Cotton-Pickin’ Days

Smack dab in the middle of the garage floor this afternoon was one dead little grey mouse lying on its side. When I told one of my neighbors about it, she thought I was concerned because of some sort of Chinese superstition. No, not that, I quickly explained. The first thing I thought of was HANTAVIRUS!

Knowing I was probably just over-reacting because of my public health background, I put it out of my mind until I received an email about 13 cases of human plague from the National Association of Science Writers mailing list. A “sign”! Here’s what I dug up about diseases mice can transmit to humans.

From the Backyard Gardener:

The most threatening health issue with mice is their ability to spread Salmonella bacteria in their droppings. This organism is a common cause of food poisoning. Other transmittable organisms are tapeworms, rat-bite fever, infectious jaundice/leptospirosis/ Wiel?s Disease, plague, Hantavirus, and possibly poliomyelitis (polio). Given these potentially life threatening diseases, mice should not be tolerated in your living space.

AUUGGGGHH!!

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I finally cleaned up our little garden today and the garden furniture too. We just enjoyed a picnic lunch on the deck and are spending more time out here blogging and drawing. Lovin’ it!

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Fear is good when it warns of danger.

Fear is not good when it’s constant, damages relationships, and keeps a person from growing.

Fear demands obedience but does not motivate a person’s free will.

I have been scared of very little in my life. I’m not scared of failing, living in new places, going down a different road, and, least of all, people.

I hope Stephen lives a fearless life too. Free of other people’s pressures and expectations. Because in the end, he has only himself to depend on for guidance.

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Maybe if I were 50 pounds lighter.

via Abigail

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London Gatwick airport was surprisingly peaceful yesterday when we landed around 8:30 in the morning. I hauled a still-sleeping Stephen in the sling plus our two carry-on bags of rocks books and other onboard entertainment onto my shoulders and humped my way off the plane to the airport bathroom. I’d made the mistake of adhering strictly to the size guidelines and didn’t bring my small carry-on with wheels. Of course, most other passengers didn’t bother with small details like that and coasted along the airport concourse. Drat my rule-following ways.

The bathroom stop took longer than I’d expected because I had to change Stephen’s wet underpants. Then, I rushed to the immigration counters where I was lucky enough to be ushered to the head of the already short line because I had a “little one” with me. Immigration was no trouble and customs even less so; no long forms to fill out or put-upon immigration and customs agents giving us the evil eye. With all the terrorism alerts this month, I’d expected mobs but it was actually much better here in London than in San Francisco.

Jetlag is so bad this time we were asleep from 3 pm to 6 pm the first afternoon, went to bed at 11 pm but woke up at 3 am to a tearful Stephen missing his grandma, aunt, and California in general, played until 6 am at which time we crashed until the early afternoon. There are still suitcases to unpack, laundry to wash, and a garden and house to clean. Not to mention work to do.

We loved the change of pace in California but are equally glad to be back in our own familiar home again, which is just a little more cluttered with toys, clothes, books, and snacks. It’ll be a while before we long to see the inside of a Walmart, Target, Toys R Us, or Costco. I think I visited those stores (different locations) a total of 30 times in three weeks.

Eight years ago, I followed Marv on his overseas postings to four different countries–Taiwan, Japan, Vietnam, and UK–and with each trip back “home,” much of what I miss about the U.S. seems less wonderful. Hardly anything is as good as I remember it (except the shopping). I hope it’s not because I’ve become more jaded, although that’s probably part of it. But I’ll never cease to miss my family and friends.

I’ve accepted my life for what it is wherever I happen to be. Wishing I were someplace else won’t accomplish anything. While I’d happily move back to the U.S. or, even better, the San Francisco Bay Area if the right opportunities presented themselves, I no longer need to live there. I can be happy anywhere even though I’m always flying off and leaving loved ones behind.

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Photo credit: mag3737

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Since starting a blog in November 2003, I’ve had the good fortune to meet some of the people who’ve made blogging so rewarding. Thought it might be fun to keep a list of bloggers I’ve met so far. May the list continue to grow!

Enoch Choi (R) with our mutual friend Al
at a barbecue last week.

1. abigailvr
2. angeliatay
3. daynema
4. Enoch Choi
5. Jason Bobe
6. Jeremy Wright, b5media President
7. Jill
8. jopeck
9. Laura
10. Lisa Lee
11. oiseauxbleu
12. pr0ncess
13. sonday
14. Snowy
15. Ted Fong (my brother-in-law)

Hope I haven’t forgotten anyone. Please tell me if I did!

NB: I’ve created a permanent page that is now under Scraps in the sidebar.

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Condom Dress from the International AIDS Conference in Toronto. Part of The Condom Project’s work to de-stigmatize condoms.

via ABC News

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Nice is probably not the first adjective that comes to mind when people think of me. I care about people and their well being through empowering them to achieve success on their own terms. The way I go about doing that, however, is not always very gentle or soft.

Linda Kaplan Thaler, founder of the fastest growing ad agency in America the Kaplan Thaler Group, has these tips for how to be nice and successful.

1. Thank the Delivery Guy
2. Bake a Bigger Pie
3. Give It Away
4. Sweeten the Deal
5. Help Your Enemies
6. Prod with a Nod
7. Tell the Truth
8. Don’t Be So Smart
9. Shut Up
10. Put Yourself in Their Place

Unfortunately, her detailed article in Oprah Magazine isn’t online but this Newsweek article gives a succinct summary. And next month, her book–The Power of Nice: How to Conquer the Business World With Kindness–will be available.

This hardass is looking forward to it.

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Took me a while to find the page listing all the batteries affected in the latest Dell battery recall so I thought I’d put it here in case it helps anyone. They only just created the site today.

Dell Battery Recall
http://www.dellbatteryprogram.com

Technorati Tags: dell, dell batteries, dell battery recall, product recall, recalls

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