July 7, 2008

Tuesday Teaser for July 8, 2008

Can you identify the item depicted above? Take your best guess and post it in the comments below. If your guess wins, you’ll get a nifty prize. Here’s how it works:

1. Write a comment giving your guess as to what the item is. Be as specific as you can. A table is too vague - a clamp on a card table leg is specific. Pretend you’re in an IT job search where details count!
2. First person to identify the item wins. If more than one person provides the correct answer, time and date stamp will determine who was first.
3. The author of this blog will be the sole judge as to what constitutes a correct answer. Sorry - no hints will be given. I will attempt to respond to your answers at least every few hours, but I am not continuously at the keyboard so please be patient.
4. The contest will end in forty-eight hours, whether or not a correct guess has been submitted.
5. Skeet’s Stuff is a do-follow blog, so you get some link value just for commenting.

What will you win?

1. The author of this blog will write a LINKY LOVE POST (review) about the winner’s blog (commercial sites ineligible.) The LLP will contain the url for your blog plus at least two deep links and will be posted here on Skeet’s Stuff, a PR4 PR2 PR0 (bah google!) Ha! PR3 blog. Skeet writes good reviews.
2. The weekly winners will be entered into a monthly drawing for a $10.00 gift card from Starbucks or Amazon or a ten dollar payment through PayPal.
3. Drawing for the monthly prize will be held on or about August 1, 2008, and will include all weekly winners for the month. There are five Tuesdays in July, thus the maximum number of people who will be eligble is five.

Comments submitted with commercial links will be deleted. If you would like to market your product, service or website through skeet’s stuff I’ll be happy to discuss your needs and my prices. Please submit your request via email.

[tags]contests, photos, photo contest, photo puzzle[/tags]

July 6, 2008

Self Portrait Sunday for July 6, 2008

I’ve hung out in the house all day. The first time I went outside was just now - around 7:30 p.m. - to take my portrait. I got some laundry done, cleaned the kitchen and putzed a little online. Had a nice long conversation with my son. The rest of the day was spent shuffling papers. Remember a while back my origanizing frenzy drove me to organize files in my office? That would have been a good time to take everything to the tax acocuntant and get myself in a righteous state with the state, so to speak. Procrastination being a primary character trait, I … um … didn’t. My professional license was due for renewal last week. One condition of renewal is a tax clearance certificate, which is pretty easy to get when you’re up-to-date on your taxes. I took last week off to finally get everything ready and should have all of the paperwork in order and taxes paid by now so that I can do inspections tomorrow. Unfortunately, my tax accountant also took last week off. Since I couldn’t go see him I delayed some more on getting everything in order. I should be done shortly. My tax guy will see me tomorrow. As soon as I’m though with him I’ll head to the tax office, then the licensing office. I might even have time to get over to the North Shore for an inspection. Might not, since every license for every trade and profession in the state was due last week and I’m not the only procrastinator around. If I get out of there before they’re ready to close for the day I’ll consider myself lucky. I’m just hoping I can get it all done tomorrow so I can play catch-up on Tuesday. Having just had a whole week off for the first time in years, I feel like I need a vacation. Maybe I should check out Hilton Head rentals and take some real time off soon?

I’ll probably wait until I get home tomorrow to see who else did a self portrait today. You’re probably caught up on your taxes, so you can go over to Midlife Musings now and look at all the pretty people.

[tags]friends, meme, self portrait, taxes[/tags]

Posted by skeet @ 8:31 pm • Photos, Meme • 2 comments  

July 4, 2008

4th of July on the Waianae Coast

I didn’t make any special plans for the Fourth this year. There’s been a carnival-type festival going on all day at Maili Beach Park. I tried to find a place to park so I could walk around, watch the kids on the rides and visit the food booths. Alas, the nearest spot to leave my car was much too far away. I did park at the other end of the beach, though.

Families get camping permits for long weekends and stake out their territory early - probably Thursday afternoon for most. There might be six or eight tents in a family gathering, with aunts and uncles, grandparents and cousins all enjoying the holiday together. It looks crowded in the photo above, but it really isn’t - just the angle of the photo, I guess. Groups are far enough apart to not intrude on each other and there’s plenty of open space left over. The park is probably about a mile long, and the festival area only takes up a stretch of a couple of hundred yards.

Maili Beach Park is the closest beach to my house. I have to pass it to go anywhere, so I stop by frequently. Sometimes there are hardly any people there, but on weekends it gets a lot of local traffic. On holiday weekends, everyone goes.

I was in street clothes when I stopped by. These kids were having so much fun I was tempted to strip down to my skivvies and join them! I don’t remember toys being this cool when I was a kid!

I always ask before I take photos with recognizable faces. This family group welcomed me warmly. There are several veterans in this group. The young man writing in the notebook is currently serving in the Navy. The fellow directly behind the blue bag was in Nam at the same time as my ex.

I was going to grill outside today and wanted a steak, so I stopped at the market while I was out. I did get a steak, but I’m saving it for tomorrow. There was a huli-huli chicken calling my name. I had some for lunch and will have some more for dinner. When a word is repeated in Hawaiian it means many or plural. Huli is turn. This is chicken that has been turned many times - you’d call it rotisserie chicken. Whenever I see huli-huli chicken I think “turn-turn” and start humming … “To everything, turn, turn, turn - there is a season, turn, turn, turn.”

I’ve been hearing a few fireworks intermittently all day. They’re getting more frequent as the sun is just going down. I might drag the ladder out in a little while and set it up so I can go sit on the carport roof. There will be a big, professional fireworks show at Maili Beach Park. My roof provides an almost-front-row seat.

Oh, my! They’ve started early! Here I go!

[tags]Fourth of July, Hawaii, July 4th, Maili, Maili Beach Park, Waianae Coast[/tags]

July 3, 2008

Four Foods on Friday #36

It’s time to talk about food again, folks. This week Four Foods on Friday is all about describing the personality of our cooking. You can join in the fun, too. Answer the questions in a post on your own blog. Post the link in the comments below Val’s post and she’ll do a round-up of all of our answers on Friday.

#1. Name your biggest cooking influence.

That would have to be my mom. She was an adventuresome cook, making up most of her recipes out of her head, the way that I still do. If she heard of a dish that sounded interesting & didn’t have a recipe, she imagined what she thought it might be like and made it. Nero Wolf fans, anyone? The dish Pork Chops and Sour Cream was mentioned in one of his stories. I have no idea what his version was like, but I still make the dish she created with only the name for inspiration.

#2. What is your ultimate comfort food?

Any potato dish, but especially potato soup! I shared a recipe a few months back in my answers to FFoF#15. It’s warm and filling and very “down-home” feeling.

#3. Name one must-have tool that you think every kitchen should have.

Wooden spoons! Give me some wooden spoons, a decent knife and any old pots and pans and I can cook. I love all of my kitchen gadgets and tools, but I must have my wooden spoons!

#4. Share a time saving tip.

Keep the big bags of frozen, boneless, skinless chicken pieces in the freezer. Chicken is so versitile that you can always whip up a quick meal when you have it on hand. I always try to keep some Holy Trinity ready to go, too. That’s the onion, celery and green pepper that are so basic to the New Orleans kitchen. I chop up big batches and then freeze it in portions - about a half-cup each - so I can just grab a chunk or two out of the freezer when I want to make jamblaya or dirty rice or a sauce that calls for it.

[tags]cooking, food, meme[/tags]

Tuesday Teaser photo verification

Y’all were all over and under and around the correct answer this week, but never actully on it. You knew you were seeing fabric and some bracing or framework, so you were just an intuitive step away from seeing an umbrella! Don’t despair, though - I’m usually much easier to figure out. Come back next Tuesday when I’ll try to stump you with a new Tuesday Teaser and you’ll probably make me feel rather foolish by shutting me down as soon as I post the picture. Mahalo to you all for playing. A special thanks to all the new players and to those of you who have been spreading the word so new folks could find me!

If you enjoy playing games, stay close. I’m way behind on game reviews, so I should be introducing you to several new hidden object games within the next couple of days. That’ll help you train your vision so you’ll be ready for next Tuesday!

[tags]contest, game, photo puzzle, Tuesday Teaser, umbrella[/tags]

July 2, 2008

Adapting to change

It’s hard to believe it’s been almost six months since Buddy died. I still feel him here sometimes. Other times the ache of missing him is overwhelming. But it just doesn’t seem that long - more like a month or so, maybe. Logic tells me a different tale, though. Lance and I have moved on, adpoted new routines. Lance eats indoors now. He used to eat on the lanai because he and Buddy couldn’t eat near each other without trouble. He gets to play with toys now, too - another thing they would have fought over. And he’s finally decided that it’s okay for him to sleep on the mini-couch that was Buddy’s bed. At first he wouldn’t go near it. After a while he started sleeping on the back of it.

This week he’s sleeping all the way in the bed. I guess he’s finally decided that it’s “his” bed. I know that he would know Buddy if we had him back today, but I think the memory is fuzzy for Lance now. That’s good - he’s not moping around waiting for his pal anymore. He doesn’t lay with his face against the front door screen, watching and waiting. He’s a happy little guy, like he was when he had his pal to keep him company each day. It’s a different kind of happy, but it’s genuine and good.

[tags]adapting to loss, dogs, pets[/tags]

July 1, 2008

Web hosting comparisons

How did you select your web hosting service? Did you spend hours or maybe even several days, going from site to site to evaluate different services? Perhaps you converted your findings to a spread sheet so you could look at services side-by-side. Setting up a new site can be pretty stressful, but finding out everything you need to know about selecting a web host doesn’t have to be. Web Hosting Geeks is a web hosting review and rating resource that provides all of the information you’ll need to compare the top services. In addition to providing their own reviews of each site, consumer reviews are also featured - real feedback from people who have used the services. You know which features are most important to you. Maybe you’re only interested in services that offer free domain names or multiple-domain hosting. Whether you’re most concerned with speed, uptime, price or e-commerce features, you can compare them all on one site and find the web hosting service that best suits your need. Why waste your valuable time trying to find all of the information on separate websites when you can find it all in one place? Check out Web Hosting Geeks, one-stop shopping for web hosting services.

[tags]Web Hosting Geeks, web hosting reviews, web hosting services[/tags]

Tuesday Teaser for July 1, 2008

Can you identify the item depicted above? Take your best guess and post it in the comments below. If your guess wins, you’ll get a nifty prize. Here’s how it works:

1. Write a comment giving your guess as to what the item is. Be as specific as you can. A table is too vague - a clamp on a card table leg is specific.
2. First person to identify the item wins. If more than one person provides the correct answer, time and date stamp will determine who was first.
3. The author of this blog will be the sole judge as to what constitutes a correct answer. Sorry - no hints will be given. I will attempt to respond to your answers at least every few hours, but I am not continuously at the keyboard so please be patient.
4. The contest will end in forty-eight hours, whether or not a correct guess has been submitted.
5. Skeet’s Stuff is a do-follow blog, so you get some link value just for commenting.

What will you win?

1. The author of this blog will write a LINKY LOVE POST (review) about the winner’s blog (commercial sites ineligible.) The LLP will contain the url for your blog plus at least two deep links and will be posted here on Skeet’s Stuff, a PR4 PR2 PR0 (bah google!) Ha! PR3 blog. Skeet writes good reviews.
2. The weekly winners will be entered into a monthly drawing for a $10.00 gift card from Starbucks or Amazon or a ten dollar payment through PayPal.
3. Drawing for the monthly prize will be held on or about August 1, 2008, and will include all weekly winners for the month. There are five Tuesdays in July, thus the maximum number of people who will be eligble is five.

Comments submitted with commercial links will be deleted. If you would like to market your product, service or website through skeet’s stuff I’ll be happy to discuss your needs and my prices. Please submit your request via email.

[tags]contests, photos, photo contest, photo puzzle[/tags]