Yes, I get to finish what I have to do yesterday…and I only got 4 hours of sleep before my work shift.

Today, the skies are gray, and it’s raining.

The bad thing is that I lost my umbrella ella ella ella….again. This is the 2nd time. I’m not so good at keeping them. I should get a new one. Good thing I still have my hoodie.

I hope this rain stops already….

♫♪rain/rain/go/away/come/again/another/day♪♫

You Are Here Umbrella by Cabracega Studios. This umbrella is a good idea that you can see where you are in the Google Earth Map.

Source

Week 22 Topic: Adaptation

My picture for this topic.

For more about the One Two Squeeze project or to see other photographer’s interpretation of this theme, visit One Two Squeeze!

via

wood clock

my first suck uk crush came via the wood clock.  i couldn’t rationalize the price tag so i bought some $25 *less-than* version, which flashes time + date with no option to sit still.  the cheap knock off left me pretty unsatisfied.

digit // pixel

months later, i found perfect DIY packaging tape – created by the same genius team

large + small rolls available

outfitted with black sharpie equivalent, i set out to place words + emoticons on every surface

for beginners + advanced

perhaps knowing this growing fascination with suck uk products <or maybe kismet>, my brother gifted me their clever origami sticky notes.  create a list + then a swan.

battery included

for subtle ambiance lighting, this little light is so compact + simple: like a high school craft project, but better.

teddy

the teddy bear lamp is something i cannot settle on.  cool or creepers?  poised in a child’s room *might* cause nightmares.

HB #2

whimsy creations seem to be suck uk’s specialty – hiring tweens to do the brainstorming, i’m certain <— conjecture.  injecting fun into the classroom

trash stash

+ chores at home.

fog be warned

groggy mornings – scram!

rain<bows>

so what if i’m smitten?

<pictured : drumstick pencils, pet goldfish bin bags, wiper mirror + colour changing umbrella>

I wrote a song yesterday. Actually sat down and wrote a song. Thought it out, words, chords, song. It’s still in the rough phases, but this is my first actual song. Thanks to a friend who inspired me to start songwriting.

I tried to explain what this song is about to someone, and realized that I really don’t know yet. I just sort of wrote it…maybe a meaning of some sort will surface, maybe not.

Your eyes align with mine

Different tracks for the same train

Our thoughts converge as one

(Everything seems to make sense) –I don’t like this line…lack of flow and originality.

That sounds stupid right there. This verse clearly needs some work. There are several more verses, and even a chorus line! But that’s all I’ll reveal for now…hoping that’s actually original and my mind didn’t pick up something from my subconscious that I’ve heard before, then I’d feel really stupid.

I really like walking through the rain with an umbrella and no shoes.
Good thing I live some place warm.

“All day I think about it, then at night I say it.
Where did I come from, and what am I supposed to be doing?
I have no idea.
My soul is from elsewhere, I’m sure of that,
and I intend to end up there.
This drunkenness began in some other tavern.
When I get back around to that place,
I’ll be completely sober. Meanwhile,
I’m like a bird from another continent, sitting in this aviary.
The day is coming when I fly off,
but who is it now in my ear who hears my voice?
Who says words with my mouth?
Who looks out with my eyes? What is the soul? 
I cannot stop asking.
If I could taste one sip of an answer,
I could break out of this prison for drunks.
I didn’t come here of my own accord, and I can’t leave that way.
Whoever brought me here, will have to take me home.
This poetry. I never know what I’m going to say.
I don’t plan it.
When I’m outside the saying of it,
I get very quiet and rarely speak at all.”
(“Whoever Brought Me Here” a poem by Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Balkhi, known as Jelaluddin Rumi – 1207–1273)

This picture was shot a few days ago along the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras).

(postcards)

Yooo this is funny as hell…..they put this together quite well I might add!
They used all of Chris Brown & Rhiana songs to put this together. FUNNY AS HELL!

Photographed by Yume Photo

112/365
20 Nov/09

~quote from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

@YumePhoto – Twitter

This rain has kept me indoors for the whole of my 2 days off. December, where art thou?

Drawing inspiration (copying rather) from flickr member Carmi

Larger

– License

Uskaltaisin väittää että tällä tanssilattiat täyttyvät tänä vuonna parhaiten.

As we move from autumn into winter, Kuwait got a much-needed wash yesterday. Yes we had some rain since early November, but it was more falling-mud than water droplets.  Yesterday was different… it cleaned everything including the air.   The horizon at sea was razor sharp.

Driving around last night, Kuwait was glistening.  Our streets, buildings, trees and lamps, all washed off last year’s settled dust.

I’ve been planning these shots for quite some time now.  In fact, I’m embarrassed to admit that I bought the clear umbrella – for this very purpose – back in 2006!  I had one thing in mind  after taking this photograph of Tower Bridge London:  I need to have an image that says: Rainy Kuwait.

At least she coined a word.

The word was “damayear,” and it was a unit of time that represented the length of one of Lily’s depressive phases.

She discovered it walking home from the bus after work one day. At work, she’d received official notice that, while everyone knew she was qualified as an accountant and thought she’d done a great job filling in as one, they had decided to hire someone else to take the position and the salary. (Although, as her boss enthused, “Knowing what you can do, we’re going to keep a lot of this work in your lap!”)

It was rainy, and cold, and windy. Her umbrella—the high-quality one that she had splurged on because the cheap ones she usually bought always blew inside-out—blew inside out. With some struggle, she managed to turn it right-side in for about eight seconds, before it burst open once again. This time, three of the spokes ripped free from the black fabric, leaving the umbrella useless for any purpose but serving as the inspiration for the letter “k” in the title of a creepy animated film.

Lily smashed the umbrella against the sidewalk three times. Then, realizing that there were plenty of people around who might find this behavior insane, she stopped. Then she decided she didn’t care and gave the sidewalk three more mighty whacks. It was only when she realized that the people around were, in fact, watching her that she came back to her senses.

Pretending she had pride to gather up, Lily brushed past a young girl and her mother waiting to cross the street. She deposited the former umbrella in a trash can forcefully enough that it bounced a foot and a half and finally, just to set a bad example, crossed the street against the light.

“It’s been a crappy day,” she muttered to herself.

“It’s been a crappy month,” she amended. And finally, “It’s been a crappy year.”

It was a sequence of phrases that she’d muttered too much recently. So she could at least introduce a bit of efficiency to it.

“It’s been a crappy damayear,” she concluded.

Yes, that felt right.

A damayear averages six to nine months, although this one was pushing the upper limits of that timeframe with little sign of things improving. Lily briefly considered and dismissed therapy; she had tried it once and spent time discussing vague and hypothetical situations and using strange and indirect words for “I’m angry,” followed by a prescription of drugs that dulled her senses and made her sleep for fourteen hours a day. Lily knew that it was probably her specific therapist that was defective, rather than the entire profession, but she didn’t trust it anyway. At least, she didn’t trust her ability to not find another defective therapist.

She would get through this on her own, Lily knew. Somehow, someday, life would give her some glimmer of hope, some reason to care, and she would relish that blessed week or two of pure sunshine before the next damayear began.

*****

This little happygram to start the week is one that I wrote a couple weeks ago after a reasonably bad day. It will come early in Receptacle, as it makes a nice character sketch of Lily, who will be one of the major characters in it.

In the spirit of the recent rain, here is a beautiful umbrella that acts both as a parasol and an umbrella. Instead of your run of the mill black golf umbrella or miniature that you stash in your purse, the frills on this are a great compliment to a wedding.

Raindrops|Umbrellas:Adult Guy de Jean Can Can Ivory Umbrella.

Auburn Tigers College NCAA Logo Windsheer II Golf Umbrella Review

Feature

• Features reinforced fiberglass shaft.
• 100% rubber ergonomic handle for control and comfort.
• Push Button auto open feature allows easy and effortless opening.
• College trademark and word marks printed on front and back panels.

Overview
62″ College Logo WindSheer II Auto Open Golf Umbrella with patented Wind-Release System to prevent inverting during a storm or high winds.

Nov 21, 2009 03:03:04

[ Another New York Trip ]: Day 4

There was only one other time I visited New York when it rained, and even then it only rained for one day. I was wearing flats and a coat and using an umbrella. That day my friend took me to the Brooklyn Brewery all the way out on Long Island, almost to Montauk. It’s windy and crowded in New York, so that umbrella was pretty much useless.

When I knew it would rain on this trip with Katy, Alison and Alice, I purposely chose not to bring an umbrella. To my demise, it was pouring and I was wearing a sweater.. not a coat. I think if I was wearing the cap and coat I brought, specifically for the rain, I would have been better off. I love the rain anyway, so walking around in it wasn’t so bad. Besides, the foot massage we had at the end of the day was really well worth the day of rain.

A Car Hits a Hydrant

It All Started with a Little Accident

A young driver hit a fire hydrant, causing a powerful fountain of water to shoot 30 feet in the air. (See Wedding Dresses Drowned on NBCSanDiego.com.)  The water pooled three feet deep on the roof of a commercial building, causing the roof to collapse over a bridal shop, drenching the contents. Several brides’ dreams of a beautiful dress at their weddings were ruined in a matter of minutes.  Not to mention, another couple’s livelihood was destroyed, at least for the time being. Thankfully, no one was inside at the time, so there were no injuries.

As an insurance agent, after making sure everyone is okay, I’m trained to look at tragedies like this from the business side.  The driver who caused the accident is on the hook to pay for any damage they caused. Anyone who has been in a fender bender knows that even a small scratch to another car’s bumper can cost $3,000 to $5,000 to repair.  (I know, it’s outrageous. But there it is.)

An accident like this can cause over $100,000 in damage to property in a matter of minutes.

Imagine if someone had been hurt, or killed in the accident or cave-in.  What’s a life worth?

Imagine if the original driver had been texting, talking on the cell phone, or worse: intoxicated.  How much  damages would a judge and jury want to add to the judgment to punish them?

Required Insurance in California

In California, we are required to carry $15,000 of liability insurance to pay for injury or death to a person, $30,000 total per accident, and $5,000 for damage to property.  These are the minimum amounts required by law. Without this much coverage, you cannot get a registration for your vehicle or a driver’s license.

Car Totaled in Fender Bender Cost $8,000

How Much Liability Coverage Do You Really Need?

A lot of people figure they don’t need much more than the minimum. The insurance company will pay that, and it’s all done. After all, if you haven’t invested in a home or business yet, and your car isn’t worth much, and you don’t really own much, what are they going to get if they sue you?  Like squeezing blood from a turnip, right?  …

You might be surprised.

• Did you know that if you lose a lawsuit, and the damages are greater than the amount of insurance you bought, you are still on the hook for the rest?
• Did you know that the victim in your accident is not limited to the maximum of your policy: they can sue for the actual amount of damages.
• Did you know that the judge can attach up to 25% of your income for 10 years to pay off the debt?
• Did you know that a judge can renew that judgment for another 10 years after that at a time till it’s paid off?

Look at your paycheck, and imagine losing 25% off the top, AFTER taxes have been withdrawn.  Yeeeowch!

Do the Math

When it’s time to update your insurance, do the math to figure how much you really are exposed, and make sure your insurance amounts are high enough to cover that.

For example, if you own a home and have any equity, add that to the list.  Add the value of any property you own.  Now add in 25% of your salary for the next 10 years.  THAT is the amount you want to make sure is covered.

If you own a business and/or have investments, add their value to the list, too.

The only thing they can’t touch is your retirement account.  So, whew, you can keep that out of the calculation for now.

For many people, the amount comes up to $300,000 or less.  But if you own a business, have a high income or have investments, it could easily top $500,000.  All the hard work you have invested in your business and your savings for so many years could go up in smoke in a matter of weeks.

Isn’t That What Underinsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage is For?

That coverage is limited, too.  If the victim’s insurance doesn’t have enough coverage to make up for the shortfall in your coverage, you still have to come up with the difference. And, the other insured drivers in California have to pick up YOUR tab since you didn’t pay enough to cover yourself.  Not only do your premiums go up in the future, but so do everyone else’s.

What Can You Do To Protect Yourself?

Fortunately, most accidents don’t result in mega damages like this case might, especially when there are no injuries.  And the insurance companies tend to negotiate most of the cases to match the victim’s actual damages after an accident.  Most cases are settled out of court.  However, about 5-10% of cases make it to trial, and when they do, the average damage judgments are over $460,000.

If you have a lot of assets to protect, you should set your coverage levels higher.  If you have over $500,000 to protect, it’s time to look at umbrella insurance, too.

It might surprise you that adding up to $1 Million of umbrella insurance only costs a couple hundred extra per year.  When you look at the size of those judgments, that small extra investment can pay for itself 100,000 times over if a serious accident occurs.

Mind the Gap: Works both for the Metro and for Insurance

Mind the Gap

If you have ever been so fortunate to take the Metro subway in London, you would have noticed signs that say “Mind the Gap” to warn you not to trip on the space between the platform and the floor of the metro cars.   Likewise, there can be a gap in your umbrella coverage if you are not careful.

For example, if you have $300,000 in liability insurance on your auto, but your umbrella insurance doesn’t kick in until after 500,000 of damages, you still might find yourself on the hook for $200,000 before the umbrella can kick in.  So, if you’re going for the umbrella, buy enough of the regular liability coverage to make sure that any damages in excess will be immediately covered by the umbrella.

Confused?  You’re Not Alone!

I have a Master’s degree in business, and didn’t really understand these concepts until I studied for my insurance license.  Fortunately, your insurance agent can help you figure out what kind of coverage you really need to be as close to “Full” as realistically possible for most accidents.  While the sky is truly the limit when a jury is involved, so there really is no such thing as “Full Coverage,” you can make sure your coverage protects your family financially from freak accidents like the fire hydrant flooding the bridal shop. Or everyday accidents like the $8,000 fender bender that totalled my family member’s car.

Shameless Plug

Of course, if you don’t already have an insurance agent who is looking out for your best interests, I invite you in for a free consultation to go over your personal situation and review your coverages. You may be fine.  And if you are, I’ll tell you.  If you have some gaps, I’ll show you in detail, and give you some pricing options so you can decide how much risk you are willing to take for yourself, and how much you want to insure to protect.

And even better, I’ll review your coverage every single year to make sure changes in your life are covered.  When you buy a house, when your business grows, when you have kids, when you get boats, RVs, ATVs, motorcyles or other fun toys… I’ll make sure you’re protected at every stage of life.

That’s what I do!

Call me any time to discuss your situation, and I’ll help you make sense of it all.

I’m at 619-414-7723, or visit my web site to check things out at www.3amInsurance.com

Thanks for reading!

Anne McElvain

Lic# 0G5927

Shea and Tink - Headed to the bus stop.

Actually we liked the umbrellas. It made the 7:40am walk more fun.

Be cool like Michael Butler and get yourself some patent leather Converse at EasyBay.com for DIRT CHEAP!

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Now, Thanksgiving is just around the corner. And when it comes down do it, for me? It’s all about gratitude, family, friendship, love and of course, food. So, this week’s Top 5 Music Countdown is dedicated to this joyous holiday. And if your family happens to have a karaoke machine, this awesome list doubles as a Thanksgiving-themed karaoke playlist — so you can belt out and bond with your perfectly dysfunctional family. Fun, right?

5. “Sweet Potatoe Pie“
-DominoDo you remember this guy? Popular in the 90s – early 2000s. Shamed for sharking Snoop Doggy Dogg’s rapping style.

4. “November Rain“
-Guns N’ RosesDelightful symphonic rock ballad about the month of November. One of GNR’s longest songs and one of the most expensive music videos to make (at that time).

3. “Eat It“
-Weird Al YankovicFood is good to eat.

2. “Umbrella“
-Rihanna (feat. Jay-Z)Umbrellas symbolize protection, friendship and in some cultures, love.

1. “Livin’ On a Prayer“
-Bon JoviQuintessential anthem rock about hard work, love and holding onto what we’ve got!

Post your top 5 songs of thanks above! I could really use some gratitude… and love.

I was looked up at the sky. An umbrella. falling…

Turning, twisting, it seemed like it was falling forever. All of the people around me looked up to see it fall. It was a magical moment. Enter moment of impact….

A woman walks along Gateway Center plaza, Downtown, on a rainy Thursday, November 19, 2009.