pot on wheels, and still another has a big wooden bucket on top with a ladle stiking out of it. The smells, and the foods they come from, are wonderful and mysterious and sometimes strange to an American's pallet. As I said, the waitresses push these carts buy the tables and ask if you want anything. Each bowl or dish has three or four pieces on it. You point to what you want (or just tell them if you happen to speak Mandarin or Cantonese) and they place it on your table and mark the check card on your table. Different items get marked in different price-boxes based on the complexity or size of the dish. You continue this process for as long as you have room to stuff your face then they total up the card and hand you the bill.

So, what kind of foods make their way to your table? Almost nothing you've ever seen before at your corner Chinese Take-Out! You have to be a little bit of a food experimenter to get the most out of a Dim Sum meal because the chances are the waitress can only tell you the most basic increadient, like Beef, or Pork, or Shrimp, but that is justthe tip of the iceberg. Here's a list of what we had yesterday. Baked BBQ pork tarts glazed with honey and sesame seeds, steamed bits of pork short ribs, curried pork inside a deep fried pastry ball with a shimp sticking out like a handle, steamed Shumai (a light green pastry cup filled with pork and topped with tiny little fish eggs...YUMMY!), steamed beef meatballs in dark vinegar, steamed Humbow (a doughy bun stuffed with sweet BBQ pork), steamed sticky rice (special rice mixed with ground pork, mushrooms, and gravy all wrapped in a lotus leaf), and a small bowl of steamed tripe (slices beef intestines...yes, sounds gross to white folk, but it's not bad, a little chewy and a light flavor).

That was just the stuff we snatched from the carts. We also had a special craving for some stuff we didn't see but that we had seen previously...so Chunnan asked for them and they were brought to us personally. Kalamari...large thick chunks of fried squid in a light and sweet breading with just a little spicy bite to it. Peggy called these Squid Chips because they look a little like fat potato chips and once you start eating them you cannot stop! The second special order dish was deep fried baby smelt. These are tiny little fish, maybe about one or two inches long. They look like little crispy worms in all sorts of squigly shapes with two tiny black dots at one end (the eyes) and a little flaired tail at the other end. They're fried with garlic flakes and green onion slices. You grab one at a time, dip it in some red vinegar then just pop it into your mouth and go "Mmmmmmmmmm!" Peggy started calling these "Fish Fries" because they look a little like small french fries.

What didn't we eat? Way too much to mention them all here. We didn't have the Pheonix Claws (steamed chicken feet), fried wontons stuffed with cream cheese and shrimp, prawns glazed with walnuts and mayonaise sause, mango pudding searved in evaporated milk, chilled dough balls filled with sesame paste, Congee (hot cream of rice soup mixed with pork and green onions and black preserved eggs), twice cooked buns (doughy buns stuffed with pork and sprinkled with sesame seeds, first they're steamed then they're pan fried to give them a crunchy savory bottom...this is one of my favorite items), sweet tofu (soft style tofu swimming in warm maple syrup)...I could go on and on and on...steamed green pappers stuffed with shrimp, large chunks of firm tofu suffed with shrimp or lobster...golly I'm getting sooo hungry!

The four of us ate our fill for $53 with tip...then we went shopping for Moon Cakes. Chunnan or I will devote an entire post to Moon Cakes another day.

Curry Chicken is served.

This is one of David's favorite dishes. It may take a little bit of time to cook but it is easy to prepare and I hope that you will enjoy it. The picture on the left is one of the main ingredients and you should be able to find it in any major/big chain grocery store. It is a box of solid curry sause that you melt into the recipe. I use the MILD variety, but their are other spice levels available depending on your taste. The other major ingredient is the curry powder shown below. This brand could be difficult to find but I know McCormick makes curry powder too.



Of course you will also need chicken to make curry chicken. I personally prefer skinless and boneless chicken thighs over chicken breasts. But either will work. When I prepare this dish for David and myself, I usually use 2 or 3 pieces of chicken. Other ingredients: 1 medium or large yellow onion, 3 medium carrots, 3 medium white potatoes, 1 cup frozen green peas, 1 red bell pepper, and 1 cup fresh or canned chunk pineapple (optional).

Chopping:
1) cut chicken into half inch cube.
2) cut onion into large dices.
3) cut carrots and potatoes into cubes about one inch on each side.
4) cut red bell pepper into squares.

Preparation:
1) Put carrots, potatoes, and one package of Golden Curry into a 6QT or 8QT soup pot and add water to cover all ingredients. Don't add too much water, barely cover every thing is good enough. Then turn on burner to high and cover it. When it reaches broiling point, stir it for a minute and then turn down temperature to medium. Cover and stir occasionally.
2) Heat a large frying pan and add two teaspoons of oil. When the oil is hot, add one and a half teaspoons of curry powder, chicken, and onion. Stir all ingredients well until chicken is done and onion is soft and tender. It will take about 7 to 10 minutes.
3) Pour cooked chicken and onion mixture into soup pot and mix it well with carrots and potatoes. When Golden Curry melts, it tends to stick to the bottom of the soup pot. You will need to stir it well. Add pineapple to the mixture and stir for 2 or 3 minutes then turn the burner to low. Cover soup pot and cook for 20 minutes. Stir occasionally.
4) Add green peas and red bell pepper. Turn burner to high, uncover soup pot, and cook for 5 minutes.

This dish goes really well over rice. Everything, ingredients and timing, is an estimate, so feel free to improvise on this recipe as much as you like or need to. Enjoy it.

Until next time, see ya!

Nursery Update

As some of you know, I am starting a backyard nursery. I have 3 5x10 frames of sand with about 3,000 cuttings rooting under intermittent mist. Last Tuesday night I was out of town. Alie called me and said, "I got good news and bad news. The good news is I give you permission to cut down that pear tree you've been wanting to cut down. The bad news is a branch broke off the tree and fell on top of your plants." Will send Dave a pic to post here. So Alie calls her friend who brings her son and they all go about cutting up the branches to remove them from my poor babies. As it turns out not a single one was injured. Praise God.

Here is what I am currently rooting

950 Dwarf Burning Bush
598 Dwarf English Laurel 'otto luyken'
621 Lithodora 'grace ward'
242 Loropetalum 'sizzling pink'
235 Bayberry/Waxmyrtle
109 Crimson Pygmy Barberry
77 Sedum 'autumn joy'
45 Aucuba 'gold dust'
20 Crepe Myrtle 'natchez'

I have ordered rooted cuttings of the following plants from another member of the growers group I am in.
25 spirea japonica 'alpina'
25 goldmound spirea
25 golden barberry
25 Redtwig Dogwood
25 Purple Lilac
25 Amur Privet
25 Pink Weigela
25 Cranberry Cotoneaster
25 Purple Leaf Plum
25 Kwanzan Cherry
25 Yoshino Cherry

And later this weekend I will be sticking more cuttings in the sand of these plants
+/- 200 Emerald Green Arborvitae
+/- 50 Dwarf Zebra Grass
+/- 50 Fountain Grass
+/- 50 Red Fountain Grass
+/- 900 Lithodora 'grace ward'
+/- 25 Pachysandra
+/- 500 Sedum 'autumn joy'

That is approximately 4,947 potential plants.

And in the winter I will divide my Daylillies, Liriope and Hosta, which should add another 200 plants. Then in the spring all the plants will be moved from the sand beds into regular planting beds. During the spring and summer of 06 these plants will yield about another 15,000 - 30,000 cuttings to stick in the sand. And on and on and on and on it goes. Hopefully sales will keep up with production and we will all live happily ever after. If any of you have something you would like me to grow for you, let me know.

Hi Ya'all

That's still the Va. in me. I was going to tell you about the state fair but Peg beat me. She made me walk all day and wouldn't let me hitch a ride. We had a good time. It would have been nice to see the rodeo but that didn't start until 7 pm. Maybe next year. Thats all for now. Bye.

The State Fair

Well it was my Friday off so Dad and I decided to ride the bus to the Evergreen State Fair today. It was a really nice day outside...not too hot and not too cold...and it wasn't crowded. We walked around and bought a few stocking stuffers for Christmas. We also watched a logging competition and the ever famous "All Alaskan Pig Races"!! After that we walked around some more and then watched a 4-H dog obedience competition. Of course Dad couldn't pass up the fresh made salt water taffy, but he did manage to keep it down to a small bag!! Also, I'm supposed to be sure everyone knows he got plenty of walking exercise today!!

Changes at Quizno's

Of course, after Mom's post about the trouble in New Orleans, this post will seem very shallow and self centered, but I just felt like griping a little about Quizno's Subs.

They just changed their "frequent customer" card program. It used to be that you got a stamp for each $5 you spent and when you had 10 stamps you got $5 off your next purchase. If it took you a year to get 10 stamps, or if you only bought small subs or just soups and salads, or lots and lots of cookies, then that was ok. Well...not any more!

Now they give you new card each month, you have to buy a medium or large sub or a large salad to get a stamp and when you have four stamps you get a free medium sub or salad. What if I'm watching what I eat and only get small subs? What if I want a meal of just soup and a cookie? What if I have my four stamps and then don;t make it back to the store before the month is over? What if I got all mt stamps from eating large subs but they're only giving me a medium sub for free? It just seems that it's not in the customer's favor. :(

Oh, one more thing...I got a combo meal there the other day...and saved a whole 9 cents over buying the sub, chips and drink separately. Wow, big savings!

Don't get me wrong though, I'll be at Quizno's several times a month for dinner or lunch and I'll do my darn'dest to get my free sub...whatever it takes!

New Orleans Comments Anyone?

Personally, I don't understand why more people don't understand that getting aid to these stranded people cannot be expected to be "immediate" or on a grand enough scale to get everyone out in just a few days. This is an enormous undertaking. No one could have predicted the scope of the destruction, the degree of flooding, or that so many, many people would be left behind, unevacuated. You can't just snap your fingers and make it all right overnight. It will take time, and patience, courage, and understanding. And, to make matters worse, our National Guard is stretched so thin with most of them in Iraq that I imagine that is the reason it took them so long to "get it together" and get to New Orleans.

I applaud all the heroic people doing all they can to help, and pray that God gives them the patience and courage to withstand all the abuse being thrown at them by some of the ungrateful, impatient, frustrated, sick and wounded refugees.

Of course, I can sit here and say all this because, by the grace of God, I'm not going through what these people are going through. I thank God daily that Katrina didn't take a more easterly path after she entered the Gulf.

Ruth

Chinese Kitchen is coming soon to a monitor near you!

Hello everyone, this is Chunnan. I am going to share with you my "secret recipe" for curry chicken. Mark your calender: Labor Day weekend.

See Ya!

Finally, gotta love technology!

Ok, this is Eric Overbey, Peggy’s husband…after dealing with some minor issues I am finally onboard.  Wanted to say hello to everyone, and let them know I will be posting more info on my profile.  Good to be onboard.

Invitations

Here's a list of everyone who's been invited to join us at Far Flung Family. If anyone knows of other family members not on this list please leave a comment to this post with the names and email addresses so I can send them an invitation.

Amy MacKenzie
Barbara Hutcheson
C. W. Hutcheson
Cheryl & David Buxton
Chunnan Wang
Darcy McPherson
Darryn and Liz Sturge
Dave and Barbara White
David MacKenzie
Doug MacKenzie
Eric Overbey
Esther Mason
Fred and Alice MacKenzie
Fred and Linda MacKenzie
Jan McDaniel
Jewel Callahan
John MacKenzie
Loretha Collins
Meghan Neibuhr
Merle and Ruth Nott
Michael and Cindy Scheet
Michael Nott
Nick Overbey, Sr.
Peggy Overbey
Renita Neibuhr
Rick and Marcia Morton
Robin Nott
Roland and Cheryl Mason
Rubette Patterson
Stewart Patterson
Tarja Keddrell
Terry Hutcheson
Tillman McDaniel
Treva Squires

Rewards For Running

Several time a week Chunnan andI drive down to a local park called Greenlake. It's a big lake with a couple of walking/jogging/biking paths around it. It's very nice and it attracts a lot of urbanite looking for a little exercise and relaxation. The main path is about 2.75 miles and we usually walk it in about 45-50 minutes.

Yesterday evening we were walking the circuit. It was dusk and Chunnan was a ways ahead of me. I was feeling a little energetic and decided to jog for a bit to try and catch up. I hadn't gone more than a few dozen steps when I spied a piece of paper on the track. I did a double take, did a 180, did a stoop and grab, and found myself holding a crisp folded $20 bill. SWEET! Now the path was fairly crowded and I don't see how anyone else could have missed this, so I guess God was giving me a reward for exerting the extra exercise energy.

I'm not a long distance jogger, heck at 240lbs I don't do anything for long distances, so it took me three or four short jogs/walks to catch up with and surpass Chunnan, but the surpsied look on his face was worth it. When we got back to the car I surprised him again with the $20 bill.

On the way home we were joking about a gas station that had high prices and he told me to guess how much their premium gas would be going for. I immediately said $3.09. Well, he was surprised for a 3rd time when we got to the station and I was right on the money!

We stopped at Starbuck's on the way home and spent $8 on a couple of frappacinos. We then went to a 7-11 and spent the other $12 on lottery tickets. Wish us luck!

Profiles

I've been reading our members' profiles this morning... or trying to. There seem to be some among us who have not yet shared.

John, I'd like to see a complete profile on you (as well as everyone else). Just from your member name and the blog you specified, I can see that you are not only "far flung", but "far out"! I don't know where you come up with these things but I'd like to see what else that mind of yours can surprise us with.

Rainy Days and Mondays Always Get Me Down...

Well, it's not Monday so it must be raining. I have a headache, and the dog is snoring.

Merle was working on the lawn mower yesterday trying to put on new blades while I was at work at Verna Mae's and was applying too much pressure I guess and something gave way and the blades snapped back and cut pretty deep into two of his fingers. He says "to the bone", but of course I've not seen them yet. He called me so I could pick up some guaze pads and tape "when I came home". Since I had to make a bank deposit for Verna Mae anyway I just made it in Chiefland instead of Fanning Springs, stopped at CVS for his supplies and went home to see how bad it was.

By then he had already bandaged both fingers with supplies he finally dug up in his own bathroom and said he wasn't going to remove that bandage for two days so I'd have to wait to see it. I think this is some sort of personal ritual he uses each time he gets a bad cut... and he's had lots of them. So, whenever the wound is finally revealed to me, I'll let you know how bad it was/is.

Oh, I asked him again last night about getting a cat. Not interested. Oh well.

Guess I'd better get busy and do some web work for Verna Mae now. Top o' the mornin' to you all!

Love and Hugs,
Mom/Ruth