Tigger does Boyne, Boyne

We took Tigger to the slopes and it turns out she's a natural! Hannah and her best buddy, Madeline (we nicknamed her Tigger because she is in constant, bouncy motion), did so well and had a ton of fun. Hannah has skied before but only about 4 times. This was Madeline's first time out and she couldn't get enough. Here's a video of Madeline (in the blue) and Hannah (in white pants and light purple coat) finishing up a run.



We left for this short trip on Tuesday, February 19, 2008 and came home Thursday, February 21. Lucky for Hannah that Madeline had the same winter break off of school. They don't attend school in the same city so it's never a given that they will have the same time off.

It's becoming tradition to stop at the Sugar Bowl on the way up, a quaint, down-home type restaurant in Gaylord. They're known for their raspberry pie and, among us, a waitress that wears her hair like Marge Simpson. Unfortunately, Marge must have had the day off when we were there.

On the corner of a main intersection in Gaylord was an ice sculpture that Richard and the girls explored.

We stayed in the Grand Lodge at Boyne Mountain which also has an indoor water park attached to it. The girls took advantage of all that fun the first day since we didn't have lift tickets until Wednesday. Richard went off to ski and I took the girls swimming.

On Tuesday evening we met up with a friend of mine, Diane Winchell, who lives up near Boyne Mountain. Diane and I went to high school together. (Or should I say we partied through high school together?) Diane is a 'professional-level' skier; she skis 3 days a week and also races. We did get to see her race on Wednesday night and I was quite impressed. Richard went skiing with her earlier that day and he said, "Finally, she just left me. I was too slow for her."
On Wednesday we started off on the tiny, tiny bunny hill with a cool moving ramp (no more tow rope!) to give Madeline a feel for the skis. Here we see Richard, Madeline, and Hannah suited up to go.
Richard was a good teacher and Madeline learned quickly. After 3 times on that hill we all headed for the other low-key hill. It's a nice, gradual hill that is long enough to require a chair lift.

After Madeline proved her proficiency, Richard took off for the more challenging slopes. And at that time the girls were ready for warming over hot chocolate.

Here are the snow bunnies!

Richard met up with us a few times on the hill en route to his chair lift. Off to the right as you're headed down the long hill that the girls and I were skiing on was a series of small up-and-down hills, a little more challenging than just skiing straight down. Here are the fearless three, having fun on the bumps!


I tried those bumps only to find that I couldn't slow down. I was going much too fast for my taste so I purposely crashed into the side wall which, as it turns out, was all ice. I survived with a bruise on the side of my knee. It was the only time I fell the whole day. The three of them made it look so easy!

Then it was time to chill-ax.
Here are a few silly shots of the girls in the hotel room acting like ninjas or something. Check out the picture of them showing off their muscles!
Before the girls headed back out for an evening ski, we went swimming in the other pool in the hotel. This one is part indoors - part outdoors with 2 Jacuzzis outside, also.
Hannah and Madeline decided they would get crazy and experience both ends of the temperature spectrum, cold and hot.


We had a great time and hope to make it back next year with Madeline and her whole family! Here are a couple parting shots, one in which Madeline is holding a special toy she won at the arcade.

Healdsburg, California: Olive harvest 2006

This is a long overdue posting. Actually, this trip was taken well before the start of my blog so I do have an excuse. I hope when you read this blog you are left with a feeling of tranquility through viewing the pictures. Because that is what I feel whenever I visit our friends' estate in Healdsburg, California.

First, a little history. While Richard was an analyst at Gartner (which is where he was working when I met him) he met a guy by the name of Ridgely Evers. Ridgely was, at the time, CEO of a company that Richard covered as an analyst. (And also, you might have heard of QuickBooks. Ridgely was the 'father' of that brainstorm. Now he's taking it to the 'cloud.' He has a new product, NetBooks which is bookkeeping as a service.) Richard and Ridgely became friends along with developing a solid business relationship.

On the personal side, Ridgely owns an estate in Healdsburg, California, which is about an hour or more north of San Francisco off Hwy 101. It is a very scenic area, rich in organic beauty. He is married to a lovely chef, Colleen McGlynn. Together they host an annual olive harvest; they grow olive trees on their farm. They bottle their own olive oil; you can find their products here. I know Colleen was into making her own soap; I'm not sure if she's still doing that.

For the harvest, they invite friends and family to come pick olives in the morning and by early afternoon Colleen and her sou chefs have prepared a delicious meal with olives highlighted in many dishes.

We've attended the olive harvest 3 times, 2006 being the last. It's always held in November and the weather can be unpredictable. In 2006 we had sun but it had been raining earlier which made the hillside where the olive trees grow pretty muddy and slick. I think I slipped a couple of times!

This event is quite a production! You're instructed to arrive in the morning. Their driveway is shared a bit by the neighbor way at the top of the hill. Here is a video of the drive in to Ridgely's and Colleen's estate. Please keep in mind that even though I am calling it an estate, it does not present itself as a stuffy, uncomfortable place to be. As a matter of fact, it is quite the opposite. The house is very homey and comfortable with hardwood floors and personal touches that add quite a lot of charm.

Ridgely is in the red shirt greeting guests and helping them get set up to pick olives.


When you get the car parked, your 'outdoor' shoes on, and your 'hellos' out of the way, you begin picking olives from the olive tree orchard which begins right across the driveway from the house.

Here's a bit of a silly video of Richard and me getting started. Notice the buckets worn around your neck. The technique that produces the best results, I found, was to position the bucket under the tree and with both hands begin plucking the olives free and letting them fall into the bucket. If you bother to pick them one at a time you would never get your bucket full. Sorry for the quality of this one video but it gives you a feel for what we're up to.



Here are a couple pictures of Richard and me amongst the olive trees.





































It sure is a beautiful sight to look down into your bucket!.

















Just a few olives on this tree.

After picking for a while the bucket gets pretty heavy. Ridgely sets up large bins that everyone dumps their olives into. The first year that we attended this event back in 2002, I believe, there were 3 of these big bins put out and filled up. In 2006 only one bin was filled. Not sure what happened to everyone's enthusiasm; Richard and I continued to enjoy the experience.

Watch these beauties as they're added.



And these, too!






Various olive-picking pails after their job was complete.









After picking olives there is a bit of time to relax before sitting down to the feast. This is the ultimate place to chill.



Ridgely and Colleen own about 22 acres that they farm. This is a picture of part of their yard surrounding the house.


Need they say more?





While everyone is picking olives or relaxing, Ridgely, Colleen, and all their help is busy setting the tables and cooking for about 100 people.





They serve their own DaVero wine and olive oil. Everything here looks ready to go!




















If I recall correctly, the bread that was served was cooked in the brick oven, behind these chefs. This was the outdoor cooking station.



Dishes for an army!







Just to give you a feel for how much is put into this event, here is a video of the porch as it awaits guests.





Introducing Chef Colleen!







Now we're all seated and enjoying the meal. What a perfect day with the sunshine and warm air. There was fresh chicken on the menu, freshly plucked the night before. They also served up some venison sausage along with various veggie dishes that made creative use of their olive oil. And don't forget the brick oven bread to dip in the oil! Yum!




Ridgely talking to the guests.







The two on the left are Lace and Sam, a couple we met at the first harvest we attended. They are an extremely friendly couple who also live in California, Sam retired from Visa. Sam's father actually lives in Detroit so we had something to chat about.


















I couldn't eat another bite!


If I could, I would live in California. This area north of San Francisco is beautiful. It is so hard to describe the difference between California and Michigan to people here in Michigan that have never been. It's more than just the scenery. It's a feeling of calm, peace, and time standing still that overcomes me when I'm out there. The ability to be near ocean or mountains or desert or rich earth whenever you fancy is the main pull for me, I think. Now if I only had enough money to buy something out there...

Do I dare

Some subjects are hard to bring up and talk about even with good friends because I'm afraid that I won't get my point across in just the way I want to. Politics and religion usually fall into this category.

My husband was (maybe still is) a bit of a Ron Paul fan. When I first heard of him and did a bit of reading, usually through reddit.com, I thought I finally found a candidate that speaks some sense. Ron Paul made a lot of sense to me when he spoke about how government is too big and our leaders do not govern in line with the Constitution. But then I did more reading and found out that he, an educated OB/GYN, is anti-choice. This told me that Ron Paul really doesn't 'get it' when it comes to understanding the Contitution. Yes, I am a prime-issue voter. I could never vote for someone who is anti-choice because it feels as though they hold shackles over my head as a woman. Now, I could vote for someone who would never have an abortion but believes that it should be a personal choice. That, to me, is someone who 'gets it.'

Someone posted a superb article on reddit that was written by a Canadian doctor, Garson Romalis (right). This article helps me get my point across about some aspects of my pro-choice views. What a brave person he is.

I'm always perplexed at men that have anti-choice views. I can bet that most of these men don't view their sperm as 'living humans.' But they'll gladly 'donate' them to whatever female suits their fancy at the time. "Here! Have these! But, if you get pregnant, I get to tell you what to do."

I visited my mother last night. She's 73. She commented to me after hearing something on the local news how she thinks this country is becoming a communist country. "Before you know it, the government is going to tell you the kind of pot to piss in!" I have to agree with her. There are too many laws governing our every move. I can only hope that my 4 daughters and all the granddaughters down the line have the option of a safe, legal abortion if they find it necessary. I can't imagine living in this day and age with the possibility of a botched abortion leading to death.

All of you who read this that might be leaning in the opposite direction as me, think about your daughters. And their daughters. And read Dr. Romalis' article.

Signs of spring

I know I'm being a bit optimistic here but didn't you just love last night's thunder and lightning? It's a sure sign that spring isn't long off. I opened my bedroom window so I could hear it better. Then I turned off all the lights to let the lightning penetrate the room and me. Only 44 more days until it's official! (Can you see me doing the uhh-huhh dance?)

Craig's list scam

Here's another twist from the scamming lot. It's so much fun to catch these guys but I can't help thinking that they swindled someone else.

I'll start from the beginning.

Richard sent me a link to a Dodge Caravan being sold through Craig's list. The van was priced well below any other Caravan listed of the same year. The listing had pictures of the van, all nice and clean inside and out. Since we are down to one car (Chelsea is using the van because her car is out of commission for good) I answered the ad to a Mark@usarmydt.com. Hmmm...looks like he's in the army. I didn't get a reply by late the next day so I emailed 'Mark' again.

Hi Mark,
I sent you one previous email asking how many miles are on the 2003 Caravan but you haven't responded yet. Also, are you the original owner? Are you the owner at all? What city do you live in? How available would you be for my husband and me to come out and look at it?
Thank you,
-Karen

This was his reply:

Hello Karen,
The car is located in West Ann Arbor, MI and it is in perfect condition, with no need for additional repairs, no scratches, dings, special marks whatsoever. It has 40K miles and the VIN # is : 2C8GP64LX3R215895 . It has a clear title ready to be signed and notarized on your name. You can see more pictures by click on the link below :
http://s244.photobucket.com/albums/gg21/markroberts_albums/
This car needs nothing, the title is clear, it is not a salvage one. I want this transaction to go smoothly enough as I am caught in the middle of some very important events and have little time at my disposal. I already have tons of emails so I hope you understand that I need to sort them out.
The price is $2,900 THIS IS MY LAST PRICE. I will not negotiate the price. I will take in consideration only those buyers who are really interested in buying the car, to be sure that I don't waste my time with endless discussions. This way, I shall be assured of the serious intentions.
So if you are interested please email me back so we can move forward,
Mark Roberts

There were a few words and phrases in here that raised some red flags right away. First of all, he never answers my question as to whether or not he is the owner.

"..it is not a salvage one." This is not normal American speech. He sounds foreign. Alert number two.

"I want this transaction to go smoothly enough..." again, normal speech would leave out the 'enough.' He sounds foreign again. Alert number three.

The whole tone of the email takes on a typical Nigerian scam. "I will take in consideration only those buyers who are really interested in buying the car..." "...this way I will be assured of the serious intentions."

But, I tell Richard I am going to email him again. Deep down, I want to bait him to see what is next because I smell something fishy.

Mark,
I would want my car guys to check this van out before I purchase it. So, if you are willing to let me do that we can move forward. It sounds like you are not the owner, is that correct? Is your name on the title?
-Karen

To which he replies:

Hello again Karen,
The transaction will be closed only through Buyer Protector and this way we will both be protected. I work in the army and my current job doesn't allow me to do otherwise. I have way to little free time to handle home visits and my phone calls are very limited. As I said before the car is as described and you will be able to inspect the car before a final decision.
I had prearranged shipping with Buyer Protector and DAS so my presence isn't necessary. The car is in a Buyer Protector warehouse, ready for delivery.
To begin the transaction I'll need your full name and shipping address, I will forward the details of our transaction to Buyer Protector and then you will receive an invoice from them. The car will be shipped insured to your location with DAS and you will have 5 days for inspection. I have already payed the shipping fees so there is no shipping cost for you.
Mark Roberts

Ahh-Hahh! I found the scam! I emailed this comment to Richard as I forwarded 'Mark's' email. The all-knowing Richard checked out this 'Buyer Protector' and found that sure enough there was a website that looked legit. But upon further digging, he found out that the site had just got up and running on January 26, 2008 and is registered to an unknown in the Netherlands. And if you go to the Buyer Protection site here you will notice that it is very similar to another legitimate company, Buyer Guardian. They even stole the logo! Check out Buyer Guardian here. (But wasn't it nice of him to pick up the shipping cost? He's such a considerate guy, eh?)

Then Richard went on Craig's list and did a search on this Mark guy's email address and found the same exact Caravan posted in a bunch of other cities. Some of them had been flagged and taken down already.

If you haven't figured it out yet, the scam works like this. The seller is claiming that he is in the Army (trying to play on our bleeding hearts for the soldiers, no doubt) and cannot do this transaction in person. He claims that he is hiring a legitimate escrow company to be the 'middle-man' in the transaction. If we want the car, we send the escrow company our money and they send us the car. Well, can you see it now? We send the money, get no car and are SOL.

I told Richard that I wanted to bait him more and he agreed because he wanted to blog about it. This was my next correspondence to 'Mark.'

OK Mark: I checked out Buyer Protector on line. I think I understand.
Here is my address:
Karen Ethier
151 Martin St, Birmingham, MI 48009
Please let me know what are the next steps.

These were actually Richard's words and Richard's idea to use the Birmingham police department's address. He's good! Here is the next response and it's a doozie!:

Hello again Karen,
I forwarded the details about our transaction to Buyer Protector. I hope that everything works out fine and we are done in this week. Please let me know when will you be able to make the deposit, so I know when to prepare the shipping.
Also I would personally advise you that when you will go to the Money Gram office to send the money, don't tell the Money Gram agent that you are sending the money for an internet transaction, tell him that you sending the money for a friend of yours that you know because they will charge you additional fees if you tell them that you will send the money for an internet transaction.
I'll look forward to close this deal with you successfully and in the best manner.
Thank you
Mark

Don't you just love it!! "...don't tell the Money Gram agent that you are sending the money for an internet transaction...because they will charge you additional fees..." That one had us laughing out loud! And he also writes words in the wrong order...no, you're not foreign, Mark!

I responded:

Mark,
I thought you told me in the last email that I could check out the car. If you give me the address where it is being stored, I could go there.
-Karen

To which he replied (this is good!):

Hello again Karen,
As I've told you before my current job does not allow me to show you the car because right now I'm a specialist in the Army @ the 10TH Mountain Division in Buffalo, NY 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry and I can't get a permission to leave just to come and show you the car. I will take the permission only if I know I have a sure client.
If you don't feel safe with this transaction I can understand you also and I will sell the car to somebody else. I will wait for your final decision.
Mark

Well, by this time Richard had posted this whole scheme on his blog and the cats were done playing with the mouse. I was ready to let him know I was on to his shenanigans. This was my last email to which I have not had a reply.

Mark, Mark, Mark! You are too funny, Mark, or whatever your real name is!

"Also I would personally advise you that when you will go to the Money Gram office to send the money, don't tell the Money Gram agent that you are sending the money for an internet transaction, tell him that you sending the money for a friend of yours that you know because they will charge you additional fees if you tell them that you will send the money for an internet transaction."

A Money Gram office?? We don't have those over here in the States. Additional fees for an Internet transaction?? No bank could get away with that here in the States.

Funny that this EXACT vehicle was posted in multiple cities on Craig's List and taken down on many of them.

I have contacted Craig's List to hopefully shut you down completely. There will be a bit of press on this. Google map the address I gave you. It's a police station.

I could tell from your first email that you are not American. Using words like 'on' when you should say 'in' and small stuff like that. I was surprised that you weren't Nigerian. Or maybe you are, operating through the Netherlands. I just wish I could have strung you on and screwed you over before you had a chance to know what was happening, like the guy that went through the tattoo ritual thinking he was going to get money in the end. I will just do what I can and alert as many people as possible and contact whatever authorities I can.

You went through a lot of hassle, setting up a fake 'Buyer Protector' website, setting up a site that clicks through to the US Army website. With all that skill you should think about working on the 'good' side. You would feel much better about yourself. And you can make 'honest' money.

So, to bid you adieu, I hope you get what you deserve and even worse. I just hope no one fell for this vile scam.

Oh, and check this out: you're in someone's blog!!

http://blogs.zdnet.com/threatchaos/

-Karen

Check out Richards blog at the above link. Also check out the comments that he got. It's a riot!

So the moral of the story is: if the price looks too good, it is. And NEVER send money. NEVER.

Au revoir, amies!

1.4 grams of carbs per 4 oz...

...that's the carb count for red wine. And as you can see here my attempts at the Atkins diet lasted a mere 3 days. Actually, last night I really wanted to indulge in a glass of wine while watching a movie with my hubby, so I did. Nothing like cuddling under his arm into his warm body with a glass of wine in hand. Here I am about to eat a carb-loaded banana. The wine is just for emphasis. I'm just no good on diets. I did go to the gym today and burned my usual 600 calories. My next tactic will be to try to eat small bits more often through the day. I am going to try to eat before I get hungry; eat just a small amount. I think the problem with waiting until I get hungry is that I fix too much to eat. So, I'm defeated again but at least I'm not a grouch anymore!

Day three

Richard brought home a fresh loaf of rye bread today...this is going to be very difficult to resist. Maybe a 'modified' Atkins would be the best way to go. Hhhmmm. Bad boy, Richard!