Tailgating the Fancy Flask way

We all know football season is here, and what better addition to your tailgate than your very own, personalized Fancy Flask? Our customers are able to STAY FANCY while still getting the necessary alcohol to have  the complete tailgate experience. Send us any pictures of you and your fancy flask!

Sunday 8.23-Monday 8.24

Today was the big day! Our flight was at 2:45 PM and since it was an international flight, we wanted to get there mad early (around 11 AM) to ensure smooth travels. It’s a really good thing we got there so early, because we suddenly had to take a shuttle to the gate and the boarding time was an HOUR earlier!

Today taught me a few things. First, Ash and I are more capable than we give ourselves credit for. Yeah, we may be inept when it comes to certain practical situations, but put both of us together and we would make a pretty well-rounded person, which is why I’m glad she was my travel buddy. We went to the right area for Singapore Airlines, we waited on the right line, and all our suitcases were close to the weight limit…except my red pullman carry-on. And that brings me to Misadventure #1: I had to take 4 lbs worth of stuff out of my red pullman and transfer it to one of Ash’s suitcases. Ash went ahead to the check-in line while I got out of line and transferred the goods. Ash got a picture of me sitting on the suitcase to close it (that quick snapshot-getter…you can always count on her to capture the moments that are gone as quickly as they arrived).

It was then that I realized my biggest packing mistakes: I packed like 8 towels for no apparent reason, I had more suitcases than I could handle on my own, and I packed stuff “just in case” instead of buying them in Japan if I really needed them. My intention was saving money later on, but I just created havoc for myself instead. That Misadventure was nothing compared to what happened next.

We checked in our luggage and headed over to the security area. We removed our shoes, phones, metallic stuff, laptops, etc. We were pros at this by now, after our flight from JFK to LAX. We had all the confidence in the world–we didn’t pack anything dangerous or suspicious, we are pretty innocent-looking young girls, so there shouldn’t be any problem, right? False.

I walked through the metal detector with no problem. I walked over to retrieve my stuff from the conveyor belt when the security guard looked up at me and asked, “Is this yours?” and I saw my beloved red pullman that has been with me during the good and bad times–the one that came with me to Florida, the one that goes back and forth with me to and from Siena, my iconic red pullman that I love because its wheels rotate in every direction and because it’s expandable. I said, quite confidently, “Yes, that’s mine.” And she said, “Ma’am, I’m going to need you to step out of the line. I have to search your suitcase. ” I walked over, still confident that I had nothing suspicious in my suitcase. Then she said, “Ma’am, you have a flask in here.”

Now mostly everyone who’s reading this blog knows that I don’t drink, and even if I did, I would hope I wouldn’t be stupid enough to pack a flask in plain sight in my carry-on. Suddenly and inexplicably, my brain started racing with thoughts of, “When did I put a flask in there? I don’t even own a flask! Maybe it was planted! Maybe it materialized! Maybe I’m being framed! Maybe I forgot that I recently became an alcoholic and shoved my flask in my pullman!” She started searching the pockets of the pullman and when she opened it, this is the item that greeted me:

Thanks a lot, India, for making your Jasmine talcum powder containers look like flasks. It provided me with Misadventure #2. I said, “Oh, that’s my baby powder!” And she said, “Yeah, I’m gonna run an EDT test on this.” So in sum, I was detained on suspicions of carrying cocaine in a flask.

When we were finally on our way to the waiting area at Gate 116, we had about an hour before our flight so we had lunch and let friends/family know we were ready and waiting to board. I had a Gatorade that was still about 3/4 full, but I wasn’t allowed to carry it onto the plane. You probably also know that I don’t like to waste food or drinks if I can help it. I looked at the Gatorade and thought about how I was full from the chicken pesto sandwich Ash and I had just shared, but if I didn’t drink the Gatorade, it would go to waste. Ash sensed my dilemma and said, “Jenc, you aren’t going to waste that, are you?” I said, “Umm…no…I don’t want to, but I’m stuffed…” Knowing me as well as she does, she quickly came up with a plan. She said, “You know…you could recycle that when you’re done with it…” which naturally sounded really good to me. I nodded slowly. She looked at me slyly and said, “Jenc…chug, chug, chug!” I balked, wide-eyed and thinking about the other times I had tried and failed to chug water. My first reaction was to disagree. Then I thought again. A sudden sense of a can-do attitude rushed over me (funny how chugging a Gatorade with recycling as the ultimate goal was what brought that on) and as I chugged, Ash became the Mickey to my Rocky. She said, “COME ON JENC, think about all those bottles sitting in landfills and how you can make a difference with this one bottle! You just have to finish it! YOU GOT THIS!” Before I knew it, the bottle was empty. I took her bottle and mine and shoved them in my backpack to recycle them in Tokyo, and for some reason Ash found the thought of me carrying bottles all the way to Tokyo to recycle them extremely humorous. I think she’s the weird one. Although, she did bestow these whispered words of wisdom upon me when we were wondering how to make our way through the Narita airport once we landed: “Just follow all the Asian people.”

Boy, did Singapore Airlines really take care of us during our 13-hour flight. Each seat had a TV with about 80 on-demand movies, as well as TV shows, music stations, video games, free blankets, headphones, and snacks, cool blue & purple seats, beautiful traditional Singporean flight attendant outfits, free wi-fi (but unfortunately no outlets) and pretty freakin awesome cuisine.  For lunch, we had sautéed steak with onion in mustard sauce, roasted veggies, and gratinated potatoes, marinated seafood salad, crackers w/ cream swiss cheese, fudge brownie chocoloate ice cream, and a roll. That was in Economy class! I can’t even imagine what they had up in First Class.

We read an article about jetlag in the Singapore Airlines travel magazine–it recommended that if you’re flying westwards (as we were), you should only sleep for a little while and drink a lot of water. Ash and I took water every time it was offered (like 6 or 7 times) and slept for only 30 minutes each. It worked! Good thing too, because we needed the energy for what was about to go down when we got to Narita.

This week at The Knot Wedding Shop, save up to 60% off their top groomsman gifts. Check out their weekly steal — the best-selling Engravable Beer Mug is now buy one get one 60% off!  Also save on ALL barware, flasks, silver accessories, and more.

Sale prices are good Wednesday, August 26th through Tuesday, September 1st.

Hugs,

Deanas Boutique

Laboratory Glassware is made of glass, used for scientific experiments in scientific laboratories. Glassware is available in all kinds of sizes, shapes and in varied types like flasks, bottles, beakers, condensers & assemblies – funnels, volumetric ware, dishes & test tubes and many more.

Beaker: A beaker is a wide cylindrical vessel, with a flat bottom, Simple container for stirring, mixing and heating liquids commonly used in many laboratories. Beakers are available in a wide range of sizes, from one milliliter up to several liters.

Flask: A small container, such as a bottle, having a narrow neck and usually a cap. Flasks can be used for making solutions or for holding, containing, collecting, or sometimes volumetrically measuring chemicals, samples, solutions, etc. for chemical reactions or other processes such as mixing, heating, cooling, dissolving, precipitation, boiling and analysis.

Funnel: – A funnel is a pipe with a wide, often conical mouth and a narrow stem. It is used to channel liquid or fine-grained substances into containers with a small opening. Without a funnel, much spillage would occur.

For information on Laboratory glassware and glassware more products visit: – http://www.jaljyoti.com

Today it occurred to me that I haven’t put together a list of useful consumables for pet tanking and soloing. Although most of the potions are obvious, some might not be, and its always handy to have a list in one place for comparison. Feel free to mention any other potions you find useful!

Elixirs and Flasks
Elixirs can be Battle Elixirs and Guardian Elixirs, and you can only have one of each type at a time. Flasks count as both a Battle and a Guardian Elixir, and persist through death. Ive also included less expensive versions in parentheses if you are strapped for cash.

Elixirs
Elixir of Accuracy, 45 Hit Rating, Battle
Wrath Elixir, 90 AP, Battle ( 60 AP )
Guru’s Elixir, 20 to all stats, Battle
Elixir of Protection, 800 Armor, Guardian
Elixir of Mighty Thoughts, 45 Int, Guardian ( 30 )

and situationally: Elixir of Demonslaying, 265 AP vs Demons, Battle *Jury is still out on whether this applies to the pet*

Flasks
Flask of Endless Rage, 180 AP, Battle and Guardian ( 120 )
Lesser Flask of Resistance, 50 to all Resist, Battle and Guardian

Observations:
-With only one notable guardian elxir, you are basically weighing 180 AP vs 800 armor and one of the other Battle Elixirs (and the fact that they don’t persist through death).
-If you are likely to die often, an AP flask is probably your best bet, but you limit yourself to only extra threat. Going with the elixirs is more defensive.
-If facing a demon (mostly in old content you crazy soloers) then Demonslaying and Protection are by far your best combo.
-Don’t overlook Guru’s elixir. With talents you get 20 stam, 40 AP (through agi and int), and 36 armor (agi). Its not the best, but it is nice and balanced, and in terms of budget is only a little behind other choices in terms of budget. It is also the only stamina option.

Potions
There were only two potions that really stood out to me.

Indestructible Potion, 3500 Armor for 2 min
Shrouding Potion, Permanently reduces 1500 threat

-Obviously the shrouding potion has limited potential due to feign death, but it still could have its uses.
-The indestructable potion is a great way to get through a tough spot, and if the fight is longer than 2min it can be used right before the fight and then again any time after the first two minutes. Great for reducing the initial healing needed.

Food
For food our choices are pretty straightforward. You aren’t going to get any more than 40 stam out of anything, but you do get a choice between AP and Hit, whichever you need. The great thing is that food is a good balance in stats and nothing is wasted.

80 AP, 40 Stam
Fish Feast
Mega Mammoth Meal
Poached Northern Sculpin

40 Hit, 40 Stam
Worg Tartare
Snapper Extreme

Pet Food
Spiced Mammoth Treats, 30 Str 30 Stam ( 20,20 )

-A fish feast is great if someone has one, but the other options are less time consuming to obtain, and if you need to level a pet, Mega Mammoth Meal requires killing.

Scrolls
In the absence of a matching (and stronger) player buff, you can supplement your pets stats by applying scrolls to your pet and/or yourself.

Agility VIII: Gives AP, Crit, and Dodge on pet, AP scaling on hunter.
Intellect VIII: Gives 1:1 AP scaling on hunter.
Protection VII: Armor on pet, Armor scaling on hunter.
Stamina: Health on pet, Health scaling on hunter.
Strength: AP on pet.

So there you have it, I didn’t spend too much time on this, so if anyone sees anything I missed, speak up!

UPDATE: added in scrolls (if youre missing player buffs), pet food, and elixir of mighty thoughts.

This weekend is the 18th annual Livermore Wine Country Festival right in beautiful historic downtown Livermore, CA. If you haven’t been to Livermore lately, this is a great opportunity to visit the Livermore Valley Wine Country, do some wine tasting and enjoy the atmosphere. Festival hours are 10-6 on Saturday and 10-5 on Sunday and there will be a lot to see and do for both adults and kids. I’m taking my girls and I’m on my way!

Wine Business Card Holder - For those who know appreciate wine - wine drinkers, vintners, winery owners

A Beer Handbag Holder is a must if you are visiting tasting rooms - keeps your purse where you won't forget it.

The festival is being held on First Street between P and Maple, and on Second Street between N and K Streets. The Sunday morning Farmers’ Market will be going on at the same time on Second Street from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., so you can even get in some healthy food shopping while you’re at it.

There will be about 250 arts and crafts vendors, 3 wine tasting stations and locally brewed beer. There are five sponsoring wineries who will be featured at the Premier Wine Pavilion at the Livermore Valley Plaza in front of the Bankhead Theater (First and McLeod Streets): Big White House Winery, Garré Winery, Page Mill Winery, Mitchell Katz Winery, John Christopher Cellars. Local breweries sponsoring this festival include Lagunitas Brewing Company and Schooner’s Brewery.

For the kids there will be games, rides, activities and water fun. There is also a great toy store on J Street called Whoopsiedaisy Toy Shop that always has creative, unusual toys (and they encourage your kids to play with them!). Older kids can check out the 6TwentyOne Skate Shop.

Many people in the S.F. Bay Area are familiar with downtown Livermore from their very popular Downtown Halloween Night when the local businesses hand out candy to all comers. Livermore has completely redone their downtown with wine streets, trellises, fountains. We have the stunning new performing arts center, movie theater, restaurants and businesses. Livermore is really a nice little town to visit, and if you do like touring wineries and checking out wine tasting rooms, there are more than 40 local wineries right here. So you can really make a day of it when you visit!

Kyle Design of Livermore also has many beautiful wine, beer and arts themed gifts. If you’s like to see more of Kyle’s unique items, visit her web site for Kyle Design’s Wine Gifts, Kyle Design’s Beer Gifts, Kyle Design’s Arts Gifts. You’ll find business card holders, flasks, purse hooks, and so much more with artistic, original designs by local Livermore artist Kyle McKeown Mansfield.

Artist Drinking Flask - A stylish way to hold your liquor, wine and beer on a cool afternoon.

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Raid time starts

Ready Check!

Fooded – flasked – and ready.  ( or RL will start calling out people who’s flasks have fallen off)

Opps – Strats for new people on fight – 52 odd min left on my flask

3 attempts at Razerback

Get told to go on a 5 min  break so we can get our heads straight- with 15 min left on flask

5 min Break is over. Ready Check!
“Who’s not ready!” Poke – Poke – Poke

Ready check! – Everyone ready
5 min left on flask

1st add pull is 4 mins on flask

So at what Point do you take your next flask?   There is  going to be an overlap of time,   I could set up a mod to tell me what a flask is due to come off,  but with the raid leader standing there going through the list of people who don’t have flasks you pop it because you don’t want to be caught not having one.

Sure it can be handy when your only raiding for 3 hours  ,  but when you raid for 4 hours, thats 4 flasks with time overlaps .

You will probably end up losing at least 5 min on each flask so thats at least 20 mins.  So that means that before the raid is called, and your are now on your 5th flask because you need to make up that lost 20 min with a new flask.   Its progression raiding.  You are Always flasked and fooded.

  5 flasks for  a 4 hour raid = aprox 125gold Ah  = 11 dailys x 4 days of raiding

( unless you are doing Leviathon and then you don’t flask for that)

I  fear that the flask will fall off mid boss fight and so I have to take it early – plus when the raid leader is checking flasks expiry times.

So yes it sounds like a moan about gold – but its a moan about the raiding effectiveness of 1 hour flasks.

Bring back 2 hour flasks! 

( and besides now that they are 1 hour flasks people are charging more for the single flasks then a 2 hour flask was worth)

Keep your meds in a Big Bang Pill Box when the mysteries of the Universe give you a headache.

CNN published a story today titled “Exploding star is oldest object seen in universe”. A scientist named Edo Berger , currently at Harvard, detected a huge increase of gamma rays coming from deep space.  Further investigation by Berger confirmed that the gamma rays were coming from an exploded star, about 13 billion light years away.

Put in another way, this star exploded 13 billion years ago, and because of its great distance from us, we here on Earth are just finding out about it now.

As far as we know, the Universe is only 13.6 billion years old, so Berger’s observations are of an event that occurred when the universe, or even time as we know it, was only 600 million years old.  His observation broke the previous “earliest observed event record” by 200 million years.

Hot Atomic Decoration adds clean energy to your Tree.

Some aspects of the CNN story were confusing. In one part of the story they seemed to say that the gamma rays from the explosion and the light produced by the explosion were going to reach Earth at separate times.  Even to a lay person like Paulano, this did not seem right.  Later in the story, CNN stated that there was never a time when Berger detected visible light, and alluded to that being significant, but never said why.   And finally, the CNN story did not identify specifically what it was in Berger’s observations made that allowed him to determine the age of what he was looking at.

What is CNN talking about? Question other sources to find out.

—-

I looked around, and found two things (which I presume are reliable) to help clarify.  First was a blog by “The Planetologist”, which quoted the CNN article with regard gamma rays and light arriving at two separate times.

“Telescopes around the world swiveled to focus on the explosion, soon picking up infrared radiation, which travels more slowly than gamma rays. Berger waited for the visible light which he expected to come next.“

“The Planetologist” then had the following response:

“In brief, all electromagnetic radiation (which includes light) always travels at the local velocity of light at all times and everywhere. What that article tried to say was that the first bright flash that happens during a massive supernova is brightest in the gamma ray region of the electromagnetic spectrum. The gamma blast reaches a catastrophic peak of searing [thermal] intensity, then proceeds to cool through the gamma and X-ray bands, then passes through a temperature range where visible light shines, then finally dims to emit infrared light for a long, long time.“

Need the Math on your Calculation Checked? Ask a Mathematian.

—

As CNN stated, Berger never experienced the visible light phase.  The Planetologist conjectured that the dimming of visible light is something that simply occurs over distances in space.

So, taken by itself, Berger’s inability to observe visible light is simply a clue that suggests this event occurred very far way from Earth, but Berger probably already knew that.  My guess is that this part of the story was fairly unremarkable despite CNN suggestions to the contrary.

—

There is an absense of visible light inside this Business Card Holder.

With regard to my third issue about CNN failing to say what it was in Berger’s observations that allowed him to detemine age, I had to go to MSNBC, which had an implied explanation in their story “Space Explosion is farthest thing ever seen“.  According to the article, the ongoing expansion of the universe stretches all visible light into longer infrared wavelengths.  Apparently, the stretching is consistant enough so that it can be used as an age marker:  The longer the wavelengths of light, the further away and the older the celestial event is.

And based on the measurements that were made on wavelengths of this super-stretched infrared light coming from GRB 090423, Berger was apparently able to pinpoint an age of 13 Billion light years. Sounds good to me.

—

As a side note, Paulano is currently reading a great book called “A Short History of Nearly Everything“.   In it, author Bill Bryson breifly discusses stars that go supernova, and whether there are any nearby stars, including our own sun, that could go supernova and cause “issues” (aka catastrophic destruction) here on Earth.

In short, the answer is yes.  I guess that’s the bad news.

Celebrate New Beginnings with your Big Bang design Flask.

The good news is that our own sun is good for another few billion years at least, and there are only a handful of other stars that are even close enough to be a concern to us.  In addition, should any of those go supernova, the light from the blast and and the destructive radiation from the blast would reach us in the same instant, so, well, you know….  just make sure to drink that Brandy you have been saving for a special occasion sooner rather than later.

If you are a scientist, know a scientist, like science, or know someone who does, check out Kyle Designs for some really cool science themed gifts. She has Gifts for Physicists, Astronomers, Mathematicians, Engineers, Biologists, Chemists, Scientific Reasearchers, Cosmologists, Geneticists, Programmer/Analysts, Theorists, and gifts for people involved in many fields of medicine.  Are you looking for a gift for your college grad who majored in a Science?  Kyle has graduation gifts for them too.  This year, don’t go for the ordinary T-shirt with Pi on it.  Get something functional, handsome, and unusual for your science lovers instead, at Kyle Design.

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Wild Mustang Business Card Case

Rather often, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management has a surplus of wild horses (and burros) on its hands.

To reduce size of its herds, the BLM holds a series of Wild Horse Adoption Events just like the one they held last Sunday at the Livermore Rodeo Grounds at Robertson Park.

Prospective buyers at the Adoption Events first participate in a silent auction, and bid for the stock they like.  After the silent auction is concluded, the leftover horses (and burros) are sold on a first-come first-served basis, for $125 each.

Kyle Design has gift items for Cowboys, Ranchers, Horse lovers, and Wild Horse Adopters

Just so you know…Only Qualified buyers are welcome.  Simply showing up with $125 dollars doesn’t mean that get a new wild pony.   You do actually have to have the means and the facilities to care for your new adopted pet.  In fact, be warned that the BLM sends people out to your home during the first year to check on you and the horse.

But if you are a qualified buyer, this could be a neat way for you and your family to get your 4-H on.

Nationwide, the upcoming adoption events for the rest of 2009 are here:  Upcoming BLM Wild Horse Adoption Events.

The Luckiest Mustangs compete in the Extreme Mustang Makeover

Some of the luckiest Wild Horses auctioned at these events are selected to compete in an Extreme Mustang Makeover:  Dedicated Horse Trainers each have 100 days to get their wild mustang ready to compete in a series of events.  At the conclusion of the event, the trained Mustangs are auctioned off… at a price I’m sure is higher than $125.

Paulano is sad to report that due to the economy, adoptions this year are way down – about 50 percent . My understanding is that horses that aren’t bid on will go on to the next Adoption event.  After 5 events, if the horse is still not sold,  the horse either goes to a horse santuary like the one in the Black Hills of South Dakota, or someplace else much, much less desirable.

Dispense Vitamins to your new Horse or Burro with this cool Pet Med pill box

At this recent Livermore Adoption Event, only 10 out of 40 horses found new owners.   The good news is that all 6 of the Burros up for adoption in Livermore found homes and had something to hee-haw about.

So please, if you have the space, welcome a new horse or burro into your family.

Kyle Design has gift items for Cowboys, Cowgirls, Horse Lovers, Ranchers, Wranglers, Riders, Rodeo Queens, Rodeo Clowns, and Adoptive Parents of Mustangs, Burros and Wild Horses.  Check out the money clips, earrings, flasks, christmas ornaments, nightlights and more.

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Solar Power Magnet Clip is so hot

The April 23rd, 2009 edition of the Livermore Independent has an article about the newly installed 18,000 sqaure foot array of solar cells on the rooftop of the Livermore Cinema.

The installation is expected to provide about 190,000 Kilowatt Hours of electrical energy to the Theater per year.  This is comparable to the amount of energy needed to supply the yearly needs of 18 average households.

Electrical Savings make Every Day seem like Christmas

The cells were designed and manufactured by Solyndra Corp of Fremont.  Their cells are unusual in a several ways:  1) They are cylindrical in shape  2) They are mounted on racks above a reflective surface and 3) The are mounted with enough space between each cell to allow wind and sunlight to pass through.

The cylindrical shape maximizes the capture of the sunlight above throughout the entire day.  And the spaces between the cells not only minimize the possiblity damage from the wind, but they also allow sunlight to reflect from the rooftop back to the underside of the cell.  Very efficient.

High Voltage Business Card Holder for the Solar Energy Professional

All too often, the decision for a business or individual to GO SOLAR is undermined by the fact that the system does not pay for itself quickly enough with energy savings.

With that fact in mind, there is another aspect about this installation that is interesting.  Livermore Cinema did not buy the system.  They leased it instead.

The option to lease frees people from the huge upfront costs of going SOLAR and seems to be a great way to get people to take the solar plunge.   According to the article, the system saves the Livermore Cinema 45% on its monthly electric bill.  That, along with rebates and

Solar Energy will Save Big Bucks

incentives outweighs the cost of the lease.  So the installation is a win for the theater in the very first month.  Huzzah!

Over the course of the next 25 years, the installation at the Theater will reduce the need to generate 3,400 metric tons of green house gases from conventional power plants.  My movie popcorn is starting to taste better already.

The Solyndra Solar Cells bag some rays in this aerial photo

Kyle Design is a Livermore-based business too, providing high quality unique personalized gifts online.  Kyle has a wide variety of items with eco-friendly themes and images, including business card holders, decorative switch plates, wall plates, night lights, money clips and bookmarks.

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Head on up to Contra Costa County For a High Time

You are invited!

What:  Street Party in Contra Costa County

When:  May 4th, 2009

According to an April 22, 2009 story in the San Francisco Chronicle, “Misdemeanors such as assaults, thefts and burglaries will no longer be prosecuted in Contra Costa County because of budget cuts, the county’s top prosecutor said Tuesday.  District Attorney Robert Kochly also said that beginning May 4, his office will no longer prosecute felony drug cases involving smaller amounts of narcotics.

That means anyone caught with less than a gram of methamphetamine or cocaine, less than 0.5 grams of heroin and fewer than five pills of ecstasy, OxyContin or Vicodin won’t be charged. People who are suspected of misdemeanor drug crimes, break minor traffic laws, shoplift,

Legal tomes and controlled substances alike will go Up In Smoke with this handy lighter

trespass or commit misdemeanor vandalism will also be in the clear. Those crimes won’t be prosecuted, either.  …

“Don’t even bother submitting the cases”, Kochly said Monday in a memo to the Contra Costa County Police Chiefs Association …”

Yipes!

Plane from Amsterdam full of partiers bound for Contra Costa County

Paulano is not much of a partier, so I will respectfully send my regrets to Mr. Kochly, and steer clear of Contra Costa County for a while.  I may also offer the observation that his party may get a little out of hand, given that his guest list includes speeders, red light runners, burglars, trespassers, litterers, street brawlers, and everyone who’s ever wanted to party like they were in Amsterdam, but didn’t want to pay the air fare.

Drunk Drivers beware: DUI cases will still be prosecuted!

The good news is that the Contra Costa party will have SOME limits.   The Chronicle went on to say that wife beaters, drunk drivers, sex criminals, those who commit assault with a deadly weapon are still NOT welcome at the party.    Well, OK then.  Party on.

If you are trekking to Contra Costa County, you may need some supplies.   Kyle Designs Flasks, cigarette lighters, cigarette cases,  pill boxes, condom cases, ipod cases, and any number of personalized, engraved or mongrammed has gifts for your party host or hostess.

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Bikes equipped with an electric motor are green alternatives to cars

If you don’t know already, tomorrow will be the 40th annual Earth Day.   Hoo-ahh!

Easy to Install, Fun to Ride

Earth Day is a good time for us each to do a quick self evaluation, to see what changes we can each make to be a little greener.

Not quite yet a candidate for eco-Martyrdom, but not a total eco-jerk either, Paulano has been seen riding around Livermore lately on his new electric bike.   By cutting down on car trips and using the electric bike instead, I’m making headway towards being leaner and greener.  A little bit anyway.

Zap your Bike into a new Eco-friendly Commuter Vehicle

Originally, Paulano was supposed to build an electric cupcake car for his daughter, Parker.  (Don’t ask)  The e-bike idea was conceived as an intermediate step once Paulano realized that he didn’t know much about batteries, or electric motors either.

The plan was to cut my teeth on the electric bike, and then move up to the cupcake car.

Ultimately, my e-bike quest ended with the successful installation of an Ampedbikes.com kit on a 2009 Electra Townie Original 1 Women’s Frame.   With no pedaling at all, I can maintain 20 mph, and get 13.5 miles per charge… more than enough to get me around town.   If I make the effort to pedal, I go a little faster, and I can easily double my range per charge.

My daughter rides the Electric Bike all the time too.  After all, the bike was supposed to be for her.  Remember?  At 90 pounds, she gets well over 20 miles for each battery charge with no pedaling.

By the way, the re-charge time on my 36V 10 AH Sealed Lead Acid (SLA) battery takes 4 1/2 hours.

And that whole cupcake car idea???   … virtually forgotten… Thank God.

Cupcake Pillbox? Yes. Cupcake Car? Not so much...

As long as I am discussing E-Bikes, I should mention that I highly recommend the product, price and service I got from Ampedbikes.com. I also can not say enough good things about the entire product line of retro-sleek Electra bikes.  Check them out. And in case you are wondering, those are both unpaid, unsolicited Paulano endorsments.

All things considered, I wish now that I had gone with the Townie Original 7, Men’s Frame.   The seven speeds would lend added versatility, and the Mens’ frame would give added strength.  Live and learn.  But still, the Women’s Townie One frame fits my

Riding a bike to work is good for business

daughter better, so it was a great choice too.   Ultimately, it is entirely likely that this e-bike will elimate or at least delay the need for another car in the family.

Happy Earth Day.

Many of the images in this blog post can be purchased at Kyle Designs. Kyle has gift items for the eco-friendly person in your life.   She offers over 300 original, unusual designs, in dozens of colors on Hundreds of Items that you use every day, from wall switch plates to business card holders.   She offers engraving and Monogramming too.

In the most remarkable intrasquad game this past week between the hours of noon and four played between the Astros and the Nationals, the Astros and the Nationals went past a 2-2 tie into six overtimes, until they all just finally gave up.

“I know we play by weenie rules where we tie.”, said a weary Cooper, “But since we really need a spring win, I asked  Manny Acta if we could play on for a few regulated periods, much like in basketball. He gave me a long, empathetic look and agreed.”

After six overtimes, in which the Astros committed two errors and struck out four times, the Nationals bench, and Assistant Athletic Trainer Michael McGowan, who actually stayed for the overtime periods, hit some very deep fly balls off of four potential Astro starters, but a strong wind just barely held them all in the park, enough for the Astros to salvage the tie.   

” I’m relieved,to be honest”, continued Cooper, sipping from a worn flask, “aehh…we hung tough with their bench, and I mean, these guys could possibly finish fourth in the the N.L. East. So some positive signs.” 

Infielder Anderson Hernandez hit a screaming double that looked fair down the line which would have scored two with 3:45 left in the fourth overtime, but after rounding first and seeing the forlorn and dusty Astros start slumping their way back to the dugout, he waved the Houston squad back onto the field, and trotted back to the batter’s box, yelling in an upbeat voice that his hit was ”clearly foul”. 

  ——From Friday’s AP ticker

1. if i am watching 3.5 hours of something hosted by hugh jackman, i would expect that he would spend at least 5 of those minutes in character as wolverine
2. or shirtless
3. i was bored by all the dresses and i will be annoyed when people start reasoning that it was because of the recession
4. brangelina seemed like the most unaffectionate and unexcited two people there
5. phillip seymour hoffman needs to seriously reconsider his choice in headgear. though everything else about him is perfect.
6. it is boring when one movie wins everything. especially when that movie is overrated.
7. i really loved sean penn’s speech, though i felt that given all his issues, he should have thanked his wife
8. in the montage of people who died, did they not show heath leger? or did i miss it? either way, i hate that part. its always so sad.
9. since there is apparently no way to give out awards to people and have it take less than half a day, why can’t they just start the show earlier?
10. i feel bad for the people attending the show. no one has bags and their dresses are tight. there is absolutely no place to conceal a flask. herego, the golden globes are clearly superior.