I was duped in Vegas... but not the way you think!

Wow! It's been a looooong time since I updated this blog! I'm such a slacker!

Anyway, husband and I went to Vegas April 3-8 and had a fabulous time! I got a tattoo from the awesome Robert Kidd at Club Tattoo that I love and will always remind me of the trip. In the past, I've collected coffee mugs to remember my travels, but we've run out of room in the cupboards so I'm starting to collect tattoos instead!

 

Anyway... on to the duping. As husband and I were walking along the Miracle Mile (a cool mall attached to Planet Hollywood, where we were staying), I was accosted by a rep of BellaPierre. Now, anyone who knows me knows I love makeup and I have been loyal to MAC for years (they have the ONLY eyeliner that will withstand a Buffalo winter!). And lately I've been looking for some eyeshadow with a high glitter factor. So I indicated to the rep that I wasn't interested (she was trying to sell me on foundation which I don't wear) but I somehow still got dragged over to look at the eyeshadow. She told me she used to work for MAC and that the BellaPierre eyeshadows were more pigmented than the MAC ones. I saw some glitters that I liked so I let her do some demonstrating of the colors on her hand. The coverage was unbelievable! And when she told me they were on sale for buy 2 get 2 free (which made them $10 ea. instead of the usual $20 - much cheaper than MAC's $18CAD) I was sold! So I bought 4... two glitters and two pigments. I didn't get to try the shadows until I got back to Toronto... not that it mattered. They have an exchange only policy. I started with the gold glitter first. It didn't want to stay on. So I tried applying it wet like the rep showed me. Didn't make any difference except for wasting glitter due to it being stuck on the applicator. I was frustrated. I waited a couple days and then tried one of the pigments. I put on layer after layer trying to get good coverage. Then I tried applying it wet. No difference. And the shadow didn't last very long. A few days later I tried the second pigment, both dry and wet, AND with Urban Decay's Eyeshadow Primer Potion (which I always use under dark MAC colors to keep them in place). Same disappointing story. 

The conclusion: the shadows I was shown were much more pigmented than the shadows I purchased. I'm pretty pissed because I consider myself a smart person and I should have known better than to make an impulse purchase. But we live and we learn! Lesson learned: BellaPierre's got their last $$$ from me!

The Importance of Estate Planning...

This blog is usually my outlet for complaining, making fun, etc. But this entry is serious.

In early December my father-in-law (FIL) passed away suddenly. Since then it's been a mad dash to get his apartment cleaned out, funeral arranged, finances rectified. Most, not all, of the uncertainty and stress my husband and I are experiencing could have been alleviated if my FIL had a Will.

Husband and I did a Will soon after we were married five years ago. We don't have a lot but we wanted everything to be neat and clean should anything happen to us.

Luckily, regarding my FIL's estate, we've had a lot of good people willing to take the extra time to help us out. The woman at my FIL's bank has been wonderful in pointing us in the right direction and speedy in reimbursing us for out-of-pocket expenses. OASIS in North York sent a truck and two drivers to pick up almost all of the furniture in my FIL's apartment, at no charge.

Since I worked in estate law for over 4 years in the States I thought I could handle all the Administration paperwork. I was on the right track, but needed a little more help. We purchased a kit from Staples entitled Ontario Probate Kit: Everything you need to Probate an Estate. I have to say that this kit has been invaluable in getting together the court paperwork my husband needs to become Administrator of his father's estate. I was able to get the paperwork done quickly and easily. The paperwork has yet to be filed, but I have my fingers crossed that that will be smooth sailing. 

In all my Googling, I could not find a singular source which would point me in the right direction. I was mostly redirected to lawyers whose costs for estate settlement ranged from $300 - $3,000.  At those rates my FIL's entire estate would go to the lawyer, not leaving anything for his two sons. The kit cost $30 and is reimbursable as an estate expense. 

As much as people don't like to think about dying, it's inevitable. Luckily my FIL's estate was simple: no real estate, car, children under 18 or pets. Please take the time to devise a Will outlining your wishes at your death: funeral arrangement, division of property, organ donation, etc. Your loved ones will have one less thing to think about while mourning.

Incredible Nature: Longest Eclipse ~ Car Tree ~ Seed Bombs

Experience the century’s longest eclipse aboard the JetLite 737-700

On Wednesday, July 22, 2009, we are going to witness the greatest eclipse of the 21st century. A total eclipse of the sun will be visible from within a narrow corridor that traverses half of Earth. The path of the Moon’s umbral shadow will begin in India and cross through Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar and China. Here is a great chance for the eclipse chasers to fly above the clouds at level four-one-zero to have a clear view of the eclipse. First time even in India, a plane has been chartered to see the total Eclipse from above the clouds. Cox and Kings, in collaboration with Eclipse Chasers Athenaeum, is organizing a historical passenger eclipse flight, which will heighten the experience the longest eclipse of this century. A JetLite 737-700 has been chartered for the same and it will remain in the air for three hours. Mr. C V Devgun, the key person of Space Technology and Education Pvt Ltd (STEPL), said…

The new aircraft hired from JetLite will take off at 3:30 in the morning for the Delhi to Delhi 4hr 20min flight. The aircraft will intercept the eclipse shadow at midpoint at 6.26 am IST near Gaya and give around a 3-minute long eclipse view at an altitude of 41,000 feet.



Enthusiasts sitting along the Sun Side windows of the aircraft will be able to shoot the eclipse, while the eclipse chasers sitting along the Earth Side windows will be able to photograph the Lunar Shadow moving over the Earth’s cloud top.

The eclipse flight will have four classes of seats, depending on sun’s visibility. Tickets cost Rs 79,000, Rs 67,000, Rs 59,000 and Rs 29,000 per seat (about $1,635, $1,390, $1,225 and $600 respectively). This is truly an opportunity of a lifetime to view the nature’s best show.

I really wish I had $4,000 just lying around. This would be incredible!

Junkyard workers enshrine tree that grew to lift a car

James of Japan Probe reports that a Japanese hackberry tree, which sprouted from a seed in a junkyard 25 years ago, has managed to lift a car in the air. "Workers at the junkyard have built a small fence around the tree, and are protecting it as it continues to grow," he writes. Video here.

Isn't this amazing? Just goes to show the power of Nature! When I still worked in Buffalo I would take the highway home and everyday one spring/summer I would pass a lone sunflower growing out of a crack in the pavement next to the median. I would have loved to take a photo but there wasn't a safe place to park nevermind crossing 3 lanes of highway...

How-To: Seed Bombs

If you want to liven up a local vacant lot or other area but don't have easy access for guerrilla gardening, make some seed bombs and throw them over the fence.

I'm definitely going to try to make some of these. There are so many vacant areas that could use a hint of color. Plus they're easy to toss and go...digging can be a little conspicuous!

Life Changes

So my friend Krysta posted her results of the HUMANMETRICS Jung Typology Test. I took the test two years ago and posted the results here:

March 13, 2007 Results - INFJ

Well, I re-took the test today and received a completely different result (ISTP):

All Artisans (SPs) share the following core characteristics:

• Artisans tend to be fun-loving, optimistic, realistic, and focused on the here and now.
• Artisans pride themselves on being unconventional, bold, and spontaneous.
• Artisans make playful mates, creative parents, and troubleshooting leaders.
• Artisans are excitable, trust their impulses, want to make a splash, seek stimulation, prize freedom, and dream of mastering action skills.

Artisan Portrait of the Crafter (ISTP)



The nature of Crafters is most clearly seen in their masterful operation of tools, equipment, machines, and instruments of all kinds. Most us use tools in some capacity, of course, but Crafters (as much as ten percent of the population) are the true masters of tool work, with an innate ability to command tools and to become expert at all the crafts requiring tool skills. Even from an early age they are drawn to tools as to a magnet-tools fall into their hands demanding use, and they must work with them.

Like all the Artisans, Crafters are people who love action, and who know instinctively that their activities are more enjoyable, and more effective, if done impulsively, spontaneously, subject to no schedules or standards but their own. In a sense, Crafters do not work with their tools, but play with them when the urge strikes them. Crafters also seek fun and games on impulse, looking for any opportunity, and just because they feel like it, to play with their various toys: cars,
motorcycles, boats, dune-buggies, hunting rifles, fishing tackle, scuba gear, and on and on. They thrive on excitement, particularly the rush of speed-racing, water-skiing, surfing.

And Crafters are fearless in their play, exposing themselves to danger again and again, even despite frequent injury. Of all the types, Crafters are most likely to be risk takers, pitting themselves, or their technique, against chance or odds.Crafters
are hard to get to know. Perhaps this is because they tend to communicate through action, and show little interest in developing language skills. Their lack of expressiveness can isolate them at school and on the job, and even though they hang around with their own kind in play, they let their actions speak for them, and their actual conversation is sparse and brief.Crafters can be wonderfully generous and loyal to their friends, teammates, and sidekicks, often giving up their evenings or weekends to help with building projects or mechanical repairs-house remodeling, for example, or working on cars or boats. On the other hand, they can be fiercely insubordinate to those in authority, seeing rules and regulations as unnecessarily confining.

Crafters will not usually go against regulations openly, but will simply ignore them. More than anything, Crafters want to be free to do their own thing, and they are proud of their ability to do it with an artist's skill.

Bruce Lee, Michael Jordan, Woody Allen, Alan Shepard, Chuck Yaeger, Michael Douglas, Lance Armstrong, and Kathrine Hepburn are examples of Crafter Artisans.

Full descriptions of the Crafter and the Artisans is in People Patterns or Please Understand Me II.


It's just interesting what time can do to a person...

Sharing the Randomness...#6

I wonder how much cat hair I consume in a day. Husband says a pound. Why, then, don't I have hairballs?

And just to be clear...I am not eating cats. It's just that they both shed so much...

UPDATE: After some quick research (and I mean quick) I found out that seagulls migrate:

Do seagulls migrate?
Some gulls do migrate, especially ones in the northern parts of the world, such as Alaska. Like other migratory birds, they go south during the winter to where the pickins' [sic] are better. The migratory patterns vary widely depending on where they reside in the summer, but they can travel thousands of miles to find better food sources. http://www.celestin.com/seagulls/faq.html

Sharing the Randomness...#5

Where do seagulls go in the winter?

I could probably look it up but I'm too lazy right now. We still have squirrels. And sparrows, starlings and grackles. And I even saw a falcon today. But no seagulls. Not that I mind. They're kinda mean and dirty. Except for the babies. They're really cute. Husband and I were at McDonald's one time, eating in the car, and the cutest little baby came up and was begging for a french fry. I woulda scooped him up and brought him home if I didn't know what he'd turn into...

I'll probably look this up later. And if I do, I'll probably share it with you. I know, I know, I can sense your excitement. We'll see. I may get distracted by something shiny.

Sharing the Randomness...#4

4. 6:30pm - I've had a splitting headache since I woke up this morning. So now, at 6:30pm, when I finally can't take it anymore, I go get some Ultra Tylenol. Pick up the bottle and am looking for the instructions (just bc I need to know the dosage not because I'm dumb like the McDonald's woman or the crazy who used deodorant somewhere other than his armpits). So I'm looking and looking when I finally see the tab on the label that says peel for more information. So I pull it back and Bob's your uncle! 500mg! Hurray! Now. Who the HELL wants to be peeling labels when they are looking to stop the mind melting pain of a headache???? The only thing worse are those damn child-proof lids. I DON'T HAVE A CHILD nor am I intending to obtain one any time soon! Luckily this bottle had an EZ-GRIP lid...or something like that. Good thing.

Anyway...hope this is at least 3/4 grammatically correct. I'm suffering through eye liquification just to amuse you people. Send money.