Boycotting Christmas

Reasons I am being a scrooge this year:

* I am moving into a new place, maybe as soon as Jan 1, and am not about to get too involved in the holiday if I am getting ready packing and stuff

* I am too darned busy, heading to Tulsa for work this Sun-Wed, and maintaining a engineering career, a yoga teaching career, and helping out around the yoga studio

* I pretty much gave up on xmas / holiday cards the last few years

* Zippy is not christian so we've never really done much in terms of tree, lights, etc. Maybe 1-2 years out of the 7 or so we have been together

* I am effectively broke right this second; I have a pantload of receivables which ought to start showing up any time now, but really, I'm too poor to hit the shops

* We're getting ready for a Dec 19th kirtan which ought to keep me pretty busy between now and then (when I am not working, teaching, or being in Tulsa)

So....catch me after the new year. I'm sleeping in this holiday. Will probably go visit my family in MA for the day, but other than that, I'm not doing much.....

Equal Time

The mystery does not get cleared by repeating the question,
nor is it bought with going to amazing places.

Until you've kept your eyes and your wanting still for fifty years,
you don't begin to cross over from confusion.

- Rumi

So What is Up with Bristol?

Cause there are a heck of a lot of apartments available in that town.....

Internet Scams: Craigslist Apartment Edition

Yesterday, I dropped an email in response to this Craigslist ad:
$700 / 2br - Beautiful Classic Two Bedroom w/ Lots of Character! (West Hartford, CT)

Seems pretty resonible right? The photos in the ad pretty accurately show an older, empty, two bedroom apartment. Here's what I get back:

***************************

Attn Applicant,

Thanks for the email. I own the house and also want you to know that it was due to my transfer to West Africa, Lagos that makes us to leave the house and also want to give it out for rent and looking for a responsible person that can take very good care of it as we are not after the money for the rent but want it to be clean all the time and the person that will rent it to take it as if it were its own. So for now, We are here in West Africa and will be staying here for the next 4 years in our new house and also with the keys of the house for rent, we try to look for an agent that we can give this documents and the keys before we left but could not find, and we as well do not want our house to be used any how in our absence that is why we took it along with us. I and my wife came over to Africa for a missionary work, so i hope you will promise us that you will take very good care of the house. So get back to me on how you could take care of our house or perhaps experience you have in renting home. Hope you are okay with the price of $700 per month.

This is the address of the house: 773 Farmington Ave, West Hartford, CT 06119

SO IF YOU ARE REALLY INTERESTED I WILL WANT YOU TO FILL THE
RENT APPLICATIONS FORM BELOW

RENT APPLICATION FORM.
FIRST NAME:__________?
MIDDLE NAME:__________?
LAST NAME:__________?
PROFESSION:__________?
PHONE:
(CELL)PHONE__________?
(WORK)PHONE__________?
(HOME)PHONE__________?
KIDS _____ (YES/NO), HOW MANY ________
PRESENT ADDRESS: _____________________
CITY: _______________
STATE:______________
ZIP CODE: ____________
HOW LONG? ___________IF RENTING
WHY ARE YOU LEAVING__________?
IF THIS HOUSE IS BEING GIVEN TO YOU,
HOW LONG DO YOU INTEND STAYING? ____________?
WHEN DO YOU INTEND MOVING IN? ______________?
IF YOU HAVE A PET,
NAME OF PET: _____________?
KIND OF PETS: _____________?
HABITS
DO YOU SMOKE ______________ ?
DO YOU DRINK ______________?
DO YOU WORK LATE NIGHT? ____?

Looking forward to hear from you with all this details so that i can have it in my file in case of issuing the receipt for you and contacting you.Await your urgent reply so that we can discuss on how to get the document and the key to you,please we are giving you all this base on trust and again i will want you to stick to your words,you know that we do not see yet and only putting everything into Gods hand,so please do not let us down in this our property and God bless you more as you do this.Our house number is +234-806-113-3966 OR 011-234-806-113-3966.

Thanks and Remain Blessed.

***************************

Seem familiar? I thought so too.....

Man's Best Friend

Puppies save three-year-old boy lost in freezing Virginia woods

BY JANE H. FURSE / DAILY NEWS WRITER - Story here

"When I first saw him, he was like, 'Momma, I got cold. I slept in the woods last night. The puppies kept me warm.' He told me that ... the dogs slept up against him. And I'm sure the body heat kept him warm," said his mother, Sarah Ingram.

Billie Jo Roach, another member of the search party that found the boy, said the puppies refused to leave his side.

As the child was placed in an ambulance to be taken to a local hospital for examination, "The puppies were watching where he went.

What a beautiful story, with a happy ending. As someone who has a furry bed warmer and has noted the fierce loyalty of a dog, I'm not a bit surprised.

Tell Me What Life Is....

Enlightenment Intensive IV - I'm back. And voiding all the warranty requirements by hopping back on line so quickly and with both feet. Ah well, I am an old hand now, so I can bounce back faster.

Not gonna write a lot, but I like to set some markers to look back upon from the future (it was really sweet to go back in my blog for post-Intensive follow-ups, kind of reminded me of stuff). But some thoughts and memories:

* Life is large - me confronting the enormity of life
* Not having a headache all weekend (what was up with that? I usually get a honking headache)
* The planet (my first object of contemplation)
* Polar Bears and dead dogs
* The dead chipmunk and then the living chipmunk
* A reason to believe; waking up each day
* The beautiful and elusive woodpecker
* My left hand (my second object of contemplation)
* Building this hand out of bits of life that I have consumed
* The master plan in a single cell's DNA

I confess to spending much of the weekend in sadness and deep grief, contemplating the nature of life, the pain in the world, the immensity of the world, and the sureness of death. I did not have a direct experience of the truth (i.e - Enlightenment) which took me into some additional sadness and yearning, but it was a wonderfully cleaning and deep weekend nonetheless.

A most precious bit of work. Now back to the rest of life.

Off the Grid - New Age Style

I'm headed out this afternoon - so will be completely off the grid. No cell phone, no email, no texting. Heading up to Kripalu for an Enlightenment Intensive.

"Tell me who you are...."

Four Rooms

I'm supposed to be catching up on work this week, preparing for an upcoming Enlightenment Intensive, and in general, taking it easy. Instead, I got tapped to teach four extra yoga classes (besides my Monday night class) - a hot and gentle class last night, and an all levels class and an intro today morning. Teaching all this yoga is a bit tiring, but I'm flattered to be called in for sub duty, and pleased with my own ability to step in and teach at the last moment.

Heads-up: Heather Tiddens

Just a quickie for yogis - Heather Tiddens will be in town this coming Monday (Dec 8) from 6-8 pm - doing a Yin/Yang yoga practice with Barbara Ruzansky, at West Hartford Yoga. Regular class price too!

Not on the website yet, but this is one not to miss if you are in town.....

Homeowner?

I've been shopping apartments for the past few weeks - looking to move into my own place sometime after the first of the year. My concept - find a 2BR (minimum) place so I can move my business into the 2nd bedroom, close my office, and apply my office rent and the rent I pay Zippy towards the new place. I figured I could afford $800 - $900 per month. I'd have to come up with an additional $1000 - $1800 for last month rent and security.

Now, that's a pretty reasonable mortgage payment for a small place, especially in Hartford. And coincidentally, the house directly behind us is for sale - having been foreclosed upon a several months back. The bank owns it; it's listed for $125K; I suspect it will go for much less. I also realized that I can burn $10K of my IRA towards the purchase of a home, under the "first time buyer" exception.

No idea if this will work out; no idea if there is mortgage money out there; if I qualify for same, if the house is worth a look etc. Being self employed is tough; I gross quite a nice chunk of change but by the time I deduct everything (and you know I deduct everything I can) my net is much lower. But hard to know if the argument that I have been paying $800 / month in "rent" over the past 8 years is going to carry much weight.

But it would be lovely to have my own place, lovely to stay in this neighborhood, lovely to be adjacent to Zippy (we could remove the fence and let the dogs roam between the houses).

I want this, badly - to the point where I might try to get creative to figure out how to come up with the money if conventional methods do not pan out.

Azur and Asmar: The Princes Quest

Wandered over to the cinema at Real Art Ways (after far too long an absence) to see Azur and Asmar, an animated movie by Michel Ocelot. Was an incredible film - wonderful story, sonically gorgeous, and visually stunning.

At Real Art Ways, the run finishes up tomorrow. Go see it if you are able on the big screen....otherwise rent it. Highly recommended.

And boom....the holidays are here

Thanksgiving was late this year (so they say) and I have to admit I am not in the xmas mood.

This weekend will blur by - with yoga stuff, a book signing this evening, a belated family dinner on Sunday, and sneaking into the office to catch up on work. I look at the calendar, and Monday is the first of the month. Already? Wow....

Next week, a lot of yoga teaching (one of the studio rock stars is away, so I get to do some subbing). Thursday I leave for a weekend at Kripalu, at an Enlightment Intensive. Then a week of catching up. Then a week of travel (Tulsa again). And then, it will be the holiday week.

So...pretty much put it in drive and see you in January. The only good thing is, all this work means I'll be flush with cash about mid-month, so I can do some xmas shopping and close out 2008 with my head above water.....

Heading Home

A quick report from the road. DFW, to be specific. It looks like I will be getting my toes back on nutmeg flavored soil a bit after 1:00 a.m. - right on schedule. Huzzah.

Air travel seems very light, comparatively. Tulsa was practically empty - and although the plane was nearly full, I breezed through check-in and security with nary a burp and no line to speak of. And here in Dallas - no problem finding a table in the little food court, the gate area is pretty quiet.

I've seen a handful of servicemen and women in desert fatiques. Just a shout out and nod to them all for their service, a happy thanksgiving with their families, and godspeed wherever their life takes them from today. In all the economic chos, sometimes forget that there is a war on.

Was up in the air about Turkey Day - mom and my brother are hitting the casino (no big family day, we are getting together on Sunday). Zippy is heading down to Westchester to eat with his mom. I think I am gonna tag along with him - so he can come home tomorrow (else he would stay overnight). Which means no yoga tomorrow, but whatever....

Happy thanksgiving everyone. I am just thankful to be etting home safe and on time.

Tulsa Update

Down here in Tulsa, on my 3rd trip with this particular sub-client* this calendar year. I've been out to one of their facilities in Long Beach, CA. Also to this facility, last April. Here this week, and it looks like I will be back one more time before the christmas holiday.

This trip was, to be honest, a bit premature. My primary functions - investigate leakage curent and grounding, and check the system demand and harmonics, were not possible because the system was not ready. The "system" is a large flight simulator. And "not ready" means that the 13 motors and variable speed drives that make up the bulk of the electrical load (and create the bulk of the potential leakage current and noise issues) were not yet operational. So....I need to come back.

But, exciting to be here. Nice to get a few more billable days this month. And this seems to be a long term client - with potential for site issues, site prep and installation assistance, and ongoing development work.

Also, I get to occasionally fly (and crash) simulated jets!

* Sub-client = Customer of my customer. I'm getting paid (this trip) by my customer.

Yoga on Television

Watching some yoga show on RSU Public Television as I get ready for my workday here in Tulsa. Kind of fun to watch someone else teach a class, and to plan my own adjustments to her students.

One more day in Tulsa; I am hoping to get out of here early tomorrow, if I can sneak onto an earlier flight.

Brought to You by Chesapeake Energy

I'm sitting by Gate D40 at DFW, at a handy little power station, supplied by the good folks at Chesapeake Energy. and not only do I get a stool, a flat surface, and a power plug - but also a hardwire internet port that permits me to save a $5.99 T-mobile Day Charge for another day.....

Oops, belay my last. The hardwire internet quit working (maybe it times out) so I popped the $5.99 T-mobile day pass anyway. Oh well....still the stool, desk-like surface, and AC power is handy and useful.

Off to Tulsa

I'm heading back to Tulsa OK, a follow-up to my trip back in April. My San Diego client is developing power supplies for a client who makes large flight simulators (for Gulfstream's and Learjets and the like). This client is simultaneuously migrating from a hydraulic control system to one based on motors and variable speed drives. When I went there in April, we found lots of electrical noise issues, grounding issues, etc. I made some recommendations back then; this trip out we are going to see what has been fixed, what is still an issue, etc.

It is, perhaps, symptomatic of my life that I never did get that April trip closed out fully (final report, invoicing) so hopefully this will permit that to happen. It also means I'm going to be able to bill my San Diego client a good 5 workdays and 4 travel days this month (plus expenses) which ought to return me to financial comfort moving into the new year. Good thing too....

I'm trying to be positive about this trip; I have not been looking forward to it in terms of life disruption, needing to sub out a yoga class, needing to travel the week of Thanksgiving, and being tied to my client (so I probably won't get any studio yoga in). S'ok. I can catch up on some work (book reports for yoga teacher training, some long term projects). I can catch up on sleep. I can do my own practice.

So, off to Tulsa...I'm back on Thursday. But I'll blog from the road as best as I can!

Sell Me on Hartford

I'm starting to sniff around for a new place to live. I'm looking for 2 decent sized bedrooms, because I plan to move my office into one of them. Off street parking for one car. Reasonably safe neighborhood.

I could be looking at a 2 or 3 family. A townhouse or duplex would be ideal. I've never lived in a large building - but even that might be OK. I'm older and not loud - so quiet is good. Since I will be combining my office rent and housing rent, I can afford a reasonable rent, but I'd like to not overextend myself with housing. No roommate situations - being self employed I need a work space, and I've been cohabitating for a while now; I need to find my own space.

Location - there is the rub. I've been living in Hartford for 7-8 years; before that I lived in Waterbury. Right now my center of gravity is around the yoga studio; that is the only place I really need to get to. I like the arts and entertainment I find in Hartford. But I also wander west (Southington / Plainville / Bristol) for things like ballooing, mentoring, medical providers. So I am definitely looking west of the river.

I find myself being lulled westward in my apartment search - New Britain in particular seems to be somewhat less expensive with some nice neighborhoods and buildings tucked away. Plainville seems to have some places.

Hartford denizens - help me out here. Point me at some nice neighborhoods and complexes in the city. I'd love to stay if I can afford it, and I can find a suitable place. I'm a little spoiled, having lived in a neighborhood filled with single family homes the past 7-8 years.

I'm not seriously looking yet - moving is slated for early 2009. But I am definitely hunting around.

Sharing Circle

We had a sharing circle this evening with a subset of our teacher training group. As I spoke my piece, and then listened to others speaking, I began to look at my upcoming move a little differently. I've been living in the margins for many years. When I moved in with Zippy, I was moving into a home fully inhabited and occupied. It's Zippy's house, and I was carving out space. Even having my own bedroom a year or so ago was a big step.

But now, the possibility of my own living space looms large. And I began to see this as an opportunity. I'm imagining:

* A place to set up a yoga mat, a dedicated place for meditation and practice.
* A refrigerator and cainets filled with healthy foods, and the opportunity to cook and eat the way I want
* The chance to listen to my music, my radio
* A place for my music, my books, my decor.

I know I am a cluttery person, a messy person. But I am looking at my own place as a chance to break out of that, to be more mindful and craft a living space that is both a home and a sanctuary.

So, I'm getting excited!

Farewell Ted Stevens

Looks as if Alaska's Senator Ted Stevens has been defeated in the recent election. Two weeks after the fact, the vote count is finishing up.

Relief, mostly because had he been elected, all sorts of scenarios involving Sarah Palin elevating herself to his Senate seat would have been in play. I suspect we have not heard the last of Governor Palin on the national scene, but for the moment, her 15 minutes are up.

Buh-bye!