Something Squirrelly this Way Comes

What an INCREDIBLE hockey game!!!!!!!!!!!!! My boys totally came alive in the third period. We were just beginning to think about possibly seeing the end of the season and Hallelujah Jussi gets a goal!!!!

I was at a bar with some friends. The place went Wild!! Screaming, yelling, high fives. It was Fantastic!!! And then the goal from Staal to take the lead!!! Madness!!!!! of the best kind.

M & I went to the airport to welcome the boys home. They got in just after 0100. There was a mass of people there, waiting for them. Good times!

Thank you Canes! What a great night of hockey!!!!

Willie, a Kemp's Ridley sea turtle, made an appearance at RDU on Thursday. She was flown, free of charge, via American Airlines from London to Raleigh. After being inspected by a vet from NC State and deemed healthy, Willie was transported to the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center on Topsail Island.

Willie had come ashore on the British Isles back in January 2007. Alive. Kemp's Ridley sea turtles normally cannot survive the cold waters. Their range is typically from the gulf coast of Mexico, the Caribbean and up down the East coast of the US. Willie's survival has made her a TV star and when she landed, she had her own BBC film crew to document the event.

Willie will continue her rehab at the sea turtle hospital. Her caretakers hope to release her back to the wild in June. The BBC will continue to have cameras following Willie's journey.

Sea Turtle Takes Flight -- from London to Raleigh by Gareth McGrath, Star News.

It's 86 degrees (F) out right now. Not a cloud to be seen. Tomorrow it's supposed to be 90. With a humidity of 60%. I refuse to turn the AC on in April!! Heck, I loathe turning it on before June!

Anyway, this weekend is also the Special Olympics of North Carolina (SONC) plane pull at RDU. I'll be going in the morning with a friend or two. Some coworkers have formed a team and entered the competition. No clue when they'll be pulling. Hopefully in the morning.

Plus, in previous years, Chick-fil-a has had a team dressed up as cows pulling the plane. That's one of those things you just have to see in person. Pictures aren't nearly good enough.

It's amazing how much is different at work when you come in over an hour early. Nobody here, the building's temp is a little off (there are different night temps than day temps for the HVAC system), and it's quiet. Well, except for the random squealing/squeaking coming from a coworker's office. Pretty sure it's not some building mechanical issue but her personal heater.

Hockey
A brief hockey recap, in case your home computer is like mine and can't load NHL's website due to the sheer volume of graphics on it.

East
Boston wins series 4-0 (vs habs)
Pittsburgh leads series 3-1 (vs flyers)
Carolina tied in series 2-2 (vs devils)
New York (rangers) lead series 3-1 (vs caps)

West
Vancouver wins series 4-0 (vs blues)
Anaheim leads series 3-1 (vs sharks)
Detroit leads series 3-0 (vs bluejackets)
Chicago tied in series 2-2 (vs flames)

Not Hockey or U2
Speaking of home computers, I have two now. Both do not work as I wish them to. My swanky new one can't even connect to the internet. How freaking useful is that?! NOT! *sigh* Before you ask, I have:
- rebooted. repeatedly
- restarted. repeatedly
- reconfigured my virus protection firewall
- reconfigured windows firewall
- turned off VP firewall
- turned off windows firewall
- deleted wireless connection & re-added it
- reconfigured wireless network connection
- rebooted wireless router
- 'repaired' wireless connection. repeatedly
- disabled ethernet connection
- tweaked the dell wireless configuration
- tweaked the default windows wireless configuration
- turned both wifi configs off & back on
- clicked on and followed assorted "helpful" troubleshooting suggestions
- screamed & cursed out new laptop. repeatedly
- considered calling dell & telling them to fix it now or i'll send it back & buy a Mac. Repeatedly.

It still says that I have an excellent connection with 'limited or no connectivity'. Not sure how it can be excellent if I can't do anything with it. And yes I tried connecting with firefox & IE, just in case. Even tried getting a VP update. No go. My old laptop & the roomie's laptop both connect to the wireless network with no problems.

Green Home Tour in the Triangle

Free, self-guided tour of 36 green homes in the Triangle.
Sat, April 25, 2009 - 10 to 6 pm
Sun, Apr 26, 2009 - noon to 6 pm
Sat, May 2, 2009 - 10 am to 6 pm
Sun, May 3, 2009 - noon to 6 pm



SunChips and National Geographic have joined forces to create The Green Effect, an initiative to inspire individuals to spark a green movement in their communities.

Simply submit a description of your Green Effect idea by June 8, 2009. Ten finalists will be announced July 7, 2009. SunChips & National Geographic will award $20,000 each to five people or groups that have the best ideas for green change. For the more info about the guidelines (& rules), go here.

Thanks Ideal Bite for the heads up!

I wonder if The Edge would sell one of the homes to me.. At a discount. Take off all the money I've spent on U2's shows, cds, dvds, t-shirts, magazines, random paraphenalia, fan club membership, etc. Well, let's be realistic here, take all the money I've ever spent on something U2 related and even vaguely U2 related and multiply x 10. I might then be able to afford a house in Malibu. Grnated, it'd be a guest house...

Speaking of Environmentally friendly... Reynold's Wrap now has
recycled aluminum foil. It's made from 100% recycled aluminum and the container is 100% recycled paper. The ink is water based too. There's also a rebate...

Hockey
Game 4 of Canes vs the damn devils tonight.

Okay, so (formerly little) Miss Princess Luna Fiona Fuzz Butt has already gotten the mouse. Repeatedly. The mouse received some stitches last Sunday. Did I mention that Luna got the mouse last Saturday afternoon? The stitches are starting to come out and there are wounds appearing in other areas. I'm not sure how long mickey has to live.

I've been busy. At a conference yesterday and will be leaving for day two as soon as I post this. Admittedly I'll only be able to attend the morning half of the conference. I have a meeting from 1300-1700 at work today. I know yall are jealous. A four hour meeting - who wouldn't be jealous of that? (yes, that's sarcasm)

Hopefully I'll be able to post items the rest of this week. Although when I get home tonight I have to pack. And then there's a hockey game (see below). And little Luna love to play with.

I gotta say tho, I'd rather be busy than twiddling my thumbs.

Hockey
Playoffs start for the Canes tonight!! Game 1 versus the NJ devils in jersey. LET'S GO CANES!!!

Well, not literally.

We made it to DC area today in less than 5 hours. Little Miss Luna slept most of the way. I opened up her crate, to let her wander around the car. She stood up, stretched, yawned and then curled back up in a different position. She did that several times but she didn't get out of the crate until I parked at my destination and got out of the car. That's when she got up and started roaming and investigating the interior. By far the best road trip we've had.

Hope yall have a good weekend! Hippity Hoppity and all that.

I liked the sparkle of the sun on the lake.

This was a really cool tree. I did a bad job of framing it up though. Maybe I'll go back and try again.

Some more cool trees. We saw several of them. I love their bent trunks.

It's pollen. And it was on my car until it started to rain this morning. My car is (temporarily) blue again. It has been a squirrelly shade of green the last week or two.

Funny thing, the salve they put on her neck smelled like garlic.

I'll give you three guesses to understand today's title. If you know me, it won't even be a guess... Ready?

Those are the dates/locations that I have U2 tickets for (so far). Woohoo!!!!! It totally made yesterday a Much better day than it should have been. Main minion out sick (again). Last day of fiscal year at work. Luna had a vet appointment. And a multitude of other things that just made the day difficult.

but then I bought U2 tix for my mom and I to the DC show (Sept. 29). And my friend Rach got us tickets to the show in Atlanta (Oct. 6). I found out this morning that my friend Nee got us tix to the Chicago 2 show (Sept. 13) yesterday.

I may have to make a shrine to March 31. Honor it as A Day of U2 or something. :) Now I just have to start pricing airline tix to Chicago...